USSR 1941

The adjutant's nervousness did not affect Major General Ellen, because he knew that the enemy's bombing would not change the situation of the Surovikino battle much at this time, whether it was artillery fire or bombers.

The reason is as considered by Shulka and others. The visibility is poor, the buildings are scattered, and the water level overflowing the first floor can also protect the foundation of the building so that it will not be destroyed by bombs... The horror of aerial bombs is The reason is that if it is equipped with a time-delay fuze, it will plunge into the ground and explode inside, so that all the energy will be absorbed by the ground and produce strong vibrations. Sometimes this vibration will be like an earthquake even if it does not directly hit the building It can also knock down nearby buildings.

However, if there is more than two meters of water here, the situation is different.

In this case, the aerial bomb is difficult to stick into the ground, and the energy of its explosion will also be absorbed by the water to stir up water waves that soar into the sky.

This looks a little scary, but it will not pose much threat to the German soldiers in the building except that the fish and shrimp in the river can be blown up. Even those fish and shrimp can become food for the German army... The German army needs this very much , When they were flooded, the first thing they thought of was to take out their equipment and bullets. Most of their food was left in the water. At this time, they were seriously lacking in food and hungry.

Therefore, Major General Ellen seemed very calm. He even glanced at the adjutant, thinking that the adjutant was not good enough to take over his position.

All Major General Ellen's reaction was to go upstairs and nod his head to observe the enemy fleet flying in the sky with binoculars.

There are many enemy planes. Although the visibility is not high, you can still see the dark sky.

Then the sound of the engine got louder and louder...almost overhead.

"General!" cried the adjutant, "we should go downstairs!"

The adjutant is correct on this point, because no matter whether the bomb explodes in water or in the soil, the shrapnel will fly from the bottom up, so the lower the place, the safer it is.

However, Major General Ellen ignored the adjutant.

This is not because Major General Ellen is brave, but because the building he is in is a reinforced concrete structure... This is the city government office building in the center of Surovikino.

If the shrapnel flew from the bottom up, it would have to penetrate the concrete floor tens of centimeters under Major General Ellen's feet, which is almost impossible for a bomb that explodes in water unless it hits directly.

In other words, Major General Ellen is basically safe as long as he takes a few steps back and leaves the window.

This made Major General Ellen despise his adjutant even more.

It was of no use, however, as he had no other aide-de-camp in this case, and it was unnecessary, since the 29th Panzergrenadier Division was practically unable to command effectively at this time.

Major General Ellen secretly decided that if he could successfully break through or return alive this time, the first thing to do was to drive the adjutant out of his sight.

At the same time, Major General Ellen took a few steps back and lay down on the cold floor. He didn't want to die under the random bombing of the enemy so inexplicably.

However, Major General Ellen soon discovered that all of these were just clouds, because what fell from the sky was not bombs, but oil barrels... oil barrels with holes all over the side walls.

This is the invention of Major General Khryukin of the Eighth Army of the Air Force.

There is still a problem with the oil barrels dropped from the air to the target area: if the oil barrels are sealed, even if they are thrown into Surovikino, the barrels will float on the water. This is actually sending gasoline to the German army and cannot spread. And set off a fire.

So Khryukin also used his creativity. He ordered the soldiers to drill a few holes near the hanging point of the fuel tank and plug them with wooden plugs when modifying the hanging point of the oil barrel.

Because these holes are all facing up next to the hanging point, the fuel will not leak even if it is hung under the wing and even flies in the air.

The other end of the cork that plugged the holes was tied to the hanger with a string.

So, once the hanger is unlocked and the fuel tank falls, the rope will tear the cork... When the fuel tank falls to the ground, the gasoline inside will naturally flow out along the opening.

Major Ellen lay on the ground and stared blankly at an oil drum falling from the sky tens of meters ahead and rolling up and down in the water for a while, before saying, "Oil drum, what they threw down was actually an oil drum!"

"They..." the adjutant said with difficulty: "They plan to light it? What should we do, General!"

Major General Ellen shook his head and replied: "We can't do anything, we lost!"

If Major General Ellen did anything else, it was that he reminded Manstein at the end: "Surovikino is over, I think you should hurry up and prepare for defense!"

Manstein couldn't help being taken aback when he heard this.

Because the reinforcements he sent hadn't even reached their destination at this time, the railway and road lines from Karachi to Surovikino had been bombed and attacked by the Russians... At this time, the Soviet army "Il The benefits of the 2” attack aircraft are reflected. They attack everywhere, bombing cars, tanks, trains, etc. on roads and railways, and shooting with machine guns. The speed is also very slow.

"What's the matter?" Manstein asked.

"Your Excellency Marshal!" Major General Ellen looked helplessly at the sky and another batch of oil barrels fell, and said, "Have you ever thought that the enemy will attack with fire after the water attack?"

"Fire attack?"

"Yes!" At this time, Ellen probably knew that his death was approaching, so he relaxed and showed a sense of humor: "I think the 29th Panzergrenadier Division may be the most amazing unit, because it simultaneously After experiencing the torture of being flooded and being burned, if anyone can survive in the end...Your Excellency Marshal, please treat them kindly!"

Then Major General Ellen hung up the phone and walked quietly to the window.

His subordinates are busy removing all flammable items in the house and throwing them out of the window. Some people are also trying to block the wall gap with towels and other things, because they found that the gasoline floating on the water is penetrating from the wall gap into the wall. The river water seeps into the house together.

However, Major General Ellen knew that all of these were useless, none of them could get out of here alive.

Major General Ellen even thought of surrendering if he could.

This is normal. If it can't change the situation of the battle, surrender is not a shame to the German army.

The problem is... Because of the need to ignite gasoline, the Russian army had already avoided this area and stopped attacking, so the German army could not see anyone if they wanted to surrender.

Major General Ellen cast his eyes out of the window, and then he didn't know where to start. The fire surged like a tide, and then lit up the whole world with a "boom".