Steel Soviet Union

The continuous explosions of artillery shells above his head continued. Malashenko, who was sitting on the ground and gasping for air from exhaustion, could still feel the floor under his butt shaking wildly. This storage room located ten meters underground The object room is enough to judge how violent the German shelling on the ground was.

The light in the storage room was very dark, and only a kerosene lamp that the regiment staff had just dug out barely illuminated a small area.

The gravel and dust above the head continued to fall like rain. More than a dozen regiment personnel who had just been evacuated from the second floor formed a small circle, waiting for Malashenko, who rarely sat at the regiment headquarters. give an order.

Sitting on the ground and panting for a long time, he felt that he had almost recovered. Malashenko, who was thinking that he might not be able to stop the bombardment for a while with the bombardment above his head, glanced at the wooden door next to him. Judging from the movement just now, the door The corridor outside is now at least half covered by fallen rubble.

Although this also means that the storage room where the dust is falling is not safe, but at the moment there is no other way or place to go except to stay here. On the contrary, if there is a bombardment later, How to get out of here if you are still alive is a problem.

"Comrade Political Commissar, are there any other back doors here? How should we get out once the shelling stops?"

Faced with Malashenko's turned away question, Commissar Petrov, who was also out of breath because of his age, quickly gave a reply.

"There is no other way, just this door! Besides, instead of how to get out later, it is better to think about whether you will be suffocated to death. This place used to be a place where sundries and furniture were stored, and there was no ventilation facilities at all. The corridor with the door is open for ventilation. If the corridor is completely blocked, we may be suffocated here first. "

""

Malashenko, who had never expected that the situation would be like this, was speechless.

If he was really suffocated to death in this underground storage room, Malashenko would not be willing to do anything no matter what. This would be even more unacceptable than being crushed to pieces by a German shell.

The dust that had been shaken from the ceiling above his head continued to fall, and everyone around Malashenko remained silent and strangely quiet.

The power of human beings is so insignificant in front of the war machines they have created with their own hands, and the truth that unites the world with great power is nothing compared to nothing at the moment.

Now, except for praying that the German artillery shells would hit their heads accurately and that the corridor outside the door would not be completely blocked by the collapse caused by the shelling, the top ten men were already at their wits' end and had no choice but to do anything.

"Hey, what the fuck is going on? Why did I just run back to the regiment headquarters with a headache?"

There are many things happening in the world at the same time regardless of human will.

For example, when Malashenko was pinned down in the basement and severely beaten by a group of German heavy artillery, the front headquarters, which was also in the city and suffered bombings from the Luftwaffe, finally restored contact with the outside world.

"Comrade Commander, communications have been restored! The telephone line is connected and the telegraph can also be used. We can contact the frontline troops immediately!"

Yereomenko, who was standing in front of the map to discuss the situation in the war zone with Vasilevsky, suddenly looked back after hearing this. Major General Korshuv, the communications director of the front army headquarters, was standing behind him with a look of joy on his face.

"Quick! Immediately contact the division and corps-level headquarters in the main defense direction on the front line. If you can, use the phone. If the phone cannot be reached, use the telegraph. I want to know immediately what the current situation is!"

The person who shouted orders to Major General Korshuv was not Commander Yeremenko, but General Vasilevsky who came to Stalingrad with the order of his loving father Comrade Stalin to supervise the battle.

As the commander, there is no doubt that Yeremenko is anxious about the frontline war, but Vasilevsky, who has important responsibilities, is even more anxious than Yeremenko. The interruption of contact with the outside world by the headquarters is no less terrible than With the German gun pressed to his head, Vasilevsky, who was afraid that something would happen in the past few hours, almost shouted his orders.

"What you mentioned is already being done! Deputy Commander Major General Kovalenko has arrived at the 62nd Army Headquarters to personally direct the battle. He reported that the counterattack plan of the Front Army Headquarters was organized smoothly, with 3 infantry divisions, 1 tank brigade, One tank corps is basically ready and can launch a counterattack against the German enemy in front of them tonight as scheduled."

While listening to the narration, he snatched the telegraph newspaper from Major General Korszhuv's hand and read it quickly and understood it clearly.

Organizing an army-level counterattack at night is extremely disadvantageous for both the offensive and defensive sides, especially when the Soviet army is currently so passively suffering huge losses.

However, the 60-kilometer-long and 8-kilometer-wide corridor formed by the German 14th Armored Corps between the two main armies, whose designation has been identified, must be eliminated as soon as possible.

The past wars he experienced since the war started last year told Vasilevsky that every time the Soviet army was surrounded and destroyed, it often started with the large-scale troops at the group army level being pocketed by the Germans.

The power of the German armored clusters, which are good at long-distance maneuvers and deep penetration, is clearly there. If the corridors of the German armored clusters are not eliminated as soon as possible and re-opened, Vasilevsky can almost conclude that Stalingrad will be destroyed. Start here.

No matter what, tonight's counterattack will be the top priority in determining the direction of the future battle! Even if your eyes are completely dark and you can't see your fingers, you must fight in the dark. There is no second choice.

After reading the telegram in his hand, he handed it to Yeremenko for review. Vasilevsky, who was still worried about the situation on the front line, spoke again to Major General Korshuv who was waiting in front of him.

"What about in other directions? Is there any latest situation coming through?"

"Not many. At present, only a few units in the main directions have re-established contact with the headquarters. The rest are still in contact, but there is one piece of news worth noting. The fighter aviation reported that a bombing raid more than two hours ago The German bomber formation in the center of the city suddenly changed its route and avoided our fighter aviation unit that was preparing to intercept them on the planned course. "

"The fighter aviation unit sent to intercept the German bomber formation immediately rerouted to other airspace to support the battle. However, they reported that the German bomber formation rerouted in the direction of the tractor factory, and the Germans did not drop any bombs. It should be It’s loaded with weapons.”