The deception scheme during the day is much more brutal than at night.

Because it really needed fishing boats to rush to the crossing, otherwise if there were no fishing boats on the Volga, the German pilots would know that something was wrong at a glance.

The problem is that there are not many military supplies in these fishing boats.

The reason why I say "not much" is because the fishing boats also contain some not very important materials, such as military uniforms. Then I drove up the river with the idea that I would risk my life to rush to the ferry anyway, and I could transport a little bit of it.

The anti-aircraft fire on the sandbar was very different from what it had been, with many anti-aircraft pillboxes and firing points having been built overnight, but most of them were fake, and only a few were real...... Something has to be true, otherwise it will be easy for the enemy to see through without shells and bullets shooting into the sky.

Finally, the waste tires were burned on the sandbar and the river, and black smoke was everywhere, and all the deployment was completed.

Needless to say, German fighters swooped down from the air one after another, and shells exploded on the river in rows. Then fishing boats and firing points were blown up by the Germans.

However, it is conceivable that the results achieved by the Germans were much smaller than imagined, and it can even be said that this result was far less than the ammunition and fuel consumed by the Germans.

In addition to the competition between people, what cannot be ignored in war is equipment and supplies.

If you can make the enemy's supplies a little less and waste a little more, it means that the balance of victory will be more tilted in your favor.

This was the case at this time, except that the Germans did not realize it.

However, Paulus was suspicious at this time.

Although on the surface everything seemed normal: judging by the interrogation of the prisoners by the intelligence services, there seemed to be nothing wrong with the Russians' supplies being dwindling all the time, and the Germans were steadily advancing, Paulus felt that something was wrong.

"General!" Seeing Paulus's brows furrowed when he looked at the intelligence, the adjutant couldn't help but ask suspiciously, "Is there any problem?" ”

"The problem is that there is no problem!" Paulus replied: "Everything is calm! ”

"What do you mean?" The adjutant was a little puzzled.

"If ......," Paulus said, "if the Russians' transport lines have been completely blocked by us, Stalingrad will be completely occupied by our troops, as we imagine, and the Russian 62nd Army will be surrounded and annihilated by us...... How do you think the Russians should react? ”

Hearing this, the adjutant couldn't help but suddenly realize: "They should be nervous, or have some reaction!" ”

"Yes!" Paulus nodded: "So I have been worried that the enemy Stalingrad Front will make some moves, just like before, they will launch a large-scale counteroffensive in order to prevent our army from attacking Stalingrad, or carry out emergency mobilization to reinforce Stalingrad...... But they didn't do anything! ”

"Does this mean that they are confident?" The adjutant immediately laughed: "No, this can't be, General!" ”

"Nothing is impossible!" Paulus replied, "This is war, and the enemy should have to make some moves, if not for some other reason." On the other hand, if our blockade is as successful as we think, the war should not be like this! ”

It is true that although the German army is still advancing steadily, another meaning of "steady" is "slow", that is, the speed is not faster than before.

If Shulka had heard these words, he would have been impressed by Paulus's thoughtfulness.

This was indeed Shulka's negligence, and he should have at least made the Soviet troops on the east bank nervous, and put on a show of emergency mobilization with loud propaganda on the loudspeaker.

"So, what's wrong?" The adjutant asked.

"I don't know!" Paulus replied: "But I'm sure something went wrong!" ”

After thinking about it, Paulus pointed to the map and said: "Our army encircles Stalingrad on three sides, and only the Volga River in the east cannot be encircled. So, if there's any problem, it must be on a sandbank! ”

This conclusion is not difficult to come to using the method of elimination: there will certainly be no problem in the place on land that is surrounded by German troops. There would have been no problem with the transport access in front of the Mamayev Heights, as that was the point of the German blockade, and the bombardment by warplanes and artillery was almost incessant, even at night. As a result, only the sandbar remains.

"They can't be transported through sandbars!" Said the adjutant.

"At least we need to scout!" Paulus looked into the eyes of the adjutant and said in an unquestioning tone: "Tonight! ”

Paulus's order was carried out.

The adjutant arranged for six reconnaissance aircraft to carry out reconnaissance missions...... He did not send night fighters, because the adjutant did not think that any danger would occur in such a reconnaissance, and at the same time, the night fighters should remain in the vicinity of Mamayev Hill and continue to block the river.

The blockade of transport lines must be like this, and should not be relaxed at any time, otherwise the progress made is likely to be undone if it is only opened up.

The adjutant originally thought that this would be a very simple task, because the reconnaissance plane only needed to fly over the sandbar and fire a few flares and take a few photos along the way.

But soon the adjutant sensed that something was wrong.

"Colonel, we are hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire!" Captain Detrich, who was on a reconnaissance mission, reported to the adjutant: "It's strange that they have a lot of fire...... They actually laid such dense anti-aircraft fire in the depth of the sandbank, and there were searchlights......"

"That's probably because their anti-aircraft fire close to the transport channel has already been destroyed by us!" The adjutant replied disapprovingly.

"I don't think so, Colonel!" Captain Detrich replied: "I mean, if they have so much anti-aircraft fire, why not move them in the direction of the transport channel?" It's a complete waste to put it here, isn't it? ”

"Continue your reconnaissance mission, Captain!" The adjutant said: "Leave those anti-aircraft fire ......"

Before he had finished speaking, he heard Captain Detrich shout: "Number three has been hit!" Number Three was hit...... Colonel, it's night, and if we want to reconnoitre, we have to fly low in the face of those anti-aircraft fire! But their fire was so dense that we could be shot down if we lowered the height a little......"

The adjutant was a little speechless, if the anti-aircraft fire was dense to this extent, it would be really abnormal.

Or rather, this is what the enemy is hiding, that is, what they don't want to see!

Thinking of this, the adjutant ordered: "Continue to reconnoitre, I will let the night fighters reinforce you!" ”

"Yes, Colonel!" Detrich replied.

The next second, Detrich nervously reported on the walkie-talkie: "Wait, I seem to see something, is that a ship?" ”