It is not surprising that Colonel Pavelkov would have been taken aback by this.

Because any unit that dares to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy already shows its combat effectiveness.

The reason is that hand-to-hand combat requires more courage.

In the battle of guns and artillery in the positions of each other, bullets and shells often come before they are mentally prepared, and they do not realize that they are injured until they see the wound and feel the pain.

But hand-to-hand combat, which requires confronting bayonets, blood, and the distorted faces of the enemy

Sometimes you have to feel the enemy's helplessness, eagerness, and fear at the same time, and the general stabs one by one, slowly advancing the opponent's heart.

That's what Shulka was doing at this time.

Anytime you scuffle with an opponent in hand-to-hand combat, the whole world seems to fall silent, and there is only one other in each other's eyes.

There is no other reason, at this time, all strategies, tactics, official ranks, etc. are all useless, and there is only one useful one, strength.

It was only then that Shulka truly grasped the true meaning of "two fists against four hands".

The strength of the enemy and the enemy is actually about the same, that is, they are evenly matched, and at this time, as long as one more pair of hands, or even one hand, takes a pistol or a military stab at Shulka, and the battle is over.

But the intensity of this hand-to-hand combat lies in the fact that the enemy and the enemy are roughly equal in strength.

Or it can't be said that the forces are roughly equal, this hand-to-hand combat took place in smoke bombs, the visibility is only two meters, and even if there are extra troops at a distance, you can't see it, of course, it won't help here.

Shulka was clever in the scuffle, and he rolled over and crushed his opponent into a crater blown up by a mortar...... Rolling into this pit means that both sides are blocked and unable to move, so the opponent falls into passivity.

Then, Shulka pressed his weight on the thorn in his hand.

The German soldier struggled desperately, he held Shulka's hand and tried to push Shulka away with the last of his strength.

But he didn't succeed, and could only watch as the stab approached his heart point by point.

Shulka could see the desperation in his eyes, and could even understand the pleading in his mouth.

But Shulka knew he couldn't be soft-hearted.

Because this is a hand-to-hand combat to the death, if Shulka lets him go, the next second he will immediately kill Shulka against the guest.

And so, the stab got closer and closer...... The tip of the knife pierced through the flesh of the uniform, and the German soldier screamed in despair, and finally struggled to change the direction of the stab, but was unsuccessful.

The next second he gave up, and as soon as he let go, the stab stabbed him hard into his heart, and the blood burst out like a fountain, and the pain distorted the German soldier's brain, and his whole body twitched like an electric shock.

Pulling out the thorn, the German soldiers seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, and then their heads tilted and they lost their lives.

Shulka rolled over and lay on the ground, he was exhausted, and if another enemy appeared at this time, Shulka might have to give up like the German soldiers who had just died at his hands.

No one likes to give up their lives, they are even willing to fight until the last moment.

But sometimes the situation just doesn't allow them to live one more moment.

Fortunately, this did not happen, and the Soviets once again took advantage of hand-to-hand combat.

This should be taken for granted.

The reason is that whenever hand-to-hand combat is fought, the Soviets will organize mortars to carry out immovable blocking fire on the German-controlled positive slope, which makes it difficult for the German follow-up troops to reinforce them, or even if they are reinforced, they will suffer casualties.

The Germans, on the other hand, did not dare to do so.

Because as mentioned before, the battlefield is on the anticline where the Soviets are located, and if the Germans carry out blocking artillery bombardment, the casualties may be greater than those charging German units.

In other words, the Soviet army always received strong reinforcements in every close combat, but this was not the case with the German army.

Therefore, even if the German army was superior to the Soviet army in all aspects, even the physical fitness was no exception...... It should be said that the physical fitness of the German army was much better than that of the Soviet army.

In 1938, Germany had already achieved "milk and bread on every family's table".

The Soviet Union, on the other hand, had just recovered from the famine, and even most of its soldiers experienced it. (Note: The second famine in the Soviet Union took place in 1932-1933)

This determined that the average physical fitness of Soviet soldiers was inferior to that of the Germans.

It should be said that this is also the reason why the German commander, Lieutenant Colonel Edmund, has confidence in close combat: the German soldiers are obviously superior to the Soviet soldiers in terms of military quality and physical fitness, so why can't they suppress the Soviet army from occupying the Mamayev Height?!

However, the battlefield is not a simple comparison, and sometimes the objective conditions or the artificially created favorable situation are more important than the soldiers themselves.

Lieutenant Colonel Edmond also seems to be aware of this.

He frowned and said to Lieutenant Colonel Bauer: "Now it seems that it is not only the direct-fire weapons that have lost their effectiveness, but even the mortar units have been limited to some extent!" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Bauer looked at Mamayev Gang and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel Edmond, I'm thinking...... Can we fire assault guns at Mamayev Posts? ”

"Drive the tank up?" Lieutenant Colonel Edmund was a little surprised.

"Yes!" Lieutenant Colonel Bauer replied: "Although it is somewhat difficult, I mean that there is hardly a decent road at Mamayev Hill, and it is full of craters, but it has a gentle slope. If you let the sappers build a way under the cover of artillery fire and throw tanks and assault guns into battle......"

"That seems like a good idea!" Lieutenant Colonel Edmond nodded in agreement.

"Let's move fast!" Lieutenant Colonel Bauer looked at the sky and said, "In a few hours it will be dark, and then it will be difficult for our tanks and assault guns to work." Also, I don't think we can let the enemy find out about our movements, otherwise they will be prepared! ”

"Of course!" Lieutenant Colonel Edmond replied.

Lieutenant Colonel Edmund's solution was simple, that is, to maintain the infantry attack on Mamayev Heights, even if the German soldiers fell on the Soviet anticline positions one after another.

The sound of gunfire, explosions, and fighting was enough to drown out the German movement on the positive slope.

On the other hand, the German sappers were clever enough to combine roads with existing fortifications...... Some of the fortifications were slightly modified to make a good road, so that the Germans could build two zigzag roads up the hill in the shortest possible time, so that tanks and assault guns could reach the top of the hill.

The plan went well, as the Soviet troops, including Shulka, knew nothing about it.

"Get ready for battle!" When everything was ready, Lieutenant Colonel Edmund gave the order to the troops: "The time has come to solve the problem!" ”