"But how do we prepare?" Kalashnikov asked.

"Remember what I said earlier?" Shulka replied: "We should hide supplies and equipment underground instead of on the ground!" ”

"I told them, but no one listened to me!" Kalashnikov said: "They all thought I was worrying about nothing, and no one believed that the Germans would fight here!" ”

Shulka was a little helpless, because it was really hard to believe, unless Shulka told them that he could predict the future.

However, Shulka also knew that when the German army reached Stalingrad and surrounded it, Stalingrad would be in an unprecedented predicament, and even the commander of the army group, Chuikov, who later took over the command, would rarely have a bowl of millet porridge.

Therefore, at this time, if you do not store the last batch of ammunition or supplies for the troops, you will not be sorry for yourself and the 82nd Infantry Regiment.

Thinking about it, Shulka said to Kalashnikov: "I remember that the workshop for the production of tanks at the tractor plant was in the Eastern District, right? ”

"Yes!" Kalashnikov replied: "Are there any idle underground warehouses there?" ”

"Yes, and there are quite a few!" Kalashnikov replied: "But those are basements, used to accumulate debris and damage old machines that cannot be repaired for a while!" ”

Perhaps in order to facilitate the storage of food for the winter, the Soviets used to build basements, and this custom was even carried to the factory buildings.

"Think of a way!" Shulka said, "Free up those basement machines and use them to store supplies!" ”

"I don't have that clearance!" Kalashnikov looked at Shulka expectantly: "Comrade Sisoy can do this, and he believes in you!" ”

So Shulka had to go and find Sisoy.

But, of course, Shulka was not talking about the possibility of the Germans attacking Stalingrad.

Otherwise, one day, when the Germans really hit Stalingrad, it would be difficult for him to explain why he could not predict the prophet.

"Comrade Sisoy!" "I found a serious problem during the production of the troops, such as the rifle production workshop and the ammunition depot...... They are easily bombed by the enemy! I have experienced the Battle of Brest, and the Germans would bombard these workshops and warehouses with the air force at the first opportunity, leaving us in a state of undersupply! Even I have reason to believe that they may have mastered the location of our warehouses. ”

Sisoi nodded and said, "That's a good suggestion, Comrade Shulka. But...... Now it seems that it is too late to transfer, and it is not a trivial matter to move the workshop, which will waste a lot of manpower and time! ”

After a pause, Sisoi continued: "What's more, we don't have extra ammunition and supplies to store, almost all of our supplies are being sent to the front, you know, these are urgently needed on the front line!" ”

"I don't mean now, Comrade Sisoy!" "I just think we should do something first, like vacate those basements so that they can be used as warehouses for us when we need to," Shulka said. ”

With that, Shulka handed Sisoy a blueprint that marked the basement of the East Side.

Shulka pointed to the drawings and said, "We can open a few exits here, here, and here, and then haul out useless machines and debris from these exits, so that it can be easily converted into a warehouse!" Some safe, unhurried warehouses that are not afraid of being bombed by the enemy are also useful for transit! ”

Sisoy quickly agreed, after all, it didn't delay the production schedule, and after all, it was just to store the materials in a safer underground warehouse, so why not?

This matter was entrusted to Kalashnikov, with the assistance of the 82nd Infantry Regiment, so the 82nd Infantry Regiment did nothing after training, that is, emptying warehouses.

Although it is true that at the moment, as Sisoy said, the supplies are transported to the train station and then to the front line almost as soon as they are produced, so there is not much in the warehouse.

But Shulka wasn't worried about it at all.

Because he knew that before Stalingrad fell into trouble, there would be a period of material overstocking: the troops fighting on the front line were surrounded by the Germans and could not deliver supplies, while Stalingrad was still producing, so all kinds of ammunition, guns, and food would be backlogged in the warehouse.

Since no one expected this to happen, most of these supplies were stored in temporary warehouses without security, which were bombed by German fighters...... Something similar happened like the Brest Fortress, where a large number of strategic materials were blown up at the first opportunity.

In addition, Shulka takes into account several other aspects.

For example, the Eastern Zone, where tanks were produced, was chosen because he knew that this was a place that had not been occupied by the Germans until the last moment...... At the height of the Battle of Stalingrad, workers drove tanks that had just come off the production line to the battlefield.

Another implication of this statement is that the East End is the safest.

While Shulka was preparing, the battle in the Kharkov direction was already heating up.

The Germans were somewhat taken by surprise.

Paulus, the commander of the German 6th Army, never expected that the Soviet army would launch a counteroffensive at this time, and the focus of the offensive was still Kharkov.

At the same time, the Germans were preparing for the campaign codenamed "Frederick I", the goal of which was to capture the area west of the Severodonets River and southeast of Kharkiv in order to build a reliable line of defense on the river...... Everyone knows that the river is the best line of defense when the snow melts, so you can ensure your safety by occupying the west bank before then.

It can be seen from this that the ambitions of the German army at this stage are not large, and they even only want to stabilize their positions, as for Paulus of the 6th Army at this time, this is what Paulus thinks.

However, the advance of the Soviet troops gave the Germans a chance, a perfect opportunity...... Because the Germans only had to encircle and annihilate the advancing Soviet troops, they could drive straight into their empty rear.

As a result, the appetite of the German army grew, and even pointed directly at Stalingrad.

If it weren't for Hitler's appetite being so great that he thought he could take Stalingrad and the Caucasus at the same time, so he divided the German army into two armies, A and B, it is not yet known who will die in this battle.

At this time, Paulus couldn't help but be ecstatic when he learned that the Soviet army was attacking.

"General!" The adjutant reported: "The Soviets have torn through the defense line of our right flank and advanced twenty kilometers, and we should send reinforcements immediately!" ”

"No, Colonel Fischer!" Paulus replied: "Let them move on, this is our rare opportunity!" ”