All of this Qin Chuan didn't know, not even General Stryker.

There are two reasons for this:

One is the Soviet Army, that is, the 13th Guards Infantry Division, which is always fighting with the 1st Infantry Regiment on the front for the Mamayev Heights. Even the 13th Guards Rifle Division was quite effective...... They built layer after layer of trenches on the southern slope and gradually advanced towards the high ground, which made the distance between us and the enemy only about seventy meters.

The reason why it was only possible to advance to this distance was that if you went further, the German grenades could be thrown into the Soviet trenches, and the grenades were a very cheap thing, so it would be difficult for the Soviet troops to continue digging trenches.

However, this is enough to choke, because at a distance of 70 meters, the Soviets only need to temporarily suppress the Germans with artillery fire, and then they can fight the Germans hand-to-hand with a charge.

As a result, hand-to-hand combat was common at Mamayev Heights, and the Soviets also wanted to engage the Germans in hand-to-hand combat, as this would greatly reduce the casualty ratio between friend and foe.

It's just that the Germans have also learned their experience after a few battles, and they only place a small number of dozens of people on the hilltop position on the high ground, and the main force is placed on the second line of defense on the anti-slope...... In short, the hilltop position is used as an outpost rather than a position, so that there is a buffer zone between friend and foe.

As a result, the battles that take place between friend and foe are often not hand-to-hand combat, but hand-to-hand combat.

And in this kind of close combat, the German MP43 can show its might, and beat the Soviet army again and again to heavy casualties.

However, it was precisely because of this that Qin Chuan, Colonel Slein, etc., thought that the Soviets would continue to entangle with the 21st Panzer Division at Mamayev Gang in this way.

An even more important reason was that General Paulus did not inform the 21st Panzer Division about the situation in the northern defense line and the transfer of reserves to the north for reinforcements.

As mentioned earlier, Paulus's 6th Army was in competition with Hort's 4th Panzer Army, and even having the 21st Panzer Division attack Stalingrad was a helpless option.

Therefore, Paulus believed that he did not need to inform the 21st Panzer Division about his own movement of troops...... After all, Paulus is the supreme commander who commands the whole situation.

Paulus was right to do this, because Hitler had ordered it before, and the officers only needed information about their own battles.

The problem was that General Stryk and others, as well as all the German units engaged in the battle of Stalingrad, did not realize the emptiness of the rear forces behind them, and of course could not speculate on the strategic intentions of the Soviet army.

Qin Chuan and others only knew from the word of mouth of the soldiers that the Soviet army had launched an offensive in the north, but no one took this to heart, Qin Chuan and others just regarded this as a harassing action used by Zhukov to reduce the pressure on Stalingrad.

It wasn't until a few days later that Qin Chuan received a phone call.

At that time, the first battalion of Qin Chuan had just been rotated to guard the Mamayev post, and Colonel Slain made a phone call, with a tone of annoyance and a bit of haste: "Withdraw from the Mamayev post immediately!" ”

"What?" Hearing this, Qin Chuan couldn't help but be stunned: "Then the Mamayev Gang ......"

"Don't worry about Mamayev Hill!" Colonel Slane said: "We are going to be surrounded, and the troops of two divisions of the Soviets launched a counter-assault, threatening our left and right flanks!" ”

Qin Chuan opened his mouth wide and couldn't speak for a long time, you must know that at this time, when the German army was attacking, and because the German army occupied the Mamayev Gang and effectively blocked the central ferry for a long time, the Soviet army was at an absolute disadvantage, and it can almost be said that the Soviet army would collapse if it held out like this for a few more days.

Can ...... now The Soviets actually launched a counteroffensive, and they successfully counterattacked the left and right flanks of the 21st Panzer Division, what happened? Where did the reserves go, why not go up to the top ?!

But thinking about it, Qin Chuan did not dare to slack off, because the left and right flanks of the 21st Armored Division were very weak, and they almost fought along a small passage, that is, the railway station, school, and airport, and then hit the Mamayev Gang, if the two divisions of the Soviet army, one on the left and one on the right, outflanked these points...... It will be like Colonel Slein said, the 21st Panzer Division is about to be surrounded.

And this encirclement is still a dead encirclement, with the Volga River to the east, the Bannei Gorge to the north, and two gullies to the south.

So without thinking too much, Qin Chuan immediately let the troops enter the retreat procedure.

There was no difficulty in retreating, mines were laid on the positions along the way, and then several battalions covered each other's retreat, abandoning the airfield and a few streets, and only stopped when they retreated to the school...... The 21st Panzer Division retracted back to help the friendly forces on both flanks, and Colonel Albridge also commanded the tanks of the 5th Panzer Regiment to be scattered at the points between the buildings, making it impossible for the Soviets to break through from them.

However, the Soviet attack on the Germans in the vicinity of the school was only tentative...... The main strategic purpose of the Soviet army was to force the Germans away from the Mamayev post, and now that the strategic goal has been achieved, it does not matter if there is further fighting. The tentative offensive was just a matter of the Soviets wondering if Germany was in a state of confusion during the retreat, and wanted to see if there was an opportunity.

But the tentative attack clearly let them down.

"What happened?" General Stryker called Paulus's headquarters as soon as he stabilized his position: "General, how can so many enemies suddenly appear on our two wings?" ”

"Major General!" Paulus replied helplessly: "They moved to the rear of our army through sewers and sewers, and then suddenly attacked...... Before this, such attacks by the Soviets were small-scale, and we did not expect that they would concentrate two divisions this time and suddenly launch a charge, and our rear forces were seriously insufficient! ”

"What about our reserves?" Major General Stryk asked: "It only takes two regiments to cover our left and right flanks to thwart this Soviet attack, and now we have to give up the airfield and the Mamayev post!" ”

"I know, Major General!" Paulus replied: "Our reserves have already reinforced the northern line, and we are short of troops!" ”

General Stryk asked incredulously, "But why don't we know anything......

"What if you know? Major general! Paulus asked, "Can you defend your flanks while attacking Mamayev Heights?" Or conjure up more troops like a magician? ”

So General Stryk had nothing to say.

The retreat had the serious effect of interrupting the artillery blockade of the central ferry and reopening the supply lines from the east bank to Stalingrad by the Soviets.