When Chuikov returned to Stalingrad, he was not returning to the main southern districts, but to the northern industrial districts.

The reason was that the main city in the south had almost no safe place to use as a headquarters, and even the last line of defense of the Soviet army, the Central Ferry, would be bombed by the Germans at any time.

In principle, there were no security zones in the northern industrial zone, but the Soviets could create several.

This safe place was the side wall of the "Red Barricade" artillery factory, which had been burned down by the Germans.

The east side of the "Red Barricade" artillery plant is adjacent to the Volga River, but there is a 650-foot (200 m) high cliff.

The cliff was undoubtedly a dead end for German artillery fire, and the German air force could not bomb it, and there were many factories and factories from which sewage was discharged into the Volga...... There was no such thing as environmental protection at this time.

The Soviets blasted several caves near the sewer pipes on the cliffs to serve as headquarters, and then built several communication trenches to connect these headquarters to the ground or sewer pipes.

(Note: At this time, Stalingrad's sewage pipes and sewers were used by the Soviet army as underground passages for guerrilla warfare)

To Chuikov's dismay, his command was once again short of manpower...... In the process of moving the command to the east bank of the Volga and back, many officers and staff officers quietly slipped away and stayed on the east bank.

In times of crisis, such people who only care about their own lives, greedy for life and fear of death are the most hated, and it is these officers and staff officers who usually ask the soldiers to fight bravely on the battlefield with righteous and even unreasonable words.

"It can't go on like this!" Chuikov said a worried Krylov.

"Comrade Chuikov!" Krylov comforted: "Let them go, let's go, we don't have to be disappointed for them!" ”

"What? Do you think I'm disappointed in those who fled from Command? Chuikov replied: "No, Comrade Krylov, their departure is probably a good thing. You know, Stalingrad is undersupplied, at least we don't have to feed those wastes with precious food anymore! ”

Krylov nodded, and then said: "You are talking about Stalingrad?" ”

"Yes!" Chuikov nodded: "What else can I worry about but Stalingrad?" The enemy occupied the Mamayev Height, which we could not recapture despite heavy casualties...... This has a direct impact on our logistics, and if it goes on like this, it won't be long before Stalingrad will be fully occupied by the enemy! ”

Chuikov's fears were justified, and while the Soviets were right to use close-quarters and guerrilla tactics, no tactics would be useful if the soldiers did not even have food and ammunition.

"We can open a temporary ferry!" Krylov suggested.

"Many places are not suitable as ferries, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov shook his head and sighed: "For example, there are cliffs like ours here, and there are mud beaches, there are places that are suitable for opening ferries, but there are no roads...... Moreover, it will be blocked by the fire of enemy fighters, and the amount of cargo unloaded is very limited! ”

After a pause, Chuikov said: "So, we still have to recapture Mamayev Gang!" ”

"But Comrade Chuikov ......," Krylov looked at Chuikov with some puzzlement.

"I know, Comrade Krylov!" Chuikov said: "We are undersupplied, and the enemy is still an elite unit used to occupy Mamayev Height, and if we continue to fight, the 13th Guards Division will be completely annihilated!" ”

After a pause, Chuikov said, "However, I think we can find this victory elsewhere!" ”

Elsewhere, Chuikov is referring to two aspects:

One was the Stalingrad Front, the Soviet army north of the Don River under the command of Zhukov.

In the previous battles, the Stalingrad Front took the initiative to attack the Germans in order to buy time for Stalingrad, and although it suffered heavy losses, it basically achieved its strategic objectives.

At this time, after a few weeks of recuperation, the Stalingrad Front returned to a certain combat effectiveness.

Chuikov believed that it was time for the Stalingrad Front to play its role again.

Zhukov, of course, knew that Stalingrad was at a critical juncture, so he did not oppose and again organized the onslaught of the 1st Guards Army on the northern lines of the German army.

Paulus was a little panicked under the attack of the Soviet army...... If before, the Germans could have transferred elite Panzer Divisions to the northern line of defense for reinforcements, but now the 14th Panzer Army and even the 21st Panzer Division, which was part of the 4th Panzer Army, were mired in the battle of the city of Stalingrad.

This can also be said to be one of the reasons why the German army will lose in the Battle of Stalingrad...... The whole battle was fought on two fronts, and even the northern defense line from Kotluban to the Volga River was actually surrounded by the Soviet army on three sides, and once the Soviets occupied Kotluban, then the German army would fall into the dilemma of being counter-encircled by the Soviet army at any time.

In other words, such a strategic encirclement is only suitable for a quick victory, otherwise the further the situation drags on, the more unfavorable it will be for the German army...... The Germans also wanted to fight quickly, but they didn't expect Stalingrad to drag on for so long, and it seems that it will continue to drag on.

In the end, Paulus had no choice but to send the 16th Motorized Infantry Division and the 298th Infantry Division, which were directly under the army group as reserves, to reinforce the northern defensive line.

That is, the lack of forces led to the fact that the Germans had essentially no reserves in the Stalingrad direction.

That's exactly what Chuikov wanted.

At the same time, Chuikov implemented a counter-assault plan in Stalingrad:

Chuikov formed a divisional assault corps in the north and south of Stalingrad, with the 112th Infantry Division and the 193rd Infantry Division in the main body, and then supplemented them with stragglers and even armed civilians.

There were not many problems in the formation of these two assault units in terms of troops, and although there was an extreme shortage of soldiers in Stalingrad, it was not a great problem to cobble together two divisions with stragglers and civilians.

The bigger problem is the issue of ammunition for these two commandos...... If you want to attack, you must have enough ammunition and supplies, otherwise you will only die if you rush forward.

Chuikov's solution was to start with two things: one was to open a temporary ferry port, as Krylov said, and the other was to organize the airdrop of 2 transport planes.

This airdrop is a bit like the German airdrop at the Battle of Holm, which was carried out at night using gliders, parachutes, etc.

It's just that later gliders and even parachutes were not enough, and violent airdrops could only be used...... That is, the weapons and equipment were wrapped in straw and other things and thrown directly from the transport aircraft to the ground.