"General Xia Ming, hello, thank you very much for your support to our department. As the saying goes, it's better to be famous than to see it, and I have to admit that I had a little personal prejudice against you before, and I'm sorry for my attitude at the time. I have no opinion on the appointment of General Paulus, and I hope that we can work together in good faith and fight a good fight. ”

Xia Ming stood in the temporary barracks at this time and shook hands with Lieutenant General Mer with a smile.

Most of the German officers were of high quality, and Merr got straight to the point as soon as he came up, so that the relationship between the two was a little awkward and quickly resolved.

"I have long forgotten about this, and now we must discuss the specific battle plan for the capture of Mamayev. I hope to take this high ground today. Xia Ming and Moore simply politely turned to the topic.

Time is now the most valuable resource for him, and completing the task a moment earlier will be less risky. So he didn't plan to rest, he wanted to go all at once.

“... Well, yes, I don't have any problems. Mer frowned slightly, and glanced deeply at Xia Ming. Originally, he thought that Xia Ming would rest for the night, but he didn't expect him to attack immediately.

Since he didn't need to rest, he had no reason to rest.

The enemy army at Mamayev Heights also had at least one division, condescending to wait for work. It can be said that any dispatch of them will be fully visible to the enemy. After the battle just now, Merr has fully realized the strong fighting will of the Soviet army at present.

The two discussed it very seriously, it was definitely a tough battle...

*********

At this time, at the headquarters of the 62nd Soviet Army, several supreme commanders responsible for guarding Stalingrad were also stepping up their deployment.

"General Chuikov, the High Command commends you for your bravery in the defense of Stalingrad. At the same time, you must be sure to hold the strategic points that you currently control. As long as we hold out for another 10 days, our strategic defense will enter a new phase. ”

A general from the General Staff casually took out a document and handed it to Chuikov.

"Ha, is our counteroffensive plan finally going to be executed?? Convey to the leader and General Zhukov on my behalf, we have endured it for a long time, and we look forward to this moment as soon as possible. Khrushchev rubbed his hands with some excitement. He had written many plans for a counteroffensive to his leaders, but they were all in vain. But later, he got the news that the Supreme Command had begun to quietly prepare the plan for a major counteroffensive drawn up by Zhukov himself as early as September.

Chuikov took the document and looked at it seriously, and said in a deep voice: "I will do my best to complete the task entrusted to me by the leader and the people, and I will definitely live up to my mission." ”

As the commander of the 62nd Army, he did not want to know about future counteroffensive plans, at least for the time being he was not interested.

As a soldier, he must have the courage to break the boat, and he doesn't want to leave even a little way back for himself.

"General, it's not good." At this moment, the staff officer next to him hurriedly walked over.

"What's the matter??" Chuikov looked at him with a frown. What else could make him so flustered now? Can the sky still fall?

"Mamayev Hill has been surrounded by German troops, and General Ivan is now isolated and asks you to send reinforcements early."

"What?? So fast? Didn't I let them hold out for two days?? Chuikov unconsciously looked at his watch, it's only been a few hours? You know, they have built several lines of defense from Central Station to Mamayev Hills. From mid-September to the present, the German army has been very close, and there has never been a situation where the defensive line quickly collapsed within a few hours.

In fact, he has already begun to mobilize reinforcements, but now the Volga is beginning to freeze, and transportation has become quite difficult. The erection of pontoon bridges is not only a waste of time, but also easily becomes a target for the Air Force, and half of the dead and wounded are killed or wounded before they can be transported. The cost is too great to outweigh the losses.

"General, General Ivan said that the German army attacking this time was very fierce, and he had never seen an opponent with such strong combat strength before. Their number is the 27th Division, and the new division commander is called Xia Ming, who is the demon executioner who has just received the commendation. ”

The staff officer gritted his teeth and said.

“... Xia Ming, this bastard. He defeated Vasily and disgraced us. I was almost shot by the leader! Gotta kill this guy! Khrushchev couldn't help but roar. His political life was almost ruined in Xia Ming's hands, how could he not hate him to the core.

“... You ordered Ivan to hold on to me, at least for two days! I'll try to open the Volga line to support him, you know? Must hold on for two days!! ”

Chuikov roared as he walked to the map and quickly analyzed the plan for crossing the river. Now the Volga River is no longer transportable, so pontoon bridges can only be erected or forced by soldiers.

However, the cost of forcibly crossing the river is very high, and even soldiers with excellent physical fitness will lose more than half of their physical strength if they force themselves to cross the river. You must know that the machine guns on the other side are all set up and waiting for them to rush.

He had been glad that Volga had blocked the Germans' attempts to encircle the city. But now it's a problem of its own. Stalingrad was built on its back to the Volga, and he had no other way to support.

"Here, only from here." Chuikov drew a circle in the narrowest part of the river. He said in a deep voice: "Immediately order the 13th and 17th Infantry Divisions to force their way across the Volga River in this section tonight and support the Mamayev Gang at any cost." ”

"Yes.." The staff officer quickly left the headquarters.

"Xia Ming, reorganize the 27th Division..."Cui Kefu frowned, his expression was very serious. Of course, he had heard of Xia Ming's name, a battle hero touted by the German army. Now that he is still able to fight with a division, isn't he just a sniper with excellent marksmanship? ?

*************

Oct. 31, 11 p.m....

Chuikov frowned and looked at the information in his hand with the cigarette butt, the cigarette butt was about to burn his hand, and he still didn't feel the slightest.

"General, we haven't received any signal from General Ivan, it's been half an hour." One bad news after another silenced the command.

"Bastard!! How is this possible?? Khrushchev's teeth itched angrily, seeing that the counteroffensive order of the Supreme High Command was about to be executed. If he can't defend the city at this time, he will not be able to escape the involvement. Even if he fights back later, it's not his credit. Instead, he would be nailed to the pillar of shame forever.

"General Chuikov, what are you doing? Hurry up and come up with a solution! The Mamayev post is about to be lost, and just now the Supreme High Command commended us, and time is running out. ”

“...”

Cui Kefu looked at the collected Xia Ming information blankly, and he was also anxious.

This German soldier who is like a shooting star, who has grown from a soldier to a general in a few months, is truly legendary.

His strength is not at the tactical level. People are just going to kill you with a knife and a gun, but the momentum is so ferocious. Everything came so suddenly, and it was too late for him to adjust now.

I can only hope that the reinforcements from Forced Crossing will arrive in time...

"General, the reinforcements we forced to cross met with stubborn resistance, they fought to the death and did not retreat, and our losses were very large."

“..... Let them go on the offensive. Chuikov sighed unconsciously, as a good commander, he felt that this time was different. This German soldier named Xia Ming inspired the Sixth Army, which was in a backwater, again. I'm afraid it's hard to succeed in forcing the crossing, but he can't give the order to retreat.

Even if there is a glimmer of hope, he will support Mamayev.

What to do? Do you really want to give up? This must not be done, otherwise how can he be worthy of the heroic souls of so many comrades??

It's uncomfortable, Chuikov is really uncomfortable now.

Looking at Khrushchev, he casually asked: "Our large-scale counterattack began in 10 days?? ”

"I think so."

"How big is it?"

"You can't imagine it, but this is the hardest blow we can get as a nation. The Germans couldn't be happy for a few days. However, it doesn't matter to the general, the important thing is that we hold our ground, and if we lose it, we are ready to be shot by the leader. ”

Chuikov didn't pay attention to Khrushchev and pressed his forehead and said to himself: "That is to say, from a strategic point of view, it is acceptable for us to temporarily lose the Mamayev post." ”

“... Comrade Chuikov, are you listening to me? We can't afford to lose Mamayev. ”

"But we've lost it! It's hard for us to force it now, it's really a senseless sacrifice now, and I don't see any results. If you can muster an air force to the leader to suppress Germany, I will lead everyone to press it now! ”

Chuikov took the case, and he has endured it for a long time.

"So what do you say? Can't you give up? If that's the case, I'll report to my superiors right away, and you'll be prepared to take responsibility. ”

"Instead of forcibly crossing, it is better to fight them in the north. I had a hunch that they wanted to make a last-ditch effort. If we are tired of fighting on two fronts, we may lose on both sides, and we must do our best to defend the industrial zone, otherwise we will really be to blame. Chuikov sighed helplessly, sometimes he had to accept reality.