Steel Soviet Union

The violent air attack that Malashenko suffered was only a partial microcosm of the entire Stalingrad battlefield. Thousands of German aircraft took turns to fight against the Soviet fighter aviation regiments over the city that defended the name of the leader. Streams and flames flew across the sky, and more German frontline bomber groups continued to pour death fire towards the smoke-filled city below.

Stalingrad in August was experiencing a scorching summer. What was extremely unfortunate was that strong winds blew in Stalingrad on August 23.

Aerial bombs dropped like rain by the German aircraft fleet indiscriminately in every corner of the city. The flame storm when the aerial bombs exploded and the strong wind blowing in the streets and alleys of the city convected into a strong fire storm, which looked like Countless fire dragons were running around in every corner of the city.

Large areas of residential buildings in the city were completely reduced to ruins by aerial bombs dropped by the Luftwaffe. Civilians with their families were running desperately on the burning streets trying to escape, while those who were about to die lay on the ground in pain. Moaning all the time.

The Volga River wharf, which was used by the Soviet army to supply materials and soldiers, became a key concern of the German army. Powerful aerial bombs blew up the oil storage tanks on the wharf, and burning black smoke shot straight into the sky. Oil also flowed freely into the Volga River.

The pier ignited by the oil storage tank fire has become a sea of ​​​​fire, and the ships anchored in the port were quickly burned into empty shells by the fire at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Red Army soldiers and dock workers who were trying their best to put out the fire were shouting and shouting at the top of their lungs. Women and children were not sure where to flee to avoid the death that fell from the sky. The death and disaster caused by the invaders enveloped every household in the city.

The unprecedented large-scale air raid launched by the German Air Force not only destroyed the city, but even the current situation of the Stalingrad Front Army Headquarters was not easy.

Only half an hour after the air raid began, all the telephone lines and communication antennas at the Stalingrad Front headquarters were blown up and destroyed. Although the headquarters itself located in the underground bunker was not seriously injured, the inability to contact the frontline troops and Moscow made the front army commander Yeremenko anxious like an ant on a hot pot.

"Still unable to contact you? Can you contact the frontline troops?"

Yeremenko, who was pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back, suddenly stopped and asked the confidential secretary a question for the fourth time in ten minutes, but there was still no word from the answer he was waiting for.

"All methods have been tried, Comrade Commander. We have been trying to make calls from the moment the contact was interrupted, but we still have no results!"

""

Yeremenko, who was already speechless about the situation, twitched his eyebrows and couldn't hold back a word for a long time. After seeing this, Vasilevsky beside him stepped forward and patted his partner on the shoulder.

"All the communications units of the headquarters have been sent out for emergency repairs. We should be able to contact the troops soon. Now we have to do something within our capabilities."

"What's within my power?"

Yeremenko was slightly surprised when he heard Vasilevsky's words. It seemed that Vasilevsky did have a better solution to the current situation.

"What can you do? Tell me."

"The method is not a particularly good one, and it cannot even be called a method. Instead of sitting here and waiting for the communication to be restored, it is better to send more people out to inspect the frontline battle situation and bring orders. Although this will It’s a bit slow and troublesome, but it doesn’t take too many people to cover the main front before the contact is interrupted, which is far better than sitting here and waiting!”

It is indeed not a particularly good way to use people to convey orders and bring back messages for communication. Not only is the timeliness very poor, but it is not necessarily accurate for both parties to communicate. But at the moment, there seems to be no other choice other than doing this.

"Okay, let's take action now. Send more people out, just in case. Those German bombings may cause unexpected trouble. Is there anything else you need to add? Comrade Vasilevsky ”

Vasilevsky, who came to Stalingrad personally from the Moscow base camp with the order of his loving father Comrade Stalin to supervise the battle, holds great power in his hands. Yereomenko was obviously asking Vasilevsky about his final decision. .

Vasilevsky did not hesitate to answer Yereomenko's inquiry. The urgent situation on the front line no longer allowed any more hesitation on minutiae issues.

"I have nothing to add, but don't forget the situation at the tractor factory. There are only Malashenko's group of new recruits and a half-replenished tank brigade. I am worried that such an important strategic target will be destroyed." Attracting a large number of German main force swarmed in. "

Being reminded by Vasilevskiy, he suddenly remembered the phone call Malashenko made to him earlier. It was indeed a bit of a situation for the German army to invest a fully equipped armored regiment at the beginning of the battle. extraordinary.

"I understand. I will send people to contact the tractor factory. In addition, the city has just urgently mobilized a group of workers to distribute weapons. There are about two companies. Do you want to see if we need to send tractors first? The factory is supporting the fight? We have enough trucks and support will be in place soon."

It is an undeniable fact that there will not be any large-scale reinforcements in the short term. Although the two companies of the workers' armed forces are a drop in the bucket for this level of brutal fighting, they are still better than nothing. Vasilevsky almost thought Without thinking, he nodded to Yeremenko in agreement.

"I think it's okay, let's do it."

At the moment when the two command bosses were talking about their names, Malashenko, who had repelled the Germans' second group charge, was taking advantage of the short fighting gap to hurriedly jump out of the car and came to the place where he had been shelled. Political Commissar Petrov was found in front of the telephone in the ruined factory area.

"How's it going? Can you contact the headquarters?"

With a dusty face and a tilted tank cap, Malashenko looked like a bandit leader doing business without money. Malashenko, who didn't care about his appearance at all, only cared about whether he could contact the superior front army headquarters.

Political Commissar Petrov, who was standing in front of the phone and holding the microphone in his hand for an unknown number of times, shook his head slightly.

Similar to the situation on the front army side, Petrov, the political commissar sitting in the regiment headquarters of the tractor factory, has never stopped trying to contact him since the communication was interrupted, but the silence from the microphone can only bring disappointment.