Chapter 698 Underground Bunker

Amid the sound of gunfire, the Soviet and German armies engaged in a brutal close combat on Mamayev Kurgan.

There were no tanks, no planes, and large-caliber howitzers could not play a role here, but the fierceness of the battle was even worse than the battles with these equipment.

Both the enemy and us were adding troops to the battlefield in batches, and then fighting and consuming in batches on the dark hills, grenades, bayonets, and even stones and teeth... Even if the German army had MP43 in their hands, nothing was impossible in the dark. As long as a gap was blown out by the enemy's grenade or temporarily suppressed by the mortar, the Soviet army lurking at close range would immediately surge up like a tide to fight the German army in close combat.

But whether it was close combat or close combat, the MP43 could perfectly interpret its firepower and continuity. As long as the German army was given any time, they could reorganize the defense line in the form of grenades and MP43 to repel the enemy.

Of course, this was inseparable from the quality of the German soldiers.

Sometimes Qin Chuan could even order all German soldiers to retreat, and then rely on the firepower of the tanks to carry out intensive killing of the Soviet army that followed closely.

The battle lasted all night, and the Soviet army reluctantly stopped the attack until the next day when it was bright... Because if the attack continued, the German fighters and bombers would appear again, and then the Soviet army would obviously suffer greater casualties.

However, the Soviet tanks did not escape in the end, because they needed to hide in the ruins of Stalingrad to avoid being discovered by German fighters. Most of them half-buried themselves in the ruins with only a little turret exposed, so that they could shoot when necessary and maneuver and were difficult to be discovered by enemy aircraft in the air.

But now they had to be exposed in order to assist in the attack on Mamayev Kurgan, and this exposure was stared at by German fighters, followed by machine guns and bombs. In less than ten minutes, the five tanks became a pile of scrap metal with black smoke and flames.

Qin Chuan did not climb Mamayev Kurgan all night.

Because he knew that in a battle like this, it was more important to grasp the rhythm of the battle so that the German troops stationed there could advance and retreat with reason, or to replenish some troops for Mamayev Kurgan in time, or to command the mortar troops to suppress it.

Facts also proved that Qin Chuan was right to do so. The German casualties for the whole night were only a hundred, and the Soviet bodies on the hill were at least thousands.

"It's time to clean up the bodies!" Qin Chuan raised his head towards the bodies on the hill: "Otherwise, in a few days, our way up will be blocked by piles of disgusting rotten meat!"

"Yes, Major!" The soldiers responded and took action.

The bodies of the German soldiers would be picked out and buried nearby, while the bodies of the Soviet soldiers would not be treated so well. They would be piled in a pit, layer by layer, and finally piled into a small hill, like a pile of dry firewood, and then poured with gasoline and ignited... The smell made the soldiers on the defense line tie their mouths and noses with towels.

Soon, the second battalion, as the reserve, came up to exchange guards with Qin Chuan. After fighting for so long, it was time for the first battalion to rest.

Qin Chuan explained the layout of the defense line, the tactics that the enemy might use, and some dangers to the commander of the second battalion, Bazel, in front of the map and the real scene, and then shook hands with Bazel and said, "Good luck!"

"You too!" Bazel patted Qin Chuan's shoulder with deep sighs and said, "Look at you, you were a new recruit when I met you, but now you can stand on your own!"

Qin Chuan nodded to Bazel gratefully. Although he had little contact with this old superior and didn't even say a few words, it was precisely in this way that Bazel's greatness could be reflected... Qin Chuan had been bypassing him to contact Colonel Slaine and even General Strike. If it was someone else, I'm afraid there would be few people like Bazel who had no grudges.

After the battle at Mamayev Kurgan was deadlocked, Stalingrad was a little bit unable to hold on.

The reason is simple. Mamayev Kurgan was under the control of the German army, which directly led to the precise blockade of the central ferry... German artillery observers could clearly grasp when and where the reinforcements from the east bank landed from Mamayev Kurgan, and then call in artillery fire to cover it.

This greatly reduced the number of troops and supplies available to Stalingrad, and even the supply of bullets was a problem.

For this reason, Chuikov had to evacuate his underground bunker on Pushkin Street.

In fact, it was more of an escape than an evacuation.

Because at noon that day, a team of German troops suddenly attacked the entrance of Chuikov's underground bunker... Although the urban guerrilla warfare strategy formulated by Chuikov caused great trouble to the German army, it was generally successful.

But the problem is that guerrilla warfare often does not have a unified and clear line of defense, so that even the enemy or the position of oneself is not sure.

The appearance of the German army was completely beyond Chuikov's expectations, because the location of the underground bunker was very close to the central ferry.

But Chuikov didn't dare to think too much, he immediately ordered the staff and guards to fight against the German army.

However, these people were not professional combat personnel after all, and the underground bunker was soon filled with wounded.

At the same time, Chuikov was also angry to see that the people around him were not as brave as they usually showed... Drivers, messengers and even many officers fled to the safety of the underground bunker under various excuses. According to them, it was "convenient to command" and "discuss solutions."

In fact, this is not surprising at all, because most of the Soviet command organizations were established in peacetime, not selected during wartime. Many of them even desperately squeezed into the command center to work just to avoid going to the battlefield and facing the enemy. Now it just exposed their true nature.

Because the underground bunker had no ventilation system, the bunker was soon filled with smoke, heat and stench, and soon there would be a lack of oxygen.

Fortunately, there was another secret passage in the underground bunker, which led directly to the Volga River a few miles away.

Chuikov hurriedly fled to the Volga River with important documents and combat situation maps, as well as his staff group, and crossed the Volga River by boat under the cover of night.

But Chuikov knew that he could not stay on the east bank of the Volga River to command, because as he said before, either defend Stalingrad or die there.

If the Soviet soldiers knew that he had withdrawn across the Volga River, Stalingrad would soon fall.

So, Chuikov immediately boarded an armored speedboat and crossed the Volga River again and returned to Stalingrad.