Chapter 722 Reinforcements

Oil barrel transportation is relatively simple for supply, after all, supply does not require air. Just put ammunition and firearms into the oil barrel and seal it. The only thing to note is not to put too much stuff in it so that it sinks to the bottom of the river and cannot float up.

It is more troublesome to transport a soldier. The problem is that people need air, and at the same time, it is not guaranteed that the oil barrel will always keep one end upward and drift in the river... But this problem was quickly solved. The method is to put some ammunition at the bottom of the oil barrel and fix it to the bottom with a partition.

In this way, even if a person drills in and moves, the oil barrel will always stand upright in the water like a tumbler because of the lower center of gravity, and then a few small holes can be opened on the upper oil barrel cover for breathing.

Of course, the relatively gentle flow of the Volga River is also one of the conditions for the success of this method. Otherwise, the oil barrel is likely to be overturned and rolled in the water in the turbulent water.

However, the gentle flow of the water can be a good thing or a bad thing.

The good thing is that it is safer.

The bad thing is that it takes more time to float from Renok to the sandbar... The average flow rate of the Volga River is about 2 meters per second. The distance between Renok and the sandbar on the river cannot be accurately calculated. It can only be calculated by the distance from Renok to the central ferry of Stalingrad, which is 21 kilometers. After multiplication and division, it is finally obtained that it takes about three hours to float from Renok to the sandbar.

"Three hours?" Qin Chuan didn't expect it to take so long. He couldn't help asking: "Can they do it?"

"That's not a problem, Major!" Alexander replied: "Everyone thinks this is a good method, just like lurking in the position for three hours without moving. It's no big deal!"

Qin Chuan nodded.

In fact, Qin Chuan knew that this mission would not be as easy as they said. On the one hand, the oil barrels had to float under the enemy's noses, and there were many other unknown dangers. On the other hand, although the oil barrels could stand upright in the water, they would inevitably spin. This was completely different from lurking on the battlefield for three hours. After a few spins, you would feel dizzy, especially if you were seasick... Vomiting in the oil barrel was not a good thing, because as long as one person made a move and was discovered by the Soviet army, others, including supplies, would be in danger.

But the fighting spirit and will of the German soldiers were beyond words. Although they knew the dangers, they still resolutely participated in this plan.

The first batch of oil barrels was transported to the middle of the Volga River at ten o'clock in the evening and secretly dropped. There were a total of 150 barrels, of which 100 barrels contained people and 50 barrels contained ammunition. In order to facilitate salvage, these oil barrels were tied together with ropes every ten barrels, that is, as long as one was hooked, a string would be lifted.

Then everyone was waiting anxiously.

In fact, it could not be said to be waiting. Both sides made some preparations.

On Qinchuan's side, he prepared flares, fishing nets, long poles and other things to facilitate the catching of oil barrels passing through the sandbar. Qinchuan even organized a salvage team with good water skills to salvage oil barrels that were far away.

On Alexander's side, he sent reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance over the Volga River. If he found any Soviet fishing boats, he would immediately send fighter planes to bomb, strafe and drive them away... The German Air Force usually did this, but it was special tonight.

Because Alexander was worried that the Soviets would salvage these oil barrels after discovering them... The Soviets were short of oil, especially in Stalingrad, so it was not surprising that they would do this.

Later, I learned that this did happen. A string of oil barrels was picked up by a Soviet fishing boat.

Unfortunately, there were ten German soldiers in these ten oil barrels... The dozen or so Soviets on the fishing boat who were responsible for salvaging were armed civilians, and they did not have rifles with them when they were salvaging.

So the result is predictable. The German soldiers easily occupied the fishing boat and sank it, and then continued to drift down on the oil barrels again... It is said that they wanted to drive the fishing boat to the sandbar, but after discussing it for a while, they felt that it was too dangerous and gave up.

Their approach was correct. The fishing boat was too big a target. When it approached the sandbar, it would arouse the vigilance of both the enemy and us. It is likely to be regarded as an enemy by both the enemy and us and be shot.

The time finally reached three hours. Qin Chuan ordered three flares to be fired in the direction of the Soviet army, and at the same time fired a mortar. Anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns also fired at the opposite side.

On the one hand, this was to send a signal to the German army drifting in the oil barrels, and on the other hand, it was to use the sound of gunfire to cover the sound of salvage or to attract the attention of the Soviet army.

Everything went very smoothly. One hundred and thirty oil barrels were salvaged out of one hundred and fifty... A string of oil barrels containing supplies was leaked, and a string of oil barrels containing people was not salvaged, but the soldiers in it took the initiative to climb out and swim to the sandbar.

So from this point of view, it is easier to transport people.

Because they have subjective initiative, can interact with the soldiers who come to search, and are easy to find even in the dark.

Therefore, the next batch immediately changed to a different way of transportation. Each batch of oil tanks for transporting supplies mixed with two oil barrels for people, so that even supplies would not be missed.

That night, the German army used this method to transport three batches of reinforcements, each batch of 100 people plus 50 barrels of supplies. They did not dare to transport more because they were worried that too many oil barrels floating on the river would arouse the suspicion of the Soviet army.

So the personnel and supplies on Shazhou Island were immediately replenished.

When the two friendly forces met on the sandbar, the situation was closer than brothers... They hugged each other tightly as soon as they met, and their excitement was beyond words.

It is easy to understand that they would have such feelings.

For the reinforcements, these German soldiers on the sandbar are heroes and role models of the German army. It is undoubtedly a pride for them to come here and fight with them.

For the original commandos, these reinforcements solved the problem of their survival and whether they can persist to the end to complete the mission.

This life-and-death relationship determines the solid friendship between them, not to mention that they have the same goal... Stalingrad.

After counting the list of materials and personnel received, Qin Chuan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

Although the personnel received were the 115th Infantry Regiment stationed in Reno, their quality was not as good as the 1st Infantry Regiment, but the 300-man supplement injected fresh blood into the sandbar and solved the problem of insufficient manpower on the sandbar.

Now what Qin Chuan and others have to do is to let these soldiers learn to use some Soviet-made equipment on the sandbar as soon as possible, such as anti-aircraft machine guns.