This is actually normal. The "breakout heroes" have led the surrounded troops to break out of the encirclement again and again. Now, hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops are surrounded by the German army and they are still elite troops. So the conditioned reflex is to hope to break out of the encirclement and then think of it.
"Breakout Hero".
At this time, Stalin actually had plans to call Shulka, but he could not let go of this shame.
You must know that this attack was proposed under the opposition of the vast majority of military officers, especially when Stalin excluded Zhukov, Rokossovsky and other heroes and let Timoshenko command this crucial battle.
...At the same time, Zhukov and others have a very good relationship with Shulka and can even be said to be in the same group.
During the time when Shulka was under suspicion, Zhukov and Rokossovsky had many good words for Shulka.
Therefore, calling Shulka almost means that Stalin admitted his mistake to Zhukov and other officers.
This was difficult for Stalin to accept, so he had a lucky mentality, hoping that Timoshenko could command the troops to break out of the encirclement or even reverse this decline.
But the ideal is very full, but the reality is very skinny.
Just a few days after Stalin hesitated, the German army completely closed the encirclement.
In the next ten days of the breakout battle, only 22,000 people would break through.
The final result was that the German army suffered 20,000 casualties in exchange for 75,000 Soviet soldiers killed and 239,000 captured.
And that's not the worst part. The Soviets had more people and more troops, and the loss of 300,000 people would not cause any damage to their muscles and bones.
The problem is that the door from Kharkov to Stalingrad is wide open, and there are almost no troops to defend it... Even if there are troops, they are remnants of troops who have retreated from the front line, weak troops.
(Note: The Soviet army used its elite for front-line offensive. Most of the second-line and defensive troops were relatively weak in combat effectiveness, did not have much combat experience, and were even newly recruited troops. They would almost lose their lives fighting against the wolf-like German army.)
So the danger was immediately felt here in Stalingrad.
It was the fifth day that the frontline troops were surrounded. As a sharp air defense siren sounded, anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns sounded around Stalingrad.
At almost the same time, at least fifty German bombers, covered by fighter jets, flew over Stalingrad.
Then, needless to say, there was a roar of bombs and black smoke billowing from Stalingrad.
Shulka and Kalashnikov stood at the door of the basement, quietly looking at the rising flames and black smoke in the distance, as well as the fire trucks rushing along the street with their screaming sirens, and the people's
Scream, cry.
The Germans did not bomb the tractor factory.
Shulka believed that this was due to the lack of German fighter planes and bombers. After all, they were still trying to prevent the Soviet army from breaking through.
The shortage of bombers forced the German army to use limited air power to focus on the most valuable targets, such as power stations, train stations, airports, arsenals, etc.
And the tractor factory... although it is also very important, it is too big, the target is unclear and the hit rate is not high, so it becomes a secondary target and ranks behind.
"You guessed it right again!" Kalashnikov put away the telescope and sighed: "Their target is Stalingrad. They should have listened to your idea a long time ago!"
"It's useless to talk about this now, Comrade Kalashnikov!" Shulka said: "What matters now is supplies!"
As he spoke, Shulka ordered his subordinates in the basement behind him: "Move quickly and continue your work!"
The soldiers responded and trotted out of the basement back to their posts.
Cars full of supplies drove into the warehouse, and then empty cars came out from another exit.
Since the frontline troops were surrounded by the German army, Stalingrad has been in a temporary situation of abundant supplies...the supplies cannot be transported, and they are all backlogged here.
Only then did Sisoy realize the foresight of Shulka's original suggestion.
"Comrade Shulka!" Sisoy said: "It's hard to believe, you seem to have seen these things happen with your own eyes. Those warehouses of yours can come in handy. We have a lot of supplies and equipment that have nowhere to store them!
"
"I'm ready!" Shulka replied: "In addition, Comrade Sisoy...can I provide better equipment and more ammunition for my troops?"
"Of course, Comrade Shulka!" Sisoy replied without thinking: "There are so many of them that there is no place to store them. As long as the Germans drop a few bombs, they will blow up! So, why not?"
This is what Shulka wants to say, instead of letting these equipment pile up there and be blown up by the enemy, why not distribute them to soldiers?
As a result, the 82nd Infantry Regiment immediately obtained sufficient equipment and ammunition, including mountains of rocket launchers, submachine guns, mortars... You can almost say that you can get whatever you want.
Of course, heavy equipment like the T34 tank is not among them.
In fact, even if Sisoy was willing to give it to Shulka, he would not take it... On the one hand, it is because tanks are difficult to control in urban battles. Without close coordination between infantry and tanks, tanks are almost targets. This requires long-term training to do
On the other hand, the 82nd Infantry Regiment has no crew members to drive tanks at all, so even if it gets a tank, it is just a piece of scrap metal.
However, being able to reach this level has already made the soldiers dance with excitement... For a soldier, getting good equipment is to give him more protection for his life, or a little more psychological security. There is no
People will not like this.
As a result, submachine guns, machine guns, etc. were quickly added to the 82nd Infantry Regiment in large quantities.
Many of the soldiers wanted to replace their rifles with submachine guns, but Shulka stopped them.
Many soldiers were puzzled by this.
"Comrade Captain!" Valery asked: "Since we have so many submachine guns, and urban street fighting requires submachine guns, why don't we equip more?"
There is some truth to this. In urban street battles, the distance between the enemy and ourselves is often not too far. The range of submachine guns is sufficient. At the same time, submachine guns fire much faster than rifles, so submachine guns do have an advantage.
However, the problem lies precisely in its rate of fire, because a fast rate of fire means that bullets are consumed quickly.
"Logistics, Valery!" Shulka said: "Have you ever calculated how much ammunition is needed to fight a battle if each of us has a submachine gun? A regiment may consume an ammunition depot in one day!"
Valery stuck out his tongue. As a newly promoted battalion commander, he really hadn't thought about this issue.