Four hundred and ninetieth chapters adapt to local conditions
"The overall strategic direction is to trade space for time!" Shulka told Akimovich: "When the enemy advances, we retreat, when the enemy retreats, we advance, and use the ruins to keep a distance of 50 to 100 meters from the enemy!"
"Yes, Comrade Captain!" Because I had just observed what Shulka and others were doing, I understood it now.
This is actually not difficult to understand.
As mentioned before, because the Soviet army did not have air superiority, there was no doubt that it was at a disadvantage during the day.
In this case, the Soviet army could not confront the German army head-on. The result would be that the Soviet army would suffer.
But at the same time, the Soviet army cannot retreat blindly... From west to east, the width of Stalingrad is only five kilometers. If it retreats blindly, it will only take a few hours for the German army to reach the Volga River.
Therefore, when retreating, we had to do what Shulka and others did, always maintaining close contact with the Germans and using the cover of ruined buildings to lay barbed wire fences along the way.
The combination of ruins, barbed wire, and soldiers' blocking can slow the enemy's advance to the slowest pace.
Sometimes it can even artificially create some favorable situations.
For example, what Shulka is doing now...the middle part intentionally retreats faster.
How could the attacking German army notice this? Seeing that the Russian army was repulsed, they immediately pursued the victory.
So it didn't take long for the German offensive line to unconsciously form a protrusion in the middle.
At this time, the two wings of the Soviet army suddenly surrounded the salient. The German army suddenly found itself surrounded and the offensive line was divided into three parts that could not be connected.
Major Weber was in that part of the city that was surrounded.
He hid in the ruins and gasped for air. Fighting in the ruins and building debris made him very uncomfortable. Leading the soldiers to jump forward continuously on the terrain of sudden highs and lows had excessively consumed his physical strength.
This applies to majors who are commanders, not to mention other German soldiers.
"Major!" the adjutant reported to Major Weber: "We are surrounded!"
"I know this, Edward!" Major Weber comforted: "Don't worry, they can't do anything to us!"
Major Weber was indeed not worried about this, because he believed that the so-called encirclement by the Russian army did not pose much of a threat to them.
This was mainly based on Major Weber's confidence in the German air superiority and the quality of the German army... If that didn't work, he could break out of the encirclement by blasting a bloody path with artillery.
But Major Weber soon discovered that this was not the case.
"Major!" the adjutant reported: "The enemy is too close to us to indicate the position of the artillery!"
"Keep your distance from them!" Major Weber ordered.
"We tried, Major!" the adjutant said: "But they always kept their distance from us. When we retreated, they advanced, and we have no room to retreat!"
"Order the Second Company to cooperate with us in breaking out!" Major Weber ordered.
"The second company was blocked by enemy fire!" the adjutant replied.
"How did they block it?" Major Weber was a little curious.
"A passage without many ruins!" the adjutant replied: "It has a clear view. The enemy has deployed a machine gun and several snipers nearby!"
Major Weber couldn't help being stunned when he heard this.
It can be said that there are no fixed tactics in urban street fighting, because no one knows what the buildings in the city will look like after being bombarded indiscriminately, or even which buildings will be blown down and which ones will not.
If there is any tactic, it is to adapt measures to local conditions according to the situation after the bombing, analyze specific problems in detail, and make full use of every advantageous condition.
For example, this passage that is not buried by ruins can become a good line of fire for dividing the enemy by arranging a few limited firepower points.
"Let Captain Edman reinforce us immediately!" Major Weber then ordered.
"No, Major!" the adjutant replied, "Captain Edman said it would be difficult for them to reinforce this area!"
Captain Edman was the commander of the tank company, and Major Weber hoped to use the tank to open a hole.
But the facts obviously disappointed him again. The tank, which was restricted in every aspect, could not protect itself in this environment.
If tanks reluctantly reinforce this area, the more likely result is that they will be attacked along the way or have their tracks tangled in barbed wire all over the ground. Even if they rush here, they will become a pile of scrap metal.
At this time, Major Weber obviously lost his sense of control. He almost shouted angrily to the adjutant: "Tell him this is an order and move closer to this side immediately! Otherwise, I swear, I will send him to a military court!"
"Yes, Major!"
The adjutant responded, then turned around and ran towards the radio station.
But before he could run a few steps, he heard a "bang" gunshot, and the adjutant screamed and fell to the ground holding his thighs.
The shooter was Shulka.
He had been staring at this position for a long time... A captain frequently traveled between the two places, and it was obvious that there were officers with higher ranks waiting for him to report something.
Then, when he saw the captain running out again, he fired a bullet into his thigh.
It is not difficult to do this at a distance of more than one hundred meters.
Shulka said coldly to Akimovich while pulling the bolt and loading the gun: "The important thing is not to kill the enemy. On the battlefield, a wounded enemy is more valuable than a dead enemy, especially an officer!"
"
While he was talking, two German soldiers jumped out of the bunker and ran towards the captain's position.
It was obvious that they wanted to go to the rescue.
Shulka quickly pulled the trigger and knocked down one of them, then put away the rifle and changed positions.
Sure enough, several mortar shells immediately roared towards the location where Shulka was hiding just now, and one shell almost exploded behind them.
When he lay down again, Shulka said: "You also have to learn to guess the enemy's psychology... They are not fools. In fact, they are all experienced veterans. If someone comes out to rescue, someone must cover them!"
As he spoke, Shulka raised his gun, knocked down the German soldier who was struggling to move the captain with a bang, and then moved Akimovich to another position.
"It's unimaginable!" Akimovich looked at Shulka with admiration in his eyes: "Comrade Captain, you seem to know everything... you are not only an excellent commander, but also an excellent sniper!"
"They have no conflict, Comrade Akimovich!" Shulka stuck his head out to look at the battlefield and then immediately retracted his head and replied: "In fact, they are the same in many aspects, they all try their best to
Put the enemy to death!"
At this time, a gunshot was heard from the opposite side.
"He committed suicide!" Shulka said, "It was a man!"
Shulka knew it without looking, because it was the sound of a pistol.