However, Yelemenko's other two approaches were not so useful or it could be said that the subsequent battle was not as easy as they thought.

One is to use artillery regiments to bomb the sandbank.

The bombing itself has no problem. The sandbank is very close to the Volga River, only more than 300 meters. It can be said that the sandbank can be hit by mortars on the east coast, not to mention howitzers with a range of at least a few kilometers. (Note: The M1910 howitzers equipped by the Soviet army have a large range of 7.7 kilometers)

But the problem is that the overall shape of the sandbank is slender, like a willow leaf.

Sandbars of this shape are born with the function of avoiding shells, because shells will fall into the river no matter when they are hit far or close, and only a small number of shells or land on the sandbars. What's worse is that these shells falling on the sandbars may not explode normally. There are many reefs on the sandbars... This is also one of the reasons why sandbars can form on a large scale, because the reefs block the water flow, and the sand in the river slowly deposits in this area, and over time it accumulates, it becomes a huge sandbar.

Because these reefs have been washed by river water for a long time and the rainwater is washed away, the surface is very smooth, and shells shot from the Soviet army will jump, which means they will explode in the river water on the other side.

Therefore, the Soviet artillery seemed to be very powerful. The pieces of shells exploded near the sandbank and caused a series of mist. However, there were not many shells that could actually hit the sandbank. Especially the German army had already hid in steel and concrete fortifications, so they regarded the storm and rain that exploded outside as a fun thing.

The other is the assembly of Soviet troops attacking Shazhou.

The Southeast Front Army in Yeliaomko's hands is indeed not short of soldiers or equipment, but it is just a shortage of ships...

At this time, the Battle of Stalingrad had been going on for more than two months. During this period, the Southeast Front had never stopped reinforcements to Stalingrad. There was a Volga River between the Southeast Front and Stalingrad, so ships were needed for reinforcements, both for troops and for supply.

This can actually be said to be a weakness of the Soviet defense.

As mentioned earlier, the Caspian Sea is an inland sea that is not connected to the outside world. The Soviet Caspian Sea Fleet is called a "fleet kept in a fish tank" because it has no strategic demand. The Volga River leads to the Caspian Sea and is connected with the Caspian Sea, which makes the Soviet army in other directions such as the Black Sea Fleet, the Northern Fleet, the Baltic Fleet, etc., but has armed armored ships but cannot reinforce the Volga River.

During this period, the Southeast Front could only collect fishing boats along the Volga River for reinforcements and transportation to Stalingrad. Even so, these fishing boats were almost lost.

It was not a problem for the Soviet army to assemble troops. In less than half an hour, two guard infantry regiments were assembled, but it was not possible to gather ships that could transport the troops to the sandbank in a short while.

In desperation, Yeliaoméko ordered the Soviet soldiers to build woodcutting on their own, and at the same time, they also recruited Soviet soldiers who could swim to form an assault team to swim in an armed way... Later, it was found that the effect of armed swimming would be better than attacking with woodcutting, because at least the target would not be that big.

But even so, the first attack organized by the Soviet army was two hours later.

At this time, Qin Chuan and others had already made a series of preparations on the sandbank.

The M1910 howitzer is of no value to the commando... This is not only because of its short range, but also because its accuracy is not high and it plays a large area of ​​coverage. The commando has only 165 people (thirty-five casualties were killed and killed in the occupation operation). Even if these people are all used, they cannot get together an artillery battalion.

On the other hand, the purpose can be achieved with the M1910 howitzer. The commando only needs to contact the rear to easily do it. For example, the le. The FH 18 105MM caliber howitzer has a range of 10 kilometers. As long as it approaches the outskirts of Stalingrad, it can hit the east bank of the Volga River to provide cover for the commando. For example, the commando can also contact fighters and bombers.

Therefore, the commando is completely unnecessary with the use of these artillery.

So with Qin Chuan's order, all these howitzers were dragged into a crater and piled up to avoid being in the way. Not to mention the howitzers in the fortifications, they were dragged out to make room for the space.

The ones they replaced were anti-aircraft machine guns and small-caliber anti-aircraft guns seized by the German army from the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery units... These things may not work, but when they start the infantry, they are definitely life-harvesters.

What surprised Qin Chuan and others was that they found several underground warehouses below the fortifications, which stored too many anti-aircraft artillery shells and anti-aircraft machine gun bullets.

This seems to be expected, because the Soviet army's positions on the sandbank are mainly used for air defense or to provide some necessary cover for ships traveling to and from the Volga River. To complete this task, a large amount of ammunition is required, and these ammunition must be properly preserved, otherwise they will be bombed by enemy bombers in a few strokes.

After getting ready, Qin Chuan and others still have some time to rest.

The baker took out the iron chocolate box hidden in the bag on his chest, opened it and took out the chocolate, opened the plastic seal, carefully broke it off a little and put it in his mouth, and then closed his eyes and enjoyed it slowly.

This is chocolate produced from the French supply front. It is produced in the size of a biscuit, with eight small pieces in a circle. In addition, it also has a special iron box for storage, so that the chocolate will not melt or get sewage during the battle.

Although this kind of chocolate is specially supplied to the front line, it is still rarely seen on the front line... This is mainly because there are too many soldiers on the front line. In the case of transportation difficulties, even if the rear output is enough to give the front team a piece of soldiers, the logistics department will not transport them.

The reason is very simple. A truckload of chocolate cannot feed anyone, but a truckload of food is not the case.

Therefore, the logistics forces exchanged them more for ammunition or food, especially in the direction of Stalingrad, which was a tense battle situation. This time, the luxury goods that only senior officers have the right to enjoy on the front line.

But during this operation, Alexander deliberately gave each member of the commando a piece of chocolate.

In Alexander's words: "Gentlemen, you will likely be in a fairly long time without reinforcement. When you are tired, I hope it will help you a little!"

However……

Werner rolled his eyes and said, "God, I've eaten it all in the flight!"

"You should keep some!" said the baker: "For example, now... you regret it!"
Chapter completed!