The large size 45 military boots stepped through the mud puddles filled by rain, and the wet mud was lifted up from the soles and sprinkled on the ground in front of them.
The owner of the boots was walking in a hurry, obviously not caring about the heavy raindrops of soybeans that were still falling around him. As the top commander of the railway station's defense, Malashenko still had important things to do.
"Get a few people and scoop out all the water in the machine gun bunker over there. Don't let the weapons soak in the water! Move quickly!"
The heavy rain that started at around 1 a.m. continued all night long, and by daybreak it still showed no sign of stopping.
The backflow of rainwater filled up various bunkers and positions that were temporarily excavated last night. The cross-flow scene of mud and sewage mixed together is enough to make any field commander who witnesses this scene feel miserable, and Malashenko also
No exception.
The pouring rain posed a great challenge to the Soviet defense, and also had a huge impact on the German attack that was originally planned to start early in the morning.
The German reinforcements that came to support last night came all the way under pouring rain.
The heavy downpour filled the shoes of every German soldier who was marching wildly with rainwater. The uniforms and bags on his body were soaked by the rain and weighed probably more than ten kilograms.
When rainwater evaporates from the surface of the human body, it will remove the temperature from the human body, and the surrounding humid air will intensify the coldness of this process. Many of the German soldiers sitting around the limited fire indoors were shivering.
The still unbearably hot weather was hit by a heavy rain, and the temperature dropped by at least ten degrees.
On a normal day, the German soldiers might praise that the weather was finally cooler, but in the long and exhausted night, when they were soaked in the rain and shivering in a drafty environment, they could only describe it as bad.
describe.
"Hell, I hate this damn Russia! The sun above our heads almost scorched people the day before, and a heavy rain at night can freeze people into this ghostly state. Conquering this bitter cold place is very important to us.
What's the use? I'm starting to hate this damn city."
Several German soldiers who had just arrived at the train station after running for several kilometers were barely warming themselves by the fire in a small train station room that looked like a guard box under the rainy night.
Several Mauser 98K rifles were set up like a stand with the butts down and the muzzles facing up. The wet coats were placed on top of them and they were slowly dried closer to the fire. Only the German soldiers in their vests were left inside.
The soldiers sat around the fire and discussed in low voices.
"Who doesn't? We all hate Russia, but what can be done?"
"The will of the head of state, the orders of the generals, our destiny. This is life that cannot be changed, Shidel, it cannot be changed from the moment we put on this military uniform, even if you believe in God, it is useless."
The battle in the Stalingrad city that has just begun cannot be said to be protracted for the time being, but the Soviet army's desperate resistance in the city has made some German soldiers become irritable, anxious, manic, and even uneasy.
General Vittel Sgeim of the 14th Panzer Army was dismissed from his post by Commander Paulus. This news has spread among the entire grassroots officers and soldiers of the German army.
There was only one simple reason why General Vittel Skeim was given command by Paulus. After encountering a fierce counterattack by the Soviet army, he was in a dilemma for a week and almost died.
They were surrounded by the counterattacking Red Army troops with high morale.
Paulus mobilized two infantry corps and several scattered infantry divisions. It took him a week to rescue his capable general and his troops, and in a critical moment he prevented the 14th Armored Corps from being encircled and annihilated.
Tragedy.
But what Paulus didn't expect was that General Vittor Skyim described the Russians as invincible when summarizing to him face to face.
General Vittel Skyim said that the Russians had all mobilized, and even the old people who were killed were holding old Mosin Nagant rifles that had been worn away. It was almost impossible for the Sixth Army to let such
The enemy surrendered, and this was an indestructible giant-like city.
Paulus had not personally experienced the dilemma and despair that General Vittor Skeim felt when he was almost surrounded. He stubbornly believed that the general had betrayed the oath he had made and was no longer suitable to serve as the head of state and the empire.
He continued to lead the elite 14th Armored Corps during the war, and then issued a warrant to drive this general who "praised the Russians profusely" back to his hometown to eat himself.
Paulus didn't know that what he did actually saved General Vittor Skyim's life. At least he would not have to stay in a Soviet prisoner of war camp digging potatoes or doing other things this time next year.
Bad things.
However, General Vittor Skyim's last words to Paulus were spread like wildfire by unknown sources. The German soldiers who had already entered the main city of Stalingrad and started a fierce street battle with the Soviet army,
Almost everyone learned about the dismissal of General Viter Skeim and his "treasonous remarks."
There are many fanatics who laugh at General Vittel Skeim, but there are also many German soldiers who carefully appreciate these words based on their own personal experience.
A small fire built with a few sticks of firewood was dancing with flames that seemed to be pulsing with life. The few German soldiers sitting around the fire staring blankly at the scene in front of them did not speak a word and remained silent.
I don’t know how long it took, but a voice that spoke quietly revealed what everyone present was thinking about or had already considered.
"Maybe this is really a giant city. Do you remember that "Ivan the Scarecrow"?"
"Ivan the Scarecrow" was the nickname given by these German soldiers who belonged to the same squad to an incident that happened two days ago.
A Soviet soldier who was probably the last living Soviet soldier in the entire block was surrounded by German soldiers from all directions. The Bobosha submachine gun in his hand was out of bullets. The German commander who led the team realized this situation and had no plan.
Killing him seemed to be an attempt to persuade him to surrender and keep him for some kind of use.
But what no one expected was that this lonely Soviet soldier suddenly pulled out a pistol hidden in his clothes while being pointed at the muzzles of more than a dozen guns at the same time.
Of course, such behavior would have no practical effect when the surrounding German soldiers were pointing their guns directly at them.