Into the Cauldron

[Orzel Bialy]

in full fury now.
We listen to the reports that flood in as our infantry battles the Russians house to house and block to block.

Everywhere the methods are the same. Recon units scurry forward through the smoke of the burning buildings and exploding shells. Somtimes they enter on the main floor through a window or more likely a gaping hole...other times through a cellar door or window or a second story laid open by a falling artillery shell.
Once inside they listen for signs of Ivan...sometimes our enemy can be on different levels of the same house...grenades and submachine guns do nicely here. If the house its clear the recon units do their main task...finding Ivan! They peer from windows and holes...perhaps spotting a Russian infantry squad or tank. From here they call up support and bide their time.
Soon enough the accompanying infantry arrive, as they have been following close behind. They take up positions and then, when in place, open fire. Sometimes the Russians retreat...most of the time they return fire and a nasty house to house battle ensues. It is here that the real Hell resides.
Bullets tear at the stone and wood buildings...badly pot-marking them, sometimes breaking through and tearing up the insides of the rooms. The fire pins down the enemy so that close combat methods can be utilized to "clense" the target area.
Grenades soon sail through window and doorways, or through the large holes that have been blasted into walls. They explode in a large thuds that shake the buildings and send smoke and dust billowing out through any nearby openings. Inside shrapnel does it's ugly work...as pieces of metal tear through the air and into the bodies of unfortunate soldiers, where it does it's skiddish dance through flesh, muscle and internal organ. Entire floors and stairways are soon covered with a river of blood within these shattered buildings. The finishing touch is securing the target house...and it is here that the hand to hand fighting erupts, sometimes being settled with knives and entreching tools. Once clear the whole affair starts again within the next building.

However, at other times a Russian panzer is the target...and at first the tactics are the much the same. Any accompanying Russian infantry are targeted and suppressed.
In the meantime other units fire at the Russian beast itself to draws it fire and attention, while another unit sneaks in from another direction. In the doorway or lea of a shattered building Anti-Tank mines are readied...or molotov cocktails lit...and the assault teams wait for Ivan to become disorientated and careless. When their chance arrives they strike!
A molotov cracks against the side of one Russian T-34 here...and a mine is placed on the tracks of a KV-1 there. The explosions are usually enough to force the crew to bail from the stricken machine. Other times they destroy the Russian panzer outright...a shattering boom filling the street and smoke, flames and pieces of armor or gearing spin through the air. A pillar of flames engulfs the destroyed hulk...roaring into the sky like a blowtorch. Ghastly work indeed.

Everywhere the same play is being acted out on a different stage within the battered city. The fighting has definitely intensified...and the dead are piling up on both sides...no mercy is asked and none is given.

[Goblin]

Goblin

[hellcat]

Hey Goblin were you trying to say something? that post is blank... or grey font...

[hellcat]

Colonel a pilot has reported sighting a massive fascist attacck force approaching the workers settlement... It's so big it must be their main attack! Should I release the 3rd mobile reserve?

I duck as an empty vodka bottle misses me :rolleyes:

Have the first two been wiped out? He asks

Er no Colonel they are fighting bravely...

Then let them continue fighting on their own for now... Look Yuri, Look at this... I have a plan...

He motions me to come closer and study the map...

ps - sorry Goblin just saw your eek!

[Orzel Bialy]

The first Russian tanks are destroyed by our Panzer Section...to the south of our center thrust! Herr Oberst continues to follow the plan...and our tanks are ordered not to venture into the city proper just yet.

Meanwhile...inside the battered city itself...the infantry units continue to press forward. Despite heavy shelling by Russian Artillery...and the constant engagments with Ivan...they continue to press deeper into the city.
Several more Russian tanks are put out of action by the combined efforts of our recon / infantry / supporting armor units. Our losses in HT's are heavy...but it's worth the continued bleeding off of the Soviet armored elements.

Romanian troops have also arrived and will be given a section of our operations to take care of. While they lack armor support, the fresh troops will be welcomed in the building to building fighting that is consuming this city.

[hellcat]

but the red airforce are not far behind, cheers go up as a fascist ammo truck explodes!

The enemy are pushing into the city and we are doing our best to stop them but so far we have only managed to slow their advance...

Fighting is desperate and the Germans may be breaking through in one or two sectors... This will not be allowed, we will fill the gaps with our men, our women, everyone who can fight!!!

[Orzel Bialy]

seemingly have begun to show themselves to us. In several places our infantry continues to engage Ivan in bitter, close quarter fire-fights...however, in other areas the fighting seems to be calming down. Could it be that we have found a few "gaps" in Ivan's line?!?!?

Additional reports come in of several more Russian panzers being destroyed...which is welcomed news to us. However, more are spotted by our recon elements lurking about the city streets...as well as several more of Ivan's infantry units.

However, with the good news of success also comes a fierce debate among our own commanders. For now, as the infantry continue to pry their way deeper into the city...their commanders are demanding more armor support to deal with the Russian panzers that are roaming the streets.
Herr Oberst and the rest of our Regimental Command, however, do not agree with this call for support....and the conflict of opinion becomes an outright argument!

In the end...a compromise is reached...and a small packet of panzers are dispatched to bolster the infantry in areas where they are having problems dealing with Russian armor. It is not a well received order...but the panzer crews obey and push into the streets of Stalingrad in support of some of our battered infantry units.

We sit in our defensive positions...guarding the flanks of our front...and listen as new reports begin to file back to Regimental and Divisional HQ. These first reports are promising...but we are all too aware of the fact that that could change quickly.

And so it continues. With each new report Stalingrad continues to bleed as her buildings are blasted and burned into rubble...and men on both side die in the hundreds amid the carnage.

[hellcat]

The colonel's plan is now being executed, I fear it may not be the correct move however he is as certain as he always is about such things...

Germans are penetrating the city along the line of their assault which encompasses the Workers settlement and is pushing towards the Barrikady Gun Factory and the Tractor factory...

They are clearly oblivious to the storm that is about to fall upon them... What they perceive to be a lull is merely the tidewater drawing out before it rushes in like the dark the waters of the Volga...

Enemy tanks are now prowling our streets, everywhere the order is the same... Watch... Wait...

[Orzel Bialy]

In most sections of our front the reports of firefights begin to wane. While some of our infantry units continue to fan out...searching for any signs of Ivan...a number of them take advantage of the uneasy lull to regroup and reform.

Despite the general lull....several more enemy panzers are reported destroyed amid the shattered city streets...as the panzer detachment assigned to support the infantry in certain sectors of the front performs its duty.

However, our own section of the front has also begun to see some action. Several of Ivan's T-34's dodge in out of building to the south of our lines...emerging to take pot-shots at us from time to time. Hauptmann Keller managed to bag one of these pests...as it ventured out to harrass one of our infantry units herr hauptmann used the cover of the buildings as well to sneak up and promptly blown the Ivan machine to pieces!

Several of the forward infantry units radio in for permission to race to the Volga...which they feel they can reach fairly easily with one good push. HQ denies the request...the lines must not be stretched too far, too quickly. So the slow, intense block to block fighting will continue for now.

[hellcat]

The germans have broken through our first defence lines... our mobile reserves are gunning their engines at maximum speed to vector into position... This city will claim many more dead before the fighting ceases and the winter snows begin to fall...

[Orzel Bialy]

The battered city bleeds billowing columns of greyish-black and brown smoke...all along it's shattered skyline. These columns roll high into the air, slowly slanting towards the south due to the winds...until they merge in one huge pall of smoke that nearly blots out the sky.
Not a block our men have crossed remains untouched by the devastating power of two Armies at battle. A good number of the buildings have been reduced to large piles of smoldering rubble...others are gutted or partially laid open. Some still burn with rolling waves of flame leaping from every opening, while others are only dotted with smaller tongues of flames that dance upon the devastation.
Below the streets are filled with mounds of broken brick, twisted steel and shattered wood beams and supports. Where shell holes haven't plowed up the streets, piles of rubble block them instead...making some of the streets impassable to all but the infantrymen.
The air within the city is heavy with dust and smoke...and in places where the fires burn fierce, the heat is intense enough to take ones breath away. Men wrap pieces of wet cloth around their faces in the vain hope of filtering the fouled air...and to protect their faces from the blistering heat of the raging infernos that dot the city blocks.
Then there is the sickening smell of death itself to contend with. It comes from the bodies that lay in the streets, sidewalks and gutters...or from the broken buildings that line the avenues or blasted vehicles that litter the streets. Some of the dead lay in grotesque poses, with limbs bent in un-natural positions...or missing all together. It is obvious they have died in battle. Others, however, look as if they have only fell from exhaustion and are only asleep...it is the pools and narrow rivers of blood creeping from underneath them give away the truth of their situation. Such is the reality of Stalingrad.

As the lull in the fighting continues there is time for the wounded to be attended to. Make shift centers are set up and the wounded gather there...some make it of their own accord, most are carried in by their komrades or on stretchers. It is here, in these shattered buildings that the chatter of small arms fire and the thud of artillery shells are drown out by other sound...the moaning and wailing of sheer agony. Not only has the fighting shattered buildings of stone and wood...it has also shattered bodies of flesh and bone. This is the other reality of Stalingrad.

Ivan is harder to find suddenly...his armor still dots several intersections toward the southern part of the city, but elsewhere his infantry has seemingly vanished. Only a few pockets of firefights flare up here and there...but in most sectors an eerie calm befalls the ruins of the city on the Volga.

The respite allows fresh units to be shuffled into place...more infantry. Some of the units are Romanians, veterans of the battle for Odessa the previous summer. Despite the experience gained over the last 15 months, they don't look thrilled to be here. Perhaps it is because they have come to believe that anyone who draws blood on the steppes of Russia will not leave it alive...not a good mindset to fight a war with...especially in the meatgrinder that this city has turned in to.

And so our forces prepare to strike out again. One more push...

[hellcat]

The situation is desperate... The colonel has gambled everything on his plan but then what choice does he have? The germans have attacked along a narrow frontage and we had expected them to attack everywhere... Tanks are still racing down streets to get into position... others are... well, that's classified information... we cannot allow German spies to learn of our plans just yet...

Soon... as the gaps begin to fill once more then we the trap will spring shut :p

[Orzel Bialy]

after a brief rest...the infantry begin their task again. Building to building, street to street, block to block.

Ivan has armor rolling about almost every street to the south of our salient. It is no secret that he also has armor massing on the flanks...

With the renewed effort to break the Soviet defensive positions another artillery barrage falls upon the hapless city. Whole blocks are pulverized...and the ground trembles as the heavy rounds explode.

It is on again.

[hellcat]

At last our forces are beginning to reach their positions in this race to contain the german advance... one enemy tank is spotted only two streets from the Volga and blown apart by one of our tanks moving at full speed...

elsewhere our cavalry catch some engineers and dispatch them...

from the South the Germans can now see an armored force approaching their rear positions

once more the red air force flys over destroying a pziv

the lull is over!

[Orzel Bialy]

Our infantry continues to push forward...chasing off the odd cavalry units that Ivan has flung about the city to try and delay our advance.
To both flanks the Russians also have begun to a mass more armor...but we don't worry about them just yet. In fact a couple are picked off as they lurk about the fringes of our defensive lines...others are struck hard enough to force their riders to bail.

However, the main aim is the river bank and we don't allow Ivan to draw our attention away from that goal. As suspected his defenses were obviously stretched along the entire front of the city...and our narrow punch has left him scurrying to rush forces up from quite a distance.
Once we reach the river...his forces will have been cut in two, with the weaker half to the north from what we have spotted thus far. Once separated, then the northern half will be liquidated....and then the full might of our force can be turned south.

[hellcat]

is that our forces rushing Northwards from their distant positions will be too late... It is possible the Germans may now have a greater foothold on our city.

we fight on...

[Orzel Bialy]

seems to be fading...and our panzer screen takes out several more T-34's and KV's. Our infantry push forward and meet only sporadic harrassing fire from lone Russian cavalry and engineer units that dot the area.

In the center the renewed attack meets little to no resistance...and the Volga grows even nearer to our lead elements.
There is still the occassional roaming Ivan panzer...but nowhere like the numbers to the south...where our second thrust has gained less ground.

It is here...to the south...that re-inforcements are being rushed forward to help push our offensive further into the city. Ivan has massed his panzers on the hills dominating the area here...but they are so far being kept at bay...and will soon drawn our undivided attention.

So far losses have been high...but not so heavy as to curtail our efforts...nor high enough to dampen our spirits and conviction that this battle is about to be won. We are confident we can and will carry the day...the might of German arms will prevail!

[hellcat]

we take out quite a few tanks, vehicles and infantry this turn... finally some of our southern defence forces have made their way into the fighting and are now, at this very minute, making their presence felt.

We may not be able to throw out the invader but we will make them pay dearly for every inch of ground.

once again the red air force strikes a blow for the defenders of Stalingrad and another pzivg is a smoking ruin!

[Orzel Bialy]

The first of our recon troops can see the Volga!

The infantry units push forward steadily...several more cavalry units are killed off in this process. The radio waves are filled with the excited chatter of voices as our units near their objectives.

In the central sector of our push a couple more T-34's are finished off....although one refuses to die to repeated infantry attacks.

To the south some breathing room is bought as AP rounds destroy three more T-34's that have been lurking about on our flank. There are several more spotted...but at least we have some re-inforcements on the way as well.

The one really sore spot with our troops is air support...while the Red Air Force makes repeated sortie after sortie....the Luftwaffe is non-exsistant after it's brief appearance.

[hellcat]

we kill some more enemy tanks but not nearly enough! The fascists are almost at the Volga now... while we are still desperately ferrying reinforcements across on barges. Situation desperate... fighting to the last man and last round...