Chapter 8: Good Morning, Stalingrad!

A gray sky, rolling hills, and a river valley beneath the highlands were the first sights Wang Fan beheld. Immediately following this were the thundering sounds of artillery and the intense crackle of gunfire; the earth trembled rhythmically, as if being struck by a giant hammer.

"Where is this? Butler, start scanning the surroundings. Keep the Law Protection Field active 24/7, immediately!"

"Understood. Commencing scan within a 30-kilometer diameter. The Law Protection Field is active. Wang Fan, please relax. I sense your adrenaline secretion accelerating, irregular tremors throughout your body, and disordered breathing rhythms. Spasms may occur. Are you afraid?"

"Are you kidding me? I've only seen war in documentaries. Where the hell am I?"

"Scan complete. Commencing image generation."

An electronic map, similar to *StarCraft* or *Red Alert*, appeared before Wang Fan's eyes, looking much like a "God's eye view" from high altitude.

It should be noted here that the previous text mentioned the Plane Ring (which had merged with Wang Fan's body) possesses a Law Protection Field to protect its owner, also known as a Law Protection Shield. But what about this scanning function? It turns out that when the Plane Ring recognized its master, it had simultaneously imparted the laws and methods of its use. Some of these were extremely practical, one of which was the effective utilization of the 30,000-meter diameter storage space. When storing or retrieving items, the Plane Ring first performs a positional scan; the time consumed is instantaneous, requiring no waiting or cooldown periods. Because it utilizes spatial laws to scan, it can form spatial images to transmit to the ring owner; of course, the owner can also block this service.

Furthermore, the 30-kilometer scan is panoramic, high-resolution, and scalable. If the ring owner wants to expand the scanning radius, is it possible? Of course. That would involve stretching the length of the ring's space while narrowing its width, changing it from a spherical shape to a rectangular one—up to ten times the size. Simultaneously, the ring owner's location would be redefined from the default center point to the edge of the diameter, allowing for a scanning radius of 300 kilometers and a diameter of 600 kilometers. The cost, of course, is increased time consumption; after all, it is impossible to scan a 300-kilometer area all at once. Instead, it would become like a radar interface, scanning step-by-step in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction.

Returning to the main topic, Comrade Wang Fan, using his "God's eye view," saw the scene behind the hills. It was a unit charging toward another unit's defensive positions under the assault of tanks; people were constantly being hit by artillery and bullets, falling, and dying. The snow-covered ground was churned up into black soil, contaminated by mottled, dark red blood. The entire scene was filled with bloodshed, shock, and cruelty.

Although it was unclear which specific campaign this was, by looking at the faces, he could see they were all Caucasians, and with the presence of tanks, it likely wasn't World War I. Wang Fan was a semi-military enthusiast; he recognized world-renowned weapons like the T-34 tank, having seen many pictures on military websites. The words "Soviet Union," "Germany," and "World War II" suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Matching existing language libraries through both parties' languages, it can be determined that the languages are modern German, Russian, Kazakh, and a few other languages."

"As for the location, there is currently too little data to judge. A larger-scale scan is required. The ring requires your authorization. Do you authorize?"

"Permitted. Centered on me, 150-kilometer radius, start scanning!"

After the initial panic, Wang Fan had calmed down. Since he possessed the Law Protection Shield, there was no immediate danger to his life. Once he emerged from the initial tension and terror of arriving in a new world, his brain was able to analytically process his current situation in an orderly fashion.

Two minutes later, Yadi's azure voice rang in his mind. "Well, I have to say, we might have hit the jackpot. There is a 90% chance this is the Soviet-German front, and over an 80% certainty that it is the Battle of Stalingrad!"

"Stalingrad?" Wang Fan had heard of this battle but had no specific knowledge of it. He only knew that it occurred after the German offensive on Moscow failed, and through the meat grinder of urban warfare amidst the ruins, the Soviets won, seizing the initiative on the Soviet-German front from then on.

"The most troublesome thing now is determining the specific date, so we can determine the overall progress of the campaign, whether we can change the course of events, and whether to participate."

"Is there data in the ring? Can you find it?"

"Yes, two volumes. One is *Khrushchev's Memoirs*, and the other is *The Battle of Stalingrad*. Which one would you like to hear?"

"What, are they different?"

"Not exactly, but one praises Khrushchev, while the other praises Stalin and Zhukov!"

"Please, get to the point! I want to hear the progression of the entire campaign. Choose the one that is most detailed!" Wang Fan said as he lay prone in the snowy hills, hiding in the shadows, looking through a high-magnification military-style telescope he had bought from Taobao.

"Received! Historically, in January 1942, after the conclusion of the Battle of Moscow, the Soviet forces dealt a new blow to the Germans, breaking through the German lines on the Rama and Luzha rivers and liberating Mozhaisk and Kaluga. However, because the Soviet High Command had already committed all remaining reserves to several other strategic directions, the Soviet advance was already hindered. The months-long winter campaign that had kept the Germans running from exhaustion finally came to an end. After fighting bitter battles and abandoning some strategic territory, the German forces finally endured the severe difficulties caused by the Russian assaults. Compared to the vast areas seized in 1941, the loss of territory in terms of area was not large, but the primary objective—occupying the Soviet capital, Moscow—was already unattainable. However, Hitler had no intention of giving up the offensive. On April 5, he issued new orders: once the climate and road conditions became favorable, they would push into the Caucasus to seize the oil fields there and continue advancing toward Stalingrad. After resolving the rear concerns such as the Soviet forces on the Kerch Peninsula, the German army finally began large-scale military operations in mid-July, launching assaults from the assembly areas near Kharkov toward Rostov and Stalingrad. On July 21, the German 6th Army advanced toward Stalingrad. By July 26, Rostov was in a precarious position, and fierce fighting had also broken out on the western side of Stalingrad. On July [date], the Red Army retreated from Rostov. By July 30, approximately thirty Axis divisions were pressing toward Stalingrad, including various divisions of the Italian 8th Army and the Romanian 3rd Army. Following this, the Battle of Stalingrad officially began, lasting from mid-July 1942 until the end of January 1943.

The entire campaign can generally be divided into two stages: the defense of Stalingrad and the counter-offensive. The defense stage lasted from mid-July 1942 until November 8. At the beginning, the fighting was mainly conducted in the Don River bend area. From August 5 to August 18, the German army attacked Stalingrad from the west and northwest while simultaneously conducting a flanking encirclement from the south. During the period from August 19 to September 3, when the German army broke through from the north of Stalingrad to the Volga River, forming a five-mile-wide salient, the Soviet defensive forces retreated into the city of Stalingrad. Between September 4 and September 13, the German army also broke through to the Volga River in the south of Stalingrad, separating the 62nd Army defending the city from other units on the front line. Finally, from September 13 to November 18, both sides fought a desperate battle within the city of Stalingrad.

In the second stage, the Soviet Union began its counter-offensive. By November 19, the Soviet Southwestern Front and the Don Front had assembled 500,000 heavy troops along the banks of the Volga, equipped with 900 brand-new T-34 tanks, 230 artillery regiments, and 115 powerful Katyusha rocket regiments. They began their counter-offensive on the 19th. On November [date], the Stalingrad Front defending the city also began its counter-offensive. The Soviet counter-offensive unfolded along a 250-mile-long front, using a pincer movement to encircle an area with a radius of approximately sixty miles. Simultaneously, after breaking through the Axis defenses, they advanced toward Kalach and Sovetsky along two centripetal lines, cutting off the German troops from most of their reserves and supply bases, and severing their lines of communication. The Soviet forces took only four days to close the encirclement around the German 6th Army and the 4th Panzer Army, encircling a total of twenty-two enemy divisions, approximately 330,000 men. Upon learning that the army was surrounded, Hitler ordered the commander of the 6th Army, Paulus, to hold his ground at all costs, and urgently ordered his most capable Field Marshal, Manstein, to reinforce Paulus. An reinforcement corps consisting of 150,000 German troops, carrying 3,000 tons of supplies and a massive convoy, rushed toward Stalingrad. By the end of December 19, the German 57th Panzer Corps had crossed the Yesenovsky Aksay River and continued advancing north to the last natural barrier of Stalingrad—the Mishkova River. The German vanguard, only thirty miles from the southern front of the encirclement, successfully occupied a bridgehead on the north bank of the river. From here, the vanguard could see the flashes of artillery fire around Stalingrad. It seemed they might succeed, but they needed the 6th Army to launch an offensive from the inside. However, Hitler strictly forbade Paulus from breaking out, ordering him to 'hold out until Easter, and once reinforcements arrive, launch a new offensive to completely occupy Stalingrad.' Upon receiving this order from the Führer, Paulus strictly executed it, and the result was that the entire 6th Army sat waiting for death. Therefore, regarding the matter of breaking out, the 6th Army had no intention or thought of coordinating internally and externally; this also demonstrates Paulus's obedience to Hitler's orders (Yadi's evaluative comment).

At this time, the Soviet forces launched a large-scale offensive against the Italian 8th Army in the middle reaches of the Don. Hoepner's most elite unit—the 6th Panzer Division—was hurriedly diverted to the northwest to stop the tide of incoming Soviet forces. On the Stalingrad Soviet blocking front, the Soviet Union threw new troops into the fight. Once these Soviet troops joined the battle, the German reinforcement units had no choice but to retreat, first to Kotelnikovo, then abandoning that city on December [date] to retreat to Zimovniki, about sixty miles southwest of Kotelnikovo, and crossing the Manich River. This was exactly where Manstein began his offensive to implement the rescue on December 12. At this point, the 6th Army was effectively abandoned; their value had become pinning down a large number of Soviet troops to buy time to save the 400,000 German troops also trapped in crisis in the Caucasus. Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief Göring had once promised to airlift sufficient supplies to the encircled 6th Army, delivering 500 tons of food, fuel, and ammunition to Stalingrad daily. In the end, by late December, less than 100 tons of supplies were being airlifted daily. By mid-December, the starving German troops had already begun slaughtering the horses of the Romanian cavalry divisions to stave off hunger. On January 8, 1943, the Soviet attempt to induce surrender failed. At 8:00 AM on January 11, the Soviet general offensive began. By the dusk of January 16, the German-held territory had shrunk from approximately 1,400 square kilometers to 650 square kilometers. On the 17th, the German troops in the city were pushed to the very end of the urban defensive lines. On the 25th, the Soviet 21st Army met with Chuikov's 62nd Army in the city, joining forces to strike the enemy. Paulus's headquarters moved to the basement of a department store in the western part of the city. In the early morning of January 31, the Soviet forces surrounded the department store and threatened to shell it. A few minutes later, Paulus announced his surrender."

"Sounds quite tragic. From your description, the strategic failure of the 6th Army was inevitable. So, finding out what the exact date is right now is crucial!" Wang Fan summarized.