The wings of the IL-2 Sturmoviks flashed as their pilots fired across the defensive positions, the bullets splattering across the broken ground in rows across trenches and bunkers throwing snow and frozen dirt into the air. Four of the planes dropped their bombs, the explosions rising up behind them as they flew, throwing debris and broken men upwards and outwards.
Udet looked up from his position, lying on his back on the floor of the trench, his hands over his face as the earth and debris fell around them from the explosions. Through his fingers, he saw the flash of the planes as they flew across their position, the red stars on their wings blurred with their high speed.
The roar of the low flying aircraft was deafening as the pilots opened their throttles in anticipation and pulled back on their controls, the aircraft rising into the air just above the soldiers cowering in the trenches. As they rose, the rear gunners on the planes opened fire, the smaller calibre bullets impacting and splattering around the trenches and positions as the planes started to bank to the right, turning to the north.
Udet started to rise from his position, freezing as Hausser shouted fiercely at him, ‘Stay down, they will come back!’ Startled, he dropped back onto the floor of the trench. The sounds of moaning and the desperate calls for ‘Medic’ sounded across the defensive positions. Udet closed his eyes, the terror rising within him. The machine gun fire from the positions continued as the planes banked round to the north, turning to use up the remainder of their ammunition, their plan to fly along the trenches.
Hausser looked round desperately, trying to see somewhere to shelter as he anticipated the pilots plan, seeing the planes in the distance. From behind them, a 20mm quad cannon opened fire from the shelter of a broken factory wall, the anti-aircraft fire adding to the machine gun tracers rising from the ground.
Udet stared in awe as he saw the planes begin to bank sharply and head back towards them from the north, his heart rate rising and eyes opening in shock, the planes heading directly towards their position. Hausser rose to a crouch in front of him, blocking his view and raising his MP40 in desperation. Udet grabbed Hase’s shoulders, pulling him along the trench, away from the aircraft, aware of the futility as he felt the panic beginning to grip him, the roar of engines filling the terrain.
The six planes were turning in the distance to fly in two waves, three aircraft positioning to begin the first strafing run with the remaining planes lining up behind. As the first three planes began to swoop down towards the trenches, their guns began to blaze again, Hausser started backing down the trench, firing his MP40 towards the oncoming aircraft. Bullets splattered on the frozen earth some three hundred metres in front of them, the dirt and debris on the ground being thrown into the air.
The lead pilot’s eyes narrowed in relish, seeing the German soldiers in the trenches running for cover, his rear gunner shouted, his voice rising in panic across the cockpit, ‘Enemy fighters!’ The pilot yanking the stick sharply to the left, the Sturmovik banking dramatically towards the river, some fifty metres above the devastated landscape. The aircraft behind their flight leader followed suit, their guns still firing, the red stars on the wings shooting past as their pilots opened their throttles again, the planes gathering speed as they began to level out.
Hausser looked in disbelief as the planes swept away from them to the right, the engine roars filling the land around them. The noise was deafening, the engines screaming as the pilots attempted to push their machines to maximum speed. Udet froze in the trench, looking at the aircraft as they began to level out, their rear guns opening fire across their position, then towards a new threat. Hausser glanced to the left, following the fire from the rear gunners. Three ME109 German fighters swooped down from over the buildings to their left, their screaming engines on full throttle as they neared their prey, the slower Russian aircraft. Having seen the Russian planes from their high level patrol, the German pilots had taken the opportunity to pounce, dropping to just above the factory buildings to conceal their approach, nearly skimming the broken rooftops as they closed the distance on their targets.
The lead German fighter’s guns blazed at his targeted Sturmovik, the impact of his bullets on the Russian ground attack aircraft clearly audible as the Russian pilot began to weave his plane to reduce the chances of being hit. Debris from the targeted aircraft broke off and shot across the landscape, eventually falling onto the positions below. Aware his plane was heavily armoured, the Russian kept flying low, spinning his wings to a vertical position to sweep between two of the higher buildings on the skyline in an attempt to lose his pursuer. The other Russian aircraft rising over the smouldering buildings and following their flight leader out over the Volga.
The lead ME109 soared dramatically, almost vertically up into the air, the Russian ground fire from beyond the buildings targeting him directly. The small calibre anti-aircraft guns placed on the edge of the river opening fire to defend the Russian bridgehead. The two German fighters to either side of their Schwarm leader banked to the south and north as Russian machine guns opened fire from the smouldering buildings.
Udet watched the flash of speckled silver and black crosses on the wings of the German fighter as it banked south, then heard the engine cough, a thin smoke trail beginning to flow behind the fighter as the pilot fought to control his damaged aircraft. Udet began to rise in the trench, fascinated by the pilot’s efforts, the damaged plane slowing and banking round south of them, the dark thin smoke trail flowing behind it.
Then hands grasped him roughly, startling him and pulling him back down into the trench. The force surprising him, he tried to turn as a bullet zipped overhead, hitting the ground behind the trench. Falling onto the ground with the force, he realised Hase had dragged him down, aware the young German was exposing himself to sniper fire in his fascination.
Lying on the cold floor of the trench again, Udet looked down to see Hase lying beyond his boots, a grin on his face. The young German lowered the back of his helmeted head to the ground, relief sweeping over him. Then he heard the breathless, familiar voice of Hausser, ‘Shall we continue when you two are finished your nap?’ Hearing the young commander clip a new magazine into the base of his weapon, he grinned in relief.
They then advanced along the trenches for some time, perhaps forty minutes, struggling to make speedy progress through the many twists and turns of the defensive system. Every step was carefully considered due to the debris in the trenches, the spent bullet casings, broken equipment and discarded used supply containers. The fear of exposure to an enemy sniper preventing the many obstructions from being collected outside the trench walls. The temperature remained below freezing, the bitter conditions adding to the seemingly slow erosion of their motivation, their aching backs from the uncomfortable position they were forced to advance in now causing considerable lumber pain.
At yet another turn in the trench, turning north once again, the lead soldier guiding them stopped, turning to Hausser, he pointed into the distance, ‘Do you see the chimney, Herr Leutnant?’
Hausser nodded, looking at where the man was pointing, seeing a lone thin chimney of considerable height standing in the distance. Around the chimney were shells of buildings, their roofs destroyed, the exterior walls standing erect against the elements, their surfaces potted and punctured from the fierce fighting, ‘Yes, is that the tractor factory?’
The soldier nodded, ‘Yes sir, the Russkies stopped producing tractors there and changed to tanks some time ago. They were driving them out from the production line to face us at one point, until we took their beloved factory.’ He grinned, the strain showing again in his eyes, then he seemed to become distant, the smile fading, ‘We lost many of our men taking the objective.’
Hausser looked at the man, seeing he was near to breaking point, ‘I will send one of my men back for the others, they should have their clothing by now.’
The soldier nodded again, ‘It will not take long now, sir. He looked past the commander to the two soldie
rs behind him, ‘If you lose your bearings, just ask someone for directions to the lone chimney, they should all know that.’
Udet and Hase nodded as Hausser turned to face them, ‘Udet, go back and get the others please. Keep your head down and move more to the west.’ He indicated with his right hand, ‘Moving that many men through the trenches we have been in will take too much time.’
Udet nodded, ‘Yes Hausser, I will try and get back to you as soon as possible.’ He nudged Hase’s arm as a farewell greeting and turned in the trench, running back the way they had come, his body lowered.
They moved forward again, keeping a distant eye on the chimney. Slowly it got nearer, the circular brick construction beginning to rise up before them. With it to the left stood the shell of a tall tower, although not as high as the chimney. The red brick building virtually cut in two with only half of the structure still standing to the height of four floors, its exposed upper floors open to the elements, the red bricks pitted and torn.
As they got nearer, Hase could make out the different buildings that made up the tractor works. A long factory building, probably the main production area, with several other blocks and smaller buildings surrounding it. All were heavily damaged, their roofs incomplete or broken by shellfire. Twisted metal girders and frames stood between and adjoined some of the buildings, the equipment and machinery for moving heavy metal machine parts and vehicle frames.
They began to pass soldiers their guide recognised as they entered the large complex, the man nodding or greeting people, their gestures warm and friendly. Hausser realised the reason for their friendly welcome relatively quickly, these men would probably be expecting to be relieved by him and his small improvised unit.
Rubble and broken bricks covered the roads and paths around the buildings as they exited the trench system. Their guide leading them between pitted structures from the trench exit and into a damaged administrative building on the outer edge of the complex. The building was nearly square and had been white in the past, but now presented a dark grey colour to the world, the exterior walls pock marked with the scars of battle.
Climbing some stairs wearily, the soldier that had lead them through the factory district indicated for them to turn to the left at the top of the staircase. Hausser turned around the wall at the top of the stairs, walking into a relatively wide open plan office space capable of accommodating probably four desks, the furniture shattered across the wooden floorboards. One desk remained intact on which a radio was situated, the operator sitting before it, his headphones over one ear. In the corner facing the river with their backs to them, binoculars held to their eyes, an officer and Major Slusser knelt before a broken and charred sandbagged window.
Chapter Forty One: Overview
The Major glanced over his shoulder, ‘Ah, Leutnant Hausser…good to see you, are your men ready to take up their positions?’
Hausser walked forward, lowering himself as he approached the window, ‘They should be with us soon, sir. I have sent back for them…they were waiting for warmer clothing.’
Major Slusser nodded slowly, ‘I see, I was hoping they would be here by now.’
Hausser’s eyes narrowed, ‘They should not be long now. What’s the situation, sir?’
The Major indicated to the officer next to him, ‘This is Hauptmann Gerstle, he is commander of the unit you will be replacing.’ He turned his eyes to the captain, ‘Hauptmann, will you advise us of the situation please?’
The captain turned, looking Hausser up and down, nodding a greeting, the tiredness on his unshaven face apparent, ‘Good to see you Leutnant, we have been manning this sector of the front for a number of weeks now.’ He turned back to the window and raised the binoculars to his eyes, clearing his throat, ‘In my opinion, the Russkies are up to something, I expect we will hear from them really soon. They seem to have changed their tactics from simply defending to more ambitious ideas. More aggressive sniping, movements at night, etc.’ He lifted the glasses above his head, offering them to Hausser, ‘Here…you take a look.’
Hausser moved further forward between the men, taking the binoculars from the man’s hands and raising them to his face. As he raised the glasses to his eyes, he looked out through the damaged window, snowflakes fluttering through the opening. Seeing the building they were in was placed towards the back of the factory complex, he moved the glasses further towards the river, observing what seemed to be the front line of trenches interspersed through smaller outbuildings, some fifty to one hundred metres in front of the complex. There was a section of land before these trenches, the snow covered earth pitted and burnt with the weeks of fighting, the buildings in the area more severely damaged than others.
The captain paused, waiting for Hausser to adjust the binoculars, ‘Look to the far right, at the top of the riverbank, do you see the four storey damaged building?’ Sporadic rifle shots echoed in the distance an indication of the tenseness on the front line.
Hausser squinted through the glasses, moving along the damaged and destroyed buildings some two hundred metres from the edge of the factory, ‘Ah, yes I see it.’ Observing the large broken four storey brick block, the roof destroyed.
‘The Russkies seem to use that as a collection or muster point, sending out men to sweep and scout the area. The obstructions in the middle provide some cover, but we have seen an increase in their activities in the last day.’ The captain stopped talking, allowing Hausser to take in the terrain.
Major Slusser moved his glasses to study the block, ‘Do you think they are preparing for an attack?’
Hauptmann Gerstle nodded, ‘The only conclusion I can make. Due to the trenches and works they have completed on the wide riverbank, beyond our line of vision, we are unable to gain intelligence as to whether they are bringing troops up or not. It is a difficult position; they are able to increase their men in a particular area quite considerably ready for an attack without us being forewarned. The first sign we will have is when they initiate the attack.’
The major lowered the glasses from his eyes, turning to look at the captain, ‘I see, not the best position to be in.’ He glanced round at Hausser, ‘We attempted to take the riverbank a number of times, but the Russkies are very determined defenders, beating us back each time. We took the building in question two or three times, but they threw everything at us to retake it before we could consolidate. To be honest I am not surprised, it holds an excellent view of their positions, if we had taken that and the adjoining buildings, they would probably have lost this section of the river.’ He looked down, becoming reflective, ‘Still, I think it is too late now…our orders are to hold our current positions and await the relief effort.’ He looked round grimly at Hausser, ‘What’s your view?’
Hausser nodded slowly, still studying the terrain, looking through the field glasses at the other three or four storey buildings adjacent to the building they had been discussing. All were to the south of the main building and had been severely damaged, smoke rising from a number of them, their windows and jagged outlines exposed to the elements, ‘They have an elevated position over our front line in that building and the ones further to the south, but the broken buildings and obstructions in between should provide some interruption to continuous sniper fire onto our men. Unfortunately, they will also prevent us from seeing the attack break, if indeed they attack out from those buildings.’
The major smiled briefly, ‘If you were them, Hausser, would you attack that way?’
Hausser thought for a second, then a faint smile passed across his face, ‘Yes I would.’ He looked north of the building they had been discussing, seeing the buildings to be lower and more severely damaged. The ground between the lines in that area more open, ‘Still, the ground is too obstructed to use many tanks. Is it mined, tripwires?’
The captain nodded, ‘Yes, that’s the problem, the Russkies seem to have a fondness for our mines, they are better than theirs. They come out every night and remove some, cut our tripwires.’ H
e grinned ironically, ‘Determined bastards!’
A smile briefly crossed Hausser’s face again, ‘Interesting, the sign of an impending attack. I will have them placed in depth just before the trench line, perhaps dig the trenches deeper, then fragmentation from the explosions won’t hit our men.’
Hauptmann Gerstle turned to look at him, ‘Good luck with the digging, the ground is now so solid due to the frost you will need to use grenades! It must be colder than last year, Herr Leutnant.’ He paused, wiping his nose, ‘Then you have the sewers, they are quite active down there too. You will have to place men underground to stop them infiltrating our rear. That is the most soul destroying thing for the men, they just hate it.’
The officers turned as they heard boots on the stairs behind them, seeing a breathless Udet appear at the corner of the room, the surprise on his young face evident as he saw the three officers. Snapping to attention, he saluted formally.
Major Slusser nodded to him, raising his hand to his helmet, ‘Yes, private?’
Udet swallowed hard, ‘Soldat Udet, sir. Reporting our unit is ready to be deployed, sir!’
The major nodded, turning to Hausser, ‘It seems your time at the front is here, Herr Leutnant. This situation concerns me so I am moving my headquarters here to oversee this sector. You will have close support if needed. Hauptmann Gerstle’s men will be held in reserve for the next few days, but they will be close by if we need them.’
Hausser lowered his binoculars, looking at the major, ‘Yes sir. I shall move the men up immediately.’ He turned to the captain, ‘Thank you for the situation report, Herr Hauptmann.’
The senior officer nodded, the captain leaning forward grasping his arm, ‘Take care out there Leutnant, I feel the Russians will be coming soon. Give it another hour, and move your men up under the cover of darkness only, otherwise the Russians will start shelling.’ Their eyes met and Hausser saw the seriousness in the captain’s expression.
Bloody Stalingrad Page 37