Before the Battle of the Ring began, there was a debate within the Soviet army about how many German troops were caught in their encirclement. Although Rokossovsky has repeatedly mentioned on different occasions that there are two or three hundred thousand German troops surrounded, not many people believe in this figure, and even Stalin, Vasilevsky, and Zhukov are skeptical, because according to the analysis of the information obtained, the German troops besieged in the Stalingrad area are only 80,000 to 100,000 at most.

In addition to regularly reporting to Stalin every day on the progress of the battle and the results achieved, Voronov came to Rokossovsky's headquarters to sit down, and in addition to regularly reporting to Stalin every day on the progress of the battle and the results achieved, a more important task was to find out how many German troops were in the encirclement, and even personally participated in the interrogation of prisoners of war several times.

If the person in charge of the Battle of the Ring had not been Rokossovsky, but Yeremenko or Vatutin, perhaps they would have drawn up a plan of battle according to the standard of destroying 80,000 German troops. Although the besieged German army could still be wiped out in the end, it was bound to prolong the battle and increase the casualties of the troops.

Rokossovsky knew very well that it was unrealistic to completely cut off the supply of the German army through an air blockade. Even if the blockade was tightened, enemy planes could still fly at night, using parachutes to drop food, ammunition, and fuel on the besieged troops. That's why he asked Novikov to let the air force strengthen aerial reconnaissance, find out where the German airfield was, and then completely cut off the supply of the German army, forcing the enemy who ran out of ammunition and food to lay down his arms and surrender in advance.

The 57th Army, which launched an attack on the Pischanka quarry, fought very methodically, using the tactics of a step-by-step battalion, and it took only a few hours to encircle the German 371st Infantry Division.

After the battle began, the Soviets cut off the telephone from the German units to the division headquarters, resulting in the loss of unified command of the enemy. The German units, which were fighting separately, were already short of ammunition and demoralized, and under the powerful offensive of the Soviet army, they could not hold on for even two hours, and the defense line collapsed.

After destroying the German 371st Infantry Division, Tolbukhin's troops readjusted their forces in time and quickly moved towards Bischanka, trying to take advantage of the enemy's confusion and seize the city in one fell swoop.

However, when the 15th Guards Division, which was the vanguard, arrived outside Bischanka, it was discovered that the Germans had built very strong fortifications here, with strong support points one after another, and everywhere there were fire points, reinforced concrete pillboxes and tanks buried in the ground. The passages leading to these fortifications were covered with barbed wire and mines.

The division commander Chirkov organized an attack, but it ended in failure, and the 45th Guards Regiment, which was the main attacker, suffered heavy casualties, and the commander of the regiment, who was also in the battle, was wounded by German artillery fire and withdrew from the battle.

Tolbukhin had just finished listening to Colonel Chirkov's debriefing when he received a call from the command of the Front. Rokossovsky was anxious to know the situation of the German army's defense near Bischanka, so as soon as the phone was called, he asked straight to the point: "How is it, Comrade Tolbukhin, have you figured out the situation of the German army's defense outside Bischanka?" ”

After Tolbukhin recounted what he had learned, Rokossovsky could not help frowning, he felt that if the 57th Army continued to attack, it might not be able to break through the German defenses, but would cause heavy casualties. After a short period of thought, he said into the microphone: "Comrade Tolbukhin, temporarily stop the offensive on Bischanka, let the troops stop and recuperate for the time being. You need to adjust the deployment of your troops tonight, and when the shelling is over tomorrow morning, you will attack the city. ”

As soon as Rokossovsky put down the phone, Voronov asked with concern: "What's the matter, Comrade Rokossovsky, is it going to be our artillerymen's turn again?" ”

"That's right," Rokossovsky said, nodding, "the Germans have built strong fortifications outside Bischanka, and it will be very difficult to break through their defenses with artillery support. ”

"Okay with that." After turning his head to look at Kazakov, Voronov said in a big way: "I will transfer ten artillery regiments tonight, and wait until tomorrow morning to give the Germans a great taste." ”

The Soviets were anxious to capture Bischanka and were moving troops; And the Germans, in order to prevent the Soviets from occupying Bischanka, are also redeploying troops. Paulus, after consulting with his chief of staff, decided to transfer the 297th Infantry Division and the Romanian 20th Infantry Division to Bischanka overnight to strengthen the defenses there.

Early the next morning, the Soviets first dispatched 40 bombers to indiscriminately bombard the German positions on the periphery of Bischanka, followed by bombardment by more than 20 artillery regiments from the Front and Army Group. In the bombing and artillery bombardment of the Soviet army, a large number of German fortifications were destroyed, and many officers and soldiers hiding in the shelter were also shocked to death by the shock wave formed by the explosion.

As soon as the shelling stopped, the units of the 15th Guards Division launched an assault on the German positions outside Bischanka. After bombardment and shelling, the Germans in the first trench were still small in number, so the Soviets easily occupied the area. Leaving a small number of troops to clear the remnants of the enemy and consolidate their positions, the rest of the troops continued to rush towards the second line of German trenches.

At this time, the Germans in the depth of the defense reacted, and they bombarded the charging Soviet army column with mortars, trying to suppress the Soviet army with artillery fire and give themselves enough time to redeploy. Unexpectedly, as soon as their mortars fired, they were bombarded by artillery from the rear of the Soviet attacking troops. Those exposed mortar positions and firing points, in this targeted shelling, were cleaned up.

Three regiments of the 15th Guards Division, under the cover of artillery, cleanly occupied the second and third trenches of the German army. Tolbukhin stood in the observation post and saw the rapid progress of the troops, but he still told Chirkov: "Comrade Colonel, you are advancing too fast, but in order to prevent a possible counter-assault by the Germans, you must remember to leave enough troops and hold on to the occupied positions, understand?" ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Chirkov hurriedly replied: "I have left a company of troops in each trench for defense, and even if the Germans carry out a counter-assault, they will be able to buy enough time for the main force of the division to return to defense." ”

Under the cover of artillery fire, the commanders and fighters of the 15th Guards Division marched all the way, and they broke through the three lines of defense of the German army outside the city of Bischanka in succession, and as long as they rushed forward for a few hundred meters, they could rush to the city of Bischanka and engage in street battles with the defenders inside.