Mamayev Hill is the commanding height of Stalingrad, and just standing on it, you can look down on the whole city and the Volga. If the Germans had occupied the hill, they would have set up artillery positions there to bombard any Soviet defensive stronghold in the city, while still having a full view of all the Soviet reinforcements that had been mobilized from across the river.

Stationed on the heights south of Mamayev Hill was Rodimtsev's 13th Guards Division, which had rapidly reduced its strength from more than 10,000 men to several hundred men in less than two weeks since it entered Stalingrad last September in order to compete with the Germans for this important height. Even so, the commanders and fighters of the 13th Guards Division were still engaged in repeated fierce tug-of-war with the Germans on this not vast hill. It was not until the beginning of the major counteroffensive on November 21 that the fierce offensive and defensive battles finally stopped, turning into sporadic shocks and counter-attacks.

The unit that took up the attack duty at night was the 13th Guards Regiment under the 39th Guards Division. The regiment commander, Colonel Yelin, concentrated only a dozen mortars in the regiment before the attack and shelled the German defensive positions for half an hour.

As soon as the shelling stopped, and before the smoke of gunpowder on the opposite hill cleared, Colonel Ye Lin gave the order to attack. The first battalion, which had recently been replenished for the first round of the attack, with a total strength of 500 men, had attacked the enemy's defensive positions from the hill to the south.

No sooner had they rushed up the slope of the hill to the north than fire began from the German positions, and the dense fire immediately pinned down the attacking troops on the hillside. Seeing this, Yelin, who was in the observation post in the back, immediately ordered the regimental mortars to open fire, in an attempt to eliminate the German firing points with artillery fire.

After two rounds of firing, Colonel Yelin found that the shelling was not satisfactory. On the opposite hill, the Germans did not know when to build a strong pillbox, and the two machine guns erected by the enemy in it were constantly firing, blocking the road of the troops' attack to death, and if they were forced to attack, they would inevitably pay a huge price.

Ye Lin called the commander of the mortar company to his regimental command post, pointed to the pillbox that was shooting wildly, and asked the company commander with a serious expression: "Comrade Captain, have you seen the pillbox opposite?" The two machine guns set up by the Germans inside had blocked the road of our attack, and without destroying it, our troops could not advance. ”

After hearing this, the commander of the artillery company replied with a sad face: "Comrade regiment commander, do you know that when you use a mortar to hit a pillbox, two conditions must be met: first, it is necessary to ensure an accurate hit, because only after accurately hitting the pillbox can it be possible to kill and injure the enemy by centimeters; Second, on the basis of accurate hits, there must be enough power to destroy them. ”

"Shells are about coverage, not hits." After listening to the artillery company commander's explanation, Ye Lin said with some displeasure: "Can't your artillery fire destroy the German pillboxes by covering them with firepower?" ”

"Comrade regiment commander," the rebuked artillery company commander hurriedly defended: "Don't say that we are using mortars, even if we use large-caliber artillery to bombard pillboxes, it will be difficult to effectively hit the target." Even if it hits, the shrapnel or air waves from the explosion of the shells pose little threat to the enemy in the bunker. ”

After listening to the artillery company commander's explanation, Ye Lin asked with some sorrow: "Then what can we do to kill this bunker of the German army?" ”

"The location of the German pillbox can not only give full play to the firepower, but also not be easily destroyed by our artillery fire." The artillery company commander stared at the pillbox on the opposite side and said cautiously: "Under these conditions, the only way to do this is to send a demolition team to break through the German fire blockade and approach the pillbox for blasting." ”

"It seems that this is the only way to go." After Ye Lin sent the artillery company commander away, he picked up the phone and called the commander of the first battalion, who was directing the battle at the front, and said to him: "Comrade Major, do you see that German pillbox on the hillside? Our artillery can't destroy it, so you'll have to send out a demolition team to strike close, you know? ”

After receiving the order, the commander of the first battalion immediately sent a demolition team to carry out the blasting mission. Unfortunately, the German fire was tightly blocked, and not only the enemy was shooting in the pillboxes, but even the enemy hiding in the trenches on the hillside was shooting with machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles. Under such intensive firepower, the five demolition teams sent in succession all fell under the guns of the Germans without exception.

Seeing more than a dozen soldiers fall under the enemy's guns, the commander of the third company, who was suppressed by the fire under a ridge, couldn't help but be anxious, he ignored the bullets that whizzed over his head, stood up suddenly, turned his head sideways and shouted at his subordinates lying next to him: "Comrades, rush for me!" With that, he took the lead and rushed up the hillside.

Seeing that their company commander had already rushed up, the soldiers of the third company lying nearby could not remain indifferent, they shouted, faced the rain of bullets shot down from the hillside, jumped up from their hiding place, and followed the company commander towards the hillside.

Colonel Ye Lin, who was staying in the observation post, saw his soldiers brave the enemy's dense fire, bravely standing up and rushing up the hillside, and after a short period of surprise, he couldn't help but exclaim: "Good job, good our soldiers." Rush up, hurry up, rush to the dead end of the German machine guns, and they will take you out of ......"

But before he finished shouting, he saw a scene that he would never forget: in the dense rain of bullets, the blood mist burst out of the ranks who were shouting and charging. The bullets fired by the German machine guns pierced their bodies, tore their flesh and blood, and threw their internal organs everywhere, and the flesh and blood shook violently like an electric shock in the rain of bullets, and the corpses were like broken bags that had been thrown out, overturned under the impact of bullets. But the living warriors still screamed and charged the hillside, until they were shot and fell, and the mutilated corpses of the fighters covered the attacking hillside.

In just a few minutes, the charge led by the commander of the third company disappeared under the intensive fire of the German army, and nearly 100 soldiers fell on the hillside.

Just as Yellin was about to withdraw the battalion that had been suppressed by German fire, the roar of aircraft engines suddenly came from the air. Hearing this voice, the chief of staff of the regiment standing beside Ye Lin couldn't help but grit his teeth and said: "Comrade Colonel, the German bombers are coming, let's let our troops hide immediately, so as not to cause unnecessary losses in the bombing." ”

Ye Lin nodded and said to the chief of staff: "Okay, immediately call the commander of the first battalion and ask him to withdraw with his troops, find a safe place for air defense, and wait for the enemy's bombardment to end, and then attack the enemy on the opposite side." ”

The commander of the first battalion, receiving a call from the regimental chief of staff, glanced in the direction from which the roar of the aircraft engines was coming from, and then indignantly gave the order to his troops to retreat.

Just when the Soviet troops retreated in chaos, the German commander on the hill to the north also heard the roar of the aircraft engine, but his reaction was diametrically opposed to Yellin's, because in his impression, the only night bomber that could appear over Stalingrad at night was the Luftwaffe, and there was no semicolon, so after he ordered the troops to stop shooting, he also came out of the shelter to see with his own eyes the scene of the Soviet troops being bombed on the opposite hill.

Neither the Soviet nor the German army thought that the night bombers flying towards Mamayev Hill were not the German bomber formations at all, but the 588th Women's Night Bomber Aviation Regiment. Their newly reequipped Mosquito bomber, compared with the previous Pei-2 bomber, not only flies faster, but also has a greatly increased bomb load, and the night bombing they now carry out can cause considerable losses to the German army every time.

The plane, piloted by the regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Bosanskaya, flew at the front of the entire formation. She concentrated, carefully searching for the target of the attack. When her plane entered the sky above Mamayev Hills, although the battle below was over, the fire caused by the Soviet artillery bombardment on the northern hill had not yet been extinguished, allowing Persian Anskaya to discover the German positions in the first place.

She hurriedly gave an order to the female pilots: "All pay attention, I am Persian Anskaya, the first squadron is in front, the second squadron is behind, the target is the high ground with fire, immediately reduce the altitude and drop the bomb, and take turns to attack." Repeating, the first squadron is in front, the second squadron is behind, the target is the high ground with fire, immediately reduce the flight altitude, and all of them attack. Offensive! ”

If it was daytime, the German officers and soldiers on the hill to the north might be the first to notice that the bombers in the sky were not their own. But in the dark night, they could only hear the roar of the aircraft engines in the air and see the faint shadow of the aircraft, and they could not distinguish whether it was their own planes or Soviet planes.

The German commander stood in the trench, looking at the planes flying lower and lower, and thought that the bomber formation was preparing to dive and bomb the southern hill occupied by the Soviet troops, and then bomb the opposite position into a sea of fire. In the past, German pilots used to do this during the day, but this was the first time that they had been bombed at night.

But to his surprise, when the bomber formation reached the sky above his position, it suddenly began to drop bombs. Bombs fell from the sky and exploded in the trenches, destroying the firing points, lifting the huddled soldiers into the air, and then tearing them into stumps and scattering them.

"Hell, what's going on?" After a moment's hesitation, the German commander turned around and ran towards the shelter, intending to contact his superiors and tell them that the bomber had dropped the bomb in the wrong place.

Ye Lin and his subordinates on the hill to the south were also stunned when they saw the dazzling fire and billowing black smoke rising from the opposite position. The two looked at each other, and both saw surprise in each other's eyes. Yelin opened his mouth and asked: "Chief of staff, what the hell is going on, how could the German planes bomb their own positions?" ”

The regimental chief of staff looked at the German positions with the smoke of gunpowder billowing and said in an uncertain tone: "Comrade regiment commander, perhaps the German air force has received an erroneous report and thinks that our army has captured the hill opposite, so the air force is dispatched to bomb it. ”

"I don't think so." Ye Lin shook his head and said: "The German army's communications have always been perfect, and if there is a mistake, they will immediately contact their superiors......" When he said this, he couldn't help but be shocked, and then said to the chief of staff in disbelief, "Could it be our bombers?" ”

When the chief of staff heard Ye Lin say this, he hurriedly replied: "I'll call the division and ask what's going on." With that, he turned around and walked to the telephone, and asked the operator to connect him to the division headquarters. While waiting for the phone to be answered, he said in a skeptical tone: "From the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad to the present, I have never seen our planes come out and bomb at night." What the hell is going on here, it's a real headache. ”

The regimental chief of staff quickly contacted Rodimtsev, and before he could finish his words, Rodimtsev was heard in a loud voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the regiment, I was just going to call you." I have just received a notice from General Chuikov that the Front has dispatched the 588th Women's Night Bomber Aviation Regiment to bomb German positions on the hill north of Mamayev Heights. ”

After figuring out that the bomber formation that was bombing the opposite position turned out to be the plane of his own side, Colonel Ye Lin's face showed a smile. He ordered the regimental chief of staff: "Call the commanders of the three battalions and order them to immediately launch an attack on all fronts, and must take the opposite hill in the shortest possible time." ”

When the regimental chief of staff heard this order, he hesitated for a moment, and then asked cautiously: "Comrade regiment commander, the front of the opposite hill is too narrow, and the troops that can be deployed are limited, and according to our battle plan, we can only put the troops into battle in battalion units......

"Alright, my Comrade Chief of Staff." Without waiting for the regimental chief of staff to finish speaking, Ye Lin interrupted his later words, "Didn't you see that our air force has suppressed the enemy?" If we don't take advantage of the current chaos of the enemy to launch a charge, and wait for us to fly away and the enemy readjusts its deployment before launching an attack, we will pay a greater price than we do now. ”

After the order to attack was given, three red signal flares were raised on the hill south of Mamayev Gang, one was to represent the signal of the attack, and the other was to inform the bomber formation in the air of the news of the attack. Before the flares fell, a loud trumpet sounded on the hill, and hundreds of commanders and fighters jumped out of the trenches, shouting Ulla, and rushed towards the enemy's position.

Seeing that the ground troops were charging, Persian Anskaya was deeply afraid that the bombs dropped would injure her own people, so she ordered the female pilots to stop dropping bombs, lower the heights and strafe the enemy on the ground with airborne machine guns, so as to open a channel for the attacking troops to attack.

The German troops on the hill were already blown up, but they did not expect the Soviet troops on the opposite side to launch a full-scale attack, and it suddenly became a mess. The German machine gunners were the first to come to their senses, and they pounced on the machine gun fire points that were not destroyed by the bombs, set up their machine guns and opened fire on the incoming Soviet troops. But before they could finish a chain, they were either blown to pieces by bombs falling from the sky, or they were beaten into a sieve by the on-board machine guns.

The German soldiers were not fools, and when they saw that they could not hold on, they stopped resisting and ran along the communication trench towards the other side of the hill, trying to get out of this ominous place as soon as possible. As soon as the enemy left, the Soviets flooded up the hill and jumped into the trenches to clear out the German officers and soldiers who had not had time to escape.

After more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, the hill north of Mamayev Gang was recaptured by Colonel Yelin's 39th Guards Regiment.