The main force of the German attack on the city of Stalingrad was undoubtedly Paulus's 6th Army, and the main force of the Soviet defense was the 62nd Army.

The reason was that the 4th Panzer Army under the command of the German Hort was blocked by the Soviet 64th Army in the south and could not break through on the outskirts...... The 21st Panzer Division had two options when it broke through to the Soviet 64th Army, either outflanking the 62nd Army or outflanking the 64th Army. The 21st Panzer Division chose the former, so when the Soviet 62nd Army collapsed and retreated into the city, the Soviet 64th Army contracted its own defense line and filled the gap in time, which resulted in Hort's 4th Panzer Army still being unable to break through due to terrain restrictions.

However, at this time, the German army thought that this was not a problem at all, because they were sure to take Stalingrad in the short term.

Paulus arranged his forces in this way: an infantry division was placed north of Stalingrad to defend and the main force, the 14th Panzer and the 51st Infantry Corps, to the west.

This arrangement is of course correct, because Stalingrad is a rectangular city with a length of more than 40 kilometers from north to south and a width of 5 kilometers from east to west.

It is conceivable that attacking such a city in both the south and north directions would artificially increase the depth of the Soviet army's defense (40 km). On the other hand, if you attack from the east and west, the depth of its defense is only 5 kilometers.

Since the Volga River was east of Stalingrad, the only suitable direction for the offensive was to the west.

In this way, when the German army launched an offensive and reached the Volga, Stalin could be divided into unconnected areas, and the rest of the battle would be much easier.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the west of Stalingrad is densely populated, both in the main urban area in the south and in the industrial area in the north...... As mentioned before, the west side of the industrial zone is the staff dormitory under the order of "XX New Village", and the east side is the factory.

Compared to factories with more open space, residential areas are obviously more difficult to break through.

However, the Germans do not seem to have taken this to heart at all.

At five o'clock in the morning, when the morning sun had just risen in the east and the first rays of sunlight were shining in the city of Stalingrad, the German siege artillery rang out.

The artillery fire was not very dense due to the insufficient supply of the German army, but because the target of the bombardment was the city of Stalingrad, its power was not much less than that of intensive bombardment...... Shells whistled into the city and burst into flames, and occasionally some shells hit the building, which would explode in the floor, and then the bricks and tiles would be swept into the air and then fall like a scattered flower, and if the building was not strong enough, it would collapse with a bang.

The Stuka bombers also joined the artillery preparation team, flying in the air like eagles, and when they found a target worthy of their bombardment below, they would swoop down and drop the bomb accurately.

Although the bombers could not be targeted due to the blockage of the buildings, it is conceivable that they would have chosen equipment such as Soviet artillery, tanks, pillbox fortifications, or anti-aircraft fire.

Twenty minutes later, with the order of Major General Wietsheim, the tanks of the 14th Panzer Corps covered the infantry and rushed towards the already bombed city.

The initial fighting went very smoothly, and the difficulties encountered by the attacking troops were more landmines.

But this was no longer a problem for the Germans, because they had mine-sweeping tanks...... At this time, of course, the minesweeper tank was not as primitive as it was when it fought in North Africa, its drum had been replaced with a special one, and the external engine had increased armor protection.

As the chains with counterweights kept flicking forward, the mines "rumbled" like firecrackers.

In a way, knowing that the Germans were equipped with mine-sweeping tanks, the Soviets did not even have a great desire to bury mines.

Needless to say, the reason is ...... Anyway, the mines that are laid, whether they are wooden-shelled mines or anti-tank mines, will be easily removed by minesweeper tanks, so why bother? Planting more mines will consume more resources.

But the Soviets were not helpless about it.

Some of them planted electrically detonated explosives and noted the location on sections of the road where tanks were more likely to pass...... This thing won't explode no matter how much the chaining of the minesweeper tank is whipped.

As a result, a minesweeper tank was blown into the sky with a "boom".

But this thing is too few after all, and it is not reliable, if there are no tanks in the buried place, it will not work at all, so the tide of German tanks continues to approach the Soviet defense line.

The outermost line of defense of the Soviet army was constructed along the Ring Railway...... Outside Stalingrad there was a ring railway around the city, which was used to transport tractors, artillery, etc., produced in the industrial zone to the north, without passing through the city. At this time, it happened to be used by the Soviet army as a line of defense.

Of course, the Soviets would not directly use the railway as a line of defense, and they also knew that the railway was not suitable for a line of defense, because the gravel used to lay the railway would fly around like shrenchnel when it was blown up by artillery shells.

Therefore, the Soviets built the defensive line about two hundred meters behind the railway.

200 METERS, THIS DISTANCE IS EXACTLY WITHIN THE RANGE OF THE SOVIETS' 37MM MORTARS, SO THE SOVIETS CAN IN TURN USE THE GRAVEL OF THE RAILWAY TO KILL AND INJURE THE GERMANS. For this reason, they even removed the rails and sleepers.

However, part of the reason for the removal of the rails and sleepers was that Stalingrad was surrounded by scarce resources, so they wanted to make the most of every available resource.

German tanks "Rumble" drove onto the railway, and it was at this moment that the Soviets counterattacked with mortars...... Although the mortar shells could not damage the tank, the flying debris made it difficult for the infantry to move forward.

However, it would be naïve for the Soviets to think that this would be able to hold off the Germans or separate the German infantry tanks.

Under the orders of the front-line officers, the German 50MM mortars bombarded the Soviet defense line, and the Soviet mortars were immediately silenced.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the German infantry got up from their hideouts and crossed the railway as fast as they could.

After passing one batch, it stopped for a while, and when the German mortars fired another shell, they passed another batch...... From this we can see the quality of the German army, although this kind of infantry and artillery coordination seems simple, but it is not easy to do it consciously and in batches on the tense battlefield.

By the time the third group was crossed, there was nothing to worry about, because the tanks and infantry that were ahead of the line had already approached the Soviet line and slaughtered it...... It would be good if the Soviets could save their lives, where would there be time for mortars.