Then the news quickly spread, and an eyewitness told a Soviet sentry, who would report the incident to his superiors with suspicion, and then report it up to Lieutenant General Lopatin, commander of the 62nd Army.

Lieutenant General Lopatin couldn't help but be taken aback when he heard this information, but he couldn't be sure whether this was an isolated incident or a big conspiracy, so he immediately asked the staff officer: "What about Captain Droyev?" ”

Captain Droyev was the Soviet officer that Lopatin sent to meet the "reinforcements".

"I don't know, Comrade Lopatin!" The staff officer replied.

The Soviets' communications situation dictated that they were slow to react, and now, for example, if Captain Troyev had a walkie-talkie and was in constant contact with the command, it would have been long overdue.

But Captain Droyev was not equipped with a walkie-talkie, so no one knew whether he could not be contacted or was killed by some spies as portrayed in the intelligence.

Then, looking at the map, Lopatin ordered: "Call the checkpoints along the road, stop this support army, and order them to stand by for inspection!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Lopatin!" The staff officer responded.

Lopatin's decision was clearly wrong, as he thought it might just be a small group of Germans dressed as Soviet soldiers...... This was not uncommon for the Soviet army, which was often infiltrated by the German Brandenburg troops, even at Stalingrad, to steal intelligence.

Because of this misjudgment, Lopatin thought that it would be enough to stop the troops and conduct a search. What he didn't expect was that this time it was different from usual, this time it was not a small force that came in, and its purpose was not to set intelligence, but to conduct a special operation-like assault.

It should be said that Lopatin missed a chance.

If he could accurately judge this, and then quietly mobilize troops to set up an ambush in front of the "reinforcements", then the 1st Infantry Regiment was afraid that it would not be able to eat and walk around.

It's a pity that Lopatin doesn't have such wisdom.

Fortunately, Lopatin did not have such intelligence, otherwise the 1st Infantry Regiment would have been the first piece of meat to be minced by the meat grinder of Stalingrad, and it would have been ground until there was no slag left.

When the call was received, the second lieutenant of the Soviet army stepped forward to answer again and again, and soon saw the tanks of the "reinforcements" described in the phone "rumbling" up.

The second lieutenant put down the phone and stepped forward, raising his hand to stop the group.

"Hey, you're not allowed to pass through here!" The second lieutenant said, "The superior ordered you to stand by and wait for the inspection!" ”

"What's going on?"

"I don't know!" The lieutenant replied, "Anyway, you stay here!" ”

Qin Chuan knew that the matter might have been exposed, although he didn't know what was wrong, but in short, he couldn't hide it, so he immediately made a decision and ordered: "Fight!" ”

The gunfire soon rang out, and before the second lieutenant could understand what was going on, he was beaten into a sieve, and several Soviet soldiers in the outpost hurriedly raised their guns, but a row of smoke-emitting grenades had already been thrown at their feet...... With a roar, more than a dozen Soviet soldiers were blown into the sky.

There were also a few clever people who turned over and hid behind the sandbags to avoid the grenade explosion, but this was of no avail, because the next second the tank "rumbled" up and smashed the sandbags and the Soviet soldiers hiding behind them.

"Go down this street!" Qin Chuan ordered: "All the way to the Volga, on the right is the 'Red Barricade' artillery factory, and on the left is the tractor factory!" ”

"Yes, Major!" The German soldier took out a white towel and tied it to his left arm...... This is to avoid being unable to distinguish friend or foe in the dark.

At the same time, they also established a code phrase in which one party asked "Long live Stalin" and the other replied: "Red barricades". This will not make the Soviet army suspicious, and it will be able to effectively distinguish between friend and foe. Because if the other side were Soviets, of course, they would have answered "Long live Stalin" and not other answers.

According to the plan, the troops were divided into battalions and marched in three parts, each with three or four tanks for cover.

This was done so that the forces could be deployed to launch a more effective assault, so that a street would not be blocked by enemy fire.

This concern turned out to be unfounded, because in the subsequent battles several tanks drove out of the tractor plant and blocked a street...... These tanks had just been produced from a tractor factory, and even the workers who drove them were factory workers.

It can also be seen that the consciousness of the Soviet working class is still very high, and they should usually flee at this time, but they will take the initiative to meet the battle in tanks.

But this did not help, because it did not take long for the German tanks to come around from another street, and there was a heavy bombardment from their sides......

The tanks driven by the Soviet workers were not professionally skilled, and they were unable to distinguish between friend and foe, after all, both sides used T34 tanks.

But this was not a problem for the Germans, who tied a red cloth to the prominent positions of the tank's barrel, body, and antenna.

In addition, the tanks driven by Soviet workers did not have infantry coordination, so they were beaten into a pile of scrap metal in a few clicks.

When the news reached Lopatin, he couldn't help but be taken aback. It was only then that he realized that it was not a small group that had been mixed in, but an entire army.

Then Lopatin quickly understood the intention of the force to sneak in...... Factory.

"Quick, send reinforcements to the factory area immediately!" Lopatin ordered: "At the same time order the checkpoints along the way, be sure to block these hateful Germans at all costs!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Lopatin!" The staff officers were busy in an instant, giving orders after orders, and transferring troops after troops.

But it's too late to do that.

Stalingrad had insufficient troops, and as a result, the main forces of the troops could only be distributed on the periphery.

Of course, there was no problem with this, the perimeter was defended by troops, and the city was fortified by the people, and even armed with the people.

Then, when the Germans attacked, the outer forces could defend layer by layer, and retreat step by step along the fortifications built by the people.

But now these German troops have hit the interior as soon as they come up, and they have penetrated more than two kilometers into the hinterland...... (Note: Stalingrad is roughly rectangular, 40 km long and 5 km wide)

As a result, Lopatin did not even have troops in his hands to send reinforcements to the factory in time. In the end, Lopatin could only send his own guard company.