German gains were now measured in yards and inches, as the determined Russians made them fight for every house and building which remained standing. Stuka dive bombers continued to hammer the Russian strong points, inflicting numerous casualties. The survivors, though bloodied, merely found new hiding places in the rubble and continued to fight on. Despite horrendous losses, the Germans systematically leveled the city block by block and relentlessly pressed towards the Volga.
While it was still capable of production, the Krasny Oktyaber plant continued to produce T-34 tanks and drive them directly into battle, often crewed by the workers who built them. Those civilians not cowering in cellars now pitched in to aid in the defense of the city. One German Panzer battalion over-ran a position, only to be sickened when they discovered that the defenders were women.
In spite of the heroic efforts of it's defenders, the 62nd Army was being driven back slowly but surely. Chuikov struggled to maintain communications with his beleaguered forces, but realized that the best he could hope to do was to give general instructions. He later stated that, "In Stalingrad, every man had to be his own General!" Russian positions which were by-passed continued to fight on, without orders, reinforcements, or supplies. Many would hold out for weeks, until finally running out of food and ammunition. All continued to exact a heavy toll of the enemy up to the moment they were over-run and killed.
Lt. Anton Kuzmich Dragan received these orders from Vasily Chuikov in person. Gathering a platoon of less than 50 men, Dragan and his soldiers proceeded to frustrate the Germans in an epic room by room struggle for control of the depot for nearly three weeks. Breaking through walls, crawling over the rafters, and burrowing under the floor boards, the Russians would yield a portion of the building to the Germans only to emerge elsewhere and start the struggle all over again.
Exchanging gunfire down hallways, lobbing grenades back and forth between rooms, Dragan's men inflicted as many casualties as possible on the enemy. In spite of this heroic resistance, Dragan's force was eventually reduced to a handful of men. Running out of ammunition, their rations gone, one of his soldiers took out a bayonet and carved on the wall, "Rodimtsev's Guardsmen fought and died for their country here". Under cover of darkness, Dragan and 5 of his soldiers slipped out of the building, made their way through enemy lines, and later rejoined the fight.
Chuikov sought to minimize the German advantage in firepower by instructing his men to close with the enemy and seek hand to hand combat at every opportunity. The Wehrmacht would then be unable to call in airstrikes or artillery without hitting their own men. The Blitzkrieg tactics which had enabled them to conquer much of Europe were useless, and the battle for the city was now reduced to hundreds of small unit actions.
This is the same tactic that the Vietcong used on the American troops...sneak up to 50 meters or so and then start the attack...danger close for artillery.
I was mistaken earlier, Zaitsev was a LT not a Maj. But none the less, he was already a legend before Stalingrad and killed some 140 germans in Stalingrad. The movie was a crock of shiete.
On starvation rations, hounded by thirst, and partly numbed by Vodka, Chuikov's soldiers fought on in conditions of human misery and filth unmatched even by the trenches of the First World War. Chuikov also faced another threat to his army. With the Russian winter looming ahead, he faced problems of re-supply which could be insurmountable. Once the Volga was frozen over and able to bear heavy traffic, his logistical problems would be simplified. But for nearly three weeks, starting in the middle of November, drifting ice floes would make the river impassable for boat traffic. He stockpiled ammunition, husbanded his reserves, and warehoused 12 tons of chocolate bars for the coming crisis. In the weeks ahead, one half of one chocolate bar would be the daily ration for a Russian soldier fighting in Stalingrad. Chuikov complained that such measures were "cruel economies" to be imposed upon his army.