In the early afternoon the commander in the lead tank called out to
his men over his throat microphone: "Over on the right the skyline of
Stalingrad."
The tank commanders were all up in their turrets, looking at the
long-drawn-out silhouette of the ancient Tsaritsyn, now a modern
industrial city extending some 25 miles along the Volga. Pithead gear,
factory smokestacks, tall blocks of buildings, and, farther south in
the old city, the onion-topped spires of the cathedrals were towering
into the sky. Clouds of smoke were hanging over those parts of the
city where Stukas were bombing road intersections and
barracks.
The tanks' tracks crunched through the scorched grass of the steppe.
Trails of dust rose up behind the fighting vehicles. The leading tanks
of Strachwitz's battalion were making for the northern suburbs of
Spartakovka, Rynok, and Latashinka.
Suddenly, as if by some secret command, an artillery salvo came from
battle of Stalingrad.
emplacements in all. One direct hit after another was scored
against the emplacements, and the guns together with their crews were
shattered.
Strangely enough, the battalion suffered hardly any losses itself. The
reason why was soon to become plain........
As the Panzer crews penetrated into the smashed gun emplacements they
found to their amazement and horror that the crews of the heavy
ordnance factory. No doubt they had had some rudimentary training in
anti-aircraft defence, but clearly they had no idea of how to use
their guns against ground targets.
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