Chapter 134

[Introduction to the Battle for Mamayev Kurgan]

[This is one of the most tragic battlefields in the Battle of Stalingrad; both sides paid the lives of more than 100,000 people to fight for this 102-meter-high hill.]

[Mamayev Kurgan is the commanding height of Stalingrad, overlooking the entire city and the Volga River.]

[The average survival time of soldiers was less than 24 hours, officers less than 3 days; the Soviet 13th Guards Rifle Division fought 14 times with the Empire in 6 hours, almost wiped out.]

With the popped-up settlement and introduction of Mamayev Kurgan, the Blue Star netizens finally knew how many people died on this small hill of less than two square kilometers.

Next was the settlement of the major federations; what came into view was the Great Xia Federation side:

[Battle for Mamayev Kurgan Settlement]

[Great Xia Federation]

[Occupations: 179 times.]

[Casualties: 3671 people.]

[Kills: 7514 people.]

[Occupation time statistics: 18 days 21 hours 54 minutes.]

And the data of other federations were also different.

[Antarctic Star Federation]

[Occupations: 176 times.]

[Casualties: 4124 people.]

[...]

[Occupation time statistics: 15 days 8...]

[Slavic Federation]

[Occupations: 176 times.]

[Casualties: 4537 people.]

[...]

[Occupation time statistics: 15 days 2...]

According to the comprehensive ranking of casualties, etc., among the six major federations, the Great Xia Federation ranked first, but the settlement in the 'Earth' livestream room was not given.

With the ranking out.

The netizens of the Great Xia Federation on the Blue Star side were extremely excited, only the major federations felt something was wrong.

When did the soldiers of the Great Xia Federation become so good?

Especially the Slavic Federation soldiers and officers who were adjacent to the Great Xia Federation border; when there were border frictions before, they were all at the same level.

But in the past six months, the combat effectiveness of the Great Xia Federation soldiers had inexplicably improved overall.

And the Antarctic Star Federation, the improvement was also quite fast; in the previous military exercise competitions, the individual quality of the Antarctic Star was much worse than that of their Slavic Federation.

As a result, now they were actually performing better than them in the competition; where exactly was the difference?

The Slavic Federation was pondering.

However, they couldn't think of any reason for a while.

In fact, it was also because the Golden Moon Federation was a bit lagging; otherwise, if the Golden Moon Federation practiced troops and rose up under the leadership of the eldest prince, other federations would have discovered the clues.

Not to mention the Great Xia Federation.

Both the Antarctic Star Federation and the Golden Moon Federation had agents for the game "Second World War: Rise of the Empire".

Although they wouldn't open any special backdoors, there were still some training battle instances.

It's just that the Golden Moon Federation's mind was not on that, and it was also the personal behavior of the eldest prince, which did not spread to the lower army.

Otherwise, the common point of the three federations whose soldiers' strength improved by leaps and bounds within half a year would be easy to find out.

After all, letting soldiers enter the game to simulate reality training on a large scale couldn't be hidden for a lifetime, but the premise was that one had to guess in this direction...

With the settlement of [Mamayev Kurgan].

Next was the introduction of the [Central Station Battle].

[Central Station Battle]

[This is one of the most crazy tug-of-war battles in the Battle of Stalingrad; soldiers on both sides fought in collapsed platforms, broken trains, and burning ruins, fighting for every inch of track with bayonets, entrenching tools, and fists.]

[When the battle ended, the station building was razed to the ground, the tracks were twisted into a twist shape, and the platforms were piled with frozen corpses.]

[In this battle, the infantry of the Imperial 24th Panzer Division paid two lives for every meter of advance on average during the charge.]

[The Empire and the Soviet Federation invested a total of more than 80,000 troops in the Central Station, with a total of 47,000 casualties (about 28,000 German and servant countries, about 19,000 Soviet troops).]

[Both sides changed hands 107 times in the ticket hall area, and grenade fragments embedded a metallic luster-like reflection on the walls.]

Looking at the tragic introduction that was no less than [Mamayev Kurgan], the Blue Star netizens were a bit numb.

Are 'Earthlings' so ruthless in fighting?

A ticket hall changed hands 107 times, and grenade fragments plated the hall with a layer of metal?

How many grenades must have been thrown?!

Hiss—I dare not think about it.

Inexplicably, many Blue Star netizens recalled the introduction on the [Stalingrad Medal].

"WWII Meat Grinder" is well-deserved.

With the end of the introduction, the screens in the six major federations' livestream rooms and the 'Earth' livestream room also suddenly rose, and then moved towards the south.

Until the Central Station.

The Central Station in the screen was still in intense fighting; from the overlooking perspective, one could see both sides attacking and defending around this station.

Although nothing could be seen for the time being.

But observing the surrounding environment, one would find the difficulty here; the Central Station was surrounded by ruins, and the only thing standing here was the Central Station.

The Soviet Federation soldiers were holding on inside.

And outside the Central Station, there were Imperial soldiers everywhere, launching attacks on the station.

Swish!

The screen suddenly pulled down.

Then the soldiers of the six major federations who were just on Mamayev Kurgan appeared inside the [Central Station].

The screen in the 'Earth' livestream room also gave a group of supporting soldiers.

In the official Polar Star livestream room.

Tianji and Mo Xiaomo commented:

"Okay."

"After the introduction, the game directly moved the remaining personnel to the Central Station."

"And Mamayev Kurgan was replenished with new NPCs."

"It seems the intensity of the game has doubled again."

"Let's see what kind of performance the soldiers of the major federations have~"

And at this time.

The soldiers of the six major federations in the game couldn't help but want to curse.

They didn't say they would change maps?!

After fighting the hill battle for several days, now they were suddenly thrown into this Central Station full of building ruins and corridors; everyone was a bit dazed for a while.

But the Empire wouldn't give them time to be dazed.

BOOM—!!!

The wall not far away suddenly exploded, and the sky full of smoke and dust spread with the shock wave.

The soldiers of the major federations didn't dare to neglect.

Immediately held their breath and followed the sound of gunfire to prepare for battle.

The Antarctic Star Federation, just as they sneaked close, before they could attack.

BOOM—!!

A tank shell came, directly hitting the wall behind the Antarctic Star Federation soldiers, which collapsed, directly burying these Antarctic Star Federation soldiers.

The livestream screen instantly went dark, and then slowly lit up.

A new team of Antarctic Star Federation soldiers had already entered the game.

In other livestream rooms, the fighting was equally tragic, and they were successively black-screened and replaced.

On the other side.

The battle for the Central Station had begun.

And Fang Ming's livestream room remained on the hidden plot settlement interface for several hours.

After all, holding on for 58 days in the game, he still had to slow down.

At this time, hanging the game, chatting with the viewers in the livestream room, with a video playback module in the lower right corner, repeatedly playing some wonderful moments of guarding the building for 58 days.

Although the plot ended a few hours ago.

But the popularity remained undiminished; many players who saw the hot search flocked to Fang Ming's livestream room during their break.

Fang Ming looked at the barrage and replied:

"Medal challenge?"

"This will have to wait for a while; to be honest, this 58-day building guard was really a bit numb."

"I won't do the battle for now."

"I'm going to play the [Immersive Plot] mode for a while."

"Sometimes the immersive plot will also have surprises."

"And the timeline of the [Immersive Plot] mode is faster than the [Battle of Stalingrad], I'll see how long this battle in the [Immersive Plot] mode will last."

"This way I'll know roughly when it ends."

"This way I can leave enough time to challenge the medal."

Fang Ming chatted, stretched, and then moved his gaze back to the main interface of the game.

The settlement screen had been hanging for half a day; Fang Ming looked at the information on it, and then closed the settlement screen.

At this time.

A prompt popped up; Fang Ming looked over:

"Hmm?"

"Hidden reward?"

The form for filling in the mailing address popped up; it seems there should be physical rewards.

Fang Ming filled in his information according to the prompt, submitted the form, and said to the viewers in the livestream room with a smile:

"There should be some physical rewards, I'll unbox them for everyone after they are mailed."

"Now let's continue with the immersive plot mode~"

He clicked the start button.

The screen flashed, and he entered the game again.

At this time.

Because the plot of [Pavlov's House] ended at the end of November, when he started again, the time had entered the winter of 1942.

Similarly.

Because of the winter, the Imperial troops gradually revealed a downward trend.

The Battle of Stalingrad had been fought from the summer of July 1942 to the winter of December now, and encountered the same predicament as in Moscow last year.

Fang Ming tried his best to survive in the [Immersive Plot] mode by his own strength, and then skipped the plot.

Half a month later.

More than a month had passed in the game, and Fang Ming had died no less than ten times, dying once every three days on average; this was still achieved by trying his best to save his life.

Otherwise, he might have to start every day in the game.

At this time.

In Fang Ming's livestream room.

The time in the game had reached January 1943.

Fang Ming was currently leading a battalion of troops, following the main force to complete the encirclement of the Imperial 6th Army.

Although the 'real-time map' on the official Polar Star website was still in 1942, Fang Ming had already found someone to make a hanging map exclusive to the plot instance.

Using the information obtained from the photon supercomputer analysis, the 'Earth' map in the livestream room was updated in real-time.

At this time in Stalingrad.

The Soviet Federation had cut off the connection between the Imperial 6th Army and other armies, slowly strangling the Imperial 6th Army (about 330,000 people).

And on the Imperial side, the Don Army Group commanded by Manstein tried to rescue the 6th Army several times.

But because the Soviet Federation launched a fierce attack on the Don Army Group from both sides, they were forced to retreat and cut off the plan to rescue the 6th Army.

The team Fang Ming was in was the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Federation, which was currently attacking the Imperial Don Army Group from both sides with the Stalingrad Front according to the orders of the high command.

Currently, they had advanced more than 100 kilometers.

The predicament of Stalingrad was completely solved; as long as the Imperial 6th Army trapped in Stalingrad was wiped out, this battle would be over.

Looking at the situation in the map.

Updating the map according to the information, there were also calculation data on it.

Fang Ming said:

"According to the current situation, the Soviet Federation should be able to advance several dozen more kilometers."

"Because the main force of the Imperial Don Army Group is not in these peripheral areas."

"It's really difficult."

"It's already January now, starting from July last year, it's been 6 months."

"This is less than 200 days."

"But the casualties are already more than 2 million."

"An average of more than 10,000 people die every day... hiss—"

This was just Stalingrad.

Fang Ming thought of something and searched for the Leningrad livestream room.

He immediately found Duan Yu's livestream room, which was still live.

Good guy.

In Leningrad, the siege had not ended yet.

Really survival of the fittest.

However, Duan Yu's complexion looked much better at this time, not because he ate something he shouldn't have... but because with the arrival of winter and the counterattack.

The Soviet Federation also opened up a road to Leningrad.

Although he didn't know how long it could be maintained, judging from the current situation, the effect was quite good.

It's just that looking at the screen of Duan Yu's livestream room.

Countless people died in Leningrad too... a few thousand people a day was probably still there.

Fang Ming watched for a while and switched back to his livestream room.

The plot at this time was marching; looking at the skip button, Fang Ming clicked skip directly, the screen flashed, and when it lit up again, he arrived at the camp.

Plots without fighting could be strolled around for scenery, or skipped.

Fang Ming looked at the plot and chose to skip.

After a few times.

The time had jumped to February; during this period, there was no fighting or plot triggering, and the Empire was also actively shrinking its defensive line.

After Fang Ming skipped, the screen lit up.

He heard the soldiers beside him discussing with newspapers, something about Stalingrad; Fang Ming walked over:

"Any new news about Stalingrad?"

The few soldiers discussing immediately stood up, their expressions joyful and excited:

"Officer."

"We won the Battle of Stalingrad!"

As he spoke, he handed out the newspaper for Fang Ming to see.

Fang Ming took the newspaper and sure enough saw the victory news announced by the Soviet leader, as well as the news of the Imperial 6th Army surrendering in batches.

"Hiss——?!"

"Finally finished fighting?!"

Fang Ming hurriedly looked at the date.

February 2nd.

From July 1942 to early February 1943, six and a half months.

At this time, in the [Battle of Stalingrad] battlefield, the time had reached the time of Pavlov's House, which meant there were about two months left to challenge the medal.

Fang Ming breathed a sigh of relief; there was still plenty of time, so he would go through the [Immersive Plot] first.

Returning the newspaper in his hand to the soldiers under his command, a smile appeared on Fang Ming's face:

"Really nice."

"Next, it's time to teach those guys on the Don a lesson."

Currently, the Soviet Federation, thanks to the winter, had a smooth overall offensive momentum; Fang Ming collected some information.

The map mounted in the livestream room updated automatically.

Counting from Stalingrad, the Southwestern Front and the Stalingrad Front.

Under the pincer attack from both sides, they had advanced and recovered more than 200 kilometers of land.

If they attacked further, they would face the Imperial Don Army Group; however, the commander on that side was an Imperial famous general.

Also Manstein, who was in the WWII Hall of Fame.

Fang Ming called up the Hall of Fame and found the photo of Manstein's introduction.

[Erich von Manstein (to be unlocked)]

[Title: Strategic Master, Spear of the Empire]

[Rank: Field Marshal]

[Biography: The head of the three famous generals of the Empire, hailed by later generations as the "most outstanding strategist of WWII". He planned the world-shocking "Manstein Plan", which defeated the Allied forces in one fell swoop; on the Eastern Front, he created miracles repeatedly with inferior forces.]

[Famous quote: "A brilliant boxer often takes a step back, and then launches a fatal blow."]

[Exclusive plot: To be unlocked]

[Exclusive biography: To be unlocked]

[Note: Participate in the Eastern Front campaign to unlock the "Manstein's Counterattack" plot; you might follow Manstein as a staff officer and witness the birth of the "Reverse Sickle" tactic.]

Looking at Manstein's introduction, it said he was the head of the three famous generals of the Empire.

It looked a bit stronger than Guderian.

And at this time, the Southwestern Front where Fang Ming was located had to face the Imperial army commanded by Manstein.

Fang Ming and the viewers in the livestream room studied the introduction in the Hall of Fame.

And the Soviet Federation also aimed at the Imperial Don Army Group, this huge army group commanded by Manstein, following the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad.

The troops Fang Ming was in received orders not long after to attack the Don side.

The offensive was exceptionally smooth.

After a few days of fighting, it was so smooth that they almost didn't have to fight, and the Empire retreated steadily.

For a time, the entire Soviet Federation was plunged into an ocean of joy.

And Fang Ming and the Blue Star netizens always felt something was wrong; after all, those Soviet Federation soldiers didn't know, but could there be fakes in the Hall of Fame?

The Imperial famous general who possessed these titles and deeds, "most outstanding strategist of WWII" and "repeatedly created miracles on the Eastern Front", how could he be beaten to retreat steadily.

Fang Ming couldn't analyze it for a while and could only advance with the team.

Until the time in the game reached February 19th.

The division where Fang Ming was located had just beaten back the Imperial troops; the map in the livestream room updated again, looking at the Soviet Federation troops.

They had almost inserted into the hinterland of the Imperial defensive line in a dagger shape.

Fang Ming always had a bad premonition.

This was also because Blue Star had no common sense of military strategy.

The netizens on Earth could see at a glance that they were fighting too fiercely; the Empire's strategy was clearly to lure the enemy deep.

It's just that the Soviet Federation was blinded by the joy of victory.

They didn't notice anything wrong at all.

Fang Ming followed the main force to clean up the battlefield, packing up some equipment left by the Empire, but they were all useless equipment.

Just searching.

The screen in front of him gradually darkened, and then slowly emerged.

[Battle of Kharkov]

Fang Ming's heart skipped a beat; triggered the battle plot again?

Since it was a battle.

Then clearly the Empire's counterattack was about to begin.

Fang Ming hurriedly called up the map in the livestream room and looked at it with the viewers in the livestream room.

Although the depth of the breakthrough was a bit deep.

But it shouldn't be fatal; the front line was very long, not enough to be surrounded by the Empire.

Kharkov?

Fang Ming immediately found the location of Kharkov on the map.

Right near them?!

This...???

Suddenly.

Fang Ming thought of something and hurriedly called up the Hall of Fame.

The Blue Star viewers in the livestream room were confused, looking at Fang Ming's strange operation:

[What are you calling up the Hall of Fame for? Is there information on it?]

[No information, except for Manstein, the rest here is just Chuikov.]

[Yeah, other generals didn't make the list.]

[Why don't you go trigger the plot, what are you looking at the Hall of Fame for.]

And Fang Ming didn't answer, but called up Manstein's photo and looked at the sentence in [Famous Quotes] in the introduction.

[A brilliant boxer often takes a step back, and then launches a fatal blow.]

Hiss—Fang Ming felt his scalp tingle, holy crap?!

Got it.

All got it.

Take a step back... and then launch a fatal blow?!

Isn't the current situation that the Empire is retreating steadily, and the Soviet Federation army is deep inside; although from the map, the probability of the front line being long and being surrounded is very low.

But what if?

What if they really got surrounded?!

The joy of the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad just now, wouldn't it be hit heavily before February is out?

Fang Ming felt terrible the more he thought about it.

These famous generals in the Hall of Fame are really not for show; he had a real-time map, a third-party perspective, and so many viewers in the livestream room, yet he didn't react.

He only understood when he triggered the battle plot.

If he didn't trigger it... he would probably die without knowing how he died.

Are 'Earthlings' so scary?

Are these famous general NPCs really something a photon supercomputer can make?

Can't figure it out.

Fang Ming hurriedly turned around, preparing to go find the officer of the division he was in to talk about it.

By the way, tell the viewers in the livestream room about his discovery.

At this time, the livestream room was also full of question marks, full of shock, looking at the mounted real-time map.

[Holy crap? Is it really?]

[With such a long front line, can they be surrounded?]

[Did you forget? The Empire's blitzkrieg.]

[That's right, this front line looks very long at a short distance, but zoom in, as long as the Empire's blitzkrieg is fast enough, they can completely surround them.]

[And it's February now, the land hasn't thawed yet, they can completely use blitzkrieg.]

[Hiss—]

Fang Ming looked at the barrage, and at the same time ran to the regimental headquarters.

He was just a battalion commander, so he could only communicate with the regimental commander first; as soon as he entered the regimental headquarters, before he could speak, he heard the regimental commander say:

"Maxim, you came just in time."

"Order the troops to pack up, the order to attack has been issued from above."

"Cooperate with the main force to intercept those devils of the Imperial Skeleton Division."

Fang Ming said:

"Ah?"

"Wait, Regimental Commander."

"I have something to report, I feel this is a trap."

"Manstein is luring us deep."

"He might surround us later."

Hearing Fang Ming's words, the regimental headquarters was silent for a while, and then burst into roars of laughter; the regimental commander looked at Fang Ming with a strange expression and said:

"Maxim, are you under too much pressure lately?"

"The Empire surrounds us?"

"You have to know that we have now recovered more than 200 kilometers of land, and even Manstein has been beaten by us to retreat steadily; what do they have to surround us?"

"Perhaps you should take a break."

"But the troops cannot stop, I'll give you a day off, you go and convey the order."

"Get ready to move."

"Wipe out those devils of the Imperial Skeleton Division."

Fang Ming's scalp tingled:

"Me?!"

But looking at the Soviet officers in the room with strange expressions, he also understood that he was powerless, so he could only walk out of the regimental headquarters, standing in place, feeling tired.

At the same time, a sense of powerlessness and insignificance rose in his heart; Fang Ming complained to the livestream room:

"No wonder everyone wants to be a big official... my words as a small battalion commander can't even get out of the regimental headquarters."

But there was no way, let's die, anyway, he could restart, it's just...

"Imperial Skeleton Division? What kind of troop is that?"