Chapter 137

【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 for it 14 times with the Empire in 6 hours, almost being wiped out.】

Following 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.

Then there 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】

【Occupation: 179 times.】

【Casualties: 3,671 people.】

【Kills: 7,514 people.】

【Occupation time statistics: 18 days 21 hours 54 minutes.】

And the data of other federations were also different.

【Antarctic Star Federation】

【Occupation: 176 times.】

【Casualties: 4,124 people.】

【...】

【Occupation time statistics: 15 days 8...】

【Slavic Federation】

【Occupation: 176 times.】

【Casualties: 4,537 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' stream room was not given.

With the ranking coming out.

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

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

Especially the Slavic Federation soldiers and officers whose borders were adjacent to the Great Xia Federation; in the past, border frictions were all at the same level.

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

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

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

The Slavic Federation side pondered.

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

Actually, it was also because the Golden Moon Federation was a bit weak; 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 game agents for "Second World War: Rise of the Empire".

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

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

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 while, but it couldn't be hidden for a lifetime, but the premise was to guess in this direction...:

Following the settlement of 【Mamayev Kurgan】.

Then the introduction of 【Battle for Central Station】 was displayed.

【Battle for Central Station】

【This is one of the craziest 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, engineer shovels, and fists.】

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

【In this battle, the infantry of the Imperial 24th Panzer Division paid two lives for every meter they advanced 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 puppet state troops, about 19,000 Soviet troops).】

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

Looking at the tragic introduction 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 just don't dare to 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 stream rooms of the six major federations and the 'Earth' stream room suddenly rose, and then moved towards the south.

Until the Central Station.

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

Although nothing could be seen for now.

But observing the surrounding environment, one would find the difficulty level 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 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 'Earth' stream room also gave a group of soldiers who came to support.

In the Star Fall official stream room.

Tianji and Mo Xiaomo commented:

"Okay."

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

"And Mamayev Kurgan was supplemented with new NPCs."

"It looks like 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 the map?!

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

But the Empire would not give them time to be stunned.

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 did not dare to be slow.

Immediately holding their breath, they followed the sound of gunfire to prepare for battle.

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

Boom!!

A tank shell struck, directly hitting the wall behind the Antarctic Star Federation soldiers, which collapsed with a bang, directly burying these Antarctic Star Federation soldiers.

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

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

In other stream rooms, the fighting was equally tragic, one after another black screens were hit and changed.

On the other side.

The battle for the Central Station had already begun.

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

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

At this time, hanging the game, chatting with the friends in the stream room, and putting a video playback module in the lower right corner, repeatedly playing some wonderful moments of holding the building for 58 days.

Although the plot had ended for several hours.

But the popularity remained undiminished; many players who saw the hot search all poured into Fang Ming's stream room during their break time.

Fang Ming looked at the danmu and replied:

"Medal challenge?"

"This has to wait for a period of time; to be honest, this 58-day building holding was really fought until I was numb."

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

"I plan to play the 【Immersive Plot】 mode for a while."

"Sometimes the immersive plot will also be a surprise."

"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 be fought."

"This way I will know roughly when it ends."

"This way it's good to leave enough time to challenge the medal."

Fang Ming chatted about this, stretched, and then moved his gaze back to the game's main interface.

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

At this time.

A prompt popped up; Fang Ming looked over:

"Hmm?"

"Hidden reward?"

What popped up was a form to fill in the mailing address; it looked like there should be a physical reward.

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

"There should be some physical reward; I will unbox it for everyone after it is mailed."

"Now let's continue 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 already entered the winter of 1942.

Similarly.

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

The Battle of Stalingrad had been fought from the summer of July 1942 to the winter of December now, and it had 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 or so; this was only 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 stream room.

The time in the game had already 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 Star Fall official website was still in 1942, Fang Ming had already found someone to make a plug-in map exclusive to the plot instance.

Using the information analyzed by the photonic supercomputer, the 'Earth' map in the stream room was updated in real-time.

At this time in Stalingrad.

The Soviet Federation had already cut off the contact 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 attacking the Imperial Don Army Group from both sides together 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 eliminated, this battle would be over.

Looking at the situation in the map.

Constantly updating the map according to the information, and there was also calculation data on it,

Fang Ming said:

"According to the current situation, the Soviet Federation should be able to advance a few 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; it started in July last year, and it's already been 6 months."

"This is less than 200 days."

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

"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 stream room.

He immediately found Duan Yu's stream room which was still streaming.

Good guy.

In Leningrad, the siege had not ended yet.

Truly survival of the fittest.

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

The Soviet Federation also opened a road to Leningrad.

Although I don't know how long it can be maintained, looking at the current situation, the effect is not bad.

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

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

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

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

You can stroll around the scenery without battle plots, or you can skip.

Fang Ming looked at the plot and chose to skip,

After a few times.

The time had jumped to February; during this period, there were no battles and plot triggers, and the Empire was also actively shrinking its defense line.

After Fang Ming just 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 soldiers who were discussing immediately stood up, their expressions joyful and excited:

"Sir."

"We won the Battle of Stalingrad!"

Saying this, 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 mass surrender of the Imperial 6th Army.

"Hiss——?!"

"Finally finished fighting?!"

Fang Ming hurriedly looked at the date.

February 2nd.

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

At this time, in the 【Battle of Stalingrad】 battlefield, the time had already reached the time of Pavlov's House, which meant there were still about two months to challenge the medal.

Fang Ming breathed a sigh of relief; the time was still sufficient, 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 good."

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

Currently, the Soviet Federation, with the help of winter, has a smooth overall offensive momentum; Fang Ming collected some information,

and the map mounted in the stream room updated automatically.

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

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

If they attacked again, they would face the Imperial Don Army Group; it's just that the commander there was an Imperial famous general,

and also Manstein 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 "Manstein Plan" that shocked the world, defeating the Anglo-French Allied Forces in one fell swoop; on the Eastern Front, he created miracles repeatedly with inferior forces.】

【Famous Quote: "A clever 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 battle 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 like he was even stronger than Guderian.

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

Fang Ming and the friends in the stream room studied the introduction in the Hall of Fame.

And the Soviet Federation also set its target on the Imperial Don Army Group with the victory of the Battle of Stalingrad, this huge army group commanded by Manstein.

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

The offensive was unusually smooth.

After a few days of fighting, it was so smooth that they almost didn't 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 most outstanding strategist of WWII", "created miracles repeatedly on the Eastern Front" - how could an Imperial famous general with these titles and deeds be beaten to a steady retreat.

Fang Ming couldn't analyze it for a while and could only follow the troops to advance.

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 stream room updated again, looking at the troops of the Soviet Federation.

They were about to insert into the hinterland of the Imperial defense line in the shape of a sharp knife.

Fang Ming always had a bad premonition.

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

For the netizens on Earth, one could see at a glance that it was just fighting too fiercely; the Empire was clearly using the strategy of luring the enemy deep.

It was just that the Soviet Federation was fascinated 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; another battle plot triggered?

Since it was a battle.

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

Fang Ming hurriedly called up the map in the stream room and watched with the friends in the stream room.

Although the depth of the breakthrough was a bit deep currently.

But it shouldn't be fatal; the front line was very long, so it wouldn't 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 friends in the stream room were confused, watching Fang Ming's strange operation:

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

【There is no information, except for Manstein, the only one left here is Chuikov.】

【That's right, other generals are not on the list.】

【Why don't you go trigger the plot quickly, what are you looking at the Hall of Fame for.】

And Fang Ming didn't answer, but called up Manstein's photo, looking at the sentence in the 【Famous Quote】 in the introduction.

【A clever boxer often takes a step back, and then launches a fatal blow.】

Hiss—Fang Ming felt his scalp tingle, damn it?!

It all connected.

It all connected.

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

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

But what if?

What if they really get surrounded?!

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

Fang Ming felt more and more terrible the more he thought about it.

These famous generals in the Hall of Fame are really not for show; he has a real-time map, a third-party perspective, and so many friends in the stream room, but he didn't react at all.

He only understood until the battle plot was triggered.

If it wasn't triggered... he was afraid he would die without knowing how he died.

Are 'Earthlings' so terrible?

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

Can't figure it out.

Fang Ming hurriedly turned around, preparing to find the commander of the division he was in to tell him.

By the way, tell the friends in the stream room about his discovery.

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

【Damn? Is it really?】

【With such a long front line, can they carry out an encirclement?】

【Did you forget? The Empire's Blitzkrieg.】

【That's right, this front line looks very long at a short distance, but if you zoom in, as long as the Empire's Blitzkrieg is fast enough, they can completely do an encirclement.】

【And it's February now, the land hasn't thawed yet, so they can fully use Blitzkrieg.】

【Hiss—】

Fang Ming looked at the danmu and also ran to the regimental headquarters.

He was just a battalion commander and 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."

"Coordinate with the main force to intercept those devils of the Imperial Skull 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 recently?"

"The Empire surrounds us?"

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

"Perhaps you should take a break."

"However, the troops cannot stop; I will give you a day off, and you go and convey the order."

"Prepare to move."

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

Fang Ming's scalp tingled:

"Me?!"

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

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

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

But there was no other way, die if I die, anyway I can restart, it's just...:

"Imperial Skull Division? What kind of troops is that?"