German soldier Otto Lanz with his family. Otto Lanz of the 305. Infanterie-Division wrote in one of his field post letters before he went missing at Stalingrad: “Three days in the hell of Stalingrad. One has no idea what is happening there. This surpasses everything experienced so far. Every day our aviators attack; 500 to 600 have been committed. The city is continually getting smaller and the ruins are getting bigger. Now the fighting is for the big factories. Every house must have been destroyed, and often battles are fought for mounds of rubble. The artillery is smashing into it, tanks and infantry comb the streets, and this is the toughest work. Everyone who gets out of this alive may thank God.” When the 305th Infantry Division reached the northern part of Stalingrad on 13 October 1942, the battle in the city that was gradually being pulverized by aerial bombardment and artillery fire had already been raging for five weeks. Despite all efforts and sacrifices, there had been no success so far. Although the southern half of the city was almost entirely held by the Germans, the Russians clung on in the silenced industrial works in the northern part, supported and fed from the other bank of the Volga. From now on, the fight essentially was waged with assault troops. The taking of individual housing blocks again and again required time-consuming regroupments of the few remaining combat-ready assault troops.
Source :
Book "Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army" by Hans Wijers
