Will Styka Ms.

Caruso ENGL 1102 14 February 2012 Der Lngste Winter (The Longest Winter) September 1st, 1942 We advanced into the city of Stalingrad today, one of the largest cities in the Soviet Union. Paulus1 ordered us to enter the city through a suburb that the Soviets call Rynok. The whole place is a shambled mess; our bombing runs have reduced the city to ruins, houses once full of life now shells. Things did not go as Paulus had hoped. He and his commanders did not expect the terrain of the city or the intensity of the Soviets artillery. The ruination of the buildings cluttered the landscape, making it difficult for our panzers2 to maneuver through the rubble-filled streets, and easy for the Soviets to direct artillery on us. Hauptmann3 Brenner split us up from the panzer division; if we had stayed, the Soviet artillery would have wiped us out. Weve taken cover and created a fortified position in the remains of an apartment building. I got a view of the city from a window on the seventh floor, it is a ghastly sight, flames and gunfire ravage the ruins of the city. September 5th, 1942 We left the apartment building today. Their artillery has been silenced, either due to our bombers or simply having been overrun by our soldier. With the artillery silenced, we have been ordered to push further into the city. Hauptmann Brenner informed us, with a grim face, that we needed to clear every house and building to ensure the path would be

safe for supply lines. Clearing these buildings is taxing on our minds and bodies. Our gains have been reduced to yards and inches, every house and every building could have Soviets inside waiting for us. Oberschutze4 Gringer died today; stepped into a room and shot in the throat a moment later. He didnt die quickly, he lay there gurgling and thrashing for several minutes. Seeing him die, and the manner in which he did made us all paranoid, which only made our task worse; knowing that through the next doorway or in the next room, our deaths could be waiting. Night fell faster than expected, and we are to spend the night in foxholes. I doubt any of us will be able to sleep though, knowing that the Soviets are possibly just up the street. October 12th, 1942 Hauptmann Brenner informed us today that we hold what the Generals estimate to be around ninety percent of the city. The fighting has been very bad as of late. The armyto-army fighting has nearly ceased, now it is mostly just squad-to-squad skirmishes throughout the city. Though these skirmishes are on a fairly small scale, they have been numerous and costly. The losses on both sides are staggering, in the tens of thousands. We are lucky then, to have only lost two; Oberschutze Gringer and Schutze5 Swartzer. The late Schutze fell to a sniper a few days ago, dead before he hit the ground. As of late, we have had to be weary of snipers; these ruined buildings and rubble piles make excellent sniper positions, and the Soviets know it. We were also told today that we have been completely cutoff from the main panzer division, and are being ordered to move closer to the heart of the city in order to regroup. Unfortunately this easier said than done, as we have no way of knowing how many Soviets we are to expect on the way there or how well armed they are.

October 25th, 1942 Weve managed to meet up with the remnants of the 4th Panzer Army under the command of General Hoth6, but things are looking grim. Many of the panzers have been rendered useless as field mice burrowed into the control panels and chewed through the wires. The High Command has sent word that they are worried about out left flank, warning that it is too wide open, but their point is moot. Though our flank may be vulnerable, there is nothing we can do to reinforce it; the Soviets have us at a bloody stalemate. We just have to hope that the Hungarians and Romanians can hold the line long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Though, after what happened with Rommel7 in North Africa, Hauptmann Brenner is skeptical that such reinforcements will ever reach us. Paulus- Friedrich Paulus, leader of the German 6th Army and a major leader in the Battle of Stalingrad.
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Panzer- A German tank. Hauptmann- German rank equivalent to a Captain. Oberschutze- German rank equivalent to a Private First Class. Schutze- German rank equivalent to a Private.

General Hoth- General Hermann Hoth, commander of the 4th Panzer Army, also a critical leader in the Battle of Stalingrad. Rommel- General Erwin Rommel, leader of the German 7th Panzer Division and Afrika Korps. Rommels defeat in North Africa due to the German High Commands poor resource management led to Rommels defeat and subsequently led to many problems with resources for troops in the Eastern Front.
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