September 1942

Eastern Front

In the small hours of the morning, Batyuk's 284th Rifle Division, begins ferrying across the Volga into Stalingrad, while the hard pressed 13th Guards takes 2,000 reinforcements into its ranks. Chuikov plans to used these new troops to clear the central landing stages. Luftwaffe attacks on the oil storage tanks near the landing stages start a ferocious blaze, sending burning oil flowing into the Volga. Under heavy fire, the 284th fights its way ashore, breaking through the German line and penetrating into the Metiz Factory and onto the southeastern slopes of the Mamayev Kurgan. The 95th Rifle Division joins the attacks, driving the Germans back toward the central railway station.

To the south, the 42nd and 92nd Rifle Brigades struggle under intense German attacks. The commander of the 42nd Brigade is wounded during a Luftwaffe attack and his force combines with the 92nd. Shortly afterwards the headquarters of the now combined brigades evacuate to the Golodnyi Island, leaving the men of the brigade to fight on without direction. From the island the commander submits false battle reports to Chuikov.

In the Caucasus, Group Ruoff begins Operation ATTICA, a last bid to break the Soviet defenses in the Caucasus Mountains. Two corps of the 17th Army strike the 56th and 18th Armies. The Germans, however, only manage to advance around a mile across the front, fighting for every yard of ground.