[b][i]0515 hours 20. September 1942[/i][/b]
Grenadier Regiment 522 in all of its splendor stood up just under nine hundred soldiers of Der Deutsches Wehrmacht. Oberst Manfred Böhmer entered the Russian steppes with a strength of three thousand one hundred and seventy four personnel. After a summer of slogging their way to the banks of the Volga River, the regiment, one of three Grenadier Regiments within the 297th Division, two thirds of the Regiment were either bleeding in a hospital in the fatherland or buried in the soil where they lay.

It was in many ways disheartening. For Oberst Böhmer loved his men dearly and the act of fighting a war was the act of killing that which one loves. 

Almost half of the men of this Regiment were rear echelon soldiers or manning the assigned artillery battery within the regiment. For immediate use in Direct Support (DS) artillery, the regiment had six 105 mm leichte Feldhaubitze (leFH -- trans: light field howitzer). The guns were located in a gun position about four kilometers west of where the regiment gathered inside the city.

The regiment, tasked with taking the factory near the banks of the river against a Soviet enemy bound and determined to defend their home were pouring across the river in droves and reinforcing their defenses on an hourly basis. German Luftwaffe pounded the boats, but more Russians were slipping through than the flyers could stop. German Artillery pounded the shores to prevent the survivors from making it into the city, but even still, more were getting past this obstacle than being killed by the lethal explosions.

The sun would be up in less than an hour. It was time to go. The companies were lead by Major von Küchen on the left and Major Klieter on the right. Behind each company were two additional companies lead by Hauptmann Bauer on the left and Leutnant Ziegler on the right. Each advanced company established a support by fire position on the second floor of their jump off buildings. These SBFs consisted of eight MG34 Machine guns and three 50mm mortars. The mortars were positioned on the roof and shielded by whatever structures remained. The flanks of their assault force were protected by survivors of a Penal battalion on the regiment's right flank and the remnants of Bewährungsbataillone 391 on their left flank. To support the assault, two Sturmgeschütz III assault guns or StuG IIIs would advance along both flanks to provide additional fire support into the objective buildings and to prevent the enemy from reinforcing the targeted structures from the flanks. Along the center road which the 522nd Grenadier Regiment straddled, two more STuG IIIs would advance with three Panzer Mark IIIs in order to advance with the assault force.

At zero five fifteen hours, the artillery battery commenced firing. Their first volley was High Explosive (HE) with a variable time (VT) fuze setting. The VT was set to detonate after passing through at least one layer of concrete, brick or wood. The purpose was to kill any occupants inside of a building rather exploding outside the building with a point detonated fuze that explodes on contact. The second volley of rounds was composed of White Phosphorus (WP) which would explode on contact, point detonated. During the explosion, much of the chemical would expand and burn at a rapid rate. If contact with the flesh was made, it would burn quickly and aggressively. The only way to extinguish this fire would be to dig it out of one's flesh with a bayonet or knife. Its intended purpose was as a smoke screen. When allowed to burn and expand, a large billowing white cloud that would conceal the movements of anyone inside the cloud. The battery fired four additional volleys alternating between HE and WP. The problem is, the rounds all landed either on top of the factory or in the street just east of the factory. None of these rounds landed on the street in front of the 522nd Grenadiers or the Russian troops they would be facing during the impending assault to be launched in the next ninety seconds.

Concurrently with the impacting High Explosive and White Phosphorus rounds, sixteen MG34 Machine guns positioned on the second and third floors along the west side of the street forming the Line of Departure (LD) all opened up adding to the din of battle. Along with this, the StuG IIIs and Mark IIIs moved up and began firing HE and machine gun rounds into the objective buildings. The 50mm mortars on the roof also dropped a combination of HE and WP rounds which landed on the Russian side of the street designated as the LD for the assault.

Grenadier Adolf Bergmann lay in a cellar hole waiting for the command to move. He thought of his mother and father near Vilseck and his Jewish Grandmother he never knew. He neglected to inform anyone that he was a quarter Jewish. He believed it was in his best interest to keep that little bit of information a secret. But given the current situation, he knew it really didn't matter anymore. He knew in his heart that he was not going to make it home for Christmas -- ever.

Oberleutnant Klaus Bergen held the extreme left of the line. Confidence filled his heart as he chose to remain an inspiration to his men. He checked on them frequently, moving from position to position issuing words of encouragement. Klaus was positive he would not only survive, but see the factory on the other side of the street fall into friendly hands.

Feldwebel Johann Harmann had already received the Iron Cross Second Class and was really not in the mood to try for the Knights Cross of the Iron Cross. His head pounded, his nose was stuffed up and body aches wracked him completely. But in Stalingrad, it was either fight or die. There was no rest, even if you did have a bad case of inluenza.

Major Günter von Küchen stood in a doorway watching the building across the street. It was at least an eighty meter jaunt to get to the factory. This would be the sprint of their life. It wasn't that he didn't believe his men were up to the run or the hand-to-hand fighting that would ensue on the far side. He knew his men would do well, but getting there was what troubled them. The Russians constantly reinforced their position with troops emerging out of the banks of the Volga. There would be no way the 522nd Grenadiers could push the Russians out. These doubts the Major kept to himself. He told his troops they would all meet success and he encouraged them nonetheless. He looked them in the eye, shook their hands warmly wishing them well all the while knowing he was sending them to their death. But alas, Major von Küchen would be crossing the street with them.

At exactly zero five sixteen and thirty seconds, Oberst Böhmer blew on his whistle. Major von Küchen and Major Klieter both blew on their whistles as well. The shrill ear piercing sound propelled the first wave of Grenadiers, two companies numbering around two hundred soldiers jumping up from their positions and sprinting the eighty meters across the street. Russian made machine guns, fixed along diagonal firing angles forming interlocking fields of fire opened up creating a buzz saw of hell as the German Grenadiers charged right into the maws of death. Several of the Russian machine gun positions had been eliminated by indirect fire from the mortars and by the machine guns upstairs. These gaps provides the 522nd with a few isolated regions to establish footholds in the factory.

Once they were inside, it was almost as if every man was fighting for his own life. The Russians came at them with bayonets fixed on theor Mosin Nagant bolt action rifles and a few carried the same PPsh Submachine guns that all the leadership in the 522nd had converted to months ago.

Major von Küchen fired several bursts of 9mm slugs into a crowd of Russians inside the factory, scattering several and sending a few to the floor. Oberleutnant Bergen, pushed his troops forward to clear out rooms in and spaces inside the factory. It was an intricate labyrinth of places for marksmen to hide. Too many in one place. Feldwebel Harmann made it to the far side and flopped on the floor behind members of the second platoon. His head was buzzing from the noise and pain. It was an almost unendurable experience he was forced to tolerate. He struggled to regain his composure. Grenadier Bergmann lay bleeding to death in the street with a half dozen of his comrades. They would not see Siberia in this lifetime. Nor would Adolf Bergmann ever see a Vilseck Christmas again.

Once the first two companies had established footholds at the west end of the factory and adjacent building complex, the 2nd wave of companies commanded by Hauptmann Bauer and Leutnant Ziegler blew their whistles and the remaining two companies of the 522nd charged across the road. They encountered some of the same machine gun fire as the first two companies, but continued into the cauldron unabated.

The German Grenadiers of the 297th Division and the Russian soldiers fighting for their homeland and the city named for their leader were gripped in a hand to hand struggle for life or death. Many would never leave this hellish place.