Apartments
Story
Date: 6th October 1942
Location: Apartment block in the Upper Settlement of the Tractor Factory
German unit: 389.Inf.Div, LI Armee Korps
Soviet Unit: 114 Guards Rifle Regiment, 37 Guards Rifle Division
Background: As 6th Army worked to clear the approaches to the factories, the tanks of 24.Pz.Div. had stalled as they entered the more built-up sections of the city, so 389.Inf.Div. fed past on their left to start clearing out the well-built apartment blocks. Once again, Soviet resistance hardened in front of the Germans.
Situation: 389.Inf.Div. moved in to start clearing out the next modern apartment block, heavily-built 2-storey buildings, with the complex straddling the Zhitomirsk Balka (Gully). The Guardsmen of 114 Guards Rifle Regiment were paratroopers, converted to ground infantry, highly motivated, elite troops. They had little time to prepare the defenses, but they were prepared to make the Germans pay.
Real life end result: It took the Germans 4-5 days of hard fighting to clear the area and consolidate the gains against the highly-decorated Guardsmen, who would go on to further frustrate the Germans.
Notes: As a shocker to most people, the area does actually exist, even today. The map started life as a "port forward" of the old RO1 favorite map - "Danzig". By chance, aerial recon photos showed an area that almost exactly mirrored the layout of the original map, just mirrored. Much to everyone's surprise, the apartments were rebuilt and most of them are still there today, along Opolchenskaya ul. At the time of the battle, there was actually a gully through there - just no bridges (as far as aerial recon photos show)!