Red Moscow

Early the next morning, Schmid came to Paulus in a hurry.

The adjutant sitting on duty at the door saw the chief of staff approaching, quickly stood up, walked out from behind the table, and greeted politely: "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, you are here! The commander is still sleeping."

Schmid knew Paulus's routine, and he would not get up for at least half an hour. He declined the adjutant's proposal to help him wake up the commander, but stepped forward and knocked on the door twice. Without waiting for any response from inside, he opened the door and walked in.

Schmid walked to Paulus' bed, bent down and whispered in his ear: "Your Excellency, the Russian river transportation line has been interrupted."

Although Schmid's voice was not high, it was enough to wake Paulus from his sleep. Paulus throws back the covers, sits up, hangs his legs over the edge of the bed, and searches for slippers on the floor with his toes. He was deeply afraid that the news that the transportation line on the river was interrupted was false news released by the Russians, so he looked up at Schmid and asked, "Chief of Staff, is the information reliable?"

"Yes, Commander, the information is completely reliable." Schmid replied excitedly: "The scouts we sent to the river saw with our own eyes several wooden boats trying to break through the ice floes, but all failed. Without exception, they were crushed by the ice floe." He took out a telegram from his pocket, "This is a telegram sent by the intelligence department after repeated verification."

Paulus picked up the reading glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and scanned them carefully. It was written clearly that in the early morning, several Russian wooden boats tried to transport a batch of supplies across the river, but as soon as they reached the middle of the river, they were smashed to pieces by the ice floes flowing down the river. fell into the water.

After confirming that the contents of the telegram were exactly the same as what Schmid reported to himself, Paulus looked away from the telegram, looked at Schmid and asked: "Chief of Staff, the Russian transportation line has been interrupted. What do you think we should do next?"

"With the interruption of the transportation line on the river, the Russians will not be able to receive any supplies for a long time." Schmid said triumphantly: "I think we should increase our offensive strength, maybe within two days. can completely take Stalingrad."

"But Chief of Staff, have you ever thought that the supplies hoarded by our army were destroyed by the Russians a few days ago." Paulus also desperately hoped to take Stalingrad, but he was very worried about his supplies I couldn't keep up, so I said worriedly: "Although I have received some supplements recently, can it meet the needs of high-intensity combat?"

"I think there should be no problem." Schmid said confidently: "After several months of fighting, the Russian veterans who served as defense in the city have lost almost all of them, and now we are fighting with a group of recruits. "

Paulus was a little confused by Schmid's words: "The chief of staff, the Russians who fought with us, is there any difference between veterans and recruits?"

"There was a difference back then," Schmid said to Paulus as an example: "For example, with a basic amount of ammunition, veterans can last a day's fighting; Keep shooting to build your courage, even if they use rifles, they can use up all the ammunition of a base in an hour at most."

Paulus immediately understood Schmid's explanation: "Chief of Staff, you mean that we send troops to attack in order to consume the Russians' meager ammunition reserves. Just use up their ammunition , we won Stalingrad in a short time, there is no problem."

"That's right, Commander." Schmid replied with a smile, "That's exactly what I mean."

"It makes sense. Although our ammunition and supplies are not as abundant as some time ago, there is still no problem in launching one or two small-scale attacks." Paulus nodded slightly, and ordered: "Order the troops to attack the Russians again." Barricade Factory, launch a new offensive."

"What, attack the barricade factory?" Schmid was a little confused by Paulus's order. He was worried that the other party might make a mistake, so he carefully reminded: "Your Excellency, you may want to say that Terren Sky Factory, it is the largest tank production base of the Russians, once it is occupied by our army..."

"Chief of Staff, do you think our army can immediately start tank production even if we occupy the Dzerzhinsky factory?" After Paulus finished speaking, he deliberately paused for a moment to observe the other party's expression. Schmid nodded Expressing his approval of his statement, he continued: "As long as our army takes down the barricade factory, it can turn this place into a garrison and a new starting point for offensive. To the north, we can attack Derzhins with troops from other directions. base factory; to the south, with the cooperation of the Romanian army, we can launch an attack on the Red October factory.”

After Schmid understood Paulus' intention, he tentatively asked: "Your Excellency, which army do you plan to send to attack the barricade factory?"

"The troops that attacked the barricade factory some time ago were not von Drebel's 297th Infantry Division. Let them attack again." When Schmid received the order and turned and walked out of the bedroom, Paulus added later: "The staff Commander, remember to ask Lensky's 24th Panzer Division to send tanks to assist them in their attack, and Stalingrad must be taken."

After Schmid left, Paulus walked back and forth in the bedroom with his hands behind his back, thinking to himself, if Stalingrad was really captured, then the Berlin side would know about Leiser's capture. For the "Conqueror of Stalingrad", it is nothing. At that time, not only will the base camp not blame him, but he may even be awarded a new Iron Cross, and he may even be promoted to his military rank. Even the marshal's scepter is not a distant dream.

"Your Excellency, Commander," just as Paulus was in YY, the adjutant came in with a tray, opened the door, and said respectfully to Paulus: "Your breakfast is ready for you. Please use it."

An hour later, the officers and soldiers of the 297th Infantry Division of the German Army who stayed outside the barricade factory suddenly launched a fierce attack on the factory again without any artillery preparation. Groups of soldiers with various weapons followed behind the rumbling forward tanks, and rushed towards the Soviet fortifications in the factory area through the ankle-deep snow.

The soldiers on duty in the trench heard the roar of tank engines in the distance, and then saw crowds of soldiers rushing towards them. They quickly raised their guns and fired two shots into the air, and then He opened his voice and shouted: "Battle siren, the Germans are attacking!"