Red Moscow

Captain Rettenmeier confirmed that the reinforcements to the barricade factory were the troops commanded by Sokov through the certificates of the Soviet soldiers who died in battle. He immediately reported the matter to the regiment headquarters through the radio. Colonel Wenzel, the head of the regiment, received the call and felt that the matter was of great importance, so he hurriedly called Steinmetz himself.

It was Steinmetz's adjutant who answered the phone. After hearing Wenzel's voice, he apologized and said: "I'm sorry, Mr. Colonel, the division commander has already rested. If you have nothing important to do, please call after dawn. Come on the phone."

"Adjutant, wake up the division commander immediately." Although Steinmetz is the division commander, but because he has not been in office for a long time, he has not yet fully established his prestige in the division, so Wenzel heard the adjutant said that the other party had rested, so he immediately In an orderly tone, he said impatiently to the adjutant: "I have important information to report to him. If you delay the business, be careful with your head."

When the adjutant heard Wenzel's harsh tone, he immediately realized that it was very important that the other party wanted to report to the division commander. He quickly said with a smile: "Mr. Colonel, please wait a moment, I will ask the teacher to answer your call immediately."

Steinmetz was awakened from his sleep by the adjutant, and his face was full of displeasure. Before he had an attack, the adjutant said first: "Your Excellency, this is a call from Colonel Wenzel, the commander of the 578th regiment."

As soon as he heard the call from Wenzel, Steinmetz remembered that he had ordered the regiment to enter the barricade tonight. He called himself at this moment, either that the troops had been deployed, or there were other important things to report. He took the microphone handed over by the adjutant, put it close to his ear and said, "Colonel Wenzel? I'm Steinmetz!"

"Your Excellency, Division Commander!" Wenzel reported, "I just received a telegram from Captain Rettenmeier, the commander of the 1st Battalion. department."

I was really afraid of something, but why did I come here? Steinmetz had always been worried about the reinforcements of the barricade factory, which were Sokov's guards. Hearing Wenzel's report at this moment, he found that his worries had become reality, and he couldn't help shivering. After a long silence, he asked hesitantly, "Colonel, is this information reliable?"

"Reliable, completely reliable!" Wenzel said convincingly: "Before Captain Reitenmeier's troops entered the No. 4 factory building, there happened to be a Russian army trying to sneak into the No. 4 factory building, but was repelled by the defenders inside. They concluded from the IDs of the Russians who were killed that the reinforcements were from the 41st Guards Division."

"This important information needs to be reported to the military headquarters and the army headquarters immediately." Steinmetz thought so, and asked casually: "Colonel Wenzel, have all your troops entered the barricade factory?"

"The first battalion has already entered the No. 4 factory building." Wenzel replied: "The second battalion, third battalion and regiment headquarters will arrive at the designated location before dawn."

Steinmetz is also a smart person. From Wenzel's report, he guessed that the other party only dispatched the first battalion, and the second battalion, third battalion and regiment headquarters are probably still in place. However, he did not expose the other party, and only said: "Be sure to enter the barricade factory before dawn." After finishing speaking, he hung up the phone directly.

After putting down the phone, Steinmetz couldn't fall asleep either. He sat by the bed and smoked a cigarette. He felt that he should report the matter to the army commander, so he put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, picked up the bedside table, phone, dialed a number. Hearing a voice coming from inside, he said into the microphone: "I am General Steinmetz, immediately connect me to the military headquarters and find General Kurzbach."

Kurzbach frowned when he learned that the troops stationed at the barricade factory were Sokov's 41st Guards Division. Although his troops have been victorious since the Battle of Kharkov, his subordinates have suffered a lot in several contests with Sokov's troops, so that his division commanders, as long as they listen to When it comes to Sokov's name, everyone will frown.

Since his opponent was Sokov, Kurzbach felt that he should not take it lightly and needed to report the matter immediately. He raised his hand and looked at his watch. It was already one o'clock in the morning. According to the time calculation, Commander Paulus must have gone to bed. However, this matter was of great importance and could not be delayed. He could only bite the bullet and call the Army Group Command.

When the officer on duty heard the call from Kurzbach, he guessed that there must be something important, and quickly said respectfully: "General Kurzbach, please wait a moment, I will immediately transfer the call to the chief of staff." .”

Chief of Staff Schmidt heard that the officer on duty said that there was Kurzbach's call, so he told the other party: "Turn the call in." After the call was connected, he asked curiously: "General Kurzbach, it's so late, what are you doing?" Call, is there anything important?"

"Your Excellency Chief of Staff," Kurzbach said hastily when he heard Schmidt's voice, "my subordinates reported to me that the Russian troops stationed at the barricade during the day were the 41st Guards Division under the command of Colonel Sokov. , I think we're in trouble."

"What is the 41st Guards Division?" Hearing the number Kurzbach said, Schmidt also felt a headache, but just to be on the safe side, he asked: "It is the one that sticks to the Mamayev Post." Russian troops?"

"That's right, it's them."

"Has this information been confirmed?" Schmidt asked with a serious expression.

"It has been confirmed, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff." Kurzbach replied: "This information was reported by Captain Rettenmeier, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 578th Regiment of the 305th Division. He based it on the Russian soldiers who were killed. to determine the serial number of this Russian unit.”

"It seems to be true." After confirming that the Russian troops stationed in the barricade factory were indeed Sokov's 41st Guards Division, Schmidt also realized the seriousness of the problem: "General Kurzbach, you have Can you handle them?"

"It's very difficult, Your Excellency the Chief of Staff." Kurzbach complained to Schmidt: "You also know that several divisions under me have become very weak after a long period of fighting. Now that there is a problem with supplies, I think it will be very difficult to defeat Sokov's troops and occupy the barricade factory."

As the chief of staff of the army group, Schmidt knew the situation of the soldiers of each division very well. He knew that what Kurzbach said was not alarmist talk, but a fact. He tapped the table lightly with his fingers, thinking about how to help Kurzbach in his mind. After thinking for a long time, he finally came up with a good solution, but he did not disclose more information to Kurzbach before obtaining Paulus's permission: "General Kurzbach, I will send this to Kurzbach after dawn. Report this to His Excellency the Commander and ask him to send you reinforcements to wipe out the Russian troops in the factory area."

Kurzbach knew Schmidt well and knew that he was not a person who would just write a verbal check, so he said with a smile: "Since this is the case, Chief of Staff, then I will wait for your good news."

After finally staying up until dawn, Schmidt calculated the time, Paulus should get up, so he took the call records between himself and Kurzbach and went to Paulus' bedroom.

Paulus had just woken up and was sitting on the edge of the bed in the bedroom, having his first breakfast. Seeing Schmidt come in hurriedly, he put down the coffee in his hand and asked, "Chief of Staff, what do you have?" something?"

"Your Excellency, Commander," Schmidt came to Paulus, handed over the call record in his hand, and said in his mouth at the same time: "A few hours ago, General Kurzbach called me and said that they had Make it clear that the Russian troops that reinforced the barricade during the day yesterday were the 41st Guards Division under Sokov's command."

Hearing Sokov's name and unit number, the muscles on Paulus' face twitched violently twice. He quickly read the call log, then looked at Schmidt and asked, "Chief of Staff, where do you plan to transfer troops to strengthen the attack on the barricade factory?"

"Engineer battalion!" Schmidt said without hesitation: "I think the 52nd, 162nd and 294th engineer battalions that have just been transferred to the city can be sent to the barricade factory to strengthen the attack force there."

"What, send the engineer battalion to the barricade factory?" Paulus naturally knew that the three engineer battalions mentioned by Schmidt were not the kind of troops that only knew how to clear mines and erect pontoon bridges, but a special combat force. Most of the officers and soldiers have participated in the French campaign, and made countless exploits on the Russian battlefield. To put such an elite force into the battle to capture the barricade factory, Paulus was somewhat reluctant: "Chief of Staff, are there no other troops to send besides this?"

"We do have other units that can be mobilized, but they are all incomplete units." Seeing that Paulus was a little reluctant to put the engineer battalion into battle, Schmidt said cautiously: "The morale of these units is generally low. Even if they are sent to the barricade factory, it may be difficult to seize the factory in a short time. And our engineer battalion..."

"Okay, Chief of Staff, you don't need to say any more." From Schmidt's words, Paulus realized that it was undoubtedly the best choice to capture the barricade factory as soon as possible and send the three engineer battalions there. He gritted his teeth and said to Schmidt: "You give an order to the three engineer battalion commanders, let them rush to the barricade factory immediately and participate in the battle to seize the factory."

"Your Excellency, I would like to ask." Before leaving Paulus' bedroom, Schmidt asked respectfully, "Who should command these three engineer battalions?"

"As far as I know, these engineer battalions are able to maximize their combat effectiveness when they are fighting independently every time." Paulus said without hesitation: "Tell the three battalion commanders that after entering the barricade factory, they don't have to Whoever obeys the command can flexibly use various tactics according to the actual situation on the battlefield."

"Understood, Your Excellency Commander. I will immediately convey your message to the three engineer battalion commanders." After speaking, Schmidt bowed slightly to Paulus, then turned and walked out of the bedroom.