Red Moscow

Hearing that the people shoveling snow on the side of the road were Jews, Wittmann couldn't help thinking of a rumor he had heard, and couldn't help asking curiously: "Your Excellency, I heard that those Jews sent to concentration camps will Sent to the gas chamber to be executed, I don’t know if this is true or not?”

"It's just nonsense." As soon as Wittmann finished speaking, Kurzbach said in a stern tone without thinking: "These are all rumors spread by the British, Americans and Russians, trying to attack our army in this way." Morale. Captain Wittmann, I don't know where you heard this rumor, but that's all for now, and if I ever hear from you again, I will send you off without hesitation. Court martial. Understand?"

Wittmann did not expect that his casual question would cause such a big reaction from Kurzbach. He could only answer in a low voice with a blushing face, "Understood, Your Excellency the General."

As an officer of Kurzbach's level, he naturally knows something about the massacre of Jews in the concentration camp. The reason why he stopped Wittmann so severely was because he didn't want such news to spread to the army and affect morale. After all, this approach , It is inconsistent with the chivalry that everyone is familiar with.

The car stopped in front of the small building where the headquarters was located. A German captain who was on duty at the door ran over immediately. He bent down and looked into the car. He saw clearly that Kurzbach was sitting in the back seat, and quickly raised his hand. After saluting, he asked respectfully, "Hello, General Kurzbach, do you have any notification to the headquarters?"

"Yes." Kurzbach knew that Paulus served as his headquarters and was attacked by guerrillas. Therefore, the checks on entry and exit were particularly strict. He may be stopped outside the small building by officers and soldiers on duty. Kurzbach pushed open the car door, stepped out of the car, and said to the officer, "I am here to report to him on the orders of His Excellency the Commander."

"What about him?" The officer looked at Wittmann who came out of the car door on the other side, and asked cautiously, "Is he also ordered to report to the headquarters?"

"That's right, he is the person whom your Excellency the Commander asked to meet." After Kurzbach finished speaking, he was afraid that the officer would not believe him, so he reminded him: "If you don't believe it, you can call to verify it." one time."

The officer looked over the roof of the car, stared at Wittmann on the opposite side for a while, and then said to Kurzbach: "General Kurzbach, please wait here for a while, I want to make a call to check. .”

When the officer went to make a phone call, Wittmann walked around the rear of the car and came to Kurzbach's side, and asked curiously, "Your Excellency, do you have to go through such strict interrogation every time you come here?"

"It wasn't so strict before," Kurzbach said, shaking his head, looking at the officer standing in the sentry box on the phone, "but since the war has fallen into a stalemate, the security of the headquarters has become more and more strict. "

After waiting for a while, the officer came out of the sentry box, came to the two men, and said to Kurzbach respectfully: "General Kurzbach, I have verified that your Excellency the Commander has indeed informed you to go to the headquarters. Come. Please, I'll take you in."

"No need, Captain." Kurzbach didn't appreciate the low profile shown by the officer, he waved his hand and said, "I'm familiar with the road inside, even if no one leads the way, I won't get lost .Let's go, Captain, we're going to see His Excellency the Commander now." The last sentence he said was to Wittmann.

Unexpectedly, the two had just walked a few steps, and the officer stopped their way in front again: "I'm sorry, General Kurzbach, please hand over your guns."

Kurzbach came here often and knew that handing over the gun was the rule, so he handed over the weapon to the officer without hesitation. However, Wittmann, who came from the frontier, did not have common sense in this area. When he heard the officer asked him to hand over the weapon, he wanted to argue with reason, but seeing that Kurzbach had already handed over the weapon on his own initiative, he put the Swallowing back the words that came to his lips, he obediently took off the belt with the pistol and handed it to the officer on duty.

Kurzbach led Wittmann into the small building, and when he walked along the corridor towards Paulus' office, he reminded Wittmann in a low voice: "Captain, if your Excellency the Commander asks you later, you will Don't be nervous about what to answer. Do you understand?"

As a low-level officer, Wittmann had almost no chance to meet the division commander, let alone a senior officer of Paulus' level. From the moment he entered the building, his heartbeat accelerated, and he kept thinking about what to say when he saw Paulus later. Hearing Kurzbach's reminder at this moment, he nodded vigorously.

Paulus had two offices inside and outside, and the adjutant sitting in the outer office saw Kurzbach walk in, he quickly got up to greet him, and said at the same time: "General Kurzbach, Your Excellency Commander has been waiting for you for a long time. Seeing Wittmann behind Kurzbach, he asked casually, "Is this the officer the Commander wants to see?"

"Yes." Kurzbach nodded, and then asked: "Can we go in and see Your Excellency the Commander now?"

The adjutant knew that Paulus was waiting for Kurzbach, so he didn't dare to be negligent. He hurried to the door, raised his hand and knocked on the door. Hearing the movement inside, he immediately opened the door and stood at the door to report: "Commander Your Excellency, General Kurzbach has arrived!"

After a while, the adjutant who had obtained permission opened the door and invited Kurzbach and Wittmann into Paulus' office. Wittmann followed Kurzbach into the office and saw two German generals without military caps standing at a conference table covered with maps and discussing something.

Hearing footsteps at the door, a shorter officer came over, extended his hand and shook Kurzbach's hand, and said politely: "General Kurzbach, you are here, Your Excellency, Commander, has been waiting for you for a long time. "

"No way." Kurzbach replied with a wry smile, "There is too much snow outside and the roads are not easy to walk, so we have delayed the time. Please forgive me, Chief of Staff."

"General Kurzbach," Paulus looked away from the map, looked at the upright Wittmann, and asked, "is he the officer who directed the troops to attack the barricade factory?"

"Yes, Your Excellency Commander." Kurzbach nodded and replied in a positive tone: "He is Captain Wittmann, the commander of the third battalion of the 577th Regiment. The Russians have mysterious anti-tank weapons. He reported to me."

Paulus walked up to Wittmann, looked him up and down, and asked blankly: "Captain, please tell me about the situation at that time."

Wittmann knew that his purpose of being called here was to introduce the mysterious Russian weapons to Paulus in detail. He didn't dare to neglect, and quickly reported the situation he knew to Paulus.

After Paulus heard this, he did not express his opinion immediately, but turned to look at Schmidt and asked: "Chief of Staff, what do you think of this matter, did the Russians really acquire the American individual anti-tank weapons?" ?”

Regarding Paulus's question, Schmidt frowned and thought for a while, then replied cautiously: "Your Excellency, according to what Captain Wittmann said, I think it should be an American individual anti-tank weapon. .”

Hearing Schmidt's answer, Paulus' expression became more serious: "If the Russians are really equipped with such weapons in large numbers, it will be a disaster for our armored forces."

"Your Excellency, Commander, you are right." As soon as Paulus finished speaking, Kurzbach agreed: "After months of shelling and bombing, Stalingrad has almost become a ruin. Our armor Troops fighting in such terrain cannot exert their power in the field at all, and the slow-moving tanks and assault guns will become the targets of this new Russian anti-tank weapon."

"The current priority is to find out how many such weapons the Russians have." Paulus said solemnly: "Only when we have the exact number can we formulate corresponding countermeasures."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I don't think the Russians have too many individual anti-tank weapons of this kind." Schmidt suggested to Paulus: "After all, this weapon has just been equipped with the U.S. Army, and I'm afraid they have it themselves. The number of people who can help the Russians is not large, and the number of people who can assist the Russians is probably even more pitiful."

On the way to the headquarters, Kurzbach had been troubled by the fact that the Soviet Army possessed this kind of anti-tank weapon. Hearing Schmidt's statement at this moment, his face showed a surprised expression: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, If I'm not mistaken, the only anti-tank weapons the Russians have are those that destroy assault guns?"

"I think this possibility is very high." Schmid replied in an affirmative tone: "If the Russians have a large number of individual anti-tank weapons, they will definitely not use such weapons for the first time until now. "

Knowing that the Soviet Army possessed only a small number of individual anti-tank weapons, Kurzbach seemed to have regained some confidence. He asked Schmidt modestly: "Your Excellency Chief of Staff, what good way do you have to deal with Russia?" Individual anti-tank weapons in human hands?"

Schmidt glanced at Wittmann who was standing next to him, and said, "According to the captain's description, the Russian anti-tank weapons fired at a distance of more than 80 meters, which means that the range of this weapon is in the Hundred meters or something. To deal with such weapons, we only need to stop our tanks or assault guns outside its effective range."

"However, how do we know where the Russian anti-tank fighters are ambush?"

When Schmidt heard Kurzbach's question, he sneered and said: "General Kurzbach, the tactics used by the Russians in battle are very rigid, and their soldiers will only stay in fixed positions. Shoot at our attacking troops. Next time you attack, you can order your tanks or assault guns to stop three hundred meters or more from the Russian position, and cover our infantry charge with artillery fire. As long as our infantry kills those Russian anti-tank fighters, our tanks or assault guns can move on."

"Chief of Staff, you have a good idea." After Paulus praised Schmidt, he walked up to Wittmann again, looked at him and said, "Captain, I hope that your troops will be able to fight back in the next attack." Use the method mentioned by the Chief of Staff to deal with the Russian individual anti-tank weapons."

While Schmidt was still talking, Wittmann was thinking about how to command the troops to capture the Soviet positions at the barricade factory. As soon as he had an idea, he heard Paulus talking to himself, straightened his body quickly, and replied excitedly: "Your Excellency, please rest assured, I will definitely apply the tactics that your Excellency the Chief of Staff said to you." In the next attack."

"Very good, very good!" Regarding Wittmann's statement, Paulus nodded in satisfaction, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder twice, and added: "Captain Wittmann, if your troops can successfully Take down the barricades, and I'll surely raise your rank and award you an Iron Cross."

Wittmann blushed with excitement when Paulus said that he would be promoted to his military rank and awarded an honor. He wanted to express his gratitude to Paulus, but because of his emotional excitement, he didn't know what to say for a while.

Fortunately, Kurzbach rescued him in time, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, our captain is so nervous that he doesn't know how to thank you. Now, I will answer you on behalf of him, we will definitely Take down the barricade factory."

Paulus raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said, "Okay, everything that needs to be said has been said. If there is a way to deal with the individual anti-tank weapons in the hands of the Russians, you should immediately rush back to the barricade factory and fight for the victory in the sky. Before dark, launch another attack on the Russian positions."

Kurzbach heard Paulus' order, glanced at the phone on the desk, and then asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, can I use your phone? I want to give Shi General Teinmetz called and asked him to prepare the attacking force so that when the captain and I rushed back to the barricade, we could immediately attack the Russian positions."

Since Kurzbach's request was related to capturing the barricade factory as soon as possible, Paulus would naturally not refuse. He nodded and stretched out his hand as a gesture of invitation, indicating that Kurzbach could use his phone.

Kurzbach walked to the desk, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed it, and said into the microphone: "I'm Kurzbach, pick me up for General Steinmetz."

After a while, after Steinmetz's voice came out of the receiver, Kurzbach said into the microphone: "General Steinmetz, immediately assemble your troops and prepare to attack the barricade factory again.  … I know Your concern, you are worried about the Russian individual anti-tank weapons... Don't worry, we have found a solution.... Don't ask, hurry up and gather your troops, wait for me and Captain Wittmann to go back , we must immediately launch a new round of attack on the barricade factory."