Steel Soviet Union

Major General Osheim, who was uneasy on the other side of the phone, had not waited too long. The answer Paulus gave immediately afterward could be said to be unexpected.

"If you didn't understand what I just said, Osheim, I can repeat it to you."

"The order you received is to achieve some actual results that can be put on the table to talk about before tonight. Anything other than this can be regarded as a secondary goal."

"If you still have any questions, it's best to raise them now. I don't want to wait until night to be used as an excuse for failure because of this kind of thing. This is never allowed!"

Chinese people, especially when dealing with people in the workplace, always pay attention to a subtle connotation. They don’t like to get straight to the point and put something directly on the table to explain it clearly. “It can only be understood but not expressed” is the most appropriate way of speaking. describe.

Major General Osheim didn't know whether Commander Paulus was afraid of taking responsibility, or whether he simply wanted the results regardless of the process.

But all in all, such an order that could be said to have directly sealed the fate of many German soldiers did make Major General Osheim feel a little creepy.

"Okay, I understand, Commander Paulus. I will faithfully fulfill your order, implement it truthfully, and bring the news of victory to our entire Sixth Army."

Seeing his direct boss finally put down the phone in his hand, the Chief Adjutant Colonel Adam, who was allowed to stand aside and listen, finally couldn't help but speak.

"This order is too risky, General Paulus. Just imagine what Major General Osheim will do because of this order? How many families of German soldiers will lose more of their husbands, sons, fathers, brother."

"I know there's a lot of pressure on your shoulders, but this is still a little too aggressive."

As the chief adjutant beside Paulus, Colonel Adam had a close personal relationship with Paulus and the relationship has always been very good.

At work, the two have a superior-subordinate relationship, but when there are no outsiders, Paulus is more willing to calm down and talk to Colonel Adam about some honest and practical issues. This is why Colonel Adam dares to question him as a subordinate. The reason for Paulus's order was that, after all, there were no outsiders in the command room except him and Paulus.

After listening to Colonel Adam's words, Paulus seemed noncommittal and silent. He held his forehead with his hands and closed his eyes in meditation. For a moment, even Paulus himself was confused as to whether the order just now was correct.

Just this morning, Hitler, the head of state in Berlin, sent a telegram to the Sixth Army, which was fighting bloody battles, asking for the latest status of the entire campaign and when the city named after the evil Bolshevik bandit leader Stalin could be captured. .

Paulus held the telegram symbolizing the will of the Führer in his hand and remained silent for a long time behind his desk. Although he knew very well how the battle situation on the front line was going, he didn't know where to start or how to give a perfect answer to the Führer.

Paulus was very afraid of being reprimanded by the head of state because of the unfavorable progress of the war. He knew very well that his excessive speed in promotion due to being favored by the head of state had aroused faint dissatisfaction and even strong jealousy among the people in Berlin. , at least Paulus himself thought so.

General Guderian, who had always set his command post in a position where he could clearly hear the sound of artillery fire, was beaten to the end by the head of state. A gold-plated senior staff officer from the General Staff Department who had only served as a soldier for one year was entrusted with important tasks.

The people in Berlin just talked about it as a joke after dinner, but Paulus on the front line heard that many people who had a good relationship with General Guderian despised this matter. .

Even the veteran frontline generals who had a normal relationship with Guderian criticized this, and privately called themselves "Chief of Staff of the Infantry Company" to mock themselves.

Company commander, this was the first officer position Paulus received after the end of World War I.

Paulus didn't feel that there was any shame in the officer position and honor he had earned through bloody battles, but after all he couldn't stand people talking and rumors flying everywhere. This made Paulus even feel that if he fell out of favor with the head of state, it might be a luxury to even go home and eat himself like Guderian.

A "three-no" person like himself who has no name, no identity, and no background is definitely the best person to be sent to a military court to take responsibility for the failure of the war.

The newspaper group of the Junkers noble officer corps warmed each other and helped each other, which was a beauty and dream that Paulus could never envy.

Paulus, who was almost out of his mind, finally listed the true situation in a book and sent a telegram to Berlin to reply to the Führer. As expected, he was scolded by a telegram that was replied to in less than an hour.

In a telegram, Hitler ordered Paulus to speed up the attack, saying that the current progress of the battle was "intolerable and akin to a crime against the German people."

Hitler reiterated his old tune in the telegram and once again listed several time points to tighten the spell on Paulus. It was Hitler's clear request to first capture the core industrial area of ​​Stalingrad before the end of the month.

The pale-faced Paulus held the Führer's telegram of rebuke, his expression several times uglier than if he had eaten a flying fly.

The prerequisite for capturing the core industrial area of ​​Stalingrad is to secure Mamayev Heights, capture Stalingrad No. 1 Railway Station, and use the railway station as a forward offensive base to further seize the trestle connecting the south and north of the city, thereby cutting off the north and south city defenses. The Soviet army's ground contacts made it impossible for it to flexibly mobilize troops to reinforce the breached gap.

Only in this way can the Sixth Army mobilize its main force to attack the core industrial area of ​​Stalingrad without being threatened on its flanks, thereby completing the primary strategic goal personally assigned by the head of state.

But now, the fighting on Mamayev Heights continues fiercely.

The mountains of corpses and seas of blood almost completely dyed the highlands that had been flattened by shells and bombings red. The land was so saturated with blood that rivers of blood were flowing. This was not a boast in literary and artistic works, but the smell of death was everywhere in the air. The most realistic scene on the hill.

The uncertainty at Mamayev Heights corresponded to the stalemate at Stalingrad No. 1 Railway Station. Paulus was almost out of breath under the tremendous pressure from the head of state. The rank of marshal that seemed to be within easy reach before seemed to be coming to an end. Fly away from yourself.

Paulus, whose eyes were filled with traces of bloodshot eyes, finally stopped being silent and thinking for a minute, raised his head, and said viciously in a tone that Colonel Adam described as "surprising" in his diary that day.

"The Führer once said that he has the power to make German soldiers sacrifice for him! I recognize the Führer's order and regard myself as the practitioner of the Führer's will. Now is the time for our soldiers to fulfill their promises!"