Chapter 775 The Day of Death (Revision)

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Colonel Adam returned to China for vacation. After returning to the headquarters, Paulus always felt as if something was missing in his heart. It was as if an old object that had been at home for a long time that had been with him for a long time suddenly disappeared, and his heart felt empty and uncomfortable.

"Adam, why is the coffee empty?"

""

Paulus, who had just returned to his office, was stunned for a long time with an empty coffee cup in his hand.

After entering Stalingrad and starting the most brutal battle, Paulus's daily life was almost entirely taken care of by Colonel Adam, who was closest to him. In addition to being busy with his own work, Colonel Adam had to organize reports and information and replace his mental state. The good Paulus went to inspect the troops and visit hospitals, and he even had to bring food and coffee to Paulus. He was simply an all-around caring little cotton-padded jacket.

When Colonel Adam left so suddenly, it was Paulus himself who found it difficult to adapt to all this.

""

Paulus put down his coffee cup and didn't know what to say.

Paulus wanted to scold himself for being a waste, even though he was not good at commanding the battle, he had become so dependent on others for daily life. But after thinking about it and forgetting it, Paulus felt that he was tired enough. If he scolded himself, he would just drink two more glasses of water to quench his thirst, which would have no effect at all.

Paulus sat quietly behind his desk and thought for a while. Paulus finally felt that what he had to do now was to regain his condition as soon as possible, summon up his energy and command the troops to open up their posture and continue to fight with the Russians and defeat the enemy.

The initiative of strategic offensive is still in our own hands, and the Sixth Army's casualties are acceptable and it still maintains strong combat strength. How can those Russians, whose casualties are several times that of the Sixth Army, be able to defeat themselves?

The more he thought about it, the more sense he made. With some excitement, Paulus opened the drawer and pulled out a message. He spread it out in front of him and read it again.

This telegram was sent from Berlin just last night. It was an order message sent to the Sixth Army personally by the Führer himself. Paulus kept it as carefully as a treasure.

Hitler boasted in the telegram that he would slow down the German offensive on other fronts at this time and intensify the attack in the direction of Stalingrad. Paulus was ordered to continue to seize the time to launch a fierce attack on the remaining Soviet troops trapped in Stalingrad, and to eliminate all resistance in the city before the first snow fell this year.

This crucial telegram contained some misunderstandings in terms of unclear content.

Hitler emphasized in the telegram "slow down the German offensive on other fronts at this time and strengthen the offensive intensity in the direction of Stalingrad." According to Hitler's own idea, he urged Paulus's Sixth Army to strengthen its offensive intensity and move the 3rd All the strength of the Sixth Army was used without reservation, implying that Paulus had now reached the time to take action and must seize the time.

The head of state who was not on the front line would not know that Paulus was not only serious at this time, but also almost lost the entire Sixth Army's capital, not to mention that Paulus was his ardent fan. There was a huge deviation in the understanding of the implied content in the telegram.

Paulus mistakenly interpreted Hitler's words as "the Führer is preparing to dispatch more reinforcements to Stalingrad." This rekindled Paulus' confidence and hope in victory, who had once felt desperate!

As long as he can get reinforcements, even if it is the support of 10 divisions or 5 fully equipped divisions, Paulus is confident that he will follow the orders of the head of state and end everything before the first snow falls!

Paulus understood the fleeting nature of fighter planes and the rapidity of troops. He felt that since the head of state had promised support, he should let go and fight the Soviet army! Open up the situation before the reinforcements arrive, and then take advantage of the good opportunity when the reinforcements arrive to throw in the newly arrived troops to lay down all those exhausted Russians who have been fighting continuously!

Are there any problems with such a battle plan? No problem, we can definitely beat those Russians to death.

Is it possible for such a battle plan to fail? Paulus was so confident that there was no possibility of failure.

So when will this combat plan be implemented? Without much thought, Paulus decided to do it without any delay!

As a result, Paulus misunderstood the head of state's order message and mistook it as a "commitment." Paulus immediately convened a combat meeting of military chiefs above the division level, went into battle in person, poked the battle zone map with a pointer, and dispatched troops to fight. Task, it seems that he has shown the momentum of the past, and suddenly returned to his old job as a staff officer.

Paulus made it clear at the operational meeting that the northern heavy industrial area of ​​Stalingrad was the priority target that must be captured now. This area still houses high-value plants such as the "Barricade" factory and the "Red October" steel plant that the Soviet army defended. The strategic target, the Stalingrad Tractor Factory, which was almost destroyed by the German army, is also in the northern heavy industrial zone.

One of the important reasons why Paulus wanted to capture this place first was because no matter how much the air force bombed or the artillery blasted these Soviet heavy industry factories, the Russians were like rats jumping out of the farmland and they couldn't stop them. It can always give you various ways to maintain the heavy weapons production line, even if you use your hands to build a tank, you have to forcibly build it.

If this heavy industrial area, which still has tank production capacity, is not solved, Paulus feels that this will always be a serious problem sooner or later, and he must not let it go.

As a result, in the main urban area of ​​​​Stalingrad that runs north to south, Paulus invested a powerful new force in the direction of the heavy industrial area guarded by the Soviet army in the north: as many as 5 infantry divisions and 2 armored units. The division's troops were used to capture such a narrow heavy industrial zone with a depth of only 5 kilometers. The density of troops invested was unprecedented since the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad!

In order to ensure the victory of the attack, Paulus also had a separate communication with Baron Richthofen. The latter finally compromised with Paulus and promised to provide air support to the northern heavy industrial zone to the maximum extent of its existing strength in the upcoming offensive.

Even though the German Air Force has recently joined the battle due to those damn new Soviet fighter jets, casualties and losses have skyrocketed to a level that can be said to be quite terrifying.

The early morning of October 14 was destined to be an unforgettable morning for Malashenko.

The German Stuka dive bombers, which were more punctual than the crowing of a rooster, came early in the morning with black iron bombs to remind Malashenko in the hospital bed that it was time to get up. The violent sound of the bomb explosion was so loud that Malashenko, who had just peed and was about to go back to sleep, was so frightened that two more drops came out in his crotch.