Paulus was cautious in character and adhered to the iron law that "it is the duty of a soldier to obey orders".

Most of the officers in the German Army came from Prussian aristocratic families. These people began to receive military command training at a young age. It can even be said that the men in the entire family were born for war.

It has a complete military education system and military science theory, but at the same time there are thresholds.

Paulus was not born into an aristocratic family, but he was able to grow up to where he was today. In addition to his true talent and learning, the more important thing was that he gained the trust and appreciation of Mustache.

Paulus was an obedient child in front of Mustache, almost obeying his words.

At noon on June 18, Paulus opened the surrender letter written by Jiang Dong himself.

In the letter, Koto analyzed in detail the current situation and future fate of the 6th Army. From the perspective of a strategic commander, he told Paulus that the 6th Army had no other way out except surrender.

Paulus was not the only one to see the surrender letter. Senior officers of the 6th Army and senior Romanian generals also read Jiangdong's surrender letter.

Most people think in their hearts that Jiang Dong's words are reasonable, but they just don't want to admit it.

After reading the letter of persuasion to surrender, all the officers in the headquarters fell into silence and smoked cigarettes. No one wanted to be the first to speak.

In the end, it was Major General Schmidt who stood up first and said that he would never surrender to the Chinese.

The head of state has not forgotten the 6th Army. What they have to do is to hold on to Stalingrad, always be ready to bloom in the center, and give the enemy the most severe blow.

After Schmidt made his suggestion, the Romanians immediately stood up to refute it.

More and more people joined the discussion and gradually divided into two groups, each holding their own opinions and the quarrel was very fierce.

Finally, a Romanian major general slapped the table and said:

"The Chinese made it clear in their letter of persuasion that if we refuse to surrender, they will not send ground troops to attack. Instead, they will continue to throw white phosphorus bombs, napalm bombs or other more terrifying bombs on our heads!"

"Everyone has personally experienced the power of white phosphorus bombs. Think about it, what would happen if an air strike of that scale happened?"

"I think the army is likely to collapse directly, and by then it will not even have the last bit of dignity left!"

After saying this, everyone fell into silence again.

Where no one was watching, Paulus shuddered.

The discussion came to no result, and everyone turned their attention to Paulus, hoping that he would make the decision.

Paulus would not make a decision immediately. As in the past, he would ask Mustache for advice.

The officers shook their heads and sighed as they walked out of the army headquarters. From this moment on, most of the morale of the troops had been lost.

After deliberation for a long time, Paulus decided to tell Mustache truthfully what happened in Stalingrad.

The troops were short of food and ammunition, lacked medical care, and were demoralized. Two major Chinese armies surrounded Stalingrad, and the situation worsened day by day.

Of course, there is also the original text of the surrender letter.

When fighting a battle with favorable winds, Paulus's military talents would be fully brought into play, and the 6th Army in his hands became the elite of Army Group South.

But when he encountered an unprecedented setback, Paulus's head seemed to be rusty, and only 20 to 30% of his former intelligence was left.

He became a puppet general who had to ask for instructions on everything and lost his ability to make decisions.

Character determines destiny, this saying is very appropriate for Paulus.

…………

Mustache was in charge of the overall situation on the Eastern Front in Kiev. When Paulus's telegram was transferred to his hands, Marshal's anger rose again.

The Sixth Army was the elite of Army Group South, and the strategic location of Stalingrad was extremely critical. Mustache couldn't bear that Paulus even had the idea of ​​surrendering to the enemy.

Under the advice of people around him, Mustache gradually calmed down.

He also knew that the situation in Stalingrad was not optimistic and that the 6th Army was in danger of being annihilated at any time.

But the proud mustache did not allow surrender and was unwilling to give up Stalingrad. For this reason, he was willing to sacrifice Paulus's 6th Army.

After defeating the enemy's Operation Uranus, the Third Reich could usher in a period of stable development.

Mustache has been working hard for this.

While he comforted Paulus and asked him to resist to the end, he urged Manstein and Guderian to march towards Stalingrad to break the situation as soon as possible and restore the decline.

Mustache also received news that the Allied forces on the Western Front were plotting against Sicily.

The battle on the east and west fronts was a great challenge to him personally and to the Third Reich.

As long as you survive this most difficult period, everything will turn around.

On the evening of June 18, Manstein and Guderian on the west bank of the Don River received an order from Mustache to cross the Don River as soon as possible. Both of them looked sad.

Guderian said:

"Hundreds of enemy armed helicopters are hidden on the east bank. If we forcefully cross the Don River, the troops will definitely suffer heavy losses, and it will be difficult to protect the rear."

The armored group's strength and reliance were nothing more than pontoon bridges, because both road and railway bridges had been blown up in previous battles.

The fragile pontoon bridge could not block the attack of Chinese armed helicopters.

If the pontoon bridge is blown up by the Chinese after the tanks cross the river, then the Second Armored Army will face the same fate as the First Armored Army, perhaps even worse.

Guderian neither dared nor was willing to take this risk.

Only by letting the infantry units cross the river first and establishing a solid defense line can the tanks move forward.

Manstein also faced threats.

To the north of the Eleventh Army was the Don River Front. The two sides had been fighting bloody battles, and the battle was very fierce.

The strength of the main force in the Don River is likely to give the Don River Front an opportunity.

Not only will the Sixth Army be unable to be rescued, but the Eleventh Army may also be surrounded by heavy siege.

But the orders of the head of state must be obeyed and the Sixth Army must be saved.

The two of them frowned, thinking about practical solutions.

In the early morning of June 19, Manstein and Guderian finally could not resist the pressure of Mustache and officially began to forcefully cross the Don River.

The Second Armored Army left the 47th Motorized Corps on the west bank of the Don River to assist the two infantry corps of the Eleventh Army in blocking the Maoxiong Don River Front.

The remaining armored forces crossed the Don River with the 11th Army and advanced toward Stalingrad along the broken roads and railways.

The two armies moved very slowly, almost like crawling at a snail's pace.

In order to ensure the security of the rear, Manstein had no choice but to leave a large number of troops on the Don River.

The rescue operation was cautious from the beginning, and any disturbance would make them cower.

Seeing Manstein and Guderian move, Paulus and Mustache breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

The cautious Paulus did not dare to take the initiative to break out and cooperate with Manstein. He was worried about the more powerful bomb mentioned in Jiangdong's letter to persuade him to surrender.
Chapter completed!