The warm small stove is constantly licking the red tongue of flames outwards, emitting scorching heat, baking the office that can be called a large house as warm as spring. But even so, the mood can be said to be terrible.
But Guderian couldn't feel even the slightest bit of warmth in his heart, just like the bleak wind and snow outside the window.
His seemingly godless eyes swept across the heavy snow outside the window and were filled with sorrow. The cold wind that blew into the room through the cracks in the window and blew on Guderian's face was more hurtful than the sharpest blade in the world.
, Guderian, who had not slept well for several days, immediately withdrew his sad and deep eyes after sighing, and continued to pick up his pen and start writing on the white letter paper placed on the desk in front of him.
"Alfred, maybe you made the right choice to stay at home and retire instead of fighting for the Führer. At least you don't have to suffer the pain of living like I do now."
"The enemy we faced on the Soviet land has bought time, but our troops and our plans are falling deeper and deeper into the harsh winter. This is a mental and physical hardship for the troops.
The dual torment of war, and the sadness and despair of combat, all of which made me extremely depressed and exhausted."
"The facts encountered on the land of the Soviet Union have proven that no matter how good the wishes are, they are no match for the power of nature. The only opportunity to carry out a decisive blow has been missed with the passage of time. I don't know if it will come back again.
, As for what will happen in the future, I think only God knows.”
"Now I just hope that the troops will not lose the courage to continue offensive operations. The war situation and the future of the entire country will not allow courage to be lost in vain. But there is only one thing that I have to say and must admit that the test before us is very important to us in Germany.
It’s really too harsh for the soldiers...”
"I hope I can write something cheerful before long. You know, Alfred, I have never been a blaming guy, but I hope you can understand that the current situation and experience are really difficult to make people happy."
Be happy, if you stand with me on the freezing Soviet land, I believe you will feel the same as me."
After taking a breath, he carefully packed the letter addressed to his old comrades in Bavaria with an extremely heavy heart, and then closed the envelope. Guderian knew that the pen in his hand was far from ready to stop.
Then he opened the drawer beside his desk again, took out one of the thick telegraph newspapers and started writing again.
"Please understand that I really cannot write down any greetings or honorifics to you at this special time. Halder, if you could go to the front line and see our soldiers in person, I believe you would feel the same as I do at this moment.
.”
"This telegram is not sent to you in the name of any soldier or in the position held by the army. Halder, if possible, please treat this telegram as just a reminiscence between ordinary friends.
, as for whether you want to translate what I will tell you next into substantive actions, please make your own decision based on the situation in Berlin."
"The first heavy snowfall this year in the Soviet winter came very early. If I remember correctly, it should have fallen on the night of October 6th. That was the day when my armored group resumed its attack on Moscow."
"It snowed continuously all night and didn't stop until the next morning. When I stepped out of the tent that morning, the snow had already fallen as high as my ankles. This is simply unimaginable in Germany. Likewise,
I immediately sent a telegram asking the rear to step up and send all the cotton-padded clothes for the troops to the front line for the winter."
"But unfortunately, even today, almost a month later, I have not seen enough winter cotton-padded clothes being delivered to my armored group by the baggage troops. Can you imagine that even the nose and tears are frozen to death on my face?
What kind of scene is it? Halder, I can assure you that it is not a scene that people want to remember."
The pen in his hand turned here, and Guderian vaguely recalled what he had seen when he inspected the troops in the past few days. He could not help but pause for a moment. He once shouted that he would fight to the death for the head of state and beat the Soviets in the early stages of the war.
The contrast between the defeated SS Imperial Division and the severe cold and snow was even worse than that of the beggars on the streets of Berlin after World War I. It was enough to make Guderian sigh sadly even now.
"Perhaps this was the same situation that Napoleon encountered, wasn't it?"
Guderian, who asked himself and then responded with a self-deprecating smile, ignored the cold wind that poured into his collar from the gap in the window sill beside him. He immediately picked up the pen in his hand and continued to splash ink on the unfinished telegraph newspaper.
"The heavy early winter snow that fell on October 6 continued to fall for nearly a week until October 12. I can't remember the exact date when the snow stopped falling. Frostbite and cold-related diseases have reduced the number of troops under my command.
The report, together with the telegram requesting the dispatch of cotton-padded clothes and winter supplies, piled up my desk as thick as the snow in the suburbs."
"On November 3, my adjutant reported to me that the intelligence department had sent information that Stalin was preparing to parade in Red Square. Marshal Bock called me and asked me if I could open up some favorable opportunities for the increasingly difficult war situation before that day came.
"To be honest, I really want to reply and say that I and my armored group can do it, but the reality, the responsibility on my shoulders, and the honor of being a soldier do not allow me to lie to my superiors."
"Also on the same day, the first cold wave in the Soviet Union swept across our troops. The temperature dropped below minus five degrees from the zero degree line that had just recovered. I thought this was bad enough, but it didn't happen.
I thought that on the 13th, yesterday, it was getting colder day by day. The temperature mentioned in yesterday's report was minus 8 degrees Celsius. My personal experience outside the room told me that this temperature should be correct."
"Because the anti-skid spikes for the tank tracks have not yet arrived, the heavily icy road ice and snow hard blocks have caused considerable difficulties for my armored cluster. The cold weather has made the sight on the tank's main gun useless, and there is a lack of antifreeze oil.
The sight is no different from the frosted glass window in winter. I believe you will not think like those laymen that I am just alarmist just to complain. The reality will only be worse than you think when you read these words.