Paulus's face was very gloomy, as if he had just escaped from a mental patient who had been tortured for a month without much sleep. Colonel Adam, who looked directly at Paulus's face, responded with a slight surprise.
replied.
"Yes, Commander Paulus, the news is very confirmed! Major Koch, who was sent from the 48th Armored Corps to check, confirmed the news. He was very sure in the telegram that the heavy tanks invested by the Russians were new models that had appeared before.
The heavy tanks are not old-fashioned KVs, and there are a lot of them. Preliminary estimates are that there are at least two battalions."
The silent Paulus did not reply directly, but instead reached out to take the telegram handed over by Colonel Adam and put it in front of him to review.
The concise and concise telegram was quickly read at a glance, and Paulus, who raised his head again, looked even worse than before.
"It seems that the Russians have mass-produced this new type of heavy tank. Otherwise, the reports of the enemy's new heavy tanks appearing simultaneously in and outside the city make no sense whatsoever. It is impossible for those Russian tanks to fly out. We are now
The whole city has been surrounded”
Bad news came one after another. Paulus once thought it was bad enough that Stalingrad could not be captured for a long time, but the current situation was completely turned upside down and he made a joke!
The Russians summoned hundreds of thousands of troops from nowhere to attack their flanks. The situation was extremely critical because the Romanians could be overwhelmed at any time. But at this time, the air support that he relied on was still in danger.
Making excuses to stall and doing nothing to save his life, Paulus was almost numbed by so much bad news in a very short period of time.
"What are your plans? Commander Paulus."
Seeing Paulus slumped on the chair like a deflated rubber ball, with his eyes slightly closed, he didn't say a word for a long time. Colonel Adam, who knew that time must be raced against, finally lost his temper and asked, if time continues to be delayed like this, wait.
All we have is failure.
"Of course there are plans, plans, plans."
Pushing his stiff, zombie-like body to sit up straight from the chair, Paulus, with cloudy eyes, gave the order decisively without any hesitation or hesitation.
"Order the 48th Armored Corps to go to support and block the gap left by the Romanian Third Army. There is no room for bargaining in the task. This must be completed."
After receiving the order, Colonel Adam froze in place for a long time without taking any action, as if he was waiting for something strange that should have happened but never happened. This made Paul, who thought he had done everything he should do,
Si was a little confused.
"If you have anything to say, just say it. If you are holding it back and standing here wasting time, we have no time to waste. Adam, you know this."
Seeing that Paulus was still "pretending to be stupid" or really didn't realize what the problem was, Colonel Adam couldn't help but finally blurted out his inner thoughts and real worries.
"This order cannot be fulfilled, Commander Paulus."
"The 48th Armored Corps just sent a telegram yesterday reporting that they had less than 100 tanks left. The attack on the heavy industrial zone in the north of the city caused them heavy losses! The losses of equipment and personnel were very serious! Such an army
The armored forces cannot defeat the Russians who are gaining momentum, and we must increase the number of troops sent to support them."
After listening to Colonel Adam's "just tell the truth" report, Paulus' eyebrows twitched. His expression could not be told whether he was displeased or calm. He just continued to ask Colonel Adam questions without any complicated emotions.
"Then what do you think we should do? Tell us your opinion, I want to hear it."
"It's very simple, Commander Paulus, the 16th and 24th Armored Divisions deployed in the city must all be dispatched to assist in reinforcements!"
"The organization of these two armored divisions is relatively complete. They have just received a blood transfusion and their overall morale is much better than that of the 48th Armored Corps! With the addition of these two armored divisions, we are at least sure to contain Russia.
The offensive momentum of the Russians! The Russians' attack was blocked and unable to break into the northern city, and the two Romanian armies were not completely wiped out by the Russians. Such a result is simply too important for us!"
Before Colonel Adam finished speaking, Paulus, who was sitting behind the desk with his hands clasped together, became a little impatient. As soon as Colonel Adam finished speaking, he immediately took over the right to speak and spoke sharply.
"That's impossible, Adam!"
"The 16th and 24th Armored Divisions are the main force in our hands and the key to the urban battle! Have you ever thought that if these two armored divisions are transferred, the Russians in the city will definitely counterattack and try to take back
A large area of land was lost, so the control area we finally captured will fall back into the hands of the Russians. What is the difference between this and wasting the lives of soldiers?"
"I don't agree with such a suggestion! Victory in the battle in the urban area is imminent. We paid such huge casualties and costs before finally compressing the Russians to an area of less than ten square kilometers. We even almost reached the bank of the Volga River.
It’s over! There is less than one kilometer of straight-line distance left to the nearest troops, and now you want to take the initiative to give up this victory? "
"If I didn't know you well enough, I would have even begun to doubt your loyalty to the Führer. Don't say similar words in the future, Adam, this is the last time."
Paulus' words were very rude and even sounded very hurtful!
If someone had a bad temper and was questioned about their loyalty to the Führer, they might have gone berserk and argued with Paulus on the spot. It was possible that the quarrel would have caused the ceiling of the office to be lifted.
But Colonel Adam, who had worked side by side with Paulus for a long time, could finally understand and sympathize with his boss. He knew very clearly how much pressure Paulus had been putting on his shoulders recently.
Paulus, who was in his early fifties, lived a life like a bad old man. His appearance alone was extremely miserable and decadent.
If venting to himself could make Paulus feel better, Colonel Adam asked himself that he had no complaints.
Colonel Adam, who said nothing, silently turned around and left the office. Paulus, who was sitting behind his desk, suddenly started to have dull eyes. Then he thought of some terrible things that he had always deliberately avoided before, but ultimately needed to face.
thing.
Was he really questioning Adam's loyalty to the Führer?
Probably not.
The one who is afraid of having his loyalty questioned by the head of state should be himself.