"Guerillas?!" Paulus almost yelled after hearing what Schmid said: "With that group of rabble, it is simply a dream to take over Cote Luban Station. Even if all the troops at the station are transferred
Most of them, but the remaining one company, can annihilate all the guerrillas attacking the station."
When Paulus said this, no one present felt that he was exaggerating. To them, the Russian guerrillas were just that, they could only do some damage in their own rear and sneak attack lone soldiers.
If you want to attack the station, you are simply asking for death.
"That's right, Your Excellency, Commander." Seeing that Paulus was angry, Schmid quickly explained with a red face: "This is what the telegram from the commander of the 113th Infantry Division reported."
"Chief of Staff, there must be a mistake somewhere." Paulus pointed at Schmid and said to him sternly: "Go and call the division commander yourself and find out what is going on.
.At the same time, tell him that if he casually reports such alarmist reports to us again, I will send him to a military court."
Before Schmid could call to verify the missing battle situation at the station, the communications staff officer who had just sent the telegram appeared in the room again. As soon as Schmid saw his face, he immediately asked with a livid face: "What are you doing again this time?"
What bad news have I brought?"
The staff officer had never seen Schmid speak to him in such a tone, and he could not help but replied in a panic: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, the commander of the 113th Infantry Division sent another telegram. It said that the 564th kilometer station was also destroyed.
The Russians took over."
Even if a shell fell in the room and exploded at this moment, the shock to the generals present would not be as great as the news reported by the staff. The news that the Cote Luban station had been lost had not yet been confirmed, and another 564th news came.
News about the loss of Kilometer Station. What is going on? When did the Russian guerrillas become so powerful in combat?
The atmosphere in the room became awkward and silent again. Unexpectedly, everyone was focusing on how to deal with the main force of the Soviet army attacking from the north, but they were unexpectedly stabbed in the back by the guerrillas. Moreover, the stab was very hard, and it directly hit the enemy.
Cut off the main transport artery.
Schlemmer was the first to break the silence. He said thoughtfully: "Your Excellency, Commander, I have a bold idea. The Russians launched a surprise attack on our army in the Kachalinskaya area. It was not
It was a feint attack deliberately launched in order to isolate our troops located in the small bend of the Don River and to attract the attention of our troops."
"General Schlemmer!" As soon as Schlemmer finished speaking, Schmid asked in a skeptical tone: "You mean, the Russians blocked the right wing in order to allow the guerrillas to seize our two stations.
A feint attack was launched in the Chalinskaya area to contain the main force of our army? Is my understanding correct?"
Schlemmer nodded slightly: "Yes! That's how I thought about it. In order to ensure that the guerrillas could seize the station and cut off our transportation arteries, the Russians deliberately launched a feint attack in the north of our defense zone."
"It's ridiculous, it's simply ridiculous." The person who jumped out to refute Schlemmer this time was Kurtzbach, commander of the 51st Infantry Corps. He sneered and said: "I have only heard of guerrillas cooperating with regular army attacks.
I have never heard that in order to seize two train stations, the regular army was deployed in large numbers to cooperate with the guerrillas. This is probably the biggest joke I have heard today."
Kurtzbach's words aroused the echo of several other army commanders. They also felt that what Schlemmer said was too ridiculous. They had been in the army for decades and had never heard of regular troops cooperating with guerrillas.
Not to mention that there is no such thing now, even in the military history of various countries, there is no such example.
In response to everyone's ridicule, Schlemmer did not refute, but turned his attention to Paulus, wanting to hear what he thought of his speculation. Paulus sat in his seat, staring at the table in front of him.
As if there was something good-looking on it. Seeing his delay in responding, Schmid quickly called him twice in a low voice.
Hearing Schmid calling him, Paulus raised his head, looked at his chief of staff blankly, and asked: "What's the matter?"
"Your Excellency, Commander," Schmid said anxiously when he saw Paulus looking distracted, "Everyone is still waiting for you to express your opinion on the loss of the station."
Paulus stood up slowly, holding the edge of the table with both hands, leaning forward slightly, and said to his subordinates: "You are right, it does sound unrealistic for the regular army to cooperate with the guerrillas.
.But when I was meditating just now, I suddenly thought of a possibility..."
Schlemmer heard from Paulus's words that the other party seemed to agree with his conjecture, and quickly interjected and asked: "What is possible, Your Excellency, Commander?"
"I won't say what the Russians' tactics are, but everyone should know it." Paulus said slowly: "The Russians' offensive tactics are rigid, and their attacks are always in areas where our army expects them.
It is carried out in a precise time period, so after we repel a round of Russian attacks in a certain area, we know that the Russians will not launch another round of attacks in that place in the next few hours. Thus.
This allows us to shift our next defense focus to other directions.
The reason why our army was able to advance to Stalingrad so smoothly was because our officers mastered the Russian tactics and took effective countermeasures. But here, we encountered a headache
The attack makes our original effective tactics ineffective..."
When Schmid heard this, he immediately realized who Paulus was talking about, and asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, are you talking about the Russian colonel Sokov who was stationed at Mamaev Hill?"
"Yes, that's him I'm talking about." After Paulus swept his eyes over every general present, he continued: "Many of your troops have fought against this Russian colonel.
, but what is the final result? Every time you attack, in addition to losing troops and generals and constantly consuming our army’s effective strength, you have never been able to capture Mamayev Heights.”
Seeing that Paulus did not talk about the two lost train stations, but inexplicably talked about a Russian colonel far away in Mamayev Heights, Kurtzbach reminded him: "Your Excellency, Commander, we are discussing
What did you say about the Russian colonel that Russian guerrillas occupied two stations?"
"General Kurtzbach, don't you understand what I mean?" Paulus looked at Kurtzbach, who was full of doubts, and replied with a wry smile: "If there were not this Russian colonel named Sokov,
There will never be any absurd thing in the world where the regular army cooperates with the guerrillas. But now, I think General Schlemmer is right. We were fooled. The attack launched by the Russians in the north was just a feint attack. Their
The real purpose is to cover the guerrillas hiding in the forest to occupy the train station where we have stocked up a large amount of supplies."
Kurtzbach retorted unconvinced: "But Your Excellency, Commander, this colonel named Sokov is far away in Mamayev Ridge. I don't understand what connection there is between him and the guerrillas' operation to seize the station."
?”
As Paulus's chief of staff, Schmid was naturally a smart man. From Paulus's words, he heard what the other party wanted to express, and quickly explained to Kurtzbach: "Kurzbach
General, haven't you understood what the commander meant? He said that among the commanders commanding the guerrilla operations this time, there must be Colonel Sokov's subordinates. It is even possible that Sokov's plan for attacking the east and west this time was
Formulated by myself.”
Kurtzbach raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, and replied with some embarrassment: "Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, since the two stations have been lost, should we immediately send troops to take them back? You know, there are still stocks there.
If a large number of winter military coats are burned by the Russians, our army's officers and soldiers may be attenuated due to the cold rather than combat."
Sokov, who was far away in the Mamayev Kurgan, never dreamed that Kurtzbach’s casual words would make Paulus make a decision that he didn’t know was right or wrong. Paulus looked at Kurtz
Bach said: "General Kurtzbach, you are right. The station is stocked with a large amount of military supplies needed by our army. I originally wanted to send the air force to bomb and destroy the Russian guerrillas occupying the station, but in doing so,
It is possible that the supplies in the station will be destroyed. Therefore, I decided to ask your 389th and 295th Infantry Divisions to change their marching direction and immediately recapture these two stations."
"Understood, Your Excellency, Commander." Knowing that his troops no longer had to attack the flanks of the Soviet regular army, but to deal with the guerrillas with little combat effectiveness, Kurtzbach immediately felt more confident. He quickly stood up and asked
Paulus said: "I immediately contacted the commander of the 389th Infantry Division, Major General Magrus, and the commander of the 295th Infantry Division, Dr. Kofis, and asked them to immediately change the direction of march and retake the station occupied by the guerrillas."
Major General Magruth's 389th Infantry Division had just finished boarding when he received a call from Kurtzbach. He originally thought that the army commander would ask if he was confident of breaking through the Russian flank, but it was already in his mind
He had organized a response vocabulary. Unexpectedly, after the other party asked about his identity, he said bluntly: "General Magruth, your division's mission needs to be adjusted and it will no longer attack the Russian flanks."
"What, not attacking the Russian flank?" Magruth was startled by Kurtzbach's words. He thought that the other party would order him to lead his troops back to the factory area and continue to attack the defenders. Don't
Looking at the defenders in the factory, they have suffered heavy losses under the attack of his own troops, but the casualties of his own troops are also not small. He is afraid that if he continues to fight, even if he barely captures the entire factory, it will be a disastrous victory.
There were not many people left. So he asked cautiously: "Then where do you want us to attack?"
"The Russians have occupied the 564th kilometer station and Kot Luban station," Kurtzbach said on the phone: "The next task of your division is to immediately take the train to the 564th kilometer station and get there in the shortest possible time.
Inside, take the station away from the damn guerrillas."
"What, Army Commander, what did you say?" After hearing the task assigned by Kurtzbach, Magruth's jaw almost dropped to the ground: "You said that the Russian guerrillas occupied the 564th kilometer station, I didn't
Did you hear that correctly?”
"You heard that right, General Magruth." Kurtzbach said: "They are just a group of damn guerrillas. They took advantage of the tight situation in the north and the station defenders were depleted, and suddenly launched an attack on the station.
This led to the loss of the originally well-defended station. How about it, do you have the confidence to recapture the station from the Russians?"
Magruth was originally worried that those occupying the station were regular Soviet troops, and that there would inevitably be a fierce battle. But when he heard clearly that those occupying the station were just a group of guerrillas, he immediately despised the defenders who had lost the station.
The army commander was even thinking: If my troops are allowed to guard the station, even if they only deploy one company, no matter how many Russians there are, they will not be able to attack. He quickly said into the microphone: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, please rest assured that my troops
I will rush to the 564th kilometer station as soon as possible to regain the lost station. But now I am still worried about one thing."
"What are you worried about?" Kurtzbach asked puzzledly.
"I'm worried that after wiping out these damn guerrillas, the Russians will make a fuss about it again." Magruth said cautiously: "The guerrillas are all wearing civilian clothes. The Russians may slander us and say that we are in
Massacre civilians.”
"So this is what you are worried about." After Kurtzbach figured out what his subordinates were worried about, he said lightly: "Don't worry, General Magruth, we will send out troops when the station is recaptured.
Reporters, please give a detailed report on your recovery of the station. Even if the Russian propaganda department wants to smear you, they may not have a chance."
Hearing Kurtzbach's promise to himself, Magruth felt much more at ease. He assured the other party: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, there is only less than 30 kilometers between us and the 564th kilometer station.
, while the train will only take half an hour at most to reach its destination. Then it will only take another five minutes to take the station back from the hands of the Russian guerrillas."
Kurtzbach was very pleased to see that his subordinates were so confident. He nodded and said: "General Magruth, I will give you two hours. After two hours, I hope to hear that you have succeeded."
News that the ground has taken back the station. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Your Excellency, Commander." Magruth said with the same confidence: "If we can't take the station, you can send me to a military court."