Hearing that the people shoveling snow on the roadside were Jews, Wittmann couldn't help but think of a rumor he had heard, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Your Excellency, I heard that the Jews who were sent to the concentration camps would be
He was sent to a gas chamber to be executed. I wonder if this is true or false?"
"It's just nonsense." As soon as Wittmann finished speaking, Kurtzbach said in a stern tone without thinking: "These are all rumors spread by the British, Americans and Russians, trying to attack our army in this way.
Morale. Captain Wittmann, I don’t know where you heard this rumor from, but that’s it for now. If I hear you mention this again in the future, I will send you away without hesitation.
Court-martial. Do you understand?"
Wittmann did not expect that his casual question would cause such a big reaction from Kurtzbach. He could only reply in a low voice with a blushing face: "I understand, Your Excellency General."
As an officer of Kurtzbach's level, he naturally knew something about the massacre of Jews in the concentration camps. The reason why he stopped Wittmann so severely was because he did not want such news to spread into the army and affect morale. After all, this approach
, it is inconsistent with the chivalry that everyone is familiar with.
The car came to a stop in front of the small building where the headquarters was located. A German captain on duty at the door immediately ran over. He bent down and looked into the car. He saw clearly that Kurtzbach was sitting in the back seat and quickly raised his hand.
After a salute, he asked respectfully: "Hello, General Kurtzbach, do you have a notice to arrive at the headquarters?"
"Yes." Kurtzbach knew that Paulus served as his headquarters and was attacked by guerrillas, so the entry and exit checks were particularly strict. Even senior officers who often came here would be inspected if they were not ordered to come.
Perhaps he was stopped outside the small building by officers and soldiers on duty. Kurtzbach opened the car door, walked out of the car, and said to the officer: "I came here to report to him on the order of His Excellency the Commander."
"What about him?" The officer looked at Wittmann coming out of the car door on the other side and asked warily: "Is he also ordered to report to the headquarters?"
"Yes, he is the person the commander named." After Kurtzbach said this, he was afraid that the officer would not believe it, so he reminded him: "If you don't believe it, you can call to verify it.
one time."
The officer looked across the roof of the car and stared at Wittmann opposite for a long time. Then he said to Kurtzbach: "General Kurtzbach, please wait here for a moment. I want to make a phone call to verify."
.”
When the officer went to make a phone call, Wittmann walked around the back of the car, came to Kurtzbach's side, and asked curiously: "Your Excellency, General, do you have to go through such a strict interrogation every time you come here?"
"It wasn't so strict before," Kurtzbach said, looking at the officer standing in the guard box talking on the phone, shaking his head: "But since the war reached a stalemate, the headquarters' security work has become more and more strict.
"
After waiting for a while, the officer walked out of the guard box, came to the front of the two men, and said to Kurtzbach respectfully: "General Kurtzbach, I have verified that the commander has indeed informed you to come to the headquarters.
Come. Please, I will take you in."
"No need, Captain." Kurtzbach didn't appreciate the low profile shown by the officer. He waved his hand and said, "I'm familiar with the roads inside, and I won't get lost even if there's no one to guide me.
"Let's go, Captain, let's go see the Commander now." The next sentence he said was to Wittmann.
Unexpectedly, the two of them had just taken a few steps when the officer blocked their way again: "I'm sorry, General Kurtzbach, please hand over your guns."
Kurtzbach came here often and knew that handing over his gun was a requirement, so he handed over the weapon to the officer without hesitation. Wittmann, who came from the frontier, had no common sense in this area and heard the officer ask him to hand over his weapon.
When he handed over the weapon, he originally wanted to argue, but when he saw that Kurtzbach had voluntarily handed over the weapon, he swallowed the words on his lips, obediently took off the belt carrying the pistol, and handed it to the officer on duty.
.
Kurtzbach led Wittmann into the small building. As he walked along the corridor towards Paulus's office, he reminded Wittmann in a low voice: "Captain, if the commander asks you anything later, just ask him."
No need to be nervous about your answer. Do you understand?"
As a low-level officer, Wittmann had almost no chance to meet even the division commander, let alone a senior officer like Paulus. From the moment he entered the building, his heartbeat accelerated and his mind was racing.
I was thinking about what to say when I saw Paulus later. Now I heard Kurtzbach’s reminder and nodded vigorously.
Paulus's office was divided into two rooms: an inner one and an outer one. When the adjutant sitting in the outer office saw Kurtzbach walking in, he quickly stood up to greet him and said at the same time: "General Kurtzbach, the commander has been waiting for you for a long time.
"Seeing Wittmann behind Kurtzbach, he casually asked, "Is this the officer the Commander wants to meet?"
"Yes." Kurtzbach nodded, and then asked: "Can we go in to see the Commander now?"
The adjutant knew that Paulus was waiting for Kurtzbach, so he didn't dare to neglect. He quickly walked to the door, raised his hand and knocked on the door. Hearing the movement inside, he immediately opened the door, stood at the door and reported: "Commander
Your Excellency, General Kurtzbach has arrived!"
After a while, the adjutant who had received permission opened the door and invited Kurtzbach and Wittmann into Paulus's office. Wittmann followed Kurtzbach into the office and saw two
The German general without a military cap was standing in front of a conference table covered with maps, discussing something.
Hearing the footsteps at the door, a shorter officer came over, stretched out his hand to shake Kurtzbach's hand, and said politely: "General Kurtzbach, you are here. Your Excellency, Commander, has been waiting for you for a long time."
"
"There's no way." Kurtzbach replied with a wry smile, "It's snowing too much outside and the roads are not easy to walk, so we've wasted time. Please forgive me, Chief of Staff."
"General Kurtzbach," Paulus looked away from the map, looked at Wittmann who was standing upright, and asked, "Is he the officer who commanded the troops to attack the barricade factory?"
"Yes, Your Excellency, Commander." Kurtzbach nodded and replied in a positive tone: "He is Captain Wittmann, commander of the third battalion of the 577th Regiment. Regarding the Russians' mysterious anti-tank weapons, that is
He reported to me."
Paulus walked up to Wittmann, looked him up and down, and asked expressionlessly: "Captain, please tell me the situation again."
Wittmann knew that the purpose of being called here was to introduce the mysterious weapons of the Russians to Paulus in detail. He did not dare to neglect and quickly reported to Paulus what he knew.
After hearing this, Paulus did not immediately express his position. Instead, he turned to look at Schmidt and asked: "Chief of Staff, what do you think of this matter? Have the Russians really obtained American individual anti-tank weapons?"
?”
In response to Paulus's question, Schmidt frowned and thought for a while, then replied cautiously: "Your Excellency, Commander, based on what Captain Wittmann said, I think it should be an American individual anti-tank weapon.
.”
Hearing Schmidt's answer, Paulus's expression became more serious: "If the Russians are really equipped with this kind of weapon in large quantities, it will be a disaster for our armored forces."
"Your Excellency, Commander, you are right." As soon as Paulus finished speaking, Kurtzbach said: "After several months of shelling and bombing, Stalingrad has almost become a ruin. Our armor
Troops fighting in such terrain will simply not be able to exert their power in the field, and the slow-moving tanks and assault guns will become targets of the Russians' new anti-tank weapons."
"The top priority now is to find out how many such weapons the Russians have." Paulus said solemnly: "Only after we have the accurate number can we formulate corresponding countermeasures."
"Your Excellency, Commander, I don't think the Russians have too many of these individual anti-tank weapons." Schmidt suggested to Paulus: "After all, this weapon has just been equipped with the US military, I'm afraid they themselves have
The number of people who can help the Russians is not large, and the number of people who can assist the Russians is probably even less."
On the way to the headquarters, Kurtzbach had been troubled by the Soviet army's possession of such anti-tank weapons. When he heard Schmidt's statement, he had a surprised expression on his face: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff,
If I’m not wrong about what you mean, maybe the only anti-tank weapons the Russians have are those that can destroy assault guns?”
"I think this is very likely." Schmid replied in a positive tone: "If the Russians had a large number of individual anti-tank weapons, they would never have used such weapons for the first time until now.
"
Knowing that the Soviet army did not have many individual anti-tank weapons, Kurtzbach seemed to have regained some confidence. He asked Schmidt humbly: "Chief of Staff, do you have any good ideas to deal with Russia?"
A personal anti-tank weapon in human hands?”
Schmidt glanced at Wittmann, who was standing next to him, and said: "According to the captain's description, the Russian anti-tank weapon fired at a distance of more than eighty meters, which means that the range of this weapon is
One hundred meters or something like that. To deal with such a weapon, we only need to stop our tanks or assault guns outside its effective range."
"But how do we know where the Russian anti-tank fighters are ambushing?"
When Schmidt heard Kurtzbach's question, he sneered and said: "General Kurtzbach, the tactics used by the Russians in battle are very rigid. Their soldiers will only stay in fixed positions.
Shoot at our attacking troops. During the next attack, you can order the tanks or assault guns to stop three hundred meters or more away from the Russian positions, and use artillery fire to cover our infantry charge. As long as our infantry kills those
Russian anti-tank fighters, our tanks or assault guns can continue to advance."
"Chief of Staff, what you said is a good idea." After Paulus praised Schmidt, he walked up to Wittmann again, looked at him and said: "Captain, I hope your troops can attack in the next attack."
Use the method mentioned by the Chief of Staff to deal with the Russian individual anti-tank weapons."
While Schmidt was still talking, Wittmann was thinking about how to command the troops to seize the Soviet position at the barricade factory. Just as he came up with an idea, he heard Paulus talking to him, and he quickly straightened up.
, replied excitedly: "Your Excellency, Commander, please rest assured that I will definitely apply the tactics mentioned by Your Excellency the Chief of Staff to the next attack."
"Very good, very good!" Regarding Wittmann's statement, Paulus nodded with satisfaction, raised his hand and patted his shoulder twice, and added: "Captain Wittmann, if your troops can go smoothly
If you take down the barricade factory, I will definitely promote you to the military rank and award you with an Iron Cross."
When he heard that Paulus wanted to be promoted to his military rank and be awarded a medal, Wittmann was so excited that his face turned red. He wanted to express his gratitude to Paulus, but because he was so excited, he didn't know what to say for a moment.
what.
Fortunately, Kurtzbach rescued him in time and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, Commander, our captain is so nervous that he doesn't know how to express his gratitude to you. Now, I will answer you on his behalf, we will definitely
Take the barricade factory."
Paulus raised his hand and looked at his watch and said: "Okay, everything that needs to be said has been said. If there is a way to deal with the individual anti-tank weapons in the hands of the Russians, you will rush back to the barricade factory immediately and strive to win the battle in the sky.
Before the attack, launch another attack on the Russian positions."
When Kurtzbach heard Paulus's order, he glanced at the phone on his desk, and then asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, can you let me use your phone? I want to call Shi
General Steinmetz made a phone call and asked him to prepare the offensive troops so that when the captain and I rushed back to the barricade factory, we could immediately launch an attack on the Russian positions."
Since Kurtzbach's request was related to seizing the barricade factory as soon as possible, Paulus naturally would not refuse. He nodded and extended his hand in a gesture of invitation, indicating that Kurtzbach could use his phone.
Kurtzbach walked to his desk, picked up the phone on the desk, dialed, and said into the phone: "I'm Kurtzbach, pick up General Steinmetz for me."
After a while, Steinmetz's voice came from the receiver, and Kurtzbach said into the phone: "General Steinmetz, immediately assemble your troops and prepare to attack the barricade factory again... I know.
Your concern is that you are worried about the Russian individual anti-tank weapons... Don't worry, we have found a solution... Don't ask, just hurry up and assemble the troops, and wait until Captain Wittmann and I return.
, we must immediately launch a new round of attack on the barricade factory."