Although the German army's attack on the factory area was fierce, it was actually thunderous but not rainy. They fought for several hours but achieved little results. With great difficulty, a unit broke into the Red October Tractor Factory, but it failed to gain a stable foothold and was driven out by the Soviet army.
After dark, the German offensive stopped, and the battle progress of each division was immediately sent to the group army headquarters. After Schmid compiled all the reports, he walked into Paulus' office with the folder.
After Schmid waited for Paulus to read the report, he said cautiously: "Your Excellency, Commander, judging from today's offensive situation, the Russians' strength has been exhausted. If we put more effort, they should be able to resist." Can’t stand anymore.”
After listening to Schmid's words, Paulus did not express his opinion immediately. Instead, he walked to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on the wall and thought about it. After a long time, he turned around, looked at Schmid and said, "Chief of Staff, if you have any ideas, you can tell me."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Schmid replied respectfully: "Most of the area in the southern city of Stalingrad has been occupied by our army. Due to the criss-crossing of the fronts on both sides, our tanks and artillery have lost their use. In the factory area to the north, the terrain here is very conducive to our large-scale use of armored forces. However, so far, our army has only one 16th Armored Division deployed in this area. Their main task is to prevent the attack from the north. The Russians moved south to link up with the city's defenders, so they were unable to concentrate their full force on the Russian forces in the factory district."
Having said this, Schmid walked to Paulus's side, pointed at the map and continued: "I suggest that General Lensky's 24th Armored Division be assigned to the command of the 51st Army, so that they can also participate in the attack on the factory area. attack."
Regarding Schmid's proposal, Paulus thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "Okay, Chief of Staff, you immediately call the commander of the 51st Army, General Seydlitz, and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately. One trip." Just as Schmid turned to leave, he added, "Call General Lensky over."
Although the German troops were distributed across a front of dozens of kilometers, their division-level and corps-level headquarters were near the group army headquarters. Therefore, after Seidlitz and Lenski received Schmid's call, It only took less than five minutes to arrive at Paulus' headquarters.
Seeing the two men arriving so quickly, Paulus couldn't help but sneered and said: "I heard that the Russian divisional headquarters is usually about 300 meters away from the front, while our divisional headquarters is not far away. The nearest frontier is thirty kilometers away. I would like to ask you, so far away from the frontier, can you understand the specific situation of the troops in a timely manner?"
Paulus's words made Seydlitz and Lensky blush, because their headquarters was a full fifty kilometers away from the forward troops. After a long time, Seydlitz finally asked, "Your Excellency, Commander, you asked us to come here. What's the matter?"
The reason why Seidlitz asked this was because he knew in his heart that Paulus did not ask Chief of Staff Schmid to call him to come here just to say a few sarcastic words. If he wanted to do this, he only needed to Why call yourself to the headquarters when you can just say it on the phone?
"I read today's battle report," Paulus said with a straight face: "General Seydlitz, your 51st Army is responsible for attacking the north of the city, but judging from today's battle, your performance is very poor. "
"Your Excellency, Commander," Seydlitz raised his hand and wiped it on his forehead, and then said: "Facing our attack, the Russians fought very tenaciously, and we lacked sufficient technical equipment, so today's attack During the battle, we didn’t achieve any decent results.”
"Is it just today that there are no results?" Paulus sneered and said: "Think about it for yourself, how long have you been attacking the factory area, and why there has been no progress at all until now. Not to mention that you have not captured those who are attacking the Russians. The vital factory, and even the residential area outside the factory, were not captured."
Lensky listened to the conversation between Paulus and Seidlitz and thought confusedly: "My division is responsible for the urban area south of the city and is not under the jurisdiction of the 51st Army. The commander put me in charge What's the matter with calling me here?"
From the corner of his eye, Paulus saw Lensky looking distracted, so he turned to him and said: "And you, General Lensky, the 24th Armored Division's attack on the Central Station was very disappointing. Yes. You even lost a colonel and a major trying to capture the Russian railway station..."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Lensky replied with a sad face: "The loss of those two officers had nothing to do with me. I had not yet served as the commander of the 24th Armored Division at that time."
After Lensky's reminder, Paulus immediately remembered: the division commander of the 24th Armored Division at that time was Schild, and Lensky took over the position of division commander after Schild was dismissed. And soon after taking office, Lensky organized troops to occupy the central railway station and severely damaged the Russian army in that area.
Paulus returned to his desk and sat down, pouting at Schmid who was standing aside, and said: "Chief of Staff, assign tasks to General Seydlitz and General Lensky."
Schmid nodded, walked to the map, pointed at it with an explanation stick and said: "General Seidlitz, your 51st Army's task tomorrow is to concentrate its superior forces to attack the Red October Tractor Factory. Even if it cannot capture them all, , and at least occupy most of the area. As long as you can gain a foothold here, you will cut off the connection between the factory area and the outside world. As long as the Russians who insist on this area lose their supplies, they will support us in the face of our attack. It won’t be long.”
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff," General Seydlitz said in embarrassment: "The number of tanks in our army is limited. If we rely solely on infantry to attack, it may be difficult to complete this task."
"Don't worry, Mr. General." Schmid turned his head and glanced at Lenski, then said: "After discussions between the Commander and I, we have decided to send the 24th Armored Division north to cooperate with you in the attack on the Red October Tractor Factory. Attack."
When Lenski heard what Schmid said, he realized why he was called here today. He quickly stood up and said to Schmid: "Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, if my troops are transferred north tomorrow, I'm afraid it will be very difficult." It’s a bit too late. I need at least a day to assemble the troops.”
Schmid heard what Lensky said and did not express an opinion. Instead, he turned his attention to Paulus and waited for him to make a decision. Paulus stood up, walked to the wall, looked up at the map for a while, and then said: "General Lensky, every minute is precious on the battlefield. If I give you one day to prepare, then This means that the Russians have one more day to prepare. When you launch the attack, you will suffer greater losses. Therefore, you must move to the factory area to the north at ten o'clock tomorrow morning to assist the troops of the 51st Army Capture the Red October Tractor Factory.”
Seeing Paulus giving himself an order in such a stern tone, Lensky could not refute, but could only bite the bullet and reply: "Well, Commander, since you have given such an order, I can only carry it out unconditionally. I imagined returning to the army and gathering the regiments as quickly as possible."
After Lensky left, Paulus said to General Seydlitz: "Mr. General, I have given you the armored division you need. I hope you will not disappoint me in the next battle."
After hearing what Paulus said, Seydlitz quickly straightened up and replied: "Don't worry, Commander, with the assistance of the 24th Armored Division, we will definitely be able to capture the Red October Tractor Factory in the shortest possible time. .”
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