In the early morning of November 6, the German 113th Infantry Division took up its forward position.
It was still dark, and the German soldiers on the position were all fast asleep in their shelters. At this moment, the roar of a huge aircraft engine suddenly came from the air.
The commander of the position was a major. He lived in a wooden house behind the position. After being awakened by the roar of the engine, he sat up from the bed and glanced out the window. It was still dark outside, and he rushed to the camp. There was a shout outside. An orderly ran in immediately and asked respectfully: "Mr. Major, what are your orders?"
The major pointed outward with his hand and said impatiently: "Go out and take a look. From which direction are the planes flying outside? It's still dark. Even if you want to bomb the Russian positions, there's no need to do it so early." .”
Before the orderlies could go out, there were sudden bursts of screams in the air, and then bombs dropped from the sky and exploded on the forward position, sending up countless firelights and thick smoke. A bomb landed not far from the wooden house and exploded. The huge air wave overturned a three-wheeled motorcycle and shattered all the glass in the windows.
The major was stunned by the sudden bombing. After a moment, he jumped out of bed, grabbed the clothes on the chair beside the bed, bent down to pick up his boots, and ran outside barefoot, cursing continuously. "Those damn idiots in the Air Force made a mistake and dropped the bombs on our own people."
However, when he ran out of the cabin in a panic, he unexpectedly discovered that the plane that was carrying out the "accidental bombing" was not a German one but a Soviet one. He immediately understood that this was not some accidental bombing, but a Soviet bomber dispatched to bomb his position.
The major rushed into the command post more than a hundred meters away and shouted at the radio operator who was still sitting in a daze next to the walkie-talkie: "Why are you still in a daze? Why haven't you sent a report to the division headquarters immediately?" We were bombed by the Russians." The major knew very well that the Russians suddenly sent out planes to bomb their positions, indicating that they were preparing to take offensive action. If he did not report to his superiors in time, then once the Russians really launched Attacking, the defense line is in danger of being breached.
After the commander of the 113th Division received the telegram, he was also confused. He asked his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, have there been any movements from the Russians opposite our defense area recently?"
"No, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The Chief of Staff shook his head and replied: "The Russian defense area has always been calm, there is nothing abnormal."
"But I just received a telegram from the forward position," the division commander handed the telegram to the division chief of staff and continued: "The battalion commander who was stationed there reported to me that they were under heavy fire from Russian aircraft. bombing."
After receiving the telegram and reading it for a while, the chief of staff asked in a skeptical tone: "Your Excellency, division commander, it is not completely bright yet. Could it be that the bomber formation mistook our division's forward position for the Russian position and appeared there?" An accidental explosion?"
The words of the division chief of staff made the division commander hesitate. When he first saw the telegram, he felt that his unit had been bombed by the Russians. But at this moment, he felt that what the chief of staff said made sense. Maybe it was the planes of the Fourth Air Force that bombed the forward positions of his division. , he hesitated and told the chief of staff: "Get me through the phone number of the Army Group Headquarters immediately. I want to report the matter directly to the commander."
Paulus got up on time at seven o'clock every morning. The first thing he did was sit at the table, drink a cup of coffee and eat some snacks, which was considered his first breakfast. At nine o'clock, he would drink a glass of wine from the Ukrainian Massandra winery and then have a second hearty breakfast.
He usually doesn't work until after two breakfasts. His men also know his character and usually don't bother him at such times. Today, as usual, Paulus sat at the dining table in the room to have his first breakfast after getting up. While drinking coffee, he said to Schmid who was sitting opposite: "Chief of Staff, you know, the wine I drink every day is... It’s from the Massandra Winery in Ukraine. This winery was dedicated to supplying wine to the summer palace of Tsar Nicholas II. It was the best winery during the Tsarist era. If you want to drink, you can do the same as me. , enjoying high-end wine every day that only members of the royal family could enjoy..."
When Paulus was talking happily, a voice calling for a report suddenly came from the door. Before he could say anything, someone opened the door and walked in from the outside. Seeing clearly that the person who came in was his adjutant, Paulus knew that if there was nothing important, the other party would never disturb him at this time. He suppressed the anger in his heart and asked: "What's the matter?"
"Report to your Excellency, Commander," the adjutant replied respectfully: "The duty room received a call from the commander of the 113th Infantry Division, saying that his forward position may have been accidentally bombed by our military aircraft."
"Accidentally bombed?!" After hearing this, Paulus looked at Schmid with a confused face and asked: "Chief of Staff, why did our plane go out on a mission so early today?"
"No way?!" Schmid, as the chief of staff of the group army, was also confused about what was going on at this moment. He replied confusedly: "It is getting later and later, so the aircraft of the Air Force The sortie time is usually chosen around nine o'clock." He raised his hand to look at the watch on his wrist and added, "But it was just a quarter past seven, so I called the Fourth Air Force to ask what was going on. "
Paulus pointed to the phone on the desk not far away and said, "Chief of Staff, please use this phone to talk to the commander of the Fourth Air Force."
The call was quickly connected. After talking to the commander of the aviation force, Schmid put down the phone and reported to Paulus: "Your Excellency, commander, I have asked the aviation force. So far today, they are still No aircraft were sent out."
"If it's not our plane, then whose plane could it be?" Paulus frowned and thought for a while, then immediately thought of a possibility, and ordered Schmid: "Chief of Staff, please report it directly to the commander of the 113th Infantry Division. Call him and ask him what happened?"
With the help of the operator, Schmid quickly connected to the division headquarters of the 113th Infantry Division. After learning that the person who answered the phone was the division commander, he asked straight to the point: "Mr. Division Commander, what exactly happened there? I The air force has been consulted and so far they have not sent any aircraft at all."
After hearing Schmid's words, the division commander immediately realized that he had been misled by the division chief of staff and mistakenly thought that the planes bombing the forward positions were his own planes. He quickly replied: "General Schmid, in the telegram given to me by my forward commander, it was indeed mentioned that Russian planes were bombing their positions. But I considered that it was still dark outside, and our The defense zone has never been attacked by the Russians, so I judge that the forward commander may have made a mistake..."
"Why didn't you report the real situation instead of reporting the wrong information you speculated? Wouldn't you mislead the commander's judgment?" After a few angry words at the other party, Schmid covered the microphone with his hand and spoke to Paulus, who was sitting at the dining table waiting for the news, reported: "Your Excellency, Commander, I have asked the commander of the 113th Infantry Division. He said that the telegram sent back from the front said that it was bombed by Russian planes, and he was worried that It was too dark, and the officers and soldiers at the front may have misread it, so they sent us wrong information."
"This kind of person should be sent to a military court." Paulus couldn't help but became furious when he learned that the commander of the 113th Infantry Division had given him wrong information. If it were normal times, he might directly announce the dismissal of the other party, but now the front line of the division is being bombed by Russian aircraft, proving that the Russians may take major military actions. He walked to the wall and looked up at the map above. After looking at it for a while, he turned and asked Schmid: "Chief of Staff, what do you think the Russians' intentions are?"
"Needless to say," Schmid curled his lips and said with disdain: "The Russians' intentions are obvious. Stalin must have thought that our army's attack in the factory area would lead to the loss of the entire city. In order to resolve Due to the pressure from the defenders, we issued an attack order to Rokossovsky to the north, hoping that through this sudden offensive, we would be able to contain our strength and prevent us from concentrating our superior forces to continue the offensive against the factory area. "
Regarding Schmid's analysis, Paulus immediately agreed: "Yes, the 113th Infantry Division has never been attacked by the Russians since it entered the defensive position. If Rokossovsky really If we choose their defense area as a breakthrough, we might actually be able to break through their defense line. Chief of Staff, look at our precious railway transportation lines in the 113th Infantry Division's defense area. Once the Russians are allowed to implement a limited breakthrough, our transportation The main artery will be cut off, and then ammunition and supplies will not be transported, and the wounded and supplies will not be transported..."
Schmid realized the seriousness of the problem from Paulus's words and quickly asked him for instructions: "Your Excellency, Commander, what should we do to avoid this worst situation?"
"Immediately order the 113th Infantry Division to dispatch troops to the forward positions. It is necessary to consolidate the defense to avoid being broken through by the Russians." Paulus stared at the map and said without looking back: "Not only the main force of the 113th Infantry Division must go north for reinforcements , even their neighbor’s 60th Motorized Division should immediately move north to prepare for a timely attack from the Russian flank after the direction of the 113th Infantry Division is breached..."
When Paulus assigned the task, Schmid immediately remembered what he said word for word. As soon as Paulus finished speaking, he immediately released his hand covering the microphone and said into the microphone: "Your Majesty the Commander ordered that the main force of your division be transferred north immediately to prevent the Russians from breaking through your division's defense line. Do you understand?" ?”
After finishing the phone call with the commander of the 113th Infantry Division, Schmid called the commander of the 60th Motorized Division and the commander of the 4th Air Force, ordering the motorized division to move north and for the Air Force's fighter formations to attack immediately to bring the Russians back. The Japanese bomber group was driven away from the sky above the forward position of the 113th Infantry Division.
Paulus walked back to the dining table and sat down. He continued to drink the cold coffee, but kept his eyes on Schmid who was on the phone, thinking about the true intention of the Soviet army's attack.
After Schmid finished the call, he put the empty coffee cup on the table, looked up at Schmid who was walking over and asked: "Chief of Staff, why do you think the Russians suddenly attacked our army?" The defense line has been bombed, are they really preparing to launch a new offensive?"
"I think it's entirely possible, Your Excellency Commander." Schmid thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Tomorrow is the October Revolution Day for the Russians. According to their tradition, it is a good idea to launch a series of attacks before the festival. It's entirely possible."
"Chief of Staff, after hearing what you said, I remembered something." Paulus waited for Schmid to finish and said thoughtfully: "When our army approached the city of Moscow last year, the Russians were still in Red Square. A military parade was held to boost low morale. As soon as the troops participating in the military parade left Red Square, they got on trucks and drove to various battlefields. I won’t tell you what happened next, but you also know what happened. Our troops were actually beaten by them. Driven away from Moscow."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Paulus's words made Schmid realize the seriousness of the problem. He quickly reminded Paulus: "I think an alert should be sent to the commanders of all troops to let them be more vigilant. To prevent possible counterattacks by the Russians. I think today’s attack on the factory area can be paused to allow the troops to prepare for defense on the spot, so as not to be caught off guard by a sudden Russian counterattack.”
"Yes, yes, yes, let the troops attacking the factory area temporarily switch to defense." The scene where the Soviet army carried out a night counterattack in the Dzerzhinsky factory a few days ago drove out all the troops occupying the factory area. It came to Paulus's mind again, and he specifically emphasized to Schmid: "In the past two months, our troops have only focused on offense and completely ignored defense. If the Russians really launched a strong counterattack, we I’m afraid I really can’t stop him.”
"Your Excellency, Commander, there is one more thing I want to remind you." Before leaving Paulus's room, Schmid reminded him again: "If the Russians want to launch a counterattack, I am afraid that those who are standing on Mamayev Hill will The troops will also take action. Now they are facing the Romanian army. Do you think it is necessary to send troops to strengthen this direction? "
Paulus thought about the question raised by Schmid for a long time, and finally shook his head and said: "The Romanian 1st Division and the 13th Division that attacked Mamayev Heights are both relatively strong combat units. I think they are There is no need for reinforcements. You call their army commander and ask them to prepare to resist the Russian attack. If they really can't hold on anymore, we can consider sending out the air force to support them."
