"Guerrillas?!" Paulus almost yelled after hearing what Schmid said: "With that group of rabble, it would be a dream to take over Cote Luban Station. Even if all the troops at the station are transferred Most of them, but the remaining company, can annihilate all these guerrillas attacking the station."
When Paulus said this, no one present felt that he was exaggerating. To them, the Russian guerrillas were just that. At best, they could only cause some damage in their own rear and sneak attack on 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 with his hand and said to him in a stern tone: "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 bad news have you brought me this time?"
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 attacked. The Russians took over.”
Even if a shell fell into the room and exploded at this moment, the shock to the generals present would not be as shocking as the news told by the staff. The news that Cote Luban Station was lost has not yet been confirmed, but there was news that the 564th kilometer station was lost. What is going on? When did the Russian guerrillas become so powerful?
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, this knife stabbed very hard, directly cutting 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, but 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."
"Absurd, absolutely 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 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 the ridicule of the crowd, 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 interesting on it. Seeing his lack of response, 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 tell you what the Russians' tactics are. I think everyone should know it." Paulus said slowly: "The Russians' offensive tactics are rigid. 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 adopted effective countermeasures. But here, we encountered a troublesome offense that made our original effective tactics unable to work..."
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 glanced at 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 was not this Russian colonel named Sokov, There will never be any absurd thing in the world where the regular army cooperates with the guerrillas in fighting. 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 stored 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 understood 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 the 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 were burned by the Russians, our army's officers and soldiers might be attenuated due to the cold rather than combat."
Sokov, who was far away in the Mamayev Hills, never dreamed that Kurtzbach's casual words would make Paulus make a decision that was not known to be right or wrong. Paulus looked at Kurtzbach and said: "General Kurtzbach, you are right. The station contains a large amount of military supplies needed by our army. I originally wanted to send the air force to bomb and destroy the Russian troops occupying the station. However, doing so may destroy the supplies in the station. 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 Magruth, 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 completed boarding when he received a call from Kurtzbach. He originally thought that the army commander would ask him if he was confident of breaking through the Russian flank, and he had already organized the vocabulary in his mind to deal with it. 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. Although the defenders in the factory had suffered heavy losses under the attack of his own troops, the casualties of his own troops were also considerable. He was afraid that if he continued to fight, even if he barely occupied the entire factory, it would be a disastrous victory for him. There are not many men left. So he asked cautiously: "Then where do you want us to attack?"
"The Russians have occupied the 564th kilometer station and the 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 it right, General Magruth." Kurtzbach said: "It's 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 take back the station from the Russians?"
Magruth was originally worried that the station would be occupied by regular Soviet troops, and that there would inevitably be a fierce battle. But when he heard clearly that those who occupied the station were just a group of guerrillas, he immediately despised the defenders who lost the station in his heart. He even thought: If my troops were to guard the station, even if only one company was deployed, no matter how many more troops were deployed, The Russians can't even get in. He quickly said into the microphone: "Your Excellency, Commander, please rest assured that my troops will rush to the 564th kilometer station as soon as possible to recapture the lost station. But 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 this matter 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 once the station is recaptured. Reporters, make 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 suddenly felt much more at ease. He assured the other party: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, the distance between us and the 564th kilometer station is less than thirty kilometers. It only takes half an hour at most to reach the destination by train. Then it will take another five minutes. We can take the station back from the Russian guerrillas."
Kurtzbach was very pleased to see his men so confident. He nodded and said: "General Magruth, I give you two hours. After two hours, I hope to hear the news that you have successfully recaptured 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."
