Early the next morning, Schmid hurried to find Paulus.
The adjutant who was sitting on duty at the door saw the chief of staff approaching. He quickly stood up, walked around from behind the table, and greeted politely: "Your Excellency, chief of staff, you are here! The commander is still sleeping."
Schmid knew Paulus's daily routine, and it would be at least half an hour before he got up. He declined the adjutant's offer to help him wake up the commander, but instead stepped forward and knocked twice on the door. Without waiting for any response from inside, he opened the door and walked in.
Schmid walked to Paulus's bedside, bent down and whispered into his ear: "Your Majesty, Commander, the Russian river transportation line has been interrupted."
Although Schmid's voice was not high, it was enough to wake Paulus from his sleep. Paulus lifted the quilt, sat up, dropped his legs to the edge of the bed, and searched for the slippers on the floor with his toes. He was deeply afraid that the news about the interruption of the river transportation line was false news released by the Russians, so he looked up at Schmid and asked: "Chief of Staff, is the intelligence reliable?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Commander, the information is completely reliable." Schmid replied excitedly: "The scouts we sent to the river saw with our own eyes several wooden boats trying to break through the ice floes. Without exception, they were smashed by ice floes." He took out a telegram from his pocket, "This is a telegram sent by the intelligence department after repeated verification."
Paulus picked up his reading glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and read the contents carefully. It is clearly written on it that in the early morning, several Russian wooden boats tried to transport a batch of supplies across the river. However, as soon as they reached the middle of the river, they were smashed by ice floes flowing down the river. The people and supplies on the boats were all destroyed. Fell into the water.
After confirming that the contents of the telegram were completely consistent with what Schmid reported to him, Paulus looked away from the telegram, looked at Schmid and asked: "Chief of Staff, the Russian transportation line has been interrupted. What do you think we should do next?”
"With the interruption of the river transportation line, the Russians will not be able to get any supplies for a long time." Schmid said somewhat triumphantly: "I think we should increase our offensive intensity. Maybe we will be able to do it in these two days." Stalingrad can be completely captured."
"But Chief of Staff, have you ever thought that the supplies hoarded by our army were destroyed by the Russians a few days ago." Paulus was also eager to capture Stalingrad, but he was very worried about his supplies. He couldn't keep up, so he said worriedly: "Although we have received some supplements recently, can they meet the needs of high-intensity combat?"
"I think there should be no problem." Schmid said confidently: "After several months of fighting, the Russian veterans who served as defense in the city have been lost almost, and now we are fighting only a group of new recruits. "
Schmid's words confused Paulus: "Chief of Staff, does it matter whether the Russians we are fighting are veterans or new recruits?"
"There was a difference back then," Schmid gave an example to Paulus: "For example, with a basic amount of ammunition, veterans could last for a day of fighting; but recruits, because they were nervous when they heard the sound of gunfire on the battlefield, could only use Keep shooting to embolden themselves, even if they use rifles, they can use up all the ammunition in one hour at most."
After Schmid explained this, Paulus immediately understood what he meant: "Chief of Staff, you mean that we send troops to attack to consume the Russians' poor ammunition reserves. As long as their ammunition is used up, , if we take Stalingrad in a short time, there will be no problem."
"That's right, Commander." Schmid smiled and replied, "That's exactly what I meant."
"It makes sense. Although our ammunition and supplies are not as abundant as before, there is still no problem in launching one or two small-scale attacks." Paulus nodded slightly and ordered: "Order the troops to attack the Russians again. Barricade Factory, launch a new attack.”
"What, attack the barricade factory?" Schmid was a little confused by Paulus's order. He was worried that the other party might have said something wrong, so he carefully reminded: "Your Excellency, Commander, you may have meant to say that Dzerzhin The Sky Factory, it is the largest tank production base of the Russians, once it is occupied by our army..."
"Chief of Staff, do you think our army can start tank production immediately even if it captures the Dzerzhinsky Factory?" After Paulus said this, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe the other party's expression, and saw Schmid nodded. Expressing acceptance of his statement, he continued: "As long as our army captures the barricade factory, it can turn it into a garrison and a new starting point for offensive. To the north, we can attack Dzerzhins with troops from other directions. base factory; to the south, with the cooperation of the Romanian army, we can launch an attack on the Red October Factory."
After Schmid understood Paulus's intention, he asked tentatively: "Your Excellency, Commander, which troops do you plan to send to attack the barricade factory?"
"The troops that attacked the barricade factory some time ago were not von Dreiber's 297th Infantry Division. Let them launch the attack again." After receiving the order, Schmid turned around and walked out of the bedroom, Paulus added after him. One sentence: "Chief of Staff, remember to ask Lensky's 24th Armored Division to send tanks to assist them in their attack, and we must capture Stalingrad."
After Schmid left, Paulus walked back and forth in the bedroom with his hands behind his back, thinking secretly in his heart that if Stalingrad was really taken, then even if Berlin knew about Leiser's capture, what would happen to him? For "The Conqueror of Stalingrad", this is nothing. At that time, not only will the base camp not blame themselves, but they may also award themselves a new Iron Cross, and they may even be promoted to military rank. Even the marshal's scepter is not an unattainable dream.
"Your Excellency, Commander," while Paulus was in YY, the adjutant came in from the outside carrying a tray, pushed the door open, and said to Paulus respectfully: "Your breakfast is ready for you. Please use it.”
An hour later, the officers and soldiers of the German 297th Infantry Division who were staying outside the barricade factory suddenly launched another fierce attack on the factory without any artillery preparation. Groups of soldiers carrying various weapons followed the rumbling tanks and rushed towards the Soviet fortifications in the factory area through ankle-deep snow.
Soldiers on duty in the trenches heard the roar of tank engines in the distance, and then saw groups of soldiers rushing towards them. They quickly raised their guns and fired two shots in the air. He yelled at the top of his lungs: "Battle alarm, the Germans have begun to attack!"
