Steel Soviet Union

Paulus's face was very gloomy, as if he had just escaped from a mental patient who had been tortured for a month without much sleep. Colonel Adam, who looked directly at Paulus's face, responded with a slight surprise. replied.

"Yes, Commander Paulus, the news is very confirmed! Major Koch, who was sent from the 48th Armored Corps to check, confirmed the news. He was very sure in the telegram that the heavy tanks invested by the Russians were new models that had appeared before. The heavy tanks are not old-fashioned KVs, and there are a lot of them. Preliminary estimates are that there are at least two battalions. "

The silent Paulus did not respond directly, but instead reached out to take the telegram handed over by Colonel Adam and put it in front of him to review.

The concise and concise telegram was quickly read at a glance. Paulus looked up again and his expression was obviously worse than before.

"It seems that the Russians have mass-produced this new type of heavy tank. Otherwise, the reports of the enemy's new heavy tanks appearing simultaneously in and outside the city make no sense whatsoever. It is impossible for those Russian tanks to fly out. We are now The whole city has been surrounded”

Bad news came one after another. Paulus once thought it was bad enough that Stalingrad could not be captured for a long time, but the current situation was completely turned upside down and he made a joke!

The Russians summoned hundreds of thousands of troops from nowhere and attacked their flanks. The situation was extremely critical because the Romanians could be crushed at any time. 6̳̳It happened that at this time, the air support he relied on was still making excuses to stall and did nothing. So much bad news almost made Paulus numb in a very short period of time.

"What are your plans? Commander Paulus."

Seeing Paulus slumped on the chair like a deflated rubber ball with his eyes slightly closed, he didn't say a word for a long time. Colonel Adam, who knew that time must be raced against, finally lost his temper and asked, if time continues to be delayed like this, wait. Our side can only fail.

"Of course there are plans, plans, plans."

Driving his stiff, zombie-like body to sit upright from the chair, Paulus, with cloudy eyes, ordered decisively without any hesitation or thought.

"Order the 48th Armored Corps to go to support and block the gap left by the Romanian Third Army. There is no room for bargaining in the task. This must be completed."

After receiving the order, Colonel Adam froze in place for a long time without taking any action, as if waiting for something strange that should have happened but never happened. This made Paul, who thought he had done everything he should do, Si was a little confused.

"If you have anything to say, just say it. If you are holding it back and standing here wasting time, we have no time to waste. Adam, you know this."

Seeing that Paulus was still "acting dumb" or really didn't realize what the problem was, Colonel Adam couldn't help but finally blurted out his inner thoughts and real worries.

"This order cannot be fulfilled, Commander Paulus."

"The 48th Armored Corps just sent a telegram yesterday reporting that they had less than 100 tanks left. The attack on the heavy industrial zone in the north of the city caused them heavy losses! The losses of equipment and personnel were very serious! Such an army The armored forces cannot defeat the Russians who are gaining momentum, and we must increase the strength to support them. "

After listening to Colonel Adam's "just tell the truth" report, Paulus' eyebrows twitched. His expression could not be told whether he was displeased or calm. He just continued to ask Colonel Adam questions without any complicated emotions.

"Then what do you think we should do? Tell us your opinion, I want to hear it."

"It's very simple, Commander Paulus, the 16th and 24th Armored Divisions deployed in the city must all be dispatched to assist in reinforcements!"

"These two armored divisions are relatively complete and have just received a blood transfusion. Their overall morale is much better than that of the 48th Armored Corps! With the addition of these two armored divisions, we are at least sure to contain Russia. The offensive momentum of the Russians prevented the Russians from breaking into the northern city, and the two Romanian armies were not completely wiped out by the Russians. This result is simply too important for us! "

Before Colonel Adam finished speaking, Paulus, who was sitting behind the desk with his hands clasped together, became a little impatient. When Colonel Adam had just finished speaking, he immediately took over the right to speak and spoke sharply.

"That's impossible, Adam!"

"The 16th and 24th Armored Divisions are the main forces in our hands and the key to the urban battle! Have you ever thought that if these two armored divisions are transferred away, the Russians in the city will definitely counterattack and try to recapture them. If we lose a large area of ​​territory, the control area we finally captured will fall back into the hands of the Russians. What is the difference between this and wasting the lives of soldiers? "

"I don't agree with this suggestion! Victory in the urban battle is imminent. We paid such huge casualties and costs before finally compressing the Russians to an area of ​​less than ten square kilometers. We even almost reached the bank of the Volga River. It’s over! There is less than a kilometer of straight line distance to the nearest troops, and now you want to give up this victory? "

"If I didn't know you well enough, I would have even begun to doubt your loyalty to the Führer. Don't say similar words in the future, Adam, this is the last time."

Paulus' words were very rude and even sounded very hurtful!

If someone had a bad temper and was questioned about his loyalty to the head of state, he might have gone berserk and argued with Paulus on the spot. It was not impossible that the quarrel would have caused the ceiling of the office to be lifted.

But Colonel Adam, who had worked side by side with Paulus for a long time, could finally understand and sympathize with his boss. He knew very clearly how much pressure Paulus had been putting on his shoulders recently.

Paulus, who was in his early fifties, lived a life like a bad old man. His appearance alone was extremely miserable and decadent.

If venting to himself could make Paulus feel better, Colonel Adam asked himself that he had no complaints.

Colonel Adam, who said nothing, silently turned around and left the office. Paulus, who was sitting behind his desk, suddenly began to have dull eyes. Then he thought of some terrible things that he had always deliberately avoided before, but ultimately needed to face. thing.

Was he really questioning Adam's loyalty to the Führer?

Probably not.

The one who is afraid of having his loyalty questioned by the Führer should be himself.