Steel Soviet Union

Paulus's recent situation has been somewhat bad, and Colonel Adam, who accompanies Paulus every day in both work and life, knows this very well.

But what Adam didn't expect was that Paulus' condition would be so bad that he would have such a terrible dream.

The saying "Thinking about you every day and dreaming at night" is not only passed down from generation to generation among the ancient Chinese, it is also known to everyone in the distant continent of Europe. It is said that many magic tricks use dreams to infer a person. of man's future.

Paulus would have this kind of dream at night. At worst, it could even mean that Paulus himself was shaken in military morale and fearful of the enemy. Normally, if a commander has reached the end of his life, he can prepare to pack up his luggage and prepare to go home and feed himself.

But for Paulus, for the Sixth Army at this moment, for all the Axis forces at Stalingrad at this moment. Fears and nightmares like Paulus's are a common phenomenon. What the Axis soldiers huddled in the ruins in the cold and hungry were most worried about, not when the Russians would suddenly attack, but what they would do next. Where is the meal.

He raised his head again and drank all the remaining brandy in the glass. There was no delicious taste of the wine in his mouth but only bitterness. Paulus put down the glass and leaned on the bed with his eyes slightly closed. I have temporarily lost the desire to drink another drink.

"What day is it today? Adam."

Colonel Adam was stunned for a moment when he heard this. He never expected that Paulus had even blurred the concept of time, and his serious look did not look like a joke at all.

Adam remained silent with surprise written on his face. He lowered his head and glanced at the time on his watch, which already pointed to two o'clock in the middle of the night. After thinking for a moment, Adam blurted out his words.

"It's January 22nd, it's past 12 o'clock, and the 21st has already passed."

"The 22nd is already January 22, 1943."

Paulus, who was leaning against the bedside, let out a long sigh after getting the accurate answer. The feeling of living like a year had already tortured this man in his prime to physical and mental exhaustion.

"A few days ago, I quietly entrusted friends in Berlin to help me investigate some things. It may be a little unbelievable to say it, but I have always believed that the order for our Sixth Army to stick to Stalingrad and wait for rescue was definitely not a decision made by the head of state arbitrarily. ”

"According to my guess, this must be some villain talking nonsense in front of the head of state. Of course, the final result of the investigation also confirmed my guess. You would never expect the person who brought our Sixth Army to this situation today. who is it.

Colonel Adam did not interrupt Paulus' words. To be precise, even Adam himself was somewhat fascinated by what he was saying. He also really wanted to know which idiot was talking nonsense in front of the head of state, which caused the Sixth Army to end up in the situation it was in today.

As if he noticed Adam's strange expression, Paulus, who had already looked down on everything and showed no concern, continued to speak slowly.

"Goering, the famous Imperial Marshal. If it weren't for him, our Sixth Army would have successfully broken out by now. I'm not kidding you."

"Göring? Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Marshal Göring? Is this possible? Paulus, why can Göring take care of our Sixth Army? He clamored that everything that can fly in Germany is under his control. , is it possible that even things running on the ground are under his jurisdiction now?"

Paulus made no comment on the words of Colonel Adam, who looked horrified and puzzled, and just continued his understatement.

"I learned from the telegrams sent from Berlin that Goering, a fool who only knew how to drink and play with antiques all day long, made a special trip to the head of state's office when the Russians counterattacked last year and assured him that he might be watching. It’s finally time for his air force to turn the tide and perform well.”

"He personally assured the head of state that his air force can transport 500 tons of supplies to our Sixth Army every day, which is enough to meet all the ammunition, fuel and food needs of the Sixth Army. Although it is only the minimum, I think this is what makes it possible. The most direct reason for the head of state’s decision.”

"But the actual situation is that since late November, all the air force airports on the front line have been blocked by heavy snow. Even on days when they can take off, the Russian air patrols will focus on intercepting the marked air transport lanes. Even if they managed to escape the Russian air interception and blockade, there were still Russian anti-aircraft guns on the ground that fired intensively at those bulky transport aircraft. "

"There are very few transport planes that can actually fly into Stalingrad. You should know this better than me, Adam. The statistical reports I got were all compiled and handed over to me by you. You know that we started every day at the end of last year. How much air cargo can be received on average?”

Paulus was right. Adam, who was responsible for summarizing big and small matters and listing priorities before handing them over to Paulus, did know that the average amount of supplies shipped by the Air Force since the end of last year was only fifty or sixty per day. tons, and the maximum amount per day was just over 300 tons. This is the total tonnage including oil, ammunition, food and medicine.

As for the 500 tons of supplies per day that Goering, a 300-pound pig, personally promised to the head of state, if you believe this nonsense, it would be better to believe the reality that the French captured 500 tons of German soldiers in one day. Colonel Adam was left shaking his head. The bitter smile and helplessness in my heart.

Paulus picked up the wine glass and filled it half full again. Finally he clinked the glass with Adam, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

The slightly smoky smell of alcohol could not ignite Paulus's desire to sleep again. Paulus was extremely depressed in the dark underground command post.

Although it was two o'clock in the night, Paulus suddenly had the desire to go out for a walk and see the outside world. He had not left this damn underground command post for almost half a month.

"Get ready, Adam, come with me to take a look outside. I really don't want to continue taking medicine to maintain this fragile sleep."

The small white pills scattered on the floor were disgusting to Paulus. Adam, who could touch these pills with his feet, also had no intention of persuading Paulus to continue taking this kind of stuff to maintain his neurasthenic sleep.

Adam had a vague feeling that it might not be long before Paulus no longer needed to drink these medicines to support his fragile body, but he didn't know what form the final result would take.

Is the nightmare coming true or is it just the first half of the dream?

Colonel Adam, who shook his head secretly, didn't know clearly, but he was very sure that he would also apply to this nightmare that Paulus had.