Chapter 974 Attack (Part 1)

   "Stop yelling, Your Excellency Commander." Seeing Paulus yelling loudly outside, Kurzbach said coldly, "Even if you yell out your throat, no one will come to rescue you."

"Yes, Commander." Schmidt worried that Kurzbach would be unfavorable to Paulus, so he quickly stood up and said, "Your guards have been transferred, no matter how much you shout, no one will come save you."

   "What did you say, my guards were transferred?"

   "Yes." Schmidt replied with a face of shame: "I ordered them to switch defenses with the troops of the 100th Jaeger Division. Now the guards outside are all officers and soldiers of the 100th Jaeger Division."

   "Okay, Chief of Staff." Seeing that Schmidt actually participated in the conspiracy against him, Paulus said angrily: "You are the person I trust the most. I didn't expect you to participate in this shameful conspiracy."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I actually don't agree with their use of such extreme measures." Facing Paulus's accusation, Schmidt quickly argued: "But in order to save more lives, I still choose to stand with them." Your Excellency, Commander, we can’t fight anymore, we should quickly order the troops to stop resisting and let them surrender early.”

   I learned that Kurzbach and others took such extreme measures in order to make themselves surrender. Paulus sat down on his seat weakly, and said with a sad face: "It's useless for you to do this. Even if you implement a military remonstrance, the head of state will not agree to our surrender."

"Your Excellency, Commander," Seeing that Paulus's tone softened, Sanne saw a glimmer of life, stepped forward quickly, raised his hand to lower Kurzbach's muzzle, and said to Paulus: " Stop sending a telegram to the Führer, report our predicament to him, and hope he will change his mind."

  After Paulus heard Sanne's proposal, he didn't speak, but just looked at Schmidt on the side. As Paulus' chief of staff, Schmidt immediately understood the intention of the other party's eyes, and quickly ordered a soldier: "Find a radio station and come here. Your Excellency, Commander, is here to report to the Führer."

  The soldier who heard the order stood still, but turned his questioning gaze to Kurzbach. After seeing the other party nodded slightly in agreement, he turned and left the room.

   A few minutes later, a radio station was placed on the conference table, and a skilled operator sat in front of the radio station, quietly waiting for the chief to dictate the content of the report.

  Seeing that everyone was looking at him, Paulus stood up with a wry smile, staggered to the operator's back, and said to him: "Radio operator, send a report to Berlin."

After the operator was ready to send, Paulus began dictating the telegram to Berlin, concluding: "...it is pointless to continue the resistance, the tragedy is inevitable, in order to save the living. I request immediate approval We surrender, also to save our nation and our people. Paulus."

  The officers and soldiers present quietly listened to Paulus' dictated orders, and their hearts were full of hope. They are very clear that their commander has given up any hope of continuing to resist. As long as they get the consent of Berlin, the remaining troops of the entire army can justifiably lay down their weapons and surrender.

   A few minutes later, the call back from Berlin arrived.

   After the operator finished copying the telegram, he was about to hand it to Paulus, but he waved his hand and refused: "Give the telegram to the chief of staff and let him read it out in public."

  Schmidt stepped forward to take the telegram from the operator under the watchful eyes of everyone. After he quickly read the above content, his face turned livid. From his expression, Paulus guessed what Berlin's reply was, and said to him in a stern tone: "Chief of Staff, read the telegram to everyone."

  Schmidt did not dare to neglect, quickly raised the telegram, and began to chant loudly: "I will never allow surrender. The troops of the Sixth Army must stick to their positions until they run out of ammunition. Hitler."

  The hopes in everyone's hearts, with this telegram sent by Hitler himself, shattered like a crystal cup falling on the ground. Some people who were originally opposed to military remonstrance began to waver in their hearts, thinking that they should not do such a wrong thing, but in the end they failed to achieve their goals.

"Gentlemen!" Seeing that everyone looked dejected, Paulus said to everyone: "You have heard the reply of the Fuehrer. Next, what are you going to do? Continue to mess around with Kurzbach , or go back to your respective units and command your men to fight the Russians? You choose for yourself."

   "I'm sorry, General Kurzbach." Sanne pulled out his pistol and aimed the gun at Kurzbach. The soldiers who came in with Kurzbach saw Sanne drawing their guns, and pointed their guns at him one after another, and beat him into a sieve after hearing Kurzbach's order. Sanne didn't care about the gun pointing at himself, but continued: "It is the bounden duty of soldiers to obey orders. Since the head of state ordered us to continue fighting, we can only obey his order."

  Those soldiers with guns raised hesitant expressions when they heard Sanne mentioning the head of state, and put down their guns aimed at Sanne. Paulus saw that the opponent's army was in confusion, so he came out in time to make up for it: "Soldiers, if you put down your weapons now and commit the following crimes against you, I can let the past go, otherwise..."

   What happens otherwise? Paulus didn't say anything, but the soldiers obediently dropped their weapons on the ground. Sonny walked to the door and yelled outside. Soon, the sound of messy footsteps and shouts came from outside.

  Hearing the voice from outside, Paulus frowned and asked Schmidt: "Chief of Staff, what happened outside?"

  Schmidt also knew nothing about what happened outside, he could only shake his head, and replied truthfully: "I'm sorry, Commander, I don't know what happened outside either."

It wasn't until an officer with a submachine gun entered the room that Sanne came to Paulus and reported to him: "Your Excellency, I have deployed a company in a nearby room. Now they have put Kur The people brought by General Zbach have all disarmed, how should we deal with them?"

   "Lock them all up." If it was the past, Paulus would not hesitate at all if the following incidents occurred, and he ordered people to shoot them all. But now is an extraordinary period. In order to avoid causing unnecessary panic, Paulus could only deal with them lightly. He told Sanne: "Prison General Kurzbach, and what he has done, to the police." The entire group army will report. If similar incidents happen again, they will be shot to death."

   In this way, the military remonstrance initiated by Kurzbach ended comically because of a reply from Hitler. The instigator, General Kurzbach, was also locked in a separate room, awaiting Paulus' disposal.

  Sokov naturally had no way of knowing what happened at the German Army Headquarters. He is still explaining the attack after dawn to several division commanders by phone.

  When it was almost dawn, the phone in the headquarters rang.

  The call came from Rokossovsky, who was far away in Moscow. He asked on the phone: "Colonel Sokov, are you ready?"

   "Yes, Comrade Front Commander." Sokov replied respectfully, "We are ready to attack the department store."

   "I have already explained to Ma Linin. If you need anything, just call him, and he will try his best to help you." Rokossovsky said: "I wish you good luck!"

  The time for the attack has come. Following Sokov's order, all participating troops launched an attack on the German army in their respective areas.

   "Comrade Division Commander," Sidolin asked Sukov curiously after confirming that all divisions were attacking, "How many days do you think our troops will be able to take down the department store?"

   "It's hard to say." Sokov knew very well in his heart that although the main target of this attack was the department store, the German firepower points in the surrounding buildings were the hard nuts for the attacking troops to gnaw. Although there were as many as three infantry divisions, two tank brigades, and artillery regiments attacking at the same time, Sokov still had no idea: "We can only do our best."

Since Sokov's attack did not carry out any artillery preparations before the attack, the German troops who were holding their positions were also caught off guard. The 41st Guards Division, which attacked from the southwest, took the lead in breaking through the German defensive positions. He entered the residential area controlled by the German army and started a battle with the enemy in the building.

Knowing that his troops had rushed into the small area controlled by the enemy, Sokov quickly called Ivanov over and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, our troops are making good progress. But in order to prevent the four regiments from For the sake of fighting, if there is a lack of cooperation between them, you need to rush there immediately and implement a unified command over them."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Division Commander." Although Sokov is the commander of the combat group, Ivanov and others still like to call him division commander, and Sokov has not corrected this title. Knowing that he had another chance to flex his muscles, Ivanov immediately said excitedly: "I will let our troops be the first to rush into the department store."

  The battle that took place near the department store concerned not only Rokossovsky in Moscow, but also Chuikov in the city, as well as Shumilov of the 64th Army and Batov of the 65th Army. In order to avoid affecting Sokov's command, they did not call to inquire about the situation of the battle. Instead, they each sent their own reconnaissance troops to the combat area for reconnaissance, so as to report back the situation of the battle in a timely manner.

   There are more than 10,000 German troops deployed around the department store. In addition to infantry, there are also artillery and tanks. Facing the rushing Soviet troops, the German artillery and tanks did not consider the issue of saving ammunition at all, and desperately bombarded the Soviet offensive line with shells, intercepting the offensive troops with firepower.

  The 41st Guards Division is Sokov's unit. Faced with the enemy's fire interception tactics, they know how to disperse in time and use bomb craters or ruins to approach the enemy's position. The other two infantry divisions still maintained a dense formation, braving fierce artillery fire, and bravely rushed to the enemy's position.

   Knowing that the attacking troops of the 23rd Infantry Division lost a battalion to artillery fire in less than ten minutes, Sokov was a little anxious. He quickly connected the division headquarters and said loudly to the person answering the phone: "This is Sokov, let Colonel Sivakov answer the phone."

   Soon Sivakov's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

"Colonel Sivakov, how did you fight this battle?" Sokov asked a little angrily: "In less than ten minutes, you lost a battalion of troops? Your division has a small number of soldiers. According to your With this style of play, before you get close to the department store, your division should abolish the organizational system."

   Facing Sokov's accusation, Sivakov said aggrievedly: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's resistance is very tenacious. If you want to break through their defense, casualties are inevitable."

"You are right. To break through the enemy's line of defense, casualties are inevitable." Sokov continued: "But when we fight, we can't just fight and rush. No matter how brave our soldiers are, they are still flesh and blood. Your body can't stop the enemy's shells and bullets at all. Therefore, when attacking, you have to learn to use your brain more to minimize the casualties of the troops."

   "But, what should I do to reduce the casualties of the troops?"

"The enemy bombarded your offensive line and intercepted it with artillery fire." Seeing that the other party did not understand what he meant, Sokov could only patiently explain to him: "In order to reduce unnecessary casualties, you should not use intensive attacks when attacking." Instead of charging in the same formation, you should use sparse formation and use the craters and debris as cover. Understand?"

"Understood."

Seeing that Sivakov agreed so readily, Sokov continued: "After you rush into the community, don't let the troops charge on the street. In that case, the Germans hiding in the buildings on both sides will be like shooting targets." You have to wipe out all of you. You have to let the soldiers stick to the buildings on both sides and push forward little by little. It doesn’t matter if the speed is slower, but it can reduce unnecessary casualties. …”

After waiting for Sokov to put down the phone, Sidolin said to him with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, isn't it a little too late for you to impart experience to Sivakov at this moment? Moreover, this kind of tactic does not require a period of training." , I am afraid that the effect will be greatly reduced. I think it will not be long before those scattered commanders and fighters will be crowded together again and become the target of the enemy's attack."

   "I have reminded everything I can." Sokov sighed and said, "Although it is a bit late to impart experience, it should still allow more fighters to survive such a brutal battle."

After Sokov said this, he suddenly remembered that he had not received a report on the 321st Infantry Division so far. He quickly asked Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, how is the progress of General Makarenko's troops? Why is it so far? , haven’t received any reports about them yet?”

"The terrain in their attack area is very complicated," Sidolin explained to Sokov: "And during the attack, they were constantly intercepted by German artillery fire, so that until now, they have not been able to break through the enemy's defense."

  (end of this chapter)