Early the next morning, Schmid hurried to find Paulus.
The adjutant sitting at the door, when he saw the Chief of Staff coming, he quickly stood up, walked out from behind the table, and greeted politely: "His Chief of Staff, you are here! The Commander is still sleeping."
Schmid knew Paulus's routine and would have to get up for at least half an hour. He declined the adjutant's suggestion to help him wake up the commander, but went up and knocked on the door twice. Without any response from inside, he pushed open the door and walked in.
Schmid walked to Paulus' bed, bent down and approached the other person's ear and whispered: "Master Commander, the Russians' river transport line has been interrupted."
Although Schmid's voice was not loud, it was enough to wake Paulus up from his sleep. Paulus lifted the quilt, sat up and hung his legs to the edge of the bed, and looked for slippers on the floor with his toes. He was afraid that the news of the interruption of the transportation line on the river was a false news released by the Russians, so he looked up at Schmid and asked, "Chief of Staff, is the information reliable?"
"Yes, Commander, the information is completely reliable." Schmid replied excitedly: "We sent scouts by the river to see with our own eyes several wooden boats trying to break through the ice, but they were all crushed by the ice." He took out a telegram from his pocket, "This is a telegram sent by the intelligence department after repeated verification."
Paulus picked up reading glasses from the bedside table, put them on, and carefully browsed the contents on it. It was clearly written that in the morning, several Russian wooden boats tried to transport a batch of supplies across the river, but as soon as he reached the center of the river, he was crushed by the floating ice downstream, and the people and supplies on the boat fell into the water.
After confirming the content on the telegram, which was exactly the same as what Schmid reported to him, Paulus turned his eyes 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 receive any supplies for a long time." Schmid said proudly: "I think we should increase the offensive efforts, and maybe we can completely defeat Stalingrad in the next two days."
"But Chief of Staff, have you ever thought that the materials that our army had hoarded were destroyed by the Russians a few days ago?" Paulus was also eager to take Stalingrad in his heart, but he was worried that his supplies would not be able to keep up, so he said worriedly: "Although he has received some supplements recently, can it 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 were defending the city have lost almost all, and now they are just a group of new recruits."
Schmid's words confused Paulus: "Chief of Staff, is there any difference between the Russians who are veterans and new recruits?"
"There were differences back then," Schmid gave Paulus an example: "For example, a base ammunition can be maintained for a day's battle; while new recruits are nervous because they hear gunfire on the battlefield, and can only boost their courage by constantly shooting. Even if they use rifles, they can exhaust all the base ammunition in one hour at most."
After Schmid's explanation, Paulus immediately understood what he meant: "Chief of staff, you mean we send troops to attack to consume the poor ammunition reserves of the Russians. As long as they consume their ammunition, we will take Stalingrad in a short time, and there will be no problem."
"Yes, Lord Commander." Schmidt replied with a smile: "That's what I mean."
"It makes sense. Although our ammunition and supplies are not as abundant as before, there is no problem in launching a small-scale attack or two." Paulus nodded slightly and ordered: "Order the troops to launch a new attack on the Russian barricade factory again."
"What, attack the barricade factory?" Schmid was a little confused by Paulus's order. He was worried that the other party would say something wrong for a moment, so he reminded carefully: "Commander, you may want to say the Derrensky factory, which is the largest tank production base for the Russians. Once occupied by our army..."
"Chief of Staff, do you think that even if our army occupied the Derrensky factory, can tank production be carried out immediately?" Paulus said this and deliberately paused for a moment to observe the other party's expression. Seeing Schmid nodding in his approval of his statement, he continued: "As long as our army takes down the barricade factory, it can turn this place into a garrison and a new starting point for offensive. To the north, you can attack the Derrensky factory with the troops from other directions; to the south, you can launch an attack on the Red October factory with the cooperation of the Romanian army."
After understanding Paulus's intention, Schmid asked tentatively: "His commander, which unit do you plan to attack the barricade factory?"
"A while ago, the troops that attacked the Barrier Factory were not von der Rebel's 297th Infantry Division, let them launch a new attack." When Schmid turned around and walked out of the bedroom, Paulus added a sentence later: "Chief of Staff, remember to let Rensky's 24th Armored Division send tanks to assist them in the attack, and must take Stalingrad."
After Schmid left, Paulus walked back and forth in the bedroom with his hands behind his back, thinking in his heart that if Stalingrad was really taken, then even if Berlin knew about the capture of Leser, it would not be a big deal for him, the "Conqueror of Stalingrad". At that time, the base camp would not blame him, but might also award him a new Iron Cross ordinance, and might even be promoted to his military rank. Even the scepter of the marshal was not an out of reach.
"Hiss Commander," just as Paulus was at YY, the adjutant walked in from outside with a tray, pushed the door open, and said respectfully to Paulus: "Your breakfast is ready for you, please use it."
An hour later, the officers and soldiers of the 297th Infantry Division of the German Army who were staying outside the barricade factory suddenly launched a fierce attack on the factory without any artillery preparations. Groups of soldiers carrying various weapons followed the rumbling tanks, stepping on the snow that was overwhelming their ankles, and rushed towards the Soviet fortifications in the factory.
Chapter completed!