Paulus frowned at the map on the table in his headquarters in Karachi.
Although the German army fought bravely in Stalingrad, it was exactly this that gave Paulus a headache... If the German soldiers did not fight bravely enough or were not well-equipped, etc., then everything could be solved.
Paulus can report to Hitler in the Wolf's Den and receive more troops and equipment.
The problem is that the reasons are not these.
Although the total strength of the German army is definitely not as good as that of the Russians, the German army clearly has the upper hand in Stalingrad:
The infantry comparison is 1.2:1, the air force comparison is 3.6:1, the tank comparison is 2:1, the artillery comparison is 3:1...
In particular, the military quality of the German army is obviously much better than that of the Russian army.
"We know something from the prisoners!" Paulus complained to the adjutant: "Many of the Russians are new recruits, and a considerable number of them are workers who have never been on the battlefield. A few days ago, there were also people from the 'punishment' who were interrogated.
The soldiers of the battalion... In other words, the Russians are using guns to force their soldiers onto the battlefield. But even so, we still cannot break through their defense line. The offensive line is still moving forward in units of meters. Some
The area is even regressing!”
The adjutant did not answer because he did not understand why this situation occurred.
Fighting is nothing more than looking at quality, equipment, and morale... When the German army had overwhelming advantages in all these, it was stuck in the quagmire and unable to move.
After thinking about it, the adjutant said: "I think this is because they are familiar with the terrain, especially the underground pipelines!"
"I know this!" Paulus stood up and walked a few steps in front of his desk. He lit a cigarette anxiously and then continued: "We can't have all the advantages. We are fighting on their land.
This is their city, and they should be familiar with the terrain! They have always been familiar with the terrain, but we still fought all the way from Poland to here. We have never suffered such obstacles. What is so different about Stalingrad?!"
Paulus was right. If the German army had suffered any defeat before this, it was the Battle of Moscow.
However, the Battle of Moscow did not develop into urban street fighting. At the same time, the failure of the Battle of Moscow was due to the cold snap, not the German army's inability to defeat the enemy.
Now, in the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army and the Soviet army are fighting face to face in the ruins, fighting among the buildings, and fighting among the broken bricks and rubble.
No one would believe that the German army would be helpless against the Russian army in such a battle, because before this...the German army always defeated the larger number with less and defeated the opponent to a pulp.
"Maybe..." After hesitating for a while, the adjutant said: "Maybe it's because of the 'breakout hero,' general!"
"Fuck the 'breakout hero'!" Paulus replied without thinking: "Even if he is a hero, he is just a person, a captain, a low-level officer. How can such a person fight in such a battle?
What role does it play?”
You must know that thousands of people die every day on this battlefield, so the role that a hero or a low-level officer can play is indeed very limited.
"But..." The adjutant knew that Paulus didn't like to hear such words that boost others' ambitions, but he still mustered up the courage to say: "We know from the prisoners that this 'breakout hero' made many useful suggestions, including using sewers to attack.
In addition, the defensive tactics of Mamayev Ridge are all his masterpieces!"
Paulus remained silent because he knew that these two items did cause great trouble to the German army.
"Recently I heard that he is reforming the 'punishment camp'!" The adjutant continued: "Many of our soldiers and officers are afraid of him..."
"Afraid of him? Why are you afraid of him?" Paulus asked angrily.
"Because where he appears, we usually cannot win!" the adjutant replied: "Moscow, the Crimean Peninsula, and Odessa before..."
"Shut up, Gotze!" Paulus interrupted the adjutant: "This is where his myth ends, we will defeat them!"
"Yes, General!" the adjutant replied, and of course he did not dare to deny this.
Then Paulus understood that this "breakout hero" even affected the German army's confidence in victory.
After staring at the map for a while, Paulus said: "If it is difficult for us to deal with these rats in the city, we should completely deny them food!"
"Supply lines?"
"Yes, supply line!" Paulus nodded.
"But general..." the adjutant said: "Our air force has tried its best. They bombed the Volga River day and night, but this still cannot cut off their transportation. You know, they can always transport something from the river.
come over!"
"So, we cannot completely rely on the air force!"
"We can't rely on the Air Force...what else can we rely on?"
"Artillery, Gotze!" Paulus pointed to the map and said: "Under the cover of the air force, our artillery has completely suppressed the enemy's artillery. So, why don't we move the artillery to the front, and then use the artillery to coordinate with the air force?
Use artillery fire to block the Volga River!"
"This is too dangerous, general!" The adjutant's eyes widened: "We have not seized control of the front line!"
The German army has actually been trying to do this, and the attack on Mamayev Hill was also for this purpose.
However, Mamayev Heights is not completely under the control of the German army, so moving artillery to the front line may become an enemy target.
"Construct positions for artillery!" Paulus ordered: "We can use buildings to deploy artillery behind buildings. As far as I know, the Russians do this as well. They can do it, and so can we! In addition, the Prime Minister will
Give us a group of reinforcements...I believe that with just a little more force, we can strangle the Russians' necks and make them unable to breathe!"
Paulus's approach was indeed risky.
Deploying artillery at the front to block the Volga River will place your artillery within the enemy's line of sight and even within the range of mortars.
What's more, the Soviet army retreated during the day and counterattacked at night, so every time the Soviet army counterattacked at night, these German artillery fires might be captured or destroyed by the Soviet army.
For the German army, artillery fire was also a valuable war resource that could not be wasted wantonly.
The problem is that if you take the risk of deploying artillery on the front line to control the supply line in Stalingrad, the Russian army in Stalingrad may not even have the artillery shells and ammunition for counterattack, and will eventually collapse.
In other words, even the loss of some artillery may be worthwhile, and it may even result in a much greater victory than the artillery.