Steel Soviet Union

Paulus' tone on the other end of the phone didn't seem to be very good, and Major General Osheim felt that there was always an indescribable strange smell.

If Major General Osheim has never been to China, it cannot be blamed that Major General Osheim is ignorant of this. But if Major General Osheim has really been to China, then he will understand that the Chinese are generally accustomed to using this tone. It's called "a smile hiding a knife".

Although he felt a little uneasy and uneasy, Major General Osheim did not allow Major General Osheim to escape from the difficult problem before him. After thinking for a moment, he spoke in a calm tone.

"The situation is not good, Commander. The offensive this morning was just repelled by the Russians, and we suffered some tolerable losses. What I want to explain to you is that the Russians fought very tenaciously, and they did not hesitate to fight in the ruins. And the muddy ground will stop us no matter what.”

"We must admit that our opponent is very powerful. Secondly, I hope to get more artillery support or air support. The Russians transported heavy mortars and tanks to the south of the train station, many of which were heavy tanks. If we continue to launch a strong attack, we will suffer heavy losses, and I hope this can be avoided.”

Even though Major General Osheim had explained the situation to Paulus in the most tactful terms he thought possible, Paulus on the other end of the phone was obviously very dissatisfied with this, and the anger that could be felt through the phone followed. It burned all the way along the phone line.

"The troops you control are not the entire 51st Armored Army, but the most elite mechanized troops of the entire Sixth Army! Osheim!"

"I have put the best troops of the entire Sixth Army into your hands. All you have to do is to command these best German soldiers and drive those Russians composed of workers and farmers out of the train station!"

"But what now? Now you tell me that not only did you fail to achieve the mission goal, but you also lost hundreds of outstanding German soldiers in vain! I want to ask you, Osheim, your offensive this morning has brought enough The land where our fallen soldiers are buried? If your answer is no, then I congratulate you, Osheim, what you did is a crime!”

Paulus, who was born in the General Staff, had all the characteristics and advantages of the higher Germans described by Hitler.

Paulus was humble, personable, kind to others and rarely angry, and his temperament was a model of elegance.

Paulus, who was single-handedly promoted by the head of state, did not have the arrogance of those Junker nobles who came from the Wehrmacht generals. In a sense, he was as easy-going as his teacher father, who always made his colleagues and subordinates feel like a breeze.

Major General Osheim had forgotten the last time he saw Paulus angry. He only felt that he was now cold from head to toe, as if his whole body had fallen into an ice hole.

The commander used words such as "malfeasance" and "crime" to describe or even directly curse him. Anyone with a sound mind would definitely understand what this meant. And Major General Osheim is obviously a man with enough brains, and he is also very smart, enough to figure out how angry Paulus is on the other end of the phone at this moment.

"Maybe I will be shot? Maybe the best outcome is to be dismissed and return to China? I hope I can retain my military rank and honor."

That is to say, at the moment when Major General Osheim was holding the microphone and thinking wildly, Paulus, who was venting his anger into the microphone, gradually regained his calm state. After taking a deep breath to calm down, he spoke again. .

"Listen up, Osheim! I don't want to hear your reasons for defeat, and I don't want to hear you bragging about how good those Russians are at fighting here. You should know where the last person who boasted like this ended up, right? Bar?"

Major General Osheim indeed clearly remembered that the last time the person who described Stalingrad in front of Paulus as a "giant city" was the commander of the 14th Armored Corps: Wittelsgeim.

Not long after that, Wittelsgeim was dismissed by Paulus on the grounds that he was "no longer suitable to command combat" and rushed back to his hometown to eat himself.

Reminiscent of what happened to Wittelsgeim, Major General Osheim couldn't help but feel a little joyful and excited.

Wouldn't he be sent to a military court for this? This is really great! If he could just be dismissed from his post like Wittelsgeim, retain his military rank and all honors and return home to wait for follow-up orders, this would be the best outcome that he had never expected.

Paulus on the other end of the phone didn't know that Osheim was secretly rejoicing over such a trivial matter.

Thinking that the beatings and warnings were enough, Paulus thought for a moment, then adjusted his tone and issued further follow-up orders in undeniable words.

"Your next battle order, Osheim! Report the real results to me before dark tonight. I will call you again in the evening. By then I hope to hear you tell me Report the good news instead of continuing to make excuses for failure like you are doing now!”

? ? ?

What? Won't you remove me from my post? Do you want me to continue commanding the troops and continue fighting?

Major General Osheim, who looked confused and fell into a black question mark state, almost thought that there was something wrong with his ears and he heard wrongly.

I wanted to ask Paulus again and repeat what I just said, but on second thought I was afraid that Paulus would be punished for being absent-minded about his duties.

Major General Osheim held the phone in his hand and pursed his dry lips. He hesitated for a moment and decided to take a gamble. Then he tentatively spoke to Paulus who was waiting for a reply on the other end of the phone.

"Commander Paulus, can I get some necessary support from this? And how to control the casualties of the troops. I need to make specific combat deployments accordingly."

One thing to say is that after fighting for almost a whole morning and being the attacker, only 500 people and more than 20 tanks died. Although this level of casualties is not small, it is considered a high-intensity offensive. It's not serious, it can even be said to be just a drizzle that scratches the skin.

Normally, Major General Osheim would not even blink at such a level of casualties. After all, equipment and soldiers are digital consumables in war. It would be strange if no one died in a war. The key depends on the progress of the mission goal and whether it has been achieved.

But after being scolded by Paulus, Major General Osheim was now a little confused, and even temporarily lost his ability to judge and control the battle situation at a macro level.

Where is the "limit of tolerable casualties" in Paulus' mind? This is a question that Major General Osheim is eager to find out.