The decisive battle against the Third Reich

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Qin Chuan walked into Paulus's office.

Paulus was flipping through documents, with two staff officers standing beside him.

At first, Qin Chuan's appearance did not attract Paulus's attention. This may be because he was focused on the contents of the document, or he was thinking about something in his mind, so when Qin Chuan stepped forward to report, he was just out of habit. The nodded.

It wasn't until two minutes later that the staff officer bent down and whispered a reminder in Paulus's ear.

For some reason, Qin Chuan found that the demeanor and behavior of this staff officer were very similar to Paulus.

Only then did Paulus come back to his senses. He raised his head and glanced at Qin Chuan, then stood up, shook hands with Qin Chuan, and said, "Sorry, Major. Nice to see you!"

"Me too, sir!" Qin Chuan stepped forward and responded.

Then Paulus enthusiastically invited Qin Chuan to sit down on the chair next to him, and said: "Major, I have heard a lot about your deeds, or it can be said to be legends, so I have long hoped to meet you. It's just that they told me that the battlefield cannot be separated from you, so they have postponed it until now..."

"It's my pleasure, sir!"

"You performed very well, Major." Paulus continued: "Especially breaking through the enemy's 64th Army's defense line to create conditions for our army to cross the Don River, and going deep into Stalingrad to burn down their extremely important factories... I can say without exaggeration that these are truly a stroke of genius and worthy of the title of ‘Legendary Sergeant’!”

"Thank you, sir!" Qin Chuan replied.

Paulus took the two glasses of wine handed over by the staff and handed one to Qin Chuan: "Major, you know, the Battle of Stalingrad has reached a stalemate now. You just left there, so you may know better than me. !”

"Yes, General!"

"So..." Paulus said: "I think talents like you should be more effective in higher-level command structures rather than on the front line, such as my staff. They need someone like you from A person with rich practical experience in the battlefield and a lot of ideas, what do you think?”

Qin Chuan couldn't help being stunned when he heard this.

He had made several guesses before that. For example, Paulus wanted to ask for some advice when he met him, or to praise officers like him who had performed well on the front line to encourage the front line soldiers, just like Rommel when he was in Africa. The Legion did it. But Qin Chuan just didn't expect Paulus to ask him to serve as a staff officer.

In this moment, Qin Chuan quickly thought about it in his head.

Paulus may be right, and Qin Chuan may be more effective in a staff position.

But the problem is... there is a competitive relationship between the 6th Army and the 4th Armored Army, so although the transfer of troops is normal, it is suspected of poaching.

On the other hand, Paulus actually did not have a lot of autonomy in the entire battle... This may be because Paulus lacked courage, or because of Paulus's upbringing, he completely followed Hitler's direction in command. Act according to orders and intentions, even the movement of troops is no exception.

(Note: Paulus experienced many setbacks and failures since he was a child, which made him not confident and decisive enough despite his talent)

Such a commander is actually more like a puppet. The real commander is Hitler who is sitting in the "Werewolf" bunker in Ukraine.

Therefore, if Qin Chuan came here to serve as a staff officer, he was afraid that not only would he not be able to play any role, but he would also be deprived of his autonomy and voice on the front line.

Thinking of this, Qin Chuan replied: "Sorry, General! I think I am more suitable for the battlefield, because I always suddenly think of a certain strategy on the battlefield. If I stay in the office and face a lot of intelligence or File, I’m afraid I’m not much different from an idiot!”

Qin Chuan's answer seemed not to surprise Paulus, and he nodded in understanding. On the contrary, the staff officer beside Paulus looked disappointed.

"So, Major!" Paulus raised his glass towards Qin Chuan and said, "May I ask, what are your thoughts on the current situation in Stalingrad?"

Qin Chuan shook his head helplessly and replied: "Sorry, General! I think... unless we can capture Mamayev Heights again, we can only push forward step by step! The Soviets have made up for all their gaps. , and also became familiar with how to fight in urban warfare!”

"We have an idea!" Paulus raised his head towards the staff beside him. The staff understood and immediately spread out a map in front of him.

"Look at this..." Paulus pointed to a point on the Volga River and said, "The Soviets have a hydropower station here. Our idea is to send the air force to blow up the dam. Do you think this is feasible?"

"This will not help us in the war, general!" Qin Chuan shook his head: "The reason is that the northern industrial zone of Stalingrad has a higher terrain, and the 'Red Barricade' artillery factory is even 200 meters above the river. Even if we Blowing up dams will not pose a threat to the northern industrial area!"

"But we will at least flood the main city to the south, won't we?" Paulus objected.

"Indeed!" Qin Chuan replied: "But what can they do? They can temporarily transfer their troops to the northern industrial area, and then return to the main city to defend after the flood recedes. In this way, they can even control more area, but we have to start over because we have to avoid the flood. What’s more, Stalingrad will be muddy because of the flood, which is obviously not good for us who have more tanks!”

Paulus nodded slightly, glanced at the staff officer beside him meaningfully, then stood up and shook hands with Qin Chuan and said: "Thank you very much, Major. I will seriously consider what you said. Although it is unnecessary, I Let me remind you, no one can know what we are saying!”

"Of course!" Qin Chuan replied.

"So..." Paulus led Qin Chuan to the window, opened a little black curtain, pointed to a house more than a hundred meters away and said, "Did you see that white house?"

"Yes, General!"

"Actually, that's the main reason why I asked you to come here!" Paulus said: "Colonel Conrad is waiting for you there!"

Qin Chuan couldn't help but said "Oh", and at the same time he felt a little strange. If Conrad wanted to see him, why didn't he go to the battlefield instead of calling him to this place more than a hundred kilometers away?

"Nice to meet you, Major!" Paulus shook hands with Qin Chuan again: "I will arrange a flight back for you!"

"Thank you, general!" Qin Chuan saluted Paulus, turned around and walked out of the headquarters.

After walking a few steps outside, I heard someone chasing after me and shouting: "Wait, Major!"

Looking back, he saw it was the staff officer beside Paulus.