Chapter 628 Electronic Roar

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 taste.

If Major General Osheim had never been to China, he couldn't blame him for not knowing anything about it, but if Major General Osheim had really been to China, he would understand that the Chinese are generally accustomed to calling this tone "smiling with a knife hidden in the heart."

Although he was a little uneasy and uneasy, the problem in front of him did not allow Major General Osheim to escape. After thinking for a while, 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 bearable losses. I want to explain to you that the Russians fought very tenaciously. They fought in the ruins and muddy water, and they wanted to stop us at all costs."

"We must admit that our opponents are very strong. Secondly, I hope to get more artillery support or air support. Those Russians have transported heavy mortars and tanks to the south of the railway station, many of which are heavy tanks. If we continue to launch a strong attack, we will suffer great losses. I hope to avoid this."

Even though Major General Osheim had explained the situation to Paulus in what he thought was the most euphemistic words, Paulus on the other end of the phone was obviously very dissatisfied with it. The anger that could be felt through the microphone immediately burned along the telephone line.

"The troops in your hands are the entire 51st Armored Corps, no, the most elite mechanized troops of the entire Sixth Army! Osheim!"

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

"But now? Now you tell me that not only did you fail to achieve the mission objectives, but you also lost hundreds of excellent German soldiers in vain! I want to ask you, Osheim, did your offensive this morning get enough land to bury our fallen soldiers? If your answer is no, then I congratulate you, Osheim, what you did is dereliction of duty! It's a crime!"

Paulus, who came from the General Staff, has all the characteristics and advantages of the advanced Germans described by Hitler.

Paulus is humble, elegant, kind to others and rarely gets angry. His temperament is a model of elegance.

Paulus, who was promoted by the Führer, did not have the arrogance of those Wehrmacht generals who were born from Junker nobles. In a sense, he was easy-going like his teacher father, always making his colleagues and subordinates feel warm.

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

Being described by the commander as "dereliction of duty" and "crime" or even directly scolded, anyone with a brain would definitely understand what it meant. And Major General Osheim was obviously a man with enough brains, and he was very smart, enough to imagine how angry Paulus on the other end of the phone was at this moment.

"Maybe I will be shot? Perhaps the best outcome is to be dismissed and sent back home? I hope I can keep my military rank and honor."

While Major General Osheim was holding the microphone and thinking about it, Paulus, who had been venting his anger at the microphone, gradually regained his composure. After taking a deep breath to calm his heart, he spoke again.

"Listen, Osheim! I don't want to hear your reasons for defeat, nor do I want to hear you brag about how good the Russians are. You should know where the last person who boasted like that went, right?"

Major General Osheim did remember clearly that the last person who described Stalingrad as a "giant city" in front of Paulus was the commander of the 14th Panzer Army: Wittelsgaim.

And not long after that, Wittelsgaim was dismissed from his post by Paulus on the grounds that he was "no longer suitable for commanding the battle" and rushed back to his hometown to eat himself.

Recalling what happened to Wittelsgaim, Major General Osheim couldn't help but feel a little happy and excited.

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

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

Thinking that the knock and warning were enough, Paulus adjusted his tone after a little thought and issued further follow-up orders in an undeniable way.

"Your next combat 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 report the good news to me, instead of continuing to make excuses for failure like now!"

? ? ?

What? Don't dismiss me? Still want me to continue commanding the troops to fight?

Major General Osheim was confused and almost thought that there was something wrong with his ears. He wanted to ask Paulus to repeat what he just said, but he changed his mind and was afraid that Paulus would accuse him of being absent-minded and bring him a greater punishment.

Holding the microphone, he pursed his dry lips and hesitated for a moment. Major General Osheim, who had made up his mind to take a gamble, immediately 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 based on this."

To be honest, after fighting for almost a whole morning and being the attacking party, only 500 people and more than 20 tanks died. Although this level of casualties is not small, it is not serious in high-intensity offensive operations. It can even be said that it is just a drizzle that scratches the skin.

In normal times, this level of casualties would not even blink for Major General Osheim. After all, equipment and soldiers are digital consumables in war. It would be strange if there were no deaths in war. The key depends on the progress of the mission objectives and whether they have been achieved.

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

What exactly is Paulus's "limit of casualties that can be tolerated"? This is the question that Major General Osheim is eager to find out.