Chapter 745 "Checkmate"

To be honest, Paulus wanted to fire Osheim right now. This useless guy had already disappointed him, and his original plan to establish his prestige had completely gone down the drain. He smashed his painstaking efforts and his solemn promise to the Führer, and then stepped on him hard.

But if he gave up on Osheim now, it would be equivalent to announcing to the outside world that he, Paulus, was blind and had chosen a useless person who could only talk and talk on paper to help the Russians to gain military achievements, and the blood of German soldiers was shed in vain.

By then, not only would Osheim, the guy he had promoted, be finished. If those who were plotting against him or disliked him spread this to the Führer, Paulus could imagine how miserable his fate would be if he fell out of favor.

Although it sounds a bit exaggerated, this chain disaster effect like dominoes does exist.

As for the question of how big the probability and possibility are, it depends on how Paulus makes his judgment from his own subjective starting point.

"Damn, bastard! I can't even touch this rubbish now! What a terrible feeling this is"

Paulus, whose right eyelid was twitching, finally suppressed his anger and announced that he would give up. At least Osheim was a guy that could not be touched now. His initial judgment was still correct even now, and after calming down, it made more and more sense. This even made Paulus feel lucky for his calmness and not acting on impulse.

"I still have many opportunities, and there are still many troops available! The Sixth Army will not be defeated! The Führer said that my army can launch an attack to the sky. How could the Führer be wrong? Those Russians can't be higher than the sky! Yes, it must be so, there is no mistake!"

Forcing his restless heart to calm down, Paulus calmed down his tone and changed his angry tone just now. Instead, he began to give orders to Osheim, who was still trembling and waiting on the other end of the phone in a cold but unquestionable tone.

"The reinforcements that have been sent to you are now under your command, Osheim. You know better than me how much offensive energy you have now, and these have been marked on the map."

"I don't want to hear any more unfortunate news and reports, Osheim! Reorganize your troops and crush those Russians into slag. I will change the red circle of the train station to a blue circle on the map with my own hands! Do what you should do, and don't let me repeat such an order today even once! This is the last time!"

Osheim, holding the receiver, was stunned.

He felt as if he had not heard Paulus say the word "dismissal" just now, but just asked him to reorganize the troops, and this was the last order.

This time, the chief of staff, who knew that his partner was a little brainless, connected a telephone branch line and stood at the other corner of the table, holding the microphone and listening to the conversation between Major General Osheim and Paulus.

IQ and EQ are two completely unrelated things. Osheim, who has rich combat experience and active battlefield thinking, lacks the latter. Especially under the huge pressure of Paulus, a person with a special status, the chief of staff, as a partner, has to help Osheim get through this even if he risks being caught for eavesdropping in violation of military regulations.

"Why are you still standing there! You are not dismissed, you are still in command here! Answer Commander Paulus!"

The chief of staff, who was winking and almost dancing, did receive such news.

Major General Osheim, who would collapse under the heavy pressure from Paulus and was extremely unconfident, finally managed to regain a little courage after being thrown into the Volga River, and spoke into the microphone in his hand.

"I understand, Commander Paulus! I will faithfully carry out your orders and implement the will of the Führer to the end!"

Paulus, who had already become impatient with such words, hung up the phone directly. He was too lazy to bother with this guy who disappointed him so much. Paulus was now more concerned about who would be the next person worthy of his promotion and trust after Osheim, the useless waste.

"Why did I fall for this kind of waste in the first place? It seems that I have to pay more attention to ability next time. A loyal dog like a waste is still a useless waste no matter how loyal it is."

Paulus, who was secretly sighing and summarizing his experience of failure, did not notice that these words were actually quite applicable to him in a sense.

When the first German marshal surrendered, Hitler might have the same resentment and thoughts as Paulus now.

This rapid and fierce offensive and defensive battle ended with the collapse of the German front and the full retreat.

The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which launched a head-on attack with a huge air support advantage, joined forces with the Chelchenkov Infantry Division to penetrate the fragile defense line of the German army, which only considered attacking but was not prepared for defense at all.

The German army was in a critical situation after encountering a central breakthrough and the collapse of the front!

After trying several tactical intentions of gathering troops on the spot to defend and counterattack without success, Major General Osheim, who realized that failure was inevitable, gritted his teeth and issued an order to retreat and reorganize.

The Soviet army fighting in the direction of the railway station was able to push the front line from the south of the railway station all the way to Beijing, passing through the ruins of the waiting hall in the central area, and finally compressed the German army to the last small area north of the railway station before barely stopping the pace of the onslaught.

If it weren't for the German reinforcements and more than a dozen BF109 and FW190 fighters that rushed to the rescue, Malashenko would even want to drive these German troops who had forgotten to defend out of the railway station in one breath! Draw a very satisfactory end to the battle of the railway station that was about to end for himself.

Ironically, the German army, which had barely stabilized its retreat with the support of reinforcements, held the last small area of ​​land, which was the warehouses northeast of the railway station where Malashenko had been pressed by the German army step by step.

After the tactical initiative changed hands more than a dozen times, the Soviet army finally turned its offensive and almost completely drove the German army out of the railway station, basically achieving the first stage of the goal of defending the railway station.

The railway station that Paulus had always been thinking about was still in the hands of the Soviet army. It was like a fishbone stuck in the throat of the German attack, protecting the trestle not far behind it, and accumulating powerful forces for the next stage of the large-scale counterattack and recovery of Mamayev Kurgan.