Red Moscow

  Chapter 520 Wrong information

The German infantry was intimidated by the non-existent tank brigade. They could only abandon their plan to attack the assembly workshop and instead attacked the worker's village where the guards were defending. As for the artillery, because of the limited shells, they were used to bombard such a solid place as the workshop. The buildings are a bit too wasteful, so their artillery fire is concentrated on the first and second workers' villages.

  General Seydlitz, the commander of the 51st Army, knew that in order to occupy the factory area, he first had to pull out the nail of the assembly workshop, but now tanks, artillery, and infantry could not be counted on. He could only pin his only hope on the Air Force. So he called Paulus and asked for air force support.

Unexpectedly, when Paulus heard Seydlitz's voice, he was extremely dissatisfied and said: "Mr. General, you once promised me that you could take down the Russian Red October Tractor Factory within one day. As a result, until now, you haven’t even entered the gate of the factory.”

"Your Excellency, Commander," although it was already very cold at the end of September, Paulus' reprimand still caused layers of cold sweat to break out on Seydlitz's forehead, and he wiped it on his forehead with his sleeve. He took a shot and tried his best to justify his defeat: "The troops of the 100th Jaeger Division had already rushed into the factory area from the north of the factory. Unfortunately, they were driven out by the Russians before they could gain a firm foothold."

"The Russians are like this. Once any position is lost, they will continue to counterattack regardless of casualties until their strength is exhausted." Paulus waited for Seydlitz to finish speaking, and said disdainfully: "General Sir, you should take advantage of this favorable opportunity to establish an offensive starting point in the factory area."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I really think so." Seydlitz said with a bitter face: "In order to gain a firm foothold in the factory area, I sent tanks to cooperate with the infantry's attack, but was repelled by the Russians. Casualties Not to mention hundreds of soldiers, even the tanks were completely destroyed."

"What, all your tanks have been destroyed?" Paulus asked tentatively, considering that the tanks equipped for the 51st Army were basically all Panzer IV tanks, but he did not expect to be destroyed by the Soviets during the battle. : "How many anti-tank guns did the Russians have?"

   As for what weapons the Soviet army used to destroy tanks, Seydlitz asked the officers who had fled back. But those officers only saw that after a burst of shelling by the Soviet army, all the tanks that cooperated with the infantry attack were destroyed, and even the infantry following the tanks were blown to pieces. Therefore, in the face of Paulus' inquiry, he could only guess and say: "According to the report of my subordinates, the Russians are equipped with at least fifty anti-tank guns, otherwise they would not be able to Destroy all the tanks covering the infantry attack."

   "Fifty anti-tank guns?" After hearing this number, Paulus couldn't help taking a breath, "It seems that the Russians have really paid a lot of money to keep this factory."

"But the Russians have deployed so many anti-tank guns in the factory area, and they still can't save their fate." After a moment of silence, Paulus continued: "You can bombard those areas and blow up these anti-tank guns." It's a mess."

"Your Excellency, our artillery shells are limited, so the preferred target for shelling is the residential area held by the Russian Guards, which is what they call a worker's village." Seydlitz explained to Paulus: " If these Russian guards are not wiped out, and the troops rush into the factory area rashly, they may fall into a situation where they are attacked from both sides."

Seydlitz paused for a moment, and seeing that Paulus hadn't spoken, he continued: "The 24th Armored Division, which was originally scheduled to attack the factory, suffered heavy casualties from Russian shelling during the march. So much so that it was impossible to participate in the attack on the Red October Tractor Factory within the specified time."

Speaking of the attack on the 24th Armored Division, Paulus was also very depressed. He never dreamed that the small Soviet army that was being wiped out by two divisions could cause such a huge damage to his armored division. casualties. Moreover, according to the reports obtained, these Russians used new-style rockets to attack from a distance. Once the attack was completed, they immediately moved away, and their own troops could not catch up.

Thinking of this, he said to Seydlitz: "Mr. General, I will give you the tank you need. But you have to find a way now, first seize the assembly workshop in the factory area, and turn it into our offensive Starting point…"

"I'm afraid it won't be easy." Seydlitz quickly interrupted Paulus, and said, "According to the information we have, the Russians standing firm in the assembly workshop have been reinforced by a tank brigade. If we If there is not a sufficient number of tanks for cover, if you launch an attack rashly, there may be the danger of the entire army being wiped out."

  "Tank brigade?!" Paulus did not get the report that the factory area had received reinforcements from the tank brigade. Hearing Seydlitz's words at this moment, he couldn't help asking in surprise, "When did the Russian tank brigade arrive?"

   "Yesterday afternoon." Seydlitz reported: "My scouts carefully observed that there are nearly sixty T-34 tanks. Judging from the number, it is the organization of a tank brigade."

   "Strange, this is really strange!" Paulus said in surprise: "How did the Russians transport so many tanks from the other side of the Volga River?"

"This, I don't know very well." Seydlitz replied with low confidence: "Although we continue to bomb and shell ships on the Volga River, Russian soldiers and various supplies are still coming from It was transported from the other side. I think this tank brigade was also transported under such circumstances."

  Seydlitz’s words made Paulus fall into deep thought. There was a Soviet tank company in the factory area, which would pose a threat to the rear of the troops attacking the workers’ village. Thinking of this, he asked into the microphone, "Mr. General, what can you do?"

"Your Excellency, this is how I think about it." Hearing Paulus' question, Seydlitz quickly replied: "Can you ask the 4th Air Force to send out planes to bomb the assembly workshop and destroy the assembly hall? Russian tanks there?"

"Mr. General," Paulus sneered at Seydlitz's proposal, "Have you forgotten that your troops are attacking the workers' village outside the factory area, and the smoke rising from the battlefield will interfere with the pilot's vision?" Line of sight. Under such circumstances, how do they find the target they want to attack? Also, the Russians are not fools, they will not easily put tanks in the open and let our air force use them as targets to bomb."

   "Then what should we do, Your Excellency Commander?" Seydlitz asked a little confused: "If this Russian tank unit is spared, then they will pose a great threat to us."

"Chief of staff," Paulus was thinking about the solution, when he saw his chief of staff Schmidt walk in from the outside, he quickly covered the microphone with his hands and asked, "Let me ask you, if the Russians have a Tank troops, what can you do to wipe them all out?"

"It's very simple, Your Excellency Commander." Regarding the question raised by Paulus, Schmidt replied easily: "There are two ways, one is to bombard with heavy artillery, don't see that the Russian armor plates block our three No. 4 and No. 4 tanks, but under our heavy artillery strikes, they will soon be smashed into a pile of scrap metal..."

"Chief of staff, this method is not advisable." Paulus refuted the first method proposed by Schmidt: "We don't know the exact location of the Russian tank brigade, and we don't have enough shells. If we want to use artillery It is obviously unrealistic to eliminate them. You should talk about your second method."

"Since artillery can't destroy the Russian tanks, then use the air force." Although his proposal was rejected, Schmidt said undaunted: "Our air force has defeated the Russian tanks many times. I think if the Air Force finds their assembly point, they will be wiped out very quickly."

   "But the thick smoke rising from the battlefield will block the pilot's sight." Paulus said worriedly: "I am worried that they will not be able to find the attack target at all under such circumstances."

"Your Excellency, this is actually not a problem." Schmidt said with a smile: "We can wait for the plane to attack tomorrow morning. The smoke on the battlefield has been blown away by the cold wind blowing from the Volga River after a night. .Our pilots, with good visibility, could easily spot tanks hidden by the Russians and destroy them."

Paulus felt that what Schmidt said was very reasonable, so he nodded and let go of his hand covering the microphone: "Hey, General Seydlitz, I just discussed with the Chief of Staff. His proposal is Letting the Air Force strike tomorrow morning, when the smoke on the battlefield should have cleared up, will ensure our pilots have a good view so they can find the Russian tanks on the ground."

Seydlitz thought in his heart that the battle is so fierce now, even if he ordered the troops to stop attacking, the smoke on the battlefield will not clear up in a short while, and even if he reluctantly dispatches the air force, he may not be able to achieve anything. results. Therefore, he felt that the plan proposed by Paulus was the most realistic. He nodded and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, it seems that this is the only way to go. Let the air force set off tomorrow morning to attack the Russian tanks that are threatening us."

"Mr. General, you'd better send scouts overnight to sneak into the factory area to find out where the Russian tanks are parked." Paulus reminded Seydlitz: "In this way, we can indicate the attack target for our air force. "

  (end of this chapter)