The Third Reich in Desperation

Third Reich Episode 376

"General Reichenau..." I saw Paulus' expression solemn, and he reported slowly in a low voice: "He had a heart attack and unfortunately died on the front line... the current Sixth Army , The command structure is very chaotic. The Sixth Army was able to stabilize its front, and it was already the staff who worked hard to do it..."

Chapter 575 The Third Reich in Desperation ([-])

Reichenau had a heart attack so early? !

Reinhardt suddenly lost his mind, because of his arrival, history has been gradually changed beyond recognition.

Before 1940, he could still rely on his own understanding of the original history, prescribe the right medicine, and go smoothly.

But this time, I don't know if it was because the news of the Soviets' sudden attack was too exciting. Reinhard himself hadn't fainted yet, but his subordinates couldn't bear it first.Reichenau died suddenly 10 months earlier than in history, which was completely unexpected by Reinhardt.

"Reichenau's Sixth Army, who is temporarily in charge of command and dispatch?" Reinhardt asked with a headache.

"It should be Admiral Reichenau's deputy, the deputy commander, General Karl." Paulus, who is familiar with the internal personnel of the Sixth Army, answered quickly.

After listening, Reinhardt nodded thoughtfully: "That's right, you were also an officer of the Sixth Army before, it seems that you are still very familiar with it."

Although Paulus felt that there seemed to be some deep meaning in Reinhardt's words, he couldn't allow him to think carefully at this time.Because, he still has one thing to report after the battle in the East.

"Führer, there is one more thing..." Paulus' tone was a little low.

what else?

Hearing this, a bad premonition rushed into Reinhard's heart.The western front has not been settled yet, and there has been such a big mess on the eastern front. Is there any more trouble now? !

Sure enough, Paulus really reported his death: "In the southern part of the empire, on the African battlefield, General Rommel's attack on the Tobruk Fortress failed. The British Commonwealth Army, following the victory of this defensive battle, has re-stabilized its position and morale , in a short time, I'm afraid we are in North Africa..."

"It's no longer possible to launch an offensive, right?" Reinhardt smiled wryly, saying this embarrassing final conclusion for Paulus.

Although he came to this conclusion by himself, Reinhardt still felt resentfully that Churchill, the fat man, was lucky.

Just when he was about to die, his deadly enemy Stalin actually launched a war against Germany, which gave Britain a glimmer of hope internationally.

Then, the British Commonwealth's own troops repelled the aggressive Rommel in North Africa, and won a rare battle with the Germans, breaking away from the curse of the British being invincible to the Germans.

Reinhardt can almost imagine how excited Churchill and those British politicians and soldiers would be when they heard the news.

Their morale is obviously about to collapse, but now...

"Order Rommel to stop me!" Reinhard said through gritted teeth: "If he dares to mess around, let Lieutenant General Hans of the 30th Division take over the command of the African Army."

At this moment, even Paulus couldn't believe it when he heard this.

Rommel was a confidant general who was single-handedly promoted by Reinhardt. This is already known in the German military.As for Lieutenant General Hans, he basically had no contact with the Führer. He relied on his tenacious combat style to win fierce battles one after another and was promoted through normal procedures.

Replacing one's confidants is already very inconsistent with Reinhardt's previous behavior style, or in other words, it does not conform to the imperial power of a leader.

However, Reinhardt couldn't think of going there at this time.

He just clenched his fists uncontrollably, and said angrily: "Over there in Africa, I stopped the French generals from attacking and discouraged the Italians from launching an offensive, but my own German generals didn't obey orders. , insist on going your own way!"

Now Reinhardt suddenly feels that when Hitler was preparing for Pakistan's attack on the Soviet Union's Barossa operation in history, Rommel did not obey the command and stirred up the enthusiasm in Africa, which is already a headache.

No matter how good your record is, if you advance tens of hundreds of kilometers in the desert a day, to put it bluntly, it will be of no use to the big battle!

"Führer, General Rommel..." Paulus hesitated again and again, but in the end he didn't justify Rommel's behavior.

Did Rommel launch this offensive for the sake of imperial strategy?

Obviously, even Rommel himself probably didn't believe the use of this justification and intercession.At least, not all believe it!

After all, until the seven French divisions that Pétain promised to send to Africa arrived on the battlefield, the odds of winning would be clearly in favor of the Allies.The reason why Rommel insisted on launching the attack, in the final analysis, was that he himself couldn't wait to win the honor and title of African conqueror.

Soldiers yearn for military exploits and want to make contributions, this is a matter of course.However, this is not a reason to disobey orders and disregard the overall situation.

If everyone wants to be like Rommel, then this battle will be impossible to command.

"You don't have to defend him." Reinhardt stood up from his seat, walked to Paulus, patted him on the shoulder and said, "You are different from him. I believe that if you go to Africa to conduct The overall situation is yours, and I don't have to worry about this kind of disobedience."

Joke, will Paulus disobey?

The German military god in history, Manstein, who was Paulus's idol, expressed his willingness to take all responsibilities in order to rescue him once in a while, and he was never seen defying Hitler's stupid order to stay still.

Seeing Paulus, the superior military staff officer who has completed many strategic deployments for him and proved his talents, Reinhard gritted his teeth and finally made up his mind.

"Paulus, let me ask you another question." Reinhard looked serious, looking into Paulus's eyes very seriously, and said, "Are you still familiar with the various divisions of the Sixth Army?"

Although he didn't understand why the head of state suddenly asked himself this question, Paulus, who has always been submissive, didn't think too much about it, and immediately answered seriously: "Familiar! During the Polish campaign, in the Sixth Army, almost every division's marching order , I have participated in the formulation, so I am very familiar with it.”

"In this way, I'm relieved." Reinhardt showed a somewhat forced smile.

What are you worried about?Before Paulus could react, he heard the Führer announce a decision that surprised him.

"General Paulus, the Sixth Army, I will leave it to you! You are General Reichenau's deputy, so it should not be too difficult to take over."

Reinhardt's right hand on Paulus' shoulder squeezed him a little harder, and said in his heart: "Paulus, Paulus. This time, you must block the Soviet army for me!"

Chapter 576 The Third Reich in Desperation ([-])

Orthopedic Hospital, Munich, Germany.

Outside the operating room, Bonas and two other major officers from the machine gun battalion were waiting anxiously.

One hour, two hours... Four hours passed, and there was still no movement in the operating room.

Finally, after 4 hours and 56 minutes of anxious waiting, the chief surgeon finally came out of the operating room.

"What's the matter? Doctor." Bonas immediately stepped forward and asked anxiously.

"The operation was successful, and the patient managed to save his life. But..."

"But what?" Bonas immediately interrupted the doctor.

"However, the patient permanently lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers of his left hand, and his feet may also be paralyzed." The doctor who performed the surgery said helplessly.

Bonas was silent, and then he sat down on the ground. He knew that Stauffenberg, an excellent partner, might not be able to fight side by side with him anymore.The hero who saved the entire machine gun battalion permanently lost his chance to return to the battlefield.

Fortunately, under the doctor's best treatment and the superior's special care for the fighting heroes, Stauffenberg received the best drug treatment, successfully saved his life and was transferred to the best orthopedic hospital in Munich for recuperation.

Even so, he still can't change the fact that he lost his left eye, right hand and two fingers of his left hand, and his legs are also severely damaged. Doctors are almost unanimously convinced that he will never walk again. .

Bonas wondered if Stauffenberg could accept the fact that after waking up, a soldier who was alive and well spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair, which was already very unacceptable for an ordinary person. For a professional soldier like Stauffenberg, it is equivalent to a verdict that he will be stripped from the front line forever.

He also has no chance to make contributions here, this time his feat of saving the whole battalion is also his last battle achievement.

As the doctors said, Stauffenberg finally woke up after 28 days in a coma.

After he woke up, he first found that the field of vision of his eyes had become smaller. When he was about to check his eyes with a mirror, he then found that his right hand was no longer there, and his left hand also lost two fingers. It was even more frightening. What's more, his feet didn't seem to listen to his brain's instructions, and he couldn't move at all.