Lopatin: This is a revenge mentality.

If it is an ordinary person, then there is nothing wrong with "revenge and revenge and kindness". But as a general, he has to think more about the strategy in the general direction than to let hatred blindfold and command indiscriminately.

For example, Lopatin should think carefully about how to minimize the damage in the factory area, or how to not follow the enemy and always be one step behind the opponent.

But Lieutenant General Lopatin is not such a commander who can think calmly at critical moments...... This led to his dismissal soon after, and his replacement for another famous Soviet general, Chuikov.

At this time, Lopatin had actually lost his fighting spirit and confidence...... This was not only because the factory was burned, but also because the 62nd Army had suffered heavy casualties again and again.

This is actually understandable, because people have such a mentality, and when they are defeated, they will fall into negative emotions and cannot extricate themselves, and at this time he even has the idea of abandoning Stalin and retreating to the other side of the Volga River...... Because all he thought about was the fierce attack of the German army, and under such an attack, Stalingrad could not be defended. He was more likely to hold out in Stalingrad because of Stalin's orders.

Annoyed and angry, Lopatin assumed that the Germans would return the same way, so he ordered the troops stationed in the west to approach the industrial area.

Who would have thought that the Germans would turn their spearhead and turn around and attack in the direction of Reynolds, that is, along the Volga River to the north...... Such an offensive has the advantage that at least there will be no enemy in the Volga direction. At the same time, the Soviet troops in the direction of Reynolds would face a flanking attack from the Germans in two directions at this time.

So the Germans returned to their camp cleanly and beautifully, and even burned another bread factory before leaving, and planted many mines on the retreat route, causing a lot of trouble to the Soviet troops who followed.

The news soon reached Moscow.

Stalin was smoking a pipe and reading a newspaper in his office, and he was accustomed to having a little leisure time for himself before work.

At this time, the staff officer hurriedly walked into the office and whispered: "Comrade Stalin, Stalingrad's telegram ......"

Stalin nodded, he had thought it was another telegram from Lopatin asking for supplies and troops, but after a glance, he almost fell off his pipe.

"What's going on?" It took a while for Stalin to ask: "How could the Germans penetrate the well-defended line into the heart of Stalingrad and burn down such an important factory?" ”

"Comrade Stalingrad!" The staff officer replied: "I heard that it was because the Germans disguised themselves as ours......"

"It's just an excuse!" Stalin interrupted the staff officer: "If it is so easy, why can't Lopatin let his soldiers disguise themselves as Germans and attack the German headquarters or ammunition depots?" ”

Of course, this question is not something that a staff officer can answer, and at the same time a staff officer does not have to answer it.

After thinking about it, Stalin said to the staff officer: "Order Chuikov to come to my office!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!"

The staff officer knew that Stalin could no longer hold back his disappointment in Lopatin, and at the same time, he did not care about the taboo of changing generals and wanted to remove Lopatin.

A few hours later, Chuikov appeared in Stalin's office.

"Comrade Chuikov!" Stalin asked straight to the point: "What do you think of Stalingrad?" Comrade Lopatin was not sure to withstand the attack of the Germans, in fact...... He thinks we should abandon Stalingrad! ”

"No, Comrade Stalin!" Chuikov replied without hesitation: "We cannot hand over Stalingrad to the enemy, even if its factories have already been burned down by the Germans." I swear to hold this city or die there! ”

Stalin was satisfied with Chuikov's answer, he wanted this kind of determination, and Lopatin lacked this.

"I will let Comrade Zhukov comprehensively help you hold Stalingrad!" Stalin said: "You are already the commander of the 62nd Army!" ”

As a result, Chuikov became the supreme commander of Stalingrad, and he flew to Kapustin Yar, that is, on the east bank of the Volga River, that night, and then crossed the Volga River in the dark to Stalingrad.

On the other side, when they returned to their own lines, they immediately received full cheers and applause from the German soldiers...... The German army never hesitated to praise the victors, and although most of the German soldiers they had never met met on the way through the 1st Infantry Regiment were in awe when they heard that the 1st Infantry Regiment had burned Stalingrad the previous night.

Upon returning to the state farm, the 1st Infantry Regiment also received a compliment from Paulus: "Brave men, your heroic deeds have inspired each and every one of us, and although many of them have just heard of your deeds, they saw the fire of Stalingrad last night. To my surprise, many have already guessed that it is your handiwork, which shows that the 1st Infantry Regiment has amazing prestige among us. Therefore, what you lit last night was not just a fire, but the confidence that we would be able to defeat the enemy and conquer Stalingrad; It wasn't just the factories of the Soviets that you burned, you burned their will to resist! 1st Infantry Regiment, I am proud of you! ”

The soldiers couldn't help but cheer loudly, and this kind of spiritual praise excited them more than some physical rewards.

This can be said to be an honor, a belief, or a kind of persistence.

Qin Chuan ignored this, he dragged his exhausted body back to his tent, leaned the rifle to the side, lay down like a dead corpse, and didn't even want to move his fingers for half a minute.

The high-intensity fighting in the past few days has been a little unbearable for him, so he also understands the desire of the officers and soldiers fighting on the northern defense line to stabilize the front before launching an attack on Stalingrad...... Fatigue was also the enemy of the German soldiers.

Unlike the Soviets, the Soviets could send inexperienced troops into battle to charge, while the Germans considered it senseless murder. This is also the reason why the client state army is more on defense or taking on logistical tasks than charging on the front lines.

The consequence of this was that the Germans were always fighting on the front lines against many times the number of Soviet troops.

But it doesn't seem to be to blame the client states...... This is a war waged by Germany.

At the same time, Qin Chuan also knew that this fatigue might just be the beginning.