USSR 1941

  Chapter 808 Leaflet

"The Germans in Stalingrad, Comrade Trufanov!" Shulka pointed to the map and said: "The main purpose of the Germans is to rescue the Sixth Army or assist them in breaking out. If we are weak or even give up breaking out, it means that no matter what plan the enemy implements, it will get twice the result with half the effort!"

"You mean... to attack Stalingrad from the rear?" Zolotarev looked at Shulka in surprise and objected, "We can't do that, Comrade Shulka! Although we are behind the enemy's main line of defense, We are separated from the enemy by the Don, and the enemy's defenses along the Don are very tight!"

Zolotarev's worries were not superfluous, because the Germans originally wanted to break out from the Don River, and at the same time, their little living space was propped up by the Don River in the west and the Volga River in the east. Therefore, the German Sixth Army attached great importance to the defense of the Don River. They built complete fortifications on this line and even pulled up barbed wire fences on the river banks, shoals, and even in the river.

   This is an order from Paulus.

  At the same time, it is also the experience gained from the previous failures on the battlefield...The Soviet army used amphibious landing ships to quickly cross the river to attack the other side of the river time and time again, making the German army hard to defend.

  However, in fact, the amphibious landing ship is very easy to defend, and it is almost enough to pull up the barbed wire in the shallows, shallow water, especially shallow water.

   It is conceivable that if the amphibious landing ship is blocked by barbed wire in the water, because it still relies on propellers to propel it in the water without force, a few barbed wires can easily block the amphibious landing ship so that it cannot move forward.

   There are even some more dangerous "hanging ropes".

  The so-called "suspension rope" refers to the use of wooden stakes in the river by the German army and the binding of straight iron wires between long-distance stakes.

   Because this kind of wire is relatively thin, it cannot be found at night, even on cloudy days with poor visibility.

  Its height just exceeds the bow of the amphibious landing ship. If the amphibious landing ship rushes to the shore at high speed... the wire will cut off the heads of the soldiers on board one by one in an instant like a sharp blade.

   There were Soviet scouts who wanted to take advantage of the darkness to touch the Don River for reconnaissance and suffered from this.

  So war is always about "soldiers coming to block the water and flooding the earth". If one side has any new equipment, it won't be long before the enemy will have something to defend against the new equipment, and both sides will use it to their fullest.

  But Shulka didn't think about offense.

   "I know this, Comrade Zolotarev!" Shulka replied: "I mean propaganda work!"

  Zolotarev said "Oh", and then replied in doubt: "We have been doing German propaganda work!"

  Zolotarev is the political commissar. Although he is in charge of the 51st Army, he certainly has some understanding of the propaganda work in the direction of Stalingrad.

   Shulka did not answer, he just looked at Trufanov, and then remained silent.

   "What's the matter?" Zolotarev asked inexplicably when he saw that the expressions of the two were a little strange.

   “May I ask, how do we do this propaganda work?” Shulka said.

   "Of course!" Zolotarev replied: "Actually, you should all know that through the radio, newspapers, leaflets... There are other ways!"

   "Yes, I know!" Shulka said, "What I want to say is the content of these newspapers and leaflets!"

   "Are there any problems with them?" Zolotarev asked.

   Trufanov seemed to remember something, and said, "Wait, I have a share..."

   As he spoke, he picked up a piece of crumpled waste paper from the corner of the table, and spread it out on the table.

  Milovey was once occupied by the Germans, and the Soviet army recaptured it not long ago, so there are leaflets left by the Soviet army to hit the enemy with artillery fire everywhere.

   Zolotarev glanced at it and said: "Yes, this is our leaflet! To be precise, it is another "Pravda" issued by us."

   It is indeed another kind of "Pravda", that is, a pocket version, about the size of a palm and easy to distribute.

  Not long after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Soviet propaganda department launched this special "Pravda" specifically for the German army. Up to now, more than 200 issues have been published and 15 million copies have been distributed.

   Shulka picked up the "Pravda" and read the headline: "Hitler came to power and made the whole world an enemy of Germany!"

   "I have read a few copies!" Trufanov interrupted: "There is also the "Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact", and it is also a letter written by a German prisoner to his family urging them to resist the Communist Party!"

"Yes!" Zolotarev still didn't know what the problem was. He nodded and said very seriously: "Our purpose is to let the Germans understand what kind of person the head of state they support is. What kind of war is it? If they realize this, they will bravely stand up to stop or give up this unjust war!"

   I don't know if Zolotarev is too naive or what, his expression shows that he really believes that this method is useful.

"I only know one thing, Comrade Zolotarev!" Shulka said: "If we want to convince the enemy, then we should think from the perspective of the Germans, understand what they really care about and what they want, so that Only then did we know what to say to move them and affect their morale and even make them surrender!"

   "Aren't we?" Zolotarev asked back.

   Judging from his expression, he was not joking. On the contrary, Zolotarev asked seriously.

   Shulka didn’t know how to answer, because if he denied these leaflets, he would be labeled as “denying content” and “supporting the enemy” if he was not careful.

   After thinking about it, Shulka said, "Why don't we conduct a survey?"

   "What survey?"

   "We can ask the captured Germans!" Shulka said: "Ask them if they have read these leaflets, and what is their impression after reading these leaflets!"

  Trufanov couldn't help laughing. He knew that Germans usually used these leaflets to cook.

   This is a bit counterintuitive, because the Germans also pay attention to propaganda work, such as secret police will search undercover or lurk in the army.

  If the leaflets pose a threat to the German army, someone in the German army will collect these leaflets and burn them, even on the battlefield.

  Because this is some kind of "psychological attack tactics".

  The German army ignored this kind of leaflet, so that soldiers could use it to cook and cook... This illustrates a problem: Soviet leaflets were so harmless to the German army that the secret police didn't bother to search for them.

  (end of this chapter)