Krebs was a soldier who kept his word. After returning to the bunker, he repeated the Soviet army's request to Goebbels and said: "Dr. Goebbels, I have completed my mission. If you still
If you want to find someone to negotiate with the Russians, please find someone else!" After saying that, before Goebbels could speak, he turned and walked out of the room.
After leaving Goebbels' room, Krebs walked forward expressionlessly along the corridor. Although many officers saluted him along the way, he did not notice it at all and continued to move forward mechanically.
pace.
Entering his room, Krebs closed the door. After a brief silence, a dull gunshot sounded from inside the room.
An officer happened to pass by the door and heard the gunshots coming from the house. He was stunned for a moment, then reached out to push the door, but did not push it open. He took two steps back, then rushed forward and bumped into it several times.
Next, he finally opened the door.
I saw Krebs leaning on the sofa, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was still thinking, the pistol fell on the floor beside him, the air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder, and a wisp of blood flowed from his cheek.
It flowed like a red stream, dyeing the military uniform on his shoulders red.
As the Chief of Staff of the German Army, Krebs' suicide was not a trivial matter. Someone immediately reported the matter to Goebbels and asked him for instructions on how to dispose of Krebs' body. But Goebbels listened.
He was silent for a long time, then sighed and said, "Let him stay there. By the way, find a piece of white cloth to cover his body."
After the officer left, Goebbels sat at the table in a daze for a long time. It wasn't until he noticed someone putting a hand on his shoulder that he woke up from his meditation. He didn't look back and knew that he put his hand on his shoulder.
The person in question was his wife. He put his right hand on the back of the other person's hand and asked softly: "When did you come?"
"I've been here for a while." Mrs. Goebbels replied: "I saw you were thinking about something, so I didn't bother you."
"Madam!" Goebbels hesitated and felt that he should tell his wife about the current situation: "Our defeat is inevitable. Maybe in two or three days, or even shorter, the Russians will attack
Entering this bunker, everyone inside would either be killed or become prisoners of the Russians."
"Didn't you send General Krebs to negotiate with the Russians today and ask them to cease the war for a day?" Mrs. Goebbels said in surprise: "Didn't his negotiations make progress?"
"Our request was rejected by the Russians." Goebbels said with a wry smile: "They said we could only surrender unconditionally, otherwise there would be no ceasefire."
"In that case, our failure is only a matter of time."
"Yes, this is exactly what I want to tell you." Goebbels said seriously: "Now that we have reached the last moment, we should also make the final choice."
"I understand." Mrs. Goebbels nodded and said, "I will not let the Russians catch me and hang me upside down from the flagpole in the square like Mussolini's mistress."
Goebbels gently patted his wife twice on the arm, and then said: "And our children cannot be allowed to become prisoners of the Russians."
Hearing what Goebbels said, a trace of panic flashed across Mrs. Goebbels's face. But her expression soon returned to normal, and she said calmly: "I know what to do. Don't worry, I won't let you."
Any child becomes a prisoner of the Russians. It is better to die with honor than to live in humiliation."
When his wife left, Goebbels put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. He did not allow anyone to see him crying. If he did not want his children to become prisoners of the enemy, he could only wait for them to
Kill them all before becoming prisoners. This is their best outcome.
"Dr. Goebbels," an officer stood at the door and asked Goebbels: "I just received a call from outside, saying that the Russians fired at our defense area again. It seems that they will soon
A full-scale attack will be launched."
Goebbels wiped a handful on his face, then stood up, pretending to be nonchalant and said: "Tell our soldiers to fight to the last man, to use up the last bullet, and never to surrender to the Russians."
After sending the officers away, Goebbels raised his hand and looked at the time and found that an hour had passed. He stepped outside and wanted to see where the children lived to see if his wife had finished her work.
When passing through the hall, I found that it was a complete mess. The officers and staff who used to be so orderly were now drinking crazily, trying to anesthetize their nerves through alcohol. There were even a few female operators and officers.
An unobstructed meeting was held in the corner.
If in normal times, Goebbels would definitely deal with these people seriously if he saw such things that were detrimental to military discipline. But now that the building is about to collapse and everyone is in danger, there is no need to care about such things anymore.
So Goebbels only glanced at it a few times, and then walked over without looking back.
When he came to the room where the children lived, Goebbels found that in addition to his wife, there were also military doctors, and several of his children were lying on the bed.
He did not have the courage to check whether the children were alive or dead, so he could only turn his attention to his wife, hoping to get the answer he wanted from her mouth.
Seeing the gaze cast by her husband, Mrs. Goebbels naturally understood what the other party wanted to know. She shook her head first, and then said: "The doctor has softened his heart and cannot take action."
"Madam doctor," the doctor said in a panic, "I have no right to do anything to these children. I suggest that they be handed over to the International Red Cross. Maybe they will get the preferential treatment they deserve and can continue to live."
"Doctor, they are Goebbels' children." Mrs. Goebbels said expressionlessly: "We will never leave them to the Russians." After saying that, she reached out and took the medicine prepared by the doctor.
, turned around and walked towards the bed. He fed the lethal potion into the children's mouths one by one.
After doing all this, she tidied up her appearance, came to Goebbels, and said calmly: "It's our turn now."
Goebbels and his wife walked out of the room arm in arm and walked along the corridor towards the exit of the bunker.
Arriving at the steps leading to the exit, Goebbels said to a soldier standing guard here: "When we go up the steps later, you shoot us in the head from behind!"
Goebbels' order startled the soldier, and he replied in a panic: "Mr. Doctor, I can't shoot you..."
But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Goebbels: "Do you want us to become prisoners of the Russians, and then hang upside down from the flagpole in the square like Mussolini and his wife? This is
The last order, execute it!"
Seeing Goebbels's harsh tone, the soldier had no choice but to take off the submachine gun hanging on his shoulder and pull the bolt. After Goebbels and his wife passed by him, he slowly raised the muzzle of the gun and aimed at the two men.
The back of the head. When they were almost in front of the iron gate, the soldier suddenly pulled the trigger...
Goebbels's death left the people in the bunker leaderless. After some discussion, several generals decided to invite the newly appointed Berlin city defense commander, General Weidling, to the bunker to preside over the army.
Weidelin, who was directing the troops in the headquarters, received a call from the bunker. He hurried to the bunker without asking what happened. A few days ago, his headquarters was surrounded by Soviet troops.
, but when he was still commanding the battle, someone snitched in front of Mustache, saying that he had surrendered to the Soviet army. As a result, Mustache became angry and directly sentenced himself to death.
Fortunately, Weidelin arrived at the bunker in time and explained what happened to Mustache himself. After understanding the situation, Mustache, out of guilt for Weidelin, appointed him as Berlin's new city defense commander, responsible for commanding the city.
The troops were fighting against the Soviet army. At this moment, when he received a call, he was worried that someone would say bad things about him in front of Mustache again. He had to arrive before things got worst.
But when Weidelin arrived at the bunker, he heard some bad news.
First of all, his own head of state, Mustache, committed suicide yesterday along with his new wife Eva; Dr. Goebbels, the supreme commander in the bunker, and his wife, after poisoning all their children, let the soldiers leave
He shot himself in the back; General Krebs, the Army Chief of Staff who was sent to the Soviet position for negotiations by Goebbels, committed suicide in his room after returning to report the situation.
After hearing this series of bad news, a terrible thought came to Weidling's mind: "It's over! The Führer is dead! Dr. Goebbels is dead too! Even General Krebs, who was sent to negotiate with the Russians,
He also committed suicide! Is it necessary to continue this battle?"
With such doubts, he asked the generals who summoned him: "Gentlemen, generals, what do you think?"
"The Führer is dead, and so is Dr. Goebbels." A general said: "If we continue to fight, we have no hope of victory at all. So I think we should adopt the Russians' advice, lay down our weapons and surrender to them unconditionally.
.”
If Mustache is still alive and the general dares to say such a thing, he will be immediately dragged out and killed by Mustache's orders. Even if Mustache is dead, if Goebbels is still alive, he will be guarded and listened to.
After-treatment. But now that these two key figures are dead, the only person who can make the decision is the trusted commander of the city defense, General Weidelin. He is a loyal man. Even if the other party suggests how to pierce the ears, he will not order them casually.
They dragged him out and shot him or temporarily imprisoned him.
On the contrary, he was still thinking hard about whether he should adopt the general's suggestion and start surrender negotiations with the Russians again.
"Generals and gentlemen!" Weidelin looked at everyone and asked: "I want to ask, who agrees to surrender to the Russians? If you agree, please raise your hands!"
There were seven or eight generals present, but only the general who made the suggestion raised his hand, while the other generals stood expressionlessly and said nothing.
"Why, generals and gentlemen, you are not willing to surrender?" Weidelin asked.
Everyone still said nothing and continued to remain silent.
"I just came back from the front, and the Russian attack was very fierce." Weideling said: "If we have enough ammunition and supplies, then there is still hope to continue to hold on and wait for General Wenke's reinforcements to arrive. But now
The actual situation is that the ammunition we have can only last for one more day. In this case, how can we hold Berlin? Therefore, I think negotiating with the Russians is the best option."
Regarding Weidelin's statement, a lieutenant general immediately retorted: "Your Majesty General, how can we surrender to the Russians? Even if we have no ammunition, we can still fight the Russians with bayonets. With the level of our soldiers, it is completely possible
Defeat the Russians, even if they cannot be defeated, they will still suffer huge casualties."
"Paulus is right." Weidling said unexpectedly: "The Sixth Army was surrounded by the Russians in Stalingrad. Our army sent the troops of General Manstein and Holt to relieve the siege, but they failed.
Success. In order to save more innocent lives, Paulus decisively ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Russians, thus saving tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. Today, we are faced with the same choice as Paulus was, which is
If we continue to fight, more people will die; or should we surrender to the Russians like General Paulus? Please give me an accurate answer!"
Faced with Weidelin's questioning, several generals discussed quietly for a while and finally reached an agreement, which was to lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally to the Soviet army.
"Well, since you all think you should choose the road of surrender, then I will be responsible for the surrender negotiations." Weidelin said with a serious expression: "Even if I have to bear the infamy, I will bear it alone.
"
The reason why several generals called Weidelin over was to make him take the blame. Now that their goal was achieved, they stopped saying anything and nodded one after another, expressing their agreement with Weidelin's statement and letting him serve as the negotiator to negotiate with the Russians.
"I'm tired, can you help me find a place to rest?" Weidelin looked at everyone and asked: "I haven't slept for several days. When I wake up, I will go to negotiate with the Russians."
Knowing that Weidelin wanted to rest, these generals who were eager to shirk the blame did not dare to neglect and quickly arranged a single room for him to avoid being disturbed while he was resting.
When Weidling entered the room, he said to the generals: "You can now send people to contact the Russians and say that I will enter their defense zone as a plenipotentiary representative to launch a new round of negotiations."
"Don't worry, General." A general said with a smile: "We will convey your intention to the Russians in time. I believe that when you enter their defense zone, you will not be attacked by the Russians.
Gun shot."
The general who said this already knew that Chuikov was shot coldly by a corporal of his own side before negotiating in the fighting area between the two armies in the morning, and was also wounded. However, the Germans also paid a heavy price for this incident.
The area where Corporal Polis was located became the focus of Soviet artillery fire. The position was soon shrouded in gunpowder smoke, with flames rising into the sky, and explosions ringing out one after another.
The German generals all knew that this was the Soviet army's revenge for Chuikov's cold shooting. Otherwise, how could it be possible that the artillery fire had continued for hours, but they had not launched a ground attack. This is obviously unreasonable.