When the radio truck carrying Weidling's speech began to drive through the streets of Berlin, the sound of gunfire in the city became sparse and finally fell silent completely.
The silence outside was not only unaccustomed to the Soviet and German officers and soldiers, but also the citizens of Berlin felt it was very unnatural. After all, they had been living in the sound of gunfire for more than ten days, and they were even worried that there would be a shell or bomb at any time.
An aerial bomb fell from the sky and killed him on the spot.
But what many people feared did not happen. Although most areas of the city were turned into ruins, dead people could be seen everywhere on the streets. Some were killed by Soviet bullets or shells, and some were deserters or cowards.
, were shot dead in the street by German law enforcement teams. There were even corpses of Germans hanging on the telephone poles on both sides of some areas. They all had a sign on their chest that read "Cowards".
Words like "traitor", "escaper", etc.
Now that Berlin's city defense commander and propaganda minister have announced their surrender, and the Soviet army on the opposite side has also stopped shelling and strafing the position, the German officers and soldiers hiding inside came out tremblingly, preparing to surrender to the Soviet army. They had just left
When I came out, I heard the loudspeaker on the opposite side shouting in German: "Attention all German officers and soldiers, according to the order of Marshal Zhukov, all of you are asked to go to the Brandenburg Gate immediately, hand over your weapons there, and then wait.
Arrangements for our army."
Perhaps because he was worried that the Germans could not hear clearly, the announcer who spoke in German took the trouble to repeat what he had just said over and over again. The German officers and soldiers on the other side who heard the broadcast turned their heads and pointed at Branden with weapons in hand.
They headed towards the fort gate, preparing to surrender their weapons to the Soviet army there.
At noon, the adjutant came in and reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, all the German troops in Berlin have been disarmed and have been divided into zones by our army. What instructions do you have?"
"I don't have any instructions!" Chuikov stood up with his hands on the armrests of the sofa and said to the officer, "I want to go outside and take a look."
Hearing Chuikov say that he wanted to go out for a walk, the adjutant quickly ordered someone to bring a wheelchair and prepared for Chuikov to use the wheelchair to inspect the streets of Berlin.
But when Chuikov saw the wheelchair, he waved his hand and said: "Comrade Adjutant, I don't use a wheelchair. You have someone drive the jeep over, and I will sit in the car to see what Berlin is like after the war."
When the adjutant heard this, he felt that what Chuikov said made sense. If the Germans saw a Soviet general sitting in a wheelchair and being pushed through the streets of Berlin, there might be some bad connection, so he quickly gave the car
Ban called and asked them to prepare a jeep for Chuikov to travel.
Soon, the jeep carrying Chuikov was walking on the streets of Berlin. Seeing the collapsed houses on both sides of the street and the Berlin citizens digging in the rubble, Chuikov felt as if he was in another world.
Once upon a time, he had seen this kind of scene, but it was on the soil of the Soviet Union. The cities belonging to the Soviet Union were turned into piles of ruins by the German artillery fire and bombings. The surviving residents of the cities,
They try to pull out some useful daily necessities from the ruins, or food they have stored so that their family can continue to live.
The adjutant sitting in the co-pilot seat sneered after seeing all this, and then said to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect that the Germans would be like this. When they were bombing and shelling our city, they might
Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine that their capital, Berlin, would one day suffer the same fate."
"Deserve it!" Chuikov said with the same sneer: "When they launch an invasion, they should be mentally prepared to know that the day they fail, they will suffer the same fate."
At this moment, there was a burst of submachine gun shooting not far away. The adjutant was worried that Chuikov was injured and quickly ordered the car to stop. At the same time, he asked the guards on the two jeeps in front and behind to get out of the car and surrounded Chuikov.
As soon as the warning circle was set up, Chuikov waved his hands and said: "Adjutant, don't make such a fuss. I think there might be some German soldiers who were unwilling to surrender and were discovered by our soldiers, which triggered a gun battle."
A company came out of the Tire Garden not far away. Chuikov saw that it was his subordinates and quickly ordered the adjutant: "Go and call the commander of that unit. I want to ask what happened just now."
, why are there gunshots."
Soon, a captain, led by his adjutant, came to Chuikov. After he stood at attention, he raised his hand, saluted, and reported loudly: "Comrade Commander, Battalion Commander of the 79th Guards Infantry Division.
Captain Kruchinen reports to you that I am patrolling with my troops, please give me instructions!"
"Captain Krucinin, let me ask you, what was the reason for the gunfire just now?"
"When we entered Tire Garden just now, we found a German soldier with weapons. When I ordered him to hand over his weapons and surrender to us, he shot directly at us." Captain Kruchinin reported to Chuikov:
"So I shot him."
"So that's it." After hearing this, Chuikov nodded and said, "Comrade Captain, you did the right thing. Now that the war is over, if there are still die-hards who refuse to surrender to us, we will eliminate them mercilessly."
Weidling and Fritsch's broadcast announcing the surrender was heard not only by the soldiers and civilians in Berlin, but also by the whole of Germany and Europe.
The German 25th Motorized Division, 5th Light Infantry Division, 3rd Marine Division, 156th Infantry Division and 606th Special Forces Division, which were still confronting Sokov's 48th Group Army, all stopped firing and invariably stopped firing.
A white flag was raised.
Seeing the white flag raised on the opposite side, Nikitin, the commander of the 120th Guards Division who served as the assault force, was still full of surprise. He knew very well that although the five divisions on the opposite side were all remnants, if they wanted to resist stubbornly,
Even if I pay heavy casualties, I'm afraid I won't be able to break through their defensive positions.
He quickly called Sokov and reported to him the situation here: "Comrade Commander, a very strange thing happened."
"What happened?" Sokov asked.
"The enemies in front of our division suddenly stopped firing and raised white flags in unison." Nikitin frowned and said, "I don't know if this is a German conspiracy, so I thought I should call
You report."
"General Nikitin, don't worry. The war has gone this far. What else can the Germans do?" After Sokov said this, he asked: "You saw the white flag raised on the German position.
,Have you sent someone to contact them?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Nikitin shook his head and said, "I did not send anyone to contact them."
"General Nikitin, if I were you, I would definitely send someone to find out the situation." When Sokov said this, he was muttering in his heart. In real history, the German army began to surrender on May 2, which is why the Germans surrendered on May 2.
That is to say, today. The German troops in front of the 120th Guards Division suddenly stopped fighting and raised a white flag. Maybe they received a surrender order from Berlin, so he told Nikitin: "Maybe the Germans feel that they have been defeated, so
Take the initiative to lay down your weapons and surrender to us."
"This is impossible." Nikitin expressed doubts about Sokov's statement. The German army's resistance in the past two days was so tenacious that every step forward cost the troops several casualties. Now
The five German divisions on the opposite side stopped shooting at the same time, and even raised white flags. This was too fantastic. He thought in his heart that this must be a German conspiracy. "I think the Germans must have some conspiracy. Just wait.
It’s waiting for us to jump in.”
"General Nikitin, why are you so stubborn?" Sokov couldn't help but got angry when he heard that Nikitin insisted that the Germans had a conspiracy. "Mustache committed suicide two days ago. He is the spiritual pillar of the Germans."
They must have fallen. After receiving the surrender order from their superiors, do you think they can continue to fight?"
Because Sokov was excited, he spoke louder, and everyone in the headquarters heard it. When everyone heard the news of Mustache's suicide, they couldn't help but widen their eyes in surprise. After a while, everyone looked at the person beside them.
People hope to get useful information from the other party, but unfortunately, everyone knows nothing about this matter. Some people are even wondering whether this is because the comrade commander cannot participate in the Battle of Berlin.
The conjecture that arose was that the Germans still had so many troops. How could Mustache commit suicide like this?
Nikitin on the other end of the phone was stunned for a long time after hearing what Sokov said, and finally asked with a stutter: "Comrade Commander, you...are everything you said...all true? Mustache
Really…really committed suicide?”
"Yes, General Nikitin, this is absolutely true. I don't think it will take long before all the commanders and fighters of our army will know about it." Sokov urged on the phone: "If you want to arrest more
If you select prisoners, then immediately send someone to contact the Germans, disarm them all, and then find a suitable area to imprison them. If you continue to linger like this, if other troops take your credit, don't regret it.
."
Sokov's words have reached this point. If Nikitin still hesitates, then the day lily will be cold. He quickly replied: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will personally take people to fight with the Germans."
Contact. If, as you say, they are ready to surrender, then I will immediately order the troops to move forward to accept their surrender."
When Sokov put down the phone, Lunev immediately rushed over and asked impatiently: "Misha, where did you get the news about Mustache's suicide?"
Naturally, Sokov would not tell the other party that he had read it from the history books of later generations. He said vaguely: "I have my own information channels, so I can naturally know some gossip that you don't know. In this way,
Only when you command troops in combat can you avoid making some mistakes."
When Lunev saw that Sokov didn't say anything, he thought that the other party really had some secret information channel and got the news about Mustache's suicide. He didn't ask any more questions, but got up and walked to the communication room next door and made a call himself to learn about the situation.
.
Ten minutes later, when Runev returned to the headquarters, he could not hold back the joy on his face.
Seeing this, Sidorin guessed that Lunev must have known some good news, otherwise he would not be so happy, and quickly asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, do you have any good news that you can tell us?"
"Of course, Comrade Chief of Staff." When Lunev said this, he also raised his voice intentionally: "Please stop what you are doing temporarily. I want to announce something very important to you."
Hearing what Luniev said, the staff officers and communications soldiers in the headquarters stopped what they were doing, stood up straight and cast an urgent look at Luniev, waiting for him to announce something important to everyone.
"Comrades, the first thing I want to tell you is that the German head of state, Mustache, committed suicide by taking poison in his bunker on the afternoon of April 30. And Dr. Goebbels, his right-hand man, also committed suicide last night.
"Lunev said excitedly: "This morning, the German Berlin City Defense Commander General Weidling and the Propaganda Minister Fritsch jointly issued a surrender order, asking all German officers and soldiers to stop hostile actions against our army and the Allied forces, and put down their
Arms, surrender unconditionally to us and the Allies!"
"Comrades, we have won!"
After Lunev finished speaking, the command headquarters fell into a brief silence.
Later, I don't know who took the lead in cheering "Ula", which immediately aroused everyone's enthusiasm. Everyone shouted "Ula" at the top of their lungs without restraint, and the sound wave almost blew off the roof.
The officers and soldiers on duty outside or passing by heard the cheers from the headquarters and didn't know what was going on. They all gathered around. When they heard the staff or communications soldiers tell them the truth, they couldn't help but cheer. For a moment,
The entire headquarters station erupted in cheers.
After an unknown amount of time, the cheers finally stopped.
Sidorin walked up to Sokov, wiped the tears from his face, and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, after four years, we finally achieved the final victory."
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "We finally won. Next, we can go home."
"Yes, we will be able to go home soon." Lunev came over and added: "From the outbreak of the war to now, I have not been home once. It has been three years since my family evacuated to Kuibyshev.
I have never seen them again. Now that the damn war is finally over, I can go back and reunite with them."
Sokov originally wanted to say that after the European battlefield was solved, the troops would move eastward to destroy the Kwantung Army in the Far East. Only when the Japanese pirates completely surrendered would the world war be truly over. But seeing everyone so happy, he
So I didn't bring up this disappointing topic, so as not to affect everyone's mood.