Unexpectedly, after the telegram was sent, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no movement at all.
Sokov looked at the time and saw that almost ten minutes had passed. He couldn't help but feel anxious. He called the communications company commander over and asked: "Comrade company commander, why haven't the front army headquarters responded to the telegram? Could it be that they didn't receive it?"
Our telegram?"
"Comrade division commander," the communications company commander straightened his body and replied in a positive tone: "The other party has completely received the telegram we sent."
"But why hasn't it taken so long for you to call me back?" Ivanov, who was standing nearby, couldn't help but ask.
The communications company commander opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, so he stood there silently.
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, this is not the responsibility of the communications company commander, it is because we were too anxious." Sokov sighed and said to Sidorin: "Paulus's surrender to us is of great importance, even if Rokossovs
General Ji is the commander of the front army, and I am afraid that he cannot make decisions on some matters without authorization. I guess he should be asking for instructions from the headquarters of the Supreme Command at the moment, and he will give us an order after he gets the answer."
Everyone waited in agony for another quarter of an hour, and the phone on the table rang. Ivanov thought it was a call from a regiment commander at the front, so he walked over, picked up the phone, and said into the phone: "I'm the deputy general."
Commander Ivanov, where are you?"
"I am Rokossovsky." Unexpectedly, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Is Sokov there?"
"Commander of the Front Army, please wait a moment. I will ask the division commander to answer the phone right away." After Ivanov said this, he covered the phone with his hand and shouted to Sokov who was standing next to the walkie-talkie: "Comrade Division Commander, Front Army
The commander wants to speak to you."
"Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov walked over, took the microphone, and said to his ear: "Do you have any instructions?"
"Misha, I have reported the contents of the telegram you sent to the Supreme Command." Rokossovsky said: "The Supreme Commander himself is very satisfied with the results you have achieved."
Knowing that Stalin was satisfied with the results he had achieved, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little elated. However, he still tried to ask in a calm tone: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I wonder if the base camp will allow me to accept the surrender of the German army?"
"Go, Misha, this is an opportunity that can be recorded in history, don't miss it." After Rokossovsky said this, he said enviously: "To be honest, if it weren't for my headquarters,
It’s too far away from you, and I want to go to the department store in person to accept Paulus’s surrender there.”
After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ivanov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, you stay here and take charge. I was ordered to go to the department store to accept the German surrender."
"Okay." Although Ivanov dreamed of participating in such a surrender, after all, the distance was only a few hundred meters away. However, due to his responsibilities, he could only choose to stay at the forward headquarters, but he still told Sokov: "
Comrade Commander, you must pay attention to your safety."
"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Sokov grinned at Ivanov, "I should be safer than ever at this moment. Not only will our soldiers protect my safety, but even the Germans who are preparing to surrender,
I don’t want any accident to happen to me. I believe that today’s surrender will be very smooth.”
"Comrade Colonel." As soon as Sokov reached the door, a man came over from the other side of the traffic trench and shouted to him: "Let me come with you."
Sokov turned around and saw clearly that the person speaking was Ulbricht, the leader of the Anti-Faxi Temple Alliance. He thought that when he surrendered later, he would need someone who knew German to translate. So he shouted at the other person.
Shaking his head, he said: "Let's go, Comrade Ulbricht, come with us to accept Paulus's surrender."
Ten minutes later, Sokov and Ulbricht walked into the department store with a guard platoon. As soon as they entered, Schmidt came up to them and said flatteringly: "Colonel Sokov,
Our commander is waiting for you in the basement, please come with me."
When Sokov followed Schmidt to the entrance of the basement, he found that the two iron doors at the entrance were tightly closed. Sokov frowned slightly and asked: "Chief of Staff Schmidt, didn't you mean to ask us?"
Surrender? Why did you close the door?"
"Colonel Sokov, don't get me wrong." Seeing that the door that was open when he came out was actually closed now, Schmidt was also a little panicked. He quickly explained to Sokov: "Maybe some people don't want to surrender.
The officers and soldiers were up to no good, I immediately asked them to open the door."
With that said, Schmidt called a soldier and told him to come forward and call the door. The soldier came forward and slammed the iron door with his hand, making the door crackle, but the iron door never opened.
Seeing that the people inside refused to open the door, Sokov turned to Samoylov who was following him and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, go and call the door. Remember, use Russian to ask the enemy to open the door and surrender."
Samoilov nodded, took a few steps to the door, beat the door heavily with his fist, and shouted sternly: "Open the door, I order you to open the door immediately."
When Samoilov knocked on the door, Sokov was thinking, if the Germans inside refused to open the door, he should order someone to blow the door open with explosives. As for whether the German soldiers staying near the door would die.
It's life, and I can't take care of it.
Before Sokov could order the use of explosives, several gunshots were suddenly heard from the door. With the tips of his ears, Sokov could hear the guns being fired inside, including pistols and submachine guns. He was about to ask Schmidt to come forward and ask what was inside.
When what happened happened, the two closed iron doors had already been opened from the inside.
The door was opened by several soldiers wearing steel helmets. After they opened the door, they threw their weapons on the ground and stood with their hands hanging on both sides of the door. "Please come in, Colonel Sokov." Now that the door has been opened, Shi
Mitt quickly took a step forward and made a gesture of invitation: "Our Commander is still waiting for you."
When Sokov walked into the iron gate, he saw the body of a German officer lying at the door, with a pistol still clutched in his hand. Five or six steps away from him, a soldier without a helmet sat.
A companion was bandaging the wound on his arm. Sokov's mind immediately connected the injured soldier with the killed German officer. He guessed that the soldier might have tried to open the iron door, but was blocked.
When his commander stopped him, a fight broke out. The officer shot him in the arm, but the submachine gun in his hand killed the officer who stopped him from opening the door.
After thinking clearly about the cause and effect, Sokov stopped, turned around and said to Samoylov: "Comrade Lieutenant, let someone bandage the wound of this wounded soldier. Also, give him some food."
"Comrade division commander, why is this happening?" Samoilov didn't understand why Sokov suddenly issued such a strange order. He asked: "Why should we treat this wounded soldier's injuries and give him food?"
?”
"It's very simple, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov looked at the wounded soldier sitting on the ground and said: "If it hadn't been for him, we might still be locked out at this moment. It was precisely because he shot and killed the officer who tried to prevent the door from opening.
Only then can we enter the basement smoothly. Do you understand?"
"Understood, comrade division commander." Samoylov said, took out a first-aid kit from his pocket, bent down and handed it to the wounded soldier with a wounded arm. Seeing that the wounded soldier accepted the first-aid kit, he took it from his pocket again
He took out a piece of black bread as big as his fist and gave it to the wounded soldier. The wounded soldier did not expect that the Soviet army who came in gave him a first aid kit and also gave him food. He was so excited that he thanked Sokov.
The last time Sokov came to persuade him to surrender, the basement was still well ventilated and there was no smell. But after only a few days, the basement smelled so bad that the smell of blood and shoes and socks mixed with the dirty air.
It's like a huge garbage dump.
Schmidt led Sokov along the corridor crowded with officers and soldiers to the door of a room, stopped and said to Sokov: "Colonel Sokov, the commander is waiting for you in the room."
Sokov nodded, stepped forward, pushed open the door, and strode in. Behind him, Ulbricht and Samoylov quickly followed.
When he came into the room, with the dim light, Sokov saw a soldier wearing an officer's coat and an otter fur cap, standing against the wall with his back to the door, looking up at the map hanging on the wall.
.
"Marshal Paulus," Sokov knew that this man was Paulus. He walked up behind him and said righteously: "I am Colonel Sokov of the Soviet Red Army. I have been ordered to come to accept the surrender of the German army and
Take you all prisoner."
Paulus, who was facing the wall, slowly turned around after listening to Ulbricht's translation. Sokov could clearly see that he was still wearing the uniform of an admiral. It seemed that Hitler had not had time to let the air force
The marshal's uniform was airdropped. Paulus took off the otter skin hat on his head and put on a large-brimmed hat. After raising his hand to salute Sokov, he said loudly: "Marshal Paulus of the German Army surrenders to the Soviet Red Army!
"
"Samoilov," Sokov took the pistol handed over by Paulus, turned around and handed it to Samoilov who was following behind him, and ordered him: "Order all the soldiers outside to come in and take the pistol."
Take all the German officers and soldiers in the basement out."
After Samoilov left, Sokov pointed to the chair next to the conference table and said politely: "Marshal Paulus, it will definitely take a long time to accommodate so many troops. Why don't we sit down and chat?
Let’s talk.”
"Mr. Marshal." After Paulus sat down, Sokov sat down on a chair not far away, looked at him and asked: "I want to ask you, there are obviously many opportunities to break out, why don't you organize
Troops breakout?"
"We lack fuel, ammunition and food." Paulus heard this question and replied with a wry smile: "If we want to break out, we can only throw away all the technical equipment and escape lightly. But in such a cold climate, our
Even if the troops break through your siege, they will be wiped out by you in the ice and snow."
To Paulus's statement, Sokov did not object, but nodded. He also felt that once the enemy who lost his heavy weapons broke away from the position he was relying on and fled in a hurry in the snow, he would soon be defeated.
The Soviet army that was chasing them was defeated and defeated.
Seeing that Sokov agreed with his statement, Paulus continued: "In the process of retreating, the troops are vulnerable to heavy losses from you, and even annihilation is one aspect. More importantly, I have sent telegrams to the head of state many times,
I asked him to let the troops break out, but he refused without hesitation."
"Marshal Paulus," Sokov waited for Paulus to finish speaking, then remained silent for a while and then said: "If I were you, I would definitely not take Hitler's orders into account and decisively order the troops to break out. Don't forget
Well, as early as December 1941, in order to prevent his troops from being annihilated by us, General Guderian blatantly disobeyed Hitler's orders and led the troops to the rear. This saved a large amount of effective forces and made the counterattack launched by our army have to
an early closure."
"Colonel Sokov, didn't you hear what I just said?" Paulus argued unconvincingly: "If we want to break out, we must abandon all technical equipment and escape from the encirclement on foot..."
"Marshal Paulus, I understood everything you just said." Sokov sneered and said: "If I were you, I would lead the troops to break out as soon as possible and fight with Manstein's troops who came to meet him.
Convergence. Then the two armies joined together to defend the Soviet attack on a broad front, and then dispatched troops to attack the Soviet flank like the Battle of Kharkov. You know, the Sixth Army has more than 200,000 soldiers
After joining the Manstein Army, what a terrifying combat power it will form. Once the main counterattack force assembled by the Soviet army is wiped out through the flank counterattack, then the German army will achieve a decisive victory on the Soviet-German battlefield at this moment."
Paulus listened to Ulbricht's translation in stunned silence. After a long silence, he said: "Colonel Sokov, maybe you are right. At that time, Manstein's troops were only dozens of kilometers away from us. As long as I
If even one division is dispatched to attack each other, your encirclement may be broken long ago. As long as the forces of both sides are combined, they can form a local advantage.
Colonel Sokov, let me tell you this without fear of your anger. From the beginning of the attack on Stalingrad to now, the only person my subordinates admire is you. No matter who receives the task of attacking Mamayev Heights, they will have a sad face.
They look like this, because they all know in their hearts that it is almost an impossible task to conquer Mamayev Heights."
"Thank you, Marshal Paulus." Hearing Paulus's praise for him, Sokov felt a little proud in his heart. Being praised by the enemy is the greatest honor for a soldier: "Actually, I have already
It was judged that after your victory in the Kharkov area, the next target of attack would be Stalingrad, so a complete underground defense fortification was built at Mamayev Hill early."
"It's your underground fortifications that make us feel helpless." Paulus said with a wry smile: "Whether it was shelling or bombing, we saw that your surface positions were razed to the ground. But as soon as our soldiers boarded Mamaye
Fu Gang, you will emerge from the soil, shoot at our soldiers, and knock them down in pieces like a target."