Chuikov's 62nd Army unit was fighting in the factory area against the German troops who were holding on here. Suddenly, they received an order to suspend the attack. Commanders at all levels were confused. They were fighting well, so why should they stop the attack?
Just when everyone was full of questions, the loudspeakers that had just been installed everywhere rang out a few days ago: "All commanders and fighters of the 62nd Army, let me tell you good news: the battle commanded by Colonel Sokov, commander of the 41st Guards Division
The cluster, a few hours ago, successfully captured the location of the German headquarters, or Commander Paulus, Chief of Staff Schmidt, and many of their corps commanders and division commanders. The tens of thousands of enemies entrenched in the south of the city have already
Put down your arms and surrender to our army, the specific results are still being calculated..."
When the officers and soldiers heard this broadcast, they were stunned: What, Paulus was captured? The German army in the south of the city was wiped out? They thought they heard wrongly, and asked each other: "Did you hear the broadcast clearly? Paul
Was Luce really captured alive?"
"You may have heard wrongly. If Paulus was really captured alive, why haven't the enemies here surrendered yet?"
"It's also possible that they didn't even know that Paulus was captured!"
Just as everyone was talking about it, the radio broadcast the content just now again. This time, everyone heard it clearly. After a short silence, the sound of "Ula" one after another resounded through the sky, startling the nearby enemies.
.
Although many German officers and soldiers heard the broadcast, they could not understand what was said on the Russian broadcast at all. And those officers and soldiers who knew Russian were also silent after hearing it. According to their thinking, this must be Russian
This is a human conspiracy in an attempt to undermine our own military morale and morale in this way.
After the radio contact on the battlefield was broadcast in Russian three times, it was broadcast in German again. In this way, not only the German officers and soldiers who knew Russian understood it, but also the officers and soldiers who did not understand Russian knew that the headquarters had been taken over, and the commander
The officers, chief of staff, some army commanders, division commanders and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers became prisoners.
Hearing this bad news, the German officers and soldiers couldn't help but panic, and the small-scale counterattack originally planned was terminated. At the same time, the news was also spread to Karl Strecker, commander of the 11th Infantry Corps, through various means.
In the ears.
Regarding the news that Paulus had been captured, his first reaction was that of a conspiracy. It must be a conspiracy that the Russians had deliberately formulated in order to undermine his military morale and morale. He quickly ordered several division commanders in the factory area to be arrested.
Call for a meeting.
Fortunately, the headquarters of these division commanders were not far from Karl Strecker's corps headquarters, and it only took a few minutes for them all to arrive.
After everyone arrived, Lensky, commander of the 24th Armored Division, couldn't wait to ask: "General, is it true that what the Russians said on the radio is true, that the commander and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers south of the city have been captured?
"
Karl Strecker said solemnly: "As soon as I learned the news, I ordered the telegraph operator to send a telegram to the headquarters. Unfortunately, so far, there is no news. It seems that what the Russians said on the radio
It’s possible that things are true.”
"Your Excellency, General, what should we do?" Von Ahrenstorff, commander of the 60th Motorized Infantry Division, said worriedly: "We are short of food and have almost run out of ammunition. I'm afraid we won't be able to survive for a few days."
"Yes, Your Excellency, General." Martin Rutman, who has just served as the acting commander of the 389th Infantry Division, echoed: "Our situation is very difficult, and I'm afraid we won't be able to support it for long. In addition, the division commander, General Magnus, was injured yesterday.
, it also has a great impact on the morale of our division."
"Surrender is impossible." Lenski expressed his opinion again: "I think we should contact Berlin immediately, report to them what happened here, and then wait for further instructions from them."
Arenstov snorted coldly and asked: "General Lensky, what do you mean by waiting for further instructions? Let us soldiers, who are hungry and ill-dressed to keep out the cold, continue to wait in the Russian circle.
Die?"
"Even if we surrender to the Russians, do you think we will be able to get the food and medicine they promised?" Lensky retorted unconvincingly: "Continuing to fight will mean death, and surrendering will only give us a few more days to live. I
I think if we report the situation here to Berlin, things might change."
"General Lensky, I ask you to give up this unrealistic fantasy." Aaronstorff retorted again: "Even if we report our plight to Berlin, what can they do? Marshal Manstein
and General Holt's troops have returned to their original starting point, can Göring's air force alone turn the tide of the war?"
"Okay, let's stop arguing." Strekel was worried that the two division commanders would continue to argue, so he interrupted them and said with a serious expression: "I decided to report the situation here to Berlin immediately.
Report. As for what we should do next, let’s wait until Berlin’s reply comes back.”
Since Strecker said that he would send a telegram to Berlin asking for instructions, everyone fell silent. On the surface, they were sitting and waiting for Berlin's reply, but in fact they were thinking about what to do if Berlin learned that Paulus had been captured.
If you still don't approve the surrender of the remaining troops, what should you do?
After waiting for about half an hour, Berlin's reply finally arrived. Although the other party had confirmed that Paulus had been captured, Hitler still had no intention of giving up Stalingrad. He emphasized the importance of holding on to Stalingrad in the message.
, announced the official promotion of Strecker to the rank of general, and ordered him to command the troops to hold on to the north of Stalingrad until the last moment.
"Gentlemen," Strecker asked feebly after circulating the telegram, "what do you think about this reply from Berlin?"
After Lensky read the contents of the telegram several times, he didn't see what he wanted to see, and he couldn't help but feel cold. Even though he had just insisted that he would never surrender, in fact, he just wanted to find a step up.
Now the 24th Armored Division was already extremely weak and could not be compared with the early stage of the war. It was probably unable to support even small-scale battles. It was for this reason that Lensky did not speak, but remained silent.
Seeing that none of the division commanders present spoke, Strekel realized that everyone's fighting spirit was shattered by Berlin's reply. Obviously, even if he offered to surrender at this moment, I'm afraid no one here would object. However,
Strekel kept an eye on it and did not announce his decision immediately. Instead, he announced the adjournment of the meeting and said to everyone: "Everyone should go back and rest. As for what to do, we will discuss it tomorrow."
As soon as the division commanders left, Strecker called his chief of staff and asked: "Chief of Staff, is there any way you can get in touch with the Russians on the opposite side?"
"Your Excellency, General," the Army Chief of Staff asked with some surprise, "Do you really intend to surrender to the Russians? You know, with the strength of our army, we can hold on for at least a week or more."