In the evening of that day, Chuikov's adjutant, Captain Klimov, brought several strangers in civilian clothes to the division headquarters at Mamayev Hill.
Klimov raised his hand and gave a ring salute to Sokov and the others, and then reported: "Comrade Colonel, on the order of Comrade Commander, I escort Comrade Walter Ulbricht from Moscow to you."
Walter, when he heard this name, Sokov immediately remembered the movie "Walter Defends Sarajevo" that he had watched when he was a child, and secretly wondered whether this Walter Ulbricht was also a Yugoslav?
Thinking of this, he stretched out his hand to shake Ulbricht's hand and asked with a smile: "Hello, Comrade Ulbricht! I would like to ask, are you a Yugoslav?"
"No." Ulbricht shook his head and replied: "I am not a Yugoslav, I am a German, the leader of the German Anti-*** League and the National Front of Free Germany." He pointed to the few people behind him. The man in plain clothes introduced Sokov, "They are all cadres of the German Communist Party, and they have just arrived here from Moscow with me."
"Hello, Comrade Ulbricht." Anisimov asked curiously when shaking hands with Ulbricht: "Can I ask, what is your purpose here?"
"Yes." Ulbricht replied without hesitation: "The purpose of our coming here is to carry out propaganda work against Faxi Temple's aggressive war on the battlefield to those deceived German officers and soldiers, and call on them to turn their guns. , aiming at Hitler who brought our country and people into the quagmire of war."
Hearing what Ulbricht said, Anisimov couldn't help but his eyes lit up. He turned his head and glanced at Sokov, then faced Ulbricht and said: "Comrade Ulbricht, our division has also been fighting against The enemy carries out propaganda, but its effect is limited. Now with your support, I believe it can achieve better results."
When Ulbricht heard what Anisimov said, a surprised expression appeared on his face: "What, you have already launched a political offensive against the enemy?"
"That's right, Comrade Ulbricht." Sokov interjected with a smile: "I think that in order to defeat the enemy on the battlefield, in addition to military means, we can also use political means to shake the enemy's morale and disintegrate their morale. Morale. Although there are many commanders and fighters in our division who understand German, if we can get your strong support, then I believe we can achieve better results."
"Comrade Division Commander, it's already dark." Ulbricht waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then continued: "Can you arrange for us to broadcast the German positions?"
"Comrade Political Commissar." Sokov did not immediately reply to Ulbricht's request. Instead, he turned to ask Anisimov: "Can your tweeter be heard by the German position opposite?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Anisimov nodded and replied: "The enemy's position is only about two hundred meters away from us. Now there are eighteen loudspeakers installed at the front of the three regiments. The content of our broadcast is on the opposite side. The Germans on the ground could hear it clearly."
"Great, this is great." Ulbricht couldn't help but cheered when Anisimov said this. He turned to look at Sokov and asked: "Comrade Colonel, I wonder where your broadcast room is?"
Anisimov said nothing, but looked at Sokov, waiting for his order. Sokov thought for a moment and felt that Ulbricht and the others should not be discouraged. He nodded slightly and said to Anisimov: "Comrade Political Commissar, since Comrade Ulbricht wants to conduct propaganda against the German troops on the ground immediately, Then you take them to the broadcast room.”
After Anisimov and Ulbricht left, Sokov told Sidorin: "Chief of Staff, call Ernst and ask him to come to the division headquarters. I have something to ask him." .”
"Do you have anything to do with him?" Sidorin asked curiously.
"Turn on this radio later." Sokov pointed to the radio hanging above the door and explained to Sidorin: "I want to hear what Comrade Ulbricht said to the German soldiers."
After understanding Sokov's intention, Sidorin immediately called Ernst and informed him to rush to the division headquarters immediately. After making the call, Sidorin also turned on the radio switch so that he could hear everything Ulbricht and the others said in the radio room.
Ernst soon appeared in front of Sokov. After he raised his hand in salute, he asked with some restraint: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what you want to see me for?"
"A few of your compatriots have just arrived. They are in the broadcast room at the moment, preparing to shout to the Germans on the other side." Sokov explained to Ernst: "I want you to translate for me. They all said Something."
Not long after, the gentle singing voice of a female singer came from the radio. Sokov heard that it was a German song. The melody was nice, but he couldn't understand what it meant, so he asked curiously: "Ernst, what's the meaning?" What song is playing on the radio?”
"It's "Lily Marlene", comrade teacher."
""Lily Marlene"?" When Sokov heard the name of this song for the first time, he couldn't help but asked in surprise: "What does it mean?"
"The story of this song goes back to the beginning of the First World War." Ernst, who studied music, seemed to be fascinated by this song. He squinted his eyes, looked at the radio on the door, and said to himself Said to himself: "In Berlin in April 1915, on a foggy night, Hans Lepp, a Hamburg poet and young military academy student who was drafted to the Russian front, was standing guard outside a barracks. The street lights on the road Flashing in the fog.
Before taking up the post, Lepp had just left a beautiful girl named Lily. At this moment, he was thinking about his sweetheart, and under the streetlight came Marlene, a beautiful girl with sea-blue eyes. She met Lepp in an art gallery. Marlene waved to Lepp. At this moment, the patrol officer came over, and Lepp could only watch Marlene disappear into the thick fog. At night, Lepp lay on the bed tossing and turning, with the figures of Lily and Marlene wandering in his mind, so he wrote a poem composed of their names. The original title of the poem was 'Girl under the Lantern', which was later changed to 'The Song of the Young Sentinel' when it was published.
The poem tells the story of a soldier saying goodbye to his sweetheart Lily Marlene under the lights outside the barracks. The soldier longs for love, but the bugle has sounded, and the lovers can only reluctantly separate. He can't help but wonder: What will be my fate when I step onto the battlefield? Can my soul still embrace her like it does now?
Lepp, who was sent to the Russian front, never saw Lily and Marlene again. About 20 years later, he included "The Song of the Young Sentinel" in his book of poems, and the Berlin composer Norbert Schulze saw it. The poem was later set to music and renamed "Lily Marlene". "
"What a romantic story," Sidorin said with emotion, and then asked Ernst: "Can you tell us the main idea of the lyrics?"
"Before the military camp
before the gate
There is a lamp
Still lit to this day
We'll meet again there
Just stand under that lamp
Once again, Lily Marlene
Once again, Lily Marlene
Once again, Lily Marlene…”
After listening to Ernst's translation of the lyrics, Sokov smiled and nodded, saying: "This is a good song, no worse than the Russian "Katyusha"."
As he was speaking, the music had stopped suddenly, and a rich baritone voice came from the radio: "Officers and soldiers of the Sixth Army of the German Wehrmacht, are you still waiting for Manstein's rescue, and are you still waiting for the rescue he promised?" Inspired by the words 'Don't give up, I will come to save you'. I regret to tell you here that you have all been deceived. Manstein's troops suffered another defeat in the recent battles. Under the fierce attack of the Soviet Red Army Under the blow, they retreated a full 200 kilometers, getting further and further away from you.…
A tank division and an infantry division in Kotelnikovo that broke in were completely wiped out by the fierce offensive of the Red Army.
The reason why your superiors concealed this news from you is because they were worried that you would completely lose your fighting spirit after knowing your situation. They want you to keep living in a fantasy, to continue to defend them desperately and to fight to the last bullet. …”
Ivanov listened to Ernst's translation and couldn't help but curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, do you think the Germans will take the initiative to lay down their weapons and surrender to us after hearing this propaganda?"
"I don't think it will be a formal surrender." Sokov knew very well in his heart. Although the German army seemed to be at the end of the road at the moment, they still did not give up their last hope. They felt that with their own abilities, they could completely block the Soviet attack. , until friendly forces arrived to relieve themselves. But Sokov felt that after this broadcast, it would definitely have some impact on the German soldiers. There would not be a formal surrender, but sporadic surrenders might still happen. "I think there may be a small number of German officers and soldiers who, after hearing this propaganda, will take advantage of the darkness to surrender to our army."
Speaking of this, Sokov suddenly realized that there were barbed wire fences and minefields in front of his position. The German troops who surrendered under the cover of night might be killed by the mines. He quickly ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately give the troops at the front The three regiment commanders called and ordered them to send soldiers who knew German to go to the front of the position. Once they found German soldiers who came to surrender under the cover of night, they would lead them through the minefield and into our position."
"Comrade Division Commander," Sidorin said hesitantly after hearing Sokov's order: "What if the Germans pretend to surrender and sneak into our positions?"
"This is easy to handle." Sokov has already considered the issue that Sidorin is worried about: "Every German officer and soldier who comes to surrender must hand over all the weapons on his body before entering our position. In this way, even if there is As long as the soldiers who pretend to surrender are disarmed by our army and enter our positions, they will not make any waves."
"This is a good idea." Sidorin nodded approvingly and said, "I will immediately notify the three captains at the front."
Colonel Bely, who was staying in the same command post with Lieutenant Colonel Papuchenko, after hearing the order conveyed by Sidorin, said to Papuchenko with great interest: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, since the division commander said that tonight The enemy will come to surrender, so we might as well go and see if it will really be what he said."
The two came to a command post on the front line. Bely stood in front of the lookout, raised his binoculars and looked at the German position opposite. Under the bright moonlight, Bely saw a lot of steel helmets emerging from the trenches opposite. It seemed that they were German officers and soldiers hiding in the trenches. They poked their heads out to hear clearly what was being said on the radio.
Seeing more and more German officers and soldiers emerging, Belly put down the telescope in his hand, turned to Papuchenko and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, it seems that the enemies on the opposite side have been alerted and have all stuck their heads out. It’s fun to watch.”
Papuchenko looked across and said with a sneer: "It's a pity that the division commander didn't order us to shoot. Otherwise, if our machine guns fired at the same time, we would have killed at least dozens of enemies."
After hearing this, Bie Lei chuckled: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't be so short-sighted. If you really shoot, wouldn't the comrades who are broadcasting to the enemy have worked hard in vain? Don't be anxious and be patient. After observing for a while, maybe some German troops actually laid down their weapons and surrendered to us."
"Comrade Colonel, you don't think that just based on what this broadcast said, the Germans will surrender to us?" Papuchenko asked in a skeptical tone.
"I don't know." Bely replied truthfully: "We have been broadcasting to the enemy every day, but we have never seen a German soldier running over to surrender to us. Since it was Colonel Sokov who said this today, then I think a miracle might happen."
The declaration of persuasion to surrender that was being continuously broadcast not only attracted the attention of German soldiers, but also aroused the alertness of German commanders. Several officers wearing large-brimmed hats appeared in the trenches. They raised their pistols high above their heads and ran back and forth in the trenches, driving the soldiers who were listening to the radio back to the shelter.
"You saw it, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Seeing this scene, Bely said to Papuchenko with a smile: "The enemy commander was already panicked. He was deeply afraid that his soldiers would be deceived by our broadcast, so they came out of hiding. The place ran out."
"There is only more than two hundred meters between us and the enemy's position." Seeing the officers running back and forth, Papuchenko couldn't help but said to Bely: "As long as we find two snipers, we can kill these Germans. officer."
"No, you must not ask for a sniper." Bely was startled, and he quickly stopped Papuchenko: "It is a very simple thing for you to ask a sniper to kill the German officers. But if the Germans use this Make a big fuss about it and tell their soldiers that the purpose of our broadcast is to deceive them from their hiding places and then let snipers kill them. At that time, everything the comrades who made the broadcast have done will become insignificant. In any sense.”
Papuchenko, who originally wanted snipers to kill the German commander, heard Bely's reminder and immediately realized that he had thought of the problem too simply. He quickly apologized to Bely, and then called the third battalion commander. He was instructed: "Comrade Major, you will send a few comrades through the minefield later, lurking in the snow, to pick up those German soldiers who may come to surrender."
