The German soldiers who sent Sokov back did not point their guns at them again. When the car arrived in front of the Soviet position, the German lieutenant stopped the car, turned around and said respectfully to Sokov: "Mr. Colonel, you are here."
After listening to Ernst's translation, Sokov took off the black cloth covering his eyes, blinked hard, adjusted to the surrounding light, and found that he had indeed reached the front of the drawdown regiment's position.
Seeing that he had arrived, Sokov nodded to the German lieutenant who was sending him back and said politely: "Thank you, Lieutenant."
"This is what I should do, Mr. Colonel." The German lieutenant opened the door and got out of the car, raised his hand to salute Sokov, turned around and walked to the car parked aside. After getting into the car, he told the driver: "Drive!"
As soon as the German vehicle left, a man jumped out of the trench, trotted over, and shouted: "Comrade Division Commander, thank God, you are finally back safely."
Sokov recognized the driver's voice and quickly shouted: "Comrade driver, hurry up and drive the car to the regiment command post."
A few minutes later, Sokov walked into Belkin's regimental command post. Seeing Sokov appear, Belgin put down his work, stepped forward and gave him a warm hug, and then asked with some concern: "Misha, why have you been gone for so long? I'm still worried about you. problem occurs."
"What can happen to me?" Sokov smiled faintly and replied: "Now the Germans have reached a point of desperation. They wish that our army would send representatives to negotiate with them. How could they be disadvantageous to me?"
"How was it?" Belkin asked impatiently: "How did the Germans respond?"
Sokov did not answer Belkin's question immediately, but scanned the room with his eyes. Belkin understood the situation and immediately said to the staff officers and communications soldiers in the command post: "You all go out first. The division commander and I have important things to discuss."
Upon hearing Belkin's order, the staff officers and communications soldiers stood up, turned around and walked out of the command post. Only Sokov, Belkin, Chief of Staff Captain Vanya and regimental political commissar Dmitry were left in the command post.
Seeing that only the most important officers of the regiment were left in the room, Sokov said truthfully: "I met Paulus. He was very pessimistic about the current situation and had thoughts of surrender. But …”
"But what, Comrade Division Commander?" Vanya asked impatiently before Sokov finished speaking.
"Paulus was a professional soldier. He always adhered to the principle that it is the duty of soldiers to obey orders." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Although he was tempted to surrender, whether he ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender, he still had to surrender. Hitler asked for instructions."
"Ask Hitler for instructions." Belkin said with a sneer: "In my opinion, it is strange that the other party agreed to Paulus's request."
"You are right, Comrade Political Commissar." Sokov continued: "Paulus asked his chief of staff, General Schmidt, to send a telegram to Berlin to give a detailed report on the situation here. However, his application was rejected by Hitler, who also ordered him to fight to the last man and bullet."
"If the Germans really want to fight us to the end," Belkin said with a frown, "if they have to eliminate so many enemies, our army's casualties will definitely not be small."
"Yes, there are at least more than 200,000 Germans. To eliminate them, we will definitely pay a huge price." Sokov remembered that only more than 90,000 Germans were captured in the end. In other words, in the remaining Within half a month, more than 100,000 German troops would be killed, and the price paid by the Soviet army would be equal to that of the enemy: "But in order to achieve the final victory, such a price is still very worth it."
"It's getting late." Seeing that it was getting dark outside, Belkin persuaded Sokov for the sake of his safety, "You'd better stay at the regiment headquarters for the night and leave after dawn."
"No, I still need to rush back to the division headquarters and report the status of the negotiations to General Rokossovsky."
Seeing that Sokov insisted on leaving, Belkin did not persuade him. He just asked Sokov about the next combat mission: "What should we do in the next battle?"
"Judging from the current situation, the German army has basically been compressed by us to the vicinity of Stalingrad." Sokov felt that since Paulus had entered the trap, the drawdown regiment did not need to be as low-key as before, and could take some proactive measures. Action, approaching the Paulus headquarters as quickly as possible: "It no longer makes much sense to hide your whereabouts, so the tactics need to be adjusted."
"How to adjust?"
"It turns out that I ordered the Third Battalion to repeatedly compete with the enemy for important buildings to consume the effective strength of the German army." Sokov said: "Now that you have changed your tactics, you must focus on seizing buildings as your main task. After clearing the enemy , after occupying the buildings, you must do everything you can to defend these buildings."
Belkin also wanted to seize as many buildings as possible from the enemy's hands, but when he thought that he only had more than 2,000 troops in his hands, he couldn't help but frowned: "But, Misha, I only have two thousand troops in my hands." There are more than a thousand people, and most of them have light weapons. If we want to seize the building from the enemy's hands, I'm afraid it will cost a lot."
"It's easy. I'll bring you self-propelled artillery tomorrow." Sokov said confidently: "When you encounter a building with a strong firepower point, you can notify the artillery and let them use artillery fire to directly destroy the enemy's firepower point."
If he had changed to another commander, he would definitely ask Sokov how to establish contact with the artillery in a timely manner. But as Sokov's old partner, Belkin naturally knew what to do, so he nodded and replied: "Don't worry, Misha, with the cooperation of the artillery, we will definitely not let you down."
After handling the matter of downsizing the regiment, Sokov hurried back to the division headquarters with Samoilov and the guard platoon.
Since Sokov left, several division leaders at the division headquarters have always felt uneasy. After all, Sokov went to the German headquarters, and if anything happened, they would be blamed. At this moment, seeing Sokov back safely, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked on behalf of everyone, "have you seen Paulus?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"What's his attitude?" Although he felt that the German army was unlikely to surrender, Sidorin still asked with a sense of luck: "Will he surrender voluntarily?"
"He wanted to surrender voluntarily," Sokov took the hot tea handed to him by Anisimov, took a sip, and continued: "But Hitler did not allow him to surrender and ordered him to fight until the last moment. One soldier."
"Then how did he reply to you?"
"Paulus did not dare to disobey Hitler's orders because he was worried that once he surrendered, the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group who stayed in Germany might be persecuted or even sent to concentration camps." Sokov explained to the three people: " Therefore, he made it clear that he will continue to fight with us for a while, and when he can no longer hold on, it will not be too late to surrender to our army."
"Comrade Division Commander." Sokov was talking to the three people about the details of the negotiation. Second Lieutenant Maxim, the communications company commander who was sitting far away, stood up with the microphone in his hand and reported to Sokov: "This is a call from the commander of the front army. "
Sokov guessed that Rokossovsky must be asking about the details of the negotiation, so he quickly walked over and took the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am Sokov."
"Colonel Sokov." Rokossovsky asked in an official tone: "How was the situation when you went to the enemy's headquarters to negotiate?"
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov recounted everything that happened to him in the German headquarters, and finally said: "Paulus has made it clear that he will continue to be with our army. Fight for a period of time, and then surrender to our army when he can no longer hold on. In this way, he will have an explanation to Hitler, and he will not contact the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group in Germany."
"Paulus's reason is really sufficient." Rokossovsky sneered and asked: "Misha, how long do you think it will take for us to completely eliminate Paulus' troops? ?”
Sokov remembered that Paulus and the troops in the south of the city laid down their weapons and surrendered on January 31, while the troops in the factory area surrendered on February 2, which was only half a month ago. However, in order to prevent Rokossovsky from treating himself as a magic stick, he deliberately extended the deadline: "Commander of the Front Army, according to my observation, the Germans' supplies have reached a very difficult point. I believe that they will not be able to hold on. How long. In a month at most, we can completely wipe out Paulus’s troops.”
"What, another month?" Rokossovsky was obviously not satisfied with Sokov's answer. He shook his head and said: "If we really wait until one month before annihilating Paulus, then the Caucasus The German troops in the area will flee. Therefore, we must completely eliminate Paulus, the besieged enemy, within half a month to twenty days."
Sokov was noncommittal about the time Rokossovsky was referring to. After chatting for a few more words, he put down the phone. Sidorin asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, according to the commander of the front army, he is preparing to completely wipe out Paulus's troops within half a month to twenty days. Do you think he can do it?" "
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at Sidorin and said with a smile: "General Rokossovsky is a commander who is good at creating miracles. I believe that under his command, the Don Front can definitely Annihilate Paulus’ troops. As for the deadline he mentioned, I don’t think it is impossible.”
Since Sokov left, several division leaders at the division headquarters have always felt uneasy. After all, Sokov went to the German headquarters, and if anything happened, they would be blamed. At this moment, seeing Sokov back safely, the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked on behalf of everyone, "have you seen Paulus?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"What's his attitude?" Although he felt that the German army was unlikely to surrender, Sidorin still asked with a sense of luck: "Will he surrender voluntarily?"
"He wanted to surrender voluntarily," Sokov took the hot tea handed to him by Anisimov, took a sip, and continued: "But Hitler did not allow him to surrender and ordered him to fight until the last moment. One soldier."
"Then how did he reply to you?"
"Paulus did not dare to disobey Hitler's orders because he was worried that once he surrendered, the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group who stayed in Germany might be persecuted or even sent to concentration camps." Sokov explained to the three people: " Therefore, he made it clear that he will continue to fight with us for a while, and when he can no longer hold on, it will not be too late to surrender to our army."
"Comrade Division Commander." Sokov was talking to the three people about the details of the negotiation. Second Lieutenant Maxim, the communications company commander who was sitting far away, stood up with the microphone in his hand and reported to Sokov: "This is a call from the commander of the front army. "
Sokov guessed that Rokossovsky must be asking about the details of the negotiation, so he quickly walked over and took the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am Sokov."
"Colonel Sokov." Rokossovsky asked in an official tone: "How did you go to the enemy's headquarters to negotiate?"
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov recounted everything that happened to him in the German headquarters, and finally said: "Paulus has made it clear that he will continue to be with our army. Fight for a period of time, and then surrender to our army when he can no longer hold on. In this way, he will have an explanation to Hitler, and he will not contact the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group in Germany."
"Paulus's reason is really sufficient." Rokossovsky sneered and asked: "Misha, how long do you think it will take for us to completely eliminate Paulus' troops? ?”
Sokov remembered that Paulus and the troops in the south of the city laid down their weapons and surrendered on January 31, while the troops in the factory area surrendered on February 2, which was only half a month ago. However, in order to prevent Rokossovsky from treating himself as a magic stick, he deliberately extended the deadline: "Commander of the Front Army, according to my observation, the Germans' supplies have reached a very difficult point. I believe that they will not be able to hold on. How long. In a month at most, we can completely wipe out Paulus’s troops.”
"What, another month?" Rokossovsky was obviously not satisfied with Sokov's answer. He shook his head and said: "If we really wait until one month before annihilating Paulus, then the Caucasus The German troops in the area will flee. Therefore, we must completely eliminate Paulus, the besieged enemy, within half a month to twenty days."
Sokov was noncommittal about the time Rokossovsky was referring to. After chatting for a few more words, he put down the phone. Sidorin asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, according to the commander of the front army, he is preparing to completely wipe out Paulus's troops within half a month to twenty days. Do you think he can do it?" "
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at Sidorin and said with a smile: "General Rokossovsky is a commander who is good at creating miracles. I believe that under his command, the Don Front can definitely Annihilate Paulus’ troops. As for the deadline he mentioned, I don’t think it is impossible.”
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