"Comrade Division Commander, isn't this too much?" Ivanov, who was standing aside, after confirming the authenticity of the message, angrily said to Sokov: "It is only us who can take down the German headquarters. How can Paulus be handed over to the 64th Army due to the merits of the combat group?”
"Samoilov," Sokov stood up and shouted to Samoilov standing at the door: "Come to me."
Samoilov quickly came to Sokov and waited quietly for his instructions.
Sokov pointed at him with his hand and ordered: "Immediately order the communications troops to set up a special telephone line here for me to communicate with the front army headquarters. I want to ask what is going on."
After Samoilov turned to leave, Sokov saw Paulus sitting aside and felt that it was inappropriate for him to stay here any longer, so he said to Ulbricht: "Comrade Ulbricht, I have important things to deal with later, so you can accompany Paulus to another room to rest."
Ulbricht heard the contents of the telegram and guessed that Sokov must have something important to do next and it would not be appropriate for him to stay here, so he nodded and took Paulus to another room.
When Sokov saw that only he, Ivanov and the radio operator were left in the room, he once again ordered the radio operator: "Send a telegram to the commanders of each division and the commanders of each brigade and ask them to come to me immediately."
"Comrade division commander," Ivanov asked Sokov curiously while the radio operator was sending the report: "You called all the division commanders here. What's the matter?"
Sokov knew very well that since his superiors had issued the order, no matter how angry he was, he could not change the status quo. After hearing Ivanov's question, he replied with a wry smile: "Our commanders and soldiers have been fighting Paulus's army for so long. Even if Paulus is to be handed over to friendly forces, I have to let our division and brigade level commanders Comrade, come and see what Paulus looks like."
"Oh, that's it." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Ivanov breathed a sigh of relief in his heart. He was really worried that Sokov would lose control of his emotions because of this inexplicable telegram and do something irreparable. wrong thing. He felt that Sokov's approach was correct. He summoned all the division commanders and brigade commanders of the combat group. In addition to letting them visit Paulus, he could also explain to them why Paulus should be handed over to friendly forces. reason.
In fact, the division commanders and brigade commanders of the combat cluster all stayed not far from the department store. They did not dare to go to the department store without Sokov's order without permission. Even those who were closely related to Sokov Colonel Bely also stayed in his tank and was on standby.
As soon as everyone received Sokov's summons, they hurried to the basement of the department store.
"Comrade commanders, you are all here." Seeing that all the division commanders and brigade commanders were here, Sokov stood up and shook hands with everyone one by one. He pointed to the conference table nearby and said to them: "Everyone, sit down. Right. Not long ago, there were a group of German generals sitting here, but now they are all replaced by our Soviet commanders."
Sokov's words caused everyone to burst into laughter, and the atmosphere in the room became relaxed.
After everyone sat down, Major General Makarenko asked first: "Comrade Commander, we have just been waiting outside and saw thousands of German prisoners being taken away, but we did not see Paulus. Is he still in the basement?"
"Yes, he is still here." Sokov pointed to the room where Paulus was: "It's in that room."
"It's in the room over there." When the commanders present heard this, their eyes immediately reflected. They had been fighting the German army in Stalingrad for several months, but what did Paulus look like? But I have never seen it. Sivakov excitedly suggested: "Comrade Commander, we have been fighting in the Stalingrad area for several months. We dream of defeating Paulus, but we don't even know what he looks like. Have someone bring him out." Let’s meet.”
"Yes, Sivakov is right." As soon as Sivakov finished speaking, someone immediately echoed: "Bring Paulus out and let us see."
Sokov did not stop them immediately, but waited for everyone's voices to gradually subside before he said: "Comrade commanders, don't worry, you will all see it when we hand Paulus over to friendly forces later. .”
Merkulov, who had been silent, heard what Sokov said and immediately realized that something was wrong. He quickly interjected and asked: "Comrade Commander, what did you just say? You want to hand over Paulus to friendly forces. This what is going on?"
The room, which was still full of laughter, suddenly became quiet with Merkulov's question. Everyone focused on Sokov, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Let's take a look, comrades commanders." Sokov put the telegram sent by Rokossovsky on the table, pushed it forward, and said: "This is what the front headquarters sent me. telegraph."
Major General Makarenko, who was closest to Sokov, took the lead in grabbing the telegram and carefully looked at its contents. After reading it, he slammed the table and said angrily: "This is too much. Our soldiers shed blood and sacrificed their lives. We finally captured the German headquarters and captured Paulus alive, but we had to hand it over to 64th Army."
The telegram was circulated among the commanders. After reading it, everyone fell silent. No one expected that after taking down the German headquarters and capturing Paulus alive, just a few minutes after being happy, they would have to hand over such victory to friendly forces. If it had been anyone else, he wouldn't have felt comfortable in his heart.
"Comrade Commander," Sheyko, political commissar of the 67th Guards Division, asked, "Have you verified the authenticity of this telegram?"
One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and Sheike's words immediately resonated with everyone, and everyone said: "Yes, yes, yes, Comrade Commander, you should verify the authenticity of this telegram."
"Yes, let the telegraph operator send a telegram to the front army headquarters immediately for verification to avoid being deceived."
After everyone calmed down again, Sokov continued: "Comrade commanders, I have ordered someone to set up a telephone line with the front headquarters. After the installation is completed later, I will personally call Rokossovs General Key asked.”
"Comrade Division Commander," Samoylov came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "The money for the phone call with the Front Army Headquarters has been set up. Can you please pick up the phone?"
"It goes without saying, Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Put the call in immediately."
After the call came in, the communications soldier answered the phone to the front army headquarters in full view of the public. When he heard a voice coming from the receiver, he immediately handed the receiver to Sokov. Sokov said into the microphone: "Hello, I am Colonel Sokov, the commander of the Sokov Combat Group. Please help me pick up the commander, General Rokossovsky."
After waiting for two minutes, Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver. He said in a businesslike tone: "Is it Colonel Sokov? I am Rokossovsky. I know you will definitely Calling and asking why Paulus should be handed over to friendly forces, right?”
"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." After scanning the commanders in the room with his eyes, Sokov solemnly replied: "I'm not the only one who wants to know, these division commanders and brigade commanders under me, I also want to know the answer. So that they can know how to answer when the warriors ask."
"According to the orders of the base camp, Paulus will be detained in the Beketovka district in the south of Stalingrad, which is a place that has not been damaged by the war." Rokossovsky said briefly on the phone: "And That place now happens to be the defense area of the 64th Army, so it is only natural to hand over Paulus to them."
"So that's it." After Sokov figured out the reason, he said with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, you should actually make it clear in the telegram, otherwise there will be no misunderstanding."
Rokossovsky naturally understood what the misunderstanding mentioned by Sokov was about. He did not dwell on this moment, but changed the topic in time: "By the way, I have something to ask you, your prisoner security guard." After Luce, did he ask him to call or send a telegram to the place entrenched in the factory area?"
"No." Sokov thought that even if Paulus called, the enemies in the factory area in the north of the city would not surrender, so why should he go through all the trouble. However, he said something else: "This matter is of great importance. I did not dare to act without permission before receiving orders from my superiors."
Regarding Sokov's watertight statement, Rokossovsky really couldn't fault it. He thought for a while and ordered Sokov: "Immediately ask Paulus to call or send a telegram to the factory area in the north of the city to urge them to surrender."
"Understood, I will carry out your order immediately."
After Sokov put down the phone, he told Samoilov: "Go to the room over there and bring Paulus over."
While waiting for Paulus to come over, Sokov said to the commanders present: "Comrade commanders, we all understand that the base camp plans to detain Paulus in an area that has not been destroyed by the war. The specific location In the Beketovka district south of Stalingrad. That is the defense area of the 64th Army, and there is nothing wrong with handing it over to them."
Paulus and Ulbricht came here again and were startled to see the room full of people. Paulus came to Sokov and asked expressionlessly: "Colonel Sokov, what on earth are you going to do by bringing me in front of so many people?"
"Marshal Paulus, you misunderstood." Sokov said politely: "These are my subordinates. I called them here to discuss the next move."
After Paulus glanced at the Soviet commanders present, he sneered and said: "Colonel Sokov, don't lie to me. There are two generals here. Which army will be led by a colonel?" , to command two generals?"
After listening to Ulbricht's translation, Sokov couldn't help laughing: "Marshal Paulus, you are wrong. In our army, commanders with lower military ranks serve as commanders, and commanders with higher military ranks serve as deputy commanders. There are too many situations. What does it mean if I have a colonel commanding two generals?"
Then Sokov changed the subject and got down to business: "Marshal Paulus, I invited you here because I have an important thing to entrust you with."
Paulus asked: "What is it?"
"Although you and your men have surrendered, there are still many troops in the factory area north of the city who are still fighting with our army." Sokov did not beat around the bush and said straightforwardly: "I hope you can give The commander over there makes a phone call or sends a telegram and orders them to stop resisting."
"I'm sorry, Colonel Sokov." Unexpectedly, after hearing Sokov's request, Paulus actually shook his head and refused, "Now that I have become your prisoner, the 11th Infantry Corps commanding troops in the factory area General Karl Strekel, the commander, will never obey my orders. I advise you that if you want to deal with the troops in the factory area, you can only use war."
Sokov understood this very well. Since Paulus was unwilling to cooperate, he did not force him. Instead, he ordered Samoilov to take Paulus back to his original room.
"This guy is really stubborn," Merkulov said through gritted teeth: "He has become our prisoner, but he is still so stubborn. Doesn't he know how many innocent lives can be saved by just giving the order to surrender?"
"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Sokov waved his hand, interrupted Merkulov's words, stood up straight and said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, although the enemy in the south of the city has been eliminated, we There’s still a lot to do next.”
Hearing Sokov say that there were still many things to do next, the division and brigade commanders all sat up straight and waited quietly for Sokov to give them orders.
"I'm sorry, Colonel Sokov." Unexpectedly, after hearing Sokov's request, Paulus actually shook his head and refused, "Now that I have become your prisoner, the 11th Infantry Corps commanding troops in the factory area Commander General Karl Strekel will never obey my orders. I advise you that if you want to deal with the troops in the factory area, you can only use war."
Sokov understood this very well. Since Paulus was unwilling to cooperate, he did not force him. Instead, he ordered Samoilov to take Paulus back to his original room.
"This guy is really stubborn," Merkulov said through gritted teeth: "He has become our prisoner, but he is still so stubborn. Doesn't he know how many innocent lives can be saved by just giving the order to surrender?"
"Forget it, let's not talk about this." Sokov waved his hand, interrupted Merkulov's words, stood up straight and said to everyone: "Comrade commanders, although the enemy in the south of the city has been eliminated, we There’s still a lot to do next.”
Hearing Sokov say that there were still many things to do next, the division and brigade commanders all sat up straight and waited quietly for Sokov to give them orders.
