Chuikov's 62nd Army unit is fighting the German troops stationed here in the factory area. Suddenly receiving the order to suspend the attack, commanders at all levels felt puzzled. They were fighting well, 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 commanders and soldiers heard this broadcast, they were stunned: What, Paulus was captured? The German troops south of the city were wiped out? They thought they heard wrongly and asked each other: "Did you hear the broadcast clearly? Paulus was really captured alive?"
"You may have heard wrongly. If Paulus was really captured alive, why didn't the enemies here surrender?"
"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 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. The officers and soldiers who knew Russian were also silent after hearing this. According to their thinking, this must be a conspiracy by the Russians, trying to undermine their own military morale and morale in this way.
After the battlefield radio contact was broadcast three times in Russian, it was again broadcast in German. In this way, not only the German officers and soldiers who understood Russian understood, but also the officers and soldiers who did not understand Russian knew that the headquarters had been taken away, and the commander, chief of staff, some corps commanders, division commanders and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers became prisoners.
Upon 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 reached the ears of Karl Strekel, commander of the 11th Infantry Corps, through various means.
Regarding the news of Paulus's capture, his first reaction was that of a conspiracy. It must be a conspiracy that the Russians deliberately formulated in order to undermine his military morale and morale. He quickly ordered people to summon several division commanders in the factory area for a meeting.
Fortunately, the headquarters of these division commanders were not far from Carl Strekel's corps headquarters, and they all arrived in just a few minutes.
After everyone arrived, Lensky, the 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 Strekel 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 at all. It seems that what the Russians said on the radio The things may be 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 Ratman, 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 had 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-clad 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 unconvinced: "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 seriously: "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 to ask for instructions, everyone fell silent. On the surface, he was sitting and waiting for Berlin's reply, but in fact, he was thinking about what he would do if Berlin still refused to approve the surrender of the remaining troops after learning that Paulus had been captured.
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. After emphasizing the importance of holding on to Stalingrad in the message, he announced the official promotion of Strecker to the rank of general and ordered He was able 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 Lenski 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. Although he just insisted that he would never surrender, in fact he just wanted to find a step up. Now the 24th Armored Division is already weak and cannot be compared with the early stage of the war. I am afraid that it cannot even support 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 crushed by Berlin's reply. Obviously, even if he proposed surrender at this moment, I am afraid that no one here would object. However, Strecker 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 in 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."
