"Chief of Staff," Strecker said with a bitter look on his face: "The troops commanded by Your Excellency the Commander have been completely destroyed. The tens of thousands of us who are left lack winter clothing, and their food and ammunition have been basically exhausted. Even if the Russians don't attack, most of the people will die of hunger and cold in less than a week."
The military chief of staff felt that he could not refute Strecker's statement. As early as after the Russians took offensive actions in the Don River Basin, in order to speed up the retreat, they had ordered the soldiers to burn their military coats during the transfer process. I thought that if I jumped out of the Russian encirclement, I would be able to get replenishment in the reserve warehouse. Unexpectedly, fate failed, and the breakout ended in failure. Even the troops on the right bank of the Don River were ordered to abandon their original positions and rush to join the troops in the encirclement.
Thinking of this, the Army Chief of Staff was no longer stubborn. He had already made a decision. If he continued to stick to it, there was only one way to die. So after thinking for a while, he said to Strekel: "Your Excellency, General, I think the combat situation Lieutenant Colonel Miller, you can go on this mission."
"Call him over."
A few minutes later, the tall Lieutenant Colonel Miller appeared in the military headquarters. He stood up straight in front of Strecker, raised his hand in a salute, and said loudly: "Your Excellency, General. , Lieutenant Colonel Miller, Chief of Operations, was ordered to come."
"Lieutenant Colonel," Strecker said to him in a serious tone: "I called you here today because I have a difficult task that I have to entrust you to complete. You take a Russian translator and go to the Russians. Let’s negotiate with them.”
"Negotiate with the Russians?" After hearing Strecker's order, the muscles on Miller's face twitched violently. As the chief of operations, he was qualified to know Berlin's call back. . I thought General Strecker would choose to fight the Russians to the bitter end after receiving this telegram, but unexpectedly he ordered himself to negotiate with the Russians. It was obvious that the other party did not intend to continue fighting and was prepared to become a shameful traitor. "Your Excellency, General, we still have tens of thousands of people, so we can continue to fight. Besides, didn't Berlin just send a telegram asking us to fight until the last moment?"
"Yes, we do have tens of thousands of people, but we are running out of food and ammunition, and most of the soldiers don't have winter clothing." Strecker said sternly: "If we follow Berlin's instructions If we continue to resist the orders given, I am afraid that the entire army will be destroyed in two or three days at most. Even if the Russians do not attack, most of our soldiers will die of cold and starvation in less than a week."
Miller suddenly fell silent when he heard Strekel say this. He was very aware of the supply situation of the army. Not to mention that ordinary soldiers did not have enough to eat. Even he, a lieutenant colonel, often went from hungry to hungry. He was so hungry that he either had stars in his eyes or broke into cold sweats all over his body. .
Seeing that Miller stopped talking, Strecker continued: "Lieutenant Colonel, we have done our duty. All that's left is to find ways to save those who are still alive so that more people can survive the war." Finally, he returned to his homeland."
Strekel's last words completely moved Miller. He nodded slightly and said solemnly: "Understood, General, I will obey your order and go to negotiate with the Russians."
"The defenders of Stalingrad are Chuikov's 62nd Army. You must find a way to see Chuikov and tell him that as long as we provide us with enough food and medicine, we can lay down our weapons and surrender to them." Strei Kerr said, and explained some surrender conditions to Miller.
Miller left the corps headquarters, took an interpreter with him, and entered the barricade factory under a white flag. Prepare to contact the defenders here, and then go to see Chuikov.
Unexpectedly, not long after they entered the barricade factory, they were fired upon by machine guns. Miller and the translator hid behind a pile of bricks and escaped. A moment later, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps, and then a dozen German soldiers with loaded guns rushed over and pointed their guns at them.
It seemed that they were all German soldiers. Miller felt that there must be a misunderstanding, and quickly asked the officer leading the team: "Which unit are you from?"
After the officer with the bandage on his head saw Miller's epaulettes clearly, he replied loudly: "I am Lieutenant Steiger, commander of the third company of the 305th Engineer Battalion. Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, why are you flying the white flag?"
Miller stood up and said to Lieutenant Steiger: "Lieutenant, I am Lieutenant Colonel Miller, chief of military operations. On the order of General Strekel, I went to the Russian positions to negotiate with them."
"Negotiation?" Steiger asked in confusion: "Under current circumstances, what is there to talk about with them?"
"Lieutenant, do you think we can continue to fight?" Before Steiger could answer, he asked himself: "I don't think we can continue to fight. Maybe the best way out is to put down our weapons." .”
Hearing what Miller said, the soldiers lowered their guns one after another. They agreed very much with what the other party said. If they continued to fight, they would be dead. Only by putting down their weapons and surrendering could they have a chance of survival.
Seeing that his soldiers had put down their weapons, Steiger still said with a strong attitude: "Lieutenant Colonel, how can you prove that you are from the military headquarters?"
"My ID is here." Miller took out his ID and handed it over, and said to Steiger: "Lieutenant, if you don't believe it, you can check my ID."
Steiger took Miller's ID, opened it and took one glance at it to confirm that the other party's identity was correct. After he handed the certificate back to the other party, he asked curiously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, why are you two negotiating with the Russians?"
"The General is worried that too many people will go there, which may cause misunderstandings among the Russians." Miller explained: "After all, it is already night, and the visibility cannot be compared with that during the day. If too many people go, the Russians will They will think that we are here for a sneak attack, and maybe the two sides will fight."
"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, there is a Russian division headquarters in the factory." Steiger said to Miller: "I can send you there."
"No need." Miller waved his hand towards Steiger and said, "There are too many people, I'm afraid it will arouse the suspicion of the Russians."
"It's okay, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Steiger replied: "We can go there with a flashlight, so no one will expose themselves with a flashlight during a sneak attack."
"Okay." Miller was actually worried not about being killed by the Russians on the opposite side, but about being shot coldly by the diehards on his own side who were unwilling to surrender, so he agreed to Steiger's proposal: "You send us to The Russian positions, just come back.”
Miller and Steiger, with a dozen soldiers and flashlights, cautiously walked toward the Soviet position opposite. Halfway through, Steiger asked cautiously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I heard from the Russian radio that the Commander has been captured by the Russians. Is this true?"
"It's true." The matter has reached the point where it is no longer meaningful to hide the officers and soldiers below, so Miller told the truth: "The headquarters has been captured by the Russian troops commanded by Colonel Sokov. Your Excellency, Commander I was also captured by Sokov himself. With the few troops we have left, ammunition and food are almost exhausted. Even if the Russians don't attack us, I'm afraid many people will die of cold and starvation in less than a week. Die. In order to save more lives, General Strekel decided to voluntarily lay down his arms and surrender to the Russians against Berlin's wishes."
"Da da da", everyone was walking forward, and suddenly there was a burst of machine gun shooting in front of them. Upon hearing the gunfire, everyone instinctively fell down on the spot and quickly looked for a hiding place.
Just as he lay down, there was a shout from the other side. Miller quickly asked the translator: "What are the Russians talking about?"
"The other side told us to stop, otherwise they would shoot at us." The frightened translator replied: "They just shot into the sky to warn us. If we go further, they will not be polite."
"Tell them we're here to negotiate," Miller told the translator. "Tell them not to shoot."
The translator quickly lay down on the pile of bricks and shouted tremblingly to the other side: "Don't shoot, don't shoot. We are here to negotiate with you."
The Soviet commanders and fighters hiding in the fortifications, after hearing the Germans' shouting, did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so they called to report to Lyudnikov. When Lyudnikov learned that the German army had sent representatives to negotiate, he quickly told the soldier on the phone: "Let them come over, but for safety reasons, they can only send two people over."
The soldier who received the call quickly shouted towards the square where Miller and others were hiding: "Our division commander agrees that you come to negotiate, but you can only come here with two people."
As soon as he heard that only two people could come, Miller stood up and said to Steiger: "Lieutenant, thank you. Just send them here and leave the rest to me." Then he bent down and handed back the money. The translator who was lying on the ground picked up the translator, dragged him and walked towards the Soviet position.
Soon after, Miller and the translator were brought before Lyudnikov. After looking at the two of them, Lyudnikov asked, "What part are you from and what are you doing here?"
"I am the Chief of Operations of the 11th Infantry Corps. I have come to negotiate surrender with you on the orders of General Strekel." Miller asked respectfully: "I wonder if you can send me to Are you going to General Chuikov?"
Lyudnikov was silent for a moment, picked up the phone on the table, and said into the receiver: "I am Lyudnikov, call me Comrade Commander." The call was quickly connected, and he reported to Chuikov Said, "Comrade Commander, I have two negotiators from the German army here, and they want to see you."
"Talking about sending representatives?!" Chuikov had obviously guessed that the German army would send representatives to negotiate, and asked without any surprise: "Who is coming?"
"It's Lieutenant Colonel Miller, the chief of operations of the 11th Army." After explaining the identity of the visitor, Lyudnikov asked Chuikov for instructions: "Send them to your headquarters?"
"Bring them here." After Chuikov said this, he emphasized: "Bring them here personally."
"Let's go, Lieutenant Colonel Miller." After putting down the phone, Lyudnikov said to Miller: "Our commander agreed to meet you."
In this way, Miller followed Lyudnikov to Chuikov's headquarters.
"You must be the negotiator of the German army." As soon as he walked into the headquarters, a general came forward. After sizing Miller up, he asked straight to the point: "How are you going to negotiate with us when you come here?"
The translator quickly lay down on the pile of bricks and shouted tremblingly to the other side: "Don't shoot, don't shoot. We are here to negotiate with you."
The Soviet commanders and fighters hiding in the fortifications, after hearing the Germans' shouting, did not dare to make the decision without authorization, so they called to report to Lyudnikov. Lyudnikov learned that the German army had sent representatives to negotiate, and he quickly told the soldier on the phone: "Let them come over, but for safety reasons, they can only send two people over."
The soldier who received the call quickly shouted towards the square where Miller and others were hiding: "Our division commander agrees that you come to negotiate, but you can only come here with two people."
As soon as he heard that only two people could come, Miller stood up and said to Steiger: "Lieutenant, thank you. Just send them here and leave the rest to me." Then he bent down and handed back the money. The translator who was lying on the ground picked up the translator, dragged him and walked towards the Soviet position.
Soon after, Miller and the translator were brought before Lyudnikov. After looking at the two of them, Lyudnikov asked, "What part are you from and what are you doing here?"
"I am the Chief of Operations of the 11th Infantry Corps. I have come to negotiate surrender with you on the orders of General Strekel." Miller asked respectfully: "I wonder if you can send me to Are you going to General Chuikov?"
Lyudnikov was silent for a moment, picked up the phone on the table, and said into the receiver: "I am Lyudnikov, call me Comrade Commander." The call was quickly connected, and he reported to Chuikov Said, "Comrade Commander, I have two negotiators from the German army here, and they want to see you."
"Talking about sending representatives?!" Chuikov had obviously guessed that the German army would send representatives to negotiate, and asked without any surprise: "Who is coming?"
"It's Lieutenant Colonel Miller, the chief of operations of the 11th Army." After explaining the identity of the visitor, Lyudnikov asked Chuikov for instructions: "Send them to your headquarters?"
"Bring them here." After Chuikov said this, he emphasized: "Bring them here personally."
"Let's go, Lieutenant Colonel Miller." After putting down the phone, Lyudnikov said to Miller: "Our commander agreed to meet you."
In this way, Miller followed Lyudnikov to Chuikov's headquarters.
"You must be the negotiator of the German army." As soon as he walked into the headquarters, a general came forward. After sizing Miller up, he asked straight to the point: "How are you going to negotiate with us when you come here?"
