After Colonel Billing received the surrender letter sent by Schechtman, he read it aloud in front of his political workers: "It was I who captured Marshal Paulus in the basement of the Stalingrad department store;
It was me who killed Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division in Barvinkovo, and captured alive the acting division commander, Colonel Simon;
It was I who annihilated the Imperial divisions the first time at Barvinkovo and the second time at Oboyan;
It was me who killed the commander of the 6th Armored Division, General von Hornadorf, in the Prokhorovka area...
I am Major General Sokov of the 27th Army of the Soviet Red Army.
Now you have no possibility of breaking through our army's encirclement. You have fallen into a desperate situation and there is no point in continuing to resist. In this situation where there is no way out for you, in order to avoid bloodshed and sacrifice in vain, we suggest that you lay down your arms and surrender to our army.
I promise you with my own honor: as long as you lay down your arms and surrender, I can guarantee the life safety of all officers and soldiers who stop resisting, whether they are Wehrmacht or SS;
I will provide normal food and drink to all surrendered officers and soldiers, and provide medical treatment to all injured officers and soldiers.
Once the war is over, you will return to Germany or the country you want to go to in the shortest possible time to reunite with your family. "
The political workers in the room listened to Billin reading out Sokov's letter of persuasion to surrender, and asked with doubts: "Political Commissar, do you think this letter of persuasion to surrender written by Comrade Commander will be effective? You know, those who are surrounded by us The German troops are all SS, and they will not surrender easily."
"Comrade Commander said that if the enemy does not surrender, we will destroy them." After Billing said this decisively, he ordered a political worker: "Comrade Captain, help me prepare a propaganda vehicle later. I will use the car’s loudspeaker to shout to the surrounded German troops, hoping that they will lay down their weapons and surrender.”
"Comrade Political Commissar," knowing that Billing was going to take action in person, the political workers present were a little worried and quickly dissuaded him: "Our propaganda vehicles are all modified trucks, and the safety factor is not high. Let alone artillery shells, even bullets If you can’t stop it, you’d better not go.”
Billing knew that his subordinates said this for the sake of his own safety. After scanning everyone one by one, he asked with a smile: "If any of you speaks German better than me, I can let him He went on this mission.”
Many political workers immediately fell silent when they heard Billing ask this question. When it comes to who has the highest level of German in the division, if Colonel Billing is ranked second, no one would dare to rank first, not even a specialized translator.
"Since no one has a higher level of German than me," Billing had already guessed the result. He said with a smile, "Then I will take a propaganda van and go to the Germans to speak out."
…………
Just as Colonel Billing rode in a propaganda vehicle to shout to the besieged German troops, Vatutin learned about the enemies near October Farm through his own unique news channel. After being attacked from two sides, the remnants of the army were already trapped in a heavy trap. surrounded.
After getting the news, he immediately woke up Zhukov and Vasilevsky who were sleeping in the next room, and reported to them: "Two comrades, marshals, I'm sorry to wake you up from your sleep, but I have important information I have to report to you.”
Although he was awakened from his sweet dream by Vatutin, Zhukov was not angry at all. He asked lightly: "Comrade Vatutin, please tell us, what happened?"
"Well, my subordinates reported to me that Sokov's troops unexpectedly launched an attack on the German troops near the October Farm. With the cooperation of General Baharov's 18th Tank Corps, the enemy suffered huge losses Loss." When Vatutin reported the battle situation, he pushed the map on the table in front of Zhukov: "Now the remaining enemies are surrounded in this small area."
"This is simply unbelievable." After listening to Vatutin's report, Vasilevsky said with some excitement: "The 18th Tank Army fought with this German army for two days and was unable to expand the occupied area. Unexpectedly, Once Cove's troops attacked, they inflicted huge losses on the enemy and had to shrink into such a narrow area."
Compared with Vasilevskiy's excitement, Zhukov appeared very calm. He stared expressionlessly at the enemy and friend situations on the map, and the expression on his face did not change at all. He has an inexplicable trust in Sokov. In his mind, there is no battle that Sokov cannot win.
After staring at the map for a while, he picked up a pencil and tapped on the location of Simon's division headquarters, and asked: "Comrade Vatutin, where is the division headquarters of the Skeleton Division? Did Sokov send troops to attack?" "
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Vatutin quickly continued to report: "According to the intelligence I obtained, Sokov's troops first launched an attack on the headquarters of the Skeleton Division. After success, they divided into two groups. At the same time, launch an attack on the Skeleton Division troops on both wings."
"Since their assault on the Skeleton Division headquarters was successful, did they capture Simon?" Vasilevsky said: "If Simon is captured again, he will become Sokov's prisoner for the second time. . Even if he can be rescued by his subordinates this time, I think he will have no shame in serving as the commander of the Skeleton Division again."
"I know Misha." Zhukov continued: "If he catches Simon, he will definitely report to us as soon as possible. Since there has been no movement until now, it proves that they did not capture Simon when they captured the Skeleton Division headquarters. Live in Simon." After saying this, he looked at Vatutin and asked, "How is the progress of his troops?"
"The troops on the right wing, under the cover of artillery fire, successfully broke through the defense line of the Skeleton Division Grenadier Regiment and drove the enemy towards the defense area of the Flag Guard Division." Vatutin pointed at the map and explained to Zhukov: " But the troops on their left wing stopped attacking after completing the encirclement of the remaining German troops."
"Stop attacking?" Zhukov couldn't help but frowned when he heard this: "Why?"
"It is said, it is said," Vatutin glanced at Zhukov, who had a frosty face, and said cautiously: "In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, General Sokov plans to send people to persuade the besieged German troops to surrender."
"Nonsense, this is simply nonsense." Vasilevsky shook his head and said: "The troops surrounded by them are not ordinary Wehrmacht troops, but SS troops who are loyal to Mustache. How could they surrender? Woolen cloth."
"Comrade Vasilevsky, you should not draw conclusions too early." But Zhukov retorted: "Maybe Misha has a way to make the remaining troops lay down their arms and surrender, maybe."
