The 756th Regiment of the 150th Division fought tenaciously with the enemy in the Capitol. Although they occupied the first to third floors, the remaining enemies refused to surrender and were still resisting. The Soviet commanders and soldiers could only start a chase with the enemy. Fight the enemies in every room.
As more and more Soviet commanders and fighters entered the Capitol, the occupation moved in a direction that was beneficial to the Soviet army. The three soldiers responsible for planting the assault flag on the top of the building followed the assault force and cautiously moved towards the top of the building. They were ready to plant the red flag on the top of the building as quickly as possible.
Holding the red flag, Berest bent down and, under the cover of Yegorov and Kantaria, rushed along the stairs to the roof. As soon as the three of them climbed onto the roof, they encountered two German soldiers. The other party did not expect that Soviet commanders and fighters would suddenly appear at this moment. They were all stunned and could not even think of shooting. But Yegorov and Kantaria, whose nerves were always at a high level, pulled the trigger on the enemy without hesitation and knocked the opponent to the ground.
The sound of gunfire alerted nearby enemies, who rushed over from all directions, trying to eliminate the Soviet soldiers who rushed to the roof. However, Berest and others had already seized the favorable terrain and used the submachine guns in their hands to shoot at the charging enemies. The enemies who were caught off guard suddenly fell to the ground.
Seeing that the enemy was setting up a machine gun not far away, Berest was worried that the machine gun's shooting would damage the assault flag, so he quickly handed the flag to Yegorov, and with the help of the cover of the roof pillar, he quickly reached for the enemy's machine gun. position. When he was still about ten meters away, he pulled a grenade and threw it towards the opponent. After a loud "boom", the enemy's machine gun position was destroyed.
Berest rushed up quickly and found that although the grenade killed the enemy's machine gunner and assistant shooter, the machine gun was not damaged, and he couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He quickly set up his machine gun, aimed at the backs of the German troops rushing towards the entrance, and suddenly pulled the trigger. Click, click, click. Amidst the series of shooting sounds, the running German soldiers were shaken, twitched as if they were electrocuted, and soon fell to the ground.
There were only about thirty German soldiers upstairs, and under the attack of Brest and his two comrades, they were all quickly wiped out.
"Berest!" Egorov ran over holding the assault flag and asked Berest, "What should we do next?"
"Egorov, don't forget what our mission is? It is to plant the assault flag on the dome of the Parliament Building." Berest climbed onto a statue, then stretched out his hand to Yegorov and commanded He said: "Give me the assault flag!"
Yegorov handed the flag to Berest, who took the flag, looked at the surrounding environment, and inserted it into the hole on the top of the statue. After inserting it, he shook it with his hand and found that it was very stable. There was no need to worry about falling, so he lowered the statue and said to his two comrades: "We have completed the task of planting the flag. All that remains is to guard the flag." Here, don’t let the Germans rush up and tear off our flags.”
As soon as the flag was placed on the roof, Shatilov saw it. He put down the telescope, clenched his fist and waved it violently, saying excitedly: "Well done, brothers, we finally planted the flag on the top of the Capitol." The next moment, he said to the communications soldier, "Hurry up. Get me the commander."
Soon, Kuznetsov received a call from Shatilov and learned that the flag had been planted on the roof of the Parliament Building. He couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly: "Comrade Shatilov, you did a great job. It's really great." I didn't expect that you would plant the red flag on the roof of the Capitol so quickly." But soon, he thought of a question and asked quickly, "By the way, is the fighting in the building over?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Shatilov said: "Although we have planted the flag on the top of the Capitol Building, the enemies in the building are still resisting stubbornly. The battle is extremely fierce. I am afraid it will take some time to complete. .”
"That's such a pity." After hearing this, Kuznetsov said with regret on his face: "When I learned that the Capitol Building was occupied, I planned to go and see it myself. Now it seems that I don't know how long it will take. .”
"Comrade Commander, even if our troops completely occupy the Capitol Building, I do not recommend that you go now."
"Why?"
"The reason is very simple," Shatilov explained: "There are many buildings around, all controlled by the enemy. There may be snipers in these buildings. Once they find a general appearing on the battlefield, they will definitely If you use cold shots, your life safety will not be guaranteed. I think that even if you want to inspect, you have to wait until we have completely eliminated all enemies in the building."
"Okay, General Shatilov, I will listen to you and not inspect the Capitol building for the time being."
After finishing the call with Shatilov, Kuznetsov immediately called the front army headquarters and reported to Zhukov about placing the red flag on the roof of the Capitol. Unexpectedly, Zhukov had already learned the news through other news channels. Therefore, after listening to what Kuznetsov said, he said coldly: "General Kuznetsov, it is not enough just to put the red flag on the roof of the Capitol Building. All the enemies inside must be eliminated. This is true occupation. Do you understand?"
"clear."
"Now that we understand, we will increase our offensive intensity and be sure to annihilate all enemies in the Capitol."
The fighting continued until four o'clock in the morning the next day. Suddenly a trumpet sounded from the direction of the Brandenburg Gate: "Ceasefire, we request a ceasefire! Ceasefire, we request a ceasefire!"
This direction happened to be the direction Chuikov's 8th Guards Army was attacking. Hearing the shouts of the German army, the commander below immediately reported to Chuikov: "Comrade Commander, the Germans have issued a request for a ceasefire. I don't know. What are your instructions?"
When Chuikov heard that the Germans could no longer hold on, they might send someone over to negotiate, so he decisively ordered: "Order the troops to stop attacking the Germans. I want to see what they want to do."
As the gunfire on the Soviet position stopped, the content of the German broadcast changed again: "We are about to send negotiators to your place for negotiations. There is a white flag hanging on the vehicle they are riding in. Please do not ask them. Shoot. Repeat, we are about to send negotiators..."
When Chuikov heard this, he was happy. It was just as he had guessed. The Germans requested a ceasefire just to send people to negotiate. While he ordered the troops to let the German negotiators arrive, he called Zhukov and reported to him that the German army was preparing to send people to negotiate.
After listening, Zhukov nodded and said: "If the Germans can take the initiative to lay down their weapons and surrender, then our army's casualties can be reduced. Comrade Chuikov, you will receive the German negotiators in your headquarters. In addition, I Deputy Commander Sokolovsky will be sent to assist you.”
The negotiator sent by the German army was Army Chief of Staff General Hans Krebs. After the barrel truck he was riding entered the Soviet defense zone, someone came to greet him immediately. At the same time, the translator said with a serious expression: "Mr. General, please hand over your weapons before going to the negotiation location."
Krebs raised his head and glanced at the interpreter in front of him, and said coldly: "I'm here to negotiate, not to fight. What weapons should I bring?"
Hearing what Krebs said, the translator could only turn his message to the commander in charge of responding. After hearing this, the other party waved his hand and said disapprovingly: "It doesn't matter. Even if he is armed, just these few of them can't afford to make waves. Okay, let them follow me, I will lead them Go see the commander."
A quarter of an hour later, Krebs walked into Chuikov's headquarters with his adjutant.
In the luxurious conference room, there was a long conference table. General Sokolovsky, deputy commander of the 1st Belarusian Front, and General Chuikov, commander of the 8th Guards Army, sat at the other end of the table.
After the translator introduced Sokolovsky and Chuikov to Krebs, he made a gesture of invitation to Krebs, indicating that he could come to speak in front of them.
Krebs nodded, stepped in front of Sokolovsky and Chuikov, bowed slightly and stood there, waiting for the other party to speak first. Sokolovsky nodded at him, and then said: "General Krebs, please explain your purpose."
Krebs said: "My two generals, I think I should first inform you that Adolf Hitler committed suicide in the bunker on April 30."
As soon as he finished speaking, the whole room suddenly became quiet. Both Sokolovsky and Chuikov looked at Krebs with wide eyes in surprise. They all thought that the other party was the negotiator sent by Mustache, but unexpectedly the other party revealed such earth-shattering news, how could they not be shocked.
After a while, Sokolovsky winked at Chuikov and motioned him to report the situation here to Zhukov. Chuikov nodded with understanding, stood up and walked to the communication room next to him, preparing to inform Zhukov of the shocking news via phone.
Sokolovsky, who continued to stay in the conference room, asked Krebs to sit down and listened to him continue: "Admiral Dönitz was appointed as the new head of state, and Dr. Goebbels was appointed. Appointed chancellor, the old German government no longer exists.”
Having said this, Krebs was silent for a moment, and then said: "Dr. Goebbels authorized me to ask you to suspend the war for one day. In order to allow Admiral Dönitz and his new government to arrive in Berlin."
"No, General Krebs." Sokolovsky stood up and said seriously: "We will not cease fire. Whether it is an hour or a day, we cannot agree to it. Your only choice is, It’s total unconditional surrender.”
After hearing this, Krebs had a troubled expression on his face: "But General, my mission is to ask you for a ceasefire, but I have not received any authorization for surrender negotiations."
"Then a lot of people will die." Sokolovsky walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back and said, "I think you should understand that if you don't know how to fight, every minute and every second will... People kept dying.”
Seeing that Sokolovsky rejected his request, Krebs asked reluctantly: "Your Excellency, General, could you please convey our intention to request a ceasefire to Marshal Zhukov and Moscow?"
"The answer will still be the same." After saying that, Sokolovsky issued an expulsion order to the other party: "General Krebs, since you are not authorized to negotiate surrender, let's find a qualified person to negotiate. .”
Krebs never dreamed that he would risk crossing the line of fire and arrive at Chuikov's headquarters. After saying a few words, he was unceremoniously kicked out by Sokolovsky. He stood up and smiled bitterly. After a moment, he said helplessly: "Okay, General, since that's the case, I'll go back and convey your intention to Dr. Goebbels to see if he is willing to send authorized personnel to conduct new negotiations."
"We will wait for your further reply." Sokolovsky said: "Ending this battlefield as soon as possible is very beneficial to both you and me, so that more innocent lives can be saved."
Krebs bowed to Sokolovsky again, then turned around and left the conference room with his adjutant, preparing to rush back as soon as possible to report the results of the negotiations here to Goebbels to see if he could What a reaction.
Watching Krebs leave, Sokolovsky turned and asked Chuikov: "Chuikov, what did Marshal Zhukov say?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, I think you must have understood the intention of Comrade Marshal." Chuikov replied: "He has the same idea as you, that is, he will not accept any ceasefire proposal and must require the other party to make a comprehensive and unconditional surrender. This is his Bottom line.”
"That's good, that's good." After hearing Chuikov's reply, Sokolovsky breathed a sigh of relief. He was deeply afraid that he would be blamed by Zhukov for making his own decisions. Since the other party's ideas were different from his own Same, then there is nothing to worry about.
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Chuikov asked reluctantly, "Is this the end of the negotiations between us and the Germans?"
"General Chuikov, this is just the first test." Sokolovsky said with a smile: "If I guess correctly, tomorrow at the latest, the Germans will send negotiators again to discuss surrender with us. , I am very confident about it.”
"Well, I have the same confidence." Since Chuikov learned that Mustache had committed suicide, he felt more confident. He knew the psychological pillar of the mustachioed Germans. Now that this pillar has collapsed, the resistance consciousness of the Berlin defenders will be ended. It seems that this battle will not last a few days and will be declared over.
