Krebs was a soldier who kept his word. After returning to the bunker, he repeated the Soviet army's request to Goebbels and said: "Dr. Goebbels, I have completed my mission. If you still If you want to find someone to negotiate with the Russians, please find someone else!" After saying that, before Goebbels could speak, he turned and walked out of the room.
After leaving Goebbels' room, Krebs walked forward expressionlessly along the corridor. Although many officers saluted him along the way, he did not notice it at all and continued to move forward mechanically. pace.
Entering his room, Krebs closed the door. After a brief silence, a dull gunshot sounded from inside the house.
An officer happened to be passing by the door and heard gunshots coming from inside the house. He was stunned for a moment, then reached out to push the door, but did not push it open. He took two steps back, then rushed forward, bumped several times, and finally broke the door open.
I saw Krebs leaning on the sofa, his eyes slightly closed, as if he was still meditating. The pistol fell on the floor beside him. The air was filled with a strong smell of gunpowder, and a wisp of blood flowed from his cheek. It flowed like a red stream, dyeing the military uniform on his shoulders red.
As the Chief of Staff of the German Army, Krebs' suicide was not a trivial matter. Someone immediately reported the matter to Goebbels and asked him for instructions on how to dispose of Krebs' body. But Goebbels was silent for a long time after hearing this, and then sighed and said: "Let him stay there. By the way, find a piece of white cloth to cover his body."
After the officer left, Goebbels sat at the table in a daze for a long time. It was not until he noticed someone putting a hand on his shoulder that he woke up from his meditation. He didn't look back, and he knew that the person putting her hand on his shoulder was his wife. He put his right hand on the back of the other person's hand and asked softly: "When did you come?"
"I've been here for a while," Mrs. Goebbels replied, "I saw you were thinking about something, so I didn't bother you."
"Madam!" Goebbels hesitated and felt that he should tell his wife about the current situation: "Our defeat is inevitable. Maybe in two or three days, or even shorter, the Russians will charge Everyone who entered this bunker would either be killed or become prisoners of the Russians."
"Didn't you send General Krebs to negotiate with the Russians today and ask them to cease the war for a day?" Mrs. Goebbels said in surprise: "Didn't his negotiations make progress?"
"Our request was rejected by the Russians." Goebbels said with a wry smile: "They said we could only surrender unconditionally, otherwise there would be no ceasefire."
"In that case, our failure is only a matter of time."
"Yes, that's exactly what I want to tell you." Goebbels said seriously: "Now that we have reached the last moment, we should also make the final choice."
"I understand." Mrs. Goebbels nodded and said, "I will not let the Russians catch me and hang me upside down from the flagpole in the square like Mussolini's mistress."
Goebbels patted his wife gently twice on the arm, and then said: "And our children cannot be allowed to become prisoners of the Russians."
Hearing what Goebbels said, a trace of panic flashed across Mrs. Goebbels's face. But her expression quickly returned to normal, and she said calmly: "I know what to do. Don't worry, I won't let any child become a prisoner of the Russians. Rather than living in humiliation, it's better to live in glory." Die."
After his wife left, Goebbels put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. He did not allow anyone to see him crying. If you don't want the children to become prisoners of the enemy, you can only kill them all before they become prisoners. This is the best outcome for them.
"Dr. Goebbels," an officer stood at the door and asked Goebbels, "I just received a call from outside, saying that the Russians fired at our defense area again. It seems that they will soon A full-scale attack will be launched."
Goebbels wiped a handful on his face, then stood up, pretending to be nonchalant and said: "Tell our soldiers to fight to the last man, to use up the last bullet, and never to surrender to the Russians."
After sending the officers away, Goebbels raised his hand and looked at the time and found that an hour had passed. He stepped outside and wanted to see where the children lived to see if his wife had finished her work.
When I passed the hall, I found that it was a complete mess. The officers and staff who used to be orderly were now drinking crazily, trying to anesthetize their nerves through alcohol. There were even some female operators and military officers who held an unobstructed meeting in the corner.
If in peacetime, Goebbels would definitely deal with these people seriously if he saw such things that were detrimental to military discipline. But now is the time when the building is about to collapse and everyone is in danger. There is no need to worry about this kind of thing anymore. So Goebbels only glanced a few times, and then walked over without looking back.
When he came to the room where the children lived, Goebbels found that in addition to his wife, there were also military doctors, and several of his children were lying on the bed.
He did not have the courage to check whether the children were alive or dead, so he could only turn his attention to his wife, hoping to get the answer he wanted from her mouth.
Seeing the gaze cast by her husband, Mrs. Goebbels naturally understood what the other party wanted to know. She shook her head first, and then said: "The doctor has softened his heart and cannot take action."
"Madam Doctor," the doctor said in a panic, "I have no right to do anything to these children. I suggest that they be handed over to the International Red Cross. Maybe they will get the preferential treatment they deserve and can continue to live."
"Doctor, they are Goebbels' children." Mrs. Goebbels said expressionlessly: "We will never leave them to the Russians." After saying that, she reached out and took the medicine prepared in the doctor's hand. , turned around and walked towards the bed. The lethal potion was fed into the children's mouths one by one.
After doing all this, she straightened her appearance, came to Goebbels, and said calmly: "It's our turn next."
Goebbels and his wife walked out of the room arm in arm and walked down the corridor to the exit of the bunker.
Arriving at the steps leading to the exit, Goebbels said to a soldier standing guard here: "When we go up the steps later, you shoot us in the head from behind!"
Goebbels' order startled the soldier, and he replied in a panic: "Mr. Doctor, I can't shoot you..."
But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Goebbels: "Do you want us to become prisoners of the Russians, and then hang upside down from the flagpole in the square like Mussolini and his wife? This is The last order, execute it!"
Seeing Goebbels's harsh tone, the soldier had no choice but to take off the submachine gun slung on his shoulder and pull the bolt. After Goebbels and his wife passed by him, he slowly raised the muzzle of the gun and aimed at the back of their heads. When they were almost in front of the iron gate, the soldier suddenly pulled the trigger...
Goebbels's death left the people in the bunker leaderless. After some discussion, several generals decided to invite the newly appointed Berlin city defense commander, General Weidling, to the bunker to preside over the army.
Weidelin, who was directing the troops in the headquarters, received a call from the bunker. He hurried to the bunker without asking what happened. A few days ago, his headquarters was surrounded by Soviet troops, but while he was still directing the battle, someone reported to Mustache that he had surrendered to the Soviet army. As a result, Mustache became so angry that he directly sentenced himself to death.
Fortunately, Weidelin arrived at the bunker in time and explained what happened to Mustache himself. After understanding the situation, Mustache, out of guilt for Weidling, appointed him as Berlin's new city defense commander, responsible for commanding the troops in the city to fight the Soviet army. When he received the call at this moment, he was worried that someone would say bad things about him in front of Mustache again. He had to arrive before things got worst.
But when Weidelin arrived at the bunker, he heard some bad news.
First of all, his own mustache, the head of state, committed suicide yesterday together with his new wife Eva; Dr. Goebbels, the supreme commander in the bunker, and his wife, after poisoning all their children, let the soldiers from He shot himself in the back; and Army Chief of Staff General Krebs, who was sent to the Soviet position for negotiations by Goebbels, came back to report
After explaining the situation, he committed suicide in his room.
After hearing this series of bad news, a terrible thought came to Weidling's mind: "It's over! The Führer is dead! Dr. Goebbels is dead too! Even General Krebs, who was sent to negotiate with the Russians, He also committed suicide! Is it necessary to continue this battle?"
With such doubts, he asked the generals who summoned him: "Gentlemen, generals, what do you think?"
"The Führer is dead, and so is Dr. Goebbels." A general said: "If we continue to fight, we have no hope of victory at all. So I think we should adopt the Russians' suggestion, lay down our weapons and surrender to them unconditionally .”
If Mustache was still alive and the general dared to say such words, he would immediately be dragged out and killed by Mustache's orders. Even if Mustache is dead, if Goebbels is still alive, he will order someone to take care of him and wait for him to deal with it later. But now that these two key figures are dead, the only person who can make the decision is the trusted commander of city defense, General Weidelin. He is a loyal man. Even if the other party suggests how to pierce his ears, he will not casually order someone to pierce his ears. Drag them out and shoot them or imprison them temporarily.
Instead, he was still thinking hard about whether he should take the general's advice and start surrender negotiations with the Russians again.
"Generals and gentlemen!" Weidelin looked at everyone and asked, "I would like to ask, who agrees to surrender to the Russians? If you agree, please raise your hands!"
There were seven or eight generals present, but only the general who made the suggestion raised his hand. The other generals stood aside expressionlessly and said nothing.
"Why, generals and gentlemen, you are not willing to surrender?" Weidelin asked.
Everyone remained silent and continued to remain silent.
"I just came back from the front line, and the Russian attack was very fierce." Weideling said: "If we have enough ammunition and supplies, then there is still hope to continue to hold on and wait for General Wenck's reinforcements to arrive. But there is still hope. The actual situation today is that the ammunition we have can only last for one more day. In this case, how can we hold Berlin? Therefore, I think negotiating with the Russians is the best option."
Regarding Weidelin's statement, a lieutenant general immediately retorted: "Your Majesty General, how can we surrender to the Russians? Even if we have no ammunition, we can still fight the Russians with bayonets. With the level of our soldiers, it is completely possible Defeat the Russians, even if they cannot defeat them, you can still inflict huge casualties on them."
"Paulus is right." Weidling said unexpectedly: "The 6th Army was surrounded by the Russians in Stalingrad. Our army sent the troops of General Manstein and Holt to relieve the siege, but they did not Success. In order to save more innocent lives, Paulus decisively ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Russians, thus saving tens of thousands of officers and soldiers. Today, we are faced with the same choice as Paulus was, which is If we continue to fight, more people will die; or should we surrender to the Russians like General Paulus? Please give me an accurate answer!"
Facing Weidelin's questioning, several generals discussed quietly for a while and finally reached an agreement to lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally to the Soviet army.
"Well, since you all think you should choose the road of surrender, then I will be responsible for the surrender negotiations." Weidelin said with a serious expression: "Even if I have to bear the infamy, I will bear it alone. "
The reason why several generals called Weidelin over was to make him take the blame. Now that their goal was achieved, they stopped saying anything. Instead, they nodded and agreed with Weidelin's statement and let him serve as a negotiator to negotiate with the Russians.
"I'm tired, can you help me find a place to rest?" Weidelin looked at everyone and asked: "I haven't slept for several days. When I wake up, I will go to negotiate with the Russians."
Knowing that Weidelin wanted to rest, these generals who were eager to shirk the blame did not dare to neglect and quickly arranged a single room for him to avoid being disturbed while he was resting.
When Weidling entered the room, he said to the generals: "You can now send people to contact the Russians and say that I will enter their defense zone as a plenipotentiary representative to launch a new round of negotiations."
"Don't worry, General.
"A general laughed and said: "We will convey your wishes to the Russians in time. I believe that when you enter their defense zone, you will not be shot by the Russians."
The general who said this already knew that Chuikov was shot coldly by a corporal of his own side before negotiating in the fighting area between the two armies in the morning, and was also wounded. However, the Germans also paid a heavy price for this matter. The area where the German Corporal Polis was located became the focus of Soviet artillery fire. The position was soon shrouded in gunpowder smoke, with flames shooting into the sky and continuous explosions. There was a loud sound.
The German generals knew that this was the Soviet army's revenge for Chuikov's cold shooting. Otherwise, how could it be possible that the artillery fire had been bombarded for hours, but they had not launched a ground attack. This is obviously unreasonable.
