The reason why Sokov sat here chatting and did not rush to take Paulus away was because he had many considerations. One was to wait for Rokossovsky's order to determine the place to settle Paulus and ensure that he
safety;
Second, if Paulus is escorted out at this moment, he will be crowded together with ordinary German prisoners, which is also very detrimental to protecting his safety.
It was precisely because of this consideration that Sokov patiently sat with Paulus in the smelly basement and chatted with him.
In this way, after waiting for almost forty minutes, Ivanov and his men came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, all the prisoners in the department store have been taken away. The enemies in the remaining areas have been escorted away.
are surrendering to our army."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Sokov asked rhetorically: "Do the rest of the areas you mentioned refer to the areas controlled by my combat group?"
"No." Ivanov shook his head and replied: "According to the information I received, the troops of the 64th Group Army are accepting the surrender of the German army to our south; and to the west, there are also troops from the 65th and 57th Group Army.
The troops are accepting prisoners."
Sokov knew very well that the areas Ivanov was talking about were all south of Mamayev Heights, but he did not mention a word about the factory area to the north, and then asked: "What about the factory area to the north?"
Where is the area? Have the enemies entrenched there also surrendered?"
Ivanov shook his head and said: "I have no information over there for the time being."
Sokov stood up and asked the radio operator sitting in the corner: "Has the front headquarters received a call back?"
The operator raised his head and replied: "I asked just now, and the other party asked me to wait."
"Waiting?" Ulbricht, who was working as a translator on the side, asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, what does front army headquarters mean?"
Sokov guessed that the reason why Rokossovsky delayed giving him an order may be because he was waiting for a reply from Moscow. After all, this was the first time since the outbreak of the Soviet-German war that such a high-level German commander was captured.
Naturally, he had to take it seriously. He was silent for a moment and replied: "Comrade Ulbricht, General Rokossovsky asked me to wait. Obviously he is still waiting for a reply from Moscow. After all, such a high-ranking official like this
This is the first time we have captured a German general, so we must be very careful in how we deal with him."
"Comrade Colonel, you are right." Ulbricht nodded and replied: "From the outbreak of the war to now, it has been difficult to capture even a German general alive. This time, a German marshal and his men were captured alive.
A group of army commanders and division commanders, this is definitely a great victory."
Paulus, who was sitting aside, felt a little irritated when he saw Sokov and Ulbricht talking in Russian that he did not understand. He coughed lightly, and then interrupted Sokov.
The conversation between the two husbands: "Colonel Sokov, I want to ask another question."
"Marshal Paulus," Sokov said politely when he heard that Paulus wanted to ask him something, "If you have anything to ask, just tell me."
"I have three requests." Paulus held out three fingers and said: "First, I am used to eating two breakfasts a day, and I hope you can satisfy my eating habits when I was in the prisoner of war camp; second, I have to drink from
Ukrainian wine; third, I can read newspapers every day so that I can keep abreast of the situation outside."
After listening to Ulbricht's translation, Sokov smiled bitterly and said to Paulus: "Marshal Paulus, your three requests may seem simple, but they are indeed very difficult to implement. First of all, because in the war,
, a large area of land was occupied by you, and we lost a lot of food production areas, so much so that we had to implement a nationwide rationing system. Everyone has a fixed amount of food every day. To provide you with two breakfasts a day, even if I
Even if you agree, the person responsible for taking care of you will not agree.
Secondly, the Ukrainian wine you want to drink may not satisfy you. After all, the places where these wines are produced are still occupied by the German army. Before our army regains these lost territories, there is no legal way to obtain the wine produced there. However,
I have a suggestion for you, consider Georgian wine, which tastes no worse than Ukrainian wine.”
"Colonel Sokov, what you said makes sense." After listening to Ulbricht's translation, Paulus said to Sokov: "It is indeed too difficult for you to get wine produced in Ukraine. It seems that it is too difficult for you to get wine produced in Ukraine.
I really should change my taste and drink Georgian wine from now on.”
After Sokov laughed dryly twice, he continued: "The third point, you said you want to read a newspaper every day in order to keep abreast of the situation outside. But which newspaper do you want to read? "Izvestia", "Red Star" or "Red Star"
"Pravda"? You know, these newspapers are only in Russian. You wouldn't study Russian just to read the newspaper."
After listening to Sokov's words, Paulus laughed twice, and then said: "Colonel Sokov, you are right. I really can't read Russian newspapers, and it is impossible to learn Russian. What I mean is
Yes, can you find me some newspapers in German? After all, life in a prisoner of war camp will be very boring."
"Marshal Paulus, others may find life miserable in a prisoner of war camp, but that is not the case for you." Sokov comforted Paulus and said: "I think you are in a prisoner of war camp.
You will get the treatment you deserve. Maybe you can often attend some important occasions and get some unexpected benefits."
Regarding Sokov's statement, Paulus was skeptical at first. He could see the certainty in Sokov's words and couldn't help but believe it. After all, the other party was very famous in his army. What he said
If so, the degree of credibility is very high.
At this moment, the radio operator sitting in the corner stood up and said to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, there is a call from the front army headquarters."
"What did the telegram say?" When Sokov heard that it was a call from the Front Army Headquarters, he quickly asked nervously: "Where should we place Paulus?"
“The telegram said,” the operator said hesitantly, “that Paulus should be handed over to the 64th Army immediately, and Ruskin, the Army’s chief of staff, will personally come to receive the prisoner.”
"What, hand over Paulus to the 64th Army?" Sokov rushed to the telegraph operator, snatched the message from his hand, and read it carefully. At this moment, how much he wanted the telegraph operator to
Because the light in the room was too dark, the reporter misread the contents of the telegram.
But after he read the telegram five or six times, he found that there was no difference between what the operator said and what was in the telegram. He fell weakly on a chair nearby and thought sadly: He thought he had spent so much effort
After all the hard work, he finally took the credit for capturing Paulus alive into his arms. Who would have thought that a telegram from his superior would wipe out all his credit.
This chapter has been completed!