Sokov felt very embarrassed about the task assigned to him by Rokosovsky. It was simple to say but another thing to do. The Germans are not at the end of their journey. Not to mention Sokov, even Rokosovsky himself would not work.
But the order is the order. Since Rokosovsky had already given the task, Sokov could only agree. As soon as he returned to Mamayev, he called several of his deputy in front of him, repeated Rokosovsky's order, and asked, "Tell me, how should we persuade the Germans to surrender?"
"Comrade Commander, before answering your question, I want to ask." Cidolin asked cautiously: "How many troops and equipment have the superiors added to the city?"
"In terms of force, a fortification unit was added, which was composed of command bodies and some small teams with powerful firearms." Sokov replied: "But the equipment, unfortunately, is still exactly the same as before."
"Is there only one unit in the fortification area?" Seeing Sokov nodding to affirm his problem, Sidorin showed a puzzled expression on his face: "In other words, the superiors only added a few thousand people to the city, and at best they can only fill the vacancy of the transfer of troops. In comparison with the enemy's and our troops inside and outside the city, our army is still at an absolute disadvantage. Comrade Commander, in this case, it is a fantasy to persuade the enemy to surrender."
"The Chief of Staff is right." Sokov did not go around in circles in order to make everyone realize the seriousness of the problem, but said bluntly: "Even if we send people to persuade us to surrender, the Germans will not pay attention to us. On the contrary, comrades who perform this task will encounter danger."
"Comrade of the Division," Anisimov said anxiously when he learned that those who went to persuade the surrender would encounter danger, "Since he knew that the surrender was ineffective and that the comrades who went there were also dangers, I think it would be better to give up this futile action."
"No." Sokov shook his head and said, "Even if he knows that persuading surrender will not have any effect, the comrades who go to persuade surrender will encounter danger, and we must try it."
"Why is this, comrade in command?" Anisimov asked in confusion: "Knowing that there is no effect, the comrades who persuade them to surrender will be in danger, so why bother to take this risk?"
"It is only a matter of time before the siege of German troops." Sokov explained to the three of them: "The reason why we sent people to persuade them to surrender this time is to let the surrounded German troops understand that they have fallen into our siege, and resistance is meaningless and completely break their fantasy of being rescued. This is very helpful to our next battle."
After Sokov ended, everyone understood the importance of this persuasion. Ivanov asked first, "Comrade Commander, I don't know who you plan to send to carry out the mission of persuasion? The person who went there was too low, the enemy would think we were teasing them, and maybe they would kill the comrades we sent; it would be not good to have a high position. If the enemy turned against each other, we would sacrifice an excellent commander."
"Comrade instructor," Sidolin asked at Sokov, "Do you have a suitable candidate?"
"I think, let Lieutenant Samoilov go." Ivanov pondered for a moment and replied in front of Sokov: "No matter what, he is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and it is perfect for him to persuade surrender."
"No, his rank is too low." Sokov interrupted in time and said, "I think Captain Guchakov should do this task. He used to be a prisoner of the Germans and suffered a lot in the prisoner-of-war camp. I think he would be happy to finish something like this proud thing to him."
Regarding the candidate proposed by Sokov, Sidolin and Ivanov discussed a few words in a low voice and nodded in agreement with Sokov: "Okay, comrade in the division, let Captain Guchakov perform this task. In addition, which translator do you plan to send? Also, where should we go to persuade the Germans to surrender?"
"The new commander of the front army will send someone to send a letter of surrender. Captain Guchakov's mission is to find a way to transfer the letter of surrender to Paulus." Sokov thought about the candidate for the translation in his mind and said, "As for the translation, I think let Corporal Ernst go. Now, Comrade Chief of Staff, please call Captain Guchakov first and ask him to come to the division headquarters to accept the task."
After receiving the notice, Guchakov rushed over in just half an hour. On a cold day, when he walked into the division command center and took off his hat, Sokov saw sweat on his forehead. Guchakov raised his hand to salute several division leaders and asked respectfully: "Captain Guchakov, the company commander of the 9th Company of the Third Battalion, was ordered to come, please give instructions!"
"Captain, please come here." Sokov waved to him, called him to the wall, pointed to the map hanging on the wall and said to him: "We are about to launch a new offensive against the Germans. Before the attack begins, there is a difficult and glorious task to be handed over to you to complete."
Since he led his troops to attack the enemy last time, he achieved great results and was promoted to captain, Guchakov has become keen on carrying out various difficult tasks. Although the tasks are very dangerous, it is easy to make merits. Therefore, he said to Sokov respectfully: "Comrade Commander, please give orders. I promise you to resolutely complete the tasks you assigned to me."
"It's so. Due to the powerful offensive attack of our army, Manstein's army group was defeated, and the invaders were driven by our army to Kharkov, Lugansk and Rostov on the Don River. The morale of the besieged enemy began to decline. Not only the soldiers and officers, but even the generals no longer believed that they could break out." Sokov told Guchakov: "At this time, we must take some special measures to make the German officers and soldiers more depressed."
This was the first time Guchakov heard the exact news of victory from Sokov. His face turned red due to excitement and asked anxiously: "Comrade Commander, I wonder what special measures are you going to take?"
"You take Corporal Ernst to the German position." Sokov said with a smile: "You can find a way to hand over the surrender letter written by Comrade Commander of the Front to Paulus."
"Transfer the letter of persuasion to Paulus?" Hearing the task assigned by Sokov, Guchakov showed a embarrassed expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, I am worried that before I get close to the enemy's position, I will be shot by the German army."
Chapter completed!