The German soldiers who escorted Sokov back did not point their guns at them again. When the car arrived in front of the Soviet position, the German lieutenant stopped the car, turned around and said to Sokov respectfully: "Mr. Colonel, are you here?"
place."
After listening to Ernst's translation, Sokov took off the black cloth covering his eyes, blinked hard, adjusted to the surrounding light, and found that he had indeed reached the front of the drawdown regiment's position.
Seeing that he had arrived, Sokov nodded to the German lieutenant who was escorting him back and said politely: "Thank you, Lieutenant."
"This is what I should do, Mr. Colonel." The German lieutenant opened the door and got out of the car, raised his hand to salute Sokov, turned around and walked into the parked car. After getting in the car, he told the driver: "
drive!"
As soon as the German vehicle left, a man jumped out of the trench, trotted over, and shouted: "Comrade Division Commander, thank God, you are finally back safely."
Sokov recognized the driver's voice and quickly shouted: "Comrade driver, hurry up and drive the car to the regiment command post."
A few minutes later, Sokov walked into Belkin's regiment command post. Seeing Sokov appear, Belkin dropped what he was doing, stepped forward and gave him a warm hug, and then asked with some concern
: "Misha, why have you been gone for so long? I was worried that something might happen to you."
"What can happen to me?" Sokov smiled faintly and replied: "Now the Germans have reached a point of desperation. They would like our army to send representatives to negotiate with them. How can they be disadvantageous to me?"
"How was it?" Belkin asked impatiently: "How did the Germans respond?"
Sokov did not answer Belkin's question immediately, but scanned the room with his eyes. Belkin, who understood clearly, immediately said to the staff officers and communications soldiers in the command post: "You all go out first, I and I
The teacher has important things to discuss."
Upon hearing Belkin's order, the staff and communications soldiers all stood up, turned around and walked out of the command post. Only Sokov, Belkin, Chief of Staff Captain Vanya and regimental political commissar Demi were left in the command post.
Terry.
Seeing that only the most important officers of the regiment were left in the room, Sokov said truthfully: "I met Paulus. He was very pessimistic about the current situation and wanted to surrender. But.
"Paulus was a professional soldier. He always adhered to the principle that it is the duty of soldiers to obey orders." Sokov said with a wry smile: "Although he was tempted to surrender, whether he ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender, he still had to surrender.
Hitler asked for instructions."
"Ask Hitler for instructions." Belkin said with a sneer: "In my opinion, it is strange that the other party agreed to Paulus's request."
"You are right, Comrade Political Commissar." Sokov continued: "Paulus asked his chief of staff, General Schmidt, to send a telegram to Berlin to give a detailed report on the situation here.
However, his application was rejected by Hitler, who also ordered him to fight to the last man and bullet."
"If the Germans really want to fight us to the end," Belkin said with a frown, "if they have to eliminate so many enemies, our army's casualties will definitely not be small."
"Yes, there are at least more than 200,000 Germans left. To eliminate them, we will definitely pay a huge price." Sokov remembered that only more than 90,000 Germans were captured in the end. In other words, in the remaining
Within half a month, more than 100,000 German troops would be killed, and the price paid by the Soviet army would be equal to that of the enemy: "But in order to achieve the final victory, this price is still very worth it."
"It's getting late." Seeing that it was getting dark outside, Belgin persuaded Sokov for the sake of his safety, "You'd better stay at the regiment headquarters for the night and leave after dawn."
"No, I still need to rush back to the division headquarters to report the status of the negotiations to General Rokossovsky."
Seeing that Sokov insisted on leaving, Belkin did not persuade him. He just asked Sokov about the next combat mission: "What should we do in the next battle?"
"Judging from the current situation, the German army has basically been compressed by us to the vicinity of Stalingrad." Sokov felt that since Paulus had entered the trap, the drawdown regiment did not need to be as low-key as before, and could take some proactive measures.
Take action and approach the Paulus headquarters as quickly as possible: "It no longer makes much sense to hide your whereabouts, so the tactics need to be adjusted."
"How to adjust?"
"It turns out that when I ordered the Third Battalion, we repeatedly fought for important buildings with the enemy to consume the effective strength of the German army." Sokov said: "Now that you have changed your tactics, you must focus on seizing buildings as your main task. After clearing the enemy,
, after occupying the buildings, you must do everything you can to defend these buildings."
Belkin also wanted to seize as many buildings as possible from the enemy's hands, but when he thought that he only had more than 2,000 troops in his hands, he couldn't help but frowned: "But, Misha, I only have two thousand troops in my hands."
There are more than a thousand people, and most of them have light weapons. If we want to seize the building from the enemy's hands, we will probably pay a high price."
"It's easy. I'll bring you self-propelled artillery tomorrow." Sokov said confidently: "When you encounter a building with a strong firepower point, you can notify the artillery and let them use artillery fire to directly destroy the enemy's firepower point."
If it were another commander, he would definitely ask Sokov how to establish contact with the artillery in a timely manner. But Belkin, as Sokov's old partner, naturally knew what to do, so he nodded and answered
: "Don't worry, Misha, with the cooperation of the artillery, we will definitely not let you down."
After handling the matter of downsizing the regiment, Sokov hurried back to the division headquarters with Samoilov and the guard platoon.
Since Sokov left, several division leaders at the division headquarters have always felt uneasy. After all, Sokov went to the German headquarters. If anything happens, they will be blamed. Seeing Sokov at this moment
The husband came back safely, and the three of them breathed a sigh of relief.
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin asked on behalf of everyone, "have you seen Paulus?"
"Yes, I saw it."
"What is his attitude?" Although he felt that the German army was unlikely to surrender, Sidorin still asked with a sense of luck: "Will he surrender voluntarily?"
"He wanted to surrender voluntarily," Sokov took the hot tea handed to him by Anisimov, took a sip, and continued: "But Hitler did not allow him to surrender and ordered him to fight until the last moment.
One soldier."
"Then how did he reply to you?"
"Paulus did not dare to disobey Hitler's orders because he was worried that once he surrendered, the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group who stayed in Germany might be persecuted or even sent to concentration camps." Sokov explained to the three people: "
Therefore, he made it clear that he will continue to fight with us for a while, and when he can no longer hold on, it will not be too late to surrender to our army."
"Comrade Division Commander." Sokov was talking to the three people about the details of the negotiation. Second Lieutenant Maxim, the commander of the communications company who was sitting far away, stood up with the microphone in his hand and reported to Sokov: "This is a call from the commander of the front army.
"
Sokov guessed that Rokossovsky must be asking about the details of the negotiation, so he quickly walked over and took the microphone: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am Sokov."
"Colonel Sokov." Rokossovsky asked in an official tone: "How was the situation when you went to the enemy's headquarters to negotiate?"
After hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov recounted everything that happened to him in the German headquarters, and finally said: "Paulus has made it clear that he will continue to work with our army.
Fight for a period of time, and then surrender to our army when he can no longer hold on. In this way, he will have an explanation to Hitler, and he will not contact the families of the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Group in Germany."
"Paulus's reason is really sufficient." Rokossovsky sneered and asked: "Misha, how long do you think it will take for us to completely eliminate Paulus' troops?
?”
Sokov remembered that Paulus and the troops in the south of the city laid down their weapons and surrendered on January 31, while the troops in the factory area surrendered on February 2, which was only half a month ago. However, in order to prevent Rocco
Sovsky regarded himself as a magic stick, and he deliberately extended the deadline: "Commander of the Front Army, according to my observation, the Germans' supplies have reached a very difficult point. I believe that they will not be able to hold on for long. At most one person
By the end of the month, we can completely destroy Paulus’s troops.”
"What, another month?" Rokossovsky was obviously not satisfied with Sokov's answer. He shook his head and said: "If we really wait until a month later to eliminate Paulus, then the Caucasus
The German troops in the area will flee. Therefore, we must completely eliminate Paulus’s besieged enemies within half a month to twenty days.”
Regarding the time mentioned by Rokossovsky, Sokov did not comment. After chatting for a few more words, he put down the phone. Sidorin asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, listen to the commander of the front army.
He is planning to completely wipe out Paulus's troops within half a month to twenty days. Do you think he can do it?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov looked at Sidorin and said with a smile: "General Rokossovsky is a commander who is good at creating miracles. I believe that under his command, the Don Front can definitely
Annihilate Paulus’ troops. As for the time limit he mentioned, I don’t think it is impossible.”
"Is this true?" Sidorin was skeptical about Sokov's statement. After all, through these months of fighting, Paulus' troops had defeated the Soviet army that outnumbered him.
Looking for teeth all over the ground, even if he is facing a desperate situation now, it would not be a pity to eliminate him.
Seeing that Sidorin did not believe what he said, Sokov called him back to the table, pointed to the map on the table, and said to him and Ivanov: "I want to tell you some good news. Today I
We went to the German headquarters to negotiate and found out the specific location of their headquarters."
"What, you discovered the exact location of the German headquarters?" Sokov's words made Ivanov's eyes light up, and he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade division commander, where is it?"
"Here." Sokov pointed to the department store in the Central District, raised his head and said to the three of them: "According to my observation, the German headquarters is located in the basement of the department store."
"But, Comrade Division Commander, I have a question." Anisimov was obviously not as optimistic as Sidorin and Ivanov. He frowned and asked: "I think the enemy is trying to prevent you from noticing their commander.
They will definitely blindfold you on the way to their headquarters. Since you are blindfolded, how do you know where the enemy's headquarters is?"
Anisimov's question made Sidorin and Ivanov stunned. When they thought about it carefully, it seemed that this was really the case. When the division commander went to the German headquarters for negotiations, he must have been blindfolded by the enemy. Since
How did he determine the location of the German headquarters without being able to see outside?
Seeing the three people casting suspicious glances at him, Sokov laughed and said: "Comrade Political Commissar, you are right. I was indeed blindfolded by the enemy on the way to the German headquarters. But I was blindfolded by the enemy.
Just because I'm blindfolded doesn't mean I can't discover the location of the enemy's headquarters."
Seeing that the expressions of the three of them were getting more serious, Sokov continued without waiting for them to ask questions: "Before the Battle of Stalingrad began, I surveyed the terrain in the city and looked for a suitable place to establish a headquarters. Therefore, I
I have been to the department store many times. It is a stone building that is very solid. If the headquarters is built there, it can withstand shelling and bombing, making it an ideal defensive point."
After listening to what Sokov said, Ivanov, who had been to the department store before, nodded and agreed: "The division commander is right. I have also gone to the department store, but I did not go to survey the terrain, but before the war.
Buy things there. The building is surrounded by open areas. As long as a few machine guns are set up in the building, the entire area can be blocked. I think it is entirely possible for the Germans to locate their headquarters there."
After Sidorin waited for Ivanov to finish speaking, he said uneasily: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, do you also think that the division commander did not make a mistake? You know, once we are unable to determine the exact location of Paulus's headquarters, we will move towards the wrong direction.
To launch an attack in this direction may miss the opportunity to capture Paulus.”
"Chief of Staff, don't worry." Seeing Sidorin worrying about gains and losses, Sokov comforted him and said, "I just said that before the city defense war started, I had been to the department store many times.
I remember how many steps there are and how many steps I have to walk in the hall inside. When I was blindfolded and taken up by the enemy, I counted the steps outside the door and how many steps I walked in the hall. It is different from my memory.
There is no discrepancy, so I can be sure that Paulus’s headquarters is located in the basement of the department store.”
Out of caution, Sidorin proposed to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, I think to be on the safe side, I should give an order to Commander Belkin to send out reconnaissance personnel to conduct reconnaissance in the direction of the department store, and conduct thorough reconnaissance.
Find out whether the enemy really has their headquarters there."
"Chief of Staff, what you said makes sense." What Sokov just said is half true and half false. It is true that he was blindfolded by the enemy and brought into the headquarters; but counting the steps and steps is true.
He was lying. He judged the location of Paulus's headquarters based on historical records. In order to ensure nothing was wrong, he decided to follow Sidorin's suggestion and send people to conduct reconnaissance and verification.
