The generals here saw that Paulus was willing to ask Berlin for advice on surrender, and his face showed some joy. Although everyone knew Hitler's character very well, they were all lucky at this moment. Maybe their heads of state would change their minds after learning about the difficult situation of the Sixth Army.
Only Sokov knew best that even if Schmidt sent this telegram, he could not change Hitler's decision. On the contrary, it would make Hitler even more hysterical and wrong orders, allowing the officers and soldiers of the Sixth Army to fight the last soldier and shoot until the last bullet.
"Col. Sokov!" Taking advantage of Schmidt's time to send a telegram, Kurtzbach asked Sokov with a flattering question: "If we surrender, how will your army plan to resettle us?"
"It's very simple. Ordinary soldiers and officers will be arranged to prisoners of war camps far away from the battlefield." Sokov said this, paused for a moment, looked at Paulus, who was sitting opposite him, and continued: "The generals here may be placed in a manor and enjoy the treatment you deserve. Apart from having no personal freedom and being unable to carry weapons, you are not much different from now."
Hearing Sokov's words moved the generals present. General Hans Wurz, commander of the 144th gun group sitting opposite Kurtzbach, couldn't help but ask Sokov in surprise: "Sir Colonel, are you all saying true? Your superiors really won't shoot us, and will they arrange us in the manor to enjoy the treatment that matches their identities?"
"General Kurtzbach," Sokov looked at the face in front of him and asked Kurtzbach on the side: "I don't know if this general is..."
"He is Hans Vulz, the commander of the 144th artillery group." After Kurtzbach introduced the other party's identity to Sokov, he couldn't help but ask Sokov curiously: "Are what you just said true?"
"Of course it's true." Sokov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "If you announce your surrender to our army now, you will be able to enjoy the treatment I just said. But if we continue to fight stubbornly, when we capture you on the battlefield, we will probably have to lock you up like ordinary officers and soldiers in a prisoner of war camp."
"What's the difference between staying in a manor and being locked in a prisoner of war camp?" an elderly general said in anger, "Can we still return to our country alive?"
Before Sokov asked this time, Kurtzbach took the initiative to introduce: "This is General Ulrich Vasol, the commander of the 153rd artillery group. He is a little anxious. Please don't be surprised."
"You are wrong, General Ulrich Vasol." Sokov faced Ulrich Vasol who was attacking him and said with a serious expression: "As long as our army occupied Berlin and formed a new German ZF, you captured soldiers will have the opportunity to return to your motherland one after another."
Although all these generals wanted Paulus to give orders to surrender, it was because they were already facing the dilemma of exhausting ammunition and food. In fact, from the bottom of their hearts, they were still very resistant to surrendering to the Soviet army. At this moment, when Sokov said that they all had plans to return to Germany, the people who had some resistance to surrender became a little impatient. Their eyes looked at the door where Schmidt left, hoping that he could get Berlin's reply as soon as possible.
"Col. Sokov," Paulus asked in a jamming question with his subordinates for a while, "I don't know what your superiors plan to deal with me?"
"Don't worry, General Paulus." Sokov replied with a smile: "I think the Supreme Command may take you to Moscow as soon as possible for your health and safety, and find a suitable place there for you to recuperate."
"If I order the troops to surrender, I will not be discriminated against by you, right?"
"How is this possible, General Paulus," said Sokov. "If you order the German army to stop resisting and put down your weapons and surrender to our army, you can save tens of thousands of lives. For your contribution, the officers and soldiers on both sides are too grateful to you, so how can you discriminate against you?"
Sokov's flattery made Paulus feel very comfortable. After laughing dryly, he said to Sokov: "Col. Sokov, as long as Berlin agrees to surrender, I will order the troops to stop resisting and surrender to your army as soon as possible."
The generals here heard Paulus' statement and showed a relaxed expression on their faces. Since the commander was ready to surrender, what else is necessary to fight this battle? As soon as Berlin's reply arrived, they ordered their troops to surrender to the Soviet army.
However, for security reasons, Kurtzbach asked Sokov tentatively: "Col. Sokov, although my troops are far away from your defense zone, can I drive to your defense zone and disarm your troops? Among so many Russian troops, you are the one I trust the most."
As soon as Kurtzbach said, Lieutenant General Helmut Schlemmer, commander of the 14th Armored Army, Lieutenant General Max Pfeiffer, commander of the 4th Infantry Army, and General Walter Heights, commander of the 7th Infantry Army, also expressed his opinion to Sokov, hoping to drive his troops into his defense zone and surrender.
Faced with the enthusiasm of these German generals, Sokov was really unable to stand it. He waved his hand vigorously and said to them: "Generals and gentlemen, please be quiet. My troops only control the territory of the Mamayevgang area and cannot accommodate too many troops. If so many troops come in one go, it may cause unnecessary chaos and cause problems with your supplies."
When the generals showed goodwill to Sokov, Paulus remained silent. In fact, he also wanted to surrender to Sokov himself, but due to his identity, he could not say these words. He looked at Sokov opposite him, hoping that the other party would ask himself, and that he would go with the flow and say that he was going to Mamayev hill in person and surrender to the troops of the 41st Guard Division.
However, what disappointed Paulus was that the generals under his command kept chattering around Sokov, leaving Sokov no time to care about him.
Just as Paulus was embarrassed, someone shouted: "The Chief of Staff is back!"
The room suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on Schmidt who had just walked into the room. Sokov saw Schmidt's expressionless face, and immediately felt an ominous premonition in his heart. It seemed that it was the same as in history. Hitler disagreed with Paulus' surrender to the Soviet army. The damn battle must continue.
Schmidt walked to Paulus without looking sideways, bent down and approached Paulus, as if he was about to report the content of the telegram he had just received.
"Chief of Staff," Paulus reached out to block Schmidt and said loudly: "Everyone here is eager to know what the Berlin answer is, so you can read it in front of everyone."
Hearing Paulus' orders, Schmidt nodded helplessly, took out a piece of paper stacked in pieces from his pocket, and then unfolded it, and said loudly: "I will never allow surrender. The officers and soldiers of the Sixth Army must stubbornly stick to their positions until the bullets are exhausted. Hitler."
After Schmidt finished reading it, Paulus took the telegram from him and read it carefully, and asked with a serious expression: "Chief of Staff, have you confirmed that the telegram from Berlin are not wrong?"
"Yes, Commander." Schmidt replied respectfully: "I have repeatedly verified that the head of state's call is indeed like this."
"This is how you do it, gentlemen?" Paulus threw the telegram in his hand onto the table and asked at his subordinates present: "The Head of State rejected our request for surrender. What should we do next? Should we continue fighting, or should we put down our weapons and surrender immediately?"
"Hiss Commander," Paulus said, the first person to speak was Kurtzbach. He stood up and said, "You should be very clear about our current situation. It is meaningless to continue to stick to it. I think it is necessary to make a quick decision and order the troops to put down their weapons and surrender to save the lives of more soldiers."
According to Kurtzbach's idea, there will definitely be many people supporting him. Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, the whole room was silent. The generals either stared at the table in a daze or looked at the dusty ceiling, and no one spoke.
Seeing that the rest of Kurtzbach's speech remained silent, Schmidt was a little anxious. He coughed hard, attracted everyone's attention, and raised his voice and asked, "Mr. Generals, what do you think? Let me say something, Colonel Sokov is still waiting for our reply here!"
After hearing Schmidt mention Sokov, the German generals remembered the position near the door, and there were representatives sent by the Soviet army to persuade surrender. Walter Heitz sighed and said helplessly: "Sir Colonel, I really want to lead the troops to surrender to you. But it doesn't work. My wife and children are still in Berlin, and my officers and soldiers' families are also in the country. If we take the initiative to surrender to you against the wishes of the head of state, we may involve our family. I'm sorry."
"Sir, General," Sokov saw that General Walter Hetz, who had shown goodwill to him and hoped to surrender near Mamayev's hill, turned into a fence-bearing smile. He said to him with a wry smile, "You are worried that the surrender of the troops will affect your family. But have you ever thought that even if you continue to resist stubbornly, in the end, you still want to surrender. At that time, aren't you afraid that Hitler will make things difficult for your family and send them to concentration camps?"
Walter Heitz's face turned red, but in the face of Sokov's doubts, he still gritted his teeth and said: "Surrender when we surrender, after all, after fighting, we have to surrender. I believe Berlin can understand us."
Walter Heights' statement immediately aroused the agreement between the two generals, and the reasons they said were similar. Now that surrendering will affect their families. But if they surrender for a while, the adverse impact on their families will be much smaller.
Seeing that the attitude of the other generals except Kurtzbach became ambiguous, Sokov stood up and asked Paulus, who was sitting opposite him loudly: "Hissing Commander, your subordinates have already made their point of view. I want to ask you now, what are you thinking about? Put down your weapons and surrender immediately, or continue to resist stubbornly and sacrifice more soldiers?"
"Sorry, Colonel Sokov." Paulus stood up and said apologetically to Sokov: "Although I also want to surrender to the Soviet army, you have also seen that we all have concerns. If we surrender now, our families who stay in the country will be persecuted by the Gestapo, so we can only continue to fight."
Perhaps seeing Sokov's expression became grim, he added: "But I promise you that whenever the situation of our army becomes more difficult after a while, I will apply to Berlin again to allow us to surrender to you."
"General Paulus," saw that Paulus always wanted to receive Hitler's orders and ordered the troops to surrender, so that he could naturally put the responsibility for surrender to Hitler. Sokov said righteously: "What should be said, Commander Rokosovsky has written clearly in his ultimatum to you. If you refuse to surrender, we will use the means of war to destroy you."
"Chief of Staff," Paulus did not refute in the face of Sokov's accusations. He just smiled bitterly and turned his head to command Schmidt: "Arranging personnel and sending Colonel Sokov away. Remember, you must ensure his personal safety."
Schmiet nodded, got up and walked to a telephone by the wall, dialed a number, and said to the microphone: "Immediately arrange two cars to send Colonel Sokov, who was negotiating, back to the Russian defense zone."
After putting down the phone, Schmidt walked to Sokov and said politely: "Mr. Colonel, the car is ready for you. Please follow me, we will send you back to your territory safely."
Seeing Sokov getting up and leaving, Kurtzbach also stood up and wanted to go out. But he had just taken two steps but was stopped by Paulus: "General Kurtzbach, where are you going?"
"Hiss Commander!" Kurtzbach turned his head and looked at Paulus, and replied awkwardly: "Col. Sokov is leaving, I plan to send him away."
"No need to do anything more." Paulus said coldly: "If the Chief of Staff sends him away, don't worry. You should sit down and study carefully how to block the Russians' possible attack on you."
Kurzbach, who originally wanted to go out with Sokov and talk about something privately, heard Paulus say so, could only sigh softly, sit back to his position, and wait for Paulus to deploy defense tasks for him.
As soon as Sokov left the room, Schmidt ordered people to blindfold him and Ernst, and then said apologetically: "Sir Colonel, I have arranged a car for you at the door. The officers who picked you up will return you to the opposite position. As for your safety, I will inform the troops along the way and order them not to shoot at the car you are on."
"Thank you, Chief of Staff." Sokov bowed slightly to Schmidt and said with a smile: "I believe we will meet again soon."