"Chief of Staff," Schmidt just walked out of the basement where Paulus was, when he was grabbed by Kurtzbach, the commander of the 51st Infantry Corps. The latter asked in a low voice: "How about it, Commander, you agree?"
Surrendered to the Russians?”
"General Kurtzbach," Schmidt replied with a wry smile: "Unfortunately, the Commander has no such idea at all. He intends to obey the orders of the Führer and fight the Russians to the last man."
"Is he crazy?" Kurtzbach was a little anxious when he heard this. "Don't he know what our situation is like? Without the supplies of food, ammunition and fuel, how can we still be surrounded by the Russians?"
How long will it last?"
"You also heard the orders of the Führer at that time." Schmidt said helplessly: "I also advised him to stop the hopeless resistance and surrender to the Russians to save more lives. But he would not listen at all.
I want to obey the orders of the Führer."
"No, we absolutely cannot let him do this." Kurtzbach said firmly: "We must find a way to stop him."
"How to stop it? Do you want to continue persuading?" After Schmidt asked the question, before waiting for Kurtzbach to answer, he asked himself: "I have tried to persuade everyone I can, but the Commander is now single-minded.
Fight to the end with the Russians. No matter who persuades us, it will be useless. Unless the head of state changes his mind and agrees to let us surrender, he will issue an order to stop resisting and surrender to the Russians."
"Since persuasion is of no use," Kurtzbach said through gritted teeth as he did not want to sit still and wait for death. He decided to take the risk and said, "How about we conduct a military remonstrance? If he still doesn't agree, capture him and hand him over to the Russians.
.”
"General Kurtzbach, are you crazy?" After hearing what Kurtzbach said, Schmidt rushed over, covered his mouth, and said in a panic: "How could such a ridiculous idea come up? What if?
If the guards hear it, they will shoot you to death regardless of whether you are a general or not."
After Kurtzbach took Schmidt's hand away from his mouth, he asked angrily: "Chief of Staff, do you really want to stay here and wait to die?"
"Who wants to die if they can be captured alive?" Schmidt said sadly: "Even if you want to carry out military remonstrance, how many troops can you mobilize?"
"If you have no objection, I will immediately convene people to discuss it." Kurtzbach asked tentatively: "Chief of Staff, are you willing to participate together?"
Schmidt understood the current situation of the troops and knew that it would only be a matter of time before they were wiped out by the Soviet army. He did not want to sacrifice his life in vain. Now that he saw an opportunity to survive, he would not give up easily. He nodded and said: "Okay.
, I will go over after you gather everyone together."
Schmidt returned to his room. After waiting for more than ten minutes, a second lieutenant came and knocked on the door. After Schmidt opened the door, the second lieutenant reported to him: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, General Kurtzbach ordered me to
Come find you."
"Where is he?"
"plz follow me."
The ensign led Schmidt to the door of a room in the back, stopped and said to Schmidt: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, General Kurtzbach is inside, please come in."
Schmidt opened the door and walked in, and saw seven or eight people sitting in the room. In addition to Kurtzbach, there were also Max Pfeffer, commander of the 4th Infantry Corps, and Walter Heitz, commander of the 7th Infantry Corps.
General, as well as Dr. Otto Kofis, commander of the 295th Division, Werner Sanne, commander of the 100th Jäger Division, and others.
Seeing so many senior generals gathered in this room, Schmidt couldn't help but feel frightened. Among other things, if the Russians launched an attack, the commander of the 100th Jäger Division, Werner Sanne, would just order the troops to stop.
If you resist, in less than five minutes, the leading Russian troops will be able to rush into the basement of the department store.
"Gentlemen," Kurtzbach said when he saw Schmidt coming: "Your Excellency, the Commander, intends to continue to resist and let us all perish together with the Russians. I called you here because I want to ask
, what do you think, should you continue to fight with the commander, or should you take the initiative to lay down your weapons and surrender to the Russians?"
"Due to the tight blockade of the Russian Air Force, the supplies we can get are getting less and less," Walter Heitz was the first to speak. He frowned and said: "According to my estimation, even if the Russians do not attack, we will probably
It will be difficult to sustain until February. Therefore, the best way is to actively cease the war and surrender to the Russians."
"But, Commander, can you agree?" Dr. Kofis said worriedly: "Some time ago, the Russian Colonel Sokov personally came to persuade him to surrender, but he also refused. How can he change his mind so easily now?"
"If he doesn't change, then we will force him to change." Kurtzbach said through gritted teeth: "I plan to use military remonstrance to force the commander to change his mind. What do you think?"
"General Sannei," seeing that everyone was still silent, Kurtzbach could only name Sannei: "Your troops are deployed outside the department store. Tell me, what do you think about it?"
"The commander deployed our division here to protect the safety of the headquarters." Sannei said hesitantly: "If you order the soldiers to force the commander, I'm worried that the situation will get out of control. I think we should try it.
I would like to persuade the commander that as for the matter of military remonstrance, it is best to give up."
Seeing that Sannei actually contradicted him, Kurtzbach was particularly angry. But now whether Sannei's troops participated in the military remonstrance would be related to the success or failure of this operation, so he could only persuade him with kind words: "Sannei
General Nei, I think your subordinates also want to return to their homeland alive. If we explain the truth to them clearly, I believe they can still stand on our side."
"I'm sorry, General Kurtzbach." Sannei replied firmly: "General Paulus is my superior, and I will never point the gun at my superior. I'm sorry, I think such a meeting,
I’m not fit to participate anymore…”
Seeing Sonne preparing to walk outside, Kurtzbach pulled out his pistol, pointed it at the other man's forehead, and said with a ferocious expression: "General Sonne, if you dare to take another step forward, I will shoot."
"
"General Kurtzbach, what are you doing? Put down the gun quickly and be careful of misfire." Schmidt saw that Kurtzbach actually drew his gun and pointed at him, so he quickly came out to smooth things over: "And you, General Sanneh, we
I'm just trying to think of ways to persuade the commander to change his mind, but I'm not really prepared to go against him. You'd better sit down first and listen to what General Kurtzbach has to say."
Sannei snorted and returned to his seat to sit down. Kurtzbach also threw the pistol on the table.
"Everyone," Schmidt felt that he should express his attitude first, so that the senior officers present would know how to make a choice: "Although the military remonstrance method proposed by General Kurtzbach is a bit extreme, under the current circumstances, it is also the only way to do it.
A very effective method. Since the Russians attacking from outside joined forces with the defenders of Mamayev Heights, our situation has become more and more difficult. Everyone knows that the supplies we are getting are getting less and less, let alone ordinary
The soldiers don't have enough to eat, and even the generals here may have less food to eat every day..."
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff." After Schmidt finished speaking, Dr. Kofis asked directly: "Then what do you think we should do?"
"We can make another effort." Schmidt said hesitantly: "Persuade the commander again. If he still doesn't listen, then follow General Kurtzbach's method and use military remonstrance to force him to submit.
.”
After reaching a consensus, the group walked out of the meeting room and walked along the corridor towards Paulus' room. When the soldiers standing guard at the door saw Schmidt in the lead, they not only did not stop him, but also took the initiative to open the door for him.
door.
Paulus heard the door ring, and then so many people poured in from outside. He couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then asked: "What's the matter with you?"
"Your Excellency, Commander," Schmidt, who was standing at the front, said respectfully to Paulus: "We are here to ask you to reconsider the Russian surrender letter. Under the current circumstances,
Our army is short of food and clothing, and is seriously short of ammunition and fuel. We cannot sustain it for long under the powerful attack of the Russians."
"What do you want to say?" Paulus asked coldly.
"I would like to ask you to comply with everyone's wishes and order all troops to stop resisting and surrender to the Russians." Schmidt said righteously: "If you do this, you can save more lives."
"No, this is definitely not possible." Paulus turned around, turned his back to the group of subordinates and said firmly: "I will obey the orders of the head of state, fight to the last man, and use up the last bullet. I am absolutely
Will not surrender to the Russians."
Seeing that Paulus was so stubborn, everyone knew that there was no point in persuading them, so they returned to the room where the secret meeting had just been held. Kurtzbach said angrily: "You have all heard that the commander will never ask
The Russians surrendered, but if we continue to fight, everyone will not end well."
After a long time, Sannei broke the silence in the room: "General Kurtzbach is right. In emergency times, only extraordinary measures can be taken. I agree to use military admonishment to persuade the Commander."
Kurtzbach, who was already discouraged and disappointed, couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard Sonne's statement that he agreed to participate in the military remonstrance. He quickly said to him: "General Sonne, you have made a right decision. Those who survive in the future will
The soldiers and their families will be forever grateful to you."
"Since everyone has no different opinions on the military remonstrance," Schmidt saw that everyone was silent, which was equivalent to acquiescing to Kurtzbach's opinion, so he took the initiative to say: "Next, we need to discuss the details of the operation. After all, there are people in the basement.
With so many troops loyal to the commander, it would be bad if one of us starts fighting with our own people."
There had never been any mutiny in the German Wehrmacht, so none of the generals present had any experience in this area. After hearing Schmidt's words, they became hesitant again. Especially the instigator Kurtzbach.
Originally, he was prepared to go all out. If the remonstrance troops were intercepted by guards loyal to Paulus when they entered the basement, he would order the shooting without hesitation. But now after hearing Schmidt's reminder, he felt that this opportunity was still needed.
Further improvements will be made to prevent the fight from ending badly.
"Gentlemen," Kurtzbach said again after contemplating the opportunity: "After dark, General Sannei's troops entered the basement under the pretext of changing defenses and waited for an opportunity to disarm the guard troops. Note that they are all ours.
Compatriots, it’s better not to shoot if you can.”
"If our military remonstrance is successful, the commander agrees to surrender to the Russians." Heitz asked: "How can we negotiate with the Russians and them?"
"A large number of Russians have gathered in the area near the department store." As the chief of staff, Schmidt knew more about the situation than any general present. He said solemnly: "From various indications,
They will launch an attack on us in the near future. Although there are many troops around us, they are all entangled by the Russians. Even if we ask for help from them, the support we can get is very limited. I think if we want
If you surrender, you can surrender to this force at that time."
"What, asking me to surrender to a group of defeated generals?" Heitz shook his head and said: "If the person who accepts our surrender is the Russian Colonel Sokov, I can consider it; but for those defeated generals in the past, I have no idea.
Any interest.”
"General Heitz, it seems that your information is too outdated." Schmidt waited for Heitz to finish and then said to him with a smile: "The troops that are in serious danger to us now are under the command of Colonel Sokov."
"However, according to my observation, the Russians stationed in those places have at least two or three divisions of troops." Heitz said disapprovingly: "He is just a division commander, how could he command so many troops."
"In order to attack us, the Russians established a combat group not long ago, which was named after Colonel Sokov." Seeing that everyone was so ignorant of the situation outside, Schmidt introduced them to them: "Sokov
Cove now serves as the commander of this group."
Kurtzbach's eyes couldn't help but shine when he heard what Schmidt said. He quickly said: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, so the troops that threaten us now are under the command of Colonel Sokov?"
"Yes."
"Look, can we send someone immediately to get in touch with Colonel Sokov?" Kurtzbach asked Schmidt tentatively: "In this way, they will not easily attack the department store and avoid
An unnecessary fight."
"Well, this is a good idea." Schmidt nodded and said, "I was originally worried that if General Sannei mobilized troops from the front to come back to join the military remonstrance, and the Russians took the opportunity to launch an attack, I'm afraid our defense line would be in
The gap was torn open in a short period of time.”
When Kurtzbach saw that Schmidt agreed to his proposal, he walked to the door, opened the door, and shouted outside: "Here comes someone!"
