"Don't set the goal too big!" Shulka said: "What I mean is, don't expect to destroy the enemy's belief. I think it can be more practical and realistic, and don't promote those illusory big things.
Logically speaking, doing this will only be a waste of time!"
"You mean..."
"For example, the Sixth Army is trapped in Stalingrad!" Shulka said: "What are they most concerned about?"
"Can we break through?" Trufanov replied.
"Yes!" Shulka said: "If they can't break through, their battle will be meaningless, because so what if they reach Siberia? They are always in our encirclement, no matter how many battles they win, and they kill
How many people will eventually collapse because they lose contact with the main force of the German army and cannot get supplies! Then we must let them understand that a breakout is impossible under such circumstances!"
Zolotarev nodded slightly in agreement: "The enemies of the 6th Army are actually in a state of doubt. Many enemies surrendered to us because of this, because they can't see the hope of this battle!"
"Yes!" Shulka nodded and said: "However, I think there are at least two reasons that prevent the Germans from surrendering to us, or in other words, large-scale surrender!"
"What two points?" Zolotarev looked at Shulka in confusion. At this time, he seemed to realize his mistake. He, other political workers and even the Propaganda Department had not considered these issues, although these issues were not considered.
It's not something arcane or difficult to think about.
This is actually not surprising. The top leaders of the Soviet Union or the Political Department are always accustomed to condescending thinking, always using high-pressure policies and rarely thinking about problems from another angle.
"The first point!" Shulka said: "It's because of the German propaganda units. They have been telling the German soldiers that they will eventually be rescued and will get more supplies. In other words, their superiors are constantly giving them
hope!"
Zolotarev agreed: "Of course they did it, anyone would do it, but as the war progresses, their lie will be revealed!"
"Yes!" Shulka said: "There is not much we can do in this regard, because after all, the German Don Army is still working hard to attack Karachi from the front, and the German air force is still continuously transporting supplies to Germany.
In the hands of others, these are all facts. Even if we present the facts to them in leaflets and reason with them, the number of Germans who can believe them is still very limited! Even if we try to convince them, it may have the opposite effect!"
"Reaction?" Zolotarev was a little confused.
"Yes!" Shulka replied: "They will say: 'Look, our air force is still protecting us and still delivering supplies to us. Although they are not much, they are enough to withstand the Don Army Group to repel the Russians.
Get us out!'; 'You must know that we are a group army with nearly a million people, and they will not let us be surrounded by enemies here!'; 'So, the Russians are lying!'!"
Although Zolotarev was a little reluctant, he nodded in agreement and then asked: "Then what should we do?"
"What we have to do is very simple!" Shulka said: "I think we just need to draw a good map of the enemy's and our defense lines and then throw them to the Germans!"
"Defense map? Is this useful?" Zolotarev asked doubtfully.
Trufanov shouted: "This is a good way. The Germans themselves will judge whether we are lying and analyze how bad their situation is!"
"Yes!" Shulka explained: "First of all, German soldiers are usually of high quality. They can understand this kind of defense map. They can even verify it, such as knowing from their side or the pilot whether the defense map is real.
If they come to the conclusion that this defense map is real, then they can come to the conclusion themselves, that is, they know how bad their situation is and how slim their chances of breaking out are!"
"We don't have to say anything?" Zolotarev asked.
"No need to say anything!" Shulka replied firmly.
Sometimes saying too much can be bad, because the German army is naturally resistant to Soviet propaganda. Their first reaction is that the Soviets are lying. If the leaflets say something true, it will be bad.
But a defense map is different.
As a soldier, especially a professional soldier, he is naturally interested in maps. If he picks up a map, he will naturally verify its authenticity, analyze the situation between the enemy and ourselves, and even conduct deductions... This is very important to the Soviet army.
There may be an exception, because many Soviet infantrymen can't even tell the direction, let alone any deduction.
But once the German soldiers conducted verification and deduction, they were fooled.
Because they soon discovered that it was not only the 6th Army in Stalingrad that was in trouble, but also the Don Army that was reinforcing them.
If they realize this, Shulka's propaganda will have achieved its purpose.
Shulka believed that Paulus, his command and some senior officers knew the true situation, but they certainly did not dare to let their subordinates and soldiers know, because this would seriously affect morale.
And if Paulus didn't want the soldiers to know, then the Soviets should want them to know.
"Of course!" Shulka said: "I hope this defense line map is real and there can be no mistakes, especially the defense line around Stalingrad!"
"No problem!" Zolotarev replied: "We only need to combine the offensive and defensive maps of several front armies, and then erase important information such as troop deployment and equipment status!"
After thinking for a while, Zolotarev asked again: "What about the second point?"
"The second point..." Shulka said: "I think the reason why the Germans did not dare to surrender on a large scale and persisted in resisting is because they knew that there would be no good end after surrender!"
Zolotarev couldn't help but be startled when he heard this.
This actually does not need an explanation. Zolotarev knew that Shulka was right, although he had never thought about this issue before.
Because the Soviet army never showed mercy to prisoners, this fact has long been no secret.
Therefore, if you think about it from the perspective of a German soldier: if you don't surrender, you will die, if you surrender, you will die, and if you surrender, you will die of torture, and in addition, you will bring shame to your family and become a traitor... Then you should just endure it and continue fighting, even if
It is better to die in battle than to surrender!
Only those German soldiers who really couldn't stand it anymore and had a chance to try would choose to surrender. (To be continued)