Colonel Keother screamed and fell in a pool of blood, but perhaps because Colonel Bergmann was a few meters away, the shot did not kill him.
However, this made no difference. Colonel Bergmann took a few steps forward, put the pistol against Colonel Cooser's head, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
When they met, Second Lieutenant Jonas was a little confused. He suspected that he had been deceived by Colonel Bergman.
Because all the Gestapo had been controlled at this time, there was no need for Colonel Bergmann to kill him.
If there was a reason, Second Lieutenant Jonas believed that it would only be "killing people to silence", which meant... what Colonel Bergman said might not be true.
Lieutenant Jonas suddenly became nervous when he thought of this, because this meant that they had killed a Gestapo colonel, and he also carried the orders of the Führer.
Lieutenant Jonas knew what this meant, so he regretted it a little, but things had reached this point and he didn't know what to do.
Colonel Bergman may have noticed something strange about Second Lieutenant Jonas, so he comforted him: "Don't worry, let's go rescue the Marshal!"
"Yes, Colonel!" Lieutenant Jonas answered.
It wasn't until he saw the marshal that Lieutenant Jonas felt relieved, because the marshal didn't look surprised at all and even shook hands with Colonel Bergmann enthusiastically... This proved that the marshal was indeed in danger.
but……
Lieutenant Jonas was a little confused.
However, his ideas never mattered, and he didn't even need to have ideas.
"Then what should we do, Bergmann?" Paulus asked when they were in private: "Contact the Russians? How?"
"I'm ready, Marshal!" Colonel Bergmann replied: "I mean, I have sent people to contact them. I hope the people I sent will not die under the gun of the Russians!"
In fact, this was just what Colonel Bergmann said. The people he sent were also spies instigated by the Soviet army. These spies had a way of communicating with the Soviet army, so of course they would not die at the hands of the Russians.
In fact, Colonel Bergmann did not contact him just at this time. He had received the information from Shulka before the plan started.
At this time, Colonel Bergman was just pretending, and asked a signal soldier to report to Colonel Bergman more than half an hour later: "Colonel, they have responded. They accept our conditions and ensure that all prisoners can be treated humanely."
Treat it as a doctrine!”
Colonel Bergmann explained: "I told them, we need food and fair treatment!"
Paulus nodded. He felt that Colonel Bergmann was very thorough in his work.
Food and fair treatment... This is a basic requirement, and it is not an excessive request. If you ask for more, such as medicine, clothes, etc., it will be too much. The Russians themselves do not have enough medicine. If they can agree
That must be false.
"At the same time, we have established contact with them!" said the communications soldier: "They will send a special correspondent to talk to us at nine o'clock sharp!"
Paulus looked at the time and saw that there were still twenty minutes until nine o'clock. Then he turned to Colonel Bergmann and said, "Everything must be kept strictly confidential until it is settled, do you understand?"
"Yes, Marshal!" Colonel Bergmann replied: "I guarantee that only a limited number of people know! They are all people I trust!"
Paulus nodded with satisfaction.
This matter really needs to be kept secret, because it is still unknown whether to surrender at this time. If the news leaks out, the entire German defense line will collapse immediately, and surrendering voluntarily will become encirclement and annihilation.
It's just that Paulus didn't realize at all that he was actually being led by the "Soviet spies".
Twenty minutes later, Paulus came to Bergmann's headquarters and had a secret phone call with Commissioner Su.
"Your Excellency, Marshal!" the commissioner's translator said in German: "I am Yakov, the staff officer of the 6th Army. I am here to negotiate with you on behalf of Comrade Chuikov! This is the right choice, Your Excellency Marshal, we all know the outcome of this battle.
There is no suspense anymore, so there is no need to sacrifice the lives of soldiers like this anymore. I salute you! And I assure you that we will ensure your personal safety and basic food needs!"
Paulus felt relieved when he heard the word "basic".
He had been worried that the Russians would betray his trust after the Sixth Army surrendered.
However, if the Russians want to do this, they don't need to say "basic food needs", they should use more attractive terms, because they are not going to give it anyway.
So this "basic food need" is actually believable.
Paulus was almost satisfied with this. What more could he ask for from a defeated general?
After thinking about it, Paulus made a request: "We don't want to be sent to Siberia, Comrade Yakov!"
"No problem!" Yakov replied seriously: "This is also Comrade Stalin's order. You will not be sent to Siberia!"
"Then, can I know how you will treat us?" Paulus still had some concerns.
"We haven't discussed the specifics yet!" Yakov replied: "However, your Excellency Marshal, our preliminary plan is that except for the wounded, others must participate in labor to support themselves, which means that capable people need to work.
That’s no problem!”
"No problem!" Paulus replied.
This is normal. Everyone knows that the Russians are very short of supplies. They cannot keep hundreds of thousands of mouths there.
And Paulus' worries disappeared little by little with this conversation.
What Paulus didn't know was that the content of these conversations was roughly determined by Shulka.
Zolotarev even felt a little strange about this.
"Can we talk to Paulus like this?" Trufanov said: "In this case, we won't worry about Paulus backing down?"
"I talked to him this way just because I was worried that Paulus would back down!" Shulka replied.
Zolotarev, who works in politics, nodded in agreement: "Now, what Paulus is most worried about is the personal safety and basic survival of the prisoners. He is worried that we will deceive him, so...the harsher the conditions.
On the contrary, the more he can trust us!"
Trufanov couldn't help but said "Oh", and then looked at Shulka with a puzzled look, as if he couldn't figure out how Shulka could think of this.
As it turned out, Paulus finally let down his guard completely.
"Well, Comrade Yakov!" Paulus asked: "How should we surrender?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal!" Yakov replied: "We hope you can wait a little longer and wait three days when the 'amnesty order' is about to expire before surrendering... In this way, I think the effect will be better, what do you think?"