The 62nd Army unit to which Cui Kefu belongs was fighting the German army here in the factory area. Suddenly, he received the order to suspend the attack. Commanders at all levels were puzzled. Why should they stop the attack when they fought well?
Just as everyone was full of doubts, the horn that had just been placed everywhere a few days ago sounded: "All the commanders and fighters of the 62nd Army, let me tell you a good news: the combat cluster commanded by Colonel Sokov, the commander of the 41st Division of the Guards, successfully captured the location of the German commander, or Commander Paulus, Chief of Staff Schmidt, and many commanders and division commanders under their command. Tens of thousands of enemies entrenched in the south of the city have put down their weapons and surrendered to our army. The specific results are still under further statistics..."
When the commanders and soldiers heard the radio, they were stunned: What, Paulus was captured? The German army in the south of the city was destroyed? They thought they had heard it wrong and asked each other: "Have you heard the radio clearly? Paulus was really captured alive?"
"You may have heard it wrong. If Paulus was really captured alive, why didn't the enemies here surrender?"
"It is also possible that they didn't know that Paulus was captured!"
Just as everyone was talking, the radio reposted the content just now. This time, everyone heard it clearly. After a brief silence, the sound of "Ula" resounded through the sky, scaring the nearby enemies.
Although many German officers and soldiers heard the radio, they could not understand what was said in the Russian radio. And those officers and soldiers who knew Russian also remained silent after hearing this. According to their ideas, this must be a conspiracy of the Russians, trying to destroy the morale and morale of the entire country in this way.
The radio contacts on the battlefield were broadcast in Russian three times, and then they began to broadcast in German. In this way, not only did the German officers and soldiers who knew Russian understood, but even the officers and soldiers who did not understand Russian knew that the command was removed, and the commander, chief of staff, some commanders, division commanders and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers became prisoners.
Hearing this bad news, the German officers and soldiers couldn't help but lose their position, and the small-scale counterattack carried out by the original calculation was terminated. At the same time, the news was also spread to the ears of Carl Straker, the commander of the 11th Infantry Army, through various means.
Regarding the news of Paulus' capture, his first reaction was a conspiracy, which must have been a conspiracy that the Russians deliberately formulated in order to dismantle his military morale and morale. He quickly ordered people to gather several division commanders in the factory area for a meeting.
Fortunately, the command centers of these division commanders were not far from Carl Strakel's army command, and they all arrived in just a few minutes.
After everyone arrived, the commander of the 24th Armored Division, Rensky, couldn't wait to ask: "General, is it true that what the Russians said on the radio that the commander and tens of thousands of officers and soldiers in the south of the city were captured?"
Carl Strakel said with a serious expression: "As soon as I learned of this news, I ordered the radio operator to send a telegram to the headquarters. Unfortunately, there has been no news so far. It seems that what the Russians said on the radio may be true."
"General, what should we do?" said von Arenstov, commander of the 60th Mobra Division, worriedly: "We have shortage of food and ammunition, and we may not last for a few days."
"Yes, Your Excellency General." Martin Ratman, who had just served as the acting commander of the 389th Infantry Division, echoed: "Our situation is very difficult, and I'm afraid it won't be supported for long. In addition, the division commander General Magnus was injured yesterday, which has a great impact on the morale of our division."
"Surrender is impossible." Rensky expressed his opinion again: "I think I should contact Berlin immediately, report to them what happened here, and wait for their further instructions."
Arenstov snorted coldly and asked, "General Rensky, what do you mean by waiting for further instructions? Do we have hungry soldiers who are not wearing cold clothes continue to die in the Russian encirclement?"
"Even if you surrender to the Russians, do you think we can get the food and medicine they promised?" Rensky retorted dissatisfiedly: "Continue fighting is death, and surrender is just a few more days of life. I think it may be possible to report our situation to Berlin, and things may change."
"General Rensky, I ask you to give up this unrealistic fantasy." Arenstov retorted again: "Even if we report our plight to Berlin, what can they do? Marshal Manstein and General Hort's troops have retreated back to their original starting point. Can Goring's air force turn the situation around?"
"Okay, don't argue anymore." Straker interrupted the two division commanders and said with a serious expression: "I decided to report the situation here to Berlin immediately. As for what we should do next, we should wait until Berlin's reply comes back."
Since Strakel said he wanted to send a telegram to Berlin for instructions, everyone fell silent. On the surface, they were sitting waiting for Berlin's reply, but in fact they were thinking in their hearts that what if Berlin did not approve the surrender of the remaining troops after learning that Paulus was captured?
After waiting for about half an hour, Berlin's reply finally arrived. Although the other party had confirmed that Paulus was captured, Hitler still did not give up Stalingrad. After emphasizing the importance of sticking to Stalingrad in his telegram, he announced the formal promotion of Strakel to the rank of general and ordered him to command his troops to stand in the north of Stalingrad until the last moment.
"Gentlemen," Strakel asked weakly after circulating the telegram, "What do you think about this call from Berlin?"
After reading the content of the telegram several times, Rensky couldn't help but feel cold. Although he had just insisted that he would never surrender, he was just trying to find a step. Now the 24th Armored Division is already weak and cannot be compared with the early stage of the war. I'm afraid that even a small-scale battle cannot be supported. It is precisely for this reason that Rensky did not speak, but remained silent.
Seeing that the teachers present did not speak, Strakel realized everyone's fighting spirit and was defeated by the Berlin's call. Obviously, even if he proposed to surrender at this moment, I am afraid that those present would not object. However, Strakel was careful and did not immediately express his decision. Instead, he announced the meeting and said to everyone: "Everyone will go back and rest. As for what to do, we will discuss it tomorrow."
As soon as the division commanders left, Strakel called his chief of staff and asked: "Chief of staff, do you have any way to contact the Russians on the other side?"
Chapter completed!