The German troops in Stalingrad were purged, and the detailed results were counted before dark: 122,100 German officers and men were captured. 5,762 artillery pieces of various calibers, more than 3,000 mortars, 12,000 machine guns, 156987 rifles, more than 10,000 submachine guns, 744 aircraft, 1,666 tanks, 261 armored vehicles, 80,438 cars, more than 10,000 motorcycles, 240 tractors, 571 tractors, 3 armored trains, 58 locomotives, 1,403 wagons, and 696 radio stations were seized. There are 933 telephones, 337 warehouses of various types, 13,787 carts and a large number of other military supplies. Among the prisoners were 24 generals, headed by Field Marshal Paulus.

After seeing such a result, Rokossovsky frowned slightly, and said in his heart how could there be more than 30,000 more prisoners than in history, is it because he sent people to occupy the Gumkole Airport where the German army was in contact with the outside world in advance, so that many officers and soldiers who should have escaped became his prisoners?

With this question, he looked up at Ma Lining, who was standing in front of him with a happy face, and asked cautiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is this statistic accurate?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Ma Lining nodded and said affirmatively: "In order to find out the specific results, we used 7,000 people to count. And this statistic, which has also been checked twice, will definitely not cause any problems. ”

"Is it true that the number of captives is more than 120,000?" Rokossovsky was most concerned about the exact number of captured German troops.

"That's right, the number of German officers and soldiers captured by our army is indeed more than 120,000." "When we captured the Gumkole airport, we captured more than 30,000 wounded people who were stuck there waiting to be taken away by plane," Malinin explained. ”

Having received an affirmative answer from Malinin, Rokossovsky's mood immediately became pleasant, and he immediately stood up and began to give orders: "Chief of Staff, you immediately report the results of our army in the form of telegrams to the General Staff and the People's Commissariat of State Defense. ”

After Ma Lining took the battle report in his hand, he also asked tentatively: "Do you need to call the Supreme Commander himself directly and tell him the good news?" ”

After listening to Malinin's proposal, Rokossovsky nodded noncommittally, turned his head to Voronov and said: "Comrade General, you are the representative sent to us by the base camp, and I think it is better for you to make the call to Comrade Stalin to report the results of the battle!" ”

"No, Comrade Rokossovsky." Voronov tactfully rejected Rokossovsky's kindness and said with a smile: "Since Comrade Stalin asked you to personally report to him on the results achieved, then you will still make this call." ”

Just as Rokossovsky picked up the high-frequency phone on the table and was about to contact the Moscow side, Military Commissar Terekin walked in and said with a disagreeable face: "Comrade commander, Paulus is in a hurry to see you. See? ”

Hearing that Paulus was going to see him, Rokossovsky couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then said briskly: "Comrade Military Commissar, please invite him in, and by the way, call another interpreter in." ”

Paulus, who walked in, was no longer the sloppy image he had when he was captured yesterday, he was wearing the uniform of a German general who had been ironed flat, stood in front of Rokossovsky and them straight, and greeted several people with a little arrogance: "Hello, gentlemen generals, it is a pleasure to meet you." ”

"Marshal Paulus," Rokossovsky looked at the rank on Paulus's uniform, which was still the general's epaulettes, and couldn't help but feel a little regretful in his heart, if Paulus could wear the uniform of the German marshal and take a few more photos for propaganda, it would be very good. But at the moment he didn't have the time to think about this, he was anxious to know Paulus's purpose of seeing him: "I don't know if you are in a hurry to see me, what's the matter?" ”

"Your Excellency, Commander," Paulus said with a slight bow to Rokossovsky, "as a prisoner of your army, I hope to be treated as a prisoner of war as he deserves." ”

After hearing what Rokossovsky had to say, his eyebrows raised and he asked with some surprise: "Why, Mr. Marshal, is there anything wrong with our warriors to you?" ”

"That's right, Your Excellency, that's right." Paulus replied in a hearty manner: "First, you serve only one breakfast a day, but I am accustomed to eating two breakfasts a day; 2. I and my subordinates were not offered dry wine, knowing that we had to drink wine from the winery of Masandra every day; Third, we were not provided with newspapers, so that we could not keep abreast of the situation on the battlefield in a timely manner. ”

After Paulus finished speaking, Rokossovsky couldn't help but cry and laugh a little, saying in his heart that you are a prisoner of war, and you are not our honored guest, and you still have so many excessive demands. Not enough to hinder the other party's identity, he still patiently explained to the other party: "Marshal Paulus, the first thing I want to remind you is that you and your men are with us, prisoners of war and not distinguished guests. Now you enjoy the same standard of food as the head of our front army, which means that you can eat the same thing if we have something to eat. ”

Speaking of this, he stopped and whispered to Voronov, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade General, what's going on with the Massandra winery, I only know that the most famous wine is from Georgia?" ”

To Rokossovsky's question, Voronov couldn't help but laugh dumbly, and he replied in a whisper: "The Massandra winery is located in the winery of the village of Massandra on the outskirts of Yalta, Ukraine, which was built in 1897 and is the first factory in Russia to produce and store wine. There is a collection of more than a million bottles of wine bearing the imprints of Russian and European royalty, most of which are priceless. ”

"Thank you, Comrade General." After listening to Voronov's introduction, Rokossovsky's heart was full of shock, he really didn't know that there was such a famous winery in Ukraine, but he still maintained his apparent composure, and after thanking Voronov, he turned to Paulus and said: "Marshal Paulus, the Massandra Winery that can provide you with wine is still in the German-occupied area, and we can't get the wine you like from there." If you don't like it, you can try drinking our vodka, especially in the cold winter months, it will help to keep you warm, I think you will love it sooner or later. In addition to alcoholic beverages, we can also provide you with coffee every day. ”

"And, Marshal Paulus." As soon as Rokossovsky's words fell, Terekin continued: "As for your request that you say that you don't have a newspaper to read, we can also meet your request." But all you can see is the Soviet press, not the German press. ”

Paulus, apparently dissatisfied with Rokossovsky and Terekin's reply, immediately lodged a strong protest after the two had finished speaking: "Gentlemen, I protest against your rude refusal of a German officer's request for faux pas, and I will refuse to cooperate with you in any form. Under no circumstances will I help you to persuade the troops who are still fighting in the factory area north of Stalingrad to cease hostilities with you. ”

Paulus's words plunged the room into silence. But this silence was soon broken by Rokossovsky's laughter. Paulus looked blankly at the smiling Soviet officers, full of doubts. As soon as the laughter in the room stopped, he couldn't wait to ask, "Your Excellency, can you explain to me what you are laughing at?" ”

"Marshal Paulus," Rokossovsky finally stopped laughing, and asked with a straight face, "how long do you think it would take us to deal with the remnants of the German army entrenched in the work area without your help?" ”

Paulus did not expect Rokossovsky to suddenly ask such a question, and after a moment of quick thought, he replied decisively: "Your Excellency, commander, although the troops holding the factory area do not have enough ammunition and military supplies, according to my judgment, they can resist you for at least three days. ”

"Three days?!" After repeating this time, Rokossovsky said with a sneer: "At 8:30 this morning, we carried out a high-density shelling of the German-occupied area in the factory area. As soon as the shelling ended, our units launched attacks from several directions at once. At this point, Rokossovsky deliberately paused for a moment, carefully observed Paulus's expression, and saw that he had unconsciously slowed his breathing, and knew that he was also anxious to know the final result, so he continued, "The battle lasted only three hours, and the commander of your northern group, General Shtrekell, and the commander of the 51st Infantry Corps, General Shtrekell, led the troops to lay down their arms and surrender to our troops. ”

Rokossovsky's words were like a thunderbolt over Paulus's head, and he sat down in a chair next to him, curled up, slumped down, and muttered: "Impossible, this impossible." How could my troops in the factory area in the north, with six or seven divisions of tens of thousands of people, not be able to hold out for even three hours? ”

"Marshal Paulus, if you don't believe me, we can prove it to you." Voronov mended his sword in time and said: "We will send the two generals Shtrekyl and Strekel to you as soon as possible, and let the two of them tell you personally how their troops were completely destroyed in three hours." ”

Paulus looked up at Rokossovsky with a bitter expression on his face, and after a long time he said with difficulty: "Your Excellency, Commander, if you do not object, can you send someone to take me back to my residence?" ”

Rokossovsky nodded at Paulus's request, instructed the interpreter standing by to send Paulus back to his quarters, and said politely: "Marshal Paulus, if you need anything, you can always ask our guards." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's words, Paulus, who walked to the door, stopped, turned his head to look at Rokossovsky and said, "Your Excellency Commander, can you prepare a few sets of clean underwear for me?" He explained, a little embarrassed, "I have a habit of cleanliness, and for more than two months in the encirclement, I couldn't take a shower and change clothes, and I got skin diseases all over my body." ”

"Don't worry, Marshal Paulus." Seeing that Paulus's request was only a trivial one, Rokossovsky readily agreed: "I will give an account to the guards and provide you with what you need!" ”

"Thank you, Your Excellency, Commander!" Paulus bowed to Rokossovsky and staggered away after the interpreter.

As soon as Paulus left, Rokossovsky immediately said to Malinin with a serious expression: "Chief of Staff, Paulus's words remind me that in these months of fighting, the corpses in the city have piled up, and if they are not dealt with in time, as soon as the weather warms up, it will easily cause plague, and we must take precautions as soon as possible." ”

"What should we do, Comrade Commander?" Malinin asked humbly.

Rokossovsky did not immediately answer his question, but turned his gaze to Voronov and asked in a consultative tone: "Comrade General, do you see if we will not send prisoners of war to prisoner of war camps for the time being, but let them stay to clean up the corpses in the city and avoid the epidemic of plague in the city in the future." ”

"Of the 120,000 German troops captured, the number of wounded exceeded 30,000." Voronov said thoughtfully: "My opinion is that these wounded should be sent to the prisoner of war camp immediately after a simple treatment, leaving the able-bodied prisoners to clean up the ruins and corpses of the city." ”

"Okay, that's it." Seeing that Voronov also agreed with him, Rokossovsky immediately said to Terekin: "Comrade Military Commissar, I will leave this matter to you. ”

After arranging everything, Rokossovsky picked up the high-frequency phone on the table again and spoke to the Kremlin. Soon, Stalin's familiar voice came out of the earpiece: "Hello, Comrade Konstantin Konstantinovich, have the results been counted?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Stalin, we have counted all the results of the Don Front, and now we will officially report to you." Then, Rokossovsky reported the results of the battle to Stalin one by one.

After listening to this, Stalin nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, since the battle for Stalingrad is over, then early tomorrow morning, you and Voronov will return to Moscow. At this point, he paused for a moment, and then continued, "In recognition of your great exploits in the Battle of Stalingrad, the High Command is ready to formally promote you to the rank of general. ”