For the next two days, the heavy snow continued to fall, turning the sky and the earth into chaos, and it was impossible to distinguish between the east and the west, the north and the south. Not only the Soviets nor the Germans, there were no more battles or clashes of any scale, and the entire Stalingrad region seemed quiet.

In the regimental command post of the 44th Guards Regiment, the regimental commander was sitting by the fire with the division commander Chirkov, who had come to inspect, drinking hot black tea while chatting with each other. The regiment commander asked: "Comrade division commander, the weather is getting colder and colder, and there are more and more German soldiers who come from the opposite side to eat at noon every day, and there are more and more people who are unwilling to go back. Now that the enemy's positions have become extremely empty, I wonder when we will launch the final general attack? ”

Chirkov smiled bitterly: "Comrade Colonel, don't ask me about this, I really don't know." Don't say I don't know, I guess even the commander of the army group, General Tolbukhin, doesn't know. ”

The regiment commander could not help but be a little disappointed that he did not get the answer he wanted from the division commander, and he muttered: "That is to say, before the final general offensive begins, we must provide the necessary food for the hungry and cold Germans every day, as we do now." ”

Chirkov looked at the heavy snow outside from the lookout above his head, and a smile flashed on his face: "Comrade Colonel, don't you know that since our army began to provide food to the Germans, many officers and soldiers have taken the initiative to surrender to us every day?" ”

"That's right, comrade division commander, it's true." The regiment commander thought for a moment and replied: "Except for the first day, there were only two soldiers, and in the past two days, there have been forty or fifty soldiers every day. ”

"Within three days, more than 100 people in your regiment's defense area surrendered, an average of more than 30 people a day." Chirkov looked at his subordinates and said: "If dozens of regiments of the whole army and hundreds of regiments of the whole front can have the same number of German troops surrender every day, then in less than a month, there will not be much of the enemy left in the encirclement." ”

The regiment commander expressed doubts about Chirkov's statement: "Comrade division commander, as far as I know, on the first day, the troops of the All-Front Army received more than 400 German officers and soldiers to surrender, and although the number has doubled in the past two days, there are only more than 1,000 people per day, and there are only more than 30,000 or 40,000 troops left in a month, right?" ”

"According to the intelligence information available to the Intelligence Service, there are less than 100,000 German troops in our encirclement, and after such a long battle, how many of them will be left?" Chirkov did not know at all that the data he was talking about was seriously underestimated, so he said confidently: "The German army has a maximum of 40,000 or 50,000 people, and if more than 30,000 or 40,000 people surrender to our army, how long can the remaining tens of thousands of people be able to hold on?" ”

While the two were discussing the fate of the German troops in the encirclement, someone suddenly opened the curtain and walked in from outside, bringing in the snowstorm and cold outside. The regiment commander looked at his subordinates who were patting the snow on their shoulders, and asked in a somewhat unhappy tone: "Second Lieutenant, is there something wrong?" ”

The second lieutenant hurriedly stopped slapping the snow and straightened up to report to the regiment commander: "Comrade regiment commander, the commander of the first battalion sent two German officers, saying that they wanted something important and wanted to discuss with the supreme commander of our army. ”

Hearing the second lieutenant say this, Chirkov immediately got up from his seat and asked curiously: "Comrade second lieutenant, where are the German officers sent by the commander of the first battalion?" ”

"Outside the door."

Although Chirkov did not know what was going on with the German officers coming here, he decisively ordered the second lieutenant: "Hurry up and bring them in." ”

A moment later, the second lieutenant walked into the regimental command post with two German officers draped in blankets and large-brimmed hats. Chirkov looked at the two German officers covered in snow and asked, "Can you understand Russian?" ”

As soon as his words fell, an officer stepped forward, straightened his back and replied, "Your Excellency Colonel, we are from the 29th Motorized Division, and I am the interpreter, Second Lieutenant Haas, and I have important matters to discuss with your Supreme Commander. ”

"I'm Colonel Chirkov, commander of the 15th Guards Division," Chirkov waited for the other party to finish speaking, and immediately identified himself: "If there is anything, you can talk to me directly." ”

After listening to Chirkov's words, Second Lieutenant Haas turned around and whispered a few words to the officer behind him. Although his voice was small, because the room was small, Chirkov could hear what he was saying, but unfortunately he could not understand it.

After listening to the words of Second Lieutenant Haas, the officer hurriedly took two steps up, faced Chirkov and said, "Your Excellency, I am Lieutenant Colonel Borman, chief of staff of the 29th Motorized Division. ”

After listening to the other party's self-disclosure, Chirkov nodded and asked casually: "Lieutenant Colonel Borman, I want to ask, do you have anything to do here?" ”

"We want to surrender to your army, but we are worried that we will not be accepted, so the division commander, General Lezer, ordered me to come and contact you." Lieutenant Colonel Borman politely replied, "I hope to get an accurate answer." ”

Hearing that the other party was coming and actually wanted to surrender, Chirkov immediately turned his head and asked the regiment commander sitting next to him: "Can the phone of your regiment be directly connected to the headquarters of the group army?" ”

"No, comrade division commander, the phone can only contact the division headquarters and the troops below." The regiment commander shook his head and said, "But if the group army headquarters takes the initiative to call, it can also answer." ”

"I see." Chirkov dialed the phone of the division headquarters, and the chief of staff who answered the phone said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately call Commander Tolbukhin, say that I have an important situation to report to him, and ask him to immediately call the regimental command post of the 44th Guards Regiment. ”

A few minutes later, Tolbukhin called in, and when he heard Chirkov's voice, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Colonel, what do you have to report to me?" ”

"Hello, Comrade Commander." Chirkov reported to Tolbukhin: "Lieutenant Colonel Bormann, the chief of staff of the German 29th Motorized Division, was with me, and he said that he was on the orders of the division commander, General Lezer, and that he was privately negotiating with our troops about surrender. ”

"What, Comrade Colonel, what did you just say?" When Tolbukhin heard Chirkov say this, he thought that he had heard it wrong, and hurriedly asked: "You repeat, what is the enemy going to do with you?" ”

"Comrade commander, they wanted to surrender, but they were afraid that our army would not accept it, so the chief of staff of the division infiltrated our army's defense line in disguise and conducted private negotiations with us." After the report, Chirkov asked Tolbukhin for instructions: "I don't know how I should reply to them?" ”

Tolbukhin thought for a moment, then said into the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, you brought the chief of staff of the German division to my command, and I will talk to him personally. As soon as he put down the phone, he immediately ordered the chief of the communications corps next to him, "Give me the command of the front and find Commander Rokossovsky." ”

And Chirkov, after putting down the phone, made a gesture to Borman, who was standing in front of him, and said politely: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, please come with me, I have been ordered to take you to the headquarters of the army group, and our commander, General Tolbukhin, will personally discuss the surrender with you." ”

By the time Borman arrived at the headquarters of the 57th Army, led by Chirkov, Tolbukhin had already received instructions from Rokossovsky on how to conduct the negotiations. After beckoning Borman to sit down, he asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Borman, I want to ask, are you really ready to surrender to our army?" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Borman, who had just sat down, quickly stood up and replied respectfully: "There is no point in continuing to resist, so my department intends to lay down our arms and surrender to you." ”

"If only Paulus could think like you." After Tolbukhin said this, he began to read out the conditions for surrender: "The conditions of our army are as follows:

1. The 29th Motorized Division, led by General Leeser, was surrounded by the German army and stopped resisting;

2. Your department will hand over all personnel, weapons, technical weapons and military supplies to us in an organized manner.

Having fulfilled these two requirements, we guarantee the safety of all officers and men of the 29th Motorized Division, and when the war is over, we will return them to Germany or to any country to which the prisoners of war wish.

At the same time, we preserve uniforms, identification marks and medals, personal belongings and valuables for all surrenderers, and allow senior officers to keep their own cold weapons.

In view of the current predicament of your unit, we will immediately provide all surrendered officers and soldiers with normal food and drink, and treat all wounded and frostbitten officers and soldiers after the surrender. ”

After announcing the conditions on the side of the Soviet army, Tolbukhin stared intently at Borman to see how he reacted. After listening to Second Lieutenant Haas's translation, Borman nodded and said: "This condition is very fair, on behalf of General Leeser, I accept your proposal, and we will lay down our arms and surrender to your troops in the shortest possible time." ”

Hearing Borman's words, Tolbukhin breathed a sigh of relief. According to the information available, the German 29th Motorized Division still has nearly 5,000 troops, and even if they are hungry and cold and lack of ammunition, the Soviets will pay a huge price if they want to eliminate them. It is indeed a fortunate thing that this army has been dealt with without bloodshed.

Tolbukhin paused for a moment, then asked, "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I wonder when you plan to surrender?" ”

Borman pondered for a while and replied: "Your Excellency, it will take at least one day to complete the preparations for surrender, and I think it will take the day after tomorrow, that is, in the early morning of January 25th. After daybreak, you sent a unit into our defense zone to take over our defense, and my troops, after disarming, marched into your defense zone in an orderly manner. ”