When Malinin was about to call and give the order, Rokossovsky added: "Tell the commanders of the units that we must destroy the enemy not only with shells, but also with bread." ”

In response to Rokossovsky's words, Malinin had a confused expression on his face: "Comrade commander, I don't understand, how can we destroy the enemy with bread?" ”

Not only Malinin, but all the senior commanders, including Voronov, looked at Rokossovsky with puzzled eyes, waiting for him to give everyone the answer.

Rokossovsky thought that after saying so much, everyone would definitely understand his intentions, but at the moment it seemed that he was playing the piano to the cow. There was no way, so he had to explain to Malinin again: "Chief of staff, tell those positions close to the enemy's defense area, put everything to eat in a position where the Germans can see, and then use a loudspeaker to tell the enemy that if you want to eat, you can just put down your weapons and crawl over." After eating, whether to go or stay, listen to the respect. ”

Voronov couldn't help frowning when he heard Rokossovsky say this. He opened his mouth to say something, but thinking of what Rokossovsky had said not long ago, he felt that he still had some truth in it, so he closed his mouth and silently watched what was happening in front of him.

After receiving Malinin's order, the commanders of several group armies reacted first to the fact that the telegraph operator had mistranslated the telegram. The hot-tempered commander also directly scolded the telegraph operator who translated the telegram. In order to find out what was going on, they invariably called the headquarters of the Front Army to verify the matter with Malinin.

Ma Linin, who was full of grievances, had to repeat the same sentence to every commander of the group army who called: "That's right, the order is right, that is, let you shout at the enemy and provide the necessary food for those German officers and soldiers from German positions." ”

The forward positions of the 57th Guards Division of the 15th Army, located less than two hundred meters from the enemy's positions. After receiving this strange order, the division commander Chirkov also expressed doubts and made a special call to Tolbukhin to verify. As a result, Tolbukhin was in a bad mood and was scolded.

Chirkov, who was scolded, smiled bitterly and instructed his deputy: "Chief of Staff, give an order to the troops at the front, let them put food in a place where the enemy on the opposite side can see, and at the same time send soldiers who understand German to shout to the opposite side, as long as the enemy does not carry weapons into our army's defense area, we can provide them with food, and after eating, we will go or stay to listen to the honor." ”

Half an hour later, several insulated barrels filled with hot soup or coffee, and several wooden boxes filled with bread, were placed on the positions of the 44th Guards Regiment. A German-speaking fighter shouted at the opposite side: "Attention Germans, attention Germans!" As long as you lay down your arms and come here, we can provide you with the necessary food......"

He shouted several times in a row, and when he saw that there was no movement on the other side, he turned his head and reported to the regiment commander who was squatting in the trench: "Comrade regiment commander, I have shouted several times, but it has no effect at all. ”

The head of the regiment stood up, looked up at the opposite side, and then instructed the cook, "Open the lid of the thermos and let the northwest wind blow the smell of hot soup and coffee." ”

The cooks quickly stood up, opened the lids of the insulated buckets placed on the edge of the trench one by one, and then found a wooden board and fanned it vigorously so that the fragrance could spread more quickly to the other side.

The regimental commander nodded with satisfaction when he saw the cook's move, and then said to the soldiers who knew German: "Keep shouting, I don't believe that these Germans have bellies made of iron, and they will not be afraid of hunger." ”

The shouts of the Soviet troops had long been heard by the German officers and soldiers on the opposite side, but they thought that it must be a trap, so they just looked at the insulated buckets placed on the edge of the trench opposite with numb expressions. But when the lid of the thermos was opened, and the smell of hot soup and coffee wafted in the wind, many German officers and soldiers drooled while clutching their rumbling stomachs.

Amid the shouts of the Soviet troops over and over again, a private who could not bear the hunger finally threw his rifle into the trench, climbed out of the trench with his hands and feet, and crawled towards the Soviet position on the opposite side.

He had just climbed more than ten meters when he suddenly heard several gunshots, and then the snowflakes around him splashed. He judged that the bullet was coming from behind, and it must have been the officer who saw that he was crawling towards the Soviet position without authorization, so he fired a warning that if he crawled further, the bullet might hit him.

The German soldiers in the trenches were focused on the private lying in the snow, wanting to see what he would do next, whether he would continue to crawl forward, or obediently crawl back and continue to starve and freeze.

The private lay motionless in the snow, his mind racing forward: if he continued to crawl forward, he might be killed by the officers in the trenches; And if you return to the trenches, you will either starve to death or be killed by Russian shells. After repeated weighing, the hunger in his belly still prevailed over the fear, so he crawled towards the opposite side without hesitation.

This time, the gunfire did not ring again, and the officers and men of both the Soviet and German armies stood up straight in the trenches and looked at the German soldier who bravely crawled forward because of hunger.

The private climbed to a distance of five or six meters from the Soviet trench, but he could not climb anymore. Seeing this situation, the commander of the Su Corps hurriedly ordered left and right: "Go out two people and carry him in!" As soon as he finished speaking, two soldiers climbed out of the trench, bent down and ran to the private's side, and leaned down to lift him up from the snow.

When the officers and men on the German positions saw that the private was being carried by two Soviet soldiers into the trench, one of the senior soldiers immediately raised his rifle and prepared to shoot at the Soviet soldiers. But before he could shoot, a hand reached out next to him and pressed the muzzle of his gun down. He turned his head and saw that it was a German sergeant, who shook his head at him and said, "Don't shoot, I don't think the Russians have any ill will." ”

Soon, these German officers and soldiers saw that their comrades had entered the other side's trenches, and immediately someone handed him a few slices of bread, and the private immediately stuffed the bread into his mouth and devoured it. There was also a man who looked like a cook next to him, scooping a spoonful of hot soup into the private's lunch box.

Seeing this situation, the German soldiers who were still watching could not bear it, and they threw away the weapons in their hands one after another, climbed out of the trench with their hands and feet, and crawled towards the opposite side.

When the commander of the Soviet regiment saw dozens of German soldiers crawling towards him, he couldn't help but be stunned, and said secretly in his heart: "My God, I didn't expect this method to be so effective, just a few boxes of bread and a few buckets of hot soup, and let all the German officers and soldiers run over." ”

He instructed one of the officers to leave behind to greet the German officers and soldiers, and he himself ran to the company command post and called the division commander, Colonel Chirkov, to report to him what had happened here.

When Chirkov heard this, he was also taken aback, but he quickly returned to normal and said to the regiment commander: "Comrade Colonel, after these German soldiers have eaten enough, it is up to them to decide whether to go or stay. ”

If he hadn't seen so many German soldiers climbing up his position, the commander of the 44th Guards Regiment might not have any idea, but at this moment, when he heard Chirkov say that let those German soldiers decide to stay, he couldn't help but be a little anxious: "Comrade division commander, since the Germans have arrived at our position, we might as well capture them all, and the next battle will be much easier." ”

"No, Comrade Colonel, resolutely not." Chirkov immediately rejected the proposal of the regiment commander without hesitation: "Let the Germans decide for themselves whether to stay or go, this is an order of the front command, and no one can disobey it, understand?" ”

Hearing Chirkov say this, the regiment commander sighed, and then said helplessly: "Understood, comrade division commander. When the Germans are full, let them decide for themselves whether to go or stay. ”

By the time the regiment commander returned to the trenches, the German officers and men who had come running had almost eaten. The regiment commander called the interpreter over and said to him: "You tell these fascists that after they have eaten enough, those who do not want to go back can stay, and our army will definitely treat the prisoners preferentially; If you want to go back, we are not reluctant, and we are free to stay. ”

The interpreter listened to what the regiment commander said, and tried to persuade him: "Comrade regiment commander, look, these German soldiers are so hungry that they are out of human shape, we might as well take them prisoner directly, so as to save them from going back to suffer." ”

The regiment commander shook his head and said to the translator: "Don't say any more, this is an order from your superiors, you just need to translate my original words to them." ”

After translating the words of the regimental commander to the well-fed German officers and soldiers, these officers and soldiers who were ready to be taken prisoner were stunned. After a long time, the sergeant who had just stopped the senior soldier from firing asked tentatively, "Your Excellency, are you really going to let us go?" ”

The translator rolled his eyes at him and said angrily: "Where did you get so much nonsense, since you have eaten enough, you can go back if you want to, no one will stop you." ”

Hearing that the Soviets were going to let them go back, a dozen German soldiers immediately climbed out of the trenches and ran towards their positions. Probably afraid that the Soviets would shoot cold in the back, they looked behind them while running. But what they feared never happened, until they jumped into their trenches, and there was no movement on the Soviet positions.

Seeing that their companions had returned to their positions safely, the remaining soldiers could not hold their breath anymore and bowed to the Soviet commanders and fighters, and then climbed out of the trenches and ran towards their positions.

However, not all the soldiers, after they had eaten enough, ran back to their positions. The first German privates to crawl over, and the superior privates who tried to shoot at the Soviet soldiers remained. Seeing that the two had no intention of leaving, the regimental commander beckoned to the side and asked the two German soldiers to be taken to the area where the prisoners of war were held.

The same thing is happening in different places. After receiving a series of reports, Malinin said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Comrade commander, your method is really effective, and we did not spend a single shot or bullet, and more than 400 German officers and men took the initiative to surrender to our army after they had eaten enough. ”

Voronov looked at Rokossovsky and said with emotion: "Comrade Rokossovsky, to be honest, when you put forward this plan, I was very opposed to it, and this kind of behavior of the enemy will only make the enemy stronger. I didn't expect it to be implemented, but as you analyzed in advance, the enemy will really lay down his arms and come to our positions to eat. I have a suggestion, do you think we should launch a surprise attack on the Germans while they are eating at our positions, so that we can easily seize their defensive positions? ”

"No, General Voronov, resolutely not." After hearing this, Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "After all, the enemy who came to our positions to eat is a minority, and if we take advantage of such an opportunity to launch an attack, even if we seize some positions, we will lose more than we gain." ”

"Do you lose more than you lose?" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Voronov's eyebrows rose and he asked puzzledly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, why do you say that?" ”

Seeing that their companions had returned to their positions safely, the remaining soldiers could not hold their breath anymore and bowed to the Soviet commanders and fighters, and then climbed out of the trenches and ran towards their positions.

However, not all the soldiers, after they had eaten enough, ran back to their positions. The first German privates to crawl over, and the superior privates who tried to shoot at the Soviet soldiers remained. Seeing that the two had no intention of leaving, the regimental commander beckoned to the side and asked the two German soldiers to be taken to the area where the prisoners of war were held.

The same thing is happening in different places. After receiving a series of reports, Malinin said to Rokossovsky with a smile: "Comrade commander, your method is really effective, and we did not spend a single shot or bullet, and more than 400 German officers and men took the initiative to surrender to our army after they had eaten enough. ”

Voronov looked at Rokossovsky and said with emotion: "Comrade Rokossovsky, to be honest, when you put forward this plan, I was very opposed to it, and this kind of behavior of the enemy will only make the enemy stronger. I didn't expect it to be implemented, but as you analyzed in advance, the enemy will really lay down his arms and come to our positions to eat. I have a suggestion, do you think we should launch a surprise attack on the Germans while they are eating at our positions, so that we can easily seize their defensive positions? ”

"No, General Voronov, resolutely not." After hearing this, Rokossovsky shook his head and said: "After all, the enemy who came to our positions to eat is a minority, and if we take advantage of such an opportunity to launch an attack, even if we seize some positions, we will lose more than we gain." ”

"Do you lose more than you lose?" Hearing Rokossovsky say this, Voronov's eyebrows rose and he asked puzzledly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, why do you say that?" ”