Enrique's tears finally couldn't stop flowing, after all, it was he who killed his comrades-in-arms who got along day and night with his own hands, even if it was to relieve the pain of the dying robe, it was psychologically unbearable for him. While wiping away tears, he continued: "I don't know who reported the killing of the wounded soldier to my superiors, and the next morning, I was called to the battalion headquarters.

In addition to the battalion commander in the battalion command post, the company commander was also there. Seeing me appear, the company commander and the battalion commander looked at each other, slapped the table and yelled at me: 'Second Lieutenant Enrique, how dare you openly disobey the orders of your superiors and help the wounded soldiers commit suicide without authorization, believe it or not, I will shoot you immediately?' ’

The battalion commander stopped the angry company commander and said to me slowly: 'Forget it, Second Lieutenant Enrique, if it weren't for the soldiers who needed to defend the position now, I would have locked you up, if not to shoot you.' However, you are no longer fit to continue in the position of platoon commander, and I formally announce to you that you are removed from the post of second lieutenant. ’

I left the battalion headquarters and returned to the platoon, and saw the soldiers in the platoon, all hiding in the trenches in the ruins, several people huddled together, using each other's body temperature to keep warm. And the body of the wounded soldier was covered with a layer of rubble by somebody, and it was simply buried. Compared to us, he was lucky, at least not to die of hunger and cold, and no one destroyed his body after he died. I have heard more than once that in other companies, the bodies of soldiers who have just died will be dismembered and @将他的肝和肺都拖出来吃掉 like butchers by a group of living soldiers.

No officer stopped the soldiers' animalistic behavior. Because many of the people who continue to survive in such a miserable and desperate environment have lost their minds. Insane. And those who are sober. In order not to freeze to death and starve to death. The only way to do this is to strip off the uniforms of the dead companions and eat their corpses. ……”

I couldn't help but feel a pang of nausea when I heard Enrique say about eating corpses, and in order to distract myself, I interjected and asked, "Enrique, please wait a minute, I just heard you say, in order not to freeze to death." He was going to pick up the uniforms from the corpses of his dead comrades. What the hell is going on, don't you have enough winter clothes? ”

When I asked this, I thought to myself: During the Battle of Moscow, the German army did not have enough winter clothing, and thousands of officers and soldiers were frozen to death when the cold came. If Hitler hadn't known how to prevent a similar tragedy at the Battle of Stalingrad a year later, he would have been a stupid donkey.

Enrique shook his head and replied: "Comrade General, the situation is not what you think. Soon after the start of the Soviet counteroffensive, our troops had planned to break through from the Karachi area, which had not yet been lost. Our commander gave the order. Let's be prepared to burn all the supplies we can't take with us. Never leave anything to the enemy. The commander also said that if you run only in military uniforms, you can run faster, so that you have a better chance of escaping. So we took our coats and lined up in a long line, and threw them into the fire one by one to burn them. ”

Hearing this, the curious Vitkov couldn't help but interject and ask: "Ensign, I want to ask, since you moved to Karachi long before the encirclement was formed, why were you still surrounded in the end?" In order not to hurt Enrique's face, he spoke more tactfully, deliberately saying that the escape was a diversion.

Enrique smiled bitterly and said in a mocking tone: "But when our troops were moving near Karachi, we received a notice from Commander Paulus that any breakthrough was not allowed without the consent of the Berlin side, and that the commander of the troops would be punished if it was not stopped immediately.

After receiving this sudden order, the breakout operation was cancelled and we had to return to our original station. Many soldiers complained privately that if Paulus allowed us to break through, he might be court-martialed or even sentenced to death. But it is better for a German army general to be sentenced to death than for thousands of soldiers to starve to death. ”

"Ensign, you're wrong." Hearing this, Vitkov said to Enrique in a solemn and solemn manner: "You don't know these fascist generals at all, for them, soldiers on the battlefield, it's just numbers and not lives. They would never willingly sacrifice their lives for a bunch of boring numbers. Moreover, Manstein, who came to the rescue of Paulus, was also repulsed by us, and I think that no one will come to the rescue of the troops besieged in Stalingrad again. ”

After Enrique waited for Vitkov to finish speaking, he nodded vigorously and said approvingly: "Colonel, you are right. We didn't expect them to abandon us, and it was unbelievable to see an entire army wiped out. Such a thing is completely incredible, I can't believe that they would sacrifice 300,000 German soldiers, we can't understand such a move. ”

"Ensign, how did you get ...... Uh, joining us? "I wanted to ask him how he was captured, but I felt that it was inappropriate in the middle of the conversation, and I was worried that it would hurt his self-esteem, so I changed it to a more euphemistic word.

When I asked for the second time how he came to us, Enrique began to tell his own story: "I stood in front of the body of my comrade, I don't know how long, I knew that someone next to me grabbed my arm and shook it vigorously a few times, and I woke up in deep thought. When he turned his head, it turned out to be his subordinate Corporal Kuhn. When he saw me turn around, he handed me a folded piece of paper and said, 'It's a letter he wrote to his family.' He snorted at the rubble-covered corpse.

I opened the letter and saw that it read: '...... My dear, I cannot put into words the pain we are facing, and this suffering is only getting worse, so many people are dying here, and their families will never know their final end. If you don't have any news, think of me as one of them, or maybe I've been wounded and taken prisoner by the time you receive the letter, or I've frozen to death or starved to death. I'm sorry, my dear, but it seems that this letter has been turned into a letter by us. I don't know how long we'll live......'

I casually put the letter in my pocket, and Kuhn, who was next to me, saw that I had read it, and looked to the left and right. Leaning closer to me, he whispered, 'Ensign.' Did you know? I heard about soldiers from other units. Sneak into enemy positions without carrying a weapon to get food for your hunger. ’

When I heard him, I frowned and asked, 'Won't they be shot when they are discovered by their own commander?' ’

Kuhn shook his head and replied: 'Second lieutenant, although they climbed to the enemy's position and demanded food, they at last returned to their position. If the Russians had attacked at this time, they would have shot as before. As for the shooting, it was impossible, because when they went to the enemy's side, they all received the tacit approval of their commander, and when they returned, they did not forget to bring back something to eat for their commander. ’

At this moment, the loudspeaker sounded again across our position, and a man with an obvious German accent said loudly: 'German officers and soldiers besieged in Stalingrad, are you still waiting for Manstein to come to your rescue?' Tell you the truth. His troops, under the constant blows of the Red Army, were retreating. Now it has been driven by the Red Army to your area of 200 kilometers. …… With the fall of Gumenlak Airport, your communication with the outside world has been completely cut off, and the food and ammunition dropped by a limited number of transport planes in the Goering Air Force will not be enough to meet the needs of your 300,000 men. Therefore, German soldiers and officers, your daily ration will soon be reduced to 100 grams of bread and 10 grams of sausages. ……’

When he heard this, Kuhn spat the ground and scolded indignantly: 'Hell, we will only get 100 grams of bread in almost two days now, and as for the sausages, we will not even see a shadow except for the officials. ’

As I listened to Kuhn's grumbling, a bold thought popped into my head. With my mind in mind, I patted him on the shoulder and asked, 'Corporal, would you like to take the risk with me?' ’

Kuhn heard me ask, apparently guessing what I was going to say next, and quickly straightened his back and replied, 'Second Lieutenant, I resolutely obey your orders. ’

Seeing that he had no objection, I announced to him: 'Corpor, lay down your weapons and follow me to the opposite side to find something to eat.' ’

As soon as I finished speaking, Corporal Kuhn took off the submachine gun he was carrying on his shoulder and threw it in the trench without saying a word, then took off his belt again, and then stopped and reported to me: 'Second Lieutenant, I am ready to go. ’

I also took off my belt, threw my weapon in the trench, shook my head at Kuhn, and said, 'Corporal, let's go.' ’

We hadn't gone far from the trenches when we heard someone shouting from behind: 'Hey, Enrique Enrique, Corporal Kuhn, where are you going?' ’

When I looked back, it turned out to be two soldiers from my platoon, leaning out of the trench and looking at us. Before I could speak, Kuhn raised his hand and pointed to where we were going. Although he did not speak, the two soldiers immediately understood, and they also untied their belts, threw their weapons beside them, and ran out of the trench with their hands and feet, and ran towards us.

In this way, the four of us walked through the thick snow towards the snow-covered ruins where the sound of the horn came from in the distance. We walked very slowly, because of hunger and fatigue, and we did not know how far we had walked, when suddenly a majestic roar sounded beside us: 'Stop, hands up.' ’

I looked in the direction from which the sound came from, and noticed that at some point, five or six Soviet soldiers in white camouflage uniforms emerged from the snow, and they were all around us, and their weapons were pointed at us. Seeing this, my men and I obediently raised our hands.

Perhaps seeing that I was an officer, an officer in a large-brimmed hat walked up to me, searched me from head to toe, then stood up straight and took a step back, reaching for his waist. When I saw his actions, I couldn't help but feel a chill in my heart, and my heart said that we all laid down our weapons and came here, should we all be beaten to death? But then I thought about it, even if we didn't come, we would die sooner or later, and it would be better to let him kill him than to wait until then and not even have the strength to commit suicide.

Just as I was closing my eyes and waiting to die, something slammed into my chest and landed at my feet with a thud. I opened my eyes and saw a paper bag in the snow. I looked up at the commander in the brimmed hat, and I saw him wave his hand from the other soldiers, who gathered their weapons and turned away. I bent down to pick up the paper bag on the ground and opened it to see that it was a piece of brown bread. I divided the bread among the three of Kuhn and shoved it into my mouth as hard as I could.

When I had finished eating the bread, my strength regained a little, and then Kuhn, who was still eating the bread, asked me inarticulately: 'Mr. Ensign, what should I do next, or go back to our position?' ’

After listening to this, I said to Kuhn with a wry smile: 'Corporal Kuhn, I don't want to go back, I'm going to surrender to the Russians.' ’

Hearing me say this, one of the soldiers nervously reminded me: 'Mr. Ensign, think clearly. I've heard people say that when the Russians catch our officers, they shoot them directly, so you can't take any chances. ’

I shook my head at the advice the soldier gave me and stubbornly said, 'Didn't you listen to the radio?' As long as they lay down their arms and surrender, they will guarantee the safety of everyone's lives. Even if I really want to be shot, I accept my fate, anyway, even if I go back to the position now, I won't be able to live for a few more days. Early death and late death are death, so it's better to gamble. ’

After hearing what I had said, Kuhn made up his mind to stay with me, while the other two soldiers shook their heads and returned to our original positions. After they had gone far, I took Kuhn into the Soviet positions and, led by them, found Comrade Ulbricht and his comrades of the anti-fascist coalition. ”

After listening to Enrique's story, we chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, I arranged for someone to take Ulbricht and the others to rest.

After Ulbricht and the others left, Vitkov said with some dissatisfaction: "Comrade commander, did you just listen to the story told by Enrique? I think he is a speculator, and if he is not cornered, he will not surrender to us at all, so I think he should not be allowed to stay in the anti-fascist alliance, and he should be sent to a prisoner of war camp immediately. ”

I only smiled at Vitkov's complaints, and then said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you notice that in the chat with Enrique, we got a lot of useful information, which will be very beneficial for our next battle. ”

"Useful information?" When Vitkov heard me say this, he couldn't help muttering to himself: "But I didn't hear any useful information for us?" ”

I made a phone call to the commander of the 284th Division, Colonel Vachuk, and asked him to rush to the headquarters immediately. After putting down the phone, I said to Vitkov: "The German officers and soldiers in the city are currently in a predicament of hunger and cold because of lack of supplies, and if we increase the intensity of the offensive to persuade the surrender of the offensive at the same time as launching a military offensive, we will achieve unexpected results." ”

Despite what I said, Vitkov was still a little angry: "Enrique, there were four of them when they came to our position, and after they finished eating, two soldiers returned to their positions, and maybe in the next battle, the Germans who had eaten us this time would still shoot at our commanders and fighters." ”

"Chief of Staff, you're quite right." After confirming his statement, I expressed my opinion: "But even if our political offensive disintegrates even a small number of soldiers, the strength of the enemy has also been weakened. In this way, we can suffer fewer casualties in the battle. ”

As I was talking, there was a voice from Vachuk shouting a report at the door, and I hurriedly said to the door: "Come in!" ”

Unexpectedly, after a minute or two, I didn't see Vachuk appear at the door, I thought he didn't hear my voice, so I raised my voice and shouted again: "Is Colonel Vachuk outside?" Come in, we're waiting for you. (To be continued......)

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