I didn't know about the Germans' tea-drinking habits, and I didn't know if they put sugar or honey in their tea like the Soviets, so I stared nervously at Voronov's teapot as he filled Paulus's teacup. Paulus thanked him in stiff Russian, raised his teacup to his nose and sniffed it, then drank it down. After drinking the tea in the cup, he handed the teacup to Voronov again, said something in German, and the interpreter immediately translated it for us in time: "Mr. General, please have another drink." ”

The atmosphere in the room, after Paulus had drunk the first cup of tea in agreement, became more harmonious, and Voronov very cheerfully filled his cup with black tea with white sugar again.

After Voronov sat back in his place, the conversation with Paulus began again, and since Paulus had said in advance that he would not answer questions about breaking the oath of soldiers, Rokossovsky skillfully asked about the situation in his family: "Marshal Paulus, if I remember correctly, your wife is a nobleman, right?" ”

"Yes, Mr. Admiral." Hearing Rokossovsky mention his wife, Paulus's face smiled, and his guard against us slackened a little: "My Elena is a Romanian nobleman, and we were married on July 4, 1912, when I had been an alternate officer in the 111th Infantry Regiment for two full years......"

I was just thinking that Paulus's wedding day was actually the Independence Day of the United States, and it was really a coincidence, when I saw Rokossovsky push the plate with sliced sausages and cheese in front of Paulus, and after making a gesture of invitation, he continued: "I have heard that the 111th Infantry Regiment, after the outbreak of World War I, was transferred to the Western Front, and was one of the main forces of the German army on the Western Front. ”

"Yes, Mr. Admiral, you are quite right." Speaking of his own experience, Paulus's words gradually increased: "In the autumn of 1914 in Vosges and Arras in France. I experienced my first battle after enlisting in the army, and shortly after the battle, I was sent home due to illness. After I recovered, I was transferred to Macedonia in the south. Served as a civilian in the army until the end of the war. ”

Seeing Rokossovsky and Paulus chatting about family affairs like old friends who have known each other for many years, I can't help but secretly speculate in my heart: Rokossovsky's politeness to Paulus may have something to do with the other party's marshal status. Don't look at the commanders and fighters of our army falling into the hands of the Germans. There is no respect at all, and all that awaits them is torture and death, and even the same fate awaits the captured generals. But if Timoshenko or Voroshilov had been captured, the German officers who had received them would have behaved as politely as Rokossovsky.

While I was thinking wildly, I suddenly heard Rokossovsky say to Paulus in a deliberative tone: "Marshal Paulus, the southern cluster trapped in the center of the city has completely lost the courage to continue fighting with your capture, and I believe it will not be long before it continues. The rest of the troops will all surrender to our army. And the northern cluster, which is trapped in the 'barricade' factory area and the tractor factory area, is still fighting with our troops. In order to prevent the officers and men of both sides from continuing to shed blood and sacrifice, I ask you to call on those troops who are still stubbornly resisting, so that they can stop resisting, lay down their arms and surrender to us......"

"Mr. Admiral," Paulus, who had been smiling all the time, suddenly became stern when he heard this, and he jerked himself up from his seat, interrupting Rokossovsky's later words. "Let me remind you that I can surrender to you only on behalf of myself and my command, but not on behalf of all the remnants of my army, because I have completely lost contact with them. ”

Rokossovsky did not expect to hit the nail on the nail in this matter. Seeing the resolute expression on Paulus's face, he smiled helplessly, and then politely said to Paulus: "Marshal Paulus, it was a pleasant conversation with you. But you should be very tired, so let's go back and rest first, and we'll talk when we have time. ”

Paulus listened to the translation. Nodding, he raised his hand and saluted us, then turned and walked out of the room after the interpreter.

Ruskin looked at Paulus's back, gritted his teeth and scolded in a low voice: "Damn fascists, when their lives are in danger, they know to lay down their arms and surrender, but they don't care about the lives and deaths of their subordinates." Then he turned to Rokossovsky and said, "Comrade Commander of the Front, since the Germans refuse to surrender, then destroy them, and you cannot be so polite to this German marshal." ”

"Comrade Raskin, you are quite right." Rokossovsky lit another cigarette and said slowly: "For the Germans who refuse to lay down their arms and surrender to us, it is undoubtedly the most direct to destroy them with bullets and shells." But ......," he paused, organized his vocabulary in his head, and continued, "In war, we should try to use a qiē method against our enemies. ”

He raised his hand and glanced at his watch, then turned to me and said, "Lida, on your way here, I called Chuikov and asked him to draw troops from your 79th Infantry Corps to participate in the assault on the remaining 51st Army in the Southern Cluster. It was important to completely dispose of all German units in the downtown area before dark. ”

I was just about to ask Chuikov which unit he was drawn from my army, when the door of the room, which had been closed by the interpreter when he left, was pushed open from the outside, and the chubby Chief of Staff Malinin walked in briskly, and when he walked towards us, he waved a piece of paper in his hand and said excitedly and loudly: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you, the 51st Army, which was surrounded in the center of the city, has surrendered to our army. ”

He put the battle report he had just received in front of Rokossovsky, and continued: "With the surrender of the 51st Army, the German Southern Cluster completely ceased resistance, that is to say the battle in the center of the city is over. The commanders and fighters of the 62nd Army captured the commander of the 295th Infantry Division, Major General Kofever, and his members of the division command, and also captured the commander of the 4th Infantry Army, Lieutenant General Pfever, Artillery Lieutenant General Pfever, and the commander of the 51st Army, von Fernandes, who had fled there at that time. Seydlitz. Lieutenant General Kurzbach, Chief of Staff of the 295th Division, Colonel Diselia, and a number of colonels and staff officers. ”

At the same time as Malinin reported, Rokossovsky had already read the entire battle report at a glance, and then he raised his head and asked: "Did Chuikov report which unit of the 62nd Army captured these German generals?" ”

Malinin glanced at me and then reported to Rokossovsky: "After the assault engineer battalion of the 79th Infantry Corps broke through the German defensive positions, the communications regiment of the 62nd Army rushed forward to expand the breakthrough. Porter led 3 fighters captured. By the way, Comrade Chuikov also said that Comrade Lida should rush to the headquarters of his group army as much as possible. ”

I heard Malinin say that my assault engineer battalion took part in the final assault on the German southern cluster and assisted the army group in capturing many German generals. I was so excited that I was relieved by the loss of the opportunity to capture Paulus, and I quickly stood up and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Commander of the Front, General Chuikov must have something important to call me back. Permission for me to leave? ”

Rokossovsky handed the battle report to Voronov next to him. He glanced at me intently: "Leda, why are you in such a hurry, even if you go back later, won't those German generals stay at Chuikov's headquarters?" It's rare for you to come here, so let's eat here before leaving. ”

Passion for Rokossovsky. I hurriedly waved my hand and refused: "Thank you, comrade of the front army command. When I heard that General Chuikov was looking for me, I couldn't stay here for a minute. I earnestly beg you to allow me to return to the 62nd Army immediately. ”

Rokossovsky and Voronov looked at each other, then smiled and said, "That's right, I see." He raised his hand again to look at Bian, and then said, as if intent on emphasizing that he had formally approved my request, "I agree, and you should rush back to Chuikov." ”

"Yes."

"After going to see those German generals, you have to rush back to the troops as much as you can. Arrange offensive operations against the Northern Cluster. ”

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I have already arranged these."

"The shape of the battlefield is changing rapidly, and I know this better than you do, and it is necessary to take precautions before it happens." When Rokossovsky said this, a strange expression suddenly appeared on his face, "Hey, why are you still standing here?" Listen to me, turn back, and go! When he said his last words, he no longer hid the smile on his face.

"Thank you. Comrade Commander of the Front, thank you! After I finished speaking, I saluted the few people present and walked out of the room quickly.

I ran out into the street. I saw that the jeep and truck that had come with me were parked on the opposite side of the road, and the soldiers of the guard platoon were standing next to the car, while Captain Yushchenko was walking back and forth next to the car, while raising his hand from time to time to look at his watch.

I walked quickly to the car and shouted to Yushchenko, who was in a hurry: "Captain, let's go to the headquarters of the army group." "Finished. I pulled the door open and got into the car. When the door was closed with a bang, the car started.

When I arrived at Chuikov's new, spacious headquarters, I saw a long table next to the room filled with German generals in ceremonial robes and medals on their chests. My arrival immediately attracted everyone's attention, and Chuikov beckoned me to sit next to him.

After I sat down, a German general sitting not far away stood up and said to me with a smile: "Hello, General Oshanina, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon." ”

I looked at the general who was speaking, and found that it was Major General Kofes, the commander of the 295th Division, so I nodded at him and said with a smile: "Hello, General Kofes, it's nice to see that you are still alive." He made small talk with me a few more times before sitting back in his seat.

Gurov, who was sitting next to me, leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Oshanina, you know what? Before you came, all of these generals looked uneasy because of hunger and uncertainty about their fate, and the comrade commander asked them to prepare refreshments and invite them to eat, but they were all very restrained. But after you talk to Major General Kofes for a few words, the atmosphere becomes relaxed, and some people even start drinking tea and eating. ”

While Gurov was talking to me, another German general stood up, holding a slice of bread in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, and asked Chuikov: "Mr. General, what do you mean by inviting us to eat these, is it propaganda?" ”

Chuikov glanced at the other party, and then said lightly: "If Your Excellency the General thinks that this tea and snacks have a propaganda meaning, then we do not particularly insist that you eat this food with a propaganda nature. ”

After listening to Chuikov's humble and arrogant answer, the captives immediately caused a burst of laughter. It also makes them more active. As the sense of restraint disappeared, other generals began to chat with Chuikov. Gurov whispered to the general who had just stood up with a teacup: "That's Lieutenant General Pfefer, the commander of the 4th Infantry Corps. ”

Perhaps it was the appearance of this old acquaintance of mine, the commander of the 295th Division, General Kofes, who was the most active of the captives, said more than all of them combined. In conversation with Chuikov. He tried to articulate the idea that the present state of affairs in Germany had much in common with the conditions of Germany under Frederick the Great and Bismarck. Chuikov was noncommittal about his opinions, just looking at him with a smile on his face. And the other German generals did not intervene. Answer "yes" and "no" only occasionally.

When General Korfes stopped talking, the room was cold again. After sweeping his gaze over the German generals present one by one, Chuikov asked in a steady tone: "Generals, what else do you want to say?" His implication was obvious, that if you had nothing to say, he would send you back and lock you up.

At this moment, a German lieutenant general sitting next to Kofes stood up and asked politely: "Your Excellency, commander, I wonder what you plan to do with us?" ”

It was Feng who spoke. Seydlitz. Lieutenant General Kurzbach, commander of the 51st Army. He had been sitting in his position with a frown and not speaking when he had just spoken freely in Kofes, not knowing what he was thinking.

To General Seydlitz's question, Chuikov smiled and told him about the regulations governing the prisoners of our army, and added: "General Seydlitz, if you wish, you and your comrades can wear the medals and medals you have received yourself, but with the addition of weapons. ”

"What weapon?" As if he didn't understand, Seydlitz looked at Chuikov and asked with interest.

"Gentlemen, this is the obvious thing." Chuikov patiently repeated again: "The captured generals are not allowed to carry any weapons with them. ”

Hear Chuikov say that. Seydlitz took something out of his pocket and put it on the table, and pushed it in front of Chuikov with his hand, saying in his mouth: "Your Excellency, Commander, this is the only weapon I have on me. ”

I thought he was pulling out a small Browning or something. As a result, when he looked closely, he couldn't help but laugh dumbly, it turned out that his so-called weapon was nothing more than an inch-long pencil sharpener.

When Chuikov saw what Seydlitz had put in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh, and he returned the pencil sharpener to the other party. Then he said politely: "General Seydlitz, I think you have misunderstood. The 'weapons' you hand over are not real weapons at all in our opinion, so you should put them away yourself. ”

When Seydlitz put the pencil sharpener back into his coat pocket, he sat down and asked Chuikov: "Your Excellency, I would like to ask a question, at such a time, it should not be a secret. Where were you and your army group headquarters during the battle for the city before November 19? ”

Chuikov shrugged his shoulders and said in a flat tone: "General Seydlitz, where else can it be?" Throughout the campaign, my command post and army headquarters were in the city, on the west bank of the Volga, and the final location of the command post and headquarters was the place where we are now. ”

After hearing this, General Seydlitz actually had a lost expression on his face, and it was a long time before he muttered, "It's a pity that we didn't believe the information provided by our scouts at that time." We would have had the opportunity to wipe you and your command off the face of the earth. ”

When Seydlitz was regretting his conceit at the moment, I thought to myself that even if he had not believed the information provided by the German scouts and concentrated his forces on the location of the headquarters of the 62nd Army, Chuikov and the headquarters of the Army Group would still be in danger throughout the campaign. Once, if I had been half an hour late, they might have been served by the Germans.

After the conversation with the German generals, Chuikov ordered the commander of the guard battalion, Major Gladshev, to escort the prisoners to the headquarters of the Front. When Seydlitz reached the door, he suddenly stopped, turned to Chuikov, and said, "Your Excellency, I would like to talk to you alone. ”

Chuikov asked Gladshev to escort the rest of the captives away, and then beckoned Seydlitz to sit down again, and then asked unhurriedly: "Mr. Lieutenant General, I don't know what else you want to say?" ”

Seydlitz stood up from his seat, straightened up and said respectfully to Chuikov: "Your Excellency, Commander, I want to cooperate with the Soviet Army. ”

"Cooperation, what kind of cooperation law?" Chuikov said with some disdain: "You know, you are our captive, what can you do to cooperate with us." ”

"Your Excellency, Commander, I feel that I am fully qualified to cooperate with the Soviet Army!" Seydlitz was probably afraid that Chuikov would interrupt his later words, so he continued in one breath: "I think we can draw people from the captured German officers and soldiers to form an anti-Hitler army and fight side by side with you!" (To be continued.) )

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