The Germans did not know what to do, and their convoy was ambushed twice by us near Kafbas, and although the loss was only a small convoy, the enemy did not react at all, as if they had not realized that the city had been occupied by us.

When I asked this question, Vitkov said disapprerovingly: "Comrade commander, you may have been overly worried. Both ambushes were fought for a short time, and there were no radios in the German convoys that we had destroyed, so even if a few soldiers slipped through the net, they would not have been able to spread the news of the ambush in such a short time. ”

I sneered and replied, "Comrade Chief of Staff, you can't help but be too optimistic about things. If I am not miscalculated, Kafbas, as an important supply point for the German army, must have a large amount of supplies coming in every day, and a lot of supplies will be transferred from here to the front. What does this say about the fact that only two small convoys of the enemy have been eliminated from the time we occupied the city yesterday? Without waiting for Vitkov to reply, I said to myself, "This means that the enemy has sensed our move to capture Kafbas, so he has temporarily halted the convoy." Next, what they have to do is to draw troops to encircle and suppress us. ”

While we were chatting, the phone on the desk suddenly rang, and Vitkov picked it up and listened to it for a moment, then covered the microphone with his hand, turned to look at me, and said with a serious expression: "Comrade commander, Captain Travkin They stopped a German car, and in addition to the driver, there was a lieutenant colonel and a captain. When the captain saw them appear, he did not give the order to shoot. It's because they have a white flag on their car. ”

"White Flag?!" Hearing Vitkov say this, not only me, but even Kirillov got up from his seat. He looked at me and asked in surprise, "The German army has a white flag on its car, is it here to surrender?" ”

"Probably not." Travkin's report confused me, judging from the current situation, the Germans did not want to surrender to us on their own initiative. In order to get to the bottom of this, I immediately gave instructions to Vitkov: "Chief of Staff. Tell the captain to bring the two German officers over himself. Remember, blindfold them. Don't let them see our defenses in the city. ”

After about ten minutes, I heard the sound of a car stopping at the door. Soon, heavy and clear footsteps came from outside, and soon Travkin appeared in front of us. Two blindfolded Germans were supported by four fighters. Walked into the headquarters.

When Travkin reported to me, I waved my hand at him and ordered: "Comrade Captain, untie them." ”

While Travkin was unwrapping the blindfold on them, I looked at the two German officers in front of me, trying to figure out their intentions for coming here. Both men wore military coats, epaulettes with silver thread and flowers, and large-brimmed hats. But after standing still, they have always maintained a straight military posture.

Wait for the strip of cloth to be untied. I walked up to the lieutenant colonel, who was about my height, and asked politely, "Mr. lieutenant colonel, can you tell me who you are and what is the purpose of coming here?" ”

"Your Excellency," the German lieutenant colonel politely said to me in Russian, "I am Lieutenant Colonel Huber, the adjutant of Field Marshal Manstein, commander of Army Group South of the German Army, and this is my assistant, Captain Mittzlav. ”

"Lieutenant Colonel Huber, please explain your intentions!" I asked in a polite and stern tone, "I suppose Marshal Manstein didn't just come to me to talk, did he?" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Huber nodded, and continued: "General Oshanina, we know from the intercepted telegrams that your army has captured Kafbas and cut off our logistical supply lines. His Excellency the Marshal, upon learning of this sad news, decided to send me to speak with you. ”

"Talk, what's there to talk about?" When Vitkov heard this, he couldn't help but interject: "Your only option is to lay down your arms and surrender to our army." Otherwise, by the time our two fronts meet on the left bank of the Dnieper, it will be too late for you to surrender. ”

Hearing Vitkov say this, Lieutenant Colonel Huber actually laughed. I wanted to see what kind of medicine he was selling in his gourd, so I stood by and didn't speak, quietly watching his performance.

Huber laughed for a while, and when he saw that the people on our side were silent, he coughed awkwardly and said to Vitkov in a bluff: "Mr. Colonel, don't look at your troops are several times more than ours, but our army will not be defeated by you under the command of such a good commander as Manstein. Maybe in another three or five days, you will be completely defeated by us. By the way, there's something I almost forgot to tell you. Your Popov cluster has already been routed by our armored 40th Army. And our 'Adolf. Hitler's division, this morning also killed the commander of your 6th Army, Khalidonov, and annihilated no less than 7,000 officers and soldiers......"

"Nonsense, you're spreading rumors!" When Kirillov heard this, he couldn't help but get up, he slammed his fist on the table, and scolded angrily: "Our troops are several times more numerous than you, how can they be defeated by you." What you say is all lies, all shameless rumors! ”

After waiting for Kirillov to finish his seizure, Huber shrugged his shoulders and said to me: "Your Excellency, although I admit that your soldiers are very brave, but the factors that determine the outcome of the war, in addition to bravery, are equipment and tactics. Without enough heavy weapons, how can the flesh and blood of your soldiers compete with the flood of our armor? Even if your forces are doubled, we will defeat or destroy them in the end. ”

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Fearing that Huber would say more embarrassing information if he continued to speak, I interrupted him and asked impatiently, "Please tell me where you came from." ”

"That's right, Your Excellency." Huber's face regained his composure, he looked at me and said politely: "Marshal Manstein asked me to bring you a word, he admires such an opponent as you very much. Now that you are a lone army with a cut off retreat, it will be of no avail if you continue to roam behind us. So Mr. Marshal advises you. Immediately lead the troops to surrender to our army, and we have formally promised you that we will guarantee the safety of everyone's life. ”

"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, did you come to me to persuade you to surrender?" I couldn't help but sneer when I understood what Huber meant, and I glanced at him with disdain. Then he said in a mocking tone: "How can you and your Marshal Manstein be sure that our army has fallen to the point of exhaustion? ”

"Yes, Your Excellency." Huber did not see my sarcasm, and continued to faithfully carry out his mission: "You and your troops are in the battle for the siege of Mamayev Heights. The courage and ability shown by him were deeply admired by His Excellency the Marshal. So he ordered reinforcements from Romania to temporarily halt the advance to Kafbas, hoping that you will take the initiative to lay down your arms and surrender to us. This will avoid more bleeding ......"

Didn't wait for him to finish. A word softly came out of my mouth: "Get out!" ”

When Huber heard me say this, he couldn't help but froze. Seeing him standing there in a daze, I raised my voice and yelled at him, "Get out!" He then glanced at Travkin next to him and motioned for him to take the two Germans away.

After the two German officers were taken away blindfolded again, Vitkov nervously asked me: "Comrade commander, do you think what the Germans say is true?" Could it be that our Popov cluster was really routed by them, the 6th Army was really hit hard by them, and the commander of the army group, General Kharidonov, really died? ”

For this long list of questions for Vitkov. Kirillov coughed and said a little self-deceptively: "Comrade Chief of Staff. Don't you see that this is a German conspiracy? By lying to our faces, he is trying to shake the morale of our military in order to achieve their ulterior motives. ”

I raised my hand to interrupt Kirillov's words and said weakly: "Let's leave this unconfirmed news alone for the time being, and the first thing to find out is whether General Romanov has rushed to Alexandria, organized troops to repel the incoming enemy, and consolidated the position. ”

Vitkov nodded, turned around and walked to the door, shouting loudly outside: "Major Pugachev, major, you come here." ”

Soon I saw Pugachev running in front of Vitkov and taking orders from him. I turned to Kirillov and whispered: "Comrade commissar, I think what the Germans said is very likely to be true. If necessary, we need to send a telegram to the front command to verify it. ”

"This, is it appropriate?" Kirillov was a little hesitant about my proposal.

"Comrade Political Commissar, haven't you noticed that the orders from the higher authorities in the past two days were directly sent to us by the Front Army Command, and did not pass through the group army level?" Anyway, there were no outsiders around, so I told all the speculations in my heart: "Maybe the superiors were worried that the news of General Khalidonov's sacrifice would shake our morale, so they didn't inform us." ”

"Well, when you say that, I think it's really like that." After listening to my analysis, Kirillov nodded approvingly, and said along with my words: "Since this is the case, should we reconsider our future path?" ”

"Commissar, you are right," I am also aware of the danger in which our army is in danger, surrounded on all sides by the Germans, and German reinforcements are coming from the direction of Romania. Anyway, our current strength is limited, and we can't make any waves in the enemy's rear, so instead of being consumed by the enemy little by little, it is better to make plans early and look for a direction to break out of the encirclement.

At this moment, Vitkov came from the door and reported to us: "The army commander, commissar, Major Pugachev reported that General Romanov had officially taken over the troops and repelled the German attack. But they now found that the enemy was surrounding Alexandria from several directions, and there were still quite a few troops, and a fierce battle would follow. (To be continued......)

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