Chapter 1777 Surrender (Part 2)

"General Sokov," Selivanov obviously did not have much confidence in persuading the German army to surrender, so he said to Sokov: "The reason why these Germans stay here is because they cannot escape. It is obviously very difficult for them to surrender to us, so I don't think there is any need to persuade them to surrender."

"Comrade Commander," Sokov said sternly, "Although this group of enemies, including a large number of wounded, has already fallen into the siege of our cavalry. But if we choose to attack, they will definitely fight a trapped beast. Our losses are inevitable."

   Seeing Selivanov’s hesitant look, Sokov continued: “I will try to persuade this army to surrender first. If they continue to resist to the end, it will not be too late for us to launch a final offensive.”

  Although Sokov intends to personally persuade the surrender, it is impossible to go there directly. If those desperate German soldiers see an enemy general walking past, they will definitely shoot without saying a word. By that time, Sokov would have died before he could finish his mission. Therefore, someone had to go to the front of the position and call out to let the commander of the German army come out, and then Sokov showed up again, so that safety could be guaranteed.

   "Comrade Commander," seeing that Sokov planned to personally persuade the Germans to surrender, Koshkin volunteered: "Let me complete the task of shouting in front of the enemy's positions."

Sokov stared at Koshkin in front of him for a while, and felt that the other party was now his adjutant, and it should be more appropriate for him to speak up, so he nodded in agreement, but at the same time asked: "Koshkin Lieutenant, do you need another German interpreter?"

  Unexpectedly, Koshkin shook his head and said: "No, Comrade Commander, I understand German."

   This time it was Sokov's turn to be surprised. He had known Koshkin for a long time, but he didn't know that the other party knew German. The muscles on his face twitched a few times, and then he said: "Lieutenant Koshkin, pay more attention to safety. If you find Germans shooting at you, turn around immediately, and then we will use artillery fire to eliminate these surrounded Germans. "

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Koshkin assured Sokov: "I will let the German commander come out and talk to you."

  Sokov stood in the observation post and saw Koshkin driving to the front of the German army, using the car's loudspeaker to shout at the German army. Not long after shouting, a German officer was seen walking out of the position.

   After negotiating with the other party for a while, Koshkin sent a signal to Sokov, indicating that everything is safe and that they can go to negotiate. Seeing the signal from Koshkin, Sokov, under the protection of a guard platoon, drove to a place fifty or sixty away from the German army.

Sokov stood on the jeep without a roof, picked up the loudspeaker, and shouted at the thousands of German troops opposite: "I am Lieutenant General Sokov, commander of the 53rd Army of the Soviet Army, let your supreme commander Come out and negotiate with me."

  When Koshkin repeated Sokov's words in German, it immediately caused confusion and commotion in the German army. It can be seen that Sokov's reputation has deeply imprinted fear in the hearts of every German officer and soldier.

Seeing the reaction of the German army, Sokov showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth, and he continued: "German officers and soldiers, I promise on my reputation, as long as you are willing to put down your weapons and surrender, I will guarantee your personal safety. Every wounded person can receive timely treatment."

   This time, after Kosh King Kong translated Sokov's words, he saw a German general walking out of the position surrounded by several officers. Sokov recognized at a glance that it was none other than the commander of the 11th Army, Stemmerman. He quickly opened the door and got out of the car, limping towards the other party with a cane.

"General Stemmelmann," although Sokov knew that the German general personally led the troops to break through in the breakout operation of the Battle of Cherkasy and was finally killed in battle, but at this moment he saw with his own eyes that he did not take care of himself. Instead of running away, he chose to stay with one or two thousand wounded soldiers, and he couldn't help admiring him: "It's a pleasure to see you here."

"Hello, General Sokov!" Stemmerman raised his hand to salute Sokov, and said with a wry smile, "I knew that once I met you, our breakout operation might fail. "

"General Stemmermann, since you know that the breakout is impossible, why do you have to let so many soldiers die in vain?" Sokov said tactfully, "It's better to let them lay down their weapons and let our army surrender. Guaranteed, I will definitely give them the treatment they deserve as prisoners of war. Once the war is over, I will send them back to the country to reunite with their families."

  The officers standing next to Stemmelman were very interested in Sokov's tempting proposal, and they all looked at their commander in unison, wanting to see his reaction.

"General Sokov." Stemmelman noticed the eyes of his subordinates, but he did not reply immediately, but asked instead: "I remember the last time I met you, you promised me that if our The wounded are in the hands of your troops, and you will not only keep them safe, but also treat them."

   "That's right, I did say that last time." After Sokov finished speaking, he emphasized, "And I just made the same promise in public."

After listening to Sokov's words, Stemmerman nodded, then pointed to the jeep not far away, and asked politely: "General Sokov, can I borrow the horn on your car to speak to my subordinates?" How about a few words?"

  Sokov heard that there was a joke, and it seemed that Stemmelman was planning to lead his troops to surrender, so he nodded and agreed to his request: "Yes, General Stemmelman, you can use it as you like."

"Soldiers, officers!" Stemmelmann spoke to his subordinates in the distance through a loudspeaker: "This is a long war, but also a hard war. You fought bravely and proudly for your country. You are Extraordinary fighters, bonded together, friendships like that only exist in battle, between brothers. You share foxholes, you hold each other up when you need it most, you've seen death and suffered together, I'm proud to Fight with you! You have the right to enjoy a happy and peaceful life. For you at this moment, the war is over. All you have to do is to work hard to live until the end of the war, and you can return to your motherland to reunite with your family..."

   While Stemmerman was speaking, Sokov saw an officer wiping tears with his palm, and the eye circles of several other officers were also red.

  After Stemmelman finished his speech, he paused and asked loudly, "Do you believe in General Sokov's promise?"

   There was silence on the German positions.

   Seeing this, Stemmerman raised his voice and asked again: "Soldiers, officers! Answer me, do you believe in the promise made by General Sokov to you?"

  This time the German officers and soldiers replied in unison: "Believe it!"

   In response to the reply from the officers and soldiers, Stemmerman nodded in satisfaction, and then said: "Hand over your weapons!"

Hearing Stemmermann's order, the German officers and soldiers who were still able to act came out in batches without hesitation, and threw their weapons on the open space. After a while, various weapons piled up like hillocks. Weapon pile.

  The officers and soldiers who put down their weapons stood in silence after re-arranging.

   Seeing that the officers and soldiers put down their weapons, Stemmerman turned to Sokov again and said, "My subordinates have already put down their weapons. I hope you can fulfill your promise."

  Sokov knew that although Stemmerman ordered the German officers and soldiers to put down their weapons, he would never surrender. He guessed what the other party would do next, sighed softly, and asked, "General Stemmelmann, are you really going to do this?"

  Stermelman was shocked, and asked back in surprise: "Do you know what I'm going to do?"

   "Yes." Sokov nodded: "Your military honor does not allow you to surrender. The reason why you ordered the officers and soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender is nothing more than to save more lives."

"I really didn't expect that the person who knows me best is actually my enemy." Stemmelman smiled sadly: "General Sukov, it is my honor to know such a respectable opponent as you. If it weren't for This **** war, maybe we still have a chance to be friends."

   As soon as he had said this, he drew out the Browning pistol in his belt and shot himself in the forehead.

Looking at Stemmerman who fell in front of him, Sokov sighed softly, and then told Koshkin: "Lieutenant Koshkin, General Stemmerman is a worthy opponent, You immediately find a coffin, collect his body first, and find a proper place to store it. Wait for the right thing, and then return his body to the Germans."

   After Sokov arranged to receive the German prisoners and treat the wounded who could not move, he returned to his headquarters and prepared to continue commanding the unfinished battle.

  While Sokov's troops were fighting, the neighboring troops were also fighting. The long bombardment has turned the snow-covered open land into a muddy mess. The German officers and soldiers and Ukrainian civilians who found no way to retreat sat in the mud in groups, watching the Soviet troops rushing in all directions, neither resisting nor fleeing, just wanting to be prisoners quietly.

   During the offensive of Konev's troops, the organizational system has long been disrupted, and now companies or even platoons are used as units to pass through the defeated soldiers all over the mountains and plains. Although they were already exhausted, they were all full of energy. While capturing prisoners, they began to rearrange the establishment.

  They ignored the civilians sitting in the mud, only captured the German soldiers. The German army cooperated very well, following the commands of the Soviet commanders and fighters, they put their weapons in the open space, and then walked slowly towards the designated assembly point with their heads down.

The first thing Sokov did when he returned to the headquarters was to call Konev and report to him about Stemmelman: "The commander of the front army, the commander of the German 11th Army, General Stemmelman, Killed."

"What, Stemmelman was killed?" You must know that the headquarters of the German regiment level and above are all located far away from the front line, because no matter how heavy the casualties of ordinary German soldiers, their middle and senior commanders Deaths are rare. Hearing Sokov's report at this moment, Konev couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Sokov, tell me quickly, how did you kill Stammerman?"

   "Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov saw that Konev had misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "General Stammelmann was not killed by our army, but shot himself himself."

   "He shot himself?" Konev asked a little puzzled, "Why did he commit suicide?"

When Sokov reported the situation in detail at that time, Konev breathed a sigh of relief, and then said: "This is a respectable opponent and a real soldier. For the honor and dignity of the soldier, he did not hesitate to sacrifice took his own life. Remember to bury him with great military honors."

"I have already ordered someone to collect his body." Seeing that his arrangement had deviated from Konev's thinking, Sokov quickly explained: "We are going to return his body to the Germans when the time is right. so that he can be sent back to Germany for burial."

After listening to Sokov's words, Konev was silent for a long time, finally sighed, and said: "Comrade Sokov, if you really handed over Stammermann's body to the Germans, I believe you must It can win the respect of more German officers and soldiers."

Sokov laughed awkwardly, recalled the difficulties he was facing now, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, we have received more than 1,700 wounded at once, and the medicines are obviously not enough. Support our group?"

"It's very difficult, Comrade Sokov." Konev said embarrassingly to Sokov's request, "After the war, there were many casualties in the army, and there was already a big shortage of medicines. Where can there be surplus medicines?" Come to treat the Germans in West Zhejiang."

Sokov heard that Konev didn't pay much attention to these wounded German soldiers, worried that he would become a dishonest person, and quickly said: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, before the Germans surrendered, I made a promise to them that I will let them Their wounded soldiers have been properly treated, you can't let me be a person who breaks my promise."

Konev understood that once he rejected Sokov's request, he might be trapped in injustice. After thinking for a long time, he said cautiously: "In the logistics warehouse, there is still a batch of penicillin donated by the Allies. It is said that this The drug has just been released and has not undergone sufficient clinical trials. Even the Allied Forces seldom use it, so after receiving this batch of drugs, they have been sealed in the warehouse and have never been used. Otherwise, this batch of drugs will be used to treat Germany. the wounded soldiers."

"No, this is absolutely not possible." Hearing that Konev planned to use penicillin to treat wounded German soldiers, Sokov immediately objected: "Comrade commander of the front army, you may not know that penicillin is a drug stronger than sulfa drugs." Anti-inflammatory drugs were used several times, and the use of this drug can effectively prevent postoperative wound infection."

"This is impossible." Konev questioned Sokov's statement: "I heard from the director of the field hospital that the effect of this drug requires a large number of clinical trials. Promote it. The medicine supported by the Allied Forces is nothing more than to let our wounded help them test the medicine."

"After I was injured, I used penicillin. I have the most say in the anti-inflammatory effect of this drug." Sokov, who came from later generations, naturally understands which drug is better compared with sulfa drugs and penicillin , so he said bluntly: "I think it is possible to give sulfa drugs to German wounded soldiers, and our wounded to use penicillin."

  (end of this chapter)