Chapter 984 The final negotiation

"Chief of Staff," Strekel said with a bitter face, "the troops commanded by Your Excellency Commander have been wiped out. The tens of thousands of us who are left lack winter clothing, and food and ammunition are basically consumed. Even if the Russians do not attack, most people will die of hunger and cold within a week."

   Regarding Strekel's statement, the chief of staff of the army felt that he could not refute it at all. As early as after the Russians took offensive actions in the Don River Basin, in order to speed up the retreat, the soldiers were ordered to burn their military coats during the transfer. I thought that if I jumped out of the encirclement of the Russians, I would be able to get replenishment in the backup warehouse. Unexpectedly, the breakout ended in failure, and even the troops on the right bank of the Don River were ordered to abandon their original positions and rush to join the troops in the encirclement.

Thinking of this, the chief of staff of the army no longer insisted on his own opinion. He had already made a decision to continue to stick to it. There was only one dead end, so after thinking for a while, he said to Strekel: "Your Excellency, General, I feel that the combat department Lieutenant Colonel Miller, you can go on this mission."

   "Call him over."

A few minutes later, the tall Lieutenant Colonel Miller appeared in the army headquarters. He stood upright in front of Strekel, raised his hand and saluted, and said loudly: "Your Excellency, General , Lieutenant Colonel Miller, Chief of Operations, was ordered to come."

"Lieutenant Colonel," Strekel said to him with a heavy tone: "I have called you here today, and I have a difficult task for you to complete. Take a Russian interpreter and go to the Russians. Go and negotiate with them."

"Negotiate with the Russians?" Hearing Strekel's order, the muscles on Miller's face couldn't help twitching violently a few times. As the director of operations, he is qualified to know the call back from Berlin. . I thought General Strekel would choose to fight the Russians to the end after receiving this telegram, but he ordered himself to negotiate with the Russians. It was obvious that the other party did not intend to continue the fight and was ready to be a shameful traitor. "Your Excellency, Admiral, we still have tens of thousands of people, and we can continue to fight. Besides, didn't the Berlin side just send a telegram asking us to fight until the last moment?"

"Yes, we do have tens of thousands of people, but we are running out of food and ammunition, and most of the soldiers do not have winter clothes." Strekel said sternly: "If we follow the instructions of Berlin If we continue to resist orders from the front, I am afraid that the entire army will be wiped out in two or three days at most. Even if the Russians do not attack, it will take less than a week for most of our soldiers to freeze and starve to death."

  Miller fell silent when he heard Strekel say this. He is very clear about the supply situation of the troops. Not to mention that ordinary soldiers can't get enough to eat, even he, a lieutenant colonel, is often full and hungry. .

Seeing that Miller was silent, Strekel continued: "Lieutenant Colonel, we have done our duty. The rest is to find ways to save the people who are still alive so that more people can survive the war. Then, return to your homeland."

   Strekel's last sentence completely moved Miller. He nodded slightly, and said solemnly: "Understood, Your Excellency, I will obey your order and go to negotiate with the Russians."

"The garrison of Stalingrad is Chuikov's 62nd Army. You must find a way to meet Chuikov and tell him that as long as we provide us with enough food and medicine, we can lay down our weapons and surrender to them." Strey Kerr said, and explained some surrender conditions to Miller.

  Miller left the army headquarters, took an interpreter, and entered the barricade factory with a white flag. Prepare to contact the defenders here, and then go to see Cuikov.

  Unexpectedly, shortly after they entered the barricade factory, they were shot by machine guns. Miller and the translator hurriedly hid behind a pile of bricks and stones, only to escape unharmed. After a while, he heard a rush of footsteps, and then a dozen German soldiers with live ammunition rushed over and aimed their guns at them.

   It seemed that they were all German soldiers. Miller felt that there must have been a misunderstanding, and quickly asked the officer in charge, "Which part are you from?"

  The officer with a bandage on his head saw Miller's epaulets clearly and replied loudly: "I am Lieutenant Steiger, commander of the third company of the 305th Engineer Battalion. Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, why are you flying the white flag?"

  Miller stood up and said to Lieutenant Steiger: "Lieutenant, I am Lieutenant Colonel Miller, the chief of operations of the army. On the order of General Strekel, I went to the Russian position to negotiate with them."

   "Negotiation?" Steiger asked inexplicably: "In this situation, what can we talk to them about?"

"Lieutenant, do you think we can continue to fight?" Without waiting for Steiger to answer, he asked himself and said, "I don't think we can continue to fight. Maybe laying down our weapons is the best way out for us." .”

  Hearing what Miller said, the soldiers lowered their guns one after another. They agreed with the other party's words very much. If they continue to fight, they will only die. If they put down their weapons and surrender, they will have a chance of survival.

   Seeing that his soldiers had put down their weapons, Steiger still said with a strong attitude: "Lieutenant Colonel, how can you prove that you are from the army headquarters?"

   "Here is my ID." Miller took out his own ID and handed it over, and said to Steiger: "Lieutenant, if you don't believe me, you can check my ID."

   Steiger took Miller's ID, opened it and glanced at it, and was sure that the identity of the other party was correct. After handing back the documents to the other party, he asked curiously, "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, why are you two negotiating with the Russians?"

"Your Excellency the Admiral is worried that there will be too many people going, which may cause misunderstandings by the Russians." Miller explained: "After all, it is already night, and the visibility cannot be compared with that in the daytime. If there are too many people going, the Russians will They will think that we are going to sneak attack, maybe the two sides will fight."

   "Mr. Colonel, there is a Russian division in the factory." Steiger said to Miller: "I can send you there."

   "No need." Miller waved his hand at Steiger and said, "There are too many people, I am afraid it will arouse the suspicion of the Russians."

   "It doesn't matter, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Steiger replied: "We can pass by with a flashlight, so no one will expose himself with a flashlight when they sneak up."

"Okay." In fact, Miller was not worried about being killed by the Russians on the opposite side, but was afraid of being sniped by the diehards on his side who were unwilling to surrender, so he agreed to Steiger's proposal: "You send us to the Russian positions, come back."

  Miller and Steiger took a dozen soldiers and flashlights, and walked carefully towards the opposite Soviet position. On the way, Steiger asked cautiously: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I heard the Russian radio saying that the Commander has been captured by the Russians. Is this true?"

"It's true." Things have reached the point where it is no longer meaningful to conceal the officers and soldiers below, so Miller told the truth: "The headquarters has been captured by the Russian troops commanded by Colonel Sokov, Your Excellency Commander I was also captured by Sokov himself. As far as our remaining troops are concerned, the ammunition and food are almost exhausted. Even if the Russians do not attack us, it will take less than a week, and many people will die of cold and hunger. Death. In order to save more lives, Admiral Strekel decided against the wishes of Berlin and voluntarily laid down his arms and surrendered to the Russians."

   "Da da da", everyone was walking forward, when suddenly there was a burst of machine gun shooting in front of them. Hearing the gunshots, everyone instinctively fell down on the spot and quickly searched for a place to hide.

   Just lying down, there was a shout from the opposite side. Miller quickly asked the translator, "What are the Russians talking about?"

   "The other party told us to stop, otherwise they will shoot at us." The interpreter who was still in shock replied, "Just to warn us, they shot towards the sky. If we go any further, they will not be polite."

   "Tell them that we were ordered to negotiate." Miller said to the interpreter: "Tell them not to shoot."

  The translator quickly lay down on the pile of bricks, and shouted tremblingly to the opposite side: "Don't shoot, don't shoot, we were ordered to negotiate with you."

  The Soviet commanders and fighters who were hiding in the fortifications did not dare to make decisions on their own after hearing the shouts from the German army, so they called Lyudnikov to report. Lyudnikov learned that the German army had sent Tanpai representatives, and quickly ordered the soldiers on the phone: "Let them come over, but for safety reasons, they can only send two people over."

  The soldier who received the call quickly shouted at Fangfang where Miller and the others were hiding: "Our division commander agrees with you to come to negotiate, but you can only come here as two people."

As soon as he heard that only two people could come, Miller stood up and said to Steiger, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Just send you here and leave the rest to me." The translator who was lying on the ground picked it up, dragged it and walked towards the Soviet army's position.

   Soon after, Miller and the interpreter were brought before Lyudnikov. After looking at the two of them, Lyudnikov asked, "Which part do you belong to, and what are you doing here?"

"I am the Chief of Operations of the 11th Infantry Army. I have come to negotiate with you on the order of General Strekel." Miller asked respectfully, "I wonder if you can send me to Are you going to General Chuikov?"

Lyudnikov was silent for a moment, picked up the phone on the table, and said into the receiver: "This is Lyudnikov, pick me up Comrade Commander." The call was connected quickly, and he reported to Chuikov Said, "Comrade Commander, I have two negotiators from the German army here, and they want to see you."

   "Talk about sending representatives?!" Cuikov obviously guessed that the German army would send representatives to negotiate, and asked without any surprise, "Who is here?"

   "It's Lieutenant Colonel Miller, Chief of Operations of the 11th Army." After explaining the identity of the visitors, Lyudnikov asked Cuikov for instructions: "Should we send them to your headquarters?"

   "Send them here." After Cuikov finished speaking, he specially emphasized: "You bring them here yourself."

   "Let's go, Lieutenant Colonel Miller." Lyudnikov put down the phone and said to Miller: "Our commander agrees to meet you."

   In this way, Miller followed Lyudnikov to Chuikov's headquarters.

   "You are the negotiator of the German army." As soon as he entered the headquarters, a general stepped forward. After looking at Miller, he asked straight to the point: "Come here, how do you plan to negotiate with us?"

Miller thought that the person talking to him was Chuikov, so he quickly raised his hand to salute, and said politely: "Hello, General Chuikov, I am Miller, the negotiator sent by General Strekel, the commander of the 11th Infantry Army. Lieutenant Colonel."

   "I am Chief of Staff Krylov." The general pointed to the side: "This is General Chuikov."

   "Tell me, General Strekel sent you here, what is the matter?"

"General Strekel hopes that you can temporarily suspend combat operations against us and provide us with enough food and medicine. After we get these things, we can stop resisting, lay down our weapons and surrender to your army." Miller followed Strekel's account put forward some prerequisites for surrender to Chuikov and Krylov.

"What you can do is to surrender unconditionally." Cuikov waited for Miller to finish speaking, and said unceremoniously: "After we confirm that you put down your weapons and surrender, we will provide you with basic food and medicine, and the wounded and sick can also Get the necessary medical treatment.”

   "But, Mr. General." Miller said with some embarrassment when he heard Chuikov say this: "I have not received such authorization..."

   "If you don't get the authorization, then we can only continue to fight." Chuikov said in a stern tone: "All casualties and material losses caused during this period will be borne by you."

   Seeing Chuikov say this in an unquestionable tone, Miller realized that he might not be able to complete the task assigned by Strekel. After he was silent for a long time, he murmured, "I'm sorry, Mr. General, the order I got is to lay down your arms and surrender to you after you meet our conditions."

"Under the current circumstances, do you think you still have a chance of winning?" Krylov said with a sneer: "You are now out of ammunition and food. Even if we don't take offensive actions, I'm afraid you won't be able to support us for long. One day earlier Surrender, and more of you will survive."

  Miller was silent again for a long time, and he thought to himself: If I rush back to ask Strekel for instructions, and come back after getting permission, I am afraid it will be dawn. At that time, the Russians will attack their own defensive positions again, and it is unknown how many people will die.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Miller decided to make his own decision this time. He looked up at Chuikov and asked: "Mr. General, as the plenipotentiary representative appointed by General Strekel, I agree with your army's proposal. At eight o'clock tomorrow morning, stop all hostilities north of the city and lay down your arms and surrender. I just hope that you will keep your promise to provide us with food and medicine, and provide necessary treatment for the sick and wounded."

   "No problem," Chuikov said generously when he saw that the other party was willing to surrender, "As long as you surrender, I will honor my promise."

  (end of this chapter)