Chapter 871 The fate of the general (part 2)
And Seidlitz, who was still observing the battle, listened to the gradual stop of the guns, and watched the hordes of German officers and soldiers raising their hands and being escorted out of the trenches or buildings by our soldiers, he murmured A lot of words. Because I couldn’t understand, I gently pulled the interpreter standing behind me, and asked quietly, “Comrade interpreter, what did he say?”
The translator hurriedly said in a low voice: “He said, it was incredible. A whole 50,000 German elite army was wiped out without holding it for three hours.”
Looking at the stunned Sedlitz, I thought about how to communicate with him. If he was just an ordinary captured officer, I would definitely say to him the classic line in a mocking tone: “It deserves it, three hours and fifty thousand people, and it’s not so fast to catch the ducks.” I can think of him in the near future. Our partner, to say this again, would hurt his self-esteem too much.
While I was still considering how to persuade Sedlitz, Gurov next to him had already asked: “General Sedlitz, seeing that your fifty thousand elites were defeated by us in such a short period of time, you have What do you think?”
After listening to the translation, Sedlitz turned to look at Gurov without speaking. After a long time, he sighed and said leisurely: “Faced with your powerful attacks, it is meaningless to continue resisting. Only surrender can avoid tragedies and save more young lives. The result is because of Strei. Lieutenant General Kerr made both parties pay unnecessary price.”
After confirming that all the besieged enemies had stopped resisting, the excited Trikov called Rokosovsky and reported what had happened to us: “Report to Comrade Commander, I am excited to report to you. The remaining Hitlers could not withstand our final attack, hung the white flag, and began to surrender in an institutional way.”
Since I wanted to know Rokosovsky’s reaction at the first time, I always stood by his side when Trikov called. Just listen to Rokosovsky after listening to Trikov’s report. There was unexpected silence. After a while, he said loudly, “Comrade Cui Kefu, please say it again!”
Cui Koff immediately raised his voice and shouted into the microphone: “Report to Comrade Commander that the remaining Hitlers have hung the white flag. They are surrendering to our army in an establishment! All the Hitlers surrounded by us have surrendered!”
Perhaps because of excitement, Rokosovsky’s voice became a little hoarse: “I congratulate you, Cui Koff. Congratulations to you!”
Before Rokosovsky put down the phone, Trikov asked hurriedly: “Comrade Commander, can you come to me today? My headquarters is now located in the office building of the’Red October’ factory. ”
“Yes. Yes, dear Vasily Ivanovich.” Rokosovsky said readily: “When I report the good news to the Supreme Command, I will rush to your commander. Ministry. By the way, remember to gather all the members of the military committee of the 62nd Army, all the division commanders, brigade commanders, and regiment commanders who have made great achievements to your headquarters. I want to express my gratitude to them in person…”
Before Rokosovsky’s words were finished, there was suddenly intensive gunfire outside. After Rokosovsky gave a strange “um”, he asked Cuikov sternly: “Comrade Cuikov, what’s the matter with the gunshots coming from outside. Are there any remaining Hitlers fighting in the corner?”
Cui Kefu didn’t finish speaking, and turned his head to look at Gurov who was standing in front of the sandbag. Gurov waved his hand at him with a smile on his face, and said excitedly: “Comrade Commander. Don’t worry, our soldiers are firing pistols, rifles, submachine guns, and machine guns into the sky, celebrating victory in their own way. !”
After Cui Koff figured out what was going on, he couldn’t help but heaved a sigh of relief, removed his hand covering the microphone, and reported to Rokosovsky in a steady tone: “Comrade Commander. It is the soldier firing a gun at the sky to celebrate this. An uneasy victory.”
“Since this is the case. Let them continue to celebrate.” Rokosovsky said sensibly, “I will go to your headquarters later. I am celebrating this great victory with the commander!”
When Trikov put down the phone, he looked at me standing next to him, and said with a smile: “Oshanina, call Colonel Vitkov and ask him and your commander and brigade commander to come over, and we will celebrate the victory together. .”
I happily agreed, and then dialed the number of the army command and notified Vitkov to come with all the division and brigade commanders in the army. Thinking that the 150th Division had performed well during this period, I specifically asked Vitkov to : “Comrade Chief of Staff, Colonel Pantaiyev’s troops have performed well during this period. You asked his four regiment leaders to come together.”
As time went on, first the chief of staff of the group army Krylov and the rest of the military committee members, and then the commanders of the divisions also came to the headquarters one after another. As soon as they met, they hugged and kissed each other, and some teachers even burst into tears because of their excitement. For these enthusiastic commanders, I try to keep a distance and only shake hands with them politely, neither hugs nor kisses.
While we were celebrating the victory, General Seidlitz could only hide quietly in the corner of the conference room, and the only one who accompanied him was the dedicated translator.
When the people were almost there, Gurov raised his hand and looked at his watch. Then he pulled Cui Kefu aside and asked him in a low voice, “Comrade Cui Kefu, it’s late, why the commander of the front army hasn’t come yet? You Look, should you just call and ask?”
Cui Kefu also raised his hand to look at his watch, nodded and said, “Yes, it’s getting late. If it doesn’t come, it will be dark.”
At this time, a correspondent ran to Cui Kefu’s side and whispered to him: “Comrade Commander, there is your call. It is from the commander of the front army.”
Seeing Trikov squeezing past the joyous crowd, I was thinking to myself that Rokosovsky called at this time, what would he say to Trikov? In my memory, when Rokosovsky appeared at the end of the movie “Battle of Stalingrad”, he held the award issued by the Supreme Command to the 62nd Army in his hand. He is calling Cui Kefu right now, otherwise he just wants to tell Cui Kefu the good news in advance?
While waiting for Cui Kefu to answer the phone, I caught a glimpse of Lieutenant Colonel Oleg, the second regiment commander, standing near me. He waved at him, called him in front of him, and then asked him sullenly: “Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want to ask you during yesterday’s offensive. Why did your second regiment let Vellore political commissar lead the charge? ?”
Hearing my criticism, Oleg blushed and repeatedly argued to me: “Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation.” If he calls our army commander, maybe I won’t give him a chance to speak at all. Interrupt the words behind him. Hear him calling my teacher. Thinking that he was an old subordinate who had been fighting side by side for several months after all, he suddenly felt softened, so he patiently listened to him and continued to say; “At that time, before launching the offensive, I said that Battalion Horusov should lead the charge. It was Vellore’s political commissar who resolutely refused. She said that the entire battle had entered the final juncture, and she could no longer stay in the command post every day, and she insisted on leading the charge.”
Gurov came to me when I was teaching Oleg, and after Oleg finished speaking, he asked with concern: “Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what is the injury of the political commissar of Vellore?”
Seeing that Gurov was the person who asked him, Oleg quickly straightened his body and replied, “Report to Comrade Military Commissar. Vellore’s political commissar had a few pieces of shrapnel on his forehead and back. It’s nothing serious.”
The three of us were talking. Cui Kefu didn’t know when he finished the call, walked to our side, and said to Gurov and me with a serious expression: “Comrade Military Commissioner, and Oshanina, come with me.”
When the three of us came to a corner not far from Sedlitz, Gurov, who saw that Trikov’s expression was strange, looked left and right. He lowered his voice and asked Trikov: “Vasily Ivanovich, what happened?”
“General Rokosovsky can’t come today.” Trikov finished saying this. Maybe it was because we were afraid that we would ask further questions, so we finished in one breath: “The call is from the airport. He is about to fly to Moscow to provide the Supreme Commander himself with a detailed report on the battle.”
After listening to Gurov, he glanced at Saidlitz next to him: “Then what should he do?”
“Commander Rokosovsky has an order. Let us send General Seidlitz to the headquarters of the Front Army and lock him with Paulus.” He shrugged his shoulders helplessly: “As for the reception. Whether to let him come forward to recruit a group of prisoners from the prisoners of war to form troops, we will wait for the commander of the front army to return from Moscow.”
After saying this, he turned his head and said to me: “Oshanina, the more than 20,000 prisoners you captured yesterday, don’t have to send them to the temporary prison camps on the East Bank for the time being, and leave them in the city as laborers. Responsible for cleaning up ruins and corpses.”
“Yes!” I quickly agreed: “I will arrange it right away.”
“Wait a minute,” Cui Koff glanced at the happy group of commanders and said to me in a voice that I could hear: “You accompany Comrade Military Commissioner to send General Seidlitz out.” He walked up to Seidlitz, nodded at him, and said regretfully, “Mr. General, I regret to inform you that since our front commander has temporarily left, the only thing we can do with you is to cooperate with you. It can be postponed indefinitely. Now I ask my military commissioner and General Oshanina to send you downstairs, where you will ride back to the front headquarters.”
After listening to the translation, Sedlitz stood up without saying a word, and walked outside with an iron face. Seeing this, Gurov, I and the translator hurriedly followed.
At the top of the stairs, I once again met the commander who escorted Seidlitz. The young baby-faced lieutenant saw us coming out with Seidlitz and asked in surprise, “Comrade Commander, what happened? Where are you planning to take this German general?”
“Comrade Lieutenant,” Gurov said to Lieutenant Babyface: “We have just received an order to immediately send the German general back to the front headquarters. Where was the car you were in when you came?”
“It’s downstairs, Comrade Commander.” To Gurov’s question, Lieutenant Babyface replied respectfully.
“Take us.”
“Yes.” Babyface agreed, and his subordinates sandwiched Seidlitz and walked downstairs together.
We did not just send Seidlitz downstairs and then return. On the contrary, in order to appease his emotions, Gurov sent him out of the factory. Perhaps after Gurov’s enlightenment, the expression on Seidlitz’s face returned to normal. After paying a military salute to Gurov and me, he turned to the jeep.
Seidlitz and the commanders in charge of escorting him, the four jeeps in which they were riding, slowly headed south against the long line of captives. Gurov saw a clearing near the factory gate, full of weapons thrown by the Germans, and couldn’t help stopping, standing on the side of the road to admire the team of prisoners passing by.
Next to the weapon pile, there are a few of our soldiers guarding, and there is also a little boy who does not know where he emerges from. Reminiscent of a document I have read before, it says that before the battle of Stalingrad, there were 850,000 inhabitants, and in the end only 1,500 people were left. No one knows how many civilians fled their homeland and how many people there were. It was a miracle that this boy survived after being killed in the flames of war.
Just as my heart was filled with emotions, the boy suddenly made an amazing move. He took advantage of the guards not paying attention, and quickly walked to the weapon pile, bent down, picked up a submachine gun, and charged it. The group of captives passing by him pulled the trigger.
A series of “Da Da Da” bullets flew into the prisoners’ queue. With the gunshots, the team threw down four or five prisoners. The unexpected gunshot didn’t blow the prisoners’ nests at all. The entire team moved forward and neatly. None of the prisoners looked down at the unlucky person on the ground, but continued to move their steps mechanically.
The soldier guarding the weapon shop realized the boy’s recklessness at this moment. Immediately, a soldier snatched the weapon in his hand and slapped him with a raised hand. The slap was not light, I was so far apart, I still heard the crisp sound.
Gurov murmured in a low voice: “It’s a nonsense, it’s a nonsense.” After speaking, I walked quickly towards them, and I didn’t dare to neglect, and quickly followed.
Although the boy slapped him, he didn’t cry, but stared at the soldier who hit him with his head up. The soldier wanted to hit him, but when he saw his expression, his hand raised in the air slowly dropped.
“What’s going on here?” Gurov stepped forward and asked the soldier loudly, “Comrade soldier, why are you hitting this kid?”
After the soldier saw the sign of Gurov’s collar badge, he hurriedly straightened his body and reported: “Report to comrade-level political comrade, this boy shot and killed several German prisoners without authorization.”
“A few prisoners, die if you die.” Gurov waved his hand disapprovingly and said, “Even if the child does something wrong, you can’t beat him.” He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder www. . com gently pulled his body over, and asked softly: “My child, where is your home?”
“No, my home is gone.” The boy’s tears that had been in his eyes for a long time finally came out. He wiped his tears and said: “My parents were killed in the German bombing, and I was the only one left. people.”
“Then how did you survive?” Gurov couldn’t help but ask curiously when he heard the boy say this.
“Comrade division-level political comrade, please allow me to answer you.” The soldier said, “He is our little scout. He has always lived with us, so he has enough food to make ends meet.”
“It turned out to be like this,” Gurov nodded, handing the boy back to the soldier, and at the same time said kindly: “Then I will hand him over to you, take good care of him, and let him live until we get the last. The day of victory.”
“Yes!” After the soldier took the boy’s hand, he replied loudly: “Please rest assured, the division-level political comrades, I promise to complete the task.”
Gurov nodded, turned and shook his head at me, and said, “Let’s go, Comrade Oshanina, let’s go back to the headquarters.” (to be continued)