Burning Moscow

I don’t know the tea drinking habits of the Germans. I don’t know if they are like the Soviets. They put sugar or honey in their tea, so I stared nervously at the teapot in Voronov’s hand and watched him The tea in the pot filled Paulus' teacup. Paulus thanked him in blunt Russian, picked up his teacup and sniffed it before his nose, then drank it. After drinking the tea in the cup, he handed the cup to Voronov again, said a sentence in German, and the translator immediately translated it for us in time: "Mr. General, please have another cup."

The atmosphere in the room became harmonious after Paulus finished drinking the first cup of tea cooperatively, and Voronov very readily filled his teacup again with black tea with white sugar.

After Voronov returned to his seat, the dialogue with Paulus began again. Since Paulus had said in advance that he would not answer questions that violated the soldier’s oath, Rokosovsky was very Asked skillfully about the situation in his family: "Marshal Paulus, if I remember correctly, is your wife a nobleman?"

"Yes, Mr. Admiral." Hearing Rokosovsky mentioned his wife, Paulus's face showed a smile, and there was a slight slack in our guard: "My Elena is Romanian nobles, we got married on July 4, 1912. At that time, I served as 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. It was a coincidence that Rokosovsky pushed the plate with sliced ​​sausage and cheese in front of Paulus. After the past, after making a request, he continued: "I heard about the 111th Infantry Regiment, after the outbreak of World War I. It was transferred to the Western Front, and it was one of the main forces of the German Army on the Western Front."

"Yes, Mr. Admiral, you are right." Speaking of his own experience, Paulus's words gradually changed. "In the autumn of 1914 in Vosges and Arras, France, I experienced the first battle after enlisting in the army. Soon after the battle ended, I was ill and sent back to the country. After I recovered from the illness, I He was transferred to Macedonia in the south and served as a civilian job in the army until the end of the war."

Seeing that Rokosovsky and Paulus are like old friends who have known each other for many years, they are chatting about family life, and I can’t help but speculate in my heart: Rokosovsky is so polite to Paulus, maybe it’s still It has something to do with the other party's marshal status. Regardless of the fact that our commanders and fighters fell into the hands of the Germans, they were not respected at all. All that awaits them is abuse and death, and even the captured generals have the same fate. But if Timothy or Voroshilov were captured, the German officers who received them would probably behave as polite as Rokosovsky.

While thinking about it, I suddenly heard Rokosovsky’s deliberation and suggesting to Paulus: "Marshal Paulus, the southern group trapped in the city center has been completely lost as you are captured. I believe that it won’t take long for the remaining troops to surrender to our army. However, the northern cluster, trapped in the'barricade' factory area and tractor factory area, is still fighting with our army. For the sake of this. To prevent you and our soldiers from bleeding and sacrifice. I beg you to send a call to those troops who are still resisting, let them stop resisting, lay down their weapons and surrender to us..."

"Mr. Admiral," Paulus, who had always been smiling, suddenly became serious after hearing these words. He grabbed his seat abruptly and interrupted Rokosovsky's words. He said bluntly: "Please allow me to remind you that I can only surrender to you on behalf of myself and my command. But I cannot surrender on behalf of all the remnants of my group army, because I have completely lost contact with them."

Rokosovsky didn't expect to hit a nail in this matter. Seeing the determined expression on Paulus's face, he gave a bitter smile, and then politely said to Paulus, "Marshal Paulus, The conversation with you was very pleasant. But you should be very tired, so go back and rest first, and we will talk later when we have time."

After listening to the translation, Paulus nodded, raised his hand to salute us, turned around and followed the translation and walked out of the room.

Ruskin looked at Paulus's back, gritted his teeth and cursed in a low voice: "Damn fascists, when his life is in danger, he knows to lay down his weapons and surrender, but he doesn't care about the life and death of his subordinates." He turned his head and said to Rokosovsky, "Comrade commander of the front army, since the Germans refuse to surrender, then destroy them. It is not guilty to be so polite to this German marshal."

"Comrade Ruskin, you are right." Rokosovsky lit another cigarette and said slowly: "For the Germans who refuse to lay down their weapons and surrender to us, use bullets and cannonballs to destroy them. , Is undoubtedly the most direct. But..." At this point, he paused for a moment, organized vocabulary in his mind, and continued, "In war, after all, we should try to use all methods to deal with our enemy."

He raised his hand and glanced at his watch, then turned to me and said, "Lida, on your way here, I once called Cui Kefu and asked him to transfer troops from your 79th Infantry Army to join the Opposition Group. The remaining 51st Army’s offensive. It is necessary to completely resolve all German troops in the downtown area before dark."

I just wanted to ask which army Cui Kefu transferred from my army. The door of the room that was originally closed when the interpreter left was pushed aside from the outside, and the chubby Chief of Staff Malinen walked in quickly. When he walked towards us, he waved a piece of paper in his hand and exclaimed excitedly: "Comrade Commander, I want to tell you the good news that the 51st Army surrounded by the city center surrendered to our army."

He put the report he just received in front of Rokosowski, and then said: "With the surrender of the 51st Army, the German Southern Group completely stopped resistance, which means that the battle in the city center is over. From The commanders of the 62nd Army, captured the 295th Infantry Division Commander Major General Kofes and his division command members, and also captured the Infantry 4th Corps Commander Pfeffer Artillery Lieutenant General and the No. 4th Infantry Corps. The 51st Army Commander von Seidlitz Kurzbach, the 295th Division Chief of Staff, Colonel Diseria, and some officers and staff.

While Malinin was reporting, Rokosovsky had read the entire battle report at a glance, and then he raised his head and asked: "Did Cuikov report that these German generals were captured by any unit of the 62nd Army? "

Malining glanced at me. Then he reported to Rokosovsky: “After the 79th Infantry Corps’ assault engineer battalion broke through the German defensive positions, the 62nd Army Communications Corps rushed to expand the breach. These German generals were the regiment’s group leader. Three soldiers headed by Mikhail Porter were captured. By the way, Comrade Cui Kefu also said that Comrade Lida is requested to rush to the headquarters of his group army as soon as possible."

I heard Malinen said that my assault engineer battalion participated in the final attack on the German Southern Group. I also assisted the Group Army Communications Corps to capture many German generals. I was so excited because I lost the opportunity to capture Paulus. I quickly stood up and said to Rokosovsky: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, General Cuikov recruited When I go back, there must be something important. Will I be allowed to leave?"

Rokosovsky handed the battle report to Voronov next to him, and he glanced at me attentively: "Lida. Why are you so anxious? Even if you go back later, those German generals won't stay at Cuikov's. Headquarters? You rarely come here. You should leave after eating here."

Regarding Rokosovsky’s enthusiasm, I quickly waved and refused: "Thank you. Comrade Front Command. I heard that General Cuikov was looking for me. I cannot stay here for a minute. I sincerely ask you, Please allow me to return to the 62nd Army immediately."

Rokosovsky and Voronov looked at each other, then smiled and said, "That's it, I understand." He raised his hand again and looked at Bian, and then seemed to emphasize that he officially approved my request. Said like, "I agree, you can go back to Cui Kefu."

"Yes."

"After seeing the German generals. You must rush back to the troops as soon as possible and arrange an offensive operation against the North Group."

"Comrade commander of the front army, I have arranged these a long time ago."

"The battlefield situation is changing rapidly. I know better than you at this point, and we must guard against it." When Rokosovsky said this, his face suddenly showed a strange expression, "Hey, why are you still standing here? Don't move? Listen to my command and turn back. Let's start!" When he said the last sentence, he no longer concealed the smile on his face.

"Thank you. Comrade Commander of the Front Army, thank you!" I finished speaking in one breath. He saluted several people present and walked out of the room quickly.

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

I walked quickly to the car and yelled to Yushchenko who was waiting in a hurry: "Lieutenant, let's go to the headquarters of the group army." After that, I opened the door and got into the car. After closing the door with a bump, the car started to move.

When I came to Cui Koff's new headquarters, which was spacious and bright, I saw the long table in the room full of German generals in dresses and medals on their chests. My arrival immediately attracted everyone's attention. Cui Kefu waved at me and motioned me to sit next to him.

After sitting down, a German general who was sitting not far away stood up and smiled and said to me: "General Oshanina, hello, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon."

I looked at the speaking general and found that it was Major General Cofes, the commander of the 295th Division, so I nodded at him and said with a smile: "Hello, General Cofes, I am glad to see you alive." He chatted with me for a few more words before sitting back to his position.

Gurov, who was sitting next to me, leaned close to my ear and whispered: "Oshanina, do you know? Before you came, all these generals were hungry because of their own fate. While feeling restless, Comrade Commander asked them to prepare refreshments and invited them to eat, but they all acted very restrained. But after you chat with Major General Cofes, the atmosphere becomes relaxed. When I got up, some people even started to drink tea and eat."

When Gurov was talking to me, another German general stood up. He was holding a slice of bread in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, and asked Cui Koff: "Mr. General. What do you mean by inviting us to eat these? It is propaganda. ?"

Cui Kefu glanced at the other person, and then said lightly: "If your Excellency General thinks that the tea and snacks are propaganda, then we don't particularly insist that you eat this propaganda food."

The prisoners listened to Cui Kefu's neither humble nor humble answer. Suddenly, it caused a burst of laughter, and it also made them more active. As the sense of restraint disappeared, other generals began to chat with Cui Kefu. Gurov whispered to the general who had just stood up with a teacup: "That's Lieutenant General Pfeffer Artillery, commander of the 4th Infantry Corps."

Perhaps it was the appearance of my old acquaintance. The 295th Division Commander, General Cofes, was the most active among the prisoners. He said more than everyone else combined. In talking with Cui Kefu, he tried hard to clarify such a thought. He believes that the current situation in Germany has much in common with the situation in Germany during the time of Frederick the Great and Bismarck. Cui Kefu was noncommittal about his opinions, but just looked at him with a smile on his face. The other German generals never interrupted, only occasionally answering "yes" and "no".

When General Cofes stopped speaking. The cold scene reappeared in the room. After Cui Koff swept his eyes on the German generals present, he asked in a steady tone: "Generals, what else do you want to say?" His implication is obvious, meaning that if you have nothing to say, just put You send it back to lock it up.

At this moment, a German lieutenant sitting next to Kofes stood up and asked politely: "Your Excellency Commander, I don't know what you plan to do with us?"

It was Lieutenant General von Seidlitz Kurzbach who was speaking. The commander of the 51st Corps, just when Cofes was free to speak, he kept frowning and sat in the position without speaking. I don't know what I'm thinking.

Regarding General Sedlitz’s question, Cui Kefu smiled and told him about our army’s prisoner management regulations, and added: “General Sedlitz, if you wish, you and your colleagues can wear your own Awarded medals and medals, but the weapons are in addition."

"What weapon?" Saidlitz didn't seem to understand. Seeing Cui Kefu asked with interest.

"Gentlemen, this is an obvious thing." Cui Koff repeated patiently: "The captured generals must not carry any weapons with them."

I heard Cui Kefu say that. Seidlitz took something out of his pocket and put it on the table, and pushed it in front of Trikov. At the same time, he said: "Your Excellency Commander, this is the only weapon on my body."

I originally thought that what he took out was a small Browning weapon, but after a closer look, I couldn't help laughing. It turned out that the weapon he called was nothing but an inch-long pencil sharpener.

After Cui Koff saw what Seidlitz had put in front of him, he couldn't help but laugh. He returned the pencil sharpener to the opponent, and then said politely: "General Seidlitz, I think you have something to do. Misunderstanding. The kind of "weapons" you handed over is not really a weapon in our opinion, so you should put it away by yourself."

When Seidlitz put the pencil sharpener back into his coat pocket, he sat down and asked Trikov: "Your Excellency Commander, I want to ask a question. At this time, it should not be considered a secret. Before November 19th. During the battle for the city, where were you and your group army headquarters?"

Trikov shrugged his shoulders and said flatly, "General Seidlitz, where else can I be? Throughout the campaign, my command post and the headquarters of the group army have been in the city, on the west bank of the Volga River, the command post and the headquarters. The last place is where we are now."

After listening to General Sedlitz, there was an expression of despair on his face. After a long time, he murmured: "It's a shame that we didn't believe the information provided by our scouts. We had a chance. , Can wipe you and your headquarters from the earth."

When Seidlitz was regretting his arrogance at the moment, I was thinking that even if he did not believe in the intelligence provided by the German scouts, he concentrated his forces on the location of the 62nd Army Command, but during the entire campaign , Cui Kefu and the group army command are still in danger. Once, if I went half an hour late, maybe they would be served by the Germans.

After the conversation with the German generals ~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Cuikov ordered the guard battalion commander Major Gladshev to **** the captives to the front army headquarters. When Sedlitz walked to the door, he suddenly stopped, turned his head and said to Cui Koff: "Your Excellency Commander, I want to talk to you alone."

Trikov asked Gladshev to take the rest of the prisoners away, and then called Seidlitz to sit down again. Then he asked unhurriedly, "Mr. Lieutenant General, I don't know what else you want to say?"

Seidlitz got up from his seat, straightened his body and said respectfully to Cui Koff: "Your Excellency Commander, I want to cooperate with the Soviet army."

"Cooperation, what kind of cooperation method?" Cui Kefu said with some disdain: "You know, you are our captive, what can you use to cooperate with us."

"Your Excellency Commander, I think I am fully equipped to cooperate with the Soviet army!" Saidlitz may be afraid that Trikov would interrupt him, so he said in one breath: "I think it can be taken from the captured German officers and soldiers. , Mobilize manpower to form an anti-Hitler army to fight alongside you!" (to be continued)

ps: My sincere thanks to book friends Nebula Hunter and Fengzhong Maotongshoe for their double votes! Thanks to book friends Yinghe readers and children's shoes for their valuable votes! Thank you book friend gggrz for the 588 coins rewarded!