Red Moscow

"Yes, of course." After listening to the translator, Stemmelman said with a smile on his face: "Please sit down, General Sokov. It's a pleasure to see you here."

Seeing that Stemmerman called out his name in one breath, Sokov couldn't help asking in surprise, "General Stemmerman, do you know me?"

"That's right, General Sokov." Stemmelman nodded and said, "I've seen your photo before, so I recognized you at a glance. In fact, not only I know you, but only those who are above the regiment level Officer, I have basically seen your photo."

Knowing that all officers above the regimental level in the German Army had seen his own photo, Sokov asked curiously: "General Stemmermann, can you tell me why all your officers above the regiment level have seen my photo? "

"Because you are our most respected and feared opponent, at least so far, none of the troops that have fought against you has achieved victory." Stemmelman said with a smile: "Let all officers above the regiment level know You, this is the order of Marshal Manstein, he told us that to defeat our opponent, we must first be familiar with and understand him."

After figuring out what was going on, Sokov smiled lightly and said, "General Stemmelman, you're overrated, and I'm not really invincible. At least against the Viking Division, my troops have no chance of winning." .”

"The Viking Division is just an exception." Stemmerman said with a smile: "Haven't the Banner Guard Division, Skeleton Division and Imperial Division all suffered defeats under your command?"

Sokov smiled without saying a word.

"By the way, General Sokov, are you the negotiator tonight?"

"That's right, General Stemmelman, I am the Soviet negotiator."

After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Stemmerman nodded and said, "It seems that you still attach great importance to this negotiation, and you actually asked you to rush here from Moscow overnight."

"General Stemmelmann, let me interrupt." Sokov quickly interjected when he heard this, "I didn't rush over from Moscow overnight, but I was already in the Cherkasy region."

"What, you have already arrived in the Cherkasy region?" Stammelman asked in surprise, "Then where have you been staying all this time?"

Before Sokov could answer, Stemmelman suddenly thought of a possibility: "Could you be the commander of a certain army here?"

"That's right." Sokov felt that there was no need to conceal his identity at this moment, after all, his mission this time was to persuade Stemmermann to surrender, so it would be better to be open and honest: "I took over the post of commander of the 53rd Army not long ago. "

"What, you are the commander of the 53rd Army?" Shocked Stemmerman asked in an unbelievable tone: "How could you be the commander of the 53rd Army? How about the headquarters of the 53rd Army?" Could it be you?"

Sokov spread his hands, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a helpless expression: "It's not me."

Sokov's words drove Stemmerman crazy: "No wonder, no wonder. No wonder the Walloon Assault Brigade can easily capture Komarovka, but here on the 239th height, it suffered a big loss. It turns out that the person commanding this army is actually you."

After a few dry laughs, Stemmerman said, "Lieutenant Colonel Lippert deserved his death for being defeated by your men."

Sokov knew that Lipt was the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade, and he had heard from the captives that he had been seriously wounded in the shelling, and he still had some doubts about the authenticity of the incident. At this moment, I heard that Stemmerman himself said that Lippert was dead, so the news must not be false.

"General Stemmelmann," Sokov remembered his mission here: "I think it's time for us to start negotiations."

Stemmelman sat down opposite Sokov, and said with a dejected expression: "General Sokov, if you don't tell me, I understand in my heart that you are here to persuade me to surrender. Am I right? "

"Yes, indeed."

"I don't think there is any need for us to continue talking." Stemmelman said suddenly, "Although our situation is very difficult, it is impossible for me to order the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to you."

Sokov also knew that when he came here to negotiate today, he was just going through the motions. Even if he said something against the sky, Stemmelman would never surrender. But now that everyone has come, he feels that he still needs to say something: "General Stemmelmann, although I know that it is impossible for you to stop resisting, lay down your arms and surrender to us, but in order to For the sake of your officers and soldiers, I still have something to say."

"Please speak, General Sokov." Stemmelman made a gesture of invitation: "I'm listening."

"You have been surrounded by our army." Sokov didn't make any circles, and said bluntly: "The troops surrounding you are millions of troops from our two front armies, and you only have 50,000 to 60,000 troops. , It is basically impossible to break through our encirclement and join forces with the troops who have come to meet us when there is such a disparity in troop strength."

In order to strengthen his persuasion, Sokov continued: "A year ago in Stalingrad, I went to Paulus's headquarters as a representative of the Soviet army to persuade him to lay down his arms and surrender, but he refused. Only after Within a week, he was my prisoner."

"Yes, I've heard about it." Stemmelman nodded and said with a blank expression: "I heard that Paulus surrendered to you and the troops under your command as a marshal. In the propaganda, although it was emphasized that the unit that captured Paulus was the 64th Army, we all knew in our hearts that you were the one who really captured Paulus.”

Seeing that Stemmerman was so clear about his past achievements, Sokov couldn't help but feel complacent. He smiled and asked: "General Stammelmann, you might as well think about it carefully. If you put down your weapons and surrender at this moment, you can save more lives than letting them die in vain."

Facing Sokov's persuasion, Stemmelmann remained silent. Knowing that the opponent was engaged in a fierce ideological struggle, Sokov didn't bother him, and patiently waited for him to make a final decision.

After a long time, Stemmerman raised his head and said to Sokov: "General Sokov, I am very grateful that you came here to save us. But after repeated thinking, I still can only refuse you." With good intentions, my men and I will continue to fight until the last moment of our lives. This is our duty as a soldier."

Stemmelman's refusal was not surprising to Sokov at all. However, he did not give up because of this, but continued: "General Stemmelmann, have you ever thought that if you want to rush out of our encirclement with all your strength, you will inevitably leave behind those severely wounded who are unable to move, and take the They were left to fend for themselves in the encirclement. I don't know the exact number of wounded, but at least a thousand?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Stemmerman was silent again. He stared at Sokov for a long time, then nodded slowly, and said, "You are right. If we want to break through with all our strength, we must We can only leave those severely wounded with limited mobility and let them fend for themselves in the ice and snow.”

Speaking of this, Stemmerman closed his eyes and said with a painful expression: "Two thousand people, I can only watch them die from the severe cold, or die from lack of medical care, but And powerless."

"Actually, it's very convenient for you to help them." Seeing that Stemmerman's thoughts had loosened, Sukov quickly said, "As long as you order the troops to stop resisting, put down their weapons and surrender to our army, I can offer you Guarantee that these wounded will receive the treatment they deserve.”

The conditions put forward by Sokov made Stemmelman fall into hesitation again. One is to violate one's soldier's oath, lay down weapons and surrender to the enemy; the other is to abandon these wounded heartlessly and take the remaining troops to break through.

"I'm sorry, General Sokov." After a fierce ideological struggle, Stemmelman finally made a difficult choice: "I am a soldier, and I cannot violate my oath. I will not lay down my arms and surrender to my opponent, please understand my difficulties."

"General Stemmelmann, do you really plan to ignore those two thousand wounded?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Stemmerman showed a relaxed expression on his face: "General Sokov, if it is other Russian troops, I am still very worried. But if we are about to face I am not worried about you, because as far as I know, although you have executed some captured German officers and soldiers, those people are all evil SS soldiers, and you have never killed the wounded. It is their luck if they are captured by your troops."

Sokov couldn't laugh or cry when he heard this. He originally planned to use those seriously wounded as bargaining chips to make the last effort, but he didn't expect that Stemmerman would throw the burden of the wounded to himself. If his troops really captured him This group of wounded must also take out a large amount of medicine to treat them.

"General Stemmermann," Sokov said with some headaches, "if my troops captured your wounded, I assure you that they will receive preferential treatment and receive the treatment they deserve. However, what if They have fallen into the hands of other troops, and I cannot guarantee their safety."

"Understood, I completely understand." Stammelman knew very well that the medicines needed for the more than two thousand wounded were not a small amount. Except for Sokov, the rest of the troops captured these wounded, even if Don't kill them on the spot, just throw them in the snow, and within an hour, they will all freeze to death due to hypothermia. Facing the promise made by Sokov, he said gratefully: "Regardless of the final fate of these wounded, I would like to express my gratitude to you on behalf of them!"

Since Stemmelman was unwilling to surrender, Sokov knew that it would not mean much if he stayed any longer. After chatting a few more words, he stood up and said goodbye.

If it was an ordinary negotiator, Stemmerman might have called the officer who led the way and sent the other party back to the original meeting point. But since today's negotiator is Sokov, Stemmelman was extraordinarily attentive. Not only did he personally send Sokov out of the tent, he also called his adjutant and ordered the other party to bring a platoon of people to escort him. Sokov returned to the response point.

After arriving at the reception point, Sokov met his subordinates and immediately ordered to drive to the front army headquarters. He planned to personally report the details of tonight's negotiations to Konev.

Hearing that Sokov planned to go to the headquarters of the Front Army, Koshkin reminded him: "Comrade Commander, it is too late now, and the road is not easy to travel. I am worried about some danger. It is better to go directly to the headquarters. You can report to General Konev by telephone."

Sokov was moved by Koshkin's suggestion. For a moment, he almost ordered the other party to return to the army headquarters and report to Konev by phone there. But after thinking about it, some things can't be explained clearly on the phone, and it's safer to report them in person.

After thinking about this, he ordered Koshkin with a serious expression: "Comrade Lieutenant, obey my order and drive to the headquarters of the Front Army immediately, understand?"

Although Koshkin obeyed Sokov's order, for the sake of safety, he let one of the trucks full of soldiers scout the road ahead, while the jeep and two other trucks followed far behind. Even if the vehicle in front is attacked, the vehicle behind will have time to respond.

Fortunately, what Koshkin was worried about did not happen. Near the headquarters of the front army, they even encountered a patrol directly under the front army and sent them directly to the headquarters.

Zakharov, who was busy in the headquarters, saw Sokov's arrival, looked at his expression, and then said, "How is it, Comrade Sokov, what is the result of the negotiation?"

Before Sokov could speak, Konev, who was sitting at the table looking at the map, raised his head and interjected, "If I'm not mistaken, Stemmermann did not agree to our conditions."

"Yes, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Seeing that Konev had guessed the final result, Sokov nodded and said truthfully: "You guessed it right. Persuading him to surrender, I intend to continue to resist to the end."

"Since the enemy will not surrender, then destroy them." After saying this, Konev ordered Zakharov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the commander of the cavalry unit and inform them to rush to the designated place as soon as possible." , get ready to attack."

Hearing that Konev planned to use cavalry to attack the German army that had broken through, Sokov couldn't help being stunned. Since coming to this era, Sokov has always felt that the cavalry is a tasteless unit. The cavalry on tall horses is the best shooting target for the German army armed to the teeth.

Perhaps seeing Sokov's doubts, Konev explained to him with a smile: "Comrade Sokov, don't worry, I will not throw cavalry into battle casually. Unless the German army begins to rout and cannot organize a decent army." When resisting, I will let the cavalry attack to chase and kill the fleeing enemies, no matter what, a four-legged horse will definitely run faster than a two-legged man."

Sokov thought to himself, this is true. If the German army's organizational system is disrupted and soldiers run around all over the mountains, the effect of sending cavalry to pursue them is far better than that of infantry.

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov guessed that Konev might have already made preparations for a general offensive, so he tentatively asked, "When will we launch the final attack on the Germans?"

"The attacking force can reach the designated position before dawn." Konev said: "We will launch the final attack on the Germans at dawn."