Chapter 224 Great Victory
"General Leiningkamp is willing to surrender to us? Ladies and gentlemen, do you think we will agree to his surrender request?" Qin Tian asked the members of the 8th Army.
After Lieutenant General François received the secret letter from Admiral Leiningkamp, he reported to Königsberg immediately. Even though it was already late at night, Qin Tian still summoned General Hindenburg, General Ludendorff and others to discuss the situation.
"Your Highness, I know Leiningkamp. He is indeed of German origin. It's just that his family has lived in Russia for too long." Admiral Hindenburg said.
"Is it true that he was discriminated against and treated unfairly in Russia?" Qin Tian asked.
"This is true. Admiral Leiningkamp is generally considered a relatively capable general. At least, among those generals in Russia, he is considered to be a relatively outstanding one. And the current political ecology of Russia, and It is relatively dark. Therefore, Admiral Leiningkamp, who is of German origin, will naturally become the target of many people. It is his luck to become a general of the Russian Army. If he is not careful, he may even die. They will all be lost," Admiral Ludendorff said.
Qin Tian nodded, the situation in Russia is very bad now, he knows this.
"Then, shall we agree to Leiningkamp's request for surrender?" Qin Tian asked.
"Your Highness, in my opinion, let's agree! After all, there are still more than 200,000 people left in the Russian First Army. If we refuse them to surrender, they will definitely fight desperately. At that time, there will be another fierce battle. Of course we have the ability to wipe them out. But we will inevitably pay a certain loss. And this is completely unnecessary." Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Operations Brigadier General Max Hoffman said.
"Yes, Your Highness. If the Russian army can surrender, then we won't need to spend a single soldier to deal with the 1st Army. Not to mention, just 200,000 prisoners of war are used as free labor, which will allow us to take over In the reconstruction of East Prussia that has come down, there are many things left." Colonel Manstein also meant the same thing.
"Since everyone thinks this way, let's accept General Leiningkamp's surrender." Qin Tian nodded. In fact, he also thought so in his heart. However, as the commander-in-chief, it is natural to listen to the opinions of his subordinates extensively. Avoid making mistakes as much as possible.
"Your Highness, there is no problem in accepting General Leiningkamp's surrender. But at the same time, we also need to be prepared. After all, no one will be sure whether this is a conspiracy before it happens." Major General Ludendorff Said.
"Well, let General François and the others be more careful. When the Russian army surrendered, all the tanks of the 8th Armored Division went up. If the Russians dare to play tricks, they will all be killed." Qin Tian A murderous look flashed in his eyes. The most intolerable thing for him is to be cheated. If Admiral Leiningkamp used his surrender as a trick this time, Qin Tian would definitely make him die a miserable death.
"Yes, Your Highness." Major General Ludendorff nodded.
"By the way, General Leiningkamp hopes that we can save his family? Let our friends in Russia help out. We have given them so much support, and now it is time for them to repay us." Qin God said.
Asking the German side to rescue the family is also a condition for Admiral Leiningkamp to agree to surrender. For Qin Tian, this is not a problem at all. Germany has many spies in Russia. Qin Tian's Deutsche Industrial Group also had business in Russia before. Even though Russia was evacuated before the war broke out, some people were secretly left behind. In addition, Qin Tian has always supported the cloth party. In Russia, the cloth party can be regarded as a local snake. With their help, everything will be very easy.
After Qin Tian's order reached the front line, Lieutenant Generals François, Mackensen and Zeckert all took action. On the one hand, they informed General Leiningkamp that the German side had accepted his surrender. On the other hand, it is to make various arrangements to prevent accidents from happening. Even if this is the conspiracy of Admiral Leiningkamp, it must be foolproof.
After receiving a reply from Germany, General Leiningkamp immediately summoned the main generals of the Russian 1st Army to formally inform everyone of his decision.
Most Russian generals have no opinion on surrendering to Germany. After all, with the battle at this stage, if you want to win, it is basically impossible. If you want to save your own life, surrender is inevitable. Even, many generals have already made preparations in this regard. Originally they were worried that Admiral Leiningkamp would refuse to surrender to Germany, but they did not expect that Admiral Leiningkamp had already contacted the German side, which saved them a lot of trouble.
In addition, since this decision was made by General Leiningkamp, the most important responsibility will also be borne by General Leiningkamp, and they have relatively little responsibility. Even if Tsar Nicholas I blamed it, they couldn't blame them.
Of course, many people who were not loyal to the Russian Empire wanted to resist, but ended up being subdued by the guards. These people will be handed over to the German side next.
On the morning of August 27, the Russian 1st Army formally surrendered to the German 8th Army. Lieutenant General François, on behalf of the German side, received the gun from General Leiningkamp.
More than 200,000 Russian troops calmly accepted this result. For these Russians, keeping their own lives is the most important thing. As for the shame and the like, let's put it aside for the time being.
With the surrender of the Russian 1st Army, the Russian Northwest Front can be regarded as dead in name only. A huge group army with more than 500,000 troops was almost completely lost in just ten days. It is undoubtedly a miracle that the German 8th Army, with less than 200,000 troops, was able to eat 500,000 Russian troops within ten days.
Of course, the 8th Army achieved such an unprecedented victory, which greatly improved the situation of the German army and even the Allies on the Eastern Front. Although, the Russian threat still exists. However, the elimination of the most elite 500,000 soldiers from the standing army has undoubtedly severely damaged Russia's vitality.
At least, until the mobilization is completed, it will be difficult for Russia to send more troops to the Kingdom of Poland, and it will not be able to pose a threat to East Prussia.
