Chapter 2283:

  Chapter 2283

   On May 8, the official signing ceremony for Germany's unconditional surrender was held in Karlshorst, a suburb of Berlin.

Entrusted by Doenitz, the heir of Mustache, Field Marshal Keitel, Admiral Shtumpfer, and Admiral Friedberg, representatives of the German Supreme Command, went to the cafeteria hall of the Berlin Military Engineering Academy to express their respect to the Soviet Union. Representatives of the Allied Powers formally signed the instrument of unconditional surrender.

  Marshal Keitel, who entered the hall, raised the scepter in his hand to pay tribute to the high-ranking officials of the Soviet Union and the Allies sitting opposite him. But what is embarrassing is that this move of the old marshal was ignored by the other party, and no one responded to him.

   Marshal Keitel had an embarrassing expression on his face, but he obediently sat on the seat reserved for him by the Soviet Union and the Allied Forces, looking down at the unconditional surrender letter handed to him by the other party.

  The interpreter standing next to him, after Keitel had finished reading the surrender document, asked, "Marshal Keitel, have you read it?"

   "Yes, I've finished watching." Keitel's indifferent face showed a look of disdain: "Can I sign now?"

  The interpreter glanced at Zhukov and the generals of the Allied forces on the opposite side, then nodded and said, "Yes, Marshal Keitel, you can sign now."

  In fact, on May 7, Jodl officially signed an unconditional surrender on behalf of Germany at the Allied Western Front Command in Reims, France. However, because the representatives of the Allied forces participating in the signing ceremony were all senior generals, while the representative of the Soviet army was only a major general, Stalin did not approve of this surrender ceremony. In his view, the Soviet Union was the main force fighting the German army. The Soviet army liberated Berlin after paying huge sacrifices. Therefore, the Soviet side should host the surrender ceremony, and the surrender ceremony in Reims obviously does not count.

  Facing the tough attitude of the Soviet Union, the high-level allied forces agreed to this request after consultation. As the losers, the Germans have no right to speak. It is for this reason that today's surrender signing ceremony in the outskirts of Berlin took place.

  Germany signed two surrender documents in a row within two days, which was a great humiliation to Marshal Keitel. When he signed, he was even thinking about whether he should learn from Mustache, Goebbels and Krebs, and use his own blood to wash away the shame.

  Sokov was not able to participate in the battle to attack Berlin. For him, it was a great pity. And today the Germans participated in the signing of the surrender ceremony in the suburbs of Berlin, and he was not qualified to go, which made him feel great regret. However, when he thought that not only could he not be present at this surrender ceremony, even Rokossovsky, the commander of the front army, was also not qualified to go to Berlin, and he felt more at ease.

   "Misha." Lunev said to Sokov: "The chief of staff has been in Berlin for three or four days, why hasn't he come back yet?"

   "He didn't call back, and I don't know the specific reason."

   "I was wondering if he took advantage of his opportunity to visit his son in Berlin to attend today's surrender signing ceremony."

   "Probably not." Sokov said: "Even our commander, Marshal Rokossovsky, is not qualified to participate in the ceremony, let alone a small staff officer like Sidolin."

"He may not be able to enter the signing site." Lunev said with a half-smile: "But there should be no problem staying outside the signing site. I think he should have the opportunity to meet the German general who signed the surrender document, yes How did you enter the signing site with pride, and how did you walk out dejectedly."

   "Maybe only after the chief of staff returns, we will know whether he took the opportunity to go to the signing ceremony."

"It's a pity for Chuikov." Lunev suddenly thought of Chuikov, shook his head and said, "If you don't get injured sooner, you won't be injured later, but just the day before the Germans surrendered, he was shot coldly, and he even made a surprise attack. I can't even participate. It's a pity, a pity, a pity."

"Hey, there is no way, this is everyone's fate." Sokov said with a wry smile: "It stands to reason that if Comrade Marshal is still in the First Front Army, then the honor of commanding the troops to capture Berlin belongs to him. So far, there is no chance to enter Berlin. If anyone is the most unlucky man in this war, I am afraid it must be Marshal Rokossovsky."

"Misha, this is actually quite normal." Lunev said: "Rokossovsky has Polish blood. Just think about it, how could the Supreme Commander himself entrust such an important honor of winning Berlin to someone who is not a real Russian? What about human beings?"

   "That's true." Sokov had a deep understanding of this matter. If Rokossowski hadn't been half-Polish, maybe he could have stayed in the First Front Army and personally commanded the troops to liberate Berlin. If this is the case, even if the 48th Army under his command cannot be the first to enter Berlin, it can still become the main force to capture the Reichstag: "I really didn't expect that his lineage determined that he had no chance of liberating Berlin. .”

  The phone on the table rang, and Sokov reached out and grabbed the receiver, and said, "I'm Sokov, where are you?"

   "Comrade Commander, I am Ivanov, commander of the 6th Guards Division." The voice of Ivanov, commander of the 6th Guards Division, came from the receiver: "I have something important to report to you."

   "Mr. Comrade, if you have anything to say, just say it."

"The soldiers of our division were ordered to arrest the Nazis in the city." Ivanov reported: "After a morning of hard work, we arrested a total of 195 people. I would like to ask how to deal with these **** Nazis Woolen cloth?"

   "Find a place to lock them up first." Sokov said: "Then send people to screen them, and if they are found to have committed serious crimes, they can be shot directly."

   "How to screen?" Ivanov was not interested in the screening, so he put forward his own idea to Sokov: "Or, shoot them all, it will save trouble."

"No, Comrade Commander." Sokov rejected Ivanov's proposal without hesitation: "We are the liberators of Germany, not the destroyers. Of course, there are quite a few Nazis caught by you. There are some diehards, but there are also some who were forced to join the Nazis for some special reasons. As for such people, as long as they have not done anything bad, I think they can be let go as soon as possible.”

  Before he put down the phone, Sokov specifically reminded him: "By the way, Comrade Commander, remember to give me a list of arrestees. I want to see who is inside."

   Hours later, Ivanov sent someone to send a roster, which recorded in detail the names, identities, and places where they worked of the captured Nazis.

   Sokov took a quick look and found that most of these people were intellectuals, engineers, teachers, clergy and so on. He knew that the reason why these people joined the Nazis was that, except for a few fanatics, most of them had no choice but to join or it was a trend at that time. They would not have any major problems. Let them all go.

   Just when Sokov was about to close the roster, he suddenly saw a familiar name: John Rabe, born in Hamburg, Germany, a representative and businessman of Siemens.

  He quickly picked up the roster and carefully checked the other party's information, and found that there was no other information except his name, identity, and place of origin.

  After putting down the roster, he picked up the phone and called the 6th Guards Division directly. As soon as I heard Ivanov's voice, he said straight to the point: "Comrade Commander, I would like to ask, among the Nazis you captured, there is a man named John Rabe. Where is he locked up now?"

  The commanders and fighters of the 6th Guards Division arrested nearly 200 people. As the division commander, Ivanov didn't pay much attention to this matter. How could he know who Sokov was talking about. He was silent for a moment, then tentatively asked: "Comrade Commander, do you know this person?"

   "I don't know this person." Sokov replied that he was right. He had indeed heard of Rabe's name in later generations, but he had never seen the real person. If he hadn't happened to see the arrest list, he would have almost missed such a remarkable figure. In order to make his questioning seem logical, he deliberately brought Chuikov in: "But as far as I know, General Chuikov has a good relationship with him. If he knows that he has been captured by my troops, he will definitely call me. Accounting."

What Sokov said was not nonsense. After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, both Chuikov and Rabe stayed in Jinling for a while. In addition, the Soviet Union and Germany were in the honeymoon period at that time, and the two knew each other. It seemed logical.

Knowing that among the people arrested by his subordinates was an old friend of General Chuikov, Ivanov became uneasy. He knew very well that the number of Nazis arrested was not only as many as he had reported, but also Some diehards have been shot dead because they were arrested during the arrest. He was worried that the person Sokov asked was no longer alive at this time, so he hurriedly said: "Comrade Commander, I am not sure whether the person you mentioned is among the people we arrested. Give me two hours' time." In time, I will definitely figure it out."

"I can only give you 20 minutes." When Sokov looked at the roster sent by Ivanov, he realized something was wrong. There were at least 230 people on it, but the other party told himself that only 195 people had been arrested. , the other 30 people must have been dealt with privately by the other party. So Sokov is eager to find out, is Mr. Rabe still alive at this moment? "When the time comes, I hope to hear an accurate answer."

   "Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing Sokov's tough attitude, Ivanov could only bite the bullet and reply, "I will find out his whereabouts within 20 minutes."

   Seeing Sokov put down the phone, Lunev asked curiously: "Misha, why are you so interested in this German named Rabe?"

Facing Lunev's question, Sokov hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade Military Commissioner, I heard that when this person was in Jinling in China, it happened that Japanese pirates occupied that city and began massacring the city. Rabe used his identity as a German to establish a safe zone, housing more than 200,000 people, and protecting them from the persecution of Japanese pirates. I just heard about his deeds and wanted to meet him.”

   "Oh, so that's the case." Lunev was obviously not interested in Rabe, so he just said lightly: "But how do you know that he knows General Chuikov?"

   "The reason is very simple." Sokov only knew that Cuikov was the military attache and chief military adviser in China during the War of Resistance in China, so he logically believed that the two should know each other. So he explained to Lunev: "When Chuikov went to the East to serve as the general military adviser, Mr. Rabe happened to be in that country. Isn't it normal for the two to know each other?"

   "What year are you talking about the massacre?" Lunev suddenly asked unexpectedly.

   "December 13, 1937." Sokov said without hesitation the day that all Chinese people will never forget: "The Japanese pirates slaughtered 300,000 soldiers and civilians in Jinling, turning a beautiful city into a **** on earth."

"No." Unexpectedly, Lunev shook his head after hearing this and said, "As far as I know, Chuikov went to that ancient country in the East twice. The first time was from 27 to 29. After returning home, he served as the The post of chief of the Red Banner Far East Special Army Command; the second time was from December 40 to March 42. Soon after returning to China, he was appointed as the deputy commander of the 1st Army of the Reserve Front. In Stalingrad After the outbreak of the defense war, the unit was reorganized into the 64th Army, and soon after, Chuikov was appointed as the commander of the 62nd Army, responsible for commanding the troops remaining in Stalingrad and fighting tenaciously with the enemies attacking the city. He was under his command at that time, so he should be very familiar with this experience."

  After Lunev said this, Sokov realized that he had made a low-level mistake. He always thought that Chuikov and Rabe had both stayed in the ancient eastern country, and they should know each other. But now I know that there is no intersection between the two of them at all, and I just took it for granted.

Fortunately, Lunev did not get entangled in this matter, but said generously: "But even if Chuikov doesn't know this Mr. Rabe, just because he can use his personal influence to establish a huge safe zone, He still deserves our respect for saving hundreds of thousands of lives. If he is really arrested by our commanders and fighters because of his identity, I think he should be lenient and let him go."

   "You are right, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov felt relieved when he heard Lunev say this. "We should give preferential treatment to such people."

"Speaking of Chuikov, I remembered one thing." Lunev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and said to himself: "When Chuikov was in China, he established a good relationship of trust with the military attaches of the United States and France in China. , he analyzed the situation obtained from various aspects, and came to a conclusion that the main strategic intention of the Japanese pirates was to go south, not to go north, so that the Supreme Command made a decision to continuously transfer troops from the Far East to the West Front , blocking the German advance to Moscow."

Hearing what Lunev said, Sokov couldn't help being taken aback, and thought to himself: Isn't the news that the pirates are not planning to go north provided by the legendary agent Richard Sorge? Why did it become Chuikov's again? What about credit? But this kind of thing, he thinks about it in his heart, but he can't say it out. After all, the existence of Sorge is a top secret among top secrets. Even a deputy minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs like Lunev doesn't know, so what can he have? The way to know his existence?

   "Misha," Lunev changed the subject in time: "I heard that you plan to go to the Far East to participate in the battle against Japanese pirates. I wonder if this is true or not?"

"Of course it is true, Comrade Military Commissar." In front of Lunev, Sokov felt that there was no expression of lying, so he replied truthfully: "I have already spoken with Marshal Rokossovsky and Marshal Zhukov. I have said hello, and I hope they can recommend me to the Supreme Command to participate in this last battle."

  (end of this chapter)