You can rely on me with rock-like confidence! Pah!
‘That’s all just bluff, of course,’ said Sonderführer Fröhlich calmly. ‘They’ve probably parked up a few trucks with tree trunks on the back to fool our reconnaissance. They used those kinds of tricks in East Prussia back in 1914. But no one with half a brain’s taken in by that nowadays!’
‘Herr Fröhlich,’ replied Breuer, ‘if you caught a bullet in the ribs, it really wouldn’t surprise me to hear you say “No worries; it’s all a sham – most likely just a pamphlet”!’
A man climbed down into the bunker, out of breath. It was the corporal from the mess.
‘Finally!’ cried Herbert. ‘There was us thinking we weren’t going to get anything else to eat today.’
‘No, the soup isn’t ready yet,’ said the corporal with a grin. ‘I’m just bringing you one of the ingredients for the time being!’
With this, he handed Breuer a sodden piece of blue paper and launched into a rambling account.
‘So, I look at my watch, right, and it’s half-four already! So I say to my two Hiwis: “Dawai – get a move on, lads! I need some water for tonight’s soup!” Back they come with a huge pile of snow in their arms. In it goes into the pot, with six of the pea cubes and the horse’s leg. Well, I’m busy stirrin’ it round and round, nice and careful like, so it doesn’t get too thin… an’ all of a sudden there’s this piece of paper here sticking to the ladle!’
Breuer carefully spreads the soggy scrap of paper out on the table.
‘Probably another one of Paulus’s Epistles to the Cauldronians,’ he jokes.
‘Nah, Lieutenant,’ replies the cook, ‘this one’s from the comrades over there! I’m on tenterhooks to hear what you reckon to it. Me and the lads over at the mess have already had a long discussion about it. So, anyhow, that’s the reason the soup’s still going to take a bit longer.’
Breuer, meanwhile, had a quick read of the note.
‘Well, well… that’s very interesting! Listen to this: it’s an ultimatum to Paulus!’ He read:
To the commander of the German Sixth Army, General Paulus, or his deputy, and to all the officers and men of the encircled force…
The men crowded round the first lieutenant, who had gone to stand under the light so he could read the note more easily. Only Lieutenant Wiese carried on reading. Since the incident with the burning Ju 52, he took hardly any interest in what was going on around him. If someone spoke to him, his response was friendly enough, but he was distant and indifferent, and he frequently alarmed his comrades with the meaninglessness of his responses. But even he pricked up his ears as Breuer continued:
The German Sixth Army, the units of the Fourth Tank Army and their reinforcements have been completely encircled since 23 November 1942… All hopes of rescue by means of a German offensive from the south and southwest have proved unfounded: The forces that were rushed to your aid have been destroyed by the Red Army, and the remnants of these forces are falling back towards Rostov. The German transport planes that have been supplying you with starvation rations of food, ammunition and fuel are being forced by the victorious and swift advance of the Red Army to move airfields, and to fly from great distances to reach your positions. Moreover, the Russian air force is inflicting huge losses on German transport planes and their crews. Air transport is unlikely to continue for much longer.
‘That actually sounds quite… quite civilized!’ said Geibel in surprise.
‘And it’s all true, what’s more!’ muttered the cook.
‘What?’ Fröhlich butted in. ‘You think that’s the truth? These absurd exaggerations?’
‘Pipe down, damn you!’ shouted Breuer. ‘Either let me read, or you can prattle among yourselves!’
He resumed reading:
Your encircled troops are in a grave situation. They are suffering from hunger, sickness and cold. The harsh Russian winter is only just beginning: hard frosts, cold winds and snowstorms are still to come, but your soldiers do not have winter uniforms and are living in unsanitary conditions. You, as commander, and all the officers of the surrounded troops know very well that there is no longer any realistic possibility of breaking through the encirclement. Your position is hopeless and further resistance is useless.
‘Ha ha,’ scoffed Fröhlich, ‘they’ve got a surprise coming!’
‘Will you just hold your bloody tongue for once?’ Herbert interrupted. ‘What they’re saying there isn’t so very wide of the mark. Seems to me like they’re pretty well informed about our situation.’
Given the inescapable position that your forces now find themselves in, and in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, we propose that you accept the following terms of surrender:
1. All surrounded German troops, with you and your staff, are to cease any further resistance.
2. You are to hand over to us, in an orderly fashion and intact, all men, arms, weaponry and army property.
We guarantee the lives and the safety of all officers, non-commissioned officers and men who lay down their arms. We also guarantee that at the end of the war they will be returned to Germany, or to any other country of their choice. All surrendering forces will be allowed to keep their uniforms, insignia and medals, along with their personal belongings and valuables. High-ranking officers will be permitted to retain their service daggers. All officers, non-commissioned officers and men who surrender will immediately be issued with normal rations. All those suffering from wounds, illness or frostbite will receive medical attention.
Now it was Herbert who could contain himself no longer.
‘Well, blow me down, that’s really decent of them! You’d never have believed that was written by Bolsheviks!’
‘That’s just the problem!’ sputtered the mess corporal. ‘If it was the British rather than the Bolsheviks, then fair enough. But you can’t trust that lot!’
‘And all that stuff about providing us with food, I’m not so sure about that either,’ Geibel chipped in apprehensively. ‘I doubt whether they’ll actually be able to cater for all of us. Three hundred thousand men – that’s like feeding a whole city!’
‘It’s all a complete swindle!’ shouted Fröhlich furiously. ‘A cheap con trick! Leaving the officers their daggers – when they know full well that no one here even carries a dagger! And of course they won’t be able to feed us. They haven’t got anything to eat themselves! As soon as we’ve laid down our arms, they’ll chuck us all into the Volga.’
With some difficulty, Breuer got them all to quieten down again.
‘Don’t you want to hear how it ends first?’ he asked, before continuing:
We expect your written reply on 9 January 1943, at 10.00 hours, Moscow time. It should be brought by a representative whom you have personally appointed, and who should proceed in a car flying a white flag along the road from the Konny railway halt to Kotluban station. Your representative will be met by Russian officers in Region ‘B’ 0.5 kilometres southeast of the railway halt at 10.00 hours precisely.