Friends who are familiar with the history of World War II appreciate the Battle of Stalingrad in the Great Patriotic War and are very excited to see German Field Marshal Paulus lead his Sixth Army with 100,000 men and horses to surrender to the Soviet army.
Paulus was captured
On January 31, 1943, the Battle of Stalingrad ended with the final victory of the Soviet army. Field Marshal Paulus, the supreme commander of the German assault on Stalingrad (who had just been promoted from general to German marshal on 30 January), and his staff officers walked out of the bunker. On a cold snowy winter day in Stalingrad, Paulus was still dressed in the uniform of a German general (the German base camp did not have time to drop the marshal's uniform to him).
The mustache believed that the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad would continue to resist under the leadership of the newly promoted Marshal Paulus, and consume the living forces of the Soviet army. Or, Paulus would have died honorably as a German field marshal. Because, in the history of Germany, there has never been a German field marshal who has been captured by the other side.
As a result, it backfired. At the last moment of defeat, Paulus had already ignored the orders given to him by the base camp to continue resisting, and it was pointless. Paulus, who was at the end of his rope, no longer cared whether he was a general or a marshal, and laying down his arms and leading his men to surrender was his only choice.
After the Sixth Army got in touch with the Soviet command led by Zhukov, Paulus deliberately dressed himself in the bunker of the army headquarters, and then calmly walked out of the headquarters bunker and surrendered to the Soviet troops. This scene was recorded by the camera of a Soviet war correspondent and published in the Soviet newspaper "Red Star".
Following the surrender order of Commander Paulus, the 100,000-strong German army attacking Stalingrad immediately laid down their arms and came out of the fortifications of the Soviet encirclement to accept the surrender. Later, these 100,000 German prisoners were gathered and escorted to Soviet prisoner of war camps in Siberia. Paulus was one of them.
Military fans are very happy to see this period of history of the Great Patriotic War. Some people will think of the scenes that occurred at the last juncture of the Chinese Liberation War from 1948 to 1949, when the People's Liberation Army defeated the Kuomintang army in the three major battles, and many high-ranking Kuomintang generals were captured, which is in great contrast with the scenes of the German generals being captured.
In the War of Liberation, many high-ranking Kuomintang generals who were surrounded by the People's Liberation Army rarely surrendered at the last moment. They are all trying to disguise themselves as various characters and blend in with the crowd to escape. Like Du Yuming, Wang Yaowu, Huang Wei, Wang Lingji, Liao Yaoxiang, etc., they either disguised themselves as low-level officers, soldiers, and men to mingle among the prisoners of the Kuomintang army, or they wore civilian clothes and made up as ordinary people to flee.
For example, Liao Yaoxiang in the Liaoshen Campaign had run out of the encirclement of the People's Liberation Army and was caught by the militia on the periphery. Like Du Yuming's escape in disguise as a soldier, he was carefully screened by the People's Liberation Army. Like Wang Yaowu, he dressed up as a husband, but was finally captured by the People's Liberation Army. In short, when the Kuomintang forces were defeated, few of the high-ranking generals surrendered to the other side in full dress like Paulus.
Du Yuming was captured
Wang Lingji was captured
Huang Wei was captured