USSR 1941

  Chapter 810 Reasons

"Don't set the goal too big!" Shulka said: "I mean, don't expect to destroy the enemy's beliefs. I think it can be more practical and realistic, and don't promote those illusory big things." It's just a waste of time to do so!"

"Do you mean…"

   "For example, the 6th Army trapped in Stalingrad!" Shulka said: "What will they care about most?"

   "Is it possible to break through!" Trufanov replied.

"Yes!" Shulka said: "If they can't break through, their battle will be meaningless, because what if they go to Siberia? They are always in our encirclement, no matter how many battles they win and kill. How many people, they will eventually collapse because they lose contact with the main force of the German army and cannot get supplies! Then we must let them understand that it is impossible to break through under such circumstances!"

  Zolotarev nodded slightly in agreement: "The enemies of the 6th Army, they are actually in a state of dubiousness. Many enemies surrendered to us because of this, because they can't see the hope of this battle!"

   "Yes!" Shulka nodded and said, "However, I think there are at least two reasons that prevent the Germans from surrendering to us, or a large-scale surrender!"

"Which two points?" Zolotarev looked at Shulka suspiciously. At this time, he seemed to realize his mistake. He, other political workers, and even the Propaganda Department had not considered these issues, although these issues were not Not something inscrutable or hard to think about.

   This is actually not surprising. The top Soviet leaders or the political department are always used to condescending thinking, always using high-pressure policies and rarely thinking about problems from a different perspective.

"The first point!" Shulka said: "Because of the German propaganda unit, they have been telling the German soldiers that they will be rescued in the end and will get more supplies, which means that their superiors are constantly giving them hope!"

  Zolotarev agreed: "Of course they did it, anyone would do it, but as the battle progresses, their lie will be self-defeating!"

"Yes!" Shulka said: "We can't do much in this regard, because after all, the German Don Army is still working hard to attack Karachi, and the German Air Force is still sending supplies to Germany. In the hands of the people, these are all facts, even if we present the facts and reason with them in the leaflets, there are still very limited Germans who can be trusted! Even if we try to persuade them, it may be counterproductive!"

   "Reaction?" Zolotarev was a little puzzled.

"Yes!" Shulka replied: "They will say: 'Look, our air force is still protecting us, still sending us supplies, although they are not many, but they are enough to hold back the Russian army Save us!';'You must know that we are an army of nearly a million people, and they will not let us be surrounded by the enemy here!';'So, the Russians are lying!'!"

  Zolotarev, although somewhat reluctant, nodded in agreement and asked, "So what should we do?"

   "What we have to do is very simple!" Shulka said: "I think we only need to draw a picture of the enemy's defense line and throw it to the Germans!"

   "Defense map? Is this useful?" Zolotarev asked suspiciously.

  Trufanov shouted: "This is a good way, the Germans themselves will judge whether we are lying, and analyze how bad their situation is!"

"Yes!" Shulka explained: "First of all, German soldiers are usually of high quality, they can understand this line of defense map, and they can even verify, for example, whether the line of defense map is true from their side or from the pilot. Yes. If they come to the conclusion that this line of defense map is real, then they can come to the conclusion themselves, that is, how bad their situation is and how slim the chance of breaking through is!"

   "We don't have to say anything?" Zolotarev asked.

   "You don't need to say anything!" Shulka replied with certainty.

  Sometimes talking too much can lead to bad things, because the German army is naturally resistant to Soviet propaganda. Their first reaction is that the Soviets are lying, and if there are some great truths in the leaflets, it will be bad things.

   But a defense map is different.

As a soldier, especially a professional soldier, he is naturally interested in maps. Once he picks up a map, he will naturally verify its authenticity, analyze the situation between us and the enemy, and even conduct deduction... This is for the Soviet army. Possibly an exception, because many Soviet infantrymen couldn't even tell the direction, let alone deduce it.

  And once the German soldiers verified and deduced, they were fooled.

  Because they soon discovered that it was not only the 6th Army in Stalingrad that was in trouble, but also the Don Army that reinforced them.

  If they realize this, Shulka's propaganda will have served its purpose.

   Shulka believed that Paulus and his command and some senior officers knew the truth, but they certainly did not dare to let their subordinates and soldiers know, because this would seriously affect morale.

   And if Paulus didn't want the soldiers to know, then the Soviets should want them to know.

   "Of course!" Shulka said: "I hope this line of defense map is real, and there can be no mistakes, especially the line of defense around Stalingrad!"

   "No problem!" Zolotarev replied: "We only need to synthesize the offensive and defensive maps of several front armies, and then erase important information such as troop deployment and equipment status!"

   After thinking for a while, Zolotarev asked again: "Then what about the second point?"

   "The second point..." Shulka said: "I think the reason why the Germans dare not surrender on a large scale and persist in resistance is because they know that there will be no good end after surrendering!"

   Zolotarev couldn't help being taken aback when he heard this.

   There is no need to explain this. Zolotarev knew that Shulka was right, although he hadn't thought about it before.

  Because the Soviet army has never been soft on prisoners, this has long been no secret.

Therefore, if you think about it from the perspective of a German soldier: if you don’t surrender, you will die, if you surrender, you will die, and if you surrender at the same time, you will still be tortured to death, and you will shame your family and become a traitor... Then bear with it and continue fighting. Death is better than surrender!

  Only those German soldiers who couldn't stand it anymore and had a chance to try would choose to surrender.

  (end of this chapter)