"General Leiningen-Kempf is willing to surrender to us? Everyone, please see if we agree to his surrender request." Oscar asked 8th Army Corps's people.
After Lieutenant General François received the secret message from General Leiningen-Kempf, he immediately reported it to Königsberg. Although it was already late at night, Oscar still summoned General General Hindenburg and Ludendorff to discuss the situation.
"Your Highness, I know this person Leiningen-Kempf. He is indeed of German origin. It's just that their family has lived in Russia for too long." General Hindenburg said.
"Then he was discriminated against and treated unfairly at Russia. Is this true?" Oscar asked.
"This is true. Overall, General Leiningen-Kempf is a relatively capable general. At least, among the generals of Russia, he is considered a more outstanding one. And Russia's current political ecology is relatively dark. Dark. Therefore, General Leiningen-Kempf, a German, will naturally become the target of many people. He is lucky to be able to become General Russian Army. If he is not careful, he will even lose his life." General Ludendorff said.
Oscar nodded, Russia's situation is very bad now, he knows this.
"So, should we agree to Leiningen-Kempf's surrender request?" Oscar asked.
"Your Highness, in my opinion, it's better to agree! After all, there are still more than 200,000 people left in the Russian First Army. If we refuse their surrender, they will definitely fight tooth and nail. Then it will be another fierce battle. Although we are capable of annihilating them all, we will inevitably pay a certain amount of losses. And this is completely unnecessary." Brigadier General Max Hoffman, deputy chief of staff and chief of operations, said.
"Yes, Your Highness. If the Russian army can surrender, then we can solve 1st Army Corps without spending a single soldier. Not to mention the loss, just using 200,000 prisoners of war as free labor will leave us with a lot of things to do in the subsequent reconstruction of East Prussia." Colonel Manstein also means the same thing.
"Since everyone means this, let's accept General Leiningen-Kempf's surrender." Oscar nodded. In fact, that's what he thought in his heart. However, as a commander-in-chief, he naturally has to listen to the opinions of his subordinates extensively. Avoid making mistakes as much as possible.
"Your Highness, there is no problem in accepting the surrender of General Leiningen-Kempf. 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 careful. When the Russian army surrendered, all 8th Armored Division's tanks drove up. If Russians dares to play any tricks, then kill them all." A trace of murderous intent flashed in Oscar's eyes. What he couldn't stand the most was being deceived. If General Leiningen-Kempf was trying to trick him into surrendering this time, Oscar would definitely make him die miserably.
"Yes, Your Highness." Major General Ludendorff nodded.
"By the way, General Leiningen-Kempf hopes that we can save his family, right? Let our friends at Russia help out more. We have given them so much support, and now it is time for them to repay us." Oscar said.
Requesting Germany to rescue his family is also a condition for General Leiningen-Kempf to agree to surrender. For Oscar, this is not a problem at all. Germany has many spies in Russia, and German Industrial Group of Oscar also had business in Russia before. Even though Russia was evacuated before the war broke out, some people were secretly left behind. In addition, Oscar has been supporting Bolshevik Party. Bolshevik Party is considered a local snake in Russia. With their help, everything becomes very easy.
After Oscar's order was given to the front line, Lieutenant General François, Lieutenant General Mackensen and Lieutenant General Seeckt all took action. On the one hand, they informed General Leiningen-Kempf, and on the other hand, Germany had accepted his surrender. On the other hand, various arrangements must be made to prevent unexpected situations from happening. Even if this is General Leiningen-Kempf's conspiracy, it must be foolproof.
After receiving a reply from Germany, General Leiningen-Kempf immediately summoned the main generals of Russian 1st Army Corps to formally inform everyone of his decision.
Most Russian generals have no objection to surrendering to Germany. After all, if the battle has reached this point, it is basically impossible to win. If you want to save your own life, surrender is inevitable. In fact, many generals have already made preparations for this. Originally they were worried that General Leiningen-Kempf would refuse to surrender to Germany, but they did not expect that General Leiningen-Kempf had already contacted Germany, which saved them a lot of trouble.
In addition, since this decision was made by General Leiningen-Kempf, the main responsibility will also be borne by General Leiningen-Kempf, and they have relatively little responsibility. Even if Tsar Nicholas I is blamed, they cannot be blamed.
Of course, there are also many people who are not loyal to the Russian Empire who want to resist, but they end up being subdued by Guard. These people will be handed over to Germany next.
On the morning of August 27, Russian 1st Army Corps officially surrendered to German 8th Army Corps. Lieutenant General François, on behalf of Germany, accepted the gun of General Leiningen-Kempf.
More than 200,000 Russian troops calmly accepted this result. For these Russians, saving their lives is the most important thing. As for shame and the like, let's put it aside for now.
With the surrender of Russian 1st Army Corps, Russian Northwestern Front Army is dead in name only. A huge group army with more than 500,000 troops was almost completely lost in just ten days. And German 8th Army Corps, with less than 200,000 troops, was able to kill 500,000 Russian troops in ten days. This is undoubtedly a miracle.
Of course, 8th Army Corps achieved such an unprecedented victory, which suddenly changed the situation of German military and even Allied Powers on Eastern Front. Although, the threat of Russia still exists. However, the standing army's most elite 500,000 soldiers were eliminated, which undoubtedly greatly damaged Russia's vitality.
At least, before the mobilization is completed, it will be difficult for Russia to send more troops to Kingdom of Poland, and it will no longer be able to pose a threat to East Prussia.