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Originally Posted by
Rich Rostrom
In Berlin, the neo-German regime is in despair. It seemed nothing would shake the Allied insistence on unconditional surrender. Stauffenberg, the most ruthless of the neo-German leaders, proposes offering a separate peace to Stalin, but this is rejected. It is pointed out that if unconditional surrender was inevitable, and it seems that way, there is no point in delaying the surrender. With great bitterness, the neo-German leaders agree to this after another day's debate.
On 26 September Germany announces its surrender effective October 1.
Except that would be stupid for Germany, its people and all its soldiers fighting in the East to order an offical surrender at that time. Conducting a 'retreating campaign' by moving forces East to hold the line against the Soviets as long as possible while the Western Allies take Germany was the way to go until the offical surrender is ordered.
And, yes Stalin still gets an occupation zone, but it would likely be smaller...
That was exactly the sort of trick the western Allies expected and would not tolerate.
Suppose the neo-Germans ordered all troops on the western front to surrender while continuing to fight on the eastern front. The western Allies would not only drive their troops forward at full speed, they would continue the air war against German communications and bases in the homeland and the east.
German troops in the east have already retreated pretty much to the borders of Germany. The front runs from Prussia, to Warsaw, to upper Silesia, across Czechoslovakia, to Vienna, then west along the Alps.
This is actually a fairly defensible perimeter, with all the troops that have been extracted from Greece, Courland, and other remote places to hold it.
But if western Allied troops are sweeping across Germany, and Allied bombers are laying waste to eastern Germany, German troops in the east don't have either motivation or ability to resist the Soviets effectively. The eastern front will dissolve. And since it will dissolve in battle, the Soviets will come in shooting. Lots of casualties and destruction.
Better to end the fighting in one move.
In any case, the German surrender is announced five days before it takes effect - which allows Germans in the east an opportunity to evacuate before the Soviets take over.
As for the Soviet occupation zone - it wouldn't be much smaller than OTL, if at all, and the idea of the western Allies threatening to evict the Soviets for misconduct is laughable. They couldn't do it and wouldn't much care.