During the course of the discussion, another general entered the room. He was dressed in the same fashion as General Gyldenfeldt but was not nearly as impressive-looking. This other general, who turned out to be Colonel General Lothar von Rendulic, commander of Army Group South, entered the discussions and explained that the reason for keeping Americans west of the Ybbs River was that, if they crossed the river, they might be inadvertently fired on by German forces. Samuell also gained the impression that if American forces were sighted approaching the German rear it might create panic among the German forces confronting the Soviets.

At the beginning of Samuell's conversation with Gyldenfeldt, the general had wanted to know what Samuell was doing in this area of operations and started to admonish Samuell for not conforming to normal military courtesies by letting him know that his platoon was in the general's area. But he broke off when he remembered that he was talking to the enemy, not an ally. Thinking that telling the Germans that the Allies on the two fronts were attempting to link up might compel them to surrender, Samuell told him that his own mission was to locate the Soviets.

Gyldenfeldt asked Samuell if he had any idea where the Red Army was at that time. Samuell replied that he knew that they were west of Vienna, but he was unaware of the location of their lead elements. Gyldenfeldt informed Samuell that the Soviet lead elements were located in the town of St. Poelten, about 80 kilometers east-northeast of Waidhofen.

By the end of that first meeting with Gyldenfeldt, Samuell had agreed to inform the 71st Division headquarters of Gyldenfeldt's desire to arrange for a surrender and to request an American officer with authority to come to Waidhofen to accept it. Through Gyldenfeldt, Rendulic had expressed the desire for Samuell's commanding general to come to Waidhofen, but Samuell informed them that it was unlikely that he would come.

Gyldenfeldt agreed to Samuell's request to allow the American cavalry troopers from Aichen to come to the castle grounds. After returning to his men and bringing them up to date on the events in Waidhofen, Samuell directed them to the castle. In the process, Samuell met up with Burns near the Ybbs Bridge and briefed him on the recent developments, with the Germans. It was around
6:30 p.m. on May 6, 1945.

From the castle grounds, Samuell sent a detailed message to his division headquarters. He told his headquarters that he was at the headquarters of a corps-level unit or higher and requested that a field-grade officer with authority to arrange a surrender be dispatched to Waidhofen. Samuell received a quick reply stating that no officer would be sent to Waidhofen. Instead, Samuell was ordered to bring the German general to Steyr. The message also requested that Samuell identify the size and type of the German headquarters offering to surrender.

Samuell returned to Gyldenfeldt with division headquarters' response. The message from headquarters had specified that the generals should be brought to Steyr immediately, and Samuell received it about 7 p.m.–daylight was waning. If Samuell and the generals did not leave right away, they would be traveling a large part of the way in the dark. Gyldenfeldt, after discussing the matter with Rendulic, agreed to the American instructions. A column was formed for the drive back to Steyr.

Both Gyldenfeldt and Samuell were concerned about the possibility that a German unit might fire on the platoon during the night. The German general sent out information to all units in the vicinity of Waidhofen stating that the American platoon would be operating between Waidhofen and Steyr and specifying that the Germans should not fire on the American troops.

Samuell was given a private room in the castle and served a gourmet meal–including caviar! The lieutenant soon became very uneasy with the arrangement, however, since it isolated him from his platoon. Shortly after his meal, he went into the courtyard, where the cavalrymen were already eating their chow. They had pulled out their individual ration heaters and warmed up their C rations. It had come as a real surprise to the Germans to see individual soldiers prepare their own meals in that way.

Right in the middle of dinner, a line of soldier-waiters came out of the castle, each carrying white napkins and plates of hot beef stew and potatoes from the German mess for the platoon members. The food was excellent. The Americans enjoyed it but were somewhat embarrassed because they saw that hungry German soldiers in the immediate area received no such treatment from their own senior officers.

During the course of the meal, Samuell was standing next to an armored car when he was tapped on the back. He turned and looked into the eyes of one of the most sinister-looking men he had ever seen. He was a giant anthropoid figure of a man, a lieutenant colonel in the Waffen SS. To Samuell's surprise, the German politely commented upon the efficiency of the American soldier in being able to prepare his own meals, then turned around and left–to everyone's relief, including the nearby Germans.

By this time, arrangements had been made to return to Steyr with the German generals, and word was sent to Samuell that the German­American column would leave at 10 p.m. It seemed to Samuell that this was awfully late to be traveling through territory where there might still be fighting. Between the time that the platoon had moved into the castle grounds and the time that the Germans had reached the decision to leave, many German troops had crossed the Ybbs, moving west. There were now many more Germans from the Eastern Front in between Waidhofen and Steyr. These retreating German forces probably did not know that the American platoon was in the German headquarters.

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