Chapter 1347: Garrison in place

  Chapter 1347 Garrison on the spot

  The captain came to Chuvashov with two prisoners, raised his hand and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Brigadier, the prisoners have been brought!"

  Looking at the two prisoners in front of him, Chuvashov suddenly realized that he had neglected one thing. There is no one in the headquarters who understands German, so how can they conduct interrogation? He hurriedly said to the captain: "Captain, you can find an interpreter, I want to personally interrogate these two prisoners..."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Yakuda interjected before Chuvashov finished speaking, "you don't need to find an interpreter, I understand German, can I translate for you?"

   "Comrade Captain, are you qualified for the responsibility of translation?" Chuvashov's face was full of doubts.

  Yakuda did not defend himself, but turned to the two German prisoners, and asked in fluent German with a slightly blunt tone: "Gentlemen, please explain your names, positions and military ranks."

   When the two prisoners heard Yakuda's question, they quickly and respectfully stated their names, military ranks, and positions they had already held in the 255th Armored Division.

   Seeing that Yakudan was able to communicate with the captives freely, Chuvashov gave up his plan to call for an interpreter. He waved at the captain, signaling that he didn't need to go out to find an interpreter.

  Chuvashov had no interest in the names and military ranks of the two prisoners. After confirming that Yakuda's German level was sufficient to communicate with the German prisoners, he asked, "Have you seen your division commander?"

   "Yes, Mr. Colonel." After listening to the translation, the lieutenant prisoner quickly replied: "Although my rank is relatively low, I have met the division commander several times."

   "If you meet your teacher again, will you recognize him?" Chuvashov asked.

   "Yes, Mr. Colonel!" The lieutenant replied again with an affirmative tone: "As long as I see my division commander again, I will definitely recognize him."

   "Captain," since the German lieutenant said he could recognize the division commander, Chuvashov ordered the captain standing aside: "Have someone bring the body in and let them carefully identify it."

  The captain agreed, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

   Less than two minutes later, the captain returned to the headquarters again, followed by four soldiers carrying stretchers. The command post, which was originally relatively spacious, suddenly seemed a little crowded due to the addition of a stretcher.

   "Look at it," Chuvashov said to the German lieutenant: "Do you know this corpse lying on a stretcher?"

  Yakuda quickly translated Chuvashov's words to the German lieutenant: "Look at this corpse on the stretcher, do you recognize it?"

   When the German lieutenant saw a stretcher brought in by the Soviet army, on which lay a corpse covered with a white cloth, he was quite puzzled. After listening to Yakuda's translation at this moment, he was even more confused. He didn't understand why the other party recognized the corpse, but he wanted to call him.

  He originally wanted to reject Chuvashov's request, but when he looked at the Soviet soldiers who were staring at him around him, he couldn't help but feel hairy, so he could only bite the bullet and go forward to check. Seeing the German lieutenant approaching, the captain lifted the white cloth covering his face to facilitate his identification. Due to excessive force, the white cloth that originally covered the whole body was lifted to the abdomen.

  The lieutenant of the German army saw the person lying on the stretcher, wearing the uniform of an ordinary soldier, without even looking at the other person's face, so he shook his head and said, "Sorry, I don't know him."

   After speaking, the lieutenant was about to turn around and leave, but he heard the second lieutenant standing behind him exclaim: "My God, this person on the stretcher looks similar to the teacher?"

  The lieutenant couldn't help shaking when he heard the second lieutenant's words, and hurriedly examined the face of the corpse carefully. At this sight, he couldn't take his eyes off immediately: "That's right, it's really the division commander. But, why is he wearing the uniform of an ordinary soldier?"

After the lieutenant confirmed that the deceased was his division commander, the second lieutenant also hurried forward, looked at the body carefully, and asked in a low voice, "Lieutenant, how did you say the division commander died? Also, how could he be dressed as an ordinary soldier?" What about uniforms?"

   Yakuda, who was standing aside, faithfully translated what the two said to Chuvashov without missing a word.

After hearing this, Chuvashov sneered and said, "Why does the German commander wear the clothes of ordinary soldiers? I know the answer to this question. It is estimated that seeing our army's offensive is too fierce, they can't hold on. The German commander wants to escape. Worried that the target was too big, he asked an ordinary soldier to change into a military uniform. But he was so unlucky that he didn't escape even after changing his clothes."

   After clearly identifying the corpse brought back by Yakuda, it was the commander of the German army. Chuvashov didn't want to talk nonsense with the two prisoners, so he asked the captain to take them out together with the corpse.

   As soon as the captain and others left the command post, Chuvashov ordered the communications corps to connect to the army headquarters. After hearing Sokov's voice, he immediately said: "Comrade commander, I have good news for you."

   "Good news?" Sokov was taken aback for a moment, and then asked with surprise on his face, "Has the German 255th Division been wiped out by you and your allies?"

"The battle is still going on." The remnants of the enemy are still stubbornly resisting in the settlement. Of course, Chuvashov did not dare to lie to Sokov about the military situation, so he could only truthfully say: "But I believe it will not be long before we can completely defeat the enemy." Destroy the enemy."

  Sokov had no interest in this kind of empty promise. He waited for the other party to finish speaking, and asked bluntly: "Comrade Colonel, you call me, what's the matter?"

   "Comrade Commander," Chuvashov heard the impatience in Sokov's tone, and quickly added: "I called you because I have good news for you."

   Without waiting for Sokov to ask, he said first: "The commander of the 255th Division of the German Army was killed by us."

   "What, the German division commander was killed by you?" Sokov liked the news, but just to be on the safe side, he still asked: "Is the news reliable?"

"Totally reliable." Chuvashov replied: "Now the body of the German division commander is outside my headquarters, and I also specially asked two captured German officers to come over to check. After their confirmation, it is indeed the first The commander of the 255th Division."

"Which army achieved this result?" Sokov picked up a pencil on the table, opened his notepad, and prepared to record: "I want to write it down, and after the battle is over, I will immediately ask for credit for them." .”

   "It's the first battalion of my brigade." Chuvashov said quickly: "The battalion commander is Major Shamrih, and his deputy battalion commander, Captain Yakuda, personally sent the body to my headquarters."

   "Good job, Comrade Colonel." After complimenting the other party, Sokov told him: "Since the German division commander is dead, you should arrange people to bury him as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

"Comrade Commander," Chuvashov was a little anxious when he heard Sokov's order: "How can we bury him now? If we bury his body now, once the superior comes to examine it The result of the battle, what should I do? I can’t order someone to dig him out of the ground again, can I?”

"It's okay, I let you bury it, so you can arrange for people to bury it." Seeing Chuvashov's worries, Sokov comforted him and said, "Even if the superior wants to send someone to check the results of the battle in the future, I will help you deal with it." Yes, you don't have to worry so much."

  The battle continued until two o'clock in the afternoon, and the enemy entrenched in the settlement stopped resisting. The surviving officers and soldiers all put down their weapons and surrendered to the Soviet army. As for the enemy in Belgorod, because they have lost contact with the 255th Infantry Division, they don't know what their situation is. Although the positions north of the city are no longer bombarded and bombed by the Soviets, the German commanders do not. Dare to take it lightly, neither dare to send troops to reinforce, nor dare to provide them with artillery cover.

  As the gunfire in the settlement gradually became sparse, Soviet troops attacking from several directions joined forces in the settlement.

  Major General Fomenko and Colonel Shechtman came to Chuvashov's headquarters.

  After the three of them shook hands and greeted each other for a while, Fomenko said: "Comrades, we have wiped out all the Germans who have trapped the residents. Tell me, what should we do next?"

   "I think it's better to ask Comrade Commander for instructions." Shechtman said tentatively: "He ordered us to retreat, and we will retreat. If we are asked to hold on, we must do everything possible to hold here."

  The three of them didn't know Sokov's true intentions. After some discussion, they decided to call for instructions to see whether they should stay where they were or retreat to the north of Yakovlevo town.

  The caller this time was no longer Chuvashov, but the highest-ranking Major General Fomenko: "Comrade Commander, I am Major General Fomenko. I have something important to report to you immediately."

   "Please report, Comrade Major General."

   "Comrade Commander, we have wiped out all the enemies who retreated to the settlements, and now the results of the battle are being cleared up. I believe it will not take long before we can all count them."

   "Comrade Major General, on behalf of you, please express my gratitude to all the commanders and fighters who participated in the war, and thank them for their great feats in defending the motherland."

"I will, Comrade Commander, don't worry." After saying this, Fomenko tentatively asked: "Since we have completed the task of annihilating the 255th Infantry Division of the German Army, what should we do next?" ? Should we continue to stay here, or retreat to the position north of Yakovlevo town?"

"Comrade Major General," Sokov thought that in a few days, the troops would launch an attack on Belgorod. If the troops were mobilized frequently, the soldiers would easily become tired, so he said into the microphone: "We will soon Going to war with the Germans again, you don’t have to move troops around, which will make the commanders and fighters exhausted. I think you can build work on the spot and establish a starting point for attack.”

After Sokov finished speaking, he went through his mind and confirmed that there was nothing missing, and then continued: "Also, now you have two infantry divisions, one infantry brigade and two marine brigades, If they are all concentrated in one place, the target is too big. Once the enemy shells or bombs the area where you are stationed, it will inevitably cause you heavy casualties. Therefore, when you arrange the defense line, the troops should be deployed more dispersedly, so that both They can support each other without causing unnecessary casualties under the enemy's powerful artillery fire."

  Sameko, who was standing next to him, heard the call between Sokov and Fomenko, and couldn't help showing a proud expression on his face. He was also worried that the battle would not end for a long time, and he would be criticized by his superiors.

  As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he hurriedly urged: "Comrade Commander, since the 255th Infantry Division has been wiped out by us, shouldn't we immediately notify the superiors of this good news?"

   "Well," Sokov nodded, and said, "I will personally call the Front Army Command and inform all the superiors of this encouraging news."

After the call was connected to the Front Army Command, the person who answered the call was Lieutenant General Ivanov, the Chief of Staff. But when he heard that Sokov's troops had wiped out the 255th Infantry Division of the German Army, he couldn't help being overjoyed and said repeatedly: "It's too late!" Well, Major General Sokov, this is really great, I will immediately report this good news to the commander and Marshal Zhukov."

Zhukov and Vasilevsky were eating, and when Ivanov said that the German 255th Infantry Division had been wiped out, they quickly put down the tableware in their hands, got up and went to the telephone, and took the Microphone: "Hello, are you Misha? I'm Zhukov!"

   "Hello, Comrade Marshal!" Although he called the Front Army Command this time to report the good news of victory, Sokov was still a little nervous when he heard Zhukov's voice. "I am Sokov, I obey your orders, please instruct!"

"I have nothing to instruct," Zhukov said with a smile: "I just want to give you a verbal commendation for the annihilation of the 255th Infantry Division. I hope you can make more achievements in the next battle. "

   "Yes, Comrade Marshal." Sokov said: "I believe in my subordinates, and I believe that they will be able to achieve greater results and make more achievements in the new battle."

   After chatting with Sokov for a few words, Zhukov saw Vatutin approaching, handed him the microphone, and then went back to have dinner by himself.

   "Comrade Sokov, I heard that you have successfully annihilated the 255th Infantry Division of the German Army. I congratulate you." After Vatutin finished speaking, he asked, "What are your troops doing now?"

"The remaining enemies of the 255th Infantry Division were wiped out in a settlement five or six kilometers away from Belgorod." Sokov said to Vatutin: "I have ordered the troops involved in the encirclement and annihilation operations to Garrison in the area, ready to participate in the attack on Belgorod in a few days."

Knowing that Sokov's troops were stationed a few kilometers away from Belgorod, Vatutin suddenly had a bold idea: "Comrade Sokov, since your troops are so far away from the city Recently, have you considered attacking the city at night?"

  Although Sokov has won many battles, he has not been dazzled by the victory at all. He didn't think that the strength of his own group army alone was enough to counter the powerful German troops in the city. If you really wanted to attack, it would be tantamount to hitting a stone with a pebble. Not only would you not be able to take down the city, but you might even take your own troops into it.

Therefore, after a brief silence, he resolutely rejected Vatutin's proposal: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I don't think it's a good time to attack Belgorod. What's more, our troops are weak and lack tanks. It is absolutely impossible to seize a city from an enemy with superior strength and equipment with heavy assault weapons such as cannons and cannons."

  (end of this chapter)