Chapter 2254:

The head of the regiment returned to the regiment, called all the remaining commanders and fighters around, and said loudly to them: "comrades, commanders and fighters, the commander let our regiment be the vanguard out of trust in us. But what about our performance? But I failed this trust. In order to restore the reputation of our regiment, I plan to attack the enemy's position again. In the next battle, some people may be injured and some people will die. If anyone is afraid, they can withdraw now , I will definitely not say anything. Has anyone quit?"

  After the group leader finished asking, he scanned the commanders and fighters in the queue one by one to see if anyone applied to withdraw because of fear.

   Fortunately, what he was worried about did not happen, and no one asked to quit. The head of the regiment nodded and continued: "I am very relieved to see that no one has withdrawn. But before the battle starts, I have to tell you one thing. Once the attack starts, all of us can only move forward and not retreat. , even if it is a sacrifice, the face must face the direction of the enemy's position. Do you understand?"

  As soon as the commander's voice fell, all the commanders and fighters said in unison: "Understood!"

"The first battalion launches an attack on the enemy's position first, and the second and third battalions serve as reserve forces. Once the first battalion's attack is frustrated, the second battalion will go up to the top, and so on." After briefly speaking the rules, the regiment leader waved his hand , decisively issued the order to attack: "Start attacking!"

  When the commanders and fighters of the first battalion spread out and rushed towards the German positions, the regiment commander ordered the mortar company to provide artillery fire cover for the attacking troops, and destroy the German firepower points as soon as they found them.

  At the beginning, there was silence on the German positions. If the regimental commander who was observing the enemy's situation hadn't seen his troops being beaten here with his own eyes, he would have thought that the German troops on the position had already retreated. He knew very well in his heart that this was the tranquility before the storm, and the calmer it was at the moment, the more intense the firepower would be when his troops approached the position.

  When the commanders and fighters of the first battalion were 150 meters away from the German position, the machine gun fire on the position opened fire. The crossfire of two MG42 machine guns blocked the way forward for the troops. After the soldiers who rushed to the front fell down, the remaining soldiers hurriedly searched for cover on the spot and fired back at the enemy.

  The mortar company discovered the firepower point of the German army, and before the commander gave an order, it fired directly at the firepower point. After six shells drew beautiful arcs in the air, they landed on the German position and exploded. One of the shells fell impartially into the trench and exploded next to one of the machine guns. The air wave pulled the machine gunner out of the trench, threw it high into the air, and threw it heavily to the ground.

"Good job!" Seeing the first round of shelling by the mortar company, the regiment commander destroyed a German machine gun, he couldn't help applauding, and then ordered: "The artillery company continues to fire, and it is necessary to focus all the firepower on the position." wipe out."

The commanders and fighters of the first battalion, who were suppressed by the machine gun fire, saw that one of the firepower points was destroyed by the artillery, and the firepower blocking them was greatly weakened, so they jumped out of their hiding places one after another, using short leaps to jump from one crater to another. Gradually approach the enemy's position.

As the commanders and fighters got closer and closer to the enemy's position, the gunfire on the position became denser. Not only machine guns fired, but also rifles, submachine guns and pistols joined the shooting, and even a mortar fired rapidly. , the shells fired fell into the offensive queue and exploded, knocking down some commanders and fighters.

  But the German mortars were quickly suppressed by Soviet artillery fire, and they were directly silenced. After destroying the German mortars, the Soviet artillery shelled the areas with relatively dense firepower, destroying the firepower points there, and opening a path for the attacking comrades.

  Under the cover of artillery, the commanders and fighters of the first battalion quickly rushed into the trench and started close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemies inside. Seeing this, the head of the regiment in the distance quickly ordered the second and third battalions to go into battle, making sure to clear the enemy in the shortest possible time.

  At the same time, a battalion of the 109th Infantry Brigade commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Victor rushed into the German position from another direction to assist friendly forces in destroying the enemy in the trenches.

Facing the attack from two directions, the officers and soldiers of the 28th SS Division put up a tenacious resistance. Even if they were seriously injured, they had to use grenades to die with the Soviet commanders and soldiers who rushed up, which caused a lot of damage to the Soviet army. casualties.

When the Soviet commander saw that the enemy was so stubborn, he gave up his plan to capture the prisoners, and directly ordered the soldiers not to show mercy. As soon as they saw the enemy appear, they immediately greeted them with grenades and bullets, even if the enemy came out with their hands raised. show mercy.

  The battle lasted for an hour and a half, and it was not over until there was no longer a single standing German soldier on the ground.

  When the head of the leading regiment came to the position, he asked his subordinates loudly, "Have you captured the German commander?"

   "No." All the soldiers who heard his question shook their heads and replied, "On the battlefield, there is no one alive except for the dead."

   "What a pity." Seeing that not even a single prisoner was captured, the head of the regiment was a little disappointed. He ordered the soldiers: "Search carefully to see if there is anyone pretending to be dead in the pile of corpses."

   "Comrade Commander," a soldier ran over to report to him at this time: "In a trench ahead, we have surrounded dozens of German soldiers. They seem to have no bullets."

   When he learned that a small German army was surrounded and had no bullets, the head of the regiment couldn't help but be very happy, and quickly ordered: "Immediately send someone to persuade them to surrender. As long as they are willing to put down their weapons and surrender, I will guarantee their safety."

  When the German translator shouted at the trapped German officers and soldiers at the turn of the trench, a voice suddenly came: "If we surrender to you, can you really ensure our personal safety?"

  After hearing this, the leader rushed to the translator and said, "Tell them that we mean what we say."

  The besieged German officers and soldiers listened to the interpreter's words, and after discussing together for a while, they all came out of the trench with their weapons in hand and surrendered to the Soviet army. Standing on a high place, the head of the regiment carefully counted every German officer and soldier who came out, and found a total of 35 people, including 21 soldiers and 14 officers.

The last person walking was an SS colonel wearing a big-brimmed hat and a military overcoat. He came to the head of the regiment and said solemnly: "I am Leon De Gray, commander of the 28th Division of the SS. Colonel Le, I want to see your Supreme Commander."

Seeing that his subordinates had actually captured the commander of the SS division, the regiment leader couldn't help being overjoyed, and quickly ordered an officer beside him: "Captain, take a few people and send this German colonel to the division headquarters, and say that our regiment captured him." living."

  The news of Leon Degrelle's capture quickly reached the army headquarters.

When Sokov heard the news, he thought that Kirillov had made a mistake. He didn't know the fate of other German commanders. Those who know a little bit, after the army was destroyed, this person first fled to Norway, which was still under the control of the German army, and then fled to Spain by plane.

  After the end of World War II, the Allied forces put pressure on Spain to let them hand over Leon de Grelle and Laval, the Prime Minister of Vichy France, or take military action against the country. But Franco took a compromise and handed over Laval, but kept Leon Degrelle on the grounds that he was too injured to move. After Leon de Grele was discharged from the hospital, he was arranged to live in seclusion in a monastery.

   But Leon Degrelle's relatives, friends and supporters were all arrested after being repatriated to Belgium. His seven daughters and one son were sent to detention centers in Europe. Belgium tried in absentia Leon de Grele, sentenced him to death, and introduced laws prohibiting anyone from transporting, possessing and collecting works about Leon de Grele.

  Leon Degrelle lived in Spain until his death in April 1994. During the period of more than 40 years, he repeatedly proposed to the Belgian side that he hoped to return to the motherland and be tried in a fair environment, but he was rejected without exception. When he died, he even wanted to have his ashes A request to be sent back to Belgium was also not granted.

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said to Sidolin: "Ask General Kirillov again, is the German colonel they captured really the commander of the Wallonian Grenadier Division? No It must have been someone else's impostor."

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Sidolin nodded, and said in an affirmative tone: "I asked General Kirillov carefully, and he said that the other party took the initiative to say that he was Leon Degrelle. Documents identifying him were found on him."

  Confirming that Leon Degrelle had indeed become his prisoner, Sokov felt that this was a hot potato, and he really didn't know how to deal with it. He thought for a while, and then told Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, you tell General Kirillov to send this person directly to the Front Army Command and hand it over to Comrade Marshal."

Sokov knew very well that Leon Degrelle was the person the Soviet army wanted to catch the most. Now that he had fallen into his own hands, he might not be qualified enough to deal with him at his own level, so he handed him over to Rokossovsky, how he handles it has nothing to do with him.

   "Comrade Commander," Sidolin heard Sokov say this, and quickly reminded him: "Don't you plan to learn more about the deployment of the enemy's troops from his mouth?"

"It's not necessary." Sokov shook his head and said, "For the Germans, the 28th Volunteer Grenadier Division is their cannon fodder. Colonel Leon Degrelle, who commanded this unit, knows I guess we don’t know much about the situation. That’s fine, don’t talk about it, let General Kirillov send him to the headquarters of the Front Army and hand it over to Comrade Marshal.”

  When Kirillov sent someone to send Leon Degrelle to the Front Army Command, Rokossovsky looked at the Belgian in a German uniform in front of him in shock, feeling unbelievable. Not long ago, he received a call from Beria. The other party asked him on the phone to arrest some important figures in the German camp and send them back for trial. And this Leon Degrelle happened to be one of them.

   "Are you Leon Degrelle?"

Leon Degrelle heard someone asking himself, and after looking Rokossovsky up and down, his eyes stayed on the opponent's shoulder straps, and he asked with some hesitation: "You are the Marshal of the Soviet Army, is it Rokossovsky? Marshal Kosovsky?"

   "Yes, you guessed right." Rokossovsky nodded and said, "I am Rokossovsky."

Leon Degrelle stared at Rokossovsky for a while, then sighed and said: "Marshal Rokossovsky, you are a great commander, and I am the one who can defeat you. Convinced. I don't know how you plan to deal with me next?"

   Rokossovsky said coldly: "I will send someone to send you to Moscow. As for how to deal with you, the people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs will have the final say."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Leon Degrelle couldn't help but sneered, and said casually: "So, I will be sent to Moscow to be shot in a short time. Mr. Marshal, before I die, Can I ask you one thing."

"If you have anything, just say it." Facing the dying man in front of him, Rokossovsky felt a little compassion: "As long as it is within my ability, I will definitely help you." done."

"I was captured with me this time, and there were 34 officers and soldiers, half of whom were wounded." Leon Degrelle looked at Rokossovsky and said, "I hope they can get the treatment they deserve. "

"No problem." To Leon Degrelle's request, Rokossovsky replied simply: "Since they have put down their weapons and surrendered to our army, they will enjoy the treatment that a prisoner of war deserves. Not only will personal safety be guaranteed, but the wounded will also be treated."

After someone took Leon Degrelle down, Rokossovsky asked the director of the communications corps to connect him to Moscow. He wanted to report the news of Leon Degrelle's capture to Beria, and he to decide what to do with the person.

  After the call was connected, Beria learned that Rokossovsky was looking for him, and he couldn't help being a little surprised: "Comrade Marshal, I wonder what you want from me?"

"Hello, Comrade Beria." Rokossovsky said: "In the battle that ended not long ago, our commanders and fighters captured the 28th Division of the German SS, also known as the Wallonian Volunteer Grenadier Division. Colonel Leon de Grele, the division commander. I remember that this person was on the arrest list you gave me last time. So I will call you and ask how to deal with him?"

"What, Comrade Marshal, have you captured Leon Degrelle?" Beria said excitedly after hearing this: "This is really great. I will send a plane to you immediately and let someone take him back to Moscow." , After the war is over, we will conduct a public trial against these heinous enemies and give them the punishment they deserve."

   "Understood, Comrade Beria." Rokossovsky said, "Before your man arrives, I will order my subordinates to keep him under strict surveillance and absolutely prevent him from making any mistakes."

"Comrade Marshal, I would like to express my gratitude to you, and thank your subordinates for helping us catch this heinous guy." Beria continued on the phone: "I will report this matter to the Supreme Commander himself as soon as possible, and apply for an application for you." Awarded."