Chapter 2255: open channel

  After annihilating the German Wallonian Volunteer Grenadier Division, Sokov ordered the troops to continue to move forward.

  When the vanguard arrived at the second line of defense of the German army, they found that although there were no towns here, those villages and residential areas were used by the German army to build fire support points one after another. Facing the fire support point blocking the front, the Soviet army launched an attack without hesitation.

  Facing the Soviet attack, the German army fought tenaciously and successfully repelled the first attack of the Soviet army.

   Knowing that the vanguard was blocked by the German fire support point, Sokov was very annoyed. He turned his head and asked Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many artillery have we crossed the river now?"

Sidolin, who had just learned about the situation from Potapov, heard Sokov's question and replied without hesitation: "Report to Comrade Commander, our artillery already has two artillery regiments and three guard rocket battalions. reached the west bank of the West Oder."

   "Where is the tank brigade?" Sokov continued to ask: "How many tanks have crossed the river?"

   "At present, the armored units that have crossed the river only have one tank brigade and one tank regiment, and the number of tanks is less than sixty."

"Too few, too few." Sukov frowned when he heard that there were only about 60 tanks crossing the river so far: "With just such a few tanks, it is far from enough to guide the infantry to charge. "

  After a short pause, he continued: "Order the artillery to shell those fire support points, and be sure to destroy them."

But to Sokov's surprise, when Sidolin conveyed the order to Potapov by phone, he was rejected by the other party: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the commander that I cannot send the order to the German army. The fire support point fires."

Sokov, who was standing next to him, heard what Potapov said, snatched the microphone, put it in his ear, and said in a stern tone: "General Potapov, what's going on, your artillery unit Why can't we fire at the fire support points controlled by the German army?"

   "Comrade Commander," Potapov didn't expect that the person he was talking to would suddenly change from Sidolin to Sokov, and he couldn't help being taken aback. But he quickly settled down and explained to Sokov: "The artillery observers I sent reported to me that there were still a large number of civilians in these villages and settlements that were used by the German army as fire support points. If We can't help but shoot. It is true that these firepower points can be destroyed, but at the same time it will cause a large number of civilian deaths. I have no right to order my subordinates to shoot at civilians. If you think I am incompetent, you can let someone else take my place. .”

  Sokov was originally angry that Potapov refused to carry out his order, but after figuring out the reason, he also became embarrassed. The German army changed the villages and residential areas that still had a large number of civilians into fire support points. If they tried shelling without any explanation, they could destroy all these fire support points, but the civilians inside would definitely be destroyed. But if the enemy's fortifications are not destroyed, and the commanders and fighters are allowed to attack, they will inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Sidolin, who was standing next to him, saw Sokov's embarrassment, so he whispered to him: "Comrade commander, there are no undead in war. If we are worried that there are a large number of civilians in the firepower support point, we dare not casually Firing artillery means that our commanders and fighters will suffer heavy casualties when attacking."

"Misha," Lunev also interjected, seeing that Sokov held the microphone and remained silent, "Firing fire at the fire support point will definitely cause a large number of casualties inside, but if we don't fire, our army will be killed when we attack." There will be great casualties."

   "Comrade Military Commissioner, tell me, what should I do?"

   "Since we can't take down these fire support points for the time being, let's send troops to surround them first."

   "And then?" Sokov continued to ask: "After we have surrounded them, what should we do?"

   "Persuade to surrender!" Lunev said: "Send someone in to persuade the German troops inside to surrender."

   "Can the Germans Surrender?"

   "Even if the Germans refuse to surrender, we can open a humanitarian channel." Lunev said: "Let the civilians trapped in villages and settlements evacuate."

  After listening to Lunev's suggestion, Sokov felt very reasonable. The Germans left the civilians at the fire support points and let them act as human shields, and after besieging these fire support points, they opened up a passage for the civilians to leave. If the other party doesn't appreciate what you have done, then don't blame the guns for being blind. Thinking of this, Sokov quickly said into the microphone: "General Potapov, you are right. There are a large number of civilians in the firepower support point. We can't shoot casually, so as not to accidentally injure innocent people. I am going to use these firepower first. The strongholds were all besieged, and then people were sent to persuade them to surrender. Even if it is impossible for the Germans to surrender, I will open a special passage to let the civilians leave safely."

  As the order was issued, the troops that originally attacked the fire support point changed their strategy and did not launch an attack again. Instead, they detoured from the two wings and surrounded several fire support points. After doing all this, Sokov sent his classmate Major Vadim as his representative to persuade the German army to surrender.

When Vadim was at the Frunze Military Academy, he had always been at odds with Sokov, so after coming to the front, other students were assigned different positions, but Vadim remained in the headquarters as a staff officer. duty. He was very excited to be appointed as Sokov's representative today to go to the enemy's defense area to persuade the enemy to surrender. He knew very well that if he could really say the surrender of the German army, it would be a great achievement.

When Vadim accepted the task and was about to leave, Sokov stopped him and said to him: "Major Vadim, although the situation on the battlefield is becoming more and more favorable to our army, you should go to the enemy camp to negotiate today. The enemy dare not do anything to you, but you must be more careful in everything, and don't cause any danger."

   "Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Vadim assured Sokov, "I will definitely complete the task."

   After sending Vadim away, Sidolin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Vadim can complete the task you gave him?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "Whether his persuasion can be successful depends entirely on whether the German commander has any plans to continue fighting. If he is lucky and meets a war-weary commander, maybe It can also persuade the opponent to surrender. But if you encounter a stubborn one, I am afraid he will have to return empty-handed."

   "When our army attacked, Germany's resistance was extremely tenacious." Sidolin said: "I think the German commander must be a hard-to-talk person. I think Major Vadim may leave this time in a happy mood and come back disappointed."

  Sokov didn't think that if he sent someone casually to persuade him to surrender, the Germans would honestly put down their weapons and surrender to him. The main purpose of this negotiation is to allow the German commander to show mercy and allow the civilians to leave the combat area through the passage they gave up.

As Sokov judged, after Vadim explained his intentions to the German commander, the other party sneered and said: "Mr. Major, I advise you not to waste your time in vain. Absolutely will not surrender."

  The German army did not surrender, which had long been expected by Vadim. So he gave up his plan to persuade, but went on to say the second plan: "Your Excellency, if you are not willing to lay down your weapons and surrender to our army, then I ask you to allow the civilians in the fire support point to leave this area." dangerous area."

  If the place where the battle is fought at this moment is not on the territory of Germany, but on the territory of the Soviet Union, then what Vadim said is tantamount to playing the piano against the cow. But the area where the battle is now is in mainland Germany, and there are a large number of civilians who are trapped in the fire support point together with the German officers and soldiers. The German commander knew very well that if the Soviet army bombarded this place with artillery regardless, the army and civilians would suffer heavy losses.

   It was precisely because of this consideration that the German commander's tone relaxed: "Okay, I agree to let all the civilians leave here. But I want to ask, how much time can we give?"

"We can give you two hours to evacuate all the civilians here." Vadim said: "When I return to our position, there will be a red flare, which means that the civilians can leave The channel is open; wait until the yellow signal goes up, it means the channel is closed."

Vadim returned to the headquarters, and after explaining the negotiation process to Sokov, he blushed and said, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I failed to complete the task you entrusted to me and failed your trust in me. , punish me."

But Sokov waved his hand and said generously: "Major Vadim, although the Germans have fallen into our encirclement, they are only 50 kilometers away from Berlin. If you don't carry out a tenacious defense, put down your weapons." Surrender to our army, and their families in the rear may be implicated. The chief of staff," he turned to Sidolin, "ordered someone to fire a red flare into the air to inform the Germans that our passage has been opened, and they Civilians can safely and boldly leave the fighting zone."

  After the red flare was lifted into the air, the besieged Soviet army gave way to a 50-meter-wide passage, allowing the civilians in the fire support point to safely evacuate.

Although the tunnel was opened, those German civilians were full of worries. They were deeply afraid that after entering the tunnel, they would be killed by firepower from both sides. After all, German officers and soldiers had done many such bad things, and the civilians were worried that the same fate would happen. on his own head.

The unit that opened the passage was the 284th Infantry Division. Colonel Ismailov, the commander of the division, was a little puzzled when he saw that no German civilians appeared in the passage. Why are you still nesting in the fire support point and not moving?

Ismailov called Sokov, reported the situation there, and finally said: "Comrade commander, what is going on, our safe passage has been opened, why haven't the German civilians come out yet?" Woolen cloth?"

After hearing this, Sokov thought for a while and understood what was going on, and quickly said to Ismailov: "Comrade Colonel, I guess the German civilians still have some concerns in their hearts, so they dare not easily enter our army to open up channel."

   "Then what should I do?" Ismailov immediately felt a headache when he heard it: "If the German civilians don't come out, I can't send people in to catch them all, right?"

   "Comrade Commander," at this moment a staff officer came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "We have caught several women outside."

Sokov hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand, and said dissatisfiedly to the staff officer: "What are you arresting German women for?" After the women were captured by the soldiers, they would be forced to do some indescribable things, so the tone was particularly harsh: "Quickly let them go."

"Comrade Commander, you made a mistake. These women are not Germans, but Belarusians." The staff officer reported to Sukov: "They are all military members. After being captured by the German army at the beginning of the war, they were sent to Germany to serve Coolies. Now that our army has entered the German mainland, they finally have a chance to escape the clutches of the Germans and come to join us."

"So that's the case." Sokov nodded slightly after finding out the identity of the other party, and then ordered the staff: "You settle them down properly first, and when I finish my work here, Comrade Military Commissioner and I will go and see they."

   "Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer agreed loudly, turned and walked out of the headquarters.

Sokov continued into the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, you send an officer to contact the Germans and tell the civilians that we will ensure their safety and that they can safely and boldly pass through the passage we set aside to leave this place." A dangerous area."

   "Understood, Comrade Commander." Ismailov on the other end of the phone replied loudly: "I don't worry about leaving this matter to others. I'd better go there myself."

Knowing that Ismailov planned to go to the enemy's camp in person, Sokov originally wanted to dissuade him, but after thinking about it, it is the German Wehrmacht who is surrounded by him now, not the SS who has done all kinds of bad things. Even if Ismailov went out in person, there would be no danger, so he nodded and agreed: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, I agree with you to go to the enemy camp in person, but you must pay attention to your own safety."

  After Ismailov finished talking with Sokov, he immediately took a German translator and rode in an open jeep towards the German camp. At a distance of 40 to 50 meters from the enemy's fortifications, he stopped the car, and then let the German translator shout towards the enemy's defense area, telling the other party that the passage for civilians has been opened, and all civilians can leave safely Here, there is absolutely no danger to life.

  After the translator yelled Ismailov’s words several times over the loudspeaker, he finally saw civilians carrying bags, suitcases, and bicycles slowly coming out of the position of the German army. At first there were only a few sparse people, but soon more people joined, and within ten minutes, the muddy road was already full of people. The expressionless civilians, stepping on the mud on the ground, walked forward along the road step by step, wanting to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.

   Seeing the civilians start to leave the village and settlements, Ismailov breathed a sigh of relief, then raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder, saying, "Let's go back."