Chapter 2256:

  Although, when negotiating with the German commanders, they said that the safe passage for civilians would only be open for two hours, no one expected that there were actually five or six thousand people in these villages and settlements used by the German army as fire support points, of which the elderly and children accounted for the majority. The old ones, the young ones, were slow to move in the first place, and the muddy road made them move even slower.

   Seeing that two hours would arrive, Ismailov couldn't help muttering as he looked at the endless refugee line. A staff officer next to him asked in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, it will be two hours soon, do you need to fire a yellow flare?"

  According to the prior agreement, when the Soviet army fired a yellow signal flare, it meant that the passage would be closed. No matter how many civilians remained, the Soviet army would not hesitate to take military action against the fire support point.

  Ismailov shook his head gently after hearing this, and said, "Didn't you see that there are still so many old people and children who haven't left our encirclement? If the passage is closed at this moment, what should they do? Should they be sent back to die?"

   "However, the time given by the superior is almost up." The staff officer said, "If the attack time is delayed because of this, if the superior blames it, you may be punished."

   "I'll call the commander first and ask him what he means." Ismailov felt that he should report the real situation here to Sokov to see if he could extend the time for opening the passage.

  After the call was connected, Sokov figured out that Ismailov called to ask whether he could delay closing the passage, so he said directly: "Comrade Colonel, since the passage open to civilians is in your division's defense zone, you can decide whether to extend the opening time of the passage or close it early according to the actual situation. Do you understand?"

  After receiving Sokov's authorization, Ismailov immediately gained confidence. After putting down the phone, he said to the staff around him: "Comrade Commander said, we have full power to decide when to close the passage, and there is no need to ask the headquarters for instructions."

  After hearing this, the staff officer was immediately overjoyed: "Comrade commander, so as long as there are still civilians who have not been evacuated, it doesn't matter if the passage is opened until tomorrow?"

   "How is this possible." Ismailov immediately vetoed the other party's argument, and said with a straight face: "It can be extended for another hour at most. You immediately take the German translator, drive over and use the horn to tell the civilians to speed up. We don't have much time left for them."

  The staff officer agreed, called a German interpreter, took a jeep with a horn, and headed towards the refugee team walking in the distance, urging them to speed up, lest they have to stay in the village or settlement to die after the passage is closed.

   Under the urging of the tweeters, the German civilians quickened their pace. They knew what would happen next. If they could not leave before the passage was closed, they might die in the ensuing artillery fire.

  After the last civilian left the encirclement through the channel left by the Soviet army, Ismailov raised his hand to check the time. The opening time of the entire channel was three hours and twelve minutes. He ordered the staff around him: "Close the passage, and at the same time fire a yellow flare into the air."

  Sokov nodded slowly when he learned that the passage for civilians to evacuate was closed, and then told Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call General Potapov and say that the civilians in the fire support points have been evacuated, and they can shoot without any scruples. It is best to use intensive artillery fire to level these fire support points to reduce the casualties of our attacking troops."

  After Sidolin called, he cautiously reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, did you say that among the civilians evacuated from the passage, were there any German officers and soldiers who took off their military uniforms?"

   "There must be." Sokov nodded and said: "The new troops formed by the German army now recruit a large number of children, old people, and even women. If they don't want to work for the Germans, they can sneak into the crowd and escape as long as they throw away their weapons. After all, most people don't have regular military uniforms. As long as they don't have weapons, they look like civilians. But their escape is also a good thing for us. get low."

  After chatting with Sokov for a few more words, Sidolin called Potapov: "General Potapov, the civilians in the fire support point have been evacuated, you can start firing!"

   "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." Knowing that all the civilians in the shelling area had been evacuated, Potapov felt relieved, and quickly replied, "I will immediately organize artillery to shell those German firepower points."

   A few minutes later, hundreds of artillery pieces of various calibers deployed in West Oder River County opened fire at the fire support point occupied by the German army. In an instant, it was shrouded in fire and gunpowder smoke. Buildings of various shapes collapsed and burst into flames under the artillery fire. The German officers and soldiers hiding inside either hid in nearby air-raid shelters, or ran around like headless flies to avoid the intensive artillery fire.

  The shelling finally stopped after an hour. The German officers and soldiers in the fire support point were thankful that they had survived. Unexpectedly, the next moment, the rocket with a long flame tail crossed the sky again, and plunged into the German position, making an earth-shattering explosion. In the raging flames, countless bricks and stones, rubble, human limbs, and weapon fragments were thrown into the air by the blast wave, and then fell down like heavenly maidens.

  Several Guards Rocket Battalions fired only one round, but did not fire again, and the entire battlefield fell into silence.

  At this moment, three red flares suddenly rose in the sky, which is the signal of attack.

  Then, the song "Holy War" suddenly sounded on the radio that was urgently placed at the starting position. At first, the nearby commanders thought they heard it wrong, but when they heard the melody of this song coming from all around, they realized that it was the singing coming from the radio.

  The commanders at all levels were the first to jump out of the trenches. Holding their pistols high, they turned half sideways and shouted at the commanders and fighters in the trenches: "Comrades, follow me!"

   Soon, the sound of "Ula" like a mountain roar and a tsunami came from all directions, and thousands of commanders and fighters jumped out of the trenches and rushed to the distant fire support point with their weapons.

  The firepower support points established by the German army used the houses in the villages and residential areas, and built some trenches around the buildings, using crossfire to block the road for the Soviet army to attack, which led to the failure of the Soviet army's first offensive. However, after the artillery preparation just now, all the buildings in the fire support point were destroyed, and the German army could only establish a defensive position in the broken trenches or masonry rubble to block the Soviet attack. '

  But their resistance, in front of the powerful Soviet army, seemed so insignificant. Soon, the Soviet army rushed into the fire support point billowing with gunpowder, engaged in melee and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and took the initiative in a very short period of time.

  Knowing that the troops on the west bank had successfully captured the German fire support point, Sokov smiled on his face. He said to Sidolin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are in charge here. I plan to go to the West Bank to have a look."

  When Sokov said he was going to the West Bank, Sidolin showed a bitter expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, I think it's better for you to go to the front for inspection when we move the headquarters to the West Bank, okay?"

   "No way, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov shook his head and said, "We have been fighting on both sides of the Oder River for two days. I can only find out what is going on at the frontier through the phone or the results of the battle from the frontier troops. I still want to go there and see what the landing field on the west bank looks like."

   "Misha." Lunev next to him interjected, "If you have no objection, I want to go and have a look with you."

  Sokov felt that the battle had progressed to the present level. If he and Lunev were to go to the West Bank, they should not encounter any danger along the way, so he nodded and agreed: "Okay, Comrade Military Commissioner, then you will go to the West Bank with me, and the work here will be handed over to Chief of Staff Sidolin."

  Ten minutes later, Sokov and Lunev headed towards the Oder River in a jeep under the protection of the guard company led by Koshkin.

   Along the way, you can see convoys heading towards the river, and troops marching on foot. Occasionally, you can also see trucks coming from the direction of the river, with the wounded sent down from the front lying in the carriages.

   "Misha, it seems that our troops have suffered a lot of casualties." Lunev frowned as he saw that there were more than a dozen trucks passing by, full of wounded people.

   But Sokov didn't take it seriously. According to his observation, among the dozens of trucks that passed by just now, no more than 200 wounded were transported. In such a large-scale war, one or two hundred casualties are nothing, such casualties are simply negligible.

   "Stop, stop!" Just as Sokov was contemplating, Koshkin, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, suddenly heard shouting: "Put the car on the side of the road."

   After the car came to a complete stop, seeing Koshkin about to open the door to get out of the car, Sokov quickly asked, "Koshkin, what happened?"

   "Look, Comrade Commander!" Koshkin said, pointing to the side of the road, "there's a firing squad over there, ready to shoot people."

  Hearing that there was a firing squad going to shoot people outside, Sokov couldn't help being startled, secretly wondering if there were deserters in his army? He hurriedly looked out the car window and saw a row of soldiers with rifles standing on the right side of the road. In front of them were five soldiers in officer uniforms, including a female officer.

   "Damn, what's going on here?" Sokov felt strange. If the people who were going to be shot were deserters, then they should be mainly soldiers, but the people who were going to be shot at this moment were all officers. In order to find out what was going on, he also opened the car door and followed Koshkin towards the firing squad.

  Seeing the firing squad under the command of a lieutenant, aiming their guns at the five officers, Sokov quickly shouted: "Stop, put down the guns!"

  The lieutenant directing the execution heard someone stop him and was about to explode, but when he turned his head, he saw Sokov, accompanied by Koshkin, striding towards him, and hurriedly ordered his subordinates: "Put down the gun!" Then he trotted to Sokov and raised his hand to salute him.

   "Comrade Lieutenant." Sokov glanced at the officer not far away, and asked with a straight face, "What's going on, why did you shoot them?"

   "Report to Comrade Commander," the lieutenant quickly replied, "They are German spies who killed several of our soldiers and were captured by us. They are about to execute them."

  Sokov looked at the officers and found that they didn't look like German spies, so he asked with a straight face: "Comrade Lieutenant, what evidence do you have that can prove that they are German spies? If you have evidence, show it to me."

  The lieutenant quickly took out a military ID card from his pocket, handed it to Sokov, and said: "Comrade commander, one of our checkpoints was attacked an hour ago, and all three soldiers on duty were killed. When I arrived with my team, I picked up this military ID card on the ground. Just at this moment, these officers came over and said they were going to perform special tasks. Let me allow them to pass. I asked them to show their ID cards, but they said they were robbed on the road. I accidentally discovered that one of them was exactly the same as the photo on the military ID card, and I immediately arrested them. Although they all said that they were Soviet officers, I can conclude that they are German spies.”

   "It's nonsense, it's nonsense." After hearing this, Sokov scolded the officer: "How can you use a military ID that you picked up so hastily to determine that these officers are counterfeit by the Germans? If they are our own, you can shoot them without any explanation. Do you know what the consequences will be?"

   Hearing what Sokov said, the lieutenant didn't dare to speak any more, and could only bow his head in silence.

  Sokov turned his head and said to Koshkin who was behind him: "Captain Koshkin, go and bring those officers over. I want to ask them in person what's going on. Why are all their documents lost for no reason, and one of them will miraculously appear at the checkpoint."

   Koshkin agreed, and ran towards the five officers with a few soldiers.

   After untying the officers, he brought them to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I brought everyone here."

   Sokov nodded at Koshkin, and then said to the officers with unfamiliar faces: "Let me introduce myself, I am Sokov, Commander of the 48th Army. Can you tell me your identities and why you are here?"

  "General Sokov." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, an elderly major officer said: "This is purely a misunderstanding, and your subordinates didn't listen to our explanation at all, and insisted that we were impersonated by the Germans, and they would all be shot. If you come a little later, I'm afraid we will all be shot."

   "Yes, Comrade General." The female officer also opened her mouth and added: "We have already told the lieutenant that we were performing a special mission. Because of a small accident, all the documents were lost, but he gave us the order to shoot us without giving us a chance to defend ourselves."