After Fomenko ended his call with Belgin, he held the phone in a daze, wondering where all the Germans in the town had gone? You know, according to prior reconnaissance, a German infantry regiment was stationed in the town.
And a tank battalion. In the shelling that ended not long ago, the tanks were destroyed, which is reasonable, but an infantry regiment with more than 4,000 people was also killed.
Seeing Fomenko holding the microphone in a daze, Manohin on the side asked curiously: "Comrade division commander, what happened in the front? Why can't you hear any gunfire?"
"Comrade Political Commissar," Manokhin's voice woke Fomenko out of his thoughts. After returning the microphone to the communications staff, he frowned and said: "According to Colonel Belkin's report, so far, they have not
It was so strange to find a living German."
Although Manokhin is only a political commissar, he still knows the structure of the German army very well. When Fomenko said this, he couldn't help but said in surprise: "What, more than four thousand people and not a single person alive?"
"It cannot be said that there is not a single living person among the more than 4,000 people." Fomenko said with a wry smile: "It's just that not a single living person was found in the area where the search has been completed. This is simply too strange."
"Then what should we do?"
"What else can be done, of course, is to order the troops to continue searching the town according to the original plan to see if any enemies have survived." After Fomenko said this, he ordered the communications staff: "Comrade staff, help me pick up the phone.
Call the Army Headquarters and I want to report the situation here to the commander."
Just when the communications staff officer started to connect to the headquarters phone, a staff officer next to him exclaimed: "Comrade division commander, look quickly, there is a troop coming towards us."
Fomenko looked in the direction of the staff's finger, and sure enough he saw a large force heading towards his position. He hurriedly raised the telescope hanging around his neck, trying to see clearly.
Who is he?
"Comrade Commander," Manoxin also raised the telescope and looked at it for a while, and said with relief, "it's one of our own."
Although the incoming troops did not raise any flags, Fomenko guessed that it might be Koida's 188th Division coming over, so he put down his binoculars, nodded to Manokhin and said, "Yes, it's Colonel Koida."
The 188th Division. If I guess correctly, Comrade Commander was worried that our attack here would not go smoothly, so he ordered them to come here in advance."
As soon as he finished speaking, a nearby telephone rang. A staff officer picked up the phone, listened, and then reported to Fomenko: "Comrade division commander, this is the call from the chief of staff."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Fomenko put the microphone to his ear and asked loudly: "What happened?"
"Comrade Division Commander, according to the report from our security posts deployed in the rear, the large number of troops appearing in the rear are Colonel Koida's 188th Division. They were ordered to enter our division's defense area and be prepared to continue the attack."
The report from the division chief of staff confirmed Fomenko's guess. He said briefly: "I understand." After hanging up the phone, he said to Manohin, "Comrade political commissar, just as we guessed, the North Korean
The troops we came from were from the 188th Division, and they were ordered to enter our position to prepare to take over the task of capturing the town after our attack failed."
After finishing speaking, before Manokhin could speak, Fomenko impatiently asked the communications staff officer: "Why hasn't the call from the headquarters been connected yet?"
"The call has gone through, comrade division commander." The communications staff officer hurriedly handed the microphone in his hand to Fomenko and said, "The person who answered the phone is General Samyko."
"Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Group Army. I am Fomenko." Fomenko said straight to the point: "I would like to report to you and the commander on the situation in the Svetlovodsk District."
Samyko had been waiting for the report from the front line and was very anxious. Hearing what Fomenko said, he quickly urged: "Comrade division commander, the commander is waiting for your report." He opened the notebook in front of him.
Picking up a red and blue pencil, "Tell me quickly, what was the result of your victory?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Fomenko replied with some shame: "I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you. Our troops that entered the Svetlovodsk District did not achieve any results."
"What, no results were achieved?" When Samyko heard this, he couldn't help but became anxious: "A division of yours rushed into the Svetlovodsk area, but no results were achieved at all. What on earth is going on?
"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please speak up." Seeing Samyko's gaffe, Sokov quickly came out to smooth things over: "Ask General Fomenko what happened that prevented them from achieving any results."
Sameko took two deep breaths and spoke into the microphone in a slow tone: "Comrade division commander, the commander asked me to ask you, what happened that caused you to not achieve any results?"
"Our troops who entered the center of the town to search found not a single living person except for the bombed German tanks, armored vehicles and various military vehicles, as well as countless mutilated corpses."
"Didn't you see a single living person?" Samyko obviously didn't believe Fomenko's report: "Comrade division commander, the German infantry regiment has a strength of more than 4,000 people, but there is not a single living person?"
"Yes, so far, no living person has been found."
"Is this information reliable?" Samyko still questioned Fomenko's report.
"Completely reliable." Fomenko heard the distrust in Samyko's tone and quickly emphasized: "The first force that entered the town to perform the search mission was Colonel Belkin's 258th Regiment. You know, he not only
He is the deputy commander of our division and an old comrade-in-arms of Comrade Commander. I think his words are completely trustworthy."
If Fomenko was referring to another commander, Samyko might still be suspicious, but when the other party said that the first person to report the situation was Sokov's former partner, Colonel Belkin, he couldn't help but remain silent. Although
He had never worked with Belkin, but he knew very well that the other party had no reason to fabricate a lie that could be easily exposed.
Thinking of this, Samyko covered the microphone with his hand and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to the report of Division Commander Fomenko, the first unit to enter the town to carry out the search mission was Colonel Belkin's No.
In the 258th Regiment, except for the bombed tanks and various military vehicles, as well as countless mutilated German corpses, they did not find a single living person."
After hearing this, Sokov frowned and said thoughtfully: "Even if we ignore the German tank battalion, there are more than 4,000 people in an infantry regiment. No matter how fierce our artillery fire is, it will not
As for not having a single living person?”
"Yes, I think so too." Samyko looked at Sokov and said: "If the person who provided the intelligence was not your former partner, Colonel Belgin, I would definitely think that this was a trap by the Germans.
.”
"Whether all the enemies in the town were wiped out by our artillery fire, or the enemy deliberately gave up most of the town and set a trap for us, we must figure out what is going on." Sokov said here, using
Pointing his hand towards Samyko, he ordered: "Tell General Fomenko to complete the search of the town in the shortest possible time."
"What the hell, what's going on?" After hanging up the phone, Samyko asked Sokov with a confused look on his face: "Comrade Commander, do you know what's going on?"
"I don't know either." Sokov is not a god and cannot tell fortunes. How can he possibly know what happened in the Svetlovodsk district? Why did not a single one of the more than 4,000 German troops survive? "We
We can only wait for the latest news from the 84th Division."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko waited for Sokov to finish and reported to him: "Colonel Koida called to report that his troops have taken action and will be able to enter the 84th Division in ten minutes at most.
Get out of position and prepare for a new round of attack."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov felt that the situation in the Svetlovodsk District was unclear at the moment. If another division was sent in, it might cause unnecessary chaos, so he ordered Samyko: "Give Koida
The colonel called back and asked them to wait for my latest order after arriving at the 84th Division's offensive starting position."
Koida, who was marching again with his troops, suddenly heard the radio operator sitting in the back row calling him: "Comrade division commander, your call is from General Sameko, the chief of staff of the group army." With that, he will
The walkie-talkie microphone was handed to him.
Koida quickly ordered the jeep to stop on the side of the road, then put the microphone to his ear and said loudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Koida. My troops are heading towards the starting point of the 84th Division's attack. At most
In a few minutes, we will arrive at the designated location and be ready to attack."
"Comrade Colonel, your attack may have to be cancelled."
"Ah, the attack is going to be cancelled?" Koida asked in surprise when he heard what Sameko said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why is this?"
"Comrades up and down, listen to the direction of Svetlovodsk District. Is there any movement?"
Koida removed the microphone from his ear, stood up and looked forward. After looking for a while, he put the microphone to his ear again and reported to Samyko: "In the direction of Svetlovodsk District
The smoke is thick, but the strange thing is that there is no sound of gunfire at all. Could it be that the 84th Division has ended the battle?"
"Comrade Colonel, this is why I asked you to suspend the attack." Samyko confirmed from Koida's mouth that there was no fighting in the direction of Svetlovodsk District, and then sighed and said: "
Troops from the 84th Division are currently searching the town, but unfortunately, they have not seen a single living enemy."
As a military officer, Koida keenly captured the key words in Samyko’s words: “There is not even a living enemy? How is this possible, Comrade Chief of Staff, you know, the German army was in Svetlovo
There is an infantry regiment in the Tsk District, with more than 4,000 people. No matter how fierce our artillery fire is, how can we possibly wipe them all out? I think there may be a serious error in the information you obtained."
"There will be no problem, Comrade Colonel." Samyko emphasized to the other party: "The first person to send back information was Colonel Belkin of the 258th Regiment. He was Comrade Commander's former partner. I believe
He would never lie in his report."
"So, there are really no enemies in the town?" After Koida said this with hesitation, he asked cautiously: "Then where did the enemies go?"
"This is exactly what we want to find out." Samyko didn't know what happened in the Svetlovodsk district and couldn't say too much to Koida, so he directly ordered him: "Comrade Colonel,
After your troops arrive at the starting point of the 84th Division's attack, they will rest in place and wait for our next order. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." Although Koida had a lot of reluctance in his heart, the orders from his superiors were orders and could only be carried out unconditionally without any room for bargaining: "I will resolutely obey your orders."
Besides, the search in the town was coming to an end. No matter whether it was searching the 258th Regiment to the west of the town or the 252nd Regiment to the east, nothing was found. And Rusuf's 254th Regiment found something in the northwest of the town.
Several wounded soldiers who had not yet had time to be transferred.
In the past, when seeing these wounded German soldiers, the commanders and soldiers would first search them to see if there were any weapons hidden on their bodies. After confirming that there were no weapons, they would leave them where they were to fend for themselves. If the wounded soldiers were not dead after the battle,
If they fall out, medical staff will treat them.
But the situation was different today. They might be the only ones who knew about it. So someone immediately reported the discovery of wounded German soldiers to Colonel Rusuf. After receiving the report, Rusuf immediately rushed to the scene in a jeep to learn about the main force of the German army.
Where to go.
Rusuf saw a dozen wounded German soldiers sitting or lying in a coffee shop that had not completely collapsed, surrounded by a group of soldiers with assault rifles, watching them eagerly.
Seeing Rusuf walking in, an officer inside quickly shouted loudly: "Everyone is here, listen to my command and stand at attention!" After all the soldiers in the cafe stood at attention, the officer came to Rusuf and said,
After raising his hand in salute, he reported, "Comrade Commander, I am the commander of the ninth company of the third battalion..."
Before he could finish speaking, Rusuf raised his hand to interrupt what he was saying, pointed at the group of captives and wounded soldiers sitting on the ground, and asked: "Ninth Company Commander, are these the prisoners you captured?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The Ninth Company Commander quickly replied: "Our company has searched a lot of places, not to mention the Germans, not even a living mouse. Just when we thought the search had no effect,
But I was surprised to find that there were more than a dozen wounded German soldiers in this cafe, so I reported it to the regiment in a timely manner."
"Well done, Ninth Company Commander." Rusuf raised his hand and patted the Ninth Company Commander on the shoulder, and said to him with a smile: "I will apply to the division to give you credit."
After speaking, Rusuf took the interpreter from the regiment and came to a German lieutenant who was not wearing a hat, with gauze on his head and a dull expression. He asked with a straight face: "Lieutenant, where have all of you alive gone?"
?”
After listening to the translation, the German lieutenant shook his head with a dull expression and said, "I don't know, I don't know anything."
Seeing how stubborn the German lieutenant was, the Ninth Company Commander couldn't help but get furious and raised his hand to hit him, but was stopped by Russov: "Ninth Company Commander, maybe what the prisoner said is true. From the beginning of our shelling, he should have been
They are all avoiding the bombardment and have no time to care about others. How can they possibly know where the large troops in the town have gone?"
