The ending of the battle shocked everyone.
The Romanian officers and soldiers on the distant positions, looking at the two infantry battalions that were about to withdraw from the workers' new village, became prisoners of the Russians under their noses. When the Soviet tank team and the two infantry battalions attacked, they captured thousands of prisoners and seized a large number of weapons and ammunition without any casualties.
Agafon poked out half of his body from the turret and looked at the Romanian officers and soldiers outside with their hands raised. He couldn't believe that what he saw was true. When he saw the combat order Sokov gave him, his first reaction was that the other party wanted to avenge Lieutenant Guchakov, and he was purely to let him die.
But now, seeing mountains of ammunition and groups of prisoners, he finally realized that Sokov did not let himself die, but instead gave him a great contribution. He quickly retracted his tank and contacted other tanks through the on-board radio station, asking them to help the infantry drive the prisoners towards the workers' new village.
Papuqinko had been standing in his temporary observation center and saw the assault process of the tank team and infantry with his own eyes. He did not expect that the Romanian army was so vulnerable, without even the slightest resistance, and collapsed on the whole line. Although he had not had time to count the results of the battle, he felt that he should report the good news to the division commander immediately.
After the phone was connected, Papuqinko tried hard to control his emotions and tried his best to report in a stable tone: "Comrade Commander, I am Papuqinko, I will report to you that the assault we carried out has ended."
"Oh, it's over so soon?" Sokov guessed that it must be related to the counterattack carried out in the evening, but it was a bit beyond his expectations that the battle could end so quickly. He asked quickly: "What is the result of this battle? Are our army's casualties?"
"Comrade Commander, the battle has just ended, and the results are still in the process of counting. However, according to my estimate, at least thousands of enemies were captured and a large number of weapons, ammunition and technical equipment were seized." Papuqinko said excitedly on the phone: "And the casualties of our army are almost negligible."
"Ltd Colonel Comrade," Sokov and others said to the microphone after reporting the complete battle: "Your regiment left behind the captured 75mm anti-tank guns for defense use. As for other weapons and ammunition, they will be handed over to Captain Vasily, the commander of the new battalion who went to assist in the war, and asked him to bring him back to Mamayev hill."
Papchinko had no objection to Sokov's arrangement. Therefore, he knew very well that the weapons seized from the Romanian army were all German weapons. If his regiment wanted to use these weapons, they had to change their clothes on a large scale. In the process of getting familiar with German weapons, it would definitely affect the combat effectiveness of the troops. Since this is the case, it would be better to be generous and hand over the weapons directly to the new battalion, which had originally used German weapons.
"Comrade Commander, this is good news." As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Sidolin couldn't wait to say: "We should report to the headquarters immediately."
Sokov felt that Trekov and the others were definitely waiting for their war report, so he agreed with Sidolin's proposal. He asked casually: "Chief of Staff, should you report to the headquarters, or should I report to the headquarters?"
Although Sidolin was eager to report this good news to Cuikov in person, since Sokov, the division commander, was in the division headquarters, he could only let him report the victory. Therefore, Sidolin laughed and said, "Comrade Commander, of course, you will report this good news to the headquarters." Seeing that Sidolin apologized, Sokov did not be polite to him. He immediately picked up the phone and asked the communications officer to connect to the group army headquarters.
The person who answered the phone was Chief of Staff Krelov. When he heard Sokov's voice, he asked impatiently: "Col. Sokov, I want to ask, why is there no counterattack time in the counterattack plan you reported yesterday?"
"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov quickly replied: "In the counterattack plan, the reason why there is no counterattack time is because I am confidential."
Krelov snorted coldly when he heard Sokov say this, and then asked: "Col. Sokov, can you tell me now when do you plan to launch a counterattack?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I call you just to report on the counterattack." Sokov said confidently: "Our counterattack against the enemy has ended."
"What, the counterattack against the enemy has ended?" Even if a shell fell beside Krelov's side and exploded, the shock brought to him was definitely not as good as Sokov's words. He asked in surprise: "When did your counterattack take place?"
"Just half an hour ago," Sokov said proudly: "The entire battle lasted less than twenty minutes, and the counterattack troops wiped out the enemies attacking the workers' new village, captured thousands of prisoners, and seized a large number of weapons and ammunition."
"How is this possible?" Krelov said in an incredible tone: "It took less than twenty minutes for a battle to capture thousands of enemies? Colonel Sokov, this joke is not funny."
"No joke, Comrade Chief of Staff." Seeing that Krelov thought he was joking, Sokov replied with some amusement and laughter: "The results of the war are now being counted. I believe that if I can't get them, I can provide you with detailed results."
Krelov was about to say something else, but Trekov had already come over and took the microphone from his hand. Trekov asked to the microphone: "Col. Sokov, tell me in detail about your battle."
When Sokov heard that Cuikov wanted to understand the details of the battle, he repeated the content that Papuqinko reported to him, and finally emphasized: "Comrade Commander, what I said is true, I will send someone to send you the prisoner."
"What do I want these prisoners to do?" Cui Kefu said unexpectedly: "Now the supply in the city is difficult, we do not have so much food to raise prisoners; and the number of ships transporting residents and wounded to the other side every day is gradually decreasing, and we cannot transport these prisoners to the prisoners on the other side."
"What should I do?" Sokov felt a special headache when he saw that Cui Kefu didn't want prisoners: "You know, these are thousands of prisoners, I can't shoot them all, right?"
At the question raised by Sokov, Cui Kefu smiled sly and said, "How to deal with the prisoners is your business, I don't want to ask about it. By the way, are Lieutenant Grissa and the others back? The military commissioner and I are still going to award them a medal."
"Not yet, it should be on the way." Sokov immediately issued a retreat order to Grissa after confirming that the enemy's ammunition depot was destroyed, but it was not conducive to retreat during the day, so the squad had not returned to Mamayev's hill. "I guess I will have to wait until night to come back as soon as possible."
"Well, after dark, I arrived at Mamayev's hill with the Military Commission." Cuikov said with a smile: "You remember to say hello to the defenders along the way, so that we will not be stopped halfway."
"I understand, comrade Commander." Sokov replied, "I will greet the defenders along the way."
"See you tonight." Cui Kefu said: "Good luck to you!"
"Comrade Commander, can I ask you a question?" Ivanov asked carefully when he saw Sokov finishing the call with Cuikov.
"Yes." Sokov stared at the deputy in front of him and said in confusion: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are not an outsider. If you have any questions, you don't need to be so polite."
"Comrade Commander, I want to ask you." Ivanov asked with a frown: "Why did you choose the time of counterattack in the evening? Have you ever thought that if the enemy does not retreat, then our counterattack may turn into a fierce battle?"
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," after Ivanov finished speaking, Sokov replied with a smile: "I have indeed considered the question you raised. If the troops attacking the workers' new village are not Romanians but Germans, it is obviously inappropriate for us to adopt this tactic. As long as the Germans occupy a place, they will nail it there like nails and start repeated battles with us. The Romanian army is different. They have poor night combat capabilities and are worried that the troops entering the workers' new village will be eaten by us at night, so they must withdraw their original starting position before dark."
When I was formulating a combat plan last night, Ivanov kept asking questions in his mind, thinking that Sokov's plan was too risky. If he could not eat the enemy in a short period of time, he would have to fight night battles with the enemy. If the battle could not be resolved by dawn, the participating troops would face the enemy's fierce shelling and bombing, which would inevitably suffer heavy losses. But in order to take into account Sokov's face, he did not raise any objections at the time. After listening to Sokov's explanation, he realized in his heart that he was indeed not as good as Sokov.
After Sokov finished speaking, Sidolin asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, the commander just said on the phone that he would not be captured. Do we really shoot all these prisoners?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov turned to face Sidolin and said, "If we killed thousands of enemies in battle, it would be a brilliant result we have achieved; but if thousands of prisoners who put down their weapons were shot, it would be a unilateral massacre. I would not give such an order."
When Cidolin heard that Sokov did not intend to shoot these prisoners of war, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Then what should we do with them?"
Chapter completed!