"Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Colonel Shechtman immediately." Sokov said to Samyko: "Ask him to ask the residents who escaped from the city if anyone has seen the Germans transporting large amounts of supplies in trucks.
Entering the city..."
"Comrade Commander, there is no need to send a telegram." Samek said with a smile: "Through the efforts of the communication troops, the telephone line between us and the 254th Division Headquarters has been connected. You can call Colonel Shechtman.
Call him and assign him this task in person."
"Oh, the phone line has been set up?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Why didn't I know?"
"The director of the Communications Corps just reported to me not long ago that the telephone lines to all divisions have been connected, but I haven't had time to report to you yet."
Sokov nodded and gestured to Samyko, telling him to help him get through to the 254th Division headquarters.
Not long after, Samyko took the microphone and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the 254th Division headquarters has been connected, and you can talk to Colonel Shechtman."
As soon as Sokov put the receiver to his ear, he heard Colonel Shechtman's voice: "Comrade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Colonel Shechtman, let me ask you, how many residents escaped from the city with the 762nd Regiment?"
Shechtman
Unexpectedly, Sokov did not ask when the troops started to attack, but asked about the residents who had escaped from the city. After a brief confusion, he reported: "Comrade Commander, I have not counted carefully, I estimate that there are several
Hundreds of people."
"Where are they?"
"They are all placed in the defense area of our division." Shechtman replied: "Because it is too close to the city, I am arranging manpower to send them to a safe area."
"Colonel, don't let them leave yet." Sokov was worried that Shechtman would send everyone away and he would not be able to get any useful information, so he hurriedly said: "Gather them all immediately, I have something to do."
Their assistance is needed."
"Is there something that needs their help?" Hearing what Sokov said, Shechtman was filled with doubts. He didn't understand what kind of work the commander wanted these residents who had fled their homes in a hurry to assist him. He asked with confusion.
: "Comrade Commander, can you tell me what is going on?"
Investigating the location where the Germans stored treasures in the city required the full cooperation of the 254th Division, so Sokov did not hide it from Shechtman, but said truthfully: "My superiors just gave me an order. Dergach
There are a number of precious cultural relics stored in the city, and we are ordered to avoid using heavy weapons to bombard the buildings where the cultural relics are stored when we attack the city, and do our best to ensure the safety of all cultural relics."
"Cultural relics, what cultural relics?"
"Of course they are precious cultural relics stolen by the Germans." Sokov said solemnly: "In addition to many world-famous paintings, these cultural relics also include manuscripts by Tolstoy, Tchaikovsky and Chekhov.
, is a precious cultural relic of our country. If it is destroyed by war, you and I will be unforgivable sinners."
When Shechtman heard this, his breathing became rapid: "Comrade Commander, where are these cultural relics in the city? I will definitely not let the soldiers fire on that building."
"I don't know either." Sokov shook his head and continued: "Otherwise, I would not order you to gather the residents who have escaped from the city. You send people to ask these residents if they have seen anyone transporting goods into the city.
Convoy. Maybe we can use them to figure out where the Germans hid these artifacts."
After Sokov hung up the phone, Samyko handed him a cigarette and comforted him by saying: "Comrade Commander, since you have conveyed the order, all that is left to do is to wait patiently."
"Yes," Sokov lit his cigarette and took a puff. "Now we can only wait patiently for the results of Shechtman's investigation so that we can accurately find where the cultural relics are stored."
Samyko raised his hand to look at his watch and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I estimate that it will take at least an hour or two before the results are available. We might as well analyze it and see if the enemy will put something in
Where."
"Churches, municipal buildings, opera houses, cinemas and sports venues." Sokov said without hesitation: "The buildings in these places are strong and have huge basements, which are perfect for storing looted cultural relics.
"
"Since you think these places may store cultural relics, let's analyze where the cultural relics are most likely to be hidden." Sameko first mentioned the municipal building: "The municipal building was once occupied by our army. If
The cultural relics are hidden in this building and must have been discovered by our army commanders long ago..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Chief of Staff." Samyko's words gave Sokov a glimmer of inspiration. He quickly interrupted and asked: "After our army occupied the municipal building, did we search the building?"
"This... this?" Sameko said hesitantly: "I think... I think I have searched for it."
"What I need is not a guess, but an accurate answer." Sokov told Samyko: "Call Shechtman again and let him know whether our troops who occupied the municipal building are in the building.
Did you search?"
Sameko did not dare to neglect, and quickly picked up the phone to call Shechtman. As soon as the call was connected, before the other party could speak, he rushed to ask: "Colonel Shechtman, this is Sameko. I want to ask
Let me ask you, after your troops occupied the municipal building in Dergach City, did you conduct a search inside the building?"
"I don't know, Comrade Chief of Staff." Even though Shechtman was the division commander, he really didn't know whether the troops had conducted a thorough search of the municipal building after they occupied it. But he knew very well in his heart that Sa
Meike was eager to ask about this matter. It must be related to the search for cultural relics. He quickly said: "Please give me five minutes, and I will definitely give you a satisfactory answer."
"Okay, Colonel Shechtman, I'll give you five minutes. I hope you can give me a satisfactory answer by then."
As soon as Shechtman ended the call with Sameko, he called his chief of staff and told the other party: "Call the commander and chief of staff of the 762nd Regiment to me immediately. I have something important to ask.
them."
Prochenko and Vanya have been staying at Shekhtman's division headquarters since they escaped from the city. Soldiers sent by the division chief of staff quickly found the two and took them to Shekhtman.
In front of Terman and Billing.
"Colonel Prochenko, Lieutenant Colonel Vanya." Seeing the arrival of the two men, Shechtman did not talk in circles, but asked straight to the point: "I have a question, and I hope you can answer me truthfully."
"Excuse me, comrade division commander." Prochenko thought that the other party wanted to investigate the reasons for his defeat, so he said politely: "I will answer your question truthfully."
"Can any of you two tell me?" Shechtman glanced at the two of them several times before asking, "Have your group conducted a search inside the municipal building after occupying it?
"
Prochenko did not expect that Shechtman called the two of him here not to hold him accountable, but to ask about this matter. He quickly turned his eyes to Vanya aside and said to Shechtman: "Comrade Division Commander
, I think this question should be answered by my chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Vanya."
Vanya quickly stepped forward and reported to Shechtman: "Comrade division commander, please allow me to report to you. After our regiment occupied the municipal building, in addition to ordering people to plant a red flag on the roof, we also ordered
Searches were conducted on every floor..."
The phone next to Shechtman rang again. He picked up the phone and this time heard Sokov's voice: "Colonel Shechtman, have you got any results from your investigation?"
"Report to Comrade Commander!" Shechtman replied respectfully: "I am asking Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, who is the chief of staff of the 762nd Regiment..."
Unexpectedly, before he finished speaking, Sokov interrupted him: "Give the phone to Lieutenant Colonel Vanya. I will ask him personally about this matter."
Shechtman handed the microphone to Vanya: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the commander wants to speak to you."
Vanya took the phone, put it to her ear, and said with some excitement: "Hello, Comrade Commander, is there anything you would like to know?"
"Vanya," Sokov asked bluntly about his old subordinate: "Is it the municipal building that your regiment occupied? After occupying the building, did you conduct a search on the building?"
"Comrade Commander, when you called me, I was reporting this matter to the division commander. After our regiment occupied the building, in addition to sending people to plant red flags on the roof, we also searched every floor." At this point,
Vanya patted Sokov's ass without leaving a trace: "You told us before that every time we occupy a building, we must search the building to eliminate the remaining enemies inside and turn the building into a
Our strong and reliable fortress."
"Yes, I did say this." The corners of Sokov's mouth turned up slightly: "I didn't expect you to remember it so clearly."
"Comrade Commander, what you said is not only remembered by me, but also by other commanders and fighters from the 73rd Infantry Brigade."
"Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, I have good news to tell you. The superiors have re-established the 73rd Infantry Brigade, and the new brigade commander is the familiar Major Guchakov. In this battle to liberate Kharkov
, if you and your men perform well, you may be able to get the position of brigade commander or even division commander after the battle is over."
The pie drawn by Sokov made Vanya burst into tears with gratitude: "Comrade Commander, don't worry, I will definitely live up to your expectations and will definitely make new contributions in the battle to liberate Kharkov."
After a brief exchange of greetings, Sokov brought the topic back to the Municipal Building: "Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, you haven't told me yet, did you find any unexpected gains while searching the Municipal Building?"
"An unexpected gain?" Vanya asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, what are you talking about? Why can't I understand you at all?"
"Did your soldiers search the basement of the building? Did they find anything important inside?"
"No," Vanya replied innocently: "The basement was empty, there was nothing. Our soldiers went in and took a brief look before coming out."
"Nothing?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Lieutenant Colonel Vanya, do you dare to confirm?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, I can confirm." Vanya vowed: "I was worried that enemies might be hiding in the basement, so I personally took more than a dozen soldiers into the basement and conducted a careful inspection. Indeed, no Germans were found.
Traces of people.”
Sokov felt a little disappointed when he learned that no cultural relics were found in the basement. This proved that the Germans did not hide these precious cultural relics in the basement of the municipal building.
Putting the microphone back on the phone base, Sokov looked at Samyko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, according to Lieutenant Colonel Vanya's report, nothing special was found in the basement of the municipal building. It seems that these cultural relics
It’s placed somewhere else.”
"Comrade Commander, when you called me, I thought about it carefully and felt that the most likely place to hide cultural relics is the church."
"Why?"
"The basement in the church is large and is very suitable for storing important things. In addition, the church is a stone building and can withstand the impact of small-caliber artillery. Storing cultural relics inside is extremely safe."
Sokov could not disagree with Samyko's statement. After all, every time a church was occupied, a lot of good things could be found in the basement below. And these cultural relics were so precious that the Germans must have
It will also be stored in the church.
Seeing Sokov's delay in speaking, Samyko asked with a guilty conscience: "Comrade Commander, what are you thinking about?"
Sokov turned to look at Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm thinking about something. These cultural relics should have been snatched away by the Germans around October 1941. Why didn't they transport them back to Germany instead of leaving them behind?"
In a small city outside Kharkiv?”
When Sokov couldn't think of an answer, Sameko couldn't think of an ugly person either. Fortunately, he didn't pretend to understand, but shook his head and answered truthfully: "I can't figure it out either."
After more than an hour of long waiting, Shechtman finally called. The colonel reported to Sameko who answered the phone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I have inquired clearly. Half a month ago, several
Residents saw a convoy of more than fifty covered trucks parked next to the church in the city center, seemingly unloading something..."
"Do they know what's on the truck?"
"Due to the Germans imposing martial law on the square, they couldn't get close at all. But one of the old men vaguely saw that the German soldiers moved into the church some wooden shelves, which I guessed might be oil paintings."
The clues provided by Shechtman were very valuable. More than fifty covered trucks were parked outside the church door. When the soldiers moved things inside, they also set up a guard in the church square. This shows how powerful these things are.
precious.
After reporting to Sokov, Shechtman cautiously asked: "Comrade Commander, do I need to send more people into the city to conduct reconnaissance?"
"There is no need." Although the final verification of the matter has not yet been carried out, Sokov believed that the precious cultural relics were hidden by the Germans in the church in the city center, and ordered Shechtman: "Your division will immediately
Start attacking the city and try every means to capture the church in the city center in the shortest possible time."
