At this moment, a burst of large and small flashes of light suddenly appeared in the distance in the direction of Highland 239.
With the flash in front and the roar of artillery behind, the bombardment that worried Stemmerman inevitably came. Raindrops of artillery shells roared in, landed and exploded in the chaotic and crowded team.
The artillery fire shrouded all the retreating German troops. They were in a limited area and thousands of people were crowded together. Every artillery shell could kill a bunch of people. From time to time, you could see people's broken limbs and broken weapons.
Flying high, screams came one after another. The originally crowded team became extremely chaotic. Facing the Soviet artillery fire, they had nowhere to hide and could only bite their teeth and endure the bombing.
The truck where Stemmermann was standing was overturned by a shell and burst into flames. But Stemmermann was miraculously uninjured. He tried to stand up and, amid the crowd pushing around, used
He shouted at the top of his lungs: "Don't panic, don't panic!" However, his shouts were covered up by the rumbling sound of cannons, and no one heard him at all.
In the observation post on Highland 239, the staff officers saw the enemy being knocked upside down by artillery fire. They couldn't help but cheer loudly. This scene was so exciting. I didn't expect that the Germans would be like this.
However, just when everyone was happy, Kirillov suddenly issued an unexpected order: "Call the division artillery regiment immediately and order them to stop shelling!"
"What, stop the bombardment?" Kirillov's words stunned everyone.
"Comrade division commander," a staff officer asked in confusion: "The enemy is being bombarded by us at the moment, why do they have to stop?"
"Didn't you see that not only the Germans were shelled, but also the Ukrainians captured by them?" After Kirillov finished speaking, he categorically ordered: "Order the artillery to stop the shelling immediately!"
Some staff members did not believe what Kirillov said, and raised their binoculars to look at the place where the artillery fire was raging. Sure enough, they saw many civilians in plain clothes among the people running back and forth in the artillery fire. Although it was night at the moment, the visibility was poor.
It was limited, but as an experienced commander, he could still distinguish who were soldiers and which were civilians with the help of the flames produced when the shells exploded.
The artillery fire from the division artillery regiment soon stopped, but the artillery fire from the group army continued to bombard the retreating enemies, preparing to use powerful artillery fire to inflict great damage on them.
Kirillov quickly ordered someone to get through to the commander of the group army. As soon as he heard Sokov's voice, he couldn't wait to say: "Comrade Commander, please immediately order to stop the shelling of the German army!"
Sokov was stunned and asked in confusion: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, why did I order the artillery to stop shelling?"
"Comrade Commander," Kirillov said urgently: "There are a large number of civilians in the area that was bombarded, and our shelling caused great casualties to them."
"What?!" Sokov was shocked: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, how could there be civilians? Did you read that correctly?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander." Kirillov replied in a positive tone: "I looked carefully several times and found that they were all people in civilian clothes, and none of them had weapons in their hands. After the shelling started, they
They were also running around carrying stretchers. I guess they were local residents who were forcibly recruited by the Germans and asked them to help them carry supplies and carry the wounded."
Sokov figured out what was going on. He didn't even have time to cover the microphone, so he turned and told Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call the artillery commander immediately and order him to stop the shelling immediately!"
Smirnov didn't know what was going on at the moment. Hearing what Sokov said, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, our shelling just started not long ago, why did we stop?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov reports." Sokov said loudly: "A large number of Ukrainian civilians were found in the area that was shelled. They should have been brought by the Germans. Immediately order the artillery to stop the shelling.
, otherwise civilians will suffer heavy casualties."
"I understand." After Smirnov knew what was going on, he also realized the seriousness of the problem. He quickly grabbed the phone in front of him and called Tsarev: "General Tsarev, commanded by Comrade Commander, stop immediately."
Shelling.”
Although Tsarev did not know what happened, he acted very decisively in executing the order. Within two minutes, the artillery of the group army stopped firing.
The German troops who were being bombed were stunned when they saw the sudden cessation of shelling. They secretly wondered what happened. Why did the Russians suddenly stop shelling? Could it be that they had run out of shells? And the Ukrainian civilians who were brought there were also stunned.
, first let out a shout, and then ran away in all directions.
Seeing Ukrainian civilians running away everywhere, the German soldiers escorting them immediately started shouting, trying to get them back in front of them. But their shouts seemed to have no effect, and the civilians continued to move away without looking back.
They ran everywhere. They were so angry that several German soldiers picked up their submachine guns and shot at the civilians who were walking away. The dense bullets knocked down a few civilians who fell behind.
"That's enough, that's enough, don't shoot anymore." Seeing soldiers shooting at fleeing civilians, Stemmerman quickly stopped them: "It's a burden to take them with you. If they want to leave, let them go."
Bar."
Although he stopped shelling the Germans, Sokov would never let them escape easily. He quickly called Selivanov, commander of the 5th Guards Cavalry Corps: "Comrade Commander, the enemy near Hill 239 is approaching.
Flee, it’s your cavalry’s turn.”
Selivanov heard what Sokov said and asked casually: "Is there artillery cover?"
Sokov said with some laughter and tears: "Comrade Commander, after being shelled by our army, the enemy has already lost its organization and is running around now. Do you think it is still necessary to prepare for artillery fire under such circumstances?"
?”
Knowing that the Germans had fallen into chaos, Selivanov smiled sheepishly, and then said: "Understood, General Sokov, I will immediately send the cavalry to pursue the fleeing German army."
"Comrade Commander, I think it is necessary to remind you." Sokov said: "There are a large number of Ukrainian civilians who are being held hostage, together with these fleeing enemies. When you attack, you must pay more attention and never harm them.
to civilians.”
"You can rest assured on this, General Sokov." Selivanov assured Sokov: "I will definitely find a way to rescue all civilians and prevent them from being harmed by the Germans."
"Very good, Comrade Commander." Sokov was satisfied with Selivanov's answer. He nodded, and then said: "Then I will wait for your good news at the headquarters."
Sokov's judgment was correct. After receiving the order to retreat, the German troops wanted to leave this place of trouble and trouble as soon as possible. They were those who left early after the rearguard unit led by Stemermann was shelled by the Soviet army.
The officers and soldiers, listening to the rumble of artillery coming from behind and the firelight that turned half the sky red, were secretly glad that they were not in the rearguard. In order to avoid the same fate, they all accelerated their marching speed.
Besides, after the Soviet artillery bombardment ended, Stemmerman finally gathered the troops and found that there were less than 700 people left who could fight, and nearly half of the wounded were killed in the artillery bombardment. As for the lifters,
Except for the dead and those who were too injured to move, all the Ukrainian civilians carrying stretchers and supplies fled without a trace.
Seeing this situation, Stemmermann realized that if he wanted to continue the transfer, he would have to abandon all the wounded who could not move, so he changed his mind and did not plan to continue the breakout, but stayed with these wounded.
Knowing that Stemmermann was unwilling to continue the breakout, Lieutenant Colonel Degrelle, the acting brigade commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade, quickly came over to persuade him: "Your Excellency, General, I think we should abandon these wounded."
"Are you planning to turn them into Russians, or do you want to see them freeze to death in the icy wilderness?"
Degrelle shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "Your Majesty General, there is nothing we can do about this. You also know that all the Ukrainians who carried stretchers and materials have fled. We don't have any at all.
The extra manpower can be used to carry stretchers, maybe giving them up is the best choice."
Seeing that Stemmermann was still hesitant, Degrelle added: "If these wounded men fall into the hands of other Russians, their lives may be in danger. But the troops closest to us now are commanded by General Sokov
The 53rd Army, if they capture our wounded soldiers, I believe they will definitely treat them."
However, Stemmerman thought for a long time and still rejected Degrelle's kindness. He shook his head and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Degrelle, although what you said makes sense, as a commander, I cannot turn a blind eye.
I have to watch thousands of wounded people fend for themselves, and I want to stay with them."
Seeing that Stemmermann was stubborn, Degrelle wanted to persuade him again, but the other party waved his hand at him and rejected his kindness: "Lieutenant Colonel Degrelle, thank you for your kindness. You bring your own
Let the troops break through, I want to stay with these wounded."
Several wounded soldiers nearby thought that they could not escape the fate of being abandoned. Some even had grenades in their arms, preparing to wait for the Soviet army to come and capture them, to fire the grenades and die with them. But at this moment, Stemer heard
Mann's words moved everyone to tears.
"Your Majesty General, you'd better leave. You can't put yourself in a dangerous situation because of us."
"Yes, General, you'd better go, we can't let you stay with us."
Seeing the wounded people scrambling to persuade him, Stemmerman quickly raised his hands and pressed them down, and then said to everyone: "Soldiers, please don't persuade me anymore. I am your commander at any time.
, I will never abandon you, even if I die, I will die with you."
Seeing that Stemmermann had made up his mind, Degrelle knew that nothing he said would be of any use, so he could only take the remaining 400 officers and soldiers of the Walloon Assault Brigade to chase the breakout troops in front.
After Selivanov received Sokov's order, he quickly personally led three cavalry divisions to launch the attack.
Near Hill 239, the 11th Cavalry and 63rd Cavalry Divisions surrounded the rearguard unit led by Stemmermann, while the 66th Cavalry Division led by Muzichenko continued to move forward.
Finally, half an hour later, they caught up with the defeated soldiers led by Lieutenant Degrelle.
Seeing the chasing cavalry, it was difficult for the officers and soldiers of the Walloon Assault Brigade to organize a decent resistance, so they had no choice but to flee in all directions. Some soldiers lay down in the snow and shot at the rushing cavalry, although some of the cavalry
The bullets fell from their horses, but more cavalry rushed up and trampled the soldiers lying in the snow into a pulp.
Seeing that the situation was not good, a few soldiers quickly threw away their weapons and raised their hands to surrender to the charging cavalry. However, they miscalculated. The charging cavalry did not seem to want to accept their surrender at all, but continued to wave their sabers and attack them randomly.
He slashed and chopped off the raised arms of some soldiers.
At dawn, Sokov received a call from Selivanov. The cavalry commander reported excitedly on the phone: "General Sokov, let me tell you good news. We have surrounded thousands of German soldiers."
There are even a general among them."
Knowing that the cavalry army surrounded thousands of enemies, Sokov felt very happy: "General Selivanov, I congratulate you. You have made a great contribution."
Selivanov laughed dryly and asked, "General Sokov, how should we deal with them?"
"How did the Germans react when they were besieged by you?"
"Most of the Germans surrounded by us were wounded. They were lying on stretchers unable to move at all." Selivanov said: "Even those soldiers who were able to move seemed to have no intention of resisting."
"So that's it." After Sokov learned about the situation of the German army, he said to Selivanov: "Comrade commander, you continue to besiege them, I will rush over immediately."
Sokov knew that this group of German troops, including thousands of wounded, would never resist, so he did not issue an order to annihilate this group of enemies, but planned to try to see if he could persuade these enemies to surrender to him.
.
If he had not been injured in the past few months, Sokov would have liked to ride a horse to persuade the Germans to surrender. But now his leg injury has not healed, so he can only choose to go by car.
After driving for nearly an hour, the jeep Sokov was riding in finally arrived at the battlefield. He saw through the window glass that on the snow in the distance, a large group of German troops were staying put, and around them, there were
They are Soviet cavalry on high alert.
Seeing the jeep Sokov was riding in, Selivanov personally stepped forward and opened the door. As soon as Sokov got out of the car, he immediately asked: "How is the situation? Do the Germans have any intention to continue to break through?"
"No." Selivanov shook his head and said, "It has been several hours since we besieged them. They have neither fought with us nor put down their weapons. It has been a stalemate."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said to Selivanov, "send a soldier to shout that I want to meet with their commander and ask him to meet in the middle area."
"General Sokov," Selivanov obviously didn't have much confidence in persuading the German troops to surrender, so he said to Sokov: "The reason why these Germans stay here is entirely because they can't escape. But they have to
It is obviously very difficult for them to surrender to us, so I think there is no need to do anything to persuade them to surrender."
