As the German troops crossed the Gniloydikich River and joined the troops who came to meet them, it meant that this battle had come to an end. Next, what the Soviet Union and Germany could do was to consolidate their defense lines and seize the opportunity.
Time for the troops to rest and recuperate.
Konev came to the headquarters of the 53rd Army, and after a few brief greetings, he said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, I want to go and have a look at Hill 239, is that okay?"
"Of course." Anyway, there is no fighting around Highland 239 anymore. Sokov readily agreed to Konev's proposal: "I will go with you."
An hour later, Sokov and Konev arrived at Hill 239.
Kirillov, who had already received the notice, personally greeted the two at the foot of the mountain.
When Konev saw Kirillov standing at the foot of the mountain from a distance, he couldn't help but be startled, and then asked: "Comrade Sokov, what is Kirillov doing here?"
Hearing Konev's question, Sokov quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, please listen to my explanation. The thing is like this. At that time, the commander of the 252nd Division was injured and withdrew from the battle, so I temporarily appointed Kirillo
My husband, lieutenant colonel, has come to temporarily act as division commander."
Konev straightened his face and said displeasedly: "Comrade Sokov, don't you know why Kirillov is assigned such an important position because of his sensitive status? If something goes wrong, you will be responsible for it."
Do you take this responsibility?"
Sokov laughed dryly and replied with some embarrassment: "Facts have proved that he performed his duties as a division commander very well. It was under his command that the German army launched attacks on Hill 239 again and again, and was defeated again and again.
The troops under his command were shattered. Moreover, they discovered in time the German army's attempt to break out at night, and used artillery fire to cause greater damage to the enemy."
Konev was silent for a moment, sighed softly, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, you must be careful when using the three of them, otherwise it may cause you unnecessary trouble."
Faced with Konev's concern, Sokov was still very moved. He nodded vigorously and replied: "I understand, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I will use discretion."
When the car was stable, Kirillov, who was standing on the roadside, quickly stepped forward to open the door and made a gesture of invitation to let Sokov and Konev get out of the car.
Although in the car, Konev showed dissatisfaction with Sokov's appointment of Kirillov as division commander. But when he saw Kirillov now, his face was still full of smiles.
While shaking hands with the other party, he praised and said: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, you and your men are all good. The German army has launched so many attacks on Hill 239, but they have never been able to break through your defense line. It's really
It’s amazing.”
Hearing Konev's praise, Kirillov showed a knowing smile on his face. In order to block the enemy who tried to break through, the troops paid huge casualties. Now that they can be recognized by their superiors, everything they have done is worth it.
of.
As several people walked towards the top of the mountain, Konev asked kindly: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, what are the casualties of your division?"
"Report to comrade general." Kirillov replied in an unassuming tone: "After these few days of fighting, only one-third of the entire division is left. I'm afraid it will take some time to rest before we can continue fighting."
"It's really hard for you." Knowing that the casualties of the 252nd Division reached two-thirds, Konev also felt very sad. He comforted the other party and said: "But don't worry, as soon as the superiors add more troops, I will give priority to them."
It’s for you to supplement.”
"Thank you, Comrade General." Kirillov straightened up quickly and said respectfully to Konev: "On behalf of all the commanders and fighters of the division, thank you!"
Several people came to the top of the mountain and looked down. They saw that the front of the position was covered with corpses, and many of them had been blown to pieces by artillery shells. Konev asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, why are there so many corpses on the hillside?"
The German corpses haven’t been restrained yet?”
Before Kirillov could answer, Sokov said first: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the situation is like this. Since both the enemy and ours suffered heavy casualties during the battle, after the battle, I ordered Kirillov
Lieutenant Colonel Husband, give priority to collecting the remains of our fallen soldiers. As for the corpses of the Germans, it is not too late to collect them after a while. After all, the weather is cold now and the corpses are not easy to rot."
Konev nodded slightly and said with emotion: "I have seen countless bloody scenes during the war, but rarely have I seen so many German corpses in such a small area. From this we can see
It can be said that in order to break out of our army's encirclement, the Germans will do whatever it takes."
"Yes." Sokov said proudly: "Although the Germans invested elites like the Viking Division and used powerful artillery fire, they still could not get through here."
Konev withdrew his gaze from the hillside, looked at Sokov and said: "It's a pity that there are too few wrongdoers like you, otherwise the German army would not have been able to break out of our army's encirclement and cross the Gniloydikich River.
Join forces with the German troops coming to rescue."
Sokov thought to himself that in real history, more than 40,000 German troops broke out of the encirclement. Now that he was an unexpected factor, the casualties of the German army increased greatly. The number of Germans who could escape the encirclement would definitely not reach 40,000.
Thousands of people.
In order to clarify this issue, Sokov specifically asked Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I wonder how many Germans have broken out of our encirclement?"
"According to the intelligence we intercepted, there were only more than 17,000 German troops breaking through the encirclement. In other words, there were more than 40,000 enemies in the encirclement, who were annihilated or captured by us."
After listening to the data Konev said, Sokov felt somewhat gratified in his heart. Although he still failed to replicate a record like Stalingrad as in history, after all, he annihilated more than 40,000 enemies, which was a great achievement.
The earth weakened the effective strength of the German army.
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, when will we launch a new attack on the enemy next time?" Sokov asked.
Konev looked at Sokov and said with interest: "Comrade Sokov, we have just finished a battle. Before the troops had time to rest, you started thinking about the next attack."
"The Germans have just suffered a disastrous defeat and their morale must be very low." Sokov said: "If we launch a new attack in the short term, we will definitely cause greater losses to them."
"Comrade Sokov, I have the same idea as you." Konev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, sighed softly, and said helplessly: "But after such a long battle, our troops not only suffered casualties
It is large, consumes a lot of ammunition, and the commanders and soldiers have become exhausted and need to take a good rest before they can have the physical strength to participate in new battles."
Sokov knew that what Konev said was true. After all, most of the new recruits in the army were recruited after entering Ukraine. Since they had lived in the areas occupied by the German army for a long time, they had no chance of military training.
Although the strength of the troops increased with their addition, the combat effectiveness was severely diluted. This is why millions of people were unable to annihilate 60,000 German troops.
Seeing Sokov's thoughtful expression, Konev couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Sokov, what are you thinking about?"
Sokov raised his head and said to Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I am thinking about where to get some veterans to supplement. This will be very helpful to improve the combat effectiveness of the army."
"Veterans with rich combat experience are in urgent need of all troops." Konev shook his head and said: "However, according to the regulations of superiors, priority is given to the Guards Division for the recruitment of veterans. And the infantry commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov
The 252nd Division is just an ordinary infantry division and does not enjoy supplementary priority."
When Kirillov heard what Konev said, he couldn't help but have disappointment written all over his face. During his tenure as division commander, he found that the commanders and fighters in the division were indeed very brave on the battlefield, but it was because of their lack of combat experience that they suffered.
Many unnecessary casualties. If the superiors still use new soldiers to supplement themselves when replenishing troops, I am afraid that the combat effectiveness of the division will not be effectively improved in a short period of time.
Just when several people were at a loss, a staff officer from the division walked up to Kirillov and whispered a few words into his ear. Kirillov nodded after hearing this, and then said to Sokov
: "Comrade Commander, there is your phone number in the observation post. It is from General Smirnov."
Sokov guessed that there must be something important when Smirnov called, so he said something to Konev and limped towards the observation post.
Entering the observation post, a staff officer in the room quickly picked up the microphone on the table and handed it to Sokov. Sokov put the microphone to his ear and said: "I am Sokov, what can I do?
"
Smirnov's voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Commander, the German army has sent a major to see you."
"The German army sent a major to see me?" Smirnov's words surprised Sokov. What are the Germans sending people to see me for? Do they want to incite rebellion against me? With this question, he asked angrily
: "What do they want to do?"
Hearing Sokov's harsh tone, Smirnov realized that he might have misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "Comrade Commander, this German major brought a message from Marshal Manstein. He wanted to
Return the body of General Stemermann."
After finding out that Manstein sent people to see him to get back Stemmermann's body, Sokov couldn't help but feel elated. He was worried about how to get in touch with the Germans and then return Stemmermann's body.
.Now that the other party has taken the initiative to send someone to contact him, he can open his mouth like a lion.
"Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov controlled his emotions and tried his best to ask in a calm tone: "Where is the German major now?"
"He is with me at the moment." Smirnov asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Commander, how should we reply to them?"
"There is no need to answer them for the time being." Sokov said into the microphone: "I will rush back to the headquarters immediately."
When Sokov hung up the phone, he saw Konev standing in front of him and realized that the person with the highest position here was Konev. Before he spoke, he could not leave just as he wanted. He hurriedly
Explained: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I need to return to the Army Headquarters immediately. My chief of staff reported to me that Manstein sent a major to discuss with me the return of General Stemerman's body."
"Then you go over now." Konev waited for him to finish and said reasonably: "Anyway, I have seen everything I want to see, and it's time for me to go back to the headquarters."
In this way, Sokov and Konev parted ways, one returned to the 53rd Army Headquarters, while the other returned to the Front Army Headquarters.
Sokov returned to his headquarters and saw a major of the Wehrmacht inside. He couldn't help but smile slightly. He thought that Manstein was very considerate. The officer sent to negotiate was from the Wehrmacht and not the SS.
, it seems that he is very sincere.
Before Sokov could finish speaking, he heard Smirnov introduce to the German major: "Mr. Major, this is our commander, General Sokov."
After hearing this, the German major took two steps forward, raised his hand to salute Sokov, and spoke in skillful Russian: "Hello, General Sokov, I am Major Dürer, the negotiator sent by Marshal Manstein.
I’m here to discuss with you the return of General Stemmermann’s body.”
Sokov did not expect that the German major could speak Russian so well. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Major Dürer, I really didn't expect that you can speak Russian so well. Where did you learn it?"
"I studied in Leningrad." Major Dürer answered truthfully: "I majored in mechanical manufacturing and studied at the Mechanical Institute in Leningrad for three years. It was there that I learned to speak Russian.
"
After Sokov asked the other party to sit down, he asked straight to the point: "Major Dürer, since Marshal Manstein sent you to negotiate, he must have given you certain authorization, right?"
"Yes, General Sokov." Facing Sokov, a general who made the Germans frightened, Major Dürer still showed enough courtesy: "I came to pick up Stemer on the order of Marshal Manstein.
General Mann's body. As long as you are willing to return the general's body, no matter what conditions you put forward, we will try our best to satisfy you."
Sokov waited for Dürer to finish speaking, then asked with a half-smile: "Mr. Major, can you really meet any of my conditions?"
"General Sokov," Dürer may have realized that his meaning was not expressed accurately enough, and deliberately added: "As long as it is within the scope of our capabilities, we will definitely try our best to satisfy you."
"Then tell me, what kind of conditions can you give me?" Sokov did not put forward his own conditions rashly, but preemptively said: "If the conditions you give me can satisfy me, I will definitely arrange it.
We will return the body of General Stemmermann to the other party."
Dürer was stunned by Sokov's words. Before coming here, Manstein told him that he could try his best to meet the conditions proposed by Sokov. But now, the other party did not put forward the conditions he wanted. Instead, he asked whether he could
What conditions should be met for them? This made Dürer feel in a dilemma.
"General Sokov," Dürer hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "It's better if you put forward the conditions, and I'll see if I can satisfy your wish."
"Major Dürer, do you really want me to put forward conditions first?" Sokov looked at Dürer and asked, "You won't go back on your word, will you?"
