After annihilating the German Walloni Volunteer Grenadier Division, Sokov ordered the troops to continue advancing.
When the leading troops arrived at the German second line of defense, they found that although there were no towns here, the villages and residential areas had been used by the Germans to build fire support points one after another. Facing the fire support points blocking the front, Su
The army launched the attack without hesitation.
Facing the Soviet attack, the German army carried out a tenacious blockade and successfully repelled the first wave of Soviet attacks.
Learning that the vanguard was blocked by the German fire support, Sokov was furious. He turned to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many artillery pieces do we have across the river now?"
Sidorin, who had just learned about the situation from Potapov, heard Sokov's question and replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander, our artillery already has two artillery regiments and three Guards rocket launcher battalions.
The land reached the west bank of the Theod River.”
"Where is the tank brigade?" Sokov continued: "How many tanks crossed the river?"
"At present, the armored forces that have completed crossing the river only have one tank brigade and one tank regiment, and the number of tanks is less than 60."
"Too few, too few." Sokov frowned when he heard that so far, only about sixty tanks had crossed the river: "With just this few tanks, it is far from enough to guide the infantry in a charge.
"
After a pause, he continued: "Order the artillery to bombard those fire support points and be sure to destroy them."
But what surprised Sokov was that when Sidorin conveyed the order to Potapov on the phone, he was rejected by the other party: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the commander that I cannot convey the order to the German army."
Fire at the fire support point."
Sokov, who was standing nearby, heard what Potapov said, grabbed the microphone, put it to his ear, and said in a stern tone: "General Potapov, what is going on? Your artillery unit
Why can't we fire at the fire support points controlled by the Germans?"
"Comrade Commander," Potapov didn't expect that the person he was talking to on the phone suddenly changed from Sidorin to Sokov, and he couldn't help being startled. But he quickly composed himself and asked Sokov
Kove explained: "The artillery observers I sent reported to me that there were a large number of civilians in these villages and settlements that were used as fire support points by the Germans. If we fired without explanation, we could indeed destroy these fire support points.
, but it will also cause a large number of civilian deaths. I have no right to order my subordinates to fire on civilians. If you feel that I am incompetent, you can let others take over my duties."
Sokov was originally angry that Potapov refused to carry out his orders, but after figuring out the reason, he also became embarrassed. The German army turned villages and settlements with a large number of civilians into fire support points.
If you try shelling without explanation, you can certainly destroy all these fire support points, but the civilians inside will definitely be destroyed. But if you don't destroy the enemy's fortifications and let the commanders and soldiers attack, they will inevitably pay heavy casualties.
Sidorin, who was standing nearby, saw Sokov's dilemma and whispered to him: "Comrade Commander, there are no undead people in a war. If we are concerned about the large number of civilians in the fire support point, we dare not act casually."
Firing artillery means that our commanders and soldiers will pay heavy casualties during the attack."
"Misha," seeing Sokov holding the microphone and remaining silent, Lunev also interjected: "Firing at the fire support point will definitely cause a large number of casualties inside, but if we don't fire, our army will be in trouble when attacking.
There will be huge casualties."
"Comrade Military Commissar, tell me, what should I do?"
"Since we cannot capture these firepower support points for the time being, we will send troops to surround them first."
"Then what?" Sokov continued: "After we surround them, what do we do?"
"Persuade to surrender!" Lunev said: "Send someone in to persuade the German troops inside to surrender."
"Can the Germans surrender?"
"Even if the Germans refuse to surrender, we can open a humanitarian channel." Lunev said: "Let the civilians trapped in villages and residential areas evacuate."
After listening to Luniev's suggestion, Sokov felt that it was very reasonable. The Germans left civilians at the fire support points and asked them to serve as human shields. After they surrounded these fire support points, they opened a passage for the civilians to leave.
.If the other party doesn't appreciate what he has done, then don't blame the guns for being blind. Thinking of this, Sokov quickly said into the microphone: "General Potapov, you are right,
There are a large number of civilians in the fire support points. We cannot fire at will to avoid accidentally injuring innocent people. I am now planning to surround these fire support points first, and then send people to persuade them to surrender. Even if it is impossible for the Germans to surrender, I will open a special channel
passage to allow civilians to leave safely."
As the order was issued, the troops that originally attacked the fire support points changed their strategy. Instead of launching another attack, they detoured from both wings and surrounded several fire support points. After doing all this, Sokov sent
His classmate Major Vadim, as his representative, went to persuade the German army to surrender.
When Vadim was at the Frunze Military Academy, he had always been at odds with Sokov, so after he came to the front line, other students were assigned different positions, but Vadim always stayed in the headquarters as a staff officer.
Duty. Today, he was appointed as Sokov's representative and went to the enemy's defense area to persuade the enemy to surrender. He was very excited. He knew very well that if he could really persuade the German army to surrender, it would be a great achievement.
When Vadim accepted the mission and was about to leave, Sokov stopped him and said to him: "Major Vadim, although the battlefield situation is becoming more and more favorable to our army, you will go to the enemy camp to negotiate today.
The enemy does not dare to do anything to you, but you must be careful in everything to avoid any danger."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Vadim assured Sokov: "I will definitely complete the mission."
After seeing off Vadim, Sidorin curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Vadim can complete the mission you assigned him?"
"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said: "Whether his persuasion can be successful depends entirely on whether the German commander has the intention to continue fighting. If he is lucky and meets a war-weary commander, maybe
You can also persuade the opponent to surrender. But if you encounter a stubborn one, I'm afraid he will have to leave empty-handed."
"When our army attacked, the German resistance was extremely tenacious." Sidorin said: "I think the German commander must be a hard person to talk to. I think Major Vadim may have left in good spirits this time and returned in dismay."
Sokov didn't think that if he just sent someone to persuade them to surrender, the Germans would honestly lay down their weapons and surrender to him. The main purpose of this negotiation was to make the German commander be merciful and allow the civilians to leave the fighting through the passage he gave up.
area.
Just as Sokov judged, after Vadim explained his purpose to the German commander, the other party sneered and said: "Mr. Major, I advise you not to waste your efforts. Even if all of us die in the battle, we will not be able to do it."
I will never surrender."
Vadim had long expected that the German army would not surrender. So he gave up the plan of persuasion and went on to come up with a second plan: "Your Majesty Commander, if you are unwilling to lay down your arms and surrender to our army,
Then I ask you to allow the civilians in the fire support point to leave this dangerous area."
If the fighting is not taking place on German soil at this moment, but on the territory of the Soviet Union, then what Vadim said is tantamount to playing tricks on a cow. But now the fighting area is on German soil, and he and the German officers and soldiers are trapped in the fire.
There are also a large number of civilians in the strong point. The German commander knew very well that if the Soviet army bombarded this place with artillery regardless, both the army and the civilians would suffer heavy losses.
It was out of this consideration that the German commander softened his tone: "Okay, I agree to let all civilians leave here. But I want to ask, how much time can you give us?"
"We can give you two hours to evacuate all the civilians here." Vadim said: "When I return to our position, a red signal flare will appear, indicating that the civilians can leave.
The channel is open; when the yellow flare goes up, it means the channel is closed."
Vadim returned to the headquarters and after explaining the negotiation process to Sokov, he said with a blushing face: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I failed to complete the task you assigned me and betrayed your trust in me.
, you punish me."
But Sokov waved his hand and said magnanimously: "Major Vadim, although the Germans have fallen into our encirclement, their location is only fifty kilometers away from Berlin. If they do not mount a tenacious defense, they will put down their weapons."
If they surrender to our army, their families in the rear may be implicated. Chief of Staff," he turned to Sidorin and said, "order people to fire red flares into the air to inform the Germans that our channel has been opened and they
This allows civilians to leave the war zone with confidence."
After the red signal flare was launched into the sky, the besieged Soviet troops made way for a fifty-meter-wide passage, allowing civilians in the fire support point to evacuate safely.
Although the passage is open, the German civilians are very worried. They are deeply afraid that after entering the passage, they will be killed by fire from both sides. After all, German officers and soldiers have done many such bad things, and the civilians are worried that the same fate will fall.
on one's own head.
The unit that made way for the passage was the 284th Infantry Division. The division commander, Colonel Ismailov, saw that no German civilians had appeared in the passage. He couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. He wondered what was going on with these German civilians, so he made way for them.
Why are you still stuck in the fire support point?
Ismailov called Sokov and reported the situation there, and finally said: "Comrade Commander, what is going on? Our safe channel is open, why haven't the German civilians come out yet?"
Woolen cloth?"
After hearing this, Sokov thought for a moment and understood what was going on. He quickly said to Ismailov: "Comrade Colonel, I guess the German civilians still have some concerns in their hearts, so they dare not easily enter the open area opened by our army."
channel."
"Then what should we do?" When Ismailov heard this, he suddenly felt a headache: "If the German civilians don't come out, I can't send people in to catch them all, right?"
"Comrade Commander," a staff officer came in from outside and reported to Sokov: "We captured several women outside."
Sokov quickly covered the microphone with his hand and said dissatisfied to the staff: "Why are you arresting German women?" The reason why he said this was entirely because later generations had read too many articles that smeared the Soviet army, and he was deeply afraid that these few
After a woman was captured by the soldiers, she would be forced to do some unspeakable things, so her tone was particularly harsh: "Let them go quickly."
"Comrade Commander, you are mistaken. These women are not Germans, but Belarusians." The staff officer reported to Sokov: "They are all military relatives. After being captured by the German army at the beginning of the war, they were sent to Germany to work.
They are coolies. Now that our army has entered the German mainland, they finally have a chance to escape the clutches of the Germans and come to join us."
"So that's it." After Sokov figured out the other party's identity, he nodded slightly, and then ordered the staff: "You settle them properly first, and when I'm done here, Comrade Military Commissar and I will go over and take a look.
they."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer agreed loudly, turned around and walked out of the headquarters.
Sokov continued into the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, you send an officer to contact the Germans and tell the civilians that we will ensure their lives are safe, and they can leave here safely and boldly through the passage we have left.
A dangerous area.”
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ismailov on the other end of the phone replied loudly: "I don't trust leaving this matter to others, so I'd better go there myself."
When he learned that Ismailov planned to go to the enemy camp in person, Sokov originally wanted to dissuade him, but then he thought about it and realized that it was the German Wehrmacht that surrounded him now, not the SS who had done all the bad things.
Even if Ismailov goes out in person, I'm afraid there won't be any danger, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, comrade colonel, I agree with you going to the enemy camp in person, but you have to pay attention to your own safety."
After Ismailov ended his call with Sokov, he immediately took his German translator with him in an open jeep and headed towards the German camp. Still forty or fifty meters away from the enemy fortifications, he let the car
Stop, and then ask the German translator to shout towards the enemy's defense area, telling the other party that the passage for civilians has been opened, and all civilians can leave here safely, and there will be absolutely no danger to their lives.
After the translator shouted Ismailov's words several times through a loudspeaker, he finally saw civilians carrying baggage, carrying boxes, and pushing bicycles slowly walking out of the German position. At first, there were only a few people.
One person, but soon more people joined, and in less than ten minutes, the muddy road was already crowded with people. The expressionless civilians stepped on the mud on the ground and slid forward along the road step by step.
I want to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
Seeing the civilians starting to leave the village and residential areas, Ismailov breathed a sigh of relief, then raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Let's go back."
