Lednikova asked curiously: "Comrade General, I want to ask you a question."
"Excuse me, Comrade Second Lieutenant."
"Why didn't those Germans who pretended to be dead take the opportunity to charge after being shelled by our army and instead ran towards their positions?"
Hearing Lednikova's question, Sokov smiled slightly, then turned around and said to everyone: "You are all people who have been on the battlefield. Who will tell Lieutenant Lednikova what is going on?"
Although everyone present understood what was going on, they still gave Koshkin the opportunity to explain. After all, he came from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and would not have any scruples when speaking: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, let me explain it to you.
After the enemies who are pretending to be dead are discovered by us, if they rush towards our position, since they do not receive fire cover, their actions are tantamount to death. Our soldiers only need to fire a volley to wipe them all out.
On the contrary, after they were exposed, they turned around and ran towards their own defense area. Although there were still casualties, some of them were able to escape alive."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Sokov looked at Lednikova and asked, "I think this is your first time on the battlefield, right?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Lednikova replied truthfully: "It was also on this mission that I had the opportunity to come to the front line. How did you know?"
"The reason is very simple." Sokov said: "It is basic common sense to pretend that a dead body has been discovered and run in which direction, and you don't even know this, so I think you have never been to the front line."
Lednikova nodded and said sheepishly: "Comrade General, I used to work in logistics and didn't know much about things on the battlefield. This time I came to the front line and I really gained a lot of experience.
.”
When Sokov heard what Lednikova said, he couldn't help but murmur to himself: "No, if I hadn't happened to pass by, all of you would have lost your lives."
Lunev felt that he had seen everything he needed to see, and there was no point in staying here any longer, so he asked Sokov: "Misha, where should we go next?"
"Let's go to the 120th Guards Division to meet General Nikitin." Sokov said: "I want to know what his plans are next."
However, before leaving the infantry brigade's defense area, Sokov specifically told Sukhalev: "Major, your brigade is responsible for protecting the right wing of the army group. You must not let down your vigilance, lest you be caught off guard by the Germans."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Sukhalev saw with his own eyes the enemies disguised as corpses. After being spotted by Sokov at a glance, Sukhalev felt guilty. Without Sokov's timely arrival, these German soldiers would have sneaked in.
His position may endanger the security of the defense line. Therefore, he expressed his position to Sokov: "We will be more vigilant to avoid similar incidents from happening again."
When Sokov drove to the defense line of the 120th Guards Division, he thought of the enemies pretending to be his subordinates and sneaking into the west bank, so he asked Koshkin, who was sitting in the passenger seat: "Koshkin, what's the matter?
The latest news?" After he finished speaking, he realized that he had not spoken clearly enough and quickly added, "About the five Germans disguised as our troops."
Koshkin was confused at first, not knowing what Sokov wanted to ask him. After hearing Sokov talking about the five Germans disguised as Soviet troops, he quickly replied: "No, Commander
Comrade Communist Party member. So far, I have not received any report."
"Misha, don't worry." Seeing Sokov's worried look, Lunev comforted him and said: "There are only five Germans. Even if they cause damage in our defense area, I'm afraid they won't cause much harm.
, don’t worry blindly.”
"Well, Comrade Military Commissar, you are right." Sokov agreed with Lunev's statement: "No matter what purpose the enemy came with, they only have five people and they can't attack them at all.
What a big wave."
When he arrived at the headquarters of the 120th Guards Division and saw Nikitin, Sokov stepped forward to hold his hand and said with a smile: "General Nikitin, your division has not fought many battles, but the results achieved have been
Far exceeded my expectations. In recognition of your achievements, I will ask your superiors to award you the Order of the Red Banner of the Division."
When he heard that Sokov said that his superiors were going to award the 120th Guards Division the Order of the Red Banner, Nikitin suddenly became excited. If he really got the award, then when calling the unit's number, he would say "Those who have won the Order of the Red Banner"
"So-and-so Division". He grinned and said: "Comrade Commander, it would be better if Berlin could be added to the designation of our division."
According to the tradition of the Soviet Army, having a place name in the unit's designation is the highest honor. No division commander does not want his unit to receive such an honor, even Nikitin is no exception.
"I'm sorry, General Nikitin." Hearing Nikitin's request, Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "Don't say you can't get this honorary title. Even our entire Belarusian Second Front doesn't have any troops.
To be able to receive such a title.”
"Why?" Nikitin asked puzzledly.
Sokov asked in surprise: "Didn't the chief of staff call you yesterday?"
After hearing this, Nikitin asked with a confused expression: "I was not at the headquarters yesterday. I was commanding the operations of the 339th Regiment. Is there anything important?"
"General Nikitin, if you were at the division headquarters at that time, you should have heard the important notice delivered by Chief of Staff Sidorin." Sokov said with a serious expression: "Marshal Zhukov's 1st Belorussian Front and Kone
The troops of Marshal Husband's 1st Ukrainian Front have already reached the outskirts of Berlin. If nothing else happens, their leading troops have already rushed into Berlin at this moment."
Hearing what Sokov said, Nikitin showed a shocked expression on his face: "What, all friendly forces have entered Berlin? What about us? Do we still have a chance to enter Berlin?"
Sokov didn't want to give the other party vain hope, so he said truthfully: "No, Comrade General, I can tell you responsibly that we have no chance to enter Berlin. It cannot be said that there is no chance at all. When our army liberates Berlin,
, when a grand military parade is held in the city, one or two troops from our army group may be dispatched to participate, and then qualified troops will be able to enter Berlin smoothly."
After hearing this, Nikitin's face turned livid. He commanded the troops to advance forward with difficulty, just to reach Berlin earlier. After all, his front line was less than fifty kilometers away from Berlin. If everything went well, it would take at most two days.
, he could reach the outskirts of Berlin. Unexpectedly, Sokov told himself that the friendly troops had already reached the outskirts of Berlin, and had even entered the city of Berlin at this moment. How could he not be discouraged?
"General Nikitin," Sokov sighed softly and continued: "The task of our army group is to continue to advance westward and rush to the Elbe River northwest of Berlin to join the oncoming Allied forces."
"Join the Allied forces?" But after hearing this, Nikitin did not show much interest: "When we launched the attack on Berlin, the Allied forces were only sixty kilometers away from Berlin, while our army was hundreds of kilometers away.
Now our friendly forces have reached the outskirts of Berlin and even entered the city of Berlin, but the Allies are still staying at their original position. Let us fight the Germans desperately, but they are watching from the sidelines. When we eliminate the Germans, they will
Come here and pick it up ready-made, your abacus is really good."
"After careful calculation by the Allies, if they were to launch an attack on Berlin, the number of casualties would not be less than 100,000." Sokov said to Nikitin: "Such a casualty number is unacceptable to them. For
To reduce their own casualties, they intentionally stayed in the existing area and did not take any military action against the Germans, but just watched us and the Germans fight tooth and nail."
"If the casualties of our army are too heavy, what benefits will it bring to the Allies?"
"Of course there are benefits." Sokov sneered and said: "If our army suffers heavy casualties, then after the war is over, we will not be able to send troops to occupy more areas, and this is exactly what the British and American allies want to see.
So on the surface they gave us the priority to attack Berlin, but in fact they wanted the Germans defending the city to consume a lot of our manpower and lay the foundation for them to gain a foothold on the European continent in the future."
"But we are allies." Nikitin asked in confusion: "Why do they plot against us like this?"
"General Nikitin, I just said that the Allies did this to prevent post-war Europe from being under our control." Sokov said: "And if our army is in the battle to liberate Berlin,
If there are huge casualties, the number of troops deployed in Europe will be significantly reduced in the future, which is more in their interests."
After Sokov said this briefly, he asked Nikitin: "Comrade General, can your phone number contact the army headquarters?"
"Of course," Nikitin nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "Of course we can get through to the Army Group Headquarters."
Knowing that the phone here could reach the army headquarters, Sokov picked up the phone and called Sidorin. After hearing Sidorin's voice, he said bluntly: "Chief of Staff, we are here
You must already know what happened on the road. How about it? Do you have any news about the Germans?"
"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Sidorin replied truthfully: "I haven't received any calls yet, and I guess I haven't found any trace of them yet."
After listening to Sidorin's words, Sokov couldn't help but frowned and said: "Strange, how could this happen? Whether they are planning to cause destruction in our defense area, or they are planning to sneak back to their defense area and take a jeep
It’s the most convenient one, so why did it suddenly disappear without a trace?”
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin said cautiously after Sokov finished speaking: "Maybe the Germans feel that the target of the jeep is too big. If they continue to ride, there is a possibility that we will detect it.
So after they completed crossing the river, they found a secluded place to abandon the jeep and march on foot?"
The words awakened the dreamer. Sokov's order to the troops on the West Bank was to search for five soldiers riding in a jeep, including a major, a captain, two second lieutenants and a driver. But what if the Germans really
As Sidorin said, in order to prevent the target from being exposed, as soon as they crossed the river, they found a place to hide the jeep. The soldiers on duty at the checkpoint would definitely not be able to find any suspicious persons who met the conditions they proposed.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said makes sense." Sokov slapped his hand on the table and continued: "Maybe they were worried about exposing their target, so when they arrived at the West Bank, they decisively abandoned the jeep, and then
Leaving on foot. I think they might even break up into groups of two or three and leave in different directions at the same time."
"Then we should continue to search for them?" Sidorin asked tentatively: "How about I allocate a special force to search for them where the enemy disappeared?"
"I don't think this is necessary anymore." Sokov knew very well in his heart that if the German agents really arrived on the West Coast and infiltrated tens of thousands of troops, trying to find their whereabouts would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. If you want to understand this
After that, he gave up the plan to continue the search: "Since we have not found any traces of the enemy so far, continuing the search will be a waste of manpower and material resources. If the notice is given, the original order will be cancelled, and the commanders and soldiers will be allowed to do whatever they need to do.
.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sidorin actually had this idea in his heart. After all, the enemy had sneaked into the area with the largest number of troops. It would be even harder to find someone among them. Seeing Sokov at this moment
He gave up on his own initiative and said smoothly: "I will pass on your order immediately."
"Comrade General." When Sokov put down the phone, Lednikova followed him in and said loudly to Sokov: "How can we stop the search for German agents? You know, we almost came
Die in their hands."
"Second Lieutenant Lednikova," faced Lednikova's question, Sokov said earnestly: "Just think about it, these enemies can actually hide it from the eyes of your Ministry of Internal Affairs, and even use medicine to kill you.
They were all confused and took away your weapons and documents, which proves that they are very smart people. After they killed the soldiers on duty at the checkpoint, they fled to the West Bank. They knew very well that we would definitely launch a manhunt for them. In order to avoid
The target is too big. If they are captured by our army, they must be broken into pieces at this moment and dispersed to the enemies we can't find. If we continue to search, it will be a waste of time."
After Sokov said so many words in one breath, and seeing the grievance written on Lednikova's face, he explained to her: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, our mission is to continue the attack and completely defeat the enemy standing in front of us.
, rushed to the Elbe River to join forces with the Allied forces. As for these German agents, even if they want to do something in our defense zone, I'm afraid they are unable to do so."
"But if they steal your combat plan and take it back to the German command headquarters, wouldn't it have a negative impact on your subsequent offensive?"
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Sokov said confidently: "Even if the German army has obtained our intelligence, with their current strength, there is no way to stop our progress. I think you should not worry about it.
