Even though Sokov was the first to charge, many soldiers still surpassed him during the charge. They rushed to the church first, kicked open the rickety door, and rushed in with guns in hand.
From the church door to the prayer hall, there is a corridor two meters wide and fifteen meters long. The German officers and soldiers guarding the hall immediately opened fire when they saw the Soviet troops breaking through the door. In the dense rain of bullets, soldiers crowded in the corridor fell down. The soldiers behind stepped on their dead or injured comrades who fell on the ground and continued to rush in.
Brave soldiers braved the hail of bullets and rushed into the prayer hall. They rushed towards the German troops hiding behind pillars or piles of rubble, and exchanged fire or started hand-to-hand combat with them. The officers and soldiers howled and fought fiercely with each other. Neither side showed any fancy tricks. They used bayonets, rifle butts, fists, and teeth to bite each other. They did everything in order to kill the other party.
As Sokov arrived with a large group of troops, the situation in the church tilted in favor of the Soviet army. Some unsighted German soldiers rushed towards Sokov with shining bayonets, but they were either knocked down by Sokov with a single blow or stabbed to death by the guard squad soldiers who were protecting him.
After the battle, Sokov inspected the hall and found the German officers and soldiers lying on the ground. The highest military rank was only a captain. Seeing this situation, he couldn't help but frown slightly and thought to himself: "Is the intelligence wrong? The German command headquarters is not here?" But then he thought about it, and there was a car that was destroyed by artillery fire outside the church. and two three-wheeled motorcycles. If it is just a company-level headquarters, it should not be eligible to equip these vehicles.
At this moment, several gunshots were suddenly heard from the altar, and then a soldier shouted loudly: "There is someone in the basement!" As soon as his shout ended, several more gunshots were heard.
When Sokov heard the gunshots and the soldiers' shouts, he didn't think much about it. He shouted to Oleg and several guardsmen standing aside: "Follow me!" and took the lead in rushing towards the altar. .
Sokov came to the altar and saw an entrance to the basement. Next to the square hole, two warriors were lying. It seemed that the soldiers discovered the entrance to the basement and planned to go down to find out. However, they were shot coldly by the German soldiers hiding inside.
When Oleg saw this, he was about to rush forward with his gun in hand, but Sokov stopped him: "Wait a minute, Oleg." He looked at the dark hole and continued, "Say There may be seven or eight guns pointed at the entrance below. If you rush in like this, you will only die."
Oleg stopped and asked anxiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what should we do?"
Sokov took off his backpack, took out two grenades from it, pulled the string, and threw them directly into the hole. He first heard the sound of a grenade rolling down the stairs, and a moment later, there were two dull explosions. When black smoke came out of the hole, there were bursts of screams inside. It was probably that the German soldiers who were hiding near the hole and preparing for a cold shot were hit.
Seeing that Sokov's idea was good, Oleg also took out the grenade from his backpack, pulled the string and threw it into the hole. The surrounding soldiers also took out grenades and followed Sokov and Oleg's example, throwing them into the hole.
After countless grenades were thrown into the hole, a series of explosions soon came out, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble slightly. Sokov was afraid that throwing too many grenades would cause the floor to collapse, so he quickly stopped the soldiers who were about to continue throwing grenades: "Stop, everyone, stop, don't throw anymore!"
Oleg asked curiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, why don't you throw grenades?"
"If I throw it again, the ground will collapse. I don't want to fall and be buried with the Germans." Sokov ordered to stop throwing grenades for another reason. He felt that the German command post must be because of the church. The roof was destroyed by gunfire and moved to the basement. It would be a great achievement if we could capture the enemy's headquarters.
"If the Germans hide near the entrance of the cave and shoot coldly, we still won't be able to rush in." Oleg stared at the entrance of the cave and said with some embarrassment: "Then what should we do?"
"Oleg, you immediately go to the commander of the 33rd Guards Regiment. I remember that there are several flamethrowers in their regiment." Sokov looked at the entrance of the cave and said through gritted teeth: "Since the enemy does not come out, we will Burn them all inside.”
When Oleg was about to leave, a faint shout suddenly came from the black smoking hole. He quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what do the Germans in the basement seem to be shouting?"
Sokov pouted towards the entrance of the cave and told Oleg: "Go over and listen!"
Oleg carefully came to the entrance of the cave and squatted down, listening carefully to the sounds coming from inside. After a while, he heard clearly that someone below was shouting in broken Russian: "Don't throw grenades, we surrender!" Perhaps because he was afraid that the people above wouldn't hear, the person shouting kept repeating it.
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Oleg heard the shouting below clearly and turned to Sokov and said excitedly: "The Germans are shouting to us, saying that they want to surrender!"
Sokov also heard the Germans' shouting, but he could not confirm whether the Germans were really surrendering or pretending to surrender, so he said to Oleg: "Let them come out and surrender with a white flag!"
"People inside, listen." When Oleg heard what Sokov said, he quickly put his head into the hole at the risk and shouted loudly inside: "Come out and surrender immediately with a white flag!"
Not long after Oleg's shouting stopped, a slowly rising white flag emerged from the hole, and a German soldier wearing a helmet slowly walked up the stairs. Seeing the gun muzzles pointing at the black holes all around, he quickly waved the white flag in his hand twice, and said in broken Russian with a sad face: "We surrender!"
Sokov walked up to the German soldiers and said with a serious expression: "I am Major Sokov of the Soviet Army. I immediately order the people below to come out and surrender. I guarantee the personal safety of all of you."
The German soldier glanced at Sokov's collar badge and confirmed that he was the supreme commander here. Then he turned and shouted in German below. Not long after, first twenty or thirty disgraced German soldiers came up the stairs dejectedly. Behind them was a group of well-dressed officers. In addition to several school-level officers, Sokov also saw a female second lieutenant.
A German colonel stopped in front of Sokov, raised his hand in salute and said: "I am Colonel Schwab, the commander of the regiment, and I surrender to you now!" After saying that, he pulled out his pistol and handed it to him with both hands. Sokov.
Sokov took the opponent's pistol and said with a straight face: "On behalf of the 16th Army of the Soviet Red Army, I accept your surrender! I will ensure the personal safety of all of you."
"Thank you, Mr. Major!" Colonel Schwab thanked him, raised his hand in salute, and followed the other prisoners outside.
After Schwab left, Sokov suddenly realized that the other party was communicating with him in Russian. He quickly stopped the other party and said to him: "Colonel Schwab, I want to ask you to order the troops to stop resisting. To reduce unnecessary casualties on both sides!"
Regarding Sokov's request, Schwab nodded slightly in agreement, then turned around and said a few words to the female second lieutenant in the crowd. Although Sokov couldn't understand what he said, he could clearly hear the name of the female second lieutenant: Elizabeth.
