Sokov stood in the observation post, raised his binoculars and looked at the commanders and soldiers approaching the enemy's position, secretly calculating in his mind how far they had to be from the enemy's position before they would be intercepted by fire.
Soon, the tank leading the way was only 150 meters away from the enemy's position, but the enemy still did not fire. They could only hear the sound of gunfire in the distance and see billowing smoke.
"Comrade division commander, what's going on?" Seeing that the enemy still didn't fire, Ivanov, who was standing next to Sokov, also looked confused. He asked in confusion: "Why didn't the enemy fire yet?"
Sokov was equally puzzled. He felt in his heart that the enemy might have some conspiracy, and planned to wait until his own tanks approached their position, and then use the anti-tank crew to destroy the tanks. As long as the tanks opening the way ahead are destroyed, the infantry following behind will only end up being massacred. In the battle at Holm at the beginning of last year, the German army used such tactics to defeat the Soviet army whose strength was several times greater than its own.
"Comrade Division Commander, I don't understand why you don't understand why artillery bombards the enemy's positions before the attack begins?" Political Commissar Anisimov asked curiously: "You know, before our army launches an attack on the enemy's positions, , they all bombarded them with artillery fire first, and then sent out tanks and infantry to attack."
"Comrade Political Commissar, we must use artillery rationally according to the situation on the battlefield." Sokov explained to Anisimov: "The violent artillery bombardment before the attack can destroy some solid defenses, but it can kill many enemies. But very few. Therefore, before the bombardment started, except for a few troops left to monitor our army, the cunning enemy retreated to the second line of defense to avoid our bombardment. When our bombardment ended and the ground troops began to attack, The troops who retreated to the second line quickly returned to their positions through the communication trenches to block our army.
We now have a limited number of artillery shells. Even if we conduct shelling in advance, the number of fortifications that can be destroyed will be very limited. Rather than wasting precious artillery shells on some small targets, it is better to let the artillery advance in front of the enemy's position. Once we find a firepower point that threatens our attacking troops, just use direct artillery fire to destroy it. "
The three of them were talking, and the tank moved forward for several dozen meters. The German trenches were still quiet. Ivanov frowned and thought for a while, then put forward a new view: "Comrade division commander, do you think the Germans thought that we would not attack, so they transferred all their troops to the west to fight with all their strength?" To prevent friendly forces from attacking?”
"I don't think so." Sokov shook his head and denied Ivanov's statement: "Even if the German army wants to deploy its main forces in the west, they will definitely leave enough troops in the trenches to attack us. Implement alert. But look at the other side, the enemy seems not prepared at all."
Just when everyone was making various speculations, something unexpected happened. But when the leading tank was still more than fifty meters away from the German position, a white flag was actually raised in the trench that had been silent. Although no one could be seen, the white flag kept waving.
"Hell, the Germans surrendered." Seeing this scene, Sokov exclaimed in surprise: "They actually surrendered to our army without firing a shot. This is simply incredible."
In order to find out what was going on, Sokov walked to the radio and asked the operator to connect Bely. He asked loudly into the transmitter: "Colonel Bely, are the enemies in the trenches attacking you?" Waving the white flag?”
"Yes, Misha." Bely said in confusion: "I also saw the white flag in the trench, so I sent a tank to check and find out what was going on."
"Okay." Knowing that Bely had sent someone to check, Sokov specifically told him: "Comrade Colonel, there had better be someone who understands German in the tank you sent, otherwise you won't be able to figure out what the Germans want." What to do."
"Don't worry, Misha." Bely said confidently: "The commander of the tank I sent knows German. He will figure out what happened."
Sokov returned to the lookout, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. All the tanks in the tank brigade stopped advancing, and the infantry following also slowed down, as if they wanted to figure out what was happening ahead. After a while, a tank broke away from the formation and drove towards the enemy's trench.
The tank came to a stop four or five meters away from the German position, but it did not shut off. The top cover of the turret was opened, and a tank soldier wearing a tank cap and a black one-piece tank suit leaned out half of his body. He first looked around, and when he saw nothing was going on, he boldly got out of the turret, jumped off the tank and trotted towards the location of the white flag.
Seeing him disappear into the trench, Sokov's heart couldn't help but feel in his throat. He was worried about what danger might happen to this unknown tanker. He was even thinking in his mind whether he should remind Colonel Bely to have the tanks aim their muzzles at that position, and fire at the enemy immediately if there was any sign of trouble.
But what Sokov was worried about did not happen. He soon saw the tank soldier crawling out of the trench, running quickly to the tank, and shouting something at another tank soldier who leaned out.
Not long after the tank soldier with half of his body exposed from the turret retracted, Sokov heard the radio operator calling him from behind: "Comrade division commander, Colonel Bely wants to talk to you."
Sokov put down the telescope, walked quickly to the walkie-talkie, took the earphone and microphone, and asked: "Comrade Colonel, what is the situation there?"
"Misha, good news, the Germans have surrendered." After Bely said this excitedly, he may have felt that he did not express himself clearly, and added: "My subordinates have asked, and all the German officers and soldiers in the trenches have They often come here to eat. Now that they saw us attacking them, they felt that there was no point in continuing to resist, so they took the initiative to lay down their weapons and surrender to us."
"Great, this is really great." When he learned that the German army on the opposite side was willing to surrender, Sokov couldn't help but feel elated, because he knew very well that no matter how much advantage he had, he had to seize the enemy's position and rush over to fight with the infantry. The 23rd Division joined forces, and the casualties among the troops may not be small. At worst, there will be two to three hundred casualties. Now that the Germans surrender voluntarily, they can avoid the casualties of the troops. For the German commander who made this decision, Sokov wanted to personally award him a medal. "Comrade Colonel, let the enemies come out of the trenches and let our troops take over their defense."
"Understood." Bely agreed: "I will pass on your order immediately."
Sokov put down his earphones and microphone, returned to the lookout, and said to Ivanov and Anisimov: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander and Political Commissar, I got the exact news from Colonel Bely that the enemy has already Surrendered to us. Let the soldiers of the flag guard take out the military flag, and we will go over now to join forces with friendly forces."
"Go there now?" Ivanov looked at the German position in the same distance and asked with some worry: "But the enemy has not left the position yet."
"Then wait a few more minutes." Sokov picked up the telescope and looked at the German positions in the distance: "We will set off as soon as our commanders take over the enemy's positions."
The tank soldier in charge of the negotiation jumped into the trench again. In less than a minute, countless helmets appeared in the trench. Soon, the German soldiers wearing steel helmets crawled out of the trenches on their hands and knees, holding their hands high, and faced the Soviet infantry. Seeing that the enemies were coming out of the trenches, the commanders and soldiers in charge of the attack quickened their pace and went up to take over the prisoners and positions.
"Okay, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Seeing that the surrendered prisoners were all being guarded by his own soldiers, Sokov turned to Ivanov and said, "Let's go meet the friendly forces."
Sokov came this time, bringing only Samoilov's guard platoon. When he went out, Ivanov saw that there was only one guard platoon, and said with some regret: "Comrade division commander, if I had known that we would be able to join forces with friendly forces so soon, we should have brought more people over."
"Isn't Seryosha in the 122nd regiment?" Sokov suddenly remembered that in order to strengthen the anti-tank strength of each regiment, he specifically asked Seryosha to lead a guard company to move back and forth in the defense areas of the three regiments. Now it is time to join forces with friendly forces, and it is just a good time for them to participate in this grand occasion.
Seryosha has been panicking ever since he learned that Sokov came to the regimental command post. He knew that the rendezvous with friendly forces could be achieved today, and he wanted to follow Sokov to witness this great historical moment. But he couldn't just go to the regiment command post without receiving an order.
Just when he was restless like an ant on a hot pot, a soldier suddenly ran over, saluted him, and said loudly: "Lieutenant Seryosha, the division commander ordered you to assemble your men to join the meeting. "
"What, to participate in the rendezvous?" Seryosha recognized the other party as a soldier from Lieutenant Samoilov's platoon. He knew that the news must be true, but he still asked cautiously: "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true, Comrade Lieutenant." The soldier said impatiently: "Division Commander and the others are preparing the flag for the meeting and are about to set off. Please hurry up."
"The guard company must assemble!" Seryosha learned that Sokov and the others were about to set off. How could he dare to neglect? He quickly walked out of the shelter and stood in the trench and shouted loudly: "The guard company must assemble urgently!"
Following the shouting, the first three platoon commanders ran out. They all asked Seryozha: "Comrade company commander, do we have any combat missions?"
"The division commander's order!" Seryozha said in a loud voice: "Let us gather immediately and escort the division leaders to join forces with friendly forces!"
"Hurrah!" The three platoon leaders cheered after hearing the mission clearly. They ran to the door of the shelter where their platoon was located and shouted inside: "Comrades, assemble, assemble. We are going to escort the division commander to the The friendly forces have joined forces, so be quick in your movements."
The soldiers of the guard company who had long been frustrated in the shelter did not dare to neglect after hearing the good news from the platoon leader. They quickly put their weapons on their backs, rushed out of the shelter, and lined up in a row in the trench.
When Seryosha arrived at the designated location with more than a hundred soldiers from the guard company, he found that Sokov and the others had already set off. I saw Samoilov's guard platoon and soldiers from the regiment arranged in three columns, with thirty people in each column. Sokov, Ivanov and Anisimov walked in the middle of the second column. A staff sergeant holding the flag of the Guards Division held high walked beside Sokov.
Seeing this situation, Seryosha quickly divided his guard company into four columns and followed Sokov and the others obediently. Walking towards the area where the fighting is still taking place in the distance.
Although all the German troops in the position that the 122nd Regiment was preparing to attack had surrendered. However, the German troops in the distance were still blocking the attack of the 23rd Infantry Division. After they discovered Sokov and his party, they immediately bombarded them with mortars.
A cannonball landed more than ten meters away from the team and exploded, stirring up a pillar mixed with snow powder and mud. Apart from the snow powder and mud being scattered all over several soldiers, it did not cause any casualties.
Seeing German mortars bombarding the military flag in the distance, the Soviet commanders and soldiers who occupied the position immediately rushed along the communication trench to another German line of defense, trying to eliminate the enemy's mortars and ensure the safety of the military flag.
The German officers and soldiers who were desperately resisting the attack of the 23rd Infantry Division never imagined that the troops behind them would take the initiative to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Soviet army without firing a shot. Facing the Soviet troops rushing up from behind, their morale was extremely low. After firing random shots, some people began to lay down their weapons and surrender to Sokov's troops.
With the person taking the lead in surrender, the officers and soldiers nearby who had long wanted to fight immediately imitated the situation and raised their hands to surrender. The commanders and fighters of the 23rd Infantry Division, who had been suppressed by enemy firepower and found it difficult to advance, saw that the enemy's resistance weakened or even stopped. They got up from the ground one after another and bravely rushed towards the enemy's position with weapons in hand.
The enemy's resistance stopped. The troops of the 23rd Infantry Division and Sokov's troops were less than 100 meters apart. Both sides stopped at the same time and faced each other along the criss-crossing trenches and communication trenches.
Sokov, who was walking forward beside the military flag, suddenly saw a bright red military flag rising in the crowd opposite. Surrounding the military flag, there were also several commanders wearing big-brimmed hats. He turned to the people on his left and said loudly: "Comrades, Colonel Sivakov of the Allied Forces has come to join us. Everyone, please move faster."
With the person taking the lead in surrender, the officers and soldiers nearby who had long wanted to fight immediately imitated the situation and raised their hands to surrender. The commanders and fighters of the 23rd Infantry Division, who had been suppressed by enemy firepower and found it difficult to advance, saw that the enemy's resistance weakened or even stopped. They got up from the ground one after another and bravely rushed towards the enemy's position with weapons in hand.
The enemy's resistance stopped. The troops of the 23rd Infantry Division and Sokov's troops were less than 100 meters apart. Both sides stopped at the same time and faced each other along the criss-crossing trenches and communication trenches.
Sokov, who was walking forward beside the military flag, suddenly saw a bright red military flag rising in the crowd opposite. Surrounding the military flag, there were also several commanders wearing big-brimmed hats. He turned to the people on his left and said loudly: "Comrades, Colonel Sivakov of the Allied Forces has come to join us. Everyone, please move faster."
