Sameko still strongly agrees with Sokov's statement. Despite the low combat effectiveness of the Italian army, if they really stumbled the Germans, they would still be enough to give the Germans a drink. He had a bold idea in his mind and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, do you think we can send troops to rescue these Italian soldiers and then let them join our side?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov said, shaking his head slightly after waiting for Samyko to finish: "We can send people to rescue them when necessary. But as for letting them join us and fight the Germans ,I think that we should give up."
"Why?" Sameko asked in confusion: "Even if the Italian army's combat effectiveness is weak, there should be no problem in letting them assist us in fighting, right?"
"I heard that there is a saying in the German army that if they fight with the Italian army, they must allocate half of their troops to protect them to prevent them from being annihilated by the enemy." Sokov said with a smile: "During the Battle of Stalingrad During the counterattack phase, our counterattack troops first broke through the Italian army's defense line, which led to the collapse of the German's overall defense line and created conditions for the complete annihilation of Paulus's Sixth Army.
Also, the Battle of Kursk that ended not long ago. In fact, the Germans already have the upper hand. If Manstein puts his reserves into battle, our army's defense in the Prokhorovka area will be broken through by the German army. However, as the British and American troops landed in Sicily and defeated the Italian army, Mustache saw that the situation was not good and quickly transferred Manstein's reserve team, giving our army a good opportunity to readjust its deployment. "
Hearing what Sokov said, Samek felt that it made sense. He nodded and asked casually: "Comrade Commander, how do you think the Germans will deal with these imprisoned Italian soldiers?"
After reaching an agreement with Britain and the United States, Italy announced its withdrawal from the Axis Powers and declared war on Germany. The supreme commander of the German army also formulated a plan in time: to disarm the Italian army and take over all political institutions and communication facilities in Italy. The plan stipulates: To defeat the Italian Motorized Army, the Italian Army (Fourth Army) in mainland Italy, southern France and the Italian Army in Southeast Europe (Army Group Este stationed in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, under the jurisdiction of the 2nd, The 9th and 11th armies) were disarmed, captured or disbanded, and then occupied Rome and transferred 10 additional German divisions to Italy.
"What else can be done is to disarm them and then put them in prison camps or concentration camps and let them fend for themselves." Sokov said: "Our scouts found that these imprisoned Italian soldiers are probably just Sud A very small part of the battlefield.”
"Comrade Commander, do you think we should report this matter to our superiors?"
Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch and found that it was not yet six o'clock, and Konev should not have gotten up yet. So he said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it is still early now. I will report this matter to Commander Konev after eight o'clock in the morning."
As soon as eight o'clock arrived, Sokov called Konev directly and discovered a prisoner of war camp in the forest outside Dergach, which contained no less than 5,000 disarmed Italian troops.
Unexpectedly, after listening to this, Konev said impatiently: "Comrade Sokov, our troops are mobilizing intensively to prepare to attack the enemies in the Kharkov area, but what did you tell me about a group of Italians?" The troops were disarmed by the Germans and imprisoned in the forest outside Dergach.
Your main task now is to find ways to hold the occupied area, and after our attack begins, fully protect our flanks and provide us with the help you can. Understand? "
Seeing that Konev had no interest in this matter, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He answered with a bitter look on his face: "I understand, Comrade Commander of the Front Army."
Lunev, who was sitting aside, saw Sokov put down the phone with a frustrated look, and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I think you are not in a good mood. What did General Konev say?"
Sokov smiled bitterly and replied: "Comrade Military Commissar, General Konev thinks I am a bit nosy, saying that the main task now is to attack Kharkov and eliminate the enemies entrenched there. And our task is to After the main force of the front launches the attack, cover their flanks and cooperate with their actions at the appropriate time.”
Hearing that Sokov was criticized by Konev for this matter, Samyko couldn't sit still. He blushed and apologized to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I shouldn't have done this to you." This idea caused you to be criticized by the commander of the front army. This is all my fault, please forgive me!"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are not responsible for this matter. You don't have to blame yourself." Sokov waved his hand at Samyko and said magnanimously: "Since we have discovered such a situation, it is our duty to report it to our superiors. If we conceal it and don't report it, we will still be criticized after our superiors learn about it through their exclusive channels."
"Comrade Commander," Luniev waited for Sameko to finish, then said, "I think this matter is of great importance, and I'm afraid it would be inappropriate if it was not reported."
Samyko didn't wait for Lunev to finish speaking, and rushed to say: "Comrade Military Commissar, the commander was criticized by General Konev just for this matter. Who should we report to?"
"Leave this matter to me." Lunev volunteered and said: "I can report this matter to Comrade Beria, and he will then forward it to the Supreme Commander himself."
Hearing Lunev say that he planned to bring the matter directly to Beria, Sokov was immediately startled. If he agreed to do this, it would be equivalent to giving Konev eye drops. Then he would think about it in the future. Not wanting to get mixed up in the grassland front army, he quickly stopped Lunev: "No, Comrade Military Commissar, we cannot directly bring this matter to the Supreme Command, but should report it to the appropriate person."
Runev asked curiously: "Who is the right person?"
"Marshal Zhukov," Sokov replied without hesitation: "With Marshal Zhukov's status, after getting this information from us, he can quickly analyze the reasons and purposes of the Germans. That's it, I Call Marshal Zhukov immediately and report this matter to him."
Sokov's guess was correct. When Zhukov learned on the phone that the Germans had disarmed more than 5,000 Italian troops and sent them to the prisoner-of-war camp in the forest outside Dergach, he specifically asked: "Mr. Sha, is this news reliable?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal, this news is completely reliable." Sokov knew what Zhukov was worried about. If the information he provided was wrong, it might cause the Supreme Command to make wrong judgments, so he quickly explained: "I After receiving this information, the director of the reconnaissance department found it incredible and called the scout back to verify the matter. Although the other party gave him a positive answer, he was still not sure, so he came to see me with the director of the intelligence department... "
After Zhukov patiently listened to Sokov's story, he asked noncommittally: "What do you think the Germans' purpose is for doing this?"
"Comrade Marshal, based on my judgment." Anyway, the news of the negotiations between Italy and the British and American Allies has not yet come. Sokov simply told Zhukov these real things that happened in history as his own analysis: "It should be It was the Italian army that could not withstand the attack of the British and American troops and planned to surrender to the Allies. The Germans got this news and were worried that the Italian army on the Soviet-German battlefield would stand with us as Italy surrendered, so they first To be aggressive, disarm and imprison the Italian troops in their defense zone in advance.”
"Misha, what you said does sound reasonable." Zhukov said slowly: "But do you have any evidence to support your analysis?"
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Fortunately, before Sokov called to report to Konev, he received another telegram from the scouts behind enemy lines and obtained more information. Although Konev had no intention of listening to his own report, he reported the same thing to Zhukov: "Our scouts discovered that a group of Italian soldiers were disarmed by the Germans after arriving at the prisoner of war camp. Several of them refused to disarm. He was directly shot to death by the German soldiers guarding the prisoner of war camp.
Comrade Marshal, think about it, Germany and Italy have always been allies. Not to mention that they fought side by side during the Battle of Stalingrad. Even during the Battle of Kursk that ended not long ago, Germany was worried that the Italian army would not be able to stop the Anglo-American alliance. The army even transferred the only armored corps reserve in Manstein's hands. As a result, Manstein, who originally had the upper hand, was defeated by our army due to lack of troops. "
"Yes, according to the information I have obtained, the reason why the Berlin High Command transferred Manstein's reserves away was because they were worried that the Italian army would not be able to stop the attack of the British and American Allies in Sicily." Zhukov said in agreement: "Now that I have listened to your analysis, it is very possible that Italy will surrender to the British and American troops in a short period of time."
"Then what should we do?" Sokov heard from Zhukov's tone that he was very interested in these Italian prisoners of war, so he asked tentatively: "Should we stand still or send troops to rescue them?"
"How many German troops are there in Dergach?" Zhukov did not immediately answer Sokov's question, but asked instead: "How many German troops are there guarding prisoner of war camps in the forest?"
Sokov has long been familiar with these data. Now that Zhukov asked, he answered clearly: "The enemy's troops stationed in Dergach are a regiment of the 168th Infantry Division, plus a tank battalion and two An artillery regiment. The German troops guarding the prisoner of war camp were two companies of the SS."
When Zhukov heard this, he couldn't help but muttered in a low voice: "No wonder!"
When Sokov heard what Zhukov whispered, he couldn't help but asked curiously: "Comrade Marshal, what's wrong with you?"
"Misha, didn't you report to me that some Italian troops were unwilling to be disarmed and were shot by the Germans?" Zhukov said: "I was just wondering when the Germans became so cruel, even their own allies They all say kill them. Since the guards of these prisoners of war are SS, then the matter makes sense."
After chatting for a while, Zhukov thought of an important question and asked Sokov: "Misha, have you reported such important information to Konev?"
"Reported!"
"Reported?" Zhukov asked with some confusion: "Then what did he say after hearing it?"
If Zhukov had not asked, Sokov would not have taken the initiative to mention Konev's attitude towards him. But since the other party asked, he should answer truthfully: "He was a little unhappy when I reported this to him."
"A little unhappy?" Zhukov asked puzzledly: "Why?"
"He said that the current primary task of the front troops is to complete the assembly as soon as possible and launch an attack on the German troops entrenched in the Kharkov area. The task of our group army is to cover the flanks of the attacking troops and coordinate with friendly forces at the appropriate time. achieve strategic goals.”
"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." After hearing this, Zhukov said with some displeasure: "Yes, our first priority at the moment is to liberate Kharkov and eliminate the enemies entrenched in this area. But we can't do it because we are busy. Are we going to ignore such important news while we are on the offensive? You know, if we rescue the Italian army from the German prisoner-of-war camps, we might be able to play an unexpected role."
Hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov immediately understood that the other party was planning to send troops to rescue the imprisoned Italian prisoners. There were only two companies of the SS guarding the prisoner-of-war camp. Even if one company had 200 men at full strength, the total strength would be 400 men, which was only equivalent to one of its own battalions. It is not difficult at all to eliminate them.
"A little unhappy?" Zhukov asked puzzledly: "Why?"
"He said that the current primary task of the front troops is to complete the assembly as soon as possible and launch an attack on the German troops entrenched in the Kharkov area. The task of our group army is to cover the flanks of the attacking troops and coordinate with friendly forces at the appropriate time. achieve strategic goals.”
"Nonsense, it's just nonsense." After hearing this, Zhukov said with some displeasure: "Yes, our first priority at the moment is to liberate Kharkov and eliminate the enemies entrenched in this area. But we can't do it because we are busy. Are we going to ignore such important news while we are on the offensive? You know, if we rescue the Italian army from the German prisoner-of-war camps, we might be able to play an unexpected role."
Hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov immediately understood that the other party was planning to send troops to rescue the imprisoned Italian prisoners. There were only two companies of the SS guarding the prisoner-of-war camp. Even if one company had 200 men at full strength, the total strength would be 400 men, which was only equivalent to one of its own battalions. It is not difficult at all to eliminate them.
