"Comrade Chief of Staff, when will the expert team arrive?"
"I don't know, my superiors didn't tell me." Sameko answered truthfully on the other end of the phone: "I just said they are leaving tonight. As for their specific travel time and what kind of transportation they will take, this is top secret. We can't Know."
"That would be troublesome. If I don't know their specific travel time and what mode of transportation they take, how can I know when they will arrive?"
"Comrade Commander," faced Sokov's confusion, Samek said tentatively: "Our current headquarters is outside the city anyway, so why not move it directly to the church. Then we will not only be able to command the troops in combat there; At the same time, the security forces at the group army headquarters can also help take care of cultural relics. This is a good thing that kills two birds with one stone, what do you think?"
When Sokov heard that Samyko's suggestion was a good idea, he nodded and said: "Yes, the war in the city is basically over anyway, so you should arrange this immediately and move the headquarters here as soon as possible. "
After ending the call, Sokov said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, I know very well that you want to use this as your division headquarters, but I regret to inform you that I intend to locate my headquarters in Here, please choose another location for the division headquarters."
Shechtman had long heard the conversation between Sokov and Samyko, and now he said with a smile: "No problem, Comrade Commander, I will notify the Chief of Staff later and look for a new location immediately. Establish division headquarters.”
He glanced at the soldiers who were still moving wooden shelves out of the basement, and then asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you still need to continue moving the things in the basement out?"
"No need," Sokov saw that less than half of the cultural relics on the list were placed in the hall, occupying a lot of space, and waved his hands and said, "Let the soldiers stop, the remaining things are just Let them stay in the basement. Once the expert team from Moscow arrives, I will arrange for people to move them out."
Upon hearing Sokov's order, Shechtman quickly called a staff officer standing not far away and told him: "Comrade Lieutenant, go to the basement to inform the people who are moving things outside and ask them to Don’t move out any further.”
When the staff officer agreed loudly and turned around to run towards the basement, Shechtman looked left and right, and then said to Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade Commander, I have one more important thing that I need to discuss with you." Please discuss it."
"Follow me," Sokov led Shechtman into the stairwell not far away and walked up the winding stone steps to the bell tower.
Seeing that there was no one on the bell tower except himself and Shechtman, Sokov raised his chin at the other party and said: "Comrade Colonel, there is no one here. If you have anything to say, just say it."
"It's about prisoners of war." Although there were no outsiders on the bell tower, Shechtman said cautiously: "Comrade Commander, are you really going to let go of the German captain named Grams?"
When Sokov heard Shechtman's question, he asked in surprise: "Didn't I agree to Captain Mikhailev? Since Captain Grams actively cooperated with our army and protected these cultural relics, I can preserve them." His life. Are you going to let me kill him and become a villain who breaks his word?"
"Comrade Commander, I am also thinking about you." Seeing Sokov's unhappy expression, Shechtman quickly explained to him: "Anyway, Captain Grams once led his men to the north of the city. The arson caused huge casualties to our troops and the residents of the city. I think the superiors will definitely pursue the matter after they find out about it. Are you planning to cause trouble for yourself just for the sake of a German officer?"
Unexpectedly, Sokov's expression became relaxed: "Comrade Colonel, it turns out you are worried about this matter. This is easy to handle. If the superiors investigate this matter, I will report that the culprits who set the fire have been arrested." We killed him."
"Killed?!" Shechtman exclaimed, "But if they discover Captain Grams, wouldn't everything be revealed?"
"I said the culprit killed by our army was not Captain Grams, but someone else."
"Others?" Shechtman asked puzzledly, "What others?"
"Isn't the SS officer who was killed by Captain Grams's men the culprit who set fire to the north of the city?" Sokov said without changing his face or heartbeat: "Everyone knows that the SS does all kinds of evil. Yes, the fire in the north of the city must have been caused by them and has nothing to do with the National Defense Forces."
Shechtman heard from Sokov's words that he intended to keep Grams, so he did not persuade him any more, but agreed with the flow: "You are right, Comrade Commander, It was indeed the SS in the city who set fire to the north of the city and caused heavy casualties to our troops and residents."
"Didn't Captain Grams also detain five SS soldiers when he surrendered?" Seeing that Shechtman did not object to his statement, Sokov continued: "I will order them all to be shot later. When the superiors investigate, you can say that after you capture the SS officers and soldiers who set fire to the north of the city, you will shoot them all on the spot."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Seeing that the matter was successfully resolved, Shechtman straightened his back and replied: "The SS officers and soldiers who set fire to the north of the city have all been shot after being captured by the officers and soldiers of our division."
Sokov was very satisfied with Shechtman's statement. He smiled and nodded, and then said: "Comrade Colonel, the wind is too strong on the bell tower. Let's go downstairs."
After going downstairs, Shechtman saw that the soldiers he sent to carry cultural relics were coming out of the basement one after another. He tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, do you allow me to leave? I need to find a suitable place to establish a division as soon as possible." Ministry’s place.”
"Permission, of course permission." Sokov naturally agreed to Shechtman's request very readily. He also reminded the other party specifically: "Let the commanders and fighters have a good rest. Maybe we will launch an attack on Kharkov tomorrow." .”
Knowing that the attack on Kharkov would be launched tomorrow, Shechtman couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, I will definitely let the commanders and soldiers have a good rest so that they can stay better when they engage in new battles." status."
When Colonel Billing and Shechtman walked out of the church side by side, they asked in a low voice: "Comrade division commander, our troops suffered too many losses in the battle to liberate Dergach. Why didn't you ask the commander when to give him the order?" How about our division replenishing it?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, you don't have to worry about this kind of thing." Shechtman understood Sokov's character and explained to his partner: "If Comrade Commander has extra troops, even if we don't say anything, , he will also take the initiative to supplement us. Since he did not mention this matter, it proves that he does not have extra troops, even if we did, we would not get supplements. "
Thinking that nearly half of the division's casualties were now, Billing felt uncomfortable. He asked reluctantly: "During this period, the casualties of each division are not light, and they all need to be supplemented. After the new soldiers sent by their superiors arrive, , and how much can it add to our division?"
Shechtman turned to look at the door of the church, smiled and asked Billing: "Comrade Political Commissar, are you willing to make a bet with me?"
"What bet?"
"Even if the superiors don't send new soldiers, Comrade Commander can still supplement us. Do you believe it?"
After Billing waited for Shechtman to finish speaking, he did not answer rashly whether he believed it or not, but thought about it carefully. This thought immediately startled him. He suddenly discovered that since the Battle of Kursk, the troops belonging to the group army had been replenished several times. Except for the old and weak remnants of the 182nd Division, the rest of the troops who had been added to the army were , all come from German prisoner-of-war camps. Most of them are veterans with rich combat experience. They can immediately go into battle after being incorporated into the army. Not only will it not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops, on the contrary, with their addition, the combat effectiveness of the troops will be further improved.
After thinking about this clearly, he suddenly realized that he almost jumped into the hole dug by Shechtman. According to Sokov's character, if he had the opportunity to liberate a few more prisoner-of-war camps, he would definitely integrate the rescued commanders and fighters into the army. , while replenishing the troops, it also gave these commanders and fighters who had suffered humiliation in the prisoner of war camps a chance to repay their blood debts to the German army.
"Haha, comrade division commander, I won't make this bet with you." Colonel Billing said with a smile: "If comrade commander feels that the loss of troops of each division is too large, even if he does not get any supplement from his superiors, he can think Methods can be used to obtain qualified soldiers to replenish the various units."
Seeing that Colonel Billing saw through his little trick, Shechtman laughed awkwardly. He quickly came to the jeep parked at the door of the church, opened the door, and greeted Billin diligently to get in the car: "Comrade Political Commissar, please get in the car."
After the two got on the bus, Billing asked Shechtman tentatively: "Comrade division commander, do you think the troops the commander will add to our division in the future will still come from those comrades rescued from prisoner of war camps?"
"Yes, Comrade Political Commissar, that's what I think." Shechtman did not hide his true thoughts from his partner: "To be honest, when the commander added the rescued commanders and fighters to the division, I felt I was very resistant. But after this battle, I found that the performance of these commanders and fighters whom I looked down upon on the battlefield far exceeded my imagination. It seems that the comrade commander has a better vision."
As Shechtman's political commissar and partner, Billing naturally understood his little thoughts. I originally wanted to consider how to persuade the other party to change their attitude towards the commanders and soldiers in the division who had been prisoners of war. Unexpectedly, after the battle, the other party's thinking took a 180-degree turn, and the huge change exceeded my own. expectations.
But it was a good thing that Shechtman's thoughts could change so quickly, so he struck while the iron was hot and said: "Comrade division commander, since you no longer discriminate against those commanders and combatants, can you ask the commander to give us more supplements next time. "
Shechtman nodded with a smile, then raised his hand and patted the driver twice on the shoulder, telling the driver: "Drive, let's go back to the division headquarters outside the city."
