In the next half hour, Sokov continued to receive reports from each division, saying that after launching artillery attacks on the enemy, the enemy threw away the civilians between the two army positions and fled back to the bastion in panic. However, due to various reasons, civilian casualties still occurred.
Although the divisions were vague about civilian casualties in their reports, Sokov knew very well that the civilian casualties must be very heavy. Konev saw Sokov's melancholy and comforted him: "Comrade Sokov, don't blame yourself, you have done a great job. This is a blood debt owed by the Germans to us, and sooner or later we will have to pay it to you." They asked for it back.”
After listening to Konev's consolation, Sokov nodded with a wry smile and asked: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, once we take the Merefa Fortress, what should we do next?"
"After the fortress is captured, you will be responsible for holding it." Konev said: "Your troops have been fighting continuously for such a long time. The commanders and soldiers should be very tired, so they should rest for a while here at Merefa Fortress."
"Then when can we go into battle again?" Samek asked from the side.
Konev looked at the two of them, smiled and shook his head: "I really didn't expect that you are so focused on participating in the battle. Aren't you worried that the troops will be too tired, which will lead to a decrease in combat effectiveness?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Sameko replied: "Most of the commanders and fighters in our unit have passed through German prisoner-of-war camps. They were tortured there and their hearts were full of hatred for the Germans. Even for one day. There will be no rest and it will not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops."
Samek's words reminded Sokov of a problem: Most of the commanders and fighters in his unit were rescued from German prisoner-of-war camps. They suffered inhuman torture in the enemy's prisoner-of-war camps, and their hearts were full of sorrow. Hatred of the Germans. This hatred is used to motivate them to kill the enemy heroically on the battlefield, which is something everyone wants to see. But if the troops enter Germany in the future, will they transfer this hatred to German civilians?
After Konev and Samyko chatted for a while, they found that Sokov was silent there, and asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, what are you thinking about?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov said, thinking that the problems he was worried about would be common in the future, and it was necessary to inoculate Konev first and make him prepare in advance: "I heard the chief of staff say, The hearts of the officers and soldiers were filled with hatred for the Germans."
"Yes, he did say that." Konev nodded and asked in confusion: "Is there something wrong?"
"This is what I'm worried about now." Sokov explained to Konev: "The hearts of the commanders and fighters are filled with hatred for the Germans, which allows them to maintain strong combat effectiveness on the battlefield, but if we wait When they invade German territory in the future, will it be a disaster if they transfer this hatred to ordinary German civilians?"
"Comrade Commander," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Samyko retorted: "You underestimate the consciousness of our commanders and soldiers. What they hate is only the enemies who fight us with weapons, not ordinary people. . I believe that even if our army enters German territory in the future, it will not act excessively against German civilians."
"Yes, Comrade Sokov." Konev waited for Samyko to finish and then echoed: "I think you are thinking too much. Our commanders and combatants are soldiers, not animals. How could they do something similar to What about the incompatibility of their identities?”
He turned to look at Samyko and said in a joking tone: "General Samyko, we are still thinking about how to drive the enemy out of our territory. Comrade Sokov has already considered invading Germany. It is indeed better than We are more forward-thinking.”
Seeing that neither Konev nor Samyko took this matter seriously, Sokov knew that it would be useless to talk any more. After all, it would take more than a year before the Soviet army could invade German territory. It would be too early to talk about this matter at this time.
Without the constraints of civilians, the offensive of the 27th Army commanders and fighters became more fierce. From commanders at all levels to the soldiers below, everyone knows that new rockets can be directly fired into the bastion, causing internal fires, making it impossible for the enemy to stay in the fire and hypoxic environment, and can only escape from the bastion. Then you can use intensive firepower to eliminate them.
But the subsequent progress greatly exceeded Sokov's expectations. There were six fortresses in the Merefa Fortress. The 84th Division, the 254th Division and the 182nd Division each captured one, and the remaining three bastions were However, when the Soviet commanders and fighters approached the bastion, they stopped shooting and raised a white flag on the roof.
When he learned that white flags had been hoisted in the three bastions still occupied by the Germans, Sokov couldn't help but be stunned: What kind of medicine were the Germans selling in their gourds, and they actually took the initiative to hoist the white flags? Is there any conspiracy behind this? Is it a plan to wait for the Soviet troops to approach and surrender, and then suddenly start shooting, causing serious damage to the Soviet commanders and fighters?
But then I thought about it, even if this was a German conspiracy, and they wanted to wait until the Soviet troops were close to surrender, but the damage they could cause to their own side was still very limited. And after they do this, they will encounter crazy artillery fire from the Soviet army. Sokov will definitely concentrate all the artillery fire on the remaining three bastions, annihilate all the German troops inside, and avenge the innocent sacrifice of the commanders and soldiers. .
After thinking about this, Sokov ordered Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell the division commanders to send people to accept the surrender immediately. Remember, although the Germans have raised a white flag, no one knows whether they have conspiracy, so the commanders and soldiers who went to accept the surrender must remain vigilant enough to avoid falling into the German army’s tricks.”
"Comrade Commander," Samyko introduced to Sokov: "How about I call Colonel Koida and ask the 188th Division to accept the surrender first, while the rest of the troops are on standby temporarily so that we can figure out the Germans?" Why do this?"
"Okay." Sokov agreed with Samek's proposal: "After sending personnel to accept the surrender, they must report to us everything that happened there in a timely manner so that we can make correct judgments."
After receiving the call from Sameko, Koida immediately called Lieutenant Colonel Kleba, the commander of the 564th Regiment, and said to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, General Sameko, Chief of Staff of the Group Army, called and asked us to To accept the surrender of the Germans. I leave this glorious and arduous task to your regiment."
"Comrade Division Commander," although Kreba also saw the white flag raised on the bastion, he was skeptical: "Comrade Division Commander, I think there is something wrong with this matter."
"Something's wrong, what's wrong?"
"The enemy was fighting us to the death not long ago. In order to prevent us from occupying the bastion, they even placed civilians in the middle of the two army positions to prevent us from taking any rash actions." Kleba reminded Koida: "But now But a white flag was raised on the bastion, which looks like a conspiracy no matter how you look at it.”
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Koida said disapprovingly after hearing this: "I know what you are worried about, but don't worry, since the headquarters has given us the order to surrender, it must have considered all the issues that should be considered. You Just follow the orders."
Kleba originally questioned the order from the headquarters, but after hearing what Koida said, he could only agree reluctantly: "Okay, comrade division commander, then I will personally take people to receive the prisoners."
After receiving the order from Koida, Kleba returned to the regiment and gave the order to the deputy regiment commander and chief of staff to set up machine gun and artillery positions. Once they found something wrong with the Germans, they would open fire directly. Scruple for your own comfort.
Creba took a translator and a squad of soldiers and walked towards the bastion.
Along the way, he saw people lying dead in various postures near the bastion. Among them were Germans, Soviet commanders and combatants, and even many women, old people and children. These civilians should all be dead. He died at the gunpoint of the Germans.
Seeing this scene, Creba couldn't help but burst into anger. He wanted to pull out his pistol and knock down every German who appeared in front of him. But in the end, his reason defeated his impulse. He asked the German lieutenant who greeted him outside the bastion: "Mr. Lieutenant, when can you let us see your commander?"
"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, my commander is waiting for you in the office in the bastion." The German lieutenant who came to greet them knew some Russian and said to him politely: "Please follow me, and I will take you to see him."
Kleba and the translator followed the German lieutenant to the door of a room on the third floor. The lieutenant turned to Kreba and said: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, please wait here for a moment. I will go in and report to the commander."
The lieutenant pushed the door open and closed it, leaving Creba and the translator outside the room.
Not long after, the door opened from the inside. The lieutenant came to Creba and asked politely: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, my major is waiting for you inside. Please come in."
After Creba entered, he saw a bald German commander sitting behind a table. When the bald officer saw Creba coming in, he quickly stood up from his seat and put the big-brimmed hat on the table on his head.
After seeing clearly that the other party was a major, Creba showed a disdainful expression on his face: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, are you the highest commander in this bastion?"
"Yes, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." The German major nodded and said, "I am the supreme commander of this bastion." In the next half hour, Sokov continued to receive reports from each division, saying After launching an artillery bombardment against the enemy, the enemy threw away the civilians between the two army positions and fled back to the bastion in panic. However, due to various reasons, civilian casualties still occurred.
Although the divisions were vague about civilian casualties in their reports, Sokov knew very well that the civilian casualties must be very heavy. Konev saw Sokov's melancholy and comforted him: "Comrade Sokov, don't blame yourself, you have done a great job. This is a blood debt owed by the Germans to us, and sooner or later we will have to pay it to you." They asked for it back.”
After listening to Konev's consolation, Sokov nodded with a wry smile and asked: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, once we take the Merefa Fortress, what should we do next?"
"After the fortress is captured, you will be responsible for holding it." Konev said: "Your troops have been fighting continuously for such a long time. The commanders and soldiers should be very tired, so they should rest for a while here at Merefa Fortress."
"Then when can we go into battle again?" Samek asked from the side.
Konev looked at the two of them, smiled and shook his head: "I really didn't expect that you are so focused on participating in the battle. Aren't you worried that the troops will be too tired, which will lead to a decrease in combat effectiveness?"
"No, Comrade Commander." Sameko replied: "Most of the commanders and fighters in our unit have passed through German prisoner-of-war camps. They were tortured there and their hearts were full of hatred for the Germans. Even for one day. There will be no rest and it will not affect the combat effectiveness of the troops."
Samek's words reminded Sokov of a problem: Most of the commanders and fighters in his unit were rescued from German prisoner-of-war camps. They suffered inhuman torture in the enemy's prisoner-of-war camps, and their hearts were full of sorrow. Hatred of the Germans. This hatred is used to motivate them to kill the enemy heroically on the battlefield, which is something everyone wants to see. But if the troops enter Germany in the future, will they transfer this hatred to German civilians?
After Konev and Samyko chatted for a while, they found that Sokov was silent there, and asked curiously: "Comrade Sokov, what are you thinking about?"
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov thought, thinking that the problems he was worried about would be common in the future, and it was necessary to inoculate Konev first and make him prepare in advance: "I heard the chief of staff say, The hearts of the officers and soldiers were filled with hatred for the Germans."
"Yes, he did say that." Konev nodded and asked in confusion: "Is there something wrong?"
"This is what I am worried about now." Sokov explained to Konev: "The hearts of the commanders and fighters are filled with hatred for the Germans, which allows them to maintain strong combat effectiveness on the battlefield, but if we wait When they invade German territory in the future, will it be a disaster if they transfer this hatred to ordinary German civilians?"
"Comrade Commander," as soon as Sokov finished speaking, Samyko retorted: "You underestimate the consciousness of our commanders and soldiers. What they hate is only the enemies who fight us with weapons, not ordinary people. . I believe that even if our troops enter German territory in the future, they will not do anything excessive towards German civilians."
He turned to look at Samyko and said in a joking tone: "General Samyko, we are still thinking about how to drive the enemy out of our territory. Comrade Sokov has already considered invading Germany. It is indeed better than We have more vision.”
Seeing that neither Konev nor Samyko took this matter seriously, Sokov knew that it would be useless to talk any more. After all, it would take more than a year before the Soviet army could invade German territory. It would be too early to talk about this matter at this time.
Without the constraints of civilians, the offensive of the 27th Army commanders and fighters became more fierce. From commanders at all levels to the soldiers below, everyone knows that new rockets can be fired directly into the bastion, causing internal fires, making it impossible for the enemy to stay in the fire and hypoxic environment, and can only escape from the bastion. Then you can use intensive firepower to eliminate them.
