Sameko asked in confusion: "What kind of consequences?"
"The remaining enemies in the fortress laid down their weapons and surrendered to us after receiving orders from General Wilhelm, commander of the 11th German Army." Sokov explained to Samyko and Konev: "If we shoot If we kill them and other Germans find out about this, do you think they will surrender to us? By then, in order to eliminate these stubborn enemies, we will have to make greater sacrifices and have wasted more time."
"Comrade Sokov is right!" After listening to what Sokov said, Konev unexpectedly expressed his support: "If the German soldiers who put down their arms and surrender are shot, it will have a negative impact on our reputation. If we encounter such a tough battle in the future, it may not be easy to get the enemy to surrender."
"But, Comrade Commander." Seeing Konev's support for Sokov's statement, Samyko became anxious: "Are we just going to watch these latest executioners who committed crimes against our people get away with it like this? ?”
Konev laughed, stood up and walked to Samyko, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "General Samyko, since the enemy has laid down his weapons, we will definitely not kill him." Him. But when they arrive at the prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, whether they can survive until the end of the war is beyond our control."
Sokov saw that Konev's ideas coincided with his own, and a smile appeared on his face. Konev's words were so clear that Samyko still thought for a while before he understood the truth. There was an expression of surprise on his face and he said excitedly: "I understand, Comrade Commander. Wait for these prisoners of war." After being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, naturally someone took care of them.”
He paused for a moment and then added: "The names of those German officers and soldiers who have put down their crimes should be written down and handed over to the people in the prisoner of war camps so that they can give these people 'special care.'"
Seeing that Samyko finally understood what he meant, Konev said with a smile: "You are right, General Samyko. Not only can the comrades in charge of the prisoner of war camps be used to deal with these damn Germans; even in During the escort, if they make any small mistakes, they can be punished mercilessly."
Konev raised his hand to look at the time and said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, since your troops have basically controlled the fortress and the railway terminal, I will rush back to the front army headquarters as soon as possible to give other troops The troops have assigned new combat missions."
Sokov knew that his troops' capture of the Merefa Fortress was only the first step for the troops to advance towards the Dnieper River defense line. Next, it would be the turn of the troops of the 7th Guards Army to launch an attack on Poltava. Together with Samyko, he personally sent Konev to the door of the headquarters.
"Comrade Sokov," Konev stretched out his hand to Sokov and said with a smile: "Your troops have no combat missions during this period, so just rest peacefully. Keep your spirits up and wait until new combat missions are issued. Only then can you devote yourself to new battles with full enthusiasm.”
After sending Konev away, Sokov ordered Samyko as soon as he returned to the headquarters: "Chief of Staff, call the artillery commander immediately and tell him that the artillery of the 7th Guards Army will be back in service soon. Let him Be prepared in advance to avoid being caught off guard.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko nodded and said, "I'll call the artillery commander immediately."
While Samek was on the phone, Sokov sat down and began to think about William Stemmerman. He vaguely remembered that half a year later, in January 1944, the 11th Army and the 1st Section of the 42nd Army, which belonged to the German 8th Army, with a total of six divisions and more than 60,000 people, were defeated by the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. A protrusion surrounding the Kanev area on the Dnieper River. The besieged troops included the elite Viking Armored Division and the Walloon Assault Brigade. In order to facilitate command, these besieged troops were all integrated into Stemmermann's German Army Group, commanded by William Stemmermann Artillery. The general commanded under unified command.
In order to prevent the tragedy of Paulus from happening again, Marshal Manstein, the commander of the German Army Group South, mobilized heavy troops to relieve the siege of the Stemermann Group. On February 10, under the command of Armored General Hube, the German army concentrated 100,000 armored troops from the 3rd Armored Corps and the 47th Armored Corps to carry out an arduous rescue operation, but was stubbornly blocked by four Soviet tank corps. , coupled with the warm weather causing the ground to become muddy, hindering the armored forces' offensive.
The battle lasted until February 15. After six days of bloody fighting, the German troops who came to the rescue dealt a heavy blow to the Soviet troops and opened a passage. However, they themselves also suffered heavy losses. Not counting the loss of more than half of the troops, the armor commanders above the platoon There were almost no casualties. They were less than ten kilometers away from the German troops in the encirclement, but these last ten kilometers were out of reach for the German troops who were trying to rescue the encirclement. It turned out to be a journey that they could never complete in their lifetime!
After receiving the report from the commander of the rescue force, Manstein had no choice but to send a telegram to William Stemmermann, telling the other party: "The strength of the rescue force has been exhausted, and your ministry can only rely on its own strength. Breakout!"
After William Stemmermann received this telegram, he fell into despair. Because among the surviving officers and soldiers, there were more than two thousand wounded. If we wanted to break through, these wounded would have to be abandoned. After a fierce ideological struggle, he decided to leave some medical staff to take care of the wounded and surrender to them when the Soviet army rushed over to save the lives of the wounded.
The rest of the besieged troops will use the cover of night and blizzard to protrude from the Soviet encirclement at 23:00 on February 16.
More than ten hours before the breakout battle began, the Soviet army sent representatives to persuade them to surrender, hoping that Wilhelm Stemermann would order the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender, but the Soviet army's proposal was rejected by him.
After receiving the reply from the representatives who persuaded them to surrender, Konev said to everyone in the headquarters: "Comrades, we have given the Germans a chance to surrender. Since they do not cherish this opportunity to survive, then we do not need to treat them again. You're welcome. Give this order to all commanders and combatants: destroy every enemy you see."
Both Konev and Vatutin expected that the Germans would carry out a breakout operation in the near future. In order to deal with possible German breakout operations, they carefully set up five layers of closed encirclement and three obstacles:
The first level of encirclement: all infantry units of the Second Ukrainian Front, approximately 200,000 commanders and combatants;
The second level of encirclement: all infantry units of the 1st Ukrainian Front, approximately 300,000 commanders and combatants;
The third level of encirclement: all artillery units of the 1st Ukrainian Front and the 2nd Ukrainian Front, approximately 200,000 artillery commanders and combatants, and 2,000 artillery pieces;
The fourth level of encirclement: all tank units of the First Ukrainian Front and the Second Ukrainian Front, approximately 200,000 tank troops, and 1,000 tanks.
The fifth level of encirclement: all cavalry units of the First Ukrainian Front and the Second Ukrainian Front, approximately 100,000 cavalry commanders and combatants.
The first obstacle: the natural barrier, the deep Geniloitiki River. As the weather started to get warmer in February, there was only a thin layer of thin ice on the river. People and animals were not allowed to walk on it. They had to swim in the freezing cold water. All the bridges and boats on the river had already been cleared by Soviet engineers. Blow up or burn down.
The second obstacle: On the other side of the only shallow water area of the Gniloytiki River, the Soviet army set up two tanks and 20 heavy machine guns to kill those German officers and soldiers who had better water resistance and slipped through the net to prevent them from entering the fifth barrier. The garrison area of the German armored troops who came to rescue the siege from kilometers away.
The third obstacle: All fighter units of the two air groups of the First Ukrainian Front and the Second Ukrainian Front, about 500 fighters and bombers, are on rotation duty 24 hours a day, closely monitoring the movements of the German troops on the ground. Once discovered, As the German forces massed, they were eliminated with powerful air-to-ground firepower. Sameko asked in confusion: "What kind of consequences?"
"The remaining enemies in the fortress laid down their weapons and surrendered to us after receiving orders from General Wilhelm, commander of the 11th German Army." Sokov explained to Samyko and Konev: "If we shoot If we kill them and other Germans find out about this, do you think they will surrender to us? By then, in order to eliminate these stubborn enemies, we will have to make greater sacrifices and have wasted more time."
"Comrade Sokov is right!" After listening to what Sokov said, Konev unexpectedly expressed his support: "If the German soldiers who put down their arms and surrender are shot, it will have a negative impact on our reputation. If we encounter such a tough battle in the future, it may not be easy to get the enemy to surrender."
"But, Comrade Commander." Seeing Konev's support for Sokov's statement, Samyko became anxious: "Are we just going to watch these latest executioners who committed crimes against our people get away with it like this? ?”
Konev laughed, stood up and walked to Samyko, raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "General Samyko, since the enemy has laid down his weapons, we will definitely not kill him." Him. But when they arrive at the prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, whether they can survive until the end of the war is beyond our control."
Sokov saw that Konev's ideas coincided with his own, and a smile appeared on his face. Konev's words were so clear that Samyko still thought for a while before he understood the truth. There was an expression of surprise on his face and he said excitedly: "I understand, Comrade Commander. Wait for these prisoners of war." After being sent to a prisoner-of-war camp in Siberia, naturally someone took care of them.”
He paused for a moment and then added: "The names of those German officers and soldiers who have put down their crimes should be written down and handed over to the people in the prisoner of war camps so that they can give these people 'special care.'"
Seeing that Samyko finally understood what he meant, Konev said with a smile: "You are right, General Samyko. Not only can the comrades in charge of the prisoner of war camps be used to deal with these damn Germans; even in During the escort, if they make any small mistakes, they can be punished mercilessly."
Konev raised his hand to look at the time and said to Sokov: "Comrade Sokov, since your troops have basically controlled the fortress and the railway terminal, I will rush back to the front army headquarters as soon as possible to give other troops The troops have assigned new combat missions."
Sokov knew that his troops' capture of the Merefa Fortress was only the first step for the troops to advance towards the Dnieper River defense line. Next, it would be the turn of the troops of the 7th Guards Army to launch an attack on Poltava. Together with Samyko, he personally sent Konev to the door of the headquarters.
"Comrade Sokov," Konev stretched out his hand to Sokov and said with a smile: "Your troops have no combat missions during this period, so just rest peacefully. Keep your spirits up and wait until new combat missions are issued. Only then can you devote yourself to new battles with full enthusiasm.”
After sending Konev away, Sokov ordered Samyko as soon as he returned to the headquarters: "Chief of Staff, call the artillery commander immediately and tell him that the artillery of the 7th Guards Army will be back in service soon. Let him Be prepared in advance to avoid being caught off guard.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Sameko nodded and said, "I'll call the artillery commander immediately."
While Samek was on the phone, Sokov sat down and began to think about William Stemmerman. He vaguely remembered that half a year later, in January 1944, the 11th Army and the 1st Section of the 42nd Army, which belonged to the German 8th Army, with a total of six divisions and more than 60,000 people, were defeated by the 1st and 2nd Ukrainian Fronts. A protrusion surrounding the Kanev area on the Dnieper River. The besieged troops included the elite Viking Armored Division and the Walloon Assault Brigade. In order to facilitate command, these besieged troops were all integrated into Stemmermann's German Army Group, commanded by William Stemmermann Artillery. The general commanded under unified command.
In order to prevent the tragedy of Paulus from happening again, Marshal Manstein, the commander of the German Army Group South, mobilized heavy troops to relieve the siege of the Stemermann Group. On February 10, under the command of Armored General Hube, the German army concentrated 100,000 armored troops from the 3rd Armored Corps and the 47th Armored Corps to carry out an arduous rescue operation, but was stubbornly blocked by four Soviet tank corps. , coupled with the warm weather causing the ground to become muddy, hindering the armored forces' offensive.
The battle lasted until February 15. After six days of bloody fighting, the German troops who came to the rescue dealt a heavy blow to the Soviet troops and opened a passage. However, they themselves also suffered heavy losses. Not counting the loss of more than half of the troops, the armor commanders above the platoon There were almost no casualties. They were less than ten kilometers away from the German troops in the encirclement, but these last ten kilometers were out of reach for the German troops who were trying to rescue the encirclement. It turned out to be a journey that they could never complete in their lifetime!
After receiving the report from the commander of the rescue force, Manstein had no choice but to send a telegram to William Stemmermann, telling the other party: "The strength of the rescue force has been exhausted, and your ministry can only rely on its own strength. Breakout!"
After William Stemmermann received this telegram, he fell into despair. Because among the surviving officers and soldiers, there were more than two thousand wounded. If we wanted to break through, these wounded would have to be abandoned. After a fierce ideological struggle, he decided to leave some medical staff to take care of the wounded and surrender to them when the Soviet army rushed over to save the lives of the wounded.
