"Please wait a moment, General Sokov." However, at this moment, the German second lieutenant who had never spoken spoke, and he asked with some anxiety: "Are you going to drag us out and shoot us?"
Sokov quickly glanced at his collar and rank, and said coldly: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, you are in the Wehrmacht, not the SS, so even if you cannot provide any useful intelligence, you will not be shot."
"General Sokov," the second lieutenant breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that he would not be shot, and asked tentatively: "If I tell you some useful information, can you give me a piece of food? You know, since the supplies were taken by you, After the cutoff, our rations were reduced to varying degrees."
There was a hint of joy on Smirnov's face. He approached Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, this is good news. The Germans who were besieged by our army have begun to reduce their rations. Does this mean that we will no longer If the siege continues, will their officers and soldiers be so hungry that they can’t even pick up weapons?”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation of the Germans is not as bad as we imagined." Sokov understood that Smirnov wanted to use the Battle of Stalingrad as an example, so he vaccinated the opponent in advance: "Really, If we want the German officers and soldiers to be so hungry that they cannot hold weapons, it will take at least a month or two to starve them. But judging from the current situation, we only need a week at most to completely eliminate the enemies in the encirclement."
After saying this, Sokov said to the translator: "Comrade translator, tell this second lieutenant that we can provide him with the necessary food. As for whether he provides us with intelligence, I don't care at all, because what he knows, I know it all."
When Sokov asked this, he was not being alarmist. He even knew the German army's breakout plan and its route. If this kind of intelligence is relied on to deal with the German army, it will be enough to rewrite history and annihilate or capture all the tens of thousands of people who originally escaped.
After the German second lieutenant waited for the translator to finish speaking, he looked at the calm-looking Sokov again and realized that what the other person said was not trying to trick him. He might actually understand something. Otherwise, how would he know that those who were acting with his troops were Walloons? What about the assault brigade?
He hesitated for a moment, and then said: "General Sokov, you are right, our regiment did operate together with the Walloon Assault Brigade. However, according to the combat plan, they first carried out a raid on Highland 239 and waited for control After your positions are established, our regiment will follow up to expand and consolidate the positions that have been occupied."
Sokov was about to order someone to take away the two prisoners, but when he heard what the second lieutenant said, he couldn't help being surprised and asked quickly: "Since the Walloon Assault Brigade took the lead, why did it change to your regiment later?"
"General Sokov, you don't know something." The German lieutenant may have known that the secret could no longer be kept secret, so he jumped in front of the second lieutenant and said: "The reason why our regiment will replace the Walloon assault brigade in the first round of attack is entirely because That shelling.”
"Artillery shelling?!" Smirnov was stunned for a moment when he heard what the German lieutenant said, and then an expression of surprise appeared on his face: "You mean, our shelling disrupted your attack plan?"
"Yes, Mr. General." The German lieutenant looked at Smirnov and said respectfully: "According to the original attack plan, the Walloon assault brigade will attack Hill 239 at five o'clock in the morning, when the defenders are at their lowest. Launched a surprise attack. Unexpectedly, there were still a few hours before the attack, but we were attacked by inexplicable shelling and suffered huge losses."
"Suffered huge losses?" Learning that the lurking German troops suffered huge losses in the early shelling, Smirnov became even more interested: "Tell me, how big are your losses?"
"I definitely don't know the specific number of casualties given my rank." The German lieutenant said carefully: "But I know that the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lipt, was seriously injured in the shelling."
"Lipt was seriously injured?" Smirnov asked impatiently: "Is this news reliable?"
"Completely reliable." The German lieutenant nodded and said in a positive tone: "When our regiment took over the assault brigade and continued to lurk, I saw him lying on a stretcher and being carried off by several soldiers."
"Then how did you bypass our friendly forces' defense zone and arrive near Highland 239?"
"It's very simple." The German lieutenant said: "Before dark, the troops of the Walloon Assault Brigade used a surprise attack to eliminate your highland defenders in Komarovka, occupy the position there, and then our troops We got through there without any problems.”
Seeing that Smirnov wanted to continue asking, Sokov raised his hand to stop him and ordered the soldiers: "Take them down first and provide them with necessary food and water. I think they must be starving in the past two days. "
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov said to Sokov excitedly after the prisoners were escorted out: "I think this matter should be reported to the front headquarters immediately. The shelling we carried out a few hours ago... Not only did it disrupt the German offensive plan, it even seriously injured the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade. This was an amazing victory."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, this is just one-sided words from the Germans. We can't disbelieve it, nor can we believe it entirely." Regarding the matter of seriously injuring the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade, Sokov acted very calmly: "I think it's better to wait. Our troops have recaptured the high ground and it will not be too late to report to our superiors."
Sokov's words made Smirnov sober up. If Highland 239 cannot be recaptured, even if the commander of the Walloon Assault Brigade is killed, it will not help. Wanting to understand this, he nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Commander, wait until our army recovers Highland 239 before reporting this matter to our superiors."
After waiting for a few minutes, Smirnov called the headquarters of the 41st Guards Division. As soon as he heard someone say, he went straight to the topic: "I am Smirnov, how is the situation there? Take the 239 Highlands Are you down?"
The person who answered the phone was division commander Kurishenko. After hearing Smirnov's inquiry, he quickly replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, now part of the 124th Regiment and the remaining commanders and fighters of the 126th Regiment have rushed into the 239th Regiment." Positions on the high ground are engaging in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.”
When Smirnov heard this, he couldn't help but frowned: "General Kurishenko, how long has it been? Why are you still fighting in close combat and hand-to-hand combat? When will you be able to completely eliminate the enemies occupying our positions? "
"Comrade Chief of Staff, it's hard to say." Kurishenko defended awkwardly: "You also know that the original intention of our defense line at 239 was to prevent the German troops from the southwest from relieving the siege, so all the fortifications were facing South. Now it is these fortifications that have brought huge obstacles to our counterattack."
"I don't want to hear your objective reasons." Smirnov didn't wait for the other party to finish speaking, interrupted him, and asked aggressively: "You just need to tell me how long it will take to completely recapture Highland 239. ?”
Faced with Smirnov's aggressiveness, Kurishenko hesitated for a long time, and finally said through gritted teeth: "Comrade Chief of Staff, in half an hour, or in another half hour at most, I promise to take the position out of the hands of the Germans." Take it back. If you can't do this, feel free to remove me from my post."
"Okay, I'll give you another half hour." Smirnov said forcefully: "If you still can't take the high ground by then, let your chief of staff take your place."
After putting down the phone, he said angrily: "It's absolutely outrageous. The counterattack has been going on for almost an hour, and we still haven't taken the position. How did he become the division commander?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, General Kurishenko cannot be entirely blamed for this incident." Sokov said with a smile: "If it were the 41st Guards Division a few months ago, most of the commanders and fighters in the division had rich experience. With combat experience and excellent equipment, it may only take half an hour or even more to recapture Highland 239. But now, the division has just been reorganized, and most of them are recruits with little combat experience. In terms of equipment, It's also very bad, but it's good to be able to fight to this level. Let's wait patiently, even if they can't take the position, the situation will be completely improved once reinforcements from the 116th Infantry Division arrive."
It makes sense for Sokov to say this. The German support on the highlands has been cut off. The two regiments of the Guards Division have been fighting for so long. The German troops occupying the position have been almost exhausted. As soon as the troops of the 116th Division arrive, , which is equivalent to picking up something ready-made.
"Comrade Commander," Smirnov suggested to Sokov after he finished speaking: "Although I don't know when we can retake the high ground, I think we should report the situation here to the front army headquarters in time. I don't know. What do you think?"
"I think it's okay." Sokov did not object to Smirnov's proposal. He nodded and said: "Now the front army headquarters only knows that our 239 Highlands was attacked by the Germans, but for the coming Germans We don’t know which unit, what kind of strength it has, and what kind of results we have achieved.”
Seeing that Sokov agreed to report to the front army headquarters, Smirnov immediately ordered the director of the communications corps to answer the phone.
Sokov heard Zakharov's voice coming from the receiver and immediately said to him: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army. I am Sokov, and I will report to you the situation on Highland 239."
"Speak, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov opened the book, picked up the pencil and said, "I'm listening."
"After our interrogation of the prisoners, the situation is completely clear." Sokov said: "The German troops participating in tonight's attack are the 105th Regiment of the 72nd Infantry Division and the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade of the Viking Division... "
"Wait a minute, Comrade Sokov." Before Sokov could speak, Zakharov interrupted him, "You said there is another unit, the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade of the Viking Division?"
"Yes."
"Then can you tell me, is the enemy occupying the 239th diversion now the 105th Grenadier Regiment or the Walloon Assault Brigade?"
"It's the 105th Grenadier Regiment." Sokov replied: "According to the prisoners' confessions and according to their combat plan, the troops that originally carried out the first assault on Hill 239 were the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade. But due to Our shelling disrupted their deployment and caused great casualties to the brigade. Even the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lipt, was seriously injured in our shelling."
"The brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Lipt, was seriously injured in the shelling of our army?" Zakharov heard this and couldn't help but raise his voice because of his excitement: "Can this news be confirmed?"
"It cannot be confirmed for the time being." Sokov answered truthfully: "This is just the information provided by a captured lieutenant of the 105th Grenadier Regiment. He said that he saw Lieutenant Colonel Lipt lying on a stretcher and being beaten by several people. The soldiers carried them back to the rear."
Zakharov understood Sokov's character and knew that the other party would not talk nonsense about things that were uncertain, so he continued: "So, the shelling a few hours ago still achieved some results. "
"That's right. Although I don't know how many casualties it caused to the enemy, it did disrupt the German offensive steps." When Sokov mentioned this, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. If the German army that attacked first was not the 105th Grenadier Corps, but the 5th Walloon Assault Brigade. Not to mention the loss of the high ground, I am afraid that the opponent will rush down the mountain in one breath and launch an attack from behind the 124th Regiment, causing the entire defense line of the 41st Guards Division to collapse. "Although the high ground has not been completely recaptured yet, the enemies occupying the position have been isolated from their rear by our army's artillery fire and cannot receive the slightest complement. I believe that it will not take long for us to completely eliminate the high ground. enemy."
Zakharov gave a soft "hmm" and then raised his own question: "I want to know how the Germans bypassed the defense line of the 5th Guards Airborne Division and arrived without anyone noticing. What about the ones near Highland 239?”
"According to the prisoner's confession," Sokov continued: "The Walloon assault brigade used a surprise attack to occupy the high ground of the friendly forces in Komarovka before dark, and their troops passed through there."
"This is impossible." Zakharov heard this and shouted loudly: "If our army's position is lost, we will definitely get a report, but so far, I have not received any news. Comrade Sokov, Tell me, is the prisoner lying just to make us misjudge?"
"I think this possibility is unlikely." After Sokov denied Zakharov's speculation, he cautiously put forward his own point of view: "Could it be that the Germans' raid was too fast, and we were in Komarov?" The defenders on the high ground were all wiped out by the enemy before they even had time to send out a signal?"
Regarding Sokov's guess, Zakharov thought for a while, and then said: "Comrade Sokov, the possibility you mentioned exists. I think I need to contact the 5th Guards Airborne Division immediately to see if Is the high ground in Marovka still in the hands of our army?"
"This is absolutely appropriate, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sokov said: "If the highlands of Komarovka are controlled by the Germans, then more troops will pass there and continuously pass through the friendly defense lines. , advancing towards the position of Hill 239. By then, I am worried that the 3rd Armored Corps outside the encirclement will actively take action and attack us from both inside and outside, thereby rescuing the besieged troops."
"Comrade Sokov, what you say makes sense. If the highlands of Komarovka are really occupied by the German army, it will be a defensive loophole for our army. If it cannot be blocked in time, it may cause a catastrophe."
