After receiving the order, Koshkin did not dare to neglect. After leaving the headquarters, he selected one of the most elite guard companies and drove to the Brest Fortress. Near the gate of the Terespol Fortress, he found Yakov.
"It turns out to be Captain Koshkin." Yakov saw Koshkin appearing and immediately guessed the reason why he appeared here: "Did Misha send you here?"
"Yes, Comrade General." Koshkin and Yakov were also acquaintances. They spoke to each other without much scruple. Seeing that the other party had guessed his purpose, he did not deny it, so he answered truthfully: "Commander Comrade is worried that you are in danger, so he specially sent me to protect you."
"Captain Koshkin, please go back." Yakov said carelessly: "We are surrounded by our own people, how could there be any danger? You should go back to the headquarters to protect Misha's safety."
"Comrade General," Koshkin once promised Sokov that he would protect Yakov's safety as he cherishes his own eyes. Before completing the mission, he would not go back easily. He looked at Yakov Said: "The Brest Fortress has just been occupied by our army. The defenders in the fortress have not been completely cleared. Your life and safety may be threatened. In order to avoid the tragedy like the Kobrin Fortress from happening again, the fortress must be completely cleared." I will not leave your side without the enemy within.”
After saying these words, Koshkin did not wait for Yakov to speak, and ordered the accompanying guard company to set up a warning circle around him, and even arranged several sharpshooters at several commanding heights to deal with the Germans. Stragglers.
Besides, in the front headquarters at this time, Rokossovsky was chatting with Zhukov, who had just arrived.
After Rokossovsky introduced the tragedy that happened at the Brest Fortress to Zhukov, Zhukov's face suddenly changed. He grabbed Rokossovsky's arm and asked nervously: "Koschka , if I remember correctly, Yakov should be at Misha's place at the moment."
"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "Misha appointed Yakov as the artillery director of his army group. At this moment, artillery positions should be set up to prepare for artillery bombardment against the enemy west of the Bug River."
"If Yakov is setting up artillery positions, do you think he will be in the headquarters or on the artillery positions?"
Rokossovsky, who originally thought Zhukov was a bit nervous, was suddenly startled into a cold sweat when he heard this. He quickly asked the director of the communications corps to help him get through to the 48th Group Army headquarters. He wanted to speak to Sokov personally. .
After the call was connected, as soon as he heard Sokov's voice coming from the receiver, Rokossovsky asked directly: "Misha, tell me, where is Yakov now?"
"Yakov?!" Sokov was stunned for a moment, then understood who Rokossovsky was asking, and quickly replied: "Report to Comrade General, he is currently deploying artillery positions in Terespol Fortress , prepare to use artillery fire to support the attack of my offensive troops on the west bank of the Bug River."
"What, he is in Terespol Fortress?" Cold sweat broke out on Rokossovsky's forehead. He didn't bother to wipe the sweat, and then asked: "Misha, have you eliminated the enemies in the fortress? ?”
"It's hard to say, Comrade General." Faced with Rokossovsky's question, Sokov really didn't know how to answer. Although the fighting in the fortress has stopped now, there is no question whether there are any enemies lurking down. As no one knew something, he could only reply euphemistically: "The resistance on the surface has completely stopped, but I don't know if there are still enemies lurking in a corner of the fortress."
"Misha, since you don't know whether the enemies in the fortress have been cleared, why did you allow Major General Yakov to go to Terespol Fortress?" Rokossovsky asked sternly on the phone: "If he gets out There are three long and two shortcomings in something, can you bear the responsibility?"
"I can't afford it." Sokov defended himself in a low voice: "But I have sent Captain Koshkin to lead a security company to Terespol Fortress to protect Yasha's safety. You also know , Koshkin is from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he has his own unique way of protecting the safety of commanders. I believe that as long as he stays with Yasha, Yasha will not be in any danger to his life."
Rokossovsky, who wanted to continue to be angry, suddenly became less angry when he heard Sokov said that Koshkin was sent to protect Yakov. He covered the microphone with his hand and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, Misha said that he has sent the most capable Captain Koshkin to Terespol Fortress to protect Yakov's safety."
Zhukov also had some influence on Koshkin. He knew that Koshkin was from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and had unique skills in protecting the safety of commanders. Although he was still nervous, he was not as nervous as before. He just said to Rokossovsky: "Koschka, ask Misha to tell Captain Koshkin that Yakov must be protected. If Yakov If something unexpected happens to my husband, he will wait to go to the military court."
Rokossovsky nodded, released his hand covering the microphone, and said: "Misha, Comrade Marshal told you to tell Captain Koshkin to protect Yakov's safety. If anything happens to him, Just wait until you go to court-martial.”
"Comrade General, please rest assured." Sokov assured Rokossovsky: "I will do my best to protect Yakov's safety. If something really happens to him, there is no need to send me away. If there is any court-martial, I will put a gun to my forehead and shoot myself."
As soon as Sokov ended his call with Rokossovsky, Yakov called from Terespol Fortress. He complained to Sokov on the phone: "Misha, why did you send Captain Koshkin here?"
"Yasha, I am also thinking about your safety."
"Misha, you don't know that as soon as Captain Koshkin arrived, he immediately set up some kind of security circle to separate me from ordinary artillery commanders, so that I could not directly command the troops."
"Yasha, I think as an artillery director, you should stay in your own headquarters and direct artillery operations." Seeing Yakov complaining, Sokov said unceremoniously: "Instead of acting like an ordinary artilleryman Like soldiers, stay at the artillery position."
Hearing that Yakov seemed to have something to defend, Sokov interrupted what he wanted to say and said bluntly: "Yasha, don't forget that your identity is different from ordinary people. If it is an ordinary commander who sacrifices, at most Just find someone to take over his position. But if you do anything bad on the battlefield, a large group of people will be punished."
Sokov's words awakened Yakov, allowing him to re-examine his identity and think about the consequences if he died on the battlefield.
"Okay, Misha." After Yakov figured it out, he said into the microphone: "From now on, I will find a room in Terespol Fortress as my headquarters. Before the fortress is cleared, I You will never leave the command center easily. Does that make you feel relieved?"
"Yes, Yasha, if you can stay at the headquarters, I will be completely relieved." Seeing that he had convinced Yakov, Sokov felt much more at ease: "In a few minutes, the infantry will The attack is launched, and I hope your artillery can destroy the obstacles impeding the infantry's advance."
When the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Infantry Division passed the bridge outside the gate of Terespol Fortress and advanced toward the west bank of the Bug River, the artillery deployed in the fortress opened fire. The shirtless artillerymen raised the rate of fire of the artillery to the highest level, almost reaching a rate of 10 rounds per minute.
For a time, the artillery position was filled with the sound of metal clashing, the gunner's call and the roar of artillery fire. Once the yellow shell shell exited the chamber, the loader immediately fed a new full round into the barrel.
The stormy shelling hit the German positions several kilometers away, which was fatal to the German infantry with only rudimentary fortifications, so that all the people were suppressed in the trenches by the artillery fire and could not raise their heads.
If the Germans had built a deep defense, they might have repeated their old trick and retreated to the second line of position along the communication trenches, allowing the Soviets to drop artillery shells on empty positions with almost no people. But this is the place they have occupied for five years. It can be said to be their safest rear. There are no decent fortifications anywhere, so all the defenders have to nest in unique trenches to accept Soviet artillery fire. baptism.
Unexpectedly, the 3rd Infantry Division set off first. Before they could complete half of the journey, the tank brigade participating in the battle passed them and rushed straight towards the German defensive positions.
The artillery commander on Terespol Fortress discovered that the Soviet tanks were less than 800 meters away from the German position, and immediately reported to Yakov: "Comrade Artillery Director, the tanks of the tank brigade are only 800 meters away from the enemy's position. The distance is less than 800 meters. If they continue to rush forward, they are likely to be accidentally injured by our artillery fire."
After listening to the report, Yakov thought for a moment and then said to the artillery commander: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, as long as our tanks do not directly break into the shelling area, some flying shrapnel will not pose any threat to them. Wait until they are at a distance When the German position is still two hundred meters away, it is not too late to extend the artillery fire.”
"Understood, Comrade Artillery Director." The artillery commander said, "I will order all artillery to carry out extended shooting when our tanks are three hundred meters away from the enemy's position."
Soon, the Soviet tanks rushed to a position three hundred meters away from the German position, and the artillery fire extended forward.
A German soldier who was dizzy from the bombing staggered up from the trench to see what was going on outside. He unexpectedly saw a Soviet tank rushing toward him. He quickly shouted loudly: " Tanks, Russian tanks, Russian tanks!”
However, he didn't hear his own voice at all. It turned out that his ears were deafened by the shelling not long ago. Because not only him, but also the ears of most of the German soldiers in the trenches were damaged by the shelling, so that no one heard his shouts at all.
Soon, other soldiers stood up and shouted when they saw the Soviet tanks rushing towards the position. But they soon discovered that they couldn't hear their shouts at all. After realizing that their ears were deafened by the shock, they no longer shouted in vain, but picked up their weapons and fired wildly at the tanks that were rushing over. .
Seeing their comrades shooting outside, the German soldiers gradually woke up and realized that the Soviet army might have launched an attack. They also stood up from the trenches and looked in the direction of the fortress. When they saw groups of tanks and dense infantry rushing forward, they also joined the firing queue.
When the tanks rushing at the front saw the German positions starting to fire, they stopped one after another and used tank guns and vehicle-mounted machine guns to attack the exposed fire points to cover the infantry behind them to launch the attack.
German resistance could be insignificant to the attacking Soviet army. In less than a quarter of an hour, this position was successfully broken through by the Soviet army and developed in depth.
The commander of the infantry division couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw that his troops had successfully broken through. He quickly reported the good news to Sokov on the phone: "Comrade Commander, our division has successfully broken through the German defense line and successfully entered Polish territory. Repeat, our army It has successfully entered Polish territory."
"That's great, Comrade Colonel, you are so great." After learning that the 3rd Infantry Division had successfully broken through the German defense line and successfully entered Polish territory, Sokov said emotionally: "You guys have done a great job today." The results achieved will be recorded in history and remembered by our descendants."
After putting down the phone, Sokov immediately asked the director of the communications corps to connect him to the front headquarters. He was going to tell Rokossovsky the good news and make him happy.
Sure enough, just as Sokov had expected, Rokossovsky was so excited when he learned that the 3rd Infantry Division had successfully broken through the German defensive positions on the west bank of the Bug River and successfully entered Polish territory. Reply: "Misha, you did a good job. Please convey my gratitude to all the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Infantry Division for successfully breaking through the German defense lines and successfully entering Polish territory. In order to commend them for their efforts, For the achievements achieved, I will award the division with the Order of the Red Banner."
It is a personal honor for an individual to receive a medal. When a unit receives a medal, it is an honor for the entire unit. Sokov, who was well aware of this, became extremely excited after hearing Rokossovsky say these words. This indicates that the 3rd Infantry Division was awarded the Medal and the Guards Award at the same time. The possibility of the honorary title of the division: "Comrade General, on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the 3rd Infantry Division, I would like to express my gratitude to you. At the same time, I would like to express to you that in the next battle, the 3rd Infantry Division will continue to build a greater Merit.”
Rokossovsky looked at the map in front of him and said into the microphone: "Misha, since your troops have entered Poland, then they will advance to Lublin in the southwest and coordinate with the troops on the left flank of the front to seize this place. A city. Do you understand?”
"Understood, Comrade General." Sokov vaguely remembered that after the Soviet army occupied Lublin, the Polish resistance organization established a post-war parliament here to manage Poland. If the city could be captured one day earlier, it would mean that the parliament could be established one day earlier. So he replied readily: "While I will send troops to monitor the German army in the west, I will also deploy one or two divisions to Lublin." Move in the right direction and coordinate the friendly forces on the left to capture the city."
