After annihilating the German Walloni Volunteer Grenadier Division, Sokov ordered the troops to continue to advance.
When the leading troops arrived at the German second line of defense, they found that although there were no towns here, those villages and residential areas were used by the Germans to build fire support points one after another. Facing the fire support point blocking the front, the Soviet army launched an attack without hesitation.
Facing the Soviet attack, the German army carried out a tenacious blockade and successfully repelled the first wave of Soviet attacks.
Learning that the vanguard was blocked by the German fire support, Sokov was furious. He turned to Sidorin and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many artillery pieces do we have across the river now?"
Sidorin, who had just learned about the situation from Potapov, heard Sokov's question and replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander, our artillery already has two artillery regiments and three Guards Rocket Artillery Battalions. It went well." The land reached the west bank of the Theod River.”
"Where is the tank brigade?" Sokov continued: "How many tanks crossed the river?"
"Currently, the armored forces that have completed crossing the river only have one tank brigade and one tank regiment, and the number of tanks is less than 60."
"Too few, too few." Sokov frowned when he heard that so far, only about sixty tanks had crossed the river: "With just this few tanks, it is far from enough to guide the infantry to charge. "
After a pause, he continued: "Order the artillery to bombard those fire support points and be sure to destroy them."
But what surprised Sokov was that when Sidorin conveyed the order to Potapov on the phone, he was rejected by the other party: "I'm sorry, Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the commander that I cannot convey the order to the German army." Fire at the fire support point."
Sokov, who was standing nearby, heard what Potapov said, grabbed the microphone, put it to his ear, and said in a stern tone: "General Potapov, what is going on? Your artillery unit Why can’t we fire at the fire support points controlled by the Germans?”
"Comrade Commander," Potapov didn't expect that the person he was talking to on the phone suddenly changed from Sidorin to Sokov, and he couldn't help being startled. But he quickly calmed down and explained to Sokov: "The artillery observers I sent reported to me that there are still a large number of civilians in these villages and settlements that are used as fire support points by the German army. If Our indiscriminate firing can indeed destroy these fire support points, but it will also cause a large number of civilian deaths. I have no right to order my subordinates to fire on civilians. If you feel that I am incompetent, you can let others take over my duties. .”
Sokov was originally angry that Potapov refused to carry out his orders, but after he figured out the reason, he also became embarrassed. The German army converted villages and residential areas with a large number of civilians into fire support points. If they tried shelling without explanation, they would be able to destroy all these fire support points, but the civilians inside would definitely be destroyed. But if the enemy's fortifications are not destroyed and the commanders and soldiers are allowed to attack, they will inevitably pay heavy casualties.
Sidorin, who was standing nearby, saw Sokov's dilemma and whispered to him: "Comrade Commander, there are no undead people in a war. If we are concerned about the large number of civilians in the fire support point, we dare not do it at will." Firing artillery means that our commanders and soldiers will pay heavy casualties during the attack."
"Misha," seeing Sokov holding the microphone and remaining silent, Lunev also intervened: "Firing at the fire support point will definitely cause a large number of casualties. However, if we don't fire, our army will be in trouble when attacking. There will be huge casualties.”
"Comrade Military Commissar, tell me, what should I do?"
"Since we cannot capture these fire support points for the time being, we will first send troops to surround them."
"Then what?" Sokov continued: "After surrounding them, what should we do?"
"Persuade to surrender!" Lunev said: "Send someone in to persuade the German troops inside to surrender."
"Can the Germans surrender?"
"Even if the Germans refuse to surrender, we can open a humanitarian channel." Lunev said: "Let the civilians trapped in villages and residential areas evacuate."
After listening to Lunev's suggestion, Sokov felt that it made sense. The Germans left civilians at fire support points and used them as human shields. After besieging these fire support points, the Germans opened a passage for the civilians to leave. If the other party doesn't appreciate what you have done, then don't blame guns for having no eyesight. Thinking of this, Sokov quickly said into the microphone: "General Potapov, you are right. There are a large number of civilians in the fire support point. We cannot fire casually to avoid accidentally injuring innocent people. Now I am going to use these firepower first." The strongholds were all besieged, and then people were sent to persuade them to surrender. Even if it was impossible for the Germans to surrender, I would open a special passage to allow the civilians to leave safely."
As the order was issued, the troops that originally attacked the fire support points changed their strategy. Instead of launching another attack, they detoured from both wings and surrounded several fire support points. After doing all this, Sokov sent his classmate Major Vadim as his representative to persuade the German army to surrender.
When Vadim was at the Frunze Military Academy, he had always been at odds with Sokov, so after he came to the front line, other students were assigned different positions, but Vadim always stayed in the headquarters as a staff officer. position. He was very excited today to be appointed as Sokov's representative and go to the enemy's defense areas to persuade the enemy to surrender. He knew very well that if he could really persuade the Germans to surrender, it would be a great achievement.
When Vadim accepted the mission and was about to leave, Sokov stopped him and said to him: "Major Vadim, although the battlefield situation is becoming more and more favorable to our army, you will go to the enemy camp to negotiate today. The enemy does not dare to do anything to you, but you must be more careful in everything to avoid any danger."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Vadim assured Sokov: "I will definitely complete the task."
After sending Vadim off, Sidorin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, do you think Major Vadim can complete the mission you assigned him?"
"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said: "Whether his persuasion can be successful depends entirely on whether the German commander has the intention to continue fighting. If he is lucky and meets a war-weary commander, maybe You can also persuade the opponent to surrender. But if you encounter a stubborn one, I'm afraid he will have to return empty-handed."
"When our army attacked, the German resistance was extremely tenacious." Sidorin said: "I think the German commander must be a difficult person to talk to. I think Major Vadim may have left in good spirits this time and returned in dismay."
Sokov didn't think that if he just sent someone to persuade them to surrender, the Germans would honestly lay down their weapons and surrender to him. The main purpose of this negotiation was to get the German commander to show mercy and allow the civilians to leave the fighting area through the passage they gave up.
Just as Sokov judged, after Vadim explained his purpose to the German commander, the other party sneered and said: "Mr. Major, I advise you not to waste your efforts. Even if all of us die in the battle, we will not be able to do it." I will never surrender."
Vadim had long expected that the German army would not surrender. So he gave up the plan of persuasion, but went on to say the second plan: "Your Majesty Commander, if you are unwilling to lay down your arms and surrender to our army, then I ask you to allow the civilians in the fire support point to leave this area. Dangerous area.”
If the battle is taking place not on German soil but on the territory of the Soviet Union, then what Vadim said is tantamount to playing tricks on a cow. But the current combat area is in Germany, and there are a large number of civilians trapped in the fire support point together with the German officers and soldiers. The German commander knew very well that if the Soviet army bombarded this place with artillery regardless, the troops and civilians would suffer heavy losses.
It was out of this consideration that the German commander softened his tone: "Okay, I agree to let all civilians leave here. But I want to ask, how much time can you give us?"
"We can give you two hours to evacuate all the civilians here." Vadim said: "When I return to our position, a red signal flare will appear, indicating that the civilians can leave. The channel is open; when the yellow flare goes up, it means the channel is closed."
Vadim returned to the headquarters and after explaining the negotiation process to Sokov, he blushed and said: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I failed to complete the task you assigned me and betrayed your trust in me. , you punish me."
But Sokov waved his hand and said magnanimously: "Major Vadim, although the Germans have fallen into our encirclement, their location is only fifty kilometers away from Berlin. If they do not mount a tenacious defense, they will put down their weapons." If they surrender to our army, their families in the rear may be implicated. Chief of Staff," he turned to Sidorin and said, "order people to fire red flares into the air to inform the Germans that our passage has been opened and they It allows civilians to leave the war zone with confidence."
After the red signal flare was launched into the sky, the besieged Soviet army gave way to a fifty-meter-wide passage, allowing civilians in the fire support point to evacuate safely.
Although the passage is open, the German civilians are very worried. They are deeply afraid that they will be killed by fire from both sides after entering the passage. After all, German officers and soldiers have done many such bad things, and the civilians are worried that the same fate will fall. on his own head.
The unit that gave way to the passage was the 284th Infantry Division. The division commander, Colonel Ismailov, saw that no German civilians had appeared in the passage. He couldn't help but feel a little puzzled. He wondered what was going on with these German civilians, so he made way for them. Why are you still stuck in the fire support point?
Ismailov called Sokov and reported the situation there, and finally said: "Comrade Commander, what is going on? Our safety channel is open, why haven't the German civilians come out yet?" Woolen cloth?"
After hearing this, Sokov thought for a moment and understood what was going on. He quickly said to Ismailov: "Comrade Colonel, I guess the German civilians still have some concerns in their hearts, so they dare not easily enter the open area opened by our army." channel."
"Then what should we do?" When Ismailov heard this, he suddenly felt a headache: "If the German civilians don't come out, I can't send people in to catch them all, right?"
"Comrade Commander," a staff officer walked in from outside and reported to Sokov: "We caught several women outside."
Sokov quickly covered the microphone with his hand and said to the staff dissatisfied: "Why are you arresting German women?" The reason why he said this was entirely because later generations had read too many articles that smeared the Soviet army, and he was deeply afraid that these few After a woman is captured by the soldiers, she will be forced to do some unspeakable things, so her tone is particularly harsh: "Let them go quickly."
"Comrade Commander, you are mistaken. These women are not Germans, but Belarusians." The staff officer reported to Sokov: "They are all military relatives. After being captured by the German army at the beginning of the war, they were sent to Germany to do their jobs. They are coolies. Now that our army has entered the German mainland, they finally have a chance to escape the clutches of the Germans and come to join us."
"So that's it." After Sokov figured out the other party's identity, he nodded slightly, and then told the staff: "You settle them properly first, and when I'm done here, Comrade Military Commissar and I will go over and take a look. they."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The staff officer agreed loudly, turned around and walked out of the headquarters.
Sokov continued into the microphone: "Comrade Colonel, you send an officer to contact the Germans and tell the civilians that we will ensure their safety, and they can leave here safely and boldly through the passage we have left. A dangerous area.”
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ismailov on the other end of the phone replied loudly: "I don't trust leaving this matter to others, so I'd better go there myself."
When he learned that Ismailov planned to run to the enemy camp in person, Sokov originally wanted to dissuade him, but then he thought about it and realized that it was the German Wehrmacht that surrounded him now, not the SS who had done all the bad things. Even if Ismailov goes out in person, I'm afraid there won't be any danger, so he nodded in agreement: "Okay, comrade colonel, I agree with you going to the enemy camp in person, but you have to pay attention to your own safety."
After Ismailov ended his call with Sokov, he immediately took a German translator and took an open jeep toward the German camp. Still forty or fifty meters away from the enemy fortifications, he stopped the car, and then asked the German translator to shout towards the enemy's defense area, telling the other party that the passage for civilians had been opened and that all civilians could leave safely. There is absolutely no danger to life here.
After the translator shouted Ismailov's words several times through a loudspeaker, he finally saw civilians carrying bags, boxes, and bicycles slowly walking out of the German position. There were only a few people at first, but soon more people joined, and in less than ten minutes, the muddy road was packed with people. The expressionless civilians stepped on the mud on the ground and walked along the road step by step, wanting to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible.
Seeing the civilians starting to leave the village and residential areas, Ismailov breathed a sigh of relief, then raised his hand and patted the driver on the shoulder and said, "Let's go back."
