Red Moscow

Major General Val looked at his watch, and then said to Sokov: "General Sokov, I will give orders to the troops when I go back. But because the troops are too scattered, it may take some time to regroup them. About an hour and a half After that, our troops can officially disarm you."

Regarding the time mentioned by Major General Val, Sokov didn't think he could do it, so he said generously: "General Val, I will give you two and a half hours. After two and a half hours, we will start taking prisoners. Anyone who refuses to We will resolutely and decisively eliminate the officers and soldiers who put down their weapons."

In order to keep abreast of the further developments of the Imperial Division, Sokov also sent two officers, carrying a walkie-talkie, to follow Major General Val back to his temporary command post in the forest.

As soon as Major General Val left, Lunev took the initiative to extend his hand to Sokov and said enthusiastically: "Comrade Commander, please accept my congratulations. Congratulations to the troops under your command for completely annihilating the German Imperial Division."

"Comrade Military Commissar, it is still too early to say that the Imperial Division will be completely wiped out." Sokov finished speaking to Lunev, and then ordered Merkulov: "Comrade General, order your troops to fight well." Ready, always ready to launch a final attack on the enemy trapped in the forest."

"Comrade Commander," Merkulov asked in surprise when he heard Sokov's order, "Didn't the commander of the Imperial Division already agree to lay down his arms and surrender to our army? Why are you still preparing for battle?" Woolen cloth?"

"General Merkulov," Sokov said sternly, "If Major General Val commanded an ordinary imperial division, then there would be no big problem in fulfilling the terms just negotiated. But what we have to face It is the most elite SS division in the German army, whether they will obey the orders of Major General Wahl is still unknown."

"The ranks in the German army are strict, and the subordinates will never violate the orders of the superiors." Merkulov retorted: "Even if they are SS divisions, as long as the orders given by Major General Wahl, I think the German officers and soldiers should obey. of."

"General Merkulov, I want to remind you of one thing." Sokov continued: "From the end of February to now, the Imperial Division has had three division commanders. Major General Val has only been in office for half a month. , He has not yet formed absolute authority in the division, and since he took office, the Imperial Division has been losing battles. I think many officers and soldiers are not convinced by him. If you want to make these unconvinced Officers and soldiers, according to his order, put down their weapons and surrender to our army, I am afraid it will not be an easy task."

After Sokov's explanation, Merkulov immediately realized that he was too optimistic about the matter. Don't look at Major General Val who humbly accepted the terms of surrender after negotiations, but if the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Division don't buy it , then the agreement just reached is just a dead letter. What can be done right now is to prepare the troops for battle according to Sokov's order, and once it is confirmed that the enemy is unwilling to surrender, they will be resolutely eliminated.

Sokov took advantage of the time when Merkulov was giving combat orders to the troops, and called the headquarters and asked Vitkov who answered the phone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation with the 71st Guards Division? Have they cleared out the defeated Skeleton Division troops?"

"Not yet, Comrade Commander." Vitkov replied: "Although we captured Colonel Shimon, the commander of the Skeleton Division, the main force of the Skeleton Division was quickly defeated after the confrontation between our troops and fled to the nearby area. In the forest. Knowing that the area of ​​the forest is dozens of square kilometers wide, it is not easy to find thousands of German officers and soldiers hiding in such a vast area."

"Inform Colonel Sivakov," Sokov said in a stern tone, "intensify the search efforts, we must find the scattered soldiers of the Skeleton Division, and destroy them as much as possible. If they really escape back to the German position Well, as long as Manstein sends them a new division commander, it won't take long for this army to regain its strength. By then, they will pose a huge threat to our army."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." In fact, even if Sokov didn't say anything, Witkov realized the seriousness of the problem. On the surface, he defeated the main force of the Skeleton Division and captured the division commander, Colonel Shimon, alive. But now that most of the Skeleton Division's troops have successfully escaped, as long as Manstein sends them a new division commander, I believe it will not be long before they regain their combat effectiveness and become a headache for the Soviet army.

After Merkulov finished calling his troops, he heard Sokov giving orders to Vitkov. After waiting for Sokov to put down the phone, he tentatively asked, "Comrade Commander, why hasn't the main force of the Skeleton Division been wiped out by our army?"

"When the left wing of our army launched an attack on the Skeleton Division's defense area, the Skeleton Division just sent an armored regiment here to reinforce the Imperial Division that was attacked by you. As a result, the division's defense was empty, and our assault troops were in the first place. Time captured the division's acting commander, Colonel Shimon.

Their division commander was caught by us, but unfortunately, the cunning enemy immediately dispersed and used the complex terrain in the forest to fight a guerrilla with our troops. Although our army has a large number of troops and high morale, it is not easy to eliminate them in a short period of time. "

"In this way, it is necessary for us to wipe out the Imperial Division and draw a successful conclusion to this offensive battle." After Merkulov finished speaking, he tentatively asked Sokov: " Comrade Commander, am I right?"

"That's right, General Merkulov, you are absolutely right." Since it is very difficult to achieve the intention of annihilating two SS divisions at the same time, Sokov can only retreat and destroy the empire first. The division said again: "The current situation is exactly like this. Two German division commanders were captured, the Imperial Division was wiped out, and the Skeleton Division was severely damaged. In this way, the intelligence bureau should have a lot of confidence when publicizing the results of the battle."

"Comrade Commander," Merkulov waited for Sokov to finish, and reported to him: "I have ordered the troops to prepare for the attack. And the troops of the 41st Guards Division are also thinking about us. In two hours they will be in attack position. Even if the Germans do not surrender, the strength of our two divisions will be enough to destroy them."

Facts have proved that Sokov's concerns are completely correct. In less than an hour, a dispatched officer stumbled into the division headquarters and reported to Sokov out of breath, "Comrade commander, it's not good, something... something happened."

Seeing the officer's arm injury, Sokov knew that something must have happened to the Imperial Division. He called the military doctor to treat the officer's wound, and asked impatiently, "Tell me quickly, what happened?"

The officer replied: "We returned to the temporary headquarters of the Imperial Division with Major General Val. When he announced to his subordinates that after two and a half hours, he would lay down his weapons and surrender to us, except for a few division officers who were silent, the rest The people in the army were firmly opposed to surrendering to our army. A German captain even drew his gun and opened fire on us. The interpreter was killed on the spot, and I was also wounded..."

Knowing that the German army fired at the slightest disagreement, Sokov couldn't help but thumped in his heart. He then asked, "Then how did you escape?"

"The captain shot and killed the interpreter, and when he was about to shoot at me, Major General Val stopped him and told me to leave quickly through their interpreter!" The injured officer explained: "That's it, I just Lucky to save a life."

"Comrade Commander," Merkulov saw that what Sokov was worried about really happened, and quickly asked him for instructions: "What should we do next?"

"Didn't I give Major General Val two and a half hours." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said with a serious expression: "When the time is up, as long as you don't see the enemy put down their weapons and surrender to our army, then you can Attack now."

Lunev reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, our new rockets have been exhausted in the battle not long ago. If we attack by force, I am afraid that we will pay a lot of sacrifices."

"The enemy's supply line has been cut off by us a long time ago." Sokov didn't know how much casualties the desperate Imperial Division would cause to the 67th Division if it launched an attack at this time. But in order to cut off a finger of the German army, even if he knew that he would pay huge casualties, he could only bite the bullet and go on doing it. "The ammunition they have left now may not be enough to support a battle. We can take advantage of the firepower and use powerful firepower to destroy them. Although the new rockets are gone, there are still a lot of rocket launchers. For those exposed machine guns If the firepower is low, there is no need to send people up to blow it up, just use the bazooka to destroy it, and I will see how many firepower the enemy has that can withstand our bazooka attack."

Two and a half hours passed quickly. Then there was still no movement in the forest. It seemed that Major General Wahl's prestige in the army was not enough, so that not many people obeyed their orders, put down their weapons and surrendered to the Soviet army.

When Sokov learned of the situation, he said to Merkulov: "Comrade General, I have just said that if the enemy does not surrender, then resolutely destroy them. Now that your troops are ready for battle, Then go on the offensive."

Merkulov agreed loudly, picked up the phone on the table, and began to issue orders to his subordinates: "Comrade Commander ordered: launch the final attack on the enemy who refuses to surrender, and destroy all you see. Every enemy."

A minute or two later, there was intense gunfire and explosions outside the house, and it seemed that the attack of the 67th Guards Division had begun. Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, then turned his head to look at Lunev, seeing his serious face, staring at the map in front of him, he said jokingly: "My comrade, Comrade Military Commissar, don't be nervous, It is only a matter of time before the enemy is wiped out by our army. Let's guess, how long will it take to wipe out this group of enemies?"

"Comrade Commander, I don't think we can take it lightly." Lunev said with a solemn expression: "Our troops have surrounded the enemy many times, but in the end, the troops suffered heavy losses, and the enemy broke through in an organized way. You Tell me, something like this won't happen today, will it?"

"I don't think so." Sokov shook his head, and said in a positive tone: "In the past, after our army encircled the enemy, the main reason why our army was unable to eat the enemy for a long time, and even suffered heavy losses was due to our tactics. Improper use. And our troops are not only good at defense, but also unique in offense. I believe that it will not be a big problem to eat up these thousand enemies."

There were no fortifications in the forest at all, and the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Division could only hide behind trees and fight back against the Soviet commanders and fighters pouring in from all directions. There are only a few remaining machine guns, hiding in low-lying places, aiming at the charging commanders and fighters. The dense bullets knocked down the soldiers who rushed to the front, and the remaining soldiers immediately lay down on the spot, or they all hid behind trees and shot.

The anti-tank fighters who followed the infantry, after discovering the firepower of the enemy's machine gun, immediately looked for a safe place, set up the bazooka, aimed at the target, and decisively pulled the trigger. After a loud "boom", the machine gunner and the machine gun were blown away by the blast. After killing a firepower point, the anti-tank fighters quickly searched for the next firepower point and continued to destroy them one by one with rocket launchers.

The officers and soldiers of the imperial division, who lost the cooperation of machine gun firepower and could not get support from tanks, artillery and air force, became panicked. Although they were shooting desperately, due to the lack of firepower and the cover of trees, their bullets were too large. Most missed their targets.

Seeing the Soviet commanders rushing in front of them, many German officers and soldiers who had run out of bullets quickly threw away their weapons and raised their hands high, waiting to be captured. But the commanders and fighters all kept in mind Sokov's order: "Destroy every enemy you see." Although the officers and soldiers in front of them put down their weapons, they were still their own enemies, so the soldiers either shot them or shot them with their hands. The bayonet in the gun stabbed them severely to the ground.

Facing the fierce attack of the Soviet army, the German defense line continued to shrink inward. In less than an hour, the remaining 300 German officers and soldiers were compressed into a narrow area no more than 100 meters long and 30 meters wide by the Soviet troops from all directions.

But at this moment, Sokov ordered the troops to stop the attack. The area where the German army is located is so narrow that if they continue to attack, the bullets fired from two different directions are likely to accidentally injure their own people, so he ordered the troops to temporarily stop the attack, and prepared to use mortar fire to destroy the last remnants of the enemy .

The German army in the encirclement had already run out of ammunition and food, and most of them were wounded soldiers, who had no ability to resist the attack of the Soviet army at all. Major General Val, who was held hostage by Captain Ernst and Corporal Heinel, finally had another chance to speak out: "Soldiers, there is no point in continuing to resist. Paulus understood this very well and ordered his troops to put down Weapons, as a result, he and his hundreds of thousands of men survived.

If you had all listened to us just now and laid down your arms and surrendered to the Russians, at least a thousand of us would have survived. But now, there are only more than 300 people left. Do you think it is possible to survive if you continue to fight? "