Red Moscow

"Comrade Marshal," Vasilevsky did not refute Zhukov's statement, but said with emotion: "If Sokov's troops could have entered the battle earlier, maybe the German troops outside Prokhorovka would have been killed by the Germans." Crushed."

"Yes," Vatutin agreed with Vasilevsky's statement. The skeleton division, which his troops could not stop at all, became vulnerable in front of Sokov. He hurriedly said: " Judging from the speed at which they defeated the Skeleton Division tonight, if they could be called in earlier, the enemy might have been driven away from Prokhorovka."

"That's not necessarily true." Unexpectedly, Zhukov shook his head and said: "A few days ago, the enemy who broke into the city of Prokhorovka had powerful artillery and armored units, and also received air support. The transfer of Cove's troops may not be of much use. On the contrary, they will inevitably pay heavy sacrifices when they engage the enemy in the absence of artillery and air cover."

"However, I heard that the officers and soldiers of Sokov's troops use the assault rifles newly developed by our country. They have the shooting speed of submachine guns and the accuracy of rifles. With such equipment, they can Suppress the enemy in terms of firepower." Vatutin said a little unconvinced: "In addition, there are new rockets that are easy to carry and special anti-tank rocket launchers. With these equipment, it is naturally much easier to defeat the enemy."

Zhukov knew that Vatutin was telling the truth, but these weapons were all designed by Sokov. In addition, he had a good relationship with Yakov and Ustinov, so the advanced equipment he produced was naturally given priority to equip him troops. "Comrade Vatutin, you can't say that. Misha is indeed very good at commanding operations. Only when these newly developed weapons are equipped with his troops can they play a real role. Besides, he was originally a The designer, who personally tested the performance of these weapons on the battlefield and obtained first-hand information, is undoubtedly the best candidate."

After thinking about it, Vatukin felt that what Zhukov said made sense, and finally he could only let out a long sigh. He felt that even if his troops were equipped with these weapons, it would be a problem whether they could block elite troops like the Skeleton Division, let alone annihilate them systematically.

"Just wait, comrades." Zhukov finally said, "I think Misha may surprise us even more at dawn."

Zhukov was just rushing to talk, and said such a sentence, but what he didn't expect was that it didn't take long for what he said to become a reality.

Colonel Billing's propaganda vehicle was parked behind a ruined wall, which was only a hundred meters away from the German position. Unless the German army bombarded him with mortars, it would be difficult to threaten his life. Although he knew that his location was safe, the soldiers forced him to hide in a basement and shouted at the German army in the distance through the car's loudspeaker.

There were more than 300 German troops trapped in the siege, with five Panzer III tanks and a dozen 88mm anti-aircraft guns. Although this force is so small compared to the Soviet troops who besieged them, if the Soviet army launches a strong attack on them, the German commander, Major Fitman, is still confident that the opponent will pay a very heavy price.

When he heard the yelling from outside, Fitman didn't pay attention at all. It was not the first time he heard such a yelling, and there was nothing new about it. Just when he was drowsy, an elderly second lieutenant ran in from outside and woke him up: "Mr. Major, the Russians are shouting outside, let us put down our weapons and surrender to them, saying that we can ensure that all of us safety of life."

"Second Lieutenant." Fitman opened his eyes, looked at the other party and said, "Don't you know that the Russians hate our SS the most. As long as the person who captures us, whether it is voluntary surrender or being killed on the battlefield In the end, they were shot on the spot. Think about it, how could they accept our surrender?"

"Mr. Major," the second lieutenant said after hearing Fitman's words, "I think you need to go out and listen to the Russians. I think if you follow what the Russians said, put down your weapons and go out." Surrender, maybe the rest of us will survive."

"Propaganda! This is all false propaganda by the Russians." Fitman said in an unquestionable tone: "They just want to trick us into putting down our weapons and surrendering, Second Lieutenant, I can tell you with certainty that once we put down our weapons, It will become a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, and they will slaughter it to the ground."

"Mr. Major, if other troops are trying to persuade you to surrender, my men and I will definitely hit the last bullet and fight to the last person." The old second lieutenant said to Fitman: "The letter of persuasion being played outside is Written by General Sokov. Although he is our enemy, I believe his promise will be fulfilled."

"How can we trust the Russians? Even if this is a promise made by the Russian general, he may still not count..." When Fitman said this, he suddenly realized that the second lieutenant had heard a name he was familiar with. After pausing for a moment, he asked tentatively, "Second Lieutenant, who did you say just now that the persuasion letter was written?"

"It's General Sokov of Russia."

"General Sokov?!" Fitman asked cautiously, "Is it the General Sokov who captured Paulus in Stalingrad?"

"Of course it's him!"

"Are you sure?"

The second lieutenant pouted his mouth outside and said, "Major, as long as you listen carefully to the content of the persuasion to surrender, you will know that this is a persuasion letter written by General Sokov."

Hearing what the second lieutenant said, Fitman hurried to the door of the command post and listened to the broadcast room coming from a distance. After hearing the distinctive content of persuasion to capitulate clearly, Fitman couldn't help but tremble all over, as if he felt that Sokov was standing in front of him, pointing at him, and giving him an ultimatum.

"Mr. Major," the second lieutenant quickly asked Fitman when he saw that he was silent, "What should we do? Should we continue to resist, or lay down our weapons and surrender?"

If the loudspeaker not far away played the same words of persuasion, Fitman would definitely choose to continue to resist without hesitation. After all, as an SS soldier, he was doomed to choose to fight to the death instead of surrendering to the Russians. surrender. But what was playing at this moment was the persuasion letter written by Sokov himself. Even if they put down their weapons and surrendered, they would still survive. It seemed that there was no need to continue to resist?

"Second lieutenant," Fitman didn't immediately make a decision, but asked the second lieutenant a question: "What kind of reaction did the soldiers have when they heard General Sokov's letter of persuasion?"

"How else can I react?" The second lieutenant shrugged his shoulders and said, "Since there is a chance to live, why should you die in vain? Besides, everyone wants to live until the end of the war and go home to reunite with their relatives."

After listening to the second lieutenant's narration, Fitman made a decisive decision. Since Sokov was trying to persuade him to surrender, it would not be a shame to order the participating troops to lay down their weapons and surrender. If you change to a Russian commander, even if your subordinates want to surrender, the other party will not accept it.

Fitman said to the second lieutenant: "Second lieutenant, judging from the current situation, it is meaningless to continue to resist. In order to save the living, I decided to order all officers and soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Russian general Sokov."

As soon as Fitman ordered the officers and soldiers to lay down their weapons and surrender, many guns tied with white shirts or white handkerchiefs stretched out from the trenches, shaking desperately, announcing their intention to surrender to the distant Soviet troops.

Colonel Billing didn't expect that the German army on the opposite side would surrender after only reciting the persuasion letter a dozen times. He couldn't believe it was true. Billing was not convinced that the Germans had really surrendered until he saw many German soldiers coming out of their hiding places, with their arms raised high and some of them still clutching a white handkerchief. .

Billing hurriedly ordered the radio operator who followed him: "Immediately send a telegram to the division headquarters, saying that the German army surrounded by our army on the outskirts of the farm has put down their weapons and surrendered to our army after listening to the commander's letter of persuasion. "

"The Germans have already surrendered?" Sokov was overjoyed when he heard the news, but on the surface he pretended to be nonchalant. He tried his best to use a calm tone, and said to Colonel Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, since the enemies on the left wing have surrendered, let Colonel Billing send some troops to take these enemies to the headquarters of the army group, and the rest of the troops will immediately go to the army headquarters. Let's move closer and strive to break through the defense zone of the Banner Guard Division before dawn."

"Comrade Commander, what about the 18th Tank Corps that is fighting with us?" Shechtman asked Sokov for instructions: "Let them stay where they are, or let them move here with our troops?"

"I have no right to command the troops of the 18th Tank Army," Sokov felt that the next attack on the defense zone of the Banner Guard Division should be a tough battle. If he can get the support of the 18th Tank Army, the chance of breaking through the enemy's defense will be greatly improved improved. In order to effectively break through the German defenses, he decided to ask General Rotmistrov for help: "But I will immediately report the situation here to General Rotmistrov and ask him to let the 18th Tank Corps Move with us to destroy the Banner Guard Division."

Sokov personally drafted a telegram, ordered the operator to send it to the headquarters of the 5th Guards Tank Army, and then said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, regardless of whether General Baharov's 18th Tank Army Whether to cooperate with us or not, you must tell Colonel Billing, let him lead the two regiments to rush here to join our army in the shortest possible time."

Regarding Sokov's order, Shechtman nodded desperately. Although the battle on the right wing went smoothly, after all, it was fighting more with less, and the main attacking troops suffered a lot of casualties, and some companies had only a dozen or twenty people left. More troops are needed to break through the line of defense of the Banner Guard Division.

Sokov felt a little uncomfortable when he thought that Simon had escaped when he assaulted the German division headquarters. He thought for a while, and then said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, although there is a scuffle ahead, you still have to send people to search for the whereabouts of the Skeleton Division Commander Simon. It would be best if he could be captured alive, even if he couldn't be captured alive, We must also kill him, and we must not let him slip away from us again."

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Shechtman knew that catching Simon would be a great achievement, and he would not let such an opportunity of meritorious service go by. He patted his chest and assured Sokov: "Don't look at the melee between the enemy and us, but I have already sent two small teams to go deep into the enemy's defense zone to find the whereabouts of Simon and his division. I believe my Warrior, they will never let me down..."

Unexpectedly, before Shechtman finished speaking, a communications staff officer walked over quickly, handed a telegram to Sokov, and said: "Comrade Commander, this is Khokhlov, the commander of the 182nd Division." Urgent telegram from the Colonel."

"Colonel Khokhlov's urgent telegram?" Sokov was still muttering to himself when he received the telegram: "If the focus of the battle is shifted to the outside of Prokhorovka, what will happen to his defense zone?"

After Sokov read the contents of the telegram clearly, he couldn't help but turn pale with fright, and his breathing became rapid. Seeing Sokov's reaction aroused Shechtman's curiosity: "Comrade Commander, what did the telegram say, did something happen to the 182nd Division's defense zone?"

"The Germans have sent a force that penetrated the depths of the 182nd Division's defenses and besieged the field hospital." Sokov handed the telegram to Shechtman and said with a serious expression: "The battle is now taking place in the field hospital." spread out in the vicinity."

Knowing that the German army had attacked the field hospital of the 182nd Division, Shechtman was shocked, because many people knew that Sukov's wife and assistant military doctor Asiya now worked in the field hospital of the 182nd Division. Now that the enemy attacked there, it meant that Asiya was in danger. No wonder Sokov behaved so gaffe.

"Comrade Commander," Shechtman asked Sokov with a serious expression, "Do you need us to send troops to rush to support?"

"No need." Sokov waved his hand at Shechtman and said, "Colonel Khokhlov's troops are enough to destroy the enemy who attacked the hospital. You stay here and continue to command the battle. I'll go over there to see what's going on there."

After Sokov finished speaking, he turned around and shouted loudly to the outside of the command post: "Lieutenant Samoilov!"

"Here!" Following Sokov's shout, Samoilov rushed in from the outside, straightened his body and looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade Commander, what instructions do you have?"

After Sokov knew that he had arrived at Shechtman's unit, Samoilov had already transferred all the members of the guard platoon over. Since I am going to the 182nd Division's defense area at this moment, I must bring the guard platoon with me. Even if I encounter a small enemy unit on the road, it is enough to deal with it: "I have something urgent to go to the 182nd Division's defense area. Gather the guard platoon and we'll be off in five minutes."