Red Moscow

After saying this, Sokov held his breath, like a student waiting for the teacher to announce the test results, anxiously waiting for Konev's answer.

After waiting for a long time, Konev's voice still did not come from the receiver. Sokov even thought that the other party had hung up the phone. He listened carefully, and vaguely heard the voice of someone talking inside and the ticking sound of the radio transmission, only then did he realize that Konev had not hung up the phone, but was seriously thinking about his proposal.

"Comrade Sokov," Konev finally made a final decision after repeated thinking: "I can send the air force to provide air cover for you. But, I have one condition."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Sokov felt ecstatic when he heard Konev say that he could provide him with air cover. If I can do it, I will definitely agree to your conditions."

"Although your group army is now temporarily placed under the command of the Voronezh Front Army," Konev said on the phone: "But once the Battle of Kursk is over, whether you will return to the Steppe Front Army or not, the headquarters will directly seek your opinions. I I hope you can lead the troops back to the grassland front army, how about it, can it be done?"

"No problem," Sokov immediately replied unambiguously when he learned of such a simple condition: "Comrade Front Army Commander, I was originally a member of the Steppe Front Army, and now I am under the command of General Vatutin, and it is only temporarily. Yes. Once the battle is over, even if the headquarters does not ask for my opinion, I will offer to return to the grassland front army."

Seeing that Sokov agreed to his conditions so readily, Konev was also very satisfied. After asking about the area where the German Air Force was located, he said: "Comrade Sokov, the air force that supports you will be in half an hour." Arrive at the battlefield within hours."

Although Konev said that it would take half an hour for the air force to arrive at the battlefield. However, the air force fighters, which have been in a state of preparation, received his order, and within five minutes, 36 bombers and 24 fighter jets took off one after another. Airspace flies away.

Ten minutes later, the fighter planes that were covering the bombers and bombarding the Soviet army indiscriminately on the ground found the shadows of Soviet fighter planes in the distance, and rushed to intercept them. The two sides launched a fierce attack in the air.

Dozens of hundreds of fighter planes quickly fought in the sky. From time to time, one plane after another, emitting black smoke, fell from the sky and landed on the ground, sending out earth-shattering explosions and flying a huge mass of air. fireball. Most of the pilots successfully parachuted before the plane crashed.

Through a conversation with Major General Gritsenko, Sokov learned that the air force sent by Konev had arrived on the battlefield and was engaged in a fierce battle with the enemy's air force, so he told Gritsenko: "Comrade General, I am now I have two orders for you: one is to order the troops to go on the offensive again, and the 19th Armored Division must be wiped out before the enemy's reinforcements arrive; the other is to send several search teams to rescue our skydiving pilots and capture Enemy pilots."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Major General Gritsenko replied loudly: "We will immediately launch a full-scale offensive, and strive to annihilate the German 19th Panzer Division in the shortest possible time. "

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Sameko: "The chief of staff, the air force sent by General Konev is engaged in a fierce battle with the German air force. Order several troops in other directions to speed up the attack. Get rid of Schmidt's 19th Armored Division within the time limit."

"Comrade Commander," even though the air force sent by Konev had arrived on the battlefield and launched a counterattack with the enemy's air force, Sameko said with lingering fear: "Do you think our air force can win?"

"Chief of Staff, what's wrong with you? Don't you have any confidence in our army's final victory?" Sokov said without waiting for Sameko's response, "I believe our army The pilots, who have accumulated rich combat experience in so many years of fighting, are fully capable of defeating the enemy. You must know that we have twice as many fighter planes as the enemy in the Kursk salient. If If we can’t achieve victory in this way, we might as well disband the Air Force.”

Without the German air threat, the Soviet units that had surrounded the 19th Panzer Division launched simultaneous attacks from several directions. Although the German officers and soldiers resisted desperately, their resistance was so insignificant in front of the flood of Soviet tanks and infantry. The defensive positions were like sand piles on the beach, which were quickly washed away by the waves. without a trace.

When Schmidt reported to Manstein, he said that his troops could last for another two hours, but just an hour later, he was horrified to find that the Soviet tanks and infantry had appeared in his field of vision. His command post was no more than two hundred meters away.

Seeing this situation, Schmidt panicked and yelled at the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, the Russians are rushing up, you immediately organize troops to counterattack, and must drive them away from the headquarters .”

"Your Excellency, Commander," the chief of staff is now a clever woman who can't cook without rice. The only force he can use is a guard company. It is basically impossible to block the attacking arrows of the Soviet army consisting of tanks and infantry. . He could only tactfully say to Schmidt: "It seems that we can't hold on until the reinforcements sent by the marshal arrive. Otherwise, we should order the troops to surrender, so as to save more lives."

"Colonel, do you know what you're talking about?" Schmidt's eyes widened when he heard the chief of staff say this, and he shouted at the other party: "You haven't fought to the last person, you think you're going to surrender, This is simply a disgrace to the military. If you are heard by the SS, you may not even have a chance to be court-martialed, and you will be executed on the spot. I order you now, immediately send the remaining guards Put them all into battle, at all costs to hold off the Russian attack."

In desperation, the chief of staff had no choice but to put all the remaining guard troops in the division into battle. According to his thinking, no matter how fierce the Soviet army's offensive is, it will take at least an hour to break through the defense near the division headquarters.

Unexpectedly, shortly after the guard company entered the position, many flying objects with white smoke trails flew out from the Soviet army's position. These objects landed on the position of the guard company and exploded. Thick gunpowder smoke enveloped the position. The chief of staff staying in the headquarters felt the ground under his feet tremble violently amidst the explosion. Although he couldn't see the situation on the ground clearly, he knew very well in his heart that most of the guard company that had just been sent to the ground had been reimbursed.

He turned around and came to Schmidt, and reported to the other party in a daze: "Your Excellency, the Russians have used new weapons, and all our guard companies have been reimbursed."

"What, all our guard companies have been reimbursed in such a short period of time?" Schmidt was taken aback by the chief of staff's words, and quickly asked: "What weapons are so powerful? Did the Russians use gas bombs?" ?”

"Your Excellency, the Russians don't know how to use gas bombs." The chief of staff replied with a wry smile, "It should be the legendary new type of rocket. , other friendly forces have suffered a lot from this weapon."

"Then what should we do?" Schmidt confirmed that the guard company he relied on had been reimbursed, and couldn't help but panic: "The guard company has been reimbursed, and the Russians will soon rush to us."

"Your Excellency, Commander," the chief of staff had already made up his mind. Under the current circumstances, if he continued to fight, he would die in vain. It would be better to persuade Schmidt to surrender. If he doesn't agree, I will find a way to get him to agree: "The way, I just said it, put down your arms and surrender to the Russians, so that more lives can be saved."

When things were like this, Schmidt knew that if he continued to resist, he would end up dying. After a short thought, he finally lowered his proud head: "Okay, Chief of Staff, then order the remaining troops to stop resisting and surrender to the Russians."

As the order was issued, the sound of guns and artillery on the battlefield became sparse, and one after another German positions that were still fighting in the corner raised white flags and surrendered to the nearby Soviet commanders and fighters.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov learned that the German army began to fly the white flag to surrender, but he did not hear the news that the division commander Schmidt was captured, so he asked Sameko: "Why is there no news that the German division commander, General Schmidt, was captured?" Woolen cloth?"

"Comrade commander, there are several troops surrounding the German division headquarters," Sameko reported to Sokov, "They are all waiting for your order to see where you are going to leave the honor of capturing the German division commander." army."

Sokov glanced at the troop number provided by Sameko, saw the name of a familiar commander in it, pointed to that name and said to Sameko: "Chief of Staff, immediately send a telegram to the front, saying that the Navy Lieutenant Commander Shamrich, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 84th Marine Brigade, went to accept Schmidt's surrender."

Hearing that Sokov directly named Shamrich's name, Sameko immediately understood that Sokov wanted to leave such an honor to his old subordinates, so he said comprehensibly: "I understand, Commander Comrade, I immediately called the brigade commander, Colonel Chuvashov, and asked him to send Battalion Shamrich to the German division headquarters to receive the prisoners."

The location of the Shamrich Battalion is about 200 meters away from the German division headquarters. On their right flank is a battalion of the infantry brigade. While waiting for the surrender, several company-level commanders in the battalion gathered to discuss which unit the Army Group Command would order to capture the German division commander Schmidt.

After listening to several company commanders chatting for a while, the deputy battalion commander, Lieutenant Yakuda, interrupted and said: "Comrades, the nearest unit to the German division headquarters is the third battalion of the infantry brigade, and they are less than a hundred miles away from the enemy headquarters. meters, and we are two hundred meters away. If you were the superior commander, which force would you send to accept the German surrender?"

Hearing what Yakuda said, several company commanders lost their energy like deflated balloons. Yes, what the deputy battalion commander said makes sense. One is less than 100 meters away from the German headquarters, and the other is 200 meters away. Isn't it a matter of certainty which unit will accept the surrender?

Just when everyone was discouraged, a communications soldier hurried over. After he came in front of Shamrich, he said loudly: "Report to Comrade Battalion Commander, the division commander's telegram. I order you to immediately lead the troops to the German division headquarters and accept the surrender of the German army."

"What, let us accept the surrender?" Shamrich, who had already given up any hope of capturing the German division commander, snatched the telegram from the signal soldier and browsed it carefully. He read it four or five times in a row, and after confirming that what the communicator just said was true, he shoved the telegram into Yakuda's hand, and then said to several company commanders who hadn't understood it yet: "Company commander Comrades, go back to your troops immediately, let the soldiers organize their military appearance, and follow me to accept the enemy's surrender."

Several company commanders immediately cheered after a short shock. They neatly raised their hands to salute Shamrih, turned around and ran back to their respective troops along the trenches, to gather soldiers and prepare to go to accept surrender.

A few minutes later, all the companies had completed their assembly, and Shamrih sorted out his military appearance, turned around and said to Yakuda, who was laughing from ear to ear, "Let's go, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, we are now going to accept the German army." the surrender of man."

Shamrih led the troops and surrounded the German division headquarters in a scattered formation. The German officers and soldiers they met along the way immediately dropped their weapons when they saw them coming, and stood expressionlessly on the side of the road, allowing them to walk past them. There were also individual German officers and soldiers whose eyes were full of anger, staring viciously at these Soviet commanders and fighters who passed by.

When he came to the German division headquarters, Shamrich found that there were already many people standing outside the door. Judging from their uniforms, most of them were officers. Seeing Shamrih approaching, one of the colonels stepped out of the crowd, followed by a second lieutenant officer.

He came to stop in front of Shamrich, and chatted a lot. The German second lieutenant quickly translated his words into Russian: "Mr. Major, I am the chief of staff of the 19th Armored Division. surrendered to your army."

When Shamrich brought people over, he was still worried about the language barrier. Now that the second lieutenant who followed the German chief of staff spoke fluent Russian, he felt more at ease. He pulled the hem of his military uniform, coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and said loudly: "I am Major Shamrich, commander of the first battalion of the 84th Marine Brigade of the 27th Army, and the commander is Major General Sokov. order to come and take you captive."

Schmidt, who was standing in the crowd, heard the second lieutenant's epidemic prevention and knew that the troops who came were from Sokov's subordinates, and he felt a little relieved. He took a few steps forward, stood in front of Shamrich, raised his hand to salute him, and said respectfully: "Schmidt, commander of the 19th Armored Division, leads the entire division to surrender to you."