Red Moscow

Sameko agrees with Sokov's statement. Regardless of the low combat effectiveness of the Italian army, if they really tripped the Germans, it would still be enough for the Germans to drink a pot. He had a bold idea in his mind, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, do you think we can send troops to rescue these Italian soldiers, and then let them join our side?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov waited for Sameko to finish speaking, shaking his head slightly and said, "We can send people to rescue them when necessary. But as for letting them join our side and fight against the Germans ,I think that we should give up."

"Why?" Sameko asked puzzledly: "Even if the Italian army's combat effectiveness is weak, there shouldn't be any problem with letting them assist us in combat?"

"I heard that there is a saying in the German army that if they fight with the Italian army, they must allocate half of their troops to protect them, lest they be wiped out by the enemy." Sukov said with a smile: "In the battle of Stalingrad In the counter-offensive phase of the 19th century, our counter-attack force first broke through the defense line of the Italian army, which led to the collapse of the overall German defense line and created the conditions for the complete annihilation of Paulus' Sixth Army.

Also, the Battle of Kursk that ended not long ago. In fact, the Germans have already gained the upper hand. If Manstein puts his reserve team into battle, then our army's defense in the Prokhorovka area will be broken by the Germans. However, due to the British and American troops landing in Sicily, the Italian army was defeated. Seeing that the situation was not good, Mustache quickly transferred Manstein's reserve team, giving our army a good opportunity to readjust and deploy. "

Hearing what Sokov said, Sameko felt that it was very reasonable. He nodded and asked casually: "Comrade Commander, how do you think the Germans will deal with these imprisoned Italian soldiers?"

After Italy reached an agreement with Britain and the United States, it announced its withdrawal from the Axis powers and declared war on Germany. The Supreme Commander of the German Army also formulated a plan in time: disarm the Italian army and take over all Italian political institutions and communication facilities. The plan stipulates that to defeat the Italian motorized army, the Italian army in mainland Italy, the Italian army in southern France (the 4th army group) and the Italian army in southeastern Europe (the Este army group stationed in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, under the jurisdiction of the 2nd, The 9th and 11th armies) were disarmed, captured or disbanded, and then occupied Rome and sent 10 German divisions to Italy.

"What else to do is to disarm them and put them in prisoner-of-war camps or concentration camps and let them fend for themselves." Sukov said: "Our scouts found that these Italian soldiers who were detained were probably only Sood soldiers. Very little on the battlefield."

"Comrade Commander, do you think we should report this to our superiors?"

Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and found that it was not yet six o'clock, and Konev should not have gotten up at this time. So he said to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's still early. After eight o'clock in the morning, I will report this to Commander Konev."

As soon as 8:00 a.m., Sokov called Konev directly and discovered a prisoner-of-war camp in the forest outside Dergach, in which no less than 5,000 disarmed Italian troops were held.

Unexpectedly, after listening to Konev, he said impatiently: "Comrade Sokov, our troops are mobilizing in full swing, preparing to launch an attack on the enemy in the Kharkov area, but what do you tell me about a group of Italians?" The troops were disarmed by the Germans and held in the forest outside Djergach.

Your main task now is to find ways to hold the occupied area, and after our offensive begins, protect our flank with all your strength, and provide us with help within your ability. Understand? "

Seeing that Konev had no interest in this matter, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He replied bitterly: "Understood, Comrade Commander of the Front Army."

Lunev, who was sitting on the side, saw Sokov put down the phone with a frustrated face, and asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, I think you are not in a good mood. What did General Konev say?"

Sokov replied with a wry smile: "Comrade Military Commissar, General Konev felt that I was a bit nosy, saying that the main task now is to attack Kharkov and eliminate the enemies entrenched there. And our task is to After the main force of the front army launches an attack, cover their flanks and, when appropriate, cooperate with their actions."

Hearing that Sokov was criticized by Konev for this matter, Sameko couldn't sit still, and he blushed and apologized to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I shouldn't have given you such an issue. This idea caused you to be criticized by the commander of the front army. This is all my fault, please forgive me!"

"Comrade Chief of Staff, this matter is not your responsibility, you don't have to blame yourself." Sokov waved his hand at Sameko and said generously: "Since we have discovered such a situation, it is our duty to report it to our superiors." If the matter is concealed and not reported, we will still be criticized after the superiors learn about the matter through their proprietary channels."

"Comrade Commander," Lunev said after Sameko finished speaking, "I think this matter is of great importance. If it is not reported, it may not be appropriate."

Sameko didn't wait for Lunev to finish, and rushed to say: "Comrade Military Commissar, the commander was criticized by General Konev for this matter just now. Who should we report to?"

"Leave this matter to me." Lunev volunteered and said, "I can report this matter to Comrade Beria, who will then pass it on to the Supreme Commander himself."

Hearing that Lunev said that he planned to bring this matter directly to Beria, Sokov was startled. If he agreed with the other party to do so, it would be like giving Konev eye drops, and he would still want to Not wanting to hang out with the Grassland Front Army, he quickly stopped Lunev: "No, Comrade Military Commissioner, this matter cannot be directly reported to the Supreme Command by us, but should be reported to the appropriate person."

Lunev asked curiously: "Who is the right person?"

"Marshal Zhukov," Sokov replied without hesitation: "As Marshal Zhukov, after receiving our information, he can quickly analyze the reason and purpose of the Germans. That's it, I Immediately call Marshal Zhukov and report this to him."

Sokov's speculation was correct. When Zhukov learned on the phone that the German army had disarmed more than 5,000 Italian troops and asked them to see the prisoner-of-war camp in the forest outside Gergach, he asked specifically: "Mr. Sha, is this news reliable?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, this news is completely reliable." Sokov knew what Zhukov was worried about. If the information he provided was wrong, it might cause the Supreme Command to make a wrong judgment, so he quickly explained: "I After receiving this information, the director of the reconnaissance department found it incredible, and specially called the scout to verify the matter. Although the other party gave him an affirmative answer, he was still not sure, so he came to see me with the director of intelligence... "

After patiently listening to Sokov's narration, Zhukov asked noncommittally, "What do you think the purpose of the Germans doing is?"

"Comrade Marshal, according to my judgment." Anyway, the news of the negotiations between Italy and the British and American Allies has not yet spread, Sokov simply took these historical events as his own analysis and told Zhukov: "It should It was the Italian army that could not stop the attack of the British and American troops and was planning to surrender to the Allies. The Germans got this news and worried that the Italian army on the Soviet-German battlefield would stand with us as Italy surrendered, so they first Take action, and disarm and imprison the Italian troops in their defense zone in advance."

"Misha, what you said sounds reasonable." Zhukov said slowly, "But do you have any evidence to support your analysis?"

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." Fortunately, before Sokov called to report to Konev, he received a telegram from the scouts behind the enemy and obtained more information. Although Konev had no intention of listening to his own report, the report to Zhukov was the same: "Our scouts found that a group of Italian soldiers were disarmed by the Germans after they arrived at the prisoner-of-war camp. Several soldiers refused to disarm. He was directly shot and killed by the German soldiers guarding the prisoner-of-war camp.

Comrade Marshal, think about it, Germany and Italy are allies in the first place, not to mention that they fought side by side during the Stalingrad defense war, even during the Battle of Kursk that ended not long ago, Germany was worried that the Italian army would not be able to stop the Anglo-American alliance The army even transferred the only armored army reserve in Manstein's hands. As a result, Manstein, who had the upper hand, was defeated by our army due to insufficient troops. "

"That's right, according to the information I have obtained, the reason why the Berlin High Command transferred the reserve team in Manstein's hands was because they were worried that the Italian army would not be able to stop the attack of the British and American allies in Sicily." Zhukov agreed: "After listening to your analysis now, it is very possible that Italy will surrender to the British and American troops in a short period of time."

"Then what should we do?" Sokov heard from Zhukov's tone that he was very interested in these Italian prisoners of war, so he asked tentatively, "Should we stand still or send troops to rescue them?"

"How many troops does the German army have in Dergach?" Zhukov did not immediately answer Sokov's question, but asked instead: "How many German troops are there in the forest guarding the prisoner-of-war camp?"

Sokov has been familiar with these data for a long time. Since Zhukov asked, he answered clearly: "The enemy's troops stationed in Dergach City are a regiment of the 168th Infantry Division, plus a tank battalion and two Artillery regiments. The Germans guarding the prisoner-of-war camps are two companies of the SS."

Hearing this, Zhukov couldn't help muttering in a low voice: "No wonder!"

Hearing Zhukov's whispered words, Sokov couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Marshal, what are you talking about?"

"Misha, didn't you report to me that some Italian troops were unwilling to be disarmed and were shot dead by the Germans?" Zhukov said, "I was just wondering when the Germans became so cruel that even their allies It's all about killing. Since the SS guards these prisoners of war, then it makes sense."

After chatting for a while, Zhukov thought of an important question and asked Sokov, "Misha, have you reported such important information to Konev?"

"Reported!"

"Reported?" Zhukov asked a little puzzled: "Then what did he say after hearing it?"

If Zhukov hadn't asked, Sokov felt that he would not take the initiative to mention Konev's attitude towards him. But since the other party asked, he should answer truthfully: "He was a little upset when I reported it to him."

"A little unhappy?" Zhukov asked puzzledly, "Why?"

"He said that the current primary task of the front army is to complete the assembly as soon as possible and launch an attack on the German troops entrenched in the Kharkov area. The task of our army group is to cover the flanks of the attacking troops and cooperate with friendly forces at the right time. achieve strategic goals."

"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." After hearing this, Zhukov said with some displeasure: "Yes, our current priority is to liberate Kharkov and eliminate the enemies entrenched in this area. If we are going to attack, why don’t we turn a blind eye to such important news? You know, if we rescue the Italian army from the German prisoner-of-war camp, we may still play an unexpected role.”

Hearing what Zhukov said, Sokov immediately understood in his heart that the other party planned to let him send troops to rescue the detained Italian prisoners. The SS guarding the prisoner-of-war camp has only two companies. Even if the company is full of 200 people, the total strength is not bad at 400 people, which is only equivalent to one of its own battalions. It is not difficult at all to eliminate them.

But out of caution, Sokov still asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, if I understand correctly, do you plan to let me send troops to rescue these Italian prisoners of war?"

"That's right." Zhukov nodded, and said affirmatively into the microphone: "Now your 188th Infantry Division has basically occupied the town of Compass in Kazakhia, which is only a dozen kilometers away from the prisoner-of-war camp. If they send troops to Rescue is the most convenient."

Sokov stared at the map in front of him, secretly calculating in his mind, let the 188th Division deploy a regiment of troops, pass through the forest, approach the prisoner-of-war camp quietly, and launch a strong attack by surprise. Rescue all Italian soldiers imprisoned in prisoner-of-war camps.

"Yes, Comrade Marshal." After making up his mind, Sokov said to Zhukov: "After our army has completely occupied the town of Compass in Kazakhia, I will send a force to pass through the forest. Go and attack the prisoner-of-war camp where the Italian prisoners of war are held, and destroy all the guards inside."

"Well." Zhukov was very satisfied with Sokov's answer, but he still specially warned: "You must move quickly, otherwise when the Germans react and transfer these Italian prisoners of war, you will be killed by then." Busy for nothing."