Red Moscow

Seeing that no valuable information could be obtained from this group of German prisoners, Rusuf couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. He saw the Ninth Company Commander aside, frowned and asked, "Comrade Captain, are all the prisoners you captured here?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Hearing this question from Rusuf, the Ninth Company Commander began to complain to him: "You don't know, we even searched more than half of the town, except for those who were bombed to pieces. Dead bodies, no living people at all. We finally found a few wounded soldiers here, but they didn’t know what to ask, and I don’t know if it’s true, or they’re just pretending to be confused.”

"Ninth Company Commander," seeing that the Ninth Company Commander brought up the old story again, Rusuf said to him, "I think the prisoner should not have lied. During such a fierce shelling by our army, all he considered was how to preserve his body under the artillery fire." Life, there is no time to pay attention to other things."

When the commander of the third battalion learned that Rusuf was coming to inspect the front line, he immediately rushed over from another area. He happened to hear the last two words Rusuf said, and added casually: "Comrade commander is right. Under such circumstances, even if the German commander escaped from him in a car, it is estimated that he would hardly notice it."

The speaker had no intention but the listener had intention, but the casual words of the commander of the third battalion shocked Ru Sufu. Soon, his eyes stayed on the third battalion commander: "Third battalion commander, what did you just say?"

"I said that even if the German commander passed by him in a car, I'm afraid he wouldn't notice it."

"You're right." Rusuf looked around and found that the damage to buildings in these areas was much better than other places in the town. In this way, a thought came to his mind: "Maybe the German commander moved to this place after the shelling started, and later saw that the situation was really bad, so he escaped from Svetlovodsk by car." district."

After talking about his thoughts, Ru Sufu asked the commander of the third battalion: "Commander of the third battalion, have your other two companies captured any prisoners?"

"No." The third battalion commander shook his head and replied with a wry smile, "I followed the other two companies in action, but I didn't find a single living enemy. It seems that the enemy has already escaped from the town."

Rusuf got in touch with the other two battalions through the walkie-talkie, and found that they had nothing to gain. He was even more sure that the enemy had escaped from the town before the shelling stopped, so he ordered the radio operator: "Get me through the division. Department, I will report to the division commander myself."

When Fomenko learned that Rusuf had important information to report to him, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic, wondering whether the other party had captured a large number of prisoners and wanted to tell him the good news.

"Colonel Rusuv, do you have any good news to tell me?" Hearing Rusuf's voice from the headset, Fomenko couldn't wait to ask, "How many prisoners did your regiment take?"

Rusuf thought about the number of prisoners he had seen, and replied: "Our regiment captured 15 German prisoners in total, all of whom were wounded, and two of them were seriously wounded."

"What, only 15 captives were captured?" Fomenko couldn't believe his ears, and he hurriedly asked, "Are you right?"

"No." Rusuf replied truthfully, "According to my analysis, the German commander had already escaped from the town before the shelling ended, and his whereabouts are unknown."

After chatting with Rusuf for a few more words, Fomenko put down the earphone and microphone in his hand. Manuoxin on the side quickly asked: "Comrade commander, what is the result of the 254th regiment?"

Fomenko said with a wry smile: "So far, they have captured 15 German prisoners, and all of them were wounded soldiers, and two of them were seriously wounded."

"Only 15 prisoners were captured?" Hearing this, Ma Nuoxin said in surprise, "Why are there only so few prisoners?"

"According to Colonel Rusuf, the German commander probably fled the town before our bombardment ended. The Germans who could run probably all ran away at that time, and only those who couldn't run remained in the town waiting to die."

"Do you need to report this situation to the Army Command immediately?"

"Not for the time being." Fomenko shook his head and said: "Now I only get the report of the 254th regiment, and the reports of the 252nd and 258th regiments have not been received yet. Until I figure out what happened, I still don't need it for the time being." Reported."

He picked up the phone, dialed the division headquarters, and ordered his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you immediately contact the 252nd and 258th regiments and order them to report the search situation immediately."

The division chief waited for him to finish speaking, and asked cautiously, "What about Colonel Rusuf's 254th regiment?"

"The results of their battles have been reported." Fomenko said with some embarrassment: "The regiment captured a total of 15 German prisoners, and all of them were wounded, and there were even two seriously wounded. You immediately arrange medical staff, Go to the position of the 254th regiment to receive these German wounded."

Belkin's 258th regiment quickly reported the search situation: "After completing the search of the controlled area, except for the dead bodies of the German soldiers, no living person was seen, and the Germans were all missing."

The report time of the 252nd Regiment was a little later. The head of the regiment reported to Fomenko by phone: "Comrade Commander, our regiment has completed the search mission. Except for the bombed tanks and various combat vehicles along the way, the broken and incomplete Except for the dead German soldiers, not a single living person was seen."

Hearing the same report from the 252nd, Fomenko couldn't help feeling disappointed. Just when he was about to hang up the phone, he heard the head of the regiment say: "Comrade commander, during the search process, our soldiers found the regiment headquarters of the German army, and seized a large number of documents and two radio stations... "

Fomenko regained his spirits immediately, and quickly asked, "Did you find any living people in the German headquarters?"

"No, Comrade Commander, not a single one alive," the regimental commander reported to Fomenko over the phone. "Except for five or six dead bodies, nothing was found."

Fomenko asked with a hint of luck: "Are there any school-level officers of the German army among these corpses?"

"I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you." The regimental commander reported: "Among these corpses, except for a German second lieutenant, the rest are ordinary non-commissioned officers. It seems that they should be from the regiment headquarters. Communication soldiers..."

Fomenko quickly connected the head of the regiment with Rusuf's report, and he tentatively asked: "Comrade head, where do you think the rest of the Germans have gone?"

Hearing Fomenko's question, the head of the regiment was silent for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade commander, I have carefully observed the surrounding terrain. On the street outside the headquarters, there are no wreckage of destroyed vehicles, only scattered corpses of German soldiers." , it appears that the enemy commander fled the town by car."

"Comrade commander, your analysis coincides with that of Colonel Rusov." Fomenko said into the microphone: "He also believes that the German commander fled the town in a hurry before the shelling of our army ended."

After receiving the information from the three regiments, Fomenko summed it up and came to a conclusion that, except for the Germans who died in the shelling, the rest of the living fled the town in a hurry before the shelling ended.

Fomenko ordered the communications corps to connect to the phone of the Army Group Headquarters, and personally reported to Sameko who answered the phone: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff! I am Fomenko. I have something important to inform you and Comrade Commander reports."

"How's the situation in the town?" Sameko asked with concern: "Have you taken it down?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, the Svetlovodsk district has been occupied by our troops." After proudly reporting Fomenko, he continued: "However, our division's search in the town only found We killed 15 wounded Germans who hadn't had time to evacuate, and the living enemy should have escaped from the town."

"General Fomenko," Sameko was obviously not satisfied with Fomenko's report, he frowned and asked, "How did you come to such a conclusion?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Fomenko explained to Sameko, "my commander of the 252nd regiment personally went to the regimental headquarters of the German army, and there he found only seven or eight corpses, all ordinary officers. He and the non-commissioned officer should be communication personnel. On the street outside the building, he did not find the wreckage of the car destroyed by the artillery fire, nor did he find many German corpses. Based on these two points, he judged that the commander of the German army had already been in the We escaped from the town before our shelling ended."

"So that's the case." After listening to Fomenko's explanation, Sameko knew that he had misunderstood the other party, so he quickly changed the subject and said, "By the way, did your subordinates plant the red flag on the bell tower of the church?"

After Sameko’s reminder, Fomenko immediately thought that none of the three commanders under him seemed to have mentioned the matter of planting the red flag on the commanding heights of the town, so he quickly replied: “Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that the red flag has not been planted yet. I will call the three leaders and ask them to plant the red flag on the bell tower of the church."

Although Sameko made a timely statement that the red flag would be planted on the top of the church, Sameko felt that he should still say a few words to him: "General Fomenko, don't you know the traditions of our army, even if you occupy In the whole town, if the red flag is not planted on the commanding heights of the town, it means that our army has not really occupied the position. You are also an old commander, how can you make such a low-level mistake?"

Faced with Sameko's criticism, Fomenko was not angry, and said with a smile: "You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will go and urge the commanders and fighters below to let them plant the red flag at the highest position in the town." .”

After finishing the call with Fomenko, Sameko said to Sokov with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, according to General Fomenko's report, so far, the living people they have captured are only 15 wounded German soldiers. , the rest of the enemy should have escaped from the town before our army's shelling ended."

After Sameko finished his report, he asked Sokov a little at a loss: "Comrade Commander, how should we report this battle to the Front Command?"

"How to report?" Sokov glanced at Sameko with a strange look, and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, naturally report to the superior truthfully."

"But how do you report it?" Sameko said in embarrassment: "In the battle to seize the Svetlovodsk district, our 1st and 2nd Artillery Divisions played the leading roles, and the 84th Division, which was in charge of the attack, unexpectedly One shot might have taken over the whole town."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, haven't you thought that this might be a good thing." After Sokov finished speaking, seeing Sameko's bewildered expression, he explained to him: "Because General Fomenko and the others are here Before the attack, a reconnaissance team was sent to occupy the 103.9 Heights where the entire town could be observed, and the artillery observers provided shooting parameters for the artillery behind us on it, which greatly improved the hit rate of the artillery bombardment and greatly consumed the vital strength of the German army. .”

After listening to Sameko, he thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case, so he nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean, if we send artillery observers before attacking enemy positions in the future, Directing artillery fire at close range may greatly injure the enemy's vital force through artillery fire, thereby reducing the casualties of our army in the next offensive."

"Well, that's what it means." Sokov nodded and said, "Because in the past when our army bombarded the enemy's positions, the enemy withdrew to the second line of defense, which meant that the shells hit the open space where no one was alive. Except for some of their fortifications, the damage to the defenders is very limited.

This time, the precise strike under the guidance of artillery observers completely destroyed the German defense system, so that the German commander had to flee the town in a hurry. And our troops easily occupied the town without firing a single shot or killing a single person. "

After chatting with Sokov for a while, Sameko called the Front Army Command to report the results obtained here to his superiors. When the voice of General Zakharov came out of the receiver, Sameko reported with a solemn expression: "Reporting Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I am honored to report to you that the 84th Infantry Division of our department has successfully captured In the Svetlovodsk district, the entire division did not fire a single shot, and there were no casualties."

"What, the whole division successfully occupied the Svetlovodsk district without firing a single shot and without any casualties?" Zakharov was stunned by Fomenko's report: "This is simply too much. Unbelievable. General Sameko, are you sure there are no mistakes in your report?"

"Exactly, General Zakharov." Sameko said to Zakharov in an affirmative tone: "Before we started our offensive, General Fomenko, the commander of the 84th Division, sent a reconnaissance team to occupy the area outside the town. High ground, and artillery observers are arranged on it, from where the artillery is provided with shooting parameters, and the position is adjusted according to the distribution of impact points. In this way, our artillery fire improves the shooting accuracy, destroying a large number of German tanks and various combat Vehicles, effectively killing and wounding their vital forces. So much so that the German commander, after being bombarded by us, left his troops and fled the town in a panic."

"So, the main credit for capturing the town should go to the artillerymen?"

"That's right." Sameko agreed with Zakharov's statement: "My comrade and I both believe that the reason why the Svetlovodsk district was taken so easily this time is that the artillery The troops are indispensable. Especially the observers who guide the artillery fire on the high ground, he should be given credit for it."

"Then what are your plans next?"

Sameko replied without hesitation: "I have discussed with Comrade Commander, we should order the 84th Division to continue to develop in depth the enemy's defense before the enemy has recovered, in order to achieve greater results, expand and consolidate Our landing ground."