Fortunately, what Guchakov was worried about did not happen. Kopetu led his infantry squad and successfully brought the five German prisoners to the division headquarters.
Arriving in front of Sokov and Koida, he straightened his body and saluted them, but then he had a problem with who to report to. Fortunately, Sokov saw his embarrassment and went to
Koida looked at him and pursed his lips and said, "It's better to report to your division commander."
"Comrade Division Commander," Kopetuo quickly turned to face Koida and reported loudly: "On the order of the battalion commander, Captain Guchakov, I have sent you five prisoners."
Koida glanced at the five prisoners standing at the door, and when he found that there was a second lieutenant among them, he couldn't help but smiled and nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Well done. Please tell him when you go back to see your battalion commander.
I would like to convey my gratitude to you for your heroic fighting on the front line to stop the crazy German attack."
After sending Copetu away, Koida immediately called the translator and began to interrogate the prisoners. The first person to be interrogated was the German second lieutenant, and the other four officers and soldiers were imprisoned in order to prevent them from providing false information.
He walked next door and prepared to interrogate each of them individually: "Your name, military rank and position."
"My name is Kahn, with the rank of second lieutenant, and I serve as the platoon leader of the 2nd Company, 1st Battalion, 114th Regiment, 6th Armored Division."
Seeing the second lieutenant's cooperation, Koida continued to ask: "Please tell me truthfully, why are you still attacking so hard when you know clearly that you cannot capture my position?"
Hearing Koida's question, Lieutenant Kahn hesitated. Seeing that the other party did not speak, Koida was so angry that he slapped his face hard on the table and shouted: "Answer me!"
"We have received a death order from Marshal Manstein," the second lieutenant said with a guilty conscience: "We must seize your position at all costs, and we have even transferred the right-wing offensive troops here to participate in the attack."
Sokov heard that the German army had transferred the right-wing offensive troops here to participate in the attack, and he immediately understood that the enemies who disappeared from the Guards Division's position had all arrived in front of his own position.
Koida was very confused about the answer of the German prisoners. In order to find out what was going on, he continued to ask: "Why did Manstein transfer all the troops attacking from other directions to us? Also, he
Why do we have to give you a fatal order to seize our position?"
Sokov, who was sitting aside, thought to himself that he did not expect that the German second lieutenant would say that this road is the shortest road to Kursk. Unexpectedly, it took a while before the other party said: "Our division commander von...
General Hornerdorf was killed in front of your fortifications. When Manstein learned the bad news, he was very angry and gave us such a death order."
"This is impossible." When Koida heard this, he immediately jumped up from his seat: "How could we kill your division commander? You must have made a mistake."
Sokov also felt that Second Lieutenant Kahn was talking nonsense. German generals are a group of people who are afraid of death. Their headquarters are usually dozens of kilometers away from the front line, just to prevent themselves from being in danger. Thinking of this, he said: "
Second Lieutenant, you are lying. Your General Hornerdorf is probably hiding in the headquarters dozens of kilometers away from the front line, drinking coffee with his chief of staff. How could he die in front of our position?"
"It's true, Your Excellency General." Lieutenant Cohen knew the Soviet military ranks. Although he saw that Sokov was much younger than Koida, he was carrying the rank of major general on his shoulders. He knew that the person in the room had the word.
It was he who quickly defended: "Our division commander, General Hornerdorf, personally participated in the attack in a tank. As a result, it was destroyed by your strange anti-tank weapons when he approached your position.
There were more than a dozen tanks participating in the battle with General Hornerdorf. After discovering that the division commander's tank had been destroyed, they immediately approached and tried to rescue the division commander. However, when they got closer, they discovered that the division commander
The Panther tank they were riding in was burning, and there was no one around. They knew that something had happened to the division commander, so they reported the news to the division chief of staff.
The division chief of staff felt that the matter was of great importance, so he reported it to Marshal Manstein. After the marshal learned the news, he gave us a death order, asking us to first retrieve the body of General Hornerdorf;
The second is to break through your defenses, encircle you, and then completely annihilate them to avenge General Hornerdorf."
In order to find out whether what Second Lieutenant Kahn confessed was true, Koida winked at his chief of staff and motioned him to investigate the matter. The understanding chief of staff nodded, walked aside, picked up the phone and called
Guchakov, "Comrade Captain, I am the division chief of staff. All the prisoners you sent have arrived successfully before."
Knowing that all the prisoners he had sent to the division headquarters had been delivered safely, Guchakov felt much more at ease: "Comrade Chief of Staff, thank you, thank you for calling me specifically to inform me."
"Comrade Captain, you are mistaken. I did not call you to notify you of the smooth arrival of the prisoners." The chief of staff said: "According to the prisoners' confessions, the reason why they attacked our positions like crazy is entirely because of
Because the tank on which their division commander, General Hornerdorf, was riding, was destroyed by our anti-tank weapons. I now order you to immediately send people to the front of the position to check a blown-up Panther tank.
Some people."
Guchakov became a little uneasy: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you saying that one of the crew members in the German tank we destroyed was General Hornerdorf, commander of the German 6th Armored Division?"
"This is what the prisoner confessed." The chief of staff said with a serious expression: "Your task now is to find out whether General Hornerdorf was in the Panther tank that you destroyed."
"I understand, Comrade Chief of Staff." Guchakov replied on the phone: "I will figure it out as soon as possible."
Sending people to the position to check a destroyed tank may seem like a simple task, but it is not easy to do. Nowadays, the German army's attack has never stopped. Personnel who leave the position to perform reconnaissance will fall into the trap if they are not careful.
in the hands of the enemy.
However, since it was an order from a superior, even if there was a mountain of swords and a sea of fire ahead, he had no choice but to press forward. Guchakov ordered the communications soldier to call Captain Narva and asked bluntly: "Comrade Captain, your company is still returning
How many people are left?”
"Report to the battalion commander that there are still 29 people left in the company, including the wounded." Narva replied with a solemn expression: "But please rest assured, comrade battalion commander, we will definitely be able to hold on until reinforcements arrive."