Sokov and Lunev followed Shechtman into the church. When they came to the hall, they saw that the place was filled with huge wooden shelves. They walked forward and observed carefully. After looking at it for a while, he stood
He leaned forward and asked Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, you haven't opened the seal yet, how do you know that it contains world-famous paintings?"
"Comrade Commander," Shechtman pointed to a label on the wooden shelf and explained to Sokov: "The Germans have a label on each wooden shelf, and there is a set of numbers on the label. We just need to put
Compare this set of numbers with the numbers in their list, and you will know what paintings are in this wooden shelf."
"Oh," Sokov asked with interest: "Comrade Colonel, can you tell me, what kind of paintings are contained in this wooden shelf?"
Schechtman turned around and told a staff officer: "Bring me the list."
Soon, the staff officer handed a brochure to Shechtman's hand: "Comrade division commander, the list you want."
"Thank you, Comrade Captain." After thanking the staff officer, Shechtman looked at the number on the wooden shelf and began to flip through the booklet, looking for the corresponding number.
Soon, his finger stopped at a position on the booklet, and Sokov quickly went over to read it, but the words written on it were all in German and he couldn't understand them at all: "Comrade Colonel, what is written on the list?"
"It's "The Noblewoman Morozova" by Surikov."
"How is this possible?" Sokov happened to know the famous painting that Shechtman mentioned. He remembered that the painting showed a woman in black robes, lying on a sled, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
He had seen this painting in the Tretyakov Gallery. The Germans had never been able to enter Moscow. How could they have obtained this painting? Thinking of this, he shook his head and said: "This painting is not stored in Moscow."
The Tretyakov Gallery? How did the Germans get it? Comrade Colonel, are you mistaken?"
"Comrade Commander, that's right!" Shechtman said firmly: "Before you came, the translator from the enemy's Ministry of Industry specially translated for me. He said that this painting was originally stored in the museum in Smolensk.
It may have been robbed by the enemy after they occupied the city."
"Oh, that's it." After listening to Shechtman's explanation, Sokov realized that he might have made a stupid mistake. Although his later generations saw this painting in the Tretyakov Gallery,
But maybe the painting was stored in the Smolensk museum before it was looted by the Germans.
Sokov looked at the mountains of wooden shelves in front of him, smiled and nodded, and said thoughtfully: "The Germans protect cultural relics very well, and they didn't even take down the picture frames."
"You are right, Comrade Commander." Shechtman continued: "If the Germans took off the frames of the oil paintings and put them into the microphone, although it would not take up much space, it would not be easy to preserve.
When exposed to moisture, the paint in an oil painting can turn into a mess, and even the most skilled repair masters cannot repair it."
"How should we deal with these cultural relics?" Billing took two steps forward, came to Sokov, and asked: "We can't just let them pile up here, right?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov knew very well that since his superiors had said hello to these cultural relics, there would obviously be someone dedicated to take them over, so he said to Bilin: "I have ordered Chief of Staff Samyko to report to the Front Army Headquarters
After reporting this matter, I believe the superiors will definitely send specialized personnel to take over this batch of cultural relics."
Sokov strolled up to a wooden box, turned around and asked Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, I wonder what is in this wooden box?"
"It is the manuscripts of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin. Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker", "Fifth Symphony" and "Evgeny Onegin", and Pushkin's "Evgeny Onegin"
Onegin"."
"The manuscripts of Tchaikovsky and Pushkin?" Sokov asked with some surprise: "The two were not from the same era. When Pushkin died, Tchaikovsky was not born yet. How could the manuscripts of the two of them be together?"
Put together?"
"Comrade Commander, let me explain it to you." Lunev, who was originally just going to be a spectator, heard Sokov's question and said with a smile: "The music composed by Tchaikovsky
The three-act lyric opera "Eugene Onegin", the libretto was adapted by the composer and Konstantin Silovsky based on Pushkin's novel of the same name published in 1830. I have read an information that Chai
While he was composing the song, Kovsky spent a lot of money to buy the manuscript of Pushkin’s novel.”
After saying this, Lunev walked to the wooden box, bent down and patted the lid, and said with regret: "It's a pity that no one can open this box before the person who receives the cultural relics arrives, otherwise I really want to
See for yourself what Pushkin’s manuscripts looked like.”
"Comrade Colonel, you did a good job!" After Sokov walked around the piles of cultural relics, he said seriously to Shechtman: "The negotiators you sent are very good. They were able to persuade the enemies in the church to
Put down your weapons and surrender to us without damaging the cultural relics. I wonder who are these people who came here to negotiate?"
"There were two commanders and fighters who entered the church to negotiate with the Germans." Shechtman replied: "One is Captain Mikhailev, the deputy battalion commander of the 764th Regiment, and the other is the translator, Sergeant Vadim."
"Where are they? I want to see them."
Mikhailev and Vadim were the biggest contributors to the seizure of the church. Shechtman originally wanted Sokov to commend them. But when he heard Sokov asking about them, he quickly called a staff officer and gave instructions.
He said: "Go and call Captain Mikhailev and Sergeant Vadim here, and tell Comrade Commander that he wants to see them."
The two of them were outside the church. When they heard the staff officer say that Sokov wanted to see them, they immediately followed him into the church.
Sokov waited for the two people to come to him, then took the initiative to shake hands with them, and said: "Well done, Captain Mikhailev, Sergeant Vadim, you two are both well done.
Due to your outstanding performance, this batch of cultural relics of ours has been preserved. In order to commend the two of you for your achievements, medals commensurate with your honors will be awarded soon."
Hearing what Sokov said, both of them showed excited expressions on their faces, and then they said in unison: "Serve the Soviet Motherland!"
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov said sideways to Lunev, who was standing next to him: "You will be solely responsible for conferring medals on them."
Lunev nodded, "Okay."
Sokov turned back to Mikhailev and Vadim, and asked with a smile: "You can make any requests, and I will try my best to satisfy you."
Mikhailov waited for Sokov to finish, hesitated for a moment, then raised his head and said: "Comrade Commander, I have a request, I hope you can agree to it."
"Whatever it is, just say it."
"It's like this. When we entered the church to negotiate, the German commander who was guarding the church nearby was named Grams. He was a captain of the Wehrmacht..." Mikhailov clearly told Sokov what happened in the church.
After reporting it again, he finally said: "Comrade Commander, although Captain Grams led his men to set fire to the north of the city, causing certain casualties to our commanders and residents. But seeing that he can wake up and take the initiative to order his subordinates to put down their weapons,
If we can reduce the casualties of our army, can we spare his life?"
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov recalled that when he drove into the city, he swore to Lunev that he would never let go of the German officers and soldiers who set fire to the north of the city. But the words still lingered in his ears, but things turned out to be
A reversal occurred. A German captain who had participated in arson took the initiative to order his subordinates to surrender, thus reducing the casualties of the 254th Division. If he still insists on having his own way and kills the German captain, I am afraid there will still be some negative effects, so
He handed the problem to Runev: "What do you think should be done with this German captain named Grams?"
"He led people to set fire to the north of the city, which indeed caused a lot of casualties to our army and the residents of the city. However, he actively cooperated with our army to persuade us to surrender, so that the troops stopped resisting, laid down their weapons and surrendered to our army, which not only reduced the number of our army's
It also protected these precious cultural relics." Lunev said cautiously: "I think the merits and demerits can be balanced, so I won't pursue it any further."
"Okay, Comrade Military Commissar." Sokov said smoothly: "Since you say so, then we will spare Captain Grams and have him and his men sent to a prisoner of war camp. When the war is over
Then, send them back to their homeland."
Mikhailev couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that Sokov agreed to let Grams go. He quickly raised his hand and saluted Sokov: "Comrade Commander, on behalf of Captain Grams, thank you."
"Comrade Commander," after dealing with the prisoners, Shechtman asked Sokov again: "Our army has occupied Dergach, what is the next combat goal?"
"Comrade Colonel, now that we have captured Dergach, our next operational goal is to attack Kharkov. Let the commanders and soldiers seize the time to rest. I am afraid that we will not wait long before we attack Kharkov.
The husband launched an attack."
"Comrade Commander, your phone number." As Sokov and Shechtman were talking, a staff officer ran over and reported to Sokov: "It's the chief of staff of the group army calling."
Sukov guessed that something big might have happened, so he quickly walked to the table, picked up the phone on it, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened?"
"Comrade Commander, I have just received a notification from my superiors that Moscow will send an expert team to Dergach tonight to receive the cultural relics. We are ordered to ensure the safety of the cultural relics before the expert team arrives."