After getting Chuvashov's permission, the mission of the 296th Guards Regiment was changed to rescuing the commanders and fighters detained in the prisoner of war camp. Before they left, Dobrushin proactively said: "Major Shamrih, I
I am afraid that the commanders and fighters in the prisoner of war camp are already very weak due to long-term malnutrition. When you go there, ask the soldiers to carry some extra dry food with them so that they can be distributed to them after the commanders and fighters are rescued."
"Understood, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." After hearing Dobrushen's order, Shamrih grinned and replied: "I have handed over this matter to the chief of staff of the regiment. I believe he will be prepared enough."
food."
After Shamrich and Shapovalenko left, Uzakov reminded Chuvashov: "Comrade division commander, our army's prisoner-of-war camp was discovered near Kremenchug. For such an important matter, we need to report it to Chuvashov immediately.
Report from the Group Army Headquarters and ask if Comrade Commander has any instructions."
"You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Chuvashov agreed with Uzakov's proposal, "Immediately send a report to the headquarters, report the information here to Comrade Commander, and ask him what he has
instruct."
A few minutes later, the telegram sent by the 98th Guards Division was placed in front of Sokov. After reading the telegram, he said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that in Kremenchug
There are also German prisoner-of-war camps, and more than 2,000 people are detained there. If they can be rescued and supplemented to the 98th Guards Division, their combat effectiveness will be greatly improved."
Unexpectedly, Sameko shook his head after hearing this and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Commander, you are so optimistic. You know, these commanders and fighters were all captured in the Battle of Uman. Although they could be captured in the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp,
The commanders and fighters who endured two years of inhuman torture but survived were all strong. However, due to their long-term malnutrition, they were all extremely skinny. Even if they were rescued, it would take a long time to nurse them back to health.
It is simply impossible for the body to participate in the battle in a short period of time."
"That's true." Sokov also calmed down at this moment. He thought that the soldiers who were supplemented in the Battle of Kharkov were only captured for about a year, but they had already been tortured in the German prisoner of war camp.
They were neither human nor ghosts. Although their hearts were filled with hatred for the Germans and they were very brave in battle, they could not compare with ordinary commanders and combatants in terms of physical strength.
"Rescue them first," Sokov said helplessly, "Then we will arrange their future destinations based on their physical conditions."
Besides, after Shamrih returned to his unit, he convened a meeting with all commanders above the platoon level and explained the next combat mission to everyone.
As a result, the reaction of these officers and soldiers was even more violent than Shamrih imagined. After all, most of them had stayed in German prisoner-of-war camps, and all the inhuman torture they suffered there made their hatred of the Germans full.
.At this moment, when they heard that they were going to rescue their comrades who were suffering from the same disease, everyone was as excited as if they had been given a shot of blood.
Under the leadership of Ye Liao Ming, the troops arrived not far from the prisoner of war camp in only a quarter of an hour.
"Comrade Major," although this place was still several hundred meters away from the prisoner of war camp, and there was no need to worry about being heard by the Germans, Ye Liaoming still lowered his voice and said to Shamrih out of caution: "Look, what's ahead?
It's a prisoner of war camp."
Shamrich quickly raised his telescope and looked at the prisoner of war camp in the distance. He found that it was just a temporary camp surrounded by barbed wire. There were several wooden houses on the edge of the camp, which should be where German soldiers lived, and countless Soviet soldiers
Military commanders and soldiers huddled in the open space.
Shamrich handed the binoculars to Shapovarenko and said to him: "Comrade political commissar, yes, this is a prisoner of war camp."
Shapovalenko took the telescope and looked in the direction of the prisoner-of-war camp. He saw thousands of commanders and soldiers, wrapped in rags and huddled together for warmth. He couldn't help but feel angry. He gritted his molar teeth and said to Shamu
Rihe said: "Comrade Commander, fortunately the weather is not cold yet. If we wait until mid-October and so many officers and soldiers stay in the open space without cover, half of them may freeze to death in one night.
"
Shamrih nodded, then called the first battalion commander Yakuda in front of him and ordered him: "First battalion commander, take your people to the prisoner of war camp, use the German uniforms you are wearing, and get rid of the guards of the prisoner of war camp.
garrison."
"Comrade Commander," Yakuda asked tentatively after listening to Shamrih's order, "What if we are discovered?"
"What else can we do? Of course it's a sneak attack instead of a force attack." After listening to Yakuda's question, Shamrih glared and said angrily: "You are also an old commander, how could you ask such a low-level question?
What’s the problem?”
"Comrade Captain, don't worry, you are not fighting alone." Seeing that the atmosphere in front of him was a bit tense, Shapovarenko quickly came out to smooth things over: "Aren't there still two battalions here? If you encounter any danger, we will
I will rush over in time to support you."
"Yes, the political commissar is right." Shamrih added on the side: "The two battalions left here are not for free. Once the sneak attack fails and turns into a strong attack, we will support you in time.
"
Yakuda had fought side by side with Shamrih for many years, so he naturally understood his character. Since he said he would come for reinforcements, he would definitely come for reinforcements. He nodded and led his troops in the direction of the prisoner of war camp.
The sentry in front of the prisoner of war camp saw an army appearing in the distance and quickly woke up his companions on duty. In just a minute or two, the machine gunners in the two sandbag fortifications on the left and right of the door had already set up their MG42 machine guns.
And they are ready to shoot. As long as they find something wrong with the troops coming over, they will shoot without hesitation.
The Second Company was at the forefront, because the Second Company Commander’s German proficiency had reached a level that could be mistaken for the real thing. Even if a German soldier talked to him, he would think he was a real German.
When they came to a place more than ten meters away from the door, a German corporal came out from behind the sandbag fortification and raised his right hand high to signal the second company commander and the others to stop.
Seeing the troops of unknown origin parked ten meters away from the sandbag fortifications, the corporal walked over with a gun in hand and asked loudly: "What section are you from and what are you doing here?"
"We are the 106th Infantry Division." The second company commander replied loudly: "We were ordered to come here to receive prisoners of war."
"Accept prisoners of war?" The German corporal walked up to the second company commander and asked with a puzzled look: "Mr. Captain, what prisoners of war are you planning to accept?"
The commander of the second company pointed at the Soviet commanders and soldiers surrounded by the barbed wire fence and said: "We are here to receive these people."
"Mr. Captain, we have not received an order to hand over prisoners of war." The sentry heard what the second company commander said and immediately became vigilant: "Whose order are you following? Why are you here so late?"
"Whose order are we following?" the second company commander said with a sneer: "Of course it is the order of General William, commander of the 11th Army. The Russians attacked the city very violently, and the outer positions we built were basically destroyed by their artillery fire.
, we need manpower to repair the fortifications. General William said that there is enough labor here, let us come here to receive them, and send them to Poltava immediately to build the fortifications."
Hearing that the second company commander mentioned General William, the German corporal did not dare to continue the interrogation and could only murmur: "Okay, Mr. Captain, I can let you in. But I need to ask the commander for instructions first and get him
With your consent, we will open the door for you."
"Go quickly." The second company commander was secretly happy, but he still pretended to be fierce and said: "Hurry up and hand over the prisoners of war to us, so that we can return to Poltava as soon as possible."
The German corporal returned to the duty box, picked up the phone hanging there, and reported to the warden of the prisoner of war camp that a unit had taken in prisoners of war.
After the warden was awakened by the ringing of the phone, he asked angrily: "What happened?"
The corporal was startled by the guard chief's voice and was silent for a while before he said: "A unit of the 106th Infantry Division came outside. They said they were ordered to receive prisoners of war."
"Accept prisoners of war?" The warden heard what the corporal said and said to himself with some confusion: "Strange, why didn't I receive a notice?" He continued to ask, "Did the people who came say that they planned to take the prisoners of war?"
Where to go?"
The corporal glanced at the second company commander standing not far away with his hands behind his back, and said cautiously: "The captain leading the team said that they plan to take these prisoners of war to Poltava to build fortifications."
If the second company commander had said that he wanted to take the prisoners somewhere, the warden might still have doubts. But since he was preparing to send them to Poltava, he took it for granted that the backbreaking work of building fortifications would naturally be left to him.
Those captured Russians will do it.
Thinking of this, he asked again: "How many are there?" The purpose of his question was to find out whether he would need to send someone to help escort this group of Russians. After all, it would be hundreds of kilometers away.
There are too few people escorting him, and someone might escape along the way.
"There is a company, no..." The corporal was halfway through his words when he discovered that there was more than one company of troops standing outside the prisoner of war camp, and more troops were arriving one after another. He said hesitantly: "There are still troops arriving one after another.
, I think there is at least one camp.”
When he learned that a battalion of troops had arrived outside, the warden hurriedly got up from the cot, got dressed and left the cabin, preparing to greet the troops from Poltava in person.
As soon as the warden arrived at the gate of the prisoner of war camp, the corporal came up to him and reported to him: "Sir, the officer from Poltava and his troops are waiting outside the camp."
"I saw it." The warden looked at the dark group outside the prisoner of war camp and couldn't help but feel a little angry. He scolded the corporal: "Corporal, since the commanders of friendly forces have arrived, why don't you let them rest and let them wait?
Outside?"
The corporal smiled bitterly and replied: "I'm sorry, sir, it's too dark and I dare not let people into the camp without permission."
Regarding the corporal's statement, the warden could not blame him. After all, the other party was considering the safety of the camp. He ordered people to open the door of the prisoner of war camp and walked towards the location of Yakuda and the second company commander.
He came to stand in front of the two men, raised his hand in salute and said: "Mr. Major, Mr. Captain, hello, I am the warden of this prisoner of war camp. How can I help you?"
"We are ordered by General William to escort all the Russians here to Poltava and build fortifications inside and outside the city." The second company commander put on a arrogant attitude and said to the warden: "You immediately put them there.
The subordinates gathered together and formally completed the handover formalities with us."
The head guard was just a lieutenant. He would not dare to say no when facing an officer with a higher rank than himself. He hurriedly turned to the corporal and said: "Corporal, gather everyone together immediately and come to the door to assemble."
The corporal agreed, ran quickly into the camp, picked up the whistle hanging around his neck, and blew it hard. This was just a temporary prisoner of war camp, and there was no alarm system installed. The only way to recruit people was through the whistle blower.
Method. It must be said that the quality of the German officers and soldiers is very high. Within two minutes of the corporal blowing the whistle, the German officers and soldiers living in the wooden house were fully dressed and ran out of the house with their own weapons.
After they lined up in the open space in front of the camp gate, the warden smiled and said to Yakuda: "Mr. Major, my troops have been assembled. Please give them orders."
If the warden had spoken to the second company commander, the second company commander would have been able to cope with it. However, since Yakov did not understand German at all, the warden's words were undoubtedly the same as those of ducks, and there was no response.
The warden was also a smart man. Seeing that Yakuda did not respond to what he said, he quickly reached for his waist to touch the gun. But as soon as he put his hand on the holster, he felt something cold pressed against his chin.
He knew it must be the opponent's pistol, so he hurriedly removed his hand from the holster and slowly raised his hands.
Before the German officers and soldiers lined up could figure out what was going on, they saw the friendly troops standing outside the camp rushing into the camp with a roar, pointing the black muzzles at themselves. The second company commander stepped forward and charged at them.
They shouted loudly: "You have been captured by the Soviet Red Army. Please immediately put down your arms and surrender."
Facing countless dark gun muzzles all around, the German officers and soldiers dared not resist. They obediently put down their weapons and stood there with their hands raised, not daring to move.
The Soviet commanders and fighters who were imprisoned in the barbed wire fence were also alarmed by the movements here. Watching a German army coming from outside the camp and disarming the German troops guarding the prisoner of war camp, they felt quite puzzled: What happened?
, why are the Germans fighting among themselves?
Before they could figure out what was going on, they saw a German major leading a group of people walking towards them. When they were still five or six meters away from the barbed wire fence, the German major stopped and walked toward the people standing on the barbed wire fence.
The Soviet commander in front looked at it, then raised his voice and said excitedly in proficient Russian: "Dear comrades, we are from the 1st Battalion of the 296th Regiment of the 98th Guards Division of the 27th Group Army. I am the battalion commander Yaku.
Captain Da has come to rescue you on the orders of the commander, General Sokov. Dear comrades, the German guards who imprisoned you have been captured and disarmed by us, and now you are free!"
The Soviet commanders and soldiers on the barbed wire fence were obviously stunned when they heard Yakuda's words. It took a long time for them to realize what the other party's words meant. Some of them reacted quickly.
The soldiers cheered excitedly in the crowd: "Ula! Ula!! Ula!!!"
Their shouts stimulated other comrades around them, who were so excited that they burst into tears and cheered too. For a moment, the cheers were so earth-shattering that even Shamrih, several hundred meters away, could hear them clearly.
He was still very satisfied with Yakov's ability to capture the prisoner-of-war camp without a fight. He put down his telescope, shook his head at Shapovalenko, and said: "Let's go, comrade political commissar, let's go see those who were rescued."