As the friendly forces captured Poltava and moved towards the Dnieper River, all the commanders and fighters of the 27th and 53rd Group Armies originally stationed on both sides of the Dnieper River began to take active action, racing against time to stock up on ammunition and prepare to wait for the time.
, launched a full-scale attack on the enemy.
On this day, when Sokov was busy, he suddenly heard the phone ringing on the table next door. He glanced out of the corner of his eye and found that Derevyanko picked up the phone and listened for a while, with a surprised expression on his face.
.When he was hesitating whether he should ask the other party what happened, he saw Derevyanko walking up to Managarov, leaning over and whispering a few words into his ear.
After Managarov finished listening, he also whispered something to Derevyanko. Because his voice was too low, Sokov could not hear clearly. After speaking, Managarov stood up and called his two men.
A military commissar left the church.
Looking at Managarov's leaving figure, Sokov not only frowned, but also wondered what could have happened that could alert the senior commander of the 53rd Army?
He coughed lightly, cleared his throat, and was about to ask Derevyanko why, but he saw the friendly army's chief of staff walked out quickly after making a phone call without saying hello to him.
the church hall.
"Comrade Commander," Sameko, who also saw this situation, asked Sokov with some surprise: "What happened? Why did the senior commanders of the 53rd Army leave after receiving a phone call?"
"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said with a wry smile: "When they come back, we will know what happened."
About half an hour later, Lunev, who had not been seen for most of the day, appeared in the headquarters. He quickly came to Sokov and asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, why are you still here?"
Sokov was stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Military Commissar, what happened?"
"I got information that an hour ago, a German Dornier Do 217 twin-engine heavy bomber flew over the Dnieper River and flew in the direction of Kremenchug," Lunev said to Sokov.
: "Due to being intercepted by anti-aircraft fire from our army, the aircraft changed its course and finally made an emergency landing in the defense area of the 116th Infantry Division."
"Don't Dornier Do 217 heavy bombers always attack in groups of twenty or thirty every time?" Samek asked with some confusion: "Why is there only one this time?"
"This is the strange thing." Lunev continued: "The observation post that reported to me said that whether it was a mechanical failure or the pilot's poor condition, the bomber was flying in the air as if it was drunk.
.And when intercepted by our army’s anti-aircraft fire, they did not take any decent evasive action, but directly changed their course and flew in a direction where there was no anti-aircraft fire.”
Sokov recalled the parameters of the Dornier Do 217 twin-engine heavy bomber in his mind, and then asked Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, the crew of this aircraft should be four people. Even if the pilot is in poor health, there will be
If you take over from him, there will definitely be no bad flight conditions. I think there must be something fishy in it."
"Yes," Lunev nodded and replied: "After the enemy plane made an emergency landing, the commanders and fighters of the 116th Division immediately surrounded the plane and captured all the crew members inside."
When Sameko heard this, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "Comrade Commander, I understand. Why did the people from the 53rd Group Army just leave after receiving a phone call? They must have gone to the 116th Division.
Check out this enemy plane that made an emergency landing."
"Comrade Commander, I think there is something wrong with this." Lunev waited for Samyko to finish speaking, and immediately said to Sokov: "How about we go over and have a look?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, you should go over and take a look." Sameko also echoed: "Find out what is going on."
Sokov was very curious. Logically speaking, a German bomber made an emergency landing in the defense zone. After receiving the news, Managarov should have told himself immediately how he could have quietly left with his deputy.
In order to find out what happened, Sokov responded readily: "Okay, let's go and take a look now."
On the way to the defense area of the 116th Division, Lunev said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think there is a problem. Why didn't General Managarov and others report to you immediately after receiving the following report?
You know, they are now under your command."
Hearing Lunev's question, Sokov smiled bitterly and said: "Comrade Military Commissar, you should know that our army has liberated Poltava, and the main force of the front army is moving towards Kremenchug. Maybe in the near future
In the future, the 53rd Army will no longer accept my command. It may be based on this consideration that General Managarov did not communicate with me after receiving the report about today's incident."
…
Besides, Managarov went out with his two military commissars, got into a jeep parked outside, and asked the driver to go to the defense area of the 116th Division.
Military Commissioner Gorokhov asked curiously: "Comrade Commander, what happened? Why did you leave in a hurry without even saying hello to General Sokov?"
"A strange thing happened in the 116th Division. We need to go there and deal with it immediately." Managarov replied: "After we figure out what is going on, it will not be too late to report to General Sokov when we come back.
.”
Military Commissar Tsarev, who was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, half-turned around and asked: "Comrade Commander, can you tell us what happened?"
"The situation is like this, two Comrade Military Commissioners." Managarov explained to them: "Not long ago, a German heavy bomber made an emergency landing in the defense area of the 116th Division..."
When he learned that it was just a German bomber that had made an emergency landing, Gorokhov said disapprovingly: "Isn't it just a German bomber? The commander of the 116th Division can handle it. Why do we have to rush over?"
Managarov did not immediately answer the other party's question, but continued: "After the bomber made an emergency landing, the commanders and fighters of the 116th Division quickly surrounded the aircraft and captured all the occupants of the aircraft."
"Isn't it great," Gorokhov said with a smile: "Not a single German can escape."
"After our soldiers captured this group of people, they discovered that they were not Germans, but our people."
"Our people?!" After hearing what Managarov said, Gorokhov's chin almost hit his leg: "Comrade Commander, what on earth is going on?"
"Those people claimed to be captured by the German army. Today, when the enemy was not paying attention, they stole a bomber and escaped."
"This is impossible." Before Managarov could finish speaking, Gorokhov raised his voice and said: "The German prisoner-of-war camps are so tightly guarded that it is very difficult to escape, let alone fly a German prisoner-of-war camp.
It is simply a fantasy that human bombers can escape."
"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right." Managarov agreed with Gorokhov's statement: "I am also very doubtful about the confessions of those prisoners, so I took you over to see what happened.
.”
When the jeep arrived at the division headquarters of the 116th Division, the division commander, Colonel Stilitz, and several officers stood outside to greet him.
Seeing that the jeep was stable, Stilitz quickly stepped forward and opened the rear door.
Managarov stepped out of the car, stretched out his hand to shake Stilitz's hand, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, where are the people you mentioned?"
Stilitz pouted towards a stable not far away and said: "They are all locked up in the stable. If you want to see them, I will ask the soldiers to bring them over."
Managarov nodded: "Bring them in, I want to ask what is going on."
A few minutes later, six men wearing black and white striped prison uniforms walked into the headquarters.
Managarov looked at the few people and asked: "Who among you drove the bomber over?"
"It's me, Comrade General." A young man with a beard took a step forward and said proactively: "I flew the plane back."
"What did you do before and why did you fly a plane?"
"I used to be a fighter pilot. During the air battle in Kuban, my plane was shot down by the Germans and I was captured because of my injuries." The young man said to Managarov: "Later I was imprisoned in a prisoner of war camp.
My daily job was to repair the German airport runway. During the repair process, I found a Dornier Do 217 twin-engine heavy bomber parked in the German hangar, and decided to use this aircraft to escape from the prisoner of war camp.
"
Managarov turned to look at the two military commissars sitting next to him, and then continued to ask: "I heard that bombers seemed to be drunk when they were flying in the air. Can you tell me the reason for this?
?"
"The reason is very simple, Comrade General." The young man explained: "I am only a fighter pilot. I have never flown a bomber. I am even stranger to the German bombers, so during the flight, the operation seemed very smooth."
Regarding the young man's explanation, Managarov did not immediately express his position, but continued to ask: "Are all of them with you?"
"Yes, Comrade General, they are all German prisoners of war like me." The young pilot argued to Managarov: "If you want to steal a German bomber from the hangar, one person can
I couldn't do it, so I contacted a few companions who seemed smart and eager to escape from the prisoner of war camp to jointly implement this escape plan.
After the German plane returned today, I saw no Germans in the direction of the hangar, so I called a few companions to sneak into the hangar. First, I took the time to refuel the plane, then asked two people to open the hangar door, and I started the plane.
Leave the hangar.
At the beginning, everything went smoothly without being discovered by the Germans. But since I had never flown such a heavy bomber of the Germans, a little accident happened during takeoff, and I failed to take off twice in a row.
This aroused the suspicion of the Germans. They came from all directions and tried to prevent us from taking off. But fortunately, we were not bad luck and finally took off successfully at the last moment."
Derevyanko, who had just arrived at this time, sneered when he heard the young pilot's words and asked disdainfully: "Are the Germans just going to let you escape so easily?"
"Of course not, Comrade General." The young pilot quickly explained to Derevyanko: "The Germans sent two fighter jets to chase us and fired at us with machine guns. If you don't believe it, you can go and look at the marks on the fuselage.
The bullet holes were all left by German fighter planes when they were shooting. The German fighter planes chased until near the Dnieper River and were intercepted by ground anti-aircraft fire before they returned."
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Derevyanko waved his hands and said: "This doesn't mean anything. Maybe you are spies sent by the Germans, ready to come to us to cause damage."
Although the young pilot felt bitter about Derevyanko's doubts, he still had the courage to explain to him: "Comrade General, we are not spies, but prisoners of war who escaped from the German prisoner-of-war camps."
Derevyanko had a preconceived idea that these people were spies sent by the Germans. Naturally, he would not believe every word the young pilot said. He turned to Managarov and said: "Comrade Commander, the situation is obvious.
It’s impossible for anyone to fly a German heavy bomber back from the German airport. This is a conspiracy. I suggest that these spies be executed immediately to prevent them from causing us irreparable losses."
When the people in prison uniforms heard what Derevyanko said, they immediately cried out: "Comrade General, we are really not German spies. You can't frame good people."
Derevyanko automatically blocked the words of several people, but continued to say to Managarov: "Comrade Commander, don't hesitate any longer. These people must be spies sent by the Germans. If you keep them, they will be punished."
We bring serious consequences."
"General Derevyanko," before Managarov could speak, a familiar voice suddenly came from the door: "Since there were several captured tank soldiers who escaped from the enemy's prison camp in tanks before,
Then why can't there be prisoners of war flying bombers and escaping from the enemy's airport?"
Derevyanko did not look back and knew that it was Sokov who was speaking. He turned around and faced Sokov and said: "General Sokov, I think there is something wrong with these people. They must be spies sent by the Germans. They should
Execute them all immediately."
"General Derevyanko, I would like to ask you to take a look at these people in front of you." Sokov pointed at the six people in prison uniforms in front of him. "They are all sallow and skinny. You can tell at a glance that they are Germans."
He was tortured in a prisoner of war camp, tell me, would such a person be willing to serve as a spy for the Germans?"
Derevyanko carefully looked at the six prisoners in front of him and found that, as Sokov said, they were all skinny and malnourished, and they looked like they had suffered a lot of torture in the prisoner of war camp.
He vaguely felt that there might be something wrong with his judgment, so he obediently shut his mouth.
"Comrade Commander," Seeing that Derevyanko stopped talking, Lunev said: "No matter what the origins of these people are, please hand them over to me and let my people screen them.
.”
Logically speaking, these people were caught in the defense zone of the 116th Division. Even if they were to be interrogated, it would be a matter for the 116th Division. However, since the person speaking was Lunev, it was difficult for everyone to raise objections due to his special status.
I can only nod my head silently to express my opinion.