Seeing that he could not get any valuable information 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, you have captured so many prisoners."
Is it here?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." When the Ninth Company Commander heard Rusuf's question, he began to complain to him: "You don't know, our company searched most of the town, except for those who were bombed to pieces.
There were no corpses, but no living people at all. I finally found a few wounded soldiers here, but I couldn’t tell if they were real or if they were deliberately pretending to be confused.”
"Ninth Company Commander," Rusuf said to him when he saw that the Ninth Company Commander was bringing up the old matter again: "I think the prisoner must not have lied. In such a fierce artillery attack by our army, all he was thinking about was how to preserve himself in the artillery fire.
Life, there is no time to pay attention to other things."
When the commander of the third battalion learned that Rusuf had come to inspect the front line, he immediately rushed over from another area. Just in time to hear the last two words of Rusuf, he casually added: "Comrade Commander is right. At that time, the kind of
Under such circumstances, even if the German commander escaped from him in a car, it would be difficult for him to notice."
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was interested. The words spoken casually by the third battalion commander shocked Rusuf. Soon, his eyes stopped 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 the buildings in these areas was much better than that in other parts of the town. As a result, a thought came to his mind: "Maybe the German command
The officers moved to this place after the shelling started, and later saw that the situation was really bad, so they fled the Svetlovodsk district in a car."
After finishing his thoughts, Rusuf asked the third battalion commander: "Third battalion commander, have your other two companies captured prisoners?"
"No." The third battalion commander shook his head and replied with a wry smile: "I followed the other two companies in action, but not a single living enemy was found. It seems that the enemy has already escaped from the town."
Rusuf contacted the other two battalions through the walkie-talkie and found that they had not gained anything. He was more certain that the enemy had escaped from the town before the shelling stopped, so he ordered the operator: "Get me through the division."
Department, I want to report to the division commander in person."
When Fomenko learned that Rusev had important information to report to him, he couldn't help feeling ecstatic. He wondered whether the other party had captured a large number of prisoners and wanted to report the good news to him.
"Colonel Rusov, do you have any good news to report to me?" Hearing Rusov's voice from the earphone, Fomenko couldn't wait to ask: "How many prisoners has your regiment captured?"
Rusuf thought for a moment about the number of prisoners he saw, and replied: "Our regiment captured a total of 15 German prisoners, all of whom were wounded, and two of them were seriously wounded."
"What, only 15 prisoners were captured?" Fomenko couldn't believe his ears, and he quickly asked: "Are you right?"
"No." Rusov replied truthfully: "According to my analysis, the German commander had escaped from the town before the bombardment ended, and his whereabouts are unknown."
After Fomenko chatted with Rusev for a few more words, he put down the earphone and microphone in his hand. Manoxin on the side quickly asked: "Comrade division commander, what is the result of the 254th Regiment?"
Fomenko said with a wry smile: "So far, they have captured 15 German prisoners, and they are all wounded soldiers, and two of them are seriously wounded."
"Only 15 prisoners were captured?" Manoxin heard this and said in surprise: "Why are there only so few prisoners?"
"According to Colonel Russov, the German commander may have fled the town before our bombardment ended. I am afraid that all the Germans who could run had run away by that time, and only those who could not run were still in the town.
Waiting to die."
"Do we need to report this situation to the Army Headquarters immediately?"
"No need for the time being." Fomenko shook his head and said: "Now I have only received the report of the 254th Regiment. The reports of the 252nd and 258th Regiment have not been received yet. Until I figure out what happened, I will not use it for the time being.
Reported."
He picked up the phone, dialed the division headquarters, and told his chief of staff: "Comrade chief of staff, please contact the 252nd and 258th regiments immediately and order them to report the search situation immediately."
After he finished speaking, the division chief of staff asked cautiously: "What about Colonel Russov's 254th Regiment?"
"Their results have been reported." Fomenko said with a bit of laughter: "The regiment captured a total of 15 German prisoners, and they were all wounded, and there were even two seriously wounded. You arrange medical staff immediately,
Go to the location 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 corpses of the German soldiers, not a single living person was seen, and the Germans were nowhere to be found."
The 252nd Regiment reported a little later. The regiment leader reported to Fomenko by phone: "Comrade Division Commander, our regiment has completed the search mission. Apart from the bombed tanks and various combat vehicles along the way, there are many damaged areas."
Apart from the corpses of German soldiers, not a single living person was seen.”
Hearing the same report from the 252nd, Fomenko couldn't help but feel disappointed. Just when he was about to hang up the phone, he heard the regimental commander say: "Comrade division commander, our soldiers discovered the German army during the search.
Regiment headquarters, a large number of documents and two radio stations were seized inside..."
Fomenko immediately became energetic and asked quickly: "Did you find anyone alive in the German command headquarters?"
"No, Comrade Division Commander, there is not a single living person." The regiment leader reported to Fomenko on the phone: "Except for five or six corpses, nothing was found."
Fomenko asked with a sense of luck: "Are there any German school-level officers among these corpses?"
"I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I'm afraid I'm going to disappoint you." The regiment leader reported: "Among these corpses, except for one German second lieutenant, the rest are ordinary non-commissioned officers. It seems that they should be from the regiment headquarters.
Signal Corps..."
Fomenko quickly connected the group leader with Rusov's report. He asked tentatively: "Comrade group leader, where do you think the remaining Germans have gone?"
The regiment commander was silent for a moment after hearing Fomenko's question, and then replied: "Comrade division commander, I have carefully observed the nearby terrain. On the street outside the headquarters, there are no wreckage of destroyed vehicles, only the bodies of scattered German soldiers.
, it seems that the enemy commander fled the town in a car."
"Comrade Commander, your analysis coincides with Colonel Rusov's analysis." Fomenko said into the microphone: "He also believes that the German commander fled the town in a hurry before our army's shelling ended."
After receiving the intelligence from the three regiments, Fomenko summarized it and came to the conclusion that except for the Germans who died in the shelling, the remaining survivors fled the town in panic before the shelling ended.
Fomenko ordered the communications troops to connect the phone to the group army headquarters, and personally reported to Samyko who answered the phone: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff! My name is Fomenko. I have something important to tell you and me.
Comrade Commander reports."
"How is the situation in the town?" Sameko asked with concern: "Has it been taken down?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff, Svetlovodsk District has been occupied by our army." After Fomenko reported proudly, he continued: "However, our division's search in the town only found in the end
We killed 15 wounded Germans who had not had time to retreat, and all the surviving enemies should have fled the town."
"General Fomenko," Samyko 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 Samyko: "The commander of my 252nd Regiment personally went to the German regiment headquarters. He only found seven or eight corpses inside, all of which were ordinary officers.
and non-commissioned officers, they should all be communications personnel. On the street outside the building, he did not find car wreckage destroyed by artillery fire, nor did he find many German corpses. Based on these two points, he judged that the German commander had already been there
We fled the town before our shelling ended."
"So that's it." After listening to Fomenko's explanation, Samyko knew that he had misunderstood the other party, and quickly changed the subject and said: "By the way, did your subordinates put the red flag on the church bell tower?"
After Samyko's reminder, Fomenko immediately thought that none of his three regiment leaders seemed to have mentioned planting the red flag at the commanding heights of the town, and quickly replied: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that the red flag has not been planted yet.
I will call the three group leaders and ask them to place the red flag on the bell tower of the church."
Although Samyko made a timely statement and said that he would plant the red flag on the top of the church, Samyko felt that he should still say something to him: "General Fomenko, don't you know the traditions of our army? Even if you occupy
Throughout the town, if the red flag is not planted on the commanding heights of the town, it means that our army has not truly occupied the position. You are also an experienced commander, how could you make such a low-level mistake?"
Faced with Samyko's criticism, Fomenko was not angry and said with a smile: "You are right, Comrade Chief of Staff, I will urge the commanders and soldiers below to plant the red flag at the highest position in the town.
.”
After Samyko ended the call with Fomenko, he smiled bitterly and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, according to General Fomenko's report, the only survivors they have captured so far are 15 German wounded.
, the remaining enemies should have fled the town before our army's shelling ended."
After Samyko finished his report, he asked Sokov, somewhat at a loss: "Comrade Commander, how should we report this battle to the front army headquarters?"
"How to report?" Sokov glanced at Samyko with a strange look and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, naturally report to your superiors truthfully."
"But how to report it?" Samyko said in embarrassment: "In the battle to capture the Svetlovodsk district, the protagonists were actually our 1st Artillery Division and 2nd Artillery Division, and the 84th Division responsible for the attack actually
One shot might as well take over the whole town."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, haven't you ever thought about it, this might be a good thing." After Sokov finished speaking, seeing Samyko's confused look, 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 artillery observers provided firing parameters to our rear artillery. This greatly increased the hit rate of the artillery and greatly consumed the German army's effective strength.
.”
After listening to this, Samek thought carefully and realized that this was really the case. He nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, I understand what you mean. If we send out artillery observers before attacking the enemy's position in the future,
By directing artillery fire at close range, we may be able to greatly injure the enemy's effective forces through artillery fire, thereby reducing our army's casualties in the subsequent attack."
"Well, that's more or less what it means." Sokov nodded and said, "Because in the past, when our army shelled enemy positions, the enemies withdrew to the second line of defense, which meant that the shells were all hit in uninhabited open space. In addition to destroying
Except for some of their fortifications, their damage to the defenders was very limited.
This precise strike under the guidance of artillery observers completely destroyed the German defense system, so much so that the German commanders had to flee the town in a hurry. But our troops, without firing a shot, did not
With only one casualty, the town was easily captured."
After Samyko and Sokov chatted for a while, they called the front army headquarters to report the results achieved here to their superiors. When General Zakharov's voice came from the receiver, Samyko's expression
He solemnly reported: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, I am honored to report to you that our 84th Infantry Division has successfully occupied the Svetlovodsk District. The entire division did not fire a single shot, nor did
Any casualties."
"What, the whole division successfully occupied the Svetlovodsk district without firing a single shot or suffering any casualties?" Zakharov was stunned by Fomenko's report: "This is simply too much.
This is incredible. General Sameko, are you sure there are no errors in your report?"
"Absolutely correct, General Zakharov." Samyko said to Zakharov in a positive tone: "Because before we started the attack, the commander of the 84th Division, General Fomenko, sent a reconnaissance team to occupy the area outside the town.
On the high ground, artillery observers were arranged on it to provide firing parameters for the artillery and adjust the position according to the distribution of impact points. In this way, our artillery fire improved the shooting accuracy and destroyed a large number of German tanks and various combat operations.
vehicles, effectively killing and injuring their effective forces. So much so that the German commander abandoned his troops and fled the town in a hurry after being shelled by us."
"So, the artillerymen should be credited with the main credit for capturing the town?"
"That's right." Samyko agreed with Zakharov's statement: "Comrade Commander and I both believe that the reason why the Svetlovodsk District was captured so easily this time is that the artillery
The troops are indispensable. Especially the observers who served as artillery guides on the highlands should be credited with the most credit."
"Then what are your plans next?"
Sameko replied without hesitation: "Comrade Commander and I have discussed that before the enemy has recovered, we should order the 84th Division to continue to develop deeper into the enemy's defense in order to achieve greater results, expand and consolidate