Facts soon proved that Kirillov's judgment was correct.
Not long after, bullets were fired from the entrance to the basement with billowing smoke. There were no Soviet soldiers standing near the entrance, so the enemy's bullets hit other places.
Seeing this scene, Victor couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. If he had rashly ordered the troops to attack, I am afraid that all the commanders and soldiers who rushed in would fall under the enemy's guns.
After the gunshots in the smoke became sparse, Kirillov said to Victor: "Victor, order the anti-tank crew to fire another rocket inside. You must pay attention to your own safety."
Soon, the anti-tank man aimed at the hole and fired another rocket. When another explosion came from the hole, both Kirillov and Victor felt the ground shaking.
Victor originally wanted the anti-tank man to fire another round, but the vibrations on the ground made him change his mind. If the blast was too strong and the basement collapsed, they would also suffer disaster.
Just when Victor wanted to remind Kirillov not to fire rockets into the basement again, Kirillov turned to him and said: "Victor, let your people shout to the bottom, saying that as long as they put down their weapons
, we can ensure their personal safety."
"Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Victor nodded and said, "I will immediately find a comrade who understands German and ask him to speak to the following."
Soldiers who knew German were quickly found, but to Kirillov's surprise, it was none other than Lokima who had brought him here. While shaking hands with the other party, he asked in surprise: "Lokima."
Kima, I really didn’t expect that you actually understand German?”
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I spent a year in the Brest Fortress and learned German there."
"Brest Fortress?" Kirillov repeated the place name and said with emotion: "I had an old subordinate who served as a regiment commander there before the war, but on the day the war broke out, he never got his
information."
"His name is Gavrilov."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Kirillov finished speaking, Lokima exclaimed: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are talking about Major Gavrilov, the commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment. Right?"
"That's right." Seeing that Lokima actually told Gavrilov's military rank and position, Kirillov's face showed an expression of surprise: "Comrade Lokima, do you know
he?"
"That's right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Lokima nodded and said in a positive tone: "I am a soldier in his regiment and have accepted his leadership for almost two years."
Hearing what Lokima said, Kirillov couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Lokima, as far as I know, the Brest Fortress was occupied by the Germans shortly after the war broke out. I want to ask
Let me ask you, how did you escape from the German encirclement?"
"The reason is very simple." Lokima shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "On the day the war broke out, I was not at Brest Fortress."
"Then where did you go?"
"Visiting relatives." Lokima said: "I am Mrs. Kuibyshev. At that time, Major Gavrilov gave me a month's leave so that I could stay with my family for a while. Who knew that I had just arrived in Kuibyshev?
The damn war broke out the next day. I sometimes wonder, if I had not gone home to visit my relatives, but stayed in the Brest Fortress, would I still be alive today?"
Kirillov learned some about the fate of the Brest Fortress defenders from relevant personnel when he was in Moscow. He knew that most of the defenders of the fortress died in the battle with the German army. And the captured personnel
, basically all were wounded. As for the whereabouts of Major Gavrilov, no one knows now, nor is it clear whether he died or became a prisoner of the Germans.
Although he knew that he could not find out anything about Gavrilov from Lokima, Kirillov still asked reluctantly: "What do you think?"
"I think unless Major Gavrilov is injured, he will definitely fight the enemy to the last man and use up the last bullet." Lokima said with a solemn expression: "According to what I know about him
, even if he runs out of ammunition and food, even if he chooses to commit suicide with the last bullet, he will never become a prisoner of the Germans."
For Kirillov, Gavrilov is a very good commander. If he were still alive, he would definitely find a way to move him around and make him his right-hand man.
The conversation between the two caught the attention of Victor next to him. He came over and asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what are you talking about?"
"Victor, it's like this." Kirillov pointed at Lokima with his hand and said, "One of my former subordinates was this soldier's superior, and we are talking about the commander.
"
"Who do you know in common?" Victor asked: "Can you tell me the name of the commander? I'll see if I know him too."
"Victor, you probably don't know him." Kirillov replied: "My subordinate's name is Gavrilov. He first served as a battalion commander under me and was later transferred to the Minsk Military District. The war began.
Previously, he was the commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment stationed in the Brest Fortress."
"Gavrilov, Gavrilov?" Victor frowned and began to think hard: "This name is very familiar. I seem to have heard it somewhere."
"Victor, I think you may be mistaken." Kirillov shook his head and said: "As soon as the war broke out, the Brest Fortress where he was located fell into the hands of the Germans, and his whereabouts are unknown ever since.
."
"Oh, I remembered. Are you talking about Major Gavrilov who was guarding the Brest Fortress?" Victor finally remembered about Gavrilov and said with a relaxed expression: "Chinese
Comrade Colonel, your subordinate must have been seriously injured and captured by the Germans, but don't worry, he is still alive."
"What, Gavrilov is still alive?" Kirillov grabbed Victor's arm and asked anxiously: "Victor, who told you that Gavrilov is still alive?"
"Who else, of course, is Comrade Commander." Victor explained to Kirillov: "One time when we were chatting, he suddenly mentioned that even if our army was suddenly attacked by the enemy, it would still be strong.
He would fight tenaciously. Then he gave the example of Major Gavrilov, commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the Brest Fortress, who fought in the fortress and under the conditions of no food, no water, and no ammunition supplies.
The Germans fought for a month. It was not until he fainted due to his serious injuries that he was unfortunately captured by the Germans."
"Is this true, Victor?" Hearing Victor mention his former subordinates, Kirillov became a little excited: "How did Comrade Commander know about Gavrilov?"
"I'm not sure about that," Victor shook his head and said, "When he talked about Major Gavrilov, I thought he was an unfamiliar commander, so naturally I didn't pay attention."
Seeing Kirillov's disappointed look, he quickly added: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, if you want to know more details, you can ask the commander in person when you return."
"It seems that this is the only way." When Kirillov saw that the smoke coming out of the cave had faded, he turned to Lokima and said, "Comrade soldier, it's your turn."
Lokima agreed and ran quickly to the entrance of the cave. For safety reasons, he did not lie down on the entrance of the cave. Instead, he squatted in the blind spot next to the entrance of the cave and shouted in German: "German officers and soldiers, you
We have been surrounded and now there is no way to retreat. I order you to come out immediately and surrender to us. As long as you put down your weapons, we can ensure your personal safety."
But after he finished shouting, there was no movement inside. He thought the other party had not heard, so he shouted again. But there was still no movement. He raised his head and looked at Victor hiding behind the shrine: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, below
Will all the people there die?"
Victor knew very well the power of rockets, especially when they exploded in a closed space like a basement, the power would increase exponentially, but he obviously didn't believe it when it said that all the Germans inside were killed.
In order to find out what was going on below, he called a machine gunner and ordered him to fire into the hole. The machine gunner quickly fired out a disc magazine of bullets, but there was still no reaction inside.
When Victor saw this, he made a gesture to the soldiers next to him. The soldiers who understood the situation immediately threw the unstrung grenades into the basement through the hole.
Kirillov, who felt the soles of his feet trembling, asked Victor with a wry smile: "Victor, if the explosion continues like this, will the floor beneath our feet collapse?"
"It's hard to say." Victor suggested to Kirillov: "How about you exit the church first, and I'll leave a few soldiers to continue throwing grenades down there."
As soon as he finished speaking, a voice came from the direction of the cave entrance. The other person said in broken Russian: "Stop shooting and dropping bombs, we surrender, surrender!"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Lokima, squatting near the entrance of the cave, shouted excitedly to Victor: "Did you hear it? The Germans have surrendered, surrendered!"
"Comrade warriors, let them throw their weapons out first." Although he knew that there were people on the other side who knew Russian, Victor still ordered Lokima: "Then come out one by one."
Lokima agreed and repeated Victor's words in German. Not long after, more than twenty guns were thrown out of the hole, most of them pistols. Seeing a pile of guns on the ground, Ji
Rilov smiled and said to Victor: "Victor, it seems that the people hiding in the basement are all German big shots."
More than 20 German officers and soldiers walked out of the basement. Most of them were officers, basically wearing the rank of major. One of them was even a lieutenant colonel. There were also two female radio operators from the headquarters, who also walked with their hands raised.
came out.
After a brief interrogation, it was revealed that the lieutenant colonel was the garrison commander in the town. He was trapped in the basement, and the German troops in the town must find ways to rescue him.
Kirillov heard gunfire and explosions coming from the south of the town from time to time, and knew that the 233rd Division's attack had not yet been effective, otherwise it would have rushed over to join his troops. He said to Lokima: "
Comrade soldier, tell this German officer to inform the defenders in the town to stop resisting, lay down their weapons and surrender to our army."
After listening to Lokima's translation, the German lieutenant colonel shook his head and babbled a lot. He heard Lokima frowning continuously. After the German lieutenant colonel finished speaking, he asked Vic
Duo translated: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, he said that the radio station in the basement was blown up by the grenade we threw down, and they have lost contact with the outside world."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Victor turned to Kirillov for instructions: "This German Lieutenant Colonel said that the radio was destroyed by us and that he could not contact his troops. What do you think we should do?"
"It seems that it is no longer realistic for the German commander to order the troops to surrender." Kirillov thought for a moment and then came to the conclusion, "I think we should continue to contact the comrade commander and delay the friendly forces.
If you are unable to break through the enemy's defense, report it to the commander."
After Sokov established contact with Kirillov, he became a little angry when he learned that the 233rd Division had not yet broken through the German defensive positions in the south of the town. He originally wanted to wait until the battle was over before canceling Yesenin's command.
Du, but he did not expect that the other party seemed to turn a deaf ear to his words. The battle continued for such a long time, but it still failed to break through the German defenses. If Kirillov’s troops had not rushed into the town from the east in time, I am afraid that Victor
The troops have been completely wiped out.
Thinking of this, Sokov decisively issued an order: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell General Chumakov that the slow progress of the 233rd Division has seriously affected our army's combat plan. Therefore, he can no longer
He will continue to serve as the division commander, and from now on, the 233rd Division will be under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Muzichenko."
Smirnov smelled the aura of violence in Sokov's words, and quickly picked up the phone, called Chumakov, and explained to him the latest personnel appointments issued by Sokov.
Knowing that Sokov wanted to demote Yesenin and dismiss him on the spot, Chumakov couldn't help but became anxious. He quickly explained to Smirnov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell the commander that the war is critical now. If you rashly
Changing the commander will have an adverse impact on the morale and morale of the troops."
"Okay, General Chumakov." Smirnov said unceremoniously: "After Yesenin's troops failed to attack the town for the first time, Comrade Commander did not hold you accountable. He even held you responsible when your attack failed.
An assault battalion was sent, rushed into the town from other directions, and attracted most of the enemies. If Yesenin could have acted faster, maybe they would have met in the city at this moment. But what did Colonel Yesenin's troops do?"
Chumakov murmured: "Now is the critical moment of the war. If we rashly change the division commander, I am worried that it will cause trouble among the soldiers."
Sokov heard angrily saying: "The assault battalion I sent was originally just to attract the enemy's attention to ensure that the 233rd Division could successfully break through the German defense lines. But what was the actual situation? It was originally responsible for a feint attack mission.
Our troops were once surrounded by the enemy, and if Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov hadn't personally led the troops to reinforce them, they would have been completely wiped out."
Since Sokov has already said this, it is obviously not wise to refute it. Chumakov decided to agree to Sokov's proposal and remove Yesenin from his post on the spot. After a while, Sokov calmed down, he would