Chapter 1435 Cultural Relics (Part 1)

  The soldiers of the Wehrmacht saw the SS officer aiming his gun at his chief, and aimed at him in unison. And the five soldiers who retreated into the church with the SS officer quickly surrounded the officer and confronted the Wehrmacht soldiers with their guns raised.

Seeing that the two sides were at war and might fight at any time, Vadim couldn't help feeling a little nervous. He hurriedly approached Mikhaiev's ear, and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Captain, what should we do? If they really fight Wake up, I'm afraid you and I will die."

Although Mikhaiev was also very nervous, he knew that the soldiers present were in a state of high tension, and if there was any movement, there might be a big fight, and then the two of them would suffer, so he quickly reminded Vati M: "Comrade Sergeant, stay calm and see how Captain Grimes handles this."

  The SS officer saw at least 30 guns pointing at him around him, and there were only six people on his side. Once the two sides opened fire, he and his subordinates would be shot into a sieve. In order to prevent this from happening, he could only bite the bullet and say: "Captain Grams, I want to remind you that German officers never surrender, and I hope you will not do anything that will damage the honor of soldiers. "

Captain Grimes looked at the SS officer who was pointing the gun at him, and said coldly: "Mr. Second Commando Squadron Leader, it is pointless to continue fighting. In order to save more lives, we just You can put down your weapons and surrender. I will give you one minute to put down your weapons, or I will order my men to shoot at you."

   "Surrender?!" The SS officer sneered and said, "Do you think the Russians will accept your surrender?"

  For some unknown reason, Grahams suddenly showed a hesitant expression when he heard what the officer said. He stood there in a daze, as if he was thinking about something.

  While the two were talking, Vadim quietly translated the conversation to Mikhaiev. Seeing Grams' indecisive look, Mikhaiev thought that the other party was worried that his personal safety would not be guaranteed after the surrender, so he quickly said, "Mr. Captain, I assure you that as long as you and your subordinates stop resisting , Put down your arms and surrender to us, we will guarantee the safety of all of you."

   Before Grams could speak, the SS officer suddenly shouted: "What use is your guarantee? If your superiors know that he once led people to set fire to the north of the city, can you bypass them?"

  When Vadim heard what the officer said, his expression changed drastically, and he wondered whether he should translate the matter to Mikhaiev. Mikhaiev heard the officer chattering a lot, but he couldn't understand a single word, but Vadim didn't translate it to him, so he couldn't help feeling a little anxious: "Comrade sergeant, what's going on, why? Won't you translate for me?"

"Comrade Captain," Vadim hesitated for a moment, deciding to translate what the officer said to Mikhaiev and see what kind of decision he would make, "the SS officer warned Captain Grams that he had If you lead someone to set fire to the north of the city, even if you surrender, there will be no good end!"

   When he learned that Captain Grams standing in front of him had led someone to set fire to the north of the city, Mikhaiev's face paled, and even the veins on his temples burst out. He gritted his molars and asked Vadim: "Comrade Sergeant, is everything you said true?"

  Vadim saw Mikhaiev's blue veins bulging, and his hands clenched into fists tightly. Knowing that Mikhaiev was on the verge of going berserk, Vadim replied bravely, "Yes, Comrade Captain!"

Mikhaiev stared at the bewildered Grams in front of him, trembling with anger. He knew that at least seven or eight hundred soldiers from the 762nd regiment were engulfed in the flames in that fire, and the murderer who killed them now was Standing a few steps away from him, as long as he rushed over with one stride, he could grab the opponent by the neck, strangle him alive, and avenge those comrades-in-arms and residents who died.

  Vadim saw Mikhaiev's abnormality. He was deeply afraid that the opponent would charge towards Grams directly. Once he made a move, the dozens of German soldiers around him could easily kill the two of them even without weapons.

"Captain Grimes," but what Vadim was worried about didn't happen. After Mikhaiev took two deep breaths, he said to Grimes, "If you continue to resist, wait until the church is conquered." I'm afraid no one will survive. As long as you put down your weapons and surrender, I can't guarantee whether your life will be saved; but your subordinates can survive. I just don't know if you are willing to sacrifice your life, In exchange for a chance for your men to return home after the war?"

   Mikhaiev gave Grams two choices: one is to fight to the end, and finally die; the other is to save more lives at the cost of sacrificing him.

  After listening to Vadim’s translation, the German officers and soldiers present could not help but make up their own calculations. Although it is a soldier’s responsibility to die in battle, now there is a chance to survive, and who doesn’t want to grasp it? Many soldiers lowered their guns and looked at Grahams eagerly, waiting for him to make a final decision.

  Although there were dozens of people standing in the hall, it was extremely quiet. Except for the sound of guns and guns from outside the church, only the breathing of the people could be heard.

   "Everyone, I have made a decision." After an unknown amount of time, Grahams finally said, "In order to save more people who are still alive, I have decided to lay down my arms and surrender to the Russians."

  As soon as Grimes said the words, his subordinates immediately cheered, which meant that everyone could continue to survive. But the mouth of the SS officer was almost crooked, and he shouted sharply: "You **** traitor, go to hell." Then he was about to pull the trigger.

   "Crack!" A crisp gunshot made the noisy hall quiet. Grimes was still standing where he was, while the SS officer who pointed his gun at him fell to the ground with his face covered in blood.

   Just when Mikhaiev wondered who fired the shot, he saw the German second lieutenant who brought him and Vadim into the church came out of the crowd, holding a pistol emitting faint blue smoke in his hand. He came in front of Grimes and told the surrounding soldiers, "Take their guns down."

Following the order of the second lieutenant, seven or eight soldiers came out in front of the five SS soldiers, involuntarily confiscated the weapons in their hands, and then asked Grams: "Mr. Captain, how should we deal with these party members?" Guard."

Grams glanced at the SS officer lying on the ground, raised his head and said to the second lieutenant: "Take them aside and take care of them. What we have to do now is to surrender to the Russians immediately, otherwise it will be too late." .”

The second lieutenant nodded, then came to Mikhaiev, and said sincerely: "Mr. Captain, I have a request: I wonder if we can spare our captain? That's right, our company did participate in the arson in the north of the city. But we are also following orders, I hope you can understand us."

Mikhaiev saw everything that happened just now, and he knew in his heart that if Grams was a cowardly person who feared death, he would definitely not agree to surrender, because once he put down his weapon, he might be involved in the war. He set fire to the north of the city and was shot on the spot; but if he chose to continue to resist, although he would die in the end, he would cause huge casualties to the Soviet army.

After trying to understand this, Mikhaiev said to the German second lieutenant: "Mr. second lieutenant, I have already said that I cannot guarantee that Captain Grahams will survive, but I am willing to intercede for him and see what the superiors plan to do with him. "

   Knowing that Mikhaiev was willing to intercede for Grams, the second lieutenant hurriedly raised his hand and saluted him to express his gratitude.

When Sokov received a call from Colonel Shechtman and knew that he had successfully occupied the church, he couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Colonel, are the cultural relics we are looking for stored in the basement of the church? "

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Shechtman replied, "I'm in the church now, and I just checked the cultural relics from the basement. According to the list, there are more than 170 world-famous paintings and ten Two large wooden boxes."

  Confirming that the cultural relic is in the basement of the church, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed, and ordered Sameko to report the good news to Konev immediately. In order to see these precious cultural relics as soon as possible, he ignored the sound of gunfire in the city, called Lunev, took Samoilov's guard platoon, and drove into the city.

  After the convoy entered the city from the north gate, Sokov saw the scene of the fire. The buildings on both sides of the road were burned to the ground. Seeing this scene, Lunev gritted his teeth and said: "Damn the German, he owes another blood debt. Comrade Commander, if the enemy who set the fire is caught, I decide to shoot them all."

"That's right." Sokov had no objection to Lunev's statement: "These arsonists cannot be called human beings at all, they can only be called beasts with two legs. We caught such beasts Kill as many as you want, and we will never tolerate it."

  When the convoy arrived at the door of the church, Shechtman and Billing had already led people to wait at the door.

   Seeing the jeep stop, Shechtman hurriedly stepped forward and opened the door for Sokov, saying respectfully: "Comrade commander, you are welcome to visit our trophies."

  Sokov shook hands with the other party, and asked anxiously, "Where is the thing?"

   "It's in the church," Shechtman replied: "The light in the basement is too dark. I was worried that the use of torches would damage the cultural relics, so I ordered the soldiers to move them to the hall of the church."

  (end of this chapter)