Chapter 1589

  Oleg Rezanov was a second lieutenant of the Soviet Air Force. The fighter he was driving was unfortunately shot down by a German fighter during the Kuban Air Battle. When he parachuted and landed, he was besieged by a group of German troops. After a fierce battle, he was injured and captured.

  Because he was a pilot, in order to obtain useful information, the Germans did not shoot him, but sent him to the hospital for treatment. After recovering from his injuries, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp near a field airport, and repaired the runway of the airport with a large group of prisoners of war every day.

   When he discovered that the German army had a heavy bomber parked in a temporary hangar at the airport, he thought of fleeing. Due to the difficulty of supporting himself alone, relying on his own strength, it was difficult to fly the plane to take off without being discovered by the German army. So he contacted several other prisoners of war in the prisoner of war camp, looking for opportunities to escape from the prisoner of war camp.

   Today they managed to wait for the opportunity. After killing the two German sentries guarding the hangar, they seized their guns, climbed into the heavy bomber, refueled and took off in a hurry.

  Because Oleg Rezanov was not proficient in operating German bombers, two consecutive takeoffs ended in failure, which attracted the attention of the Germans. He finally succeeded on his third attempt, as German forces rushed from all directions to try to prevent them from taking off.

  Although the German army dispatched fighter jets to pursue them, they tried to shoot them down. However, because the bomber driven by Oleg Rezanov quickly entered the area of ​​​​the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery fire, the chasing German fighter jets were worried about being shot down, so they had to turn around and fly back to their field airport.

   After being intercepted by Soviet artillery fire, Oleg Rezanov's bomber changed direction in time and successfully landed in the defense area of ​​the 116th Division of the 53rd Army. Soon after landing, everyone climbed out of the cockpit with difficulty, but was captured by a group of Soviet troops who came after hearing the news.

  When they were escorted to the headquarters for review, Oleg Rezanov was extremely conflicted. He didn't know whether he was right or wrong in flying a plane to escape from the German prisoner-of-war camp. Therefore, the friendly soldiers I saw did not show any friendly attitude towards me, on the contrary, they treated myself as an enemy.

  When he was interrogated by Managarov and heard that he and others were going to be shot as German spies, he was already in despair. Seeing Sokov's appearance, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart, but when he saw Sokov's military rank clearly, his whole heart suddenly became cold. There were two lieutenant generals present. Can you say what a major general said? Does it count?

   But what happened next was far beyond his expectations. The other two lieutenant generals not only had no objection to Sokov's words, but one even offered to screen Rezanov. In this way, Rezanov and others saw the hope of surviving.

  However, among the other five prisoners of war, some people questioned what happened before them. When can the major general be able to command the lieutenant general? Moreover, facing the order issued by the major general, the two lieutenant generals not only did not object, but were even willing to actively cooperate, which really subverted their cognition.

From the expressions of the crowd, Sokov guessed the worries in their hearts, so he took a step forward and said, "Comrades, screening you is a necessary procedure. If you confirm that you have no problems, you can first be screened." Send them to the hospital for treatment, and when you are discharged from the hospital, we will arrange jobs for you according to your ability."

  A middle-aged prisoner of war looked at Sokov and asked, "Comrade General, can you count on what you say?"

   "I am Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army Group. I am currently in command of the troops on both sides of the Dnieper River." Sokov said seriously, "As long as I say it, it will definitely count."

As soon as Sokov revealed his identity, the six prisoners of war including Rezanov were stunned. They never dreamed that the young general in front of them would scare the German army. Sokov.

   After a while, Rezanov said tremblingly: "Is it General Sokov who wiped out the Skeleton Division, the Imperial Division, and severely damaged the Banner Guard Division?"

   "Yes, Comrade Pilot." Lunev hurriedly replied, "The young general you see is exactly Major General Sokov who made the Germans turn pale."

After confirming Sokov's identity, the six people who originally thought that they would die soon became energetic and hoped that Lunev could quickly identify themselves. , in order to repay his innocence.

After Lunev arranged for someone to send the six Rezanov away, Derevyanko asked Sokov cautiously: "General Sokov, you really trust them so much, don't worry about them being rebelled by the Germans. , A spy trying to break into our army?"

"General Derevyanko," Sokov reminded him in the face of Derevyanko's questioning, "Have you seen the images of the six of them? Would the Germans spend their energy to instigate such people? Maybe after instigation, these people will die of malnutrition.”

  After listening to Sokov's remarks, Derevyanko didn't know how to reply for a while, so he could only remain silent.

   Seeing that Derevyanko was silent, Sokov turned his head and told Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, after the screening of the six of them is over, remember to send the pilot to General Goryunov."

   "Send it to General Goryunov?" Lunev asked in surprise, "Why?"

   "Because he knows where the German army's field airport is," Sokov said with a smile: "He can guide our air force to bomb the enemy's field airport, thereby achieving the goal of weakening the German army's air power."

   "Comrade Commander," although Lunev was very cooperative with Sokov just now, he was still a little worried: "Will he willingly take our plane to bomb the enemy's airport?"

"I think there should be no problem." Sokov said confidently: "I saw the monstrous hatred for the Germans in his eyes. As long as there is a chance for revenge, I don't think he will let go of this opportunity." of."

   "General Sokov," Managarov, who had been silent for a long time, finally couldn't help but speak: "Do you really think that these six people escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp that was closely guarded by the Germans?"

Faced with Managarov's questioning, Sokov nodded vigorously. He remembered that in real history, there was a pilot named Mikhail Devitayev who, with a dozen or so prisoners of war, piloted the A heavy bomber escaped from the German missile launch base and directed the Soviet Air Force to bomb the German base. But it is regrettable that these ten or so prisoners of war who escaped from the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp after hardships provided important information for the Soviet army, but were still executed as German spies. something people regret.

The reason why Sokov chose to believe in Rezanov was that, apart from the fact that they were all skinny and malnourished, and did not meet the standards of being instigated by the German army, it was because they were reminded of the tragedy of Mikhail Devitaev .

   "Yes, Comrade General." Sokov said to Managarov in an affirmative tone: "According to my intuition, all six of them are trustworthy people."

   "By the way, what's the situation of that plane?" Sokov thought of another important question, and asked quickly, "Did it crash during the forced landing?"

   Managarov never thought of asking about the plane when he came here, so he seemed a little dazed when he heard Sokov's question. He could only turn his head and look at Stirlitz, the commander of the 116th Division: "Comrade Colonel, please report to General Sokov about the situation of that plane."

Hearing Managarov's order, Stirlitz quickly stepped forward two steps, straightened his body and reported to Sokov: "Report to Comrade General, after our people rushed to the emergency landing site, we found that the plane's The landing gear was broken, and there were more than 40 bullet holes on the fuselage, which should have been strafed by a chasing enemy plane."

  Sokov frowned when he heard this, and asked Stirlitz in a reproachful tone: "Comrade Colonel, why didn't you report such important information to General Managarov just now?"

   Stirlitz's face turned red immediately. In fact, he wanted to report the matter to Managarov just now, but the other party was eager to interrogate the six prisoners of war and had no time to listen to his report. At this moment, Sokov asked that at this time, Stirlitz must not pass the responsibility to Managarov, but could only shoulder it by himself: "I'm sorry, General Sokov, it was my negligence, and I am willing to accept any responsibility you may have. Punishment."

  If Stirlitz was a subordinate of the 27th Army, maybe Sokov would criticize him in public. But he is Managarov's subordinate. It depends on the owner to beat the dog. He criticized Stirlitz in front of everyone. Where should Managarov put his face? So he could only say lightly: "Comrade Colonel, forget it this time, and don't make similar mistakes next time."

  Seeing that Sokov did not blame himself, Stirlitz couldn't help feeling ecstatic, and said repeatedly: "Understood, General Sokov. I assure you, I will not make similar mistakes again in the future."

   "What about the plane?" Derevyanko asked.

"Find a way to transport it back to Moscow." After Sokov said this, he thought that the bomber had crashed in the defense zone of the 53rd Army. Rove said: "Comrade General, let your troops do this."

   Being able to capture a basically complete German heavy bomber is no small feat. When Managarov heard that Sokov said that he was going to send the plane to Moscow, he couldn't help raising his heart. He knew very well that his troops were now under the command of Sokov. In the past, I had nothing to do with him. But I never dreamed that Sokov would be so generous that he would arrange for manpower to send the bomber back to Moscow.

   Managarov quickly replied: "Okay, General Sokov, I will arrange manpower as soon as possible to transport this German heavy bomber back to Moscow."

  After arranging everything, Sokov said to Managarov: "Comrade General, I still have something to do. I need to rush back to the headquarters as soon as possible. I will leave the aftermath here to you."

   "No problem," Managarov said generously, "General Sokov, go and get busy. I will take care of everything here. I will never let you down."

As Sokov and Lunev returned to the headquarters by car, Lunev asked: "Comrade commander, since the 53rd Army is under your command, isn't it all the same who will send the bombers to Moscow? "

From Lunev's words, Sokov heard that the other party meant to claim credit, so he smiled and said to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, although sending the captured bomber to Moscow is a matter of great merit. But this After all, the bomber made an emergency landing in the defense area of ​​the 116th Division. Although the 53rd Army was temporarily placed under our command, it is actually an independent unit. Even if I gave them a combat order, when the other commander executed it, It will be greatly discounted.”

  Lunev did not refute Sokov's statement. He knew very well in his heart that Managarov surpassed Sokov in terms of seniority and military rank. Although Konev ordered the 53rd Army to be under the command of Sokov, Managarov and others must be unconvinced, and there will be some resistance. This can be seen from the fact that Derevyanko often contradicts Sokov, You can see it.

   "What a pity." Lunev said with regret: "If we send the bomber to Moscow, it will be a great achievement, but now we have to take advantage of the 53rd Army."

Sokov was very open about this kind of thing. After listening to Lunev's complaints, he said with a smile: "Comrade Military Commissar, although we have given this credit to the 53rd Army, but in this way, let the The relationship between our two armies has become easier. If there is a chance for joint operations in the future, the other party will definitely return our favor."

   "By the way, Comrade Commander, this matter is of great importance. I think we should report it to our superiors." Lunev thought of a key question and quickly reminded Sokov: "Look, is it you or me who will report it?"

  Hearing the question raised by Lunev, Sokov thought about it in his mind. If Lunev reported to his superiors, it must be through Beria's line, and he didn't like it. After weighing again and again, he said, "Comrade Military Commissioner, I think I should report to Commander Konev in person."

   "Report to Commander Konev?" Lunev couldn't help being taken aback when he heard what Sokov said, and then asked, "Don't you report such an important matter to Marshal Zhukov?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov said with a smile: "In any case, our army group is subordinate to the Steppe Front Army. When it comes to matters in the army, we should first report to Commander Konev. After getting his After permission, it will not be too late to report to Marshal Zhukov."

  (end of this chapter)