Chapter 2017 In the City

  Knowing that the flag had been planted on the top of the main government building, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. According to the tradition left by the army of the Tsarist era, as long as the flag is planted in the most conspicuous place in the city, it represents the occupation of the city. As for when the entire city can be completely controlled, it is another matter.

But at this moment, Sukov couldn't sit still anymore. He said to Sidolin and Ponejielin: "Chief of Staff, Comrade Deputy Commander, you two stay and take command. I will take the 122nd Brigade to the city to have a look." .”

   "Comrade Commander," hearing that Sokov wanted to go to the city again, Ponejielin hurriedly stopped him: "You are the commander of the group army, and your post is here at the headquarters. How can you just run to the front?"

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov said with a smile on his face: "If it was another city that was occupied today, I might not go to the front. But what is liberated now is Minsk, the capital of Belarus. It is a moment for people's hearts, and I hope that I can be the first army commander to enter the city."

"Comrade Commander, I have two requests." Hearing what Sokov said, Ponegerin knew that no matter what he said, he would not be able to prevent him from going to the city in person, so he said, "If you can agree to my conditions , I agree with you to go to the front line."

   "Tell me, what are the conditions?" When Sokov said this, he felt somewhat lacking in confidence, fearing that the other party would offer a condition that he could not meet.

   "One is to call the commander of the front army and report to him the news of our army's occupation of Minsk."

"It should be, it should be." Sokov didn't want to have long nights and dreams, so he quickly grabbed the phone and ordered the messenger to connect to the front army headquarters: "I am Sokov, commander of the 48th Army, please help me find Comrade General, I have something important to report to him immediately."

  The staff officer who answered the phone heard that Sokov was calling, so he didn't dare to be negligent, and quickly transferred the call to Rokossovsky.

   "Misha," Rokossovsky said on the other end of the phone, "do you have any good news for me?"

   "Yes, Comrade General." Sokov said excitedly: "I have great news to tell you. My troops have occupied Minsk and planted the red flag on the main building!"

"Great, Misha, this is really great." Hearing the good news, Rokossovsky's voice became trembling with excitement: "I congratulate you, congratulations on your achievement of such great importance." You know, liberating the capital of a country is a major event that can be recorded in history, and I congratulate you again!"

"Thank you, Comrade General." Sokov thought that he was going to Minsk at the moment and needed to say hello to Rokossovsky. He said cautiously: "The enemy in the city is still resisting, I think it is necessary for me to go to Minsk. Organize the overall situation in the city."

"Misha, you are playing tricks on me." Sokov's little trick was easily seen through by Rokossovsky: "I can guess that you want to go there to have a look, right? ? I know, if the conditions allow, I will jump and run over there myself...Okay, let's go."

   Having received Rokossovsky's permission, Sokov couldn't help being overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly.

  After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Ponejielin a little arrogantly: "Deputy commander, Comrade General has agreed for me to go to Minsk. Tell me, what is your second condition?"

   Obtaining Rokossovsky's permission gave Sokov confidence. At this moment, he was not worried about any request from Pornegerin. If you can't do it yourself, don't bother.

   "My second condition is very simple." Ponegerin obviously expected this to happen, and said with a smile, "I want to go to Minsk with you."

  Sokov thought that the other party would put forward such harsh conditions, but he just followed him to Minsk. Naturally, Sokov would not let go of such a favor, so he readily agreed. At the same time, he also asked Belkin who was sitting on the side: "Belkin, are you interested in going too?"

  Actually, when Belkin heard that the troops had occupied Minsk, his heart was full of envy and hatred, and he felt deeply regretful that he could not enter Minsk in the first place. Hearing Sokov asking himself at this moment, he thought he heard it wrong, pointed to his nose, and asked tentatively: "Shall I go to Minsk with you?"

   "That's right." Sokov nodded, and said in a teasing tone: "If you don't want to, I won't force it."

   "You'd be a fool not to go." Belkin said loudly, "I'll go with you to Minsk."

When Lieutenant Colonel Victor, the new brigade commander of the 122nd brigade, appeared in front of Sokov, he said aggrievedly: "Comrade commander, the troops of the entire group army are fighting in Minsk, while our brigade stayed behind to serve Reserve team. Commanders and fighters are all emotional about this matter."

   "I think you are the one with emotions?" Sokov continued after exposing the other party mercilessly, "Okay, let's go to Minsk now and gather all your people immediately."

   "Comrade Commander," after learning that he could go to Minsk, Victor couldn't help but be overjoyed, and quickly said to Sokov: "The troops have already assembled and are ready to go at any time."

  Ten minutes later, Sokov, Ponejielin, and Belkin got into the jeep and headed towards Minsk, followed by a long convoy carrying the 122nd Infantry Brigade.

  But when the convoy entered Minsk, the scene in front of him made Sokov frowned. He saw that the whole city had become a ruined wall, and complete houses could hardly be seen.

   At this moment, the convoy was stopped by someone. Koshkin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, immediately opened the door and shouted at the outside: "Which part are you from? Why did you stop our car?"

  A second lieutenant walked out of the people who stopped the car, raised his hand to salute Koshkin and said: "Hello, Comrade Captain. There are a lot of mines on the road ahead. We are cleaning them up. Please wait patiently."

Sokov, who was sitting in the city, couldn't help but feel a little bit when he heard that there were landmines on the road ahead. He thought that when he went to the frontier inspection last year, he also encountered a group of demining engineers. There are bombs on the road, let yourself wait in the roadside room next to it.

   Unexpectedly, all of this was a trap. After I entered the door, I found a time bomb. If I hadn't reacted quickly and jumped out of the Taoist room from the window in time, otherwise I would have been blown to pieces. But even so, he was still seriously injured and almost couldn't be rescued.

   "Koshkin," Sokov, who was sitting in the back row, told Koshkin coldly: "Go down and check their documents to see if they are ours."

  Hearing Sokov's order, Koshkin was taken aback for a moment, then understood what the other party meant, nodded, and then opened the car door and went down to check the IDs of the officers and soldiers blocking the way.

   A few minutes later, Koshkin walked back and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, everything has been checked, and there is no problem. They are all engineers from the 6th Guards Division."

   "The engineers of the 6th Guards Division?" Sokov raised his eyebrows: "What are they doing here, and where is their division commander, Major General Onuprienko?"

   "Comrade Commander," a second lieutenant stood beside the car and saluted Sokov: "I am second lieutenant Babed, engineer of the 6th Guards Division, and we are ordered to perform the task of clearing mines here."

   "Did the Germans plant a lot of mines?"

"A lot, a lot." Babel replied: "Not only are there mines buried in those intact buildings, but even booby traps are planted under the bodies of our soldiers. If you are not careful, there may be accidents." Necessary casualties."

   "Damn German guy," Belkin, who was walking next to Sokov, couldn't help complaining when he heard the second lieutenant say this: "You actually did such a vile thing."

"Colonel Belkin, it's a time of war." Pornegelin saw this matter more clearly than Belkin: "The Germans are not reconciled to their defeat and will not give us back the cities they occupied. Can we What to do? That is to organize enough manpower to clear all the landmines planted by the enemy.”

   "Where is your division commander?" Pornegelin asked kindly: "Second Lieutenant Babed, do you know?"

   "I know!" Second Lieutenant Babed answered quickly: "The division headquarters is located in the committee building. We need to send someone to take you there,"

   "No." Pornejelin waved his hand and said, "I am very familiar with this city, and I know that building is there. Comrade Second Lieutenant, you can continue to command the troops to clear the mines."

Taking advantage of the time when the engineers cleared the mines, Sokov called Victor over and told him: "Lieutenant Colonel Victor, although our troops have occupied Minsk, the enemy is still resisting in most areas of the city. Even if They were forced to abandon some places, but they planted a lot of landmines, you should pay more attention to safety while clearing out the remnants of the enemy."

   "Please rest assured, Comrade Commander." Victor assured Sokov, "We will not disappoint your trust."

   Soon, the engineers cleared the landmines on the road. Second Lieutenant Babed came over and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, all the landmines on the road have been cleared, you can move on."

   After expressing his concern to Lieutenant Babed, Sokov ordered the driver to drive to the committee building.

   Following the guidance of Pornejelin, the car soon came to the outside of the committee building. From the roadblocks, barbed wire and barricades that abound outside, it can be seen how tightly the German army is defending here. The densely packed gun holes and black holes on the wall indicate that fierce battles have been fought here.

  The soldiers on duty at the intersection stopped Sokov's vehicle for routine inspection. Koshkin opened the car door, poked his head out and yelled at the other party, "Didn't you see who was in the car?"

  Koshkin's voice made the soldier take a step back in fright, with a confused expression on his face. For a moment, he didn't know whether to check or not.

   Fortunately, Sokov rescued him in time: "Koshkin, Comrade Warrior did the right thing. He is performing his duties."

Hearing Sokov's voice, the soldier saw Sokov sitting in the back row through the car door opened by Koshkin, hurriedly raised his hand to salute, and said in a panic: "Hello, Comrade Commander! Please forgive me, I didn't know it was you, so I stopped your car without permission, please forgive me."

  Sokov naturally wouldn't care about an ordinary soldier. He waved his hand and said reasonablely: "Comrade soldier, please tell me, where can I find your commander?"

   "The division commander is in that building." The soldier pointed to the committee building next to him and said to Sokov: "He set up the headquarters on the first floor."

   After the soldiers opened the roadblock, the driver drove the car directly to the gate of the building.

  No one stopped the way to check the documents this time. Sokov's face was the best pass. All the commanders and fighters who saw him stood at attention and raised their hands to salute.

   Entering the building, Sokov, guided by an officer, came to the division headquarters of the 6th Guards Division.

   When entering the door, Sokov saw Onuprienko standing in front of a table with his back to the door, speaking to a group of commanders around the table.

   "Commanders, comrades," Sokov walked towards Onupriyenko and asked at the same time, "What are you discussing?"

  Hearing Sokov's voice, the commanders turned their heads and looked towards the door at the same time. After seeing clearly that the people who came in were Sokov and Ponejielin, everyone immediately stood at attention and raised their hands to salute Sokov.

Sokov stepped forward and shook hands with Onu Priyenko, and said in an appreciative tone: "Well done, General Onu Priyenko, the feats you have established today will be recorded in history, and our future generations Children and grandchildren will definitely remember you and the feats you have established today."

Although Sokov said this to Onuprienko, the commanders standing around heard Sokov's evaluation of them, all of them raised their chins high, and looked like There is a proud expression.

   "What were you discussing just now?" Sokov asked again.

"Comrade commander, you also know that although we have declared the occupation of the city by planting flags." Onuprienko said: "But the German army is still stubbornly resisting in many places in the city, and we have not yet been able to Complete control of the entire city, so I decided to organize troops and continue to attack some areas in order to eliminate the remaining forces of the German army."

   "I don't think it's necessary, General Onupriyenko."

"Why?" Hearing what Sokov said, Onuprienko asked in amazement: "You know, our division occupied the main government building and the committee building one after another. Why stop the attack?"

"General Onuprienko, I think I need to remind you." Sokov looked at the other party and said, "The troops fighting in the city today have six infantry divisions and two, no, three infantry divisions." Brigade, you can't let your division steal all the limelight, you should save some for the friendly troops."

Hearing what Sokov said, Onupriyenko was a little embarrassed. He said with a silly smile: "Comrade Commander, I don't think that those who can do more work. Since my troops are progressing smoothly, I will take the opportunity to expand." There is nothing wrong with the results of the battle, right?"

"Yes, yes, of course you are right." Sokov said to Onuprienko: "But I think it is necessary to remind you again that our army group has occupied this city, and it will no longer Participated in the battle. Maybe you have just completed the control of the entire city of Minsk, and you are about to perform a new mission. If your division does not complete the rest in time, when the new mission comes down, the commanders and fighters will be exhausted and unable to accept the battle. Don't come to me to complain about the mission."

  (end of this chapter)