Red Moscow.

Chapter 2765 Potapov rescued

Soon after the reconnaissance team led by Zub and Qursin set off, the second and third echelons arrived at the edge of the forest one after another.

Seeing his troops gathered in one place, Karelin suddenly felt confident. He said to Sokov: "Captain Sokov, all my men are here. Why don't we attack the soap factory directly and eliminate it?" Enemies in the factory.”

When saying this, Karelin also intentionally glanced at Vlasov, Colonel Del and Nikolsky not far away, as if he wanted to gain the support of the three of them. But what surprised him was that the three of them remained silent. They just looked at Sokov with smiles, as if waiting for him to make up his mind.

"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Sokov shook his head as expected: "How many enemies are there in the soap factory, what kind of equipment they have, who are fighting them, how many troops, equipment, etc., we have We don’t know anything at the moment. If we rush into battle, we may cause many unnecessary casualties.”

"But you just said that the people in the soap factory may not be able to last much longer." Karelin continued: "Although you sent two squads to conduct reconnaissance, with their small strength, they are unable to deal with the enemies in the factory. "

"Don't worry, Comrade Captain." Sokov said: "I just said the same thing. They not only have reconnaissance missions, but they will also go into battle when necessary. If the enemy's troops are not large, we will deploy our troops and attack the soap factory. Launch an attack and eat the enemies in the factory. But if there are too many enemies, we can only use them to contain the enemies and then go around in other directions to avoid fighting with the enemies. "

Seven or eight minutes later, gunshots and explosions in the direction of the soap factory became more intensive. Judging from Sokov's experience, it should be two squads commanded by Zub and Chulsin, who were involved in the battle in the soap factory. At this time, a soldier could be seen running towards this side.

When the soldier came closer, he raised his hand to salute Sokov, and reported breathlessly: "Comrade Captain, Sergeant Zub asked me to come back and report to you: There is about a platoon of German troops in the soap factory, equipped with two vehicles. Armored vehicles, and a dozen side vehicles The troops fighting with them should be small units of our army that have been broken up. They are relying on the factory to resist the German attack. Now that our people have exchanged fire with the Germans, Sergeant Zub asks you to hurry up. Send people to support.”

After figuring out the enemy's strength and equipment, Sokov began to issue orders: "The first company will attack from the front, the second company will detour from the left, and the third company will detour from the right. This group of enemies in the soap factory must be wiped out."

After hearing Sokov's order, the three company commanders stood still without moving. Instead, they turned their attention to their battalion commander Karelin, wanting to hear what instructions he had?

Karelin glanced at Vlasov's men and asked Sokov tentatively: "Captain Sokov, if we put all our troops into battle, who will protect General Vlasov's life? "

"Don't worry." Sokov said: "My subordinates can handle this task. Your task now is to completely annihilate the German troops in the soap factory."

"Understood." Karelin nodded, then turned and said to his company commanders: "What are you still doing? Why don't you quickly follow Captain Sokov's order and attack the enemy. If it is delayed, Fighter, I will punish you."

Seeing that Karelin was angry, several company commanders immediately dispersed and returned to their respective units. Following Sokov's order, they launched an attack on the soap factory.

The troops were fighting, so Sokov naturally would not stay at the edge of the forest and wait for news. Instead, he went to the soap factory with Karelin and personally directed the final battle of annihilation.

The German troops at the soap factory had already suffered nearly half of their casualties when they attacked the factory. Not long ago, they were attacked by a reconnaissance force commanded by Zub and Chulsin, and many more soldiers were killed or injured. It was already unable to hold on, and when several companies of the Soviet army pressed forward, it was even less able to fight back. The battle lasted only a few minutes and ended hastily.

When Sokov and Karelin rushed to the soap factory, the battle was over, and all the German officers and soldiers fell to the guns of the Soviet army.

Seeing that the battle was over, Sokov quickly came to the factory and shouted inside: "Hey, comrades inside, the enemy has been eliminated by us, you can come out!"

Hearing Sokov's shout, a dozen ragged commanders and fighters walked out of the factory door. The man walking at the front actually had two gold stars on his diamond-shaped collar badge, indicating that he was a major general.

Although the other person's face was darkened by gunpowder smoke, Sokov couldn't help being surprised after seeing the other person's face clearly, because the person standing in front of him was none other than Potapov, whom he was still talking about in his heart not long ago. Major General.

Sokov quickly took two steps forward, raised his hand to salute Potapov, and said respectfully: "Hello, comrade general! I am Captain Sokov, commander of the special company of the 37th Army Headquarters. I am very happy to meet you. See you here.”

"Hello, Captain Sokov!" Potapov took two steps forward, stretched out his hand to shake Sokov's hand, and said with a smile: "If you hadn't arrived in time, when our ammunition was exhausted, we would have Will be completely wiped out by the Germans. Let me know, I am Major General Potapov, commander of the 5th Army.”

Sokov muttered to himself that he never expected that Potapov had not become a prisoner of the Germans. This was really strange. He looked at the other party and asked cautiously: "General Potapov, I saw a leaflet distributed by the Germans a few days ago, saying that you have become their prisoner."

Potapov's face darkened, and it was clear that Sokov's question had touched a sore spot for him.

After a while, he finally said: "Yes, I was indeed captured by the Germans a few days ago. But I showed no mercy to them and successfully escaped from prison when they relaxed their vigilance. On the way to escape, I met some The small unit that was broken up took them in and continued to move northeast, hoping to enter our defense area. Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived here, they were overtaken by the Germans, and a battle broke out. "

"How many men do you have?" Sokov asked.

"Before the battle started, there were hundreds of people." Potapov turned and pointed at the dozen or so soldiers around him and said, "Now there are only these few left."

When Sokov heard what Potapov said, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. He had a numerical advantage and occupied a favorable terrain, but a single platoon of German soldiers almost wiped out their entire army. If he had arrived a little later, Potapov might have been killed or become a prisoner of the Germans again.

Potapov obviously did not want to talk about these disappointing things, so he changed the subject in time: "Comrade Captain, are these all your subordinates?"

"No, Comrade General." Unexpectedly, Sokov shook his head and said, "These are the commanders and fighters of the 40th Group Army."

"What, they are all commanders and fighters of the 40th Army?" When Potapov heard this, a confused expression appeared on his face: "You are from the 37th Army, how can you command the troops of the 40th Army? What is going on? thing?"

"That's it, Comrade General." Sokov explained: "This force is sent by General Podras, commander of the 4th Army, to meet General Vlasov." "They are here to meet Vlasov. "General Vlasov's?" When Potapov heard what Sokov said, a look of surprise appeared on his face: "So, General Vlasov is nearby?"

"Yes, he is in the nearby forest." Sokov continued: "Now that the battle is over, I believe he will come here soon, and you will be able to see him then."

"I met him once after he became the commander of the garrison." Potapov said: "In a blink of an eye, I haven't seen him for more than a month."

While waiting for Vlasov to be brought, Sokov secretly murmured to himself that in real history, Potapov might indeed have escaped from the hands of the Germans after being captured. But because the area near Kiev fell into the hands of the Germans, he fell into the hands of the Germans again before he could escape back to the Soviet defense zone.

Seeing Vlasov, Colonel Der and Nikolsky enter the soap factory, Sokov quickly greeted them and briefly reported the battle to them. Then he said to Vlasov: "Comrade Commander "One of the friendly troops we rescued was Major General Potapov, the commander of the 5th Army."

"What, Potapov?" After hearing this, Vlasov showed a shocked expression on his face: "According to the German leaflets, wasn't he captured by the Germans? How could he be here? Captain Sokov , are you mistaken?"

"There is no mistake, Comrade Commander." Sokov quickly explained: "I have confirmed his identity, and it is indeed General Potapov. If you don't believe it, just take you over and have a look. ”

"Okay, take me there now." Vlasov turned over and got off the stretcher, ready to go find Potapov.

"Comrade Commander, you'd better go on a stretcher."

"No, no need." Vlasov waved his hands and said, "I'm not injured, so I need to sit on a stretcher. Besides, after sitting on a stretcher for so long, my strength has long been restored. Don't talk nonsense, take me to see Bo quickly." General Tapov."

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Sokov took Vlasov and others to the place where Potapov rested. Still following him far away, he said loudly: "General Potapov, our commander sees you coming!"

Hearing Sokov's voice, Potapov immediately came out. When he saw Vlasov coming towards him, he immediately stretched out his hands and said with some excitement: "General Vlasov, can you be here?" It's such a pleasure to see you."

"General Potapov!" Vlasov quickly stepped forward and hugged Potapov. While patting the other person's back with his hand, he said excitedly: "I learned that you fell into the hands of the Germans. "

"General Vlasov." Potapov said: "If your men had not brought people to rescue me, I would have either been killed by the Germans at this moment, or I would have become a prisoner of the Germans again. I am so grateful to you. "

"You don't have to thank me. If you want to thank me, just thank Captain Sokov." Vlasov said with emotion: "To tell you the truth, if Captain Sokov hadn't been by my side, I might have been in Kiev long ago." He became a prisoner of the Germans."

"Ah, what happened? How did you escape from danger?"

When Sokov saw Vlasov and Potapov starting to reminisce about old times, he was worried that they would not finish talking, so he quickly reminded: "Comrade commanders, we are still in the area controlled by the German army. We should immediately Rush to our defense area. Otherwise, when the Germans come, it will not be that easy for us to leave."

"Yes, yes." After hearing what Sokov said, Potapov immediately nodded and said: "I took the soldiers for a week before I barely got here, but I was entangled by the Germans and almost lost the whole army. Destroyed. I think Captain Sokov is right. We can't stay here for long, so we should continue on our way. We can relax our vigilance when we enter our army's defense zone."

The troops continued on their way, but there were two more armored vehicles and more than a dozen three-wheeled motorcycles in the team. Vlasov and Potapov could ride in the armored vehicles, and the entire troop's marching speed was accelerated a lot.

When the troops approached the Soviet defense area, Sokov, who was walking at the front, ordered the troops to stop: "Stop advancing, the troops will stay where they are!"

Seeing that the friendly defense zone was right in front of him, Sokov ordered to stop advancing. Vlasov couldn't help but feel a little surprised, so he ordered his companion Karelin to go over and ask what was going on.

After Karelin found Sokov at the front, he asked in confusion: "Captain Sokov, when we are about to enter our regiment's defense area, why did you order the troops to stop advancing?"

Sokov pointed at the armored vehicles and three-wheeled motorcycles in the queue and said: "Comrade Captain, look, the white cross mark on the vehicle is so clear. If we just go by like this, what do you think of your comrades?" Will you regard them as enemies?"

Karelin was so frightened by Sokov's words that he broke into a cold sweat. He thought that if he saw a team approaching his defense area, and there were many German armored vehicles and motorcycles inside, he would definitely order his subordinates without hesitation. Fire. Fortunately, Sokov ordered the troops to stop and stand by. Otherwise, if they went forward rashly, they might conflict with their own people. After all, it was getting late now, visibility was reduced, and it was difficult to distinguish between ourselves and the enemy beyond a certain distance.

"Captain Sokov, I understand what you mean." Karelin raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead and continued: "I will send someone to contact you immediately to avoid any misunderstanding."

Sokov looked at Karelin and said in his heart that by the time you think about it, the day lilies may be cold, so he smiled and said: "Comrade Captain, don't bother me. I have sent a company commander and several soldiers to contact you. I don't think it will be necessary." How long will it take for him to bring back good news?"

After Karelin chatted with Sokov for a few more words, he returned to Vlasov and Potapov and reported to them: "Comrade generals, Captain Sokov said that it is a little dark now. , the visibility on the position is limited. If we rush through like this, it may cause misunderstanding among the defenders on the position, so he temporarily ordered the troops to stop advancing and sent one of my company commanders to contact him. It won't take long before we can successfully enter our regiment's defense zone."

"Thank God, we finally arrived." Potapov said with emotion: "Now we don't have to worry about enemies catching up."

(End of chapter)