Red Moscow

  Chapter 256 Fighting behind the enemy (2)

  Sokov's troops seized a large amount of weapons, ammunition and various supplies from the German army during the early raids, including several small radio stations. In order to keep in touch with Briski's troops at any time, he left one of the radio stations and two radio operators. And agreed with the other party to contact each other on time at eight o'clock every night.

Seeing Sokov leave with a large force, a second lieutenant squad leader walked up to Briski and asked cautiously: "Comrade Captain, is Major Sokov abandoning us? Let us stay here to attract The Germans were cannon fodder, and he fled with his men."

Although Briski has the rank of captain, he is only a platoon leader in the Istria battalion, barely qualified to participate in military meetings, and his lieutenants and second lieutenants can only be like ordinary soldiers. After your superior finished the meeting, he came back to inform himself that the meeting was over. Due to the rush of time, after Briski returned, he had not had time to convey the content of the meeting to his subordinates, so it was inevitable for the second lieutenant in front of him to misunderstand.

"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Briski felt the need to explain what was going on in order to prevent the morale of the army from being shaken: "Major Sokov did not lead people to retreat, but went deep into the enemy's rear to harass and destroy their communication lines. And our task is to stay here and deal with the German troops who came to encircle and suppress, making them think that the Istria battalion is still staying in this area, understand?"

  The second lieutenant immediately realized that he had made a mistake when he heard what Briski said, and immediately blushed and apologized to Briski: "I'm sorry, Comrade Captain, I made a mistake, and I apologize to you."

"Okay, Comrade Second Lieutenant, you don't need to say any more." Briski waved his hand at the other party, and said: "The task of your squad is to be responsible for guarding the direction of Jim, and rush back immediately if you find the enemy moving towards our garrison. Report."

Sokov, who was leading the troops on the march, did not know what happened in the camp. He was discussing with Vanya: "Comrade Captain, it is more than a hundred kilometers from here to Kursk. If we continue to fight in the forest and swamp If you move forward in the middle, then the speed of the march will be affected."

   "Then what should we do?" Vanya looked at Sokov and asked, "Should the soldiers be marched on the road?"

   "It's not impossible," Sokov looked up at the gray sky, and continued: "In this weather, it is impossible for the German reconnaissance planes to dispatch. We can completely march on the road."

   "But, Comrade Battalion Commander." Vanya was frightened into a cold sweat by Sokov's words: "What if we encounter the enemy during the march?"

"When we are marching on the road, you send sharp soldiers to explore the road ahead." Sokov said with confidence: "Once you find an enemy on the road, you should immediately send a signal to the troops behind so that everyone can quickly hide on both sides of the road." In the forest or ravine on the side, avoid being discovered by the enemy."

"This is a good idea." Hearing Sukov's thoughts, Vanya couldn't help but his eyes lit up, he quickly called the platoon leader, and ordered: "Platoon leader, we will march on the road next, you choose A few smart fighters will go to the front as the vanguard of the pathfinder, and once they find the enemy's whereabouts, they will immediately send us a signal."

  Vanya's order was quickly carried out. The commanders and fighters who marched hard in the forest and swamp all came to the road one after another. The team of hundreds of people was divided into two echelons and marched on the inaccessible road. As long as the German army did not conduct special reconnaissance in this area, it was really not easy to find this army.

  Since the troops started marching on the road, Belkin's heart has become uneasy. He originally acted with the third company in the second echelon, but in order to persuade Sokov not to take such a risky behavior, he rushed to the first echelon. As soon as he saw Sokov, he said excitedly: "Comrade Major, hurry up and stop your risky behavior. We are marching on the road like this. Once the enemy's reconnaissance plane finds them, their bombers will immediately attack us." It will come overwhelming, enough to blow up our entire army in a very short period of time."

"You think too much, Comrade Belkin." Regarding Belkin's worries, Sokov said disapprovingly: "It is impossible for the enemy's planes to dispatch in such weather. As for the German ground troops, There is no need to worry, once the vanguard troops find an enemy in front of them, they will immediately send out a signal to let the marching troops hide in the forests or ravines on both sides of the road."

   While talking, Vanya suddenly ran over and said to Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the frontline soldiers have sent a signal that a German transport convoy has appeared on the road and is coming in our direction."

When Sokov learned that there was an enemy on the road, he immediately ordered: "Immediately send a signal to the troops behind to let everyone take cover immediately." The troops who were marching on the road quickly dispersed after seeing the concealed signal from ahead. Take cover on both sides of the road, in a ravine sheltered by bushes.

   A few minutes later, a convoy of five covered trucks appeared in Sokov's field of vision, and they drove along the road towards his hiding place. However, the convoy stopped 50 or 60 meters away from Sokov's hiding place, the door of the driver's cab opened, the driver and the soldier sitting on the driver's cab got out of the car and stood chatting on the side of the road.

Seeing that there were only a dozen enemies, Sokov was about to order the troops to attack and wipe out this group of enemies, when he suddenly saw the tarpaulin near the driver's platform of the leading truck being lifted, and a man wearing a big-brimmed hat The officer stuck his head out from inside. With sharp eyes, Sokov could clearly see that the cabin was full of shaking helmets. It turned out that this was a truck full of soldiers. He was deeply afraid that the soldiers ambushing on both sides of the road could not bear it anymore and would shoot without authorization, so he quickly said to the soldiers next to him in a low voice, "Pass it down, no one is allowed to shoot without an order."

"Major, what should we do?" Belkin saw the soldiers coming down from the carriage one after another, and said to Sokov worriedly: "It seems that there are nearly a hundred enemies on these five trucks. Once there is a fight, if the If you can't eat them quickly, you will attract nearby enemies."

  If there are only a dozen enemies, Sokov is confident that he can eliminate this group of enemies without a single attack, and then use these trucks to transport his subordinates to Kursk. But at this moment, seeing that the car was full of enemies, even though the number of his troops was superior and it was a sneak attack, it was still not realistic to resolve the battle as soon as possible.

  Thinking of this, Sokov gritted his molars and said, "Fortunately, I'll let you go today. Next time I meet you, I won't be so polite."

  I thought that the enemy parked here just to move their hands and feet, urinate and so on, and they would be able to leave in a short time. Unexpectedly, the enemy actually moved the wood out of the carriage, lit a fire and cooked things by the side of the road, and it seemed that he would not leave for a while. Seeing this situation, Sokov couldn't help but secretly worried. He was worried that if the enemy stayed here for too long, they would find the soldiers hidden by the road.

"What to do, Comrade Battalion Commander." Vanya carefully climbed up to Sokov's side, and asked him in a low voice: "The enemy doesn't know how long they will stay here, I'm worried that the soldiers will be exposed, should they shoot?" ?”

  Sokov looked at the enemy not far away through the bushes, thinking quickly in his mind: Should he order the troops to continue lurking, or should he decisively open fire to destroy this group of enemies?

   Just as he hesitated, Belkin suddenly let out a low "Huh". Sokov turned his head to look at him, and at the same time asked in a low voice: "Comrade Belkin, what's the matter?" When he asked this, his face was very ugly, and he was worried that Belkin would make a fuss over some trivial matter and would startle him. Enemies not far away.

  Belkin pointed to the enemy sitting by the fire in the distance, and asked Sokov in a low voice: "Comrade Major, did you hear what they said?"

  Sokov had heard the voice of the enemy a long time ago, so when he heard Belkin's question, he nodded and asked in confusion: "I heard it, is there any problem?"

   "Major, listen carefully." Belkin had a surprised expression on his face: "They speak Russian."

   "Speaking in Russian?!" Hearing what Belkin said, Sokov hurriedly listened carefully, and sure enough, he vaguely heard that the group of enemies were talking in Russian. He asked Belkin puzzledly: "Damn it, how can the Germans chat in Russian..." As soon as he said this, he froze suddenly, his eyes fixed on Belkin, "You mean, These enemies are not the Germans, but the 'Oriental Battalion' formed by the scum of prisoners of war?"

  Belkin didn't speak, but just nodded, indicating that Sokov's guess was correct. Then he asked in a low voice: "Major, since they are the Dongfang Battalion, we might as well take the risk. Maybe it only takes ten minutes to resolve the battle."

"No, we don't need to exchange fire with them." After learning that the opponent was the Eastern Battalion, Sokov immediately had a better idea in his heart, so he rejected Belkin's proposal without hesitation, and instead Said: "I have thought of a better way to deal with them."

  Under Belkin's astonished eyes, Sokov commanded a soldier: "Comrade soldier, call Corporal Ernst here immediately, I have an important task to entrust to him."

"Comrade Battalion Commander," Vanya, who was squatting aside, asked Sokov puzzled after the soldiers left: "What did you ask Corporal Ernst to do? He just recovered from his injuries and was discharged from the hospital not long ago, and he is still unable to participate in fierce battles." .”

  (end of this chapter)