Chapter 565

"Nonsense, it's nonsense!" Hearing what the second lieutenant said, I couldn't help but burst out, "who gave him the right to openly disobey the orders of his superiors and attack the Germans without authorization. Who is it? Who gave him this right? "

The second lieutenant wiped his forehead with his sleeve and said nervously, "Comrade division commander, this is the decision of the commander himself."

I just answered noncommittally, and then asked faintly, "if the commander is not here, who is in charge here?"

The second lieutenant looked around and said, "I think it's my responsibility. The division commander and the commanders of the regiment all went with the regiment leader to carry out the task."

"Lieutenant, how many people are there in the station?" I continued.

"There is a platoon under my leadership, and there are more than 70 light wounded." Perhaps for fear of my further questioning, he immediately added: "the seriously wounded in the regiment have been sent to Stalingrad in the afternoon."

"Take your men with you, and the light wounded, and follow me to the front."

"But, comrade division commander," the second lieutenant hesitated at my command and asked tentatively, "if we all go to the trenches, won't there be no secret sentries in these places?"

"Comrade lieutenant," I said unhappily, "if the Germans really detour from other places, do you think you can stop them with a hundred or so people? Don't say too much. Gather the team and get ready to go. "

Seeing my resolute attitude, the second lieutenant did not dare to retort. He took out a whistle from his collar and blew it twice. With the sound of the whistle, several soldiers flashed out of the hiding place, ran to him and raised their hands to salute. The second lieutenant said to them, "gather the soldiers and the slightly wounded in the platoon immediately, and follow the division commander to the forward position."

After the soldiers left, the second lieutenant put his body slightly to one side, made a gesture of please, and said in a flattering way, "Comrade division commander, I'll take you to the trench."

I nodded and stepped forward. The second lieutenant also started quickly, one body ahead of me, bent slightly to act as a guide for me in front. Seeing the second lieutenant's respectful attitude towards me, I couldn't help feeling good for him. As I walked along, I asked, "Comrade second lieutenant, what's your name?"

When I asked him his name, the second lieutenant was a little nervous. He replied in a flurry, "basmanov, Second Lieutenant Alexei basmanov." Seeing that I seemed to ask something else, I hastened to add, "I used to be from the 24th infantry division. My former troops were stationed in Ukraine. When they were surrounded by the German army, because the flag of our division was lost, they were withdrawn. All the division level commanders were sent to the military court, while the middle and lower level commanders in the division were sent to the punishment camp except for a few who were safe and sound. "

Flag. When I heard lieutenant basmanov talking about the flag, I suddenly remembered that the flag of the independent division had been put in the headquarters of the station. I didn't know if Sergey reekov had brought the flag out when he moved. If the flag is lost, it will be my fate to go to the military court. I slowed down, turned to razumeyeva, who was following me, and said, "get in touch with lieutenant colonel shejerikov immediately."

As soon as I got through to shijerikov, I couldn't wait to ask, "Comrade commander, I want to ask you, did you take the flag of the independent division with you during the transfer?"

"Of course, sir." "We'd rather lose our lives than protect the flag of the independent division," he said solemnly. Sir, please rest assured that I will protect the flag as well as my own life. " When I heard him say that, the stone hanging in my heart fell to the ground.

Outside the wooden house of the former group army headquarters, there was a German tank which was burning black. It was less than 20 meters away from the wooden house, which proved how fierce the fighting was at that time. The German tanks broke through our defense line and rushed straight to the side of the Oleg regiment headquarters. But for the brave soldiers who destroyed the German tanks with cluster grenades in time, Oleg and his commanders would be more or less dangerous.

The more you go forward, the more bloody the air is. According to the information that Oleg reported to me, every inch of the frontier here is permeated with blood, including the blood of our soldiers and of course the blood of the Germans.

Entering the trench, whether it was the engineer company of the guard class who followed me, or the subordinates and the light wounded of the second lieutenant basmanov, they scattered one after another, and each occupied a position, watching the distance warily.

I lay on the trench wall, raised my telescope and looked into the distance, trying to see where Oleg's troops were. Unfortunately, although the bright moon is high in the sky, I can only see the outline of the hillside in the distance. I only feel that it is quiet and there is no movement.

After busmanov settled his men, he also lay down beside me and asked curiously, "what's the news, sir?"

I shook my head slowly and said, "I can't see anything. I don't know where Oleg and his troops have gone." When I said this, I was thinking that the second regiment was facing the 371st German infantry division, which occupied the 158 and 165 highlands. Oleg and I had fought with the Germans in the above-mentioned areas. He was familiar with the terrain and should be able to lead the troops to retreat after finishing the sneak attack.

As he was thinking wildly, basmanov suddenly pointed to the front and yelled: "Sir, comrade, look, what's that?"

I raised my telescope and looked in the direction of his fingers. There were two bright spots on the plain in the distance. Under the bright moonlight, they were just like fireflies' lights. Then there were two, four, six and eight points, and soon these bright spots became one.

At this time, I saw clearly that these bright spots were car lights, and I didn't know whether they were German or Oleg. If they were Germans, they would be caught off guard by the soldiers who were already ready. If it was Oleg, he would have been too bold to drive his car lights under the German eyes.

However, it's not surprising to think about it again. After all, according to the traffic regulations of their country, when driving, vehicles must turn on their lights all the time, whether it's sunny or cloudy, day or night. It's not easy for the old Mao Tzu to get rid of this habit.

At this time, busmanov also saw clearly that the team was coming and said excitedly to me: "Comrade division commander, before the team leader set out, he said that he was going to attack the German transport team. It seems that they came back after completing the task, and they also came back in the captured car."

Looking at basmanov's jubilant appearance, I couldn't laugh at all. I always had an uncertain premonition in my heart. I always felt that the Germans were not fools. How could they easily let Oleg return to our army with their captured vehicles.

I could see through the telescope the approaching motorcade at high speed, with two open cars in front and about twenty trucks full of soldiers behind. Seeing the motorcade getting closer and closer, I saw a big and small flash on the far highland to the West. After the flash, there was the rumble of artillery. The German artillery deployed in the Highlands opened fire on Oleg's motorcade.

The first shot landed next to a truck in the middle and exploded. Although the huge shock wave did not overturn the car directly, it rocked the high-speed truck left and right. Then the rain like shells fell in the middle of the fast-moving motorcade and exploded.

A shell directly hit the front of the open car, a fireball rose at the same time, the car's tail high up, the whole car soared into the air, from the back forward in the air even over a somersault, and then fell heavily on the ground, then the fire and explosion. I witnessed the whole process of the car being shot and exploded. I was worried that Oleg was in the car, so I looked very carefully. It turned out that in the end, none of the passengers in the car escaped.

Shells landed in the motorcade one after another and exploded. Although they rarely directly hit the trucks, the shock wave generated by the shells still overturned two or three trucks, and the soldiers on the trucks rolled down one after another. As a result of falling from the high-speed vehicles, almost all of these soldiers were injured on the spot, few of them could get up immediately, most of them were rolling in pain.

Another shell exploded next to a truck, causing the car body to shake and half of the car to burn. Although the highly skilled driver stabilized the car and continued to gallop forward, the soldiers on the car were obviously not so lucky. There were only four or five people left in the full carriage.

Because the distance of two or three hundred meters in front of the position was full of craters, the motorcade had to slow down when it rushed to this place, which further increased the accuracy of German artillery.

Several people on the convertible jumped down, waving their arms desperately at the back, as if shouting something. Although I couldn't hear what they were shouting from too far away, I immediately saw all the trucks stop at random, and the soldiers on the trucks jump out of the car one after another and rush to the position with weapons.

Some slow-moving soldiers just jumped out of the car and didn't run far away. The truck they used to ride was hit by German shells and exploded into a ball of fire. The flying shrapnel and explosive force swept down the soldiers who were not far away from the truck.

Fortunately, the German artillery's targets were concentrated on trucks, ignoring the officers and men who jumped to escape. In the end, nearly 150 people rushed into the trench.

I got up and walked along the trench, shouting Oleg's name as I walked: "commander Oleg, commander Oleg, where are you?"

A soldier who was dressing his arm was injured. Hearing my cry, he rushed to the front and said, "Comrade division commander, commander Oleg is in front. You can see it if you go a little further."

After I passed through the soldiers who were crowded in the trench, I saw Oleg sitting on the ground with his back against the wall of the trench. I bent down, grabbed him by the collar, and said angrily, "commander Oleg, look, that's what you've done. For your so-called revenge, so many soldiers died in vain under the enemy's fire. "

Oleg looked at me dully, then turned to look around at the confused officers and men, and lowered his head in shame.

Now that the military situation is urgent and it is not time to settle accounts with him, I angrily loosened his collar, stood up and said to busmanov who followed me, "Comrade lieutenant, it is not suitable to stay here for a long time. I order you to lead the troops to move immediately."

Basmanov listened to my order, eyes involuntarily looked at Oleg sitting on the ground, I frowned, coldly said: "find two people, carry your commander retreat." I raised my hand, looked at my watch, and added, "I'll give you five minutes. In five minutes, the troops must start. Otherwise, when the German army comes up, we will not be able to withdraw. "

As the retreat task of the second regiment was entrusted to basmanov, I took the guard group and the engineering company with me to retreat to the North first. On the way, the more I thought about it, the more angry I was. Before the battle started, there were still 2000 people in the second regiment, but now, there are no more than 300 people who can retreat.

We walked northward for about half an hour. Basmanov caught up with us and reported to me, "report, sir, I have led the second regiment up."

I turned around and looked back. Although I didn't see where the second regiment was because the guards and the engineering company were blocking my sight, I asked with concern, "what's the situation with Lieutenant Colonel Oleg?"

"I've come to myself." Basmanov said quickly, "I had asked two soldiers to carry him on a stretcher as you ordered, but he insisted on walking on his own. As you know, he is my superior and I have no right to give orders to him, so I have to go with him. "

"If he wants to go, let him go." I was not angry and said: "I gave him a regiment of 2000 people. He gave me two or three hundred people. After this battle, the second regiment, which used to have strong fighting power, has completely lost its fighting power. It seems that you can only go to the rear to make up for it. "

"Comrade division," basmanov was a little anxious when he heard me say that, "although our regiment has few people, the rest are the backbone of the fighting. If we are given new recruits, we will soon be able to regain our combat effectiveness. "

Just as I was about to say something, a strange voice in front of me suddenly asked, "stop, which part are you from?"

Hearing this voice, basmanov quickly stood in front of me and answered in a loud voice, "we are from the second division of the independent division. Which part are you?"

"We are members of the ninth company of the third regiment, and we are left behind to take on the task of guarding."

"Comrade teachers are here." Busmanov took the initiative to show me who I am.

Soon, a lieutenant quickly ran up to me. I was surprised to see his clothes. He was wearing German helmets and German uniforms. If he didn't speak fluent Russian, I would have shot. After he raised his hand to salute, he reported to me, "report to division commander, Lieutenant gordonov, commander of the ninth company of the third regiment, report to you. Our company was ordered by the commander, Lieutenant Colonel kosga, to stay on guard against the German army. "

Instead of paying back, I asked sternly, "Why are you wearing German uniforms?"

Godunov looked down at his military uniform, shrugged his shoulders with a embarrassed smile and said, "Sir, please listen to my explanation. Before receiving your retreat order, the commander had made a sneak attack plan. In order to achieve the effect of confusing German audio-visual, he specially collected more than 300 sets of German uniforms, and intended to let us disguise as German troops to sneak attack the residential areas. Although the plan was cancelled because of the withdrawal, I think these uniforms may be of little use if they are left behind, so I didn't follow the commander's order to bury them on the spot. "

Godunov's words made me have a flash in my mind. Although it is only 30 kilometers away from the preset position, no one can guarantee that we will not encounter German circuitous troops or scouts. If there is an exchange of fire, the German army will find that our division has retreated from the original position and will immediately catch up. If we make use of these German uniforms and pretend to be German troops, we can kill each other quietly when we meet Scouts or patrols. Even if we meet a large army, if the other party looks at the German uniforms our army is wearing and there are German Gaga talents like Mikhail, they will not doubt us at all, so that we can successfully reach the new position.

When I thought about it, I immediately told gordonov, "Comrade lieutenant, bring the rest of the uniform immediately."

"The rest of the uniform?" Godunov may not have adapted to my jumping thinking, and he was stunned. Fortunately, basmanov's quick response, patted each other on the back and explained: "Comrade lieutenant, don't you understand that the division commander is going to let us disguise as Germans, so as to ensure the safety of the road."

Godunov quickly asked the soldiers to bring over the remaining 200 sets of military uniforms. He looked at our number and said in a bit of embarrassment, "Comrade division, you have too many people and not enough military uniforms."

I waved my hand and said with disapproval, "it doesn't matter. Give the uniform to the front and back of the team, and you don't have to wear it in the middle." Then he specially pulled Mikhail yev to Godunov and told him, "this is Lieutenant Mikhail yev, the company commander of division engineers. His German level is similar to his native language. You can find him a uniform for an officer."

After the German uniform was distributed, they walked and wore it on the way. Although the uniform was changed, the Soviet weapons in hand were not changed. Fortunately, at night, even if they met the German army, they would not notice these details.

After the troops started again, I was at the front of the whole team. Mihayev, who was walking beside me, was wearing a German captain's uniform. He asked nervously, "Comrade division, what if I meet a German on the way?"“ You can ask them what part they are. If it is the 371st division, you say we are the 94th division; If it's the 94th division, you say we're the 371st division. They are carrying out the order to ascend the peak, making a detour to the rear of the Soviet army and preparing for the retreat of the other side. "“ Sir, is that ok? " Asked lieutenant busmanov, who followed me cautiously. I turned to look at him, understatement, said: "it's flexible." After walking about five or six kilometers, the lights of motorcycles suddenly appeared on the road ahead. I quickly raised my hand to signal the troops to stop. The motorcycles in front of us are coming. Judging from the number of lights, there are at least five. Although the Soviet army also had motorcycles, it would not send out five or six in the middle of the night, so it might be the Germans. As soon as I told basmanov and mihayev about my judgment, they became nervous and quickly told the soldiers behind to prepare for the battle. The motorcycle came to a stop more than 20 meters away from us, and then there was a question in German. Mikhail yev, who was next to me, quickly stepped forward and spoke to the opposite side in a loud voice. After a few words of conversation, mihayev said to me in a low voice, "division commander, it's a small unit of the 94th division. They came to the rear of our army for reconnaissance. When he asked me the serial number just now, I had already followed your instructions and told them that we were from the 371st division and were being ordered to penetrate the Soviet rear. "“ What shall we do, sir? " Basmanov asked in a low voice behind me“ Kill them all and leave none. " I also answered in a low voice, "don't shoot, try to deal with them with daggers." Busmanov quickly whispered my order back. The stopped troops went on, passing the motorcycle division, and I saw the same tricycle. There were three people in each car, just 15 people. Although mihayev has told them that we are the 371st division troops, when we passed by motorcycles, they still watched us with vigilance. The machine gun shooters in the sidecar even put their fingers on the trigger and pointed the muzzle at us, ready to shoot at any time. The soldiers in the first few rows and I have reached the position of the last motorcycle. With the remaining light of our eyes, we can see that the enemy has relaxed his vigilance a little, so we suddenly shout out: "let's go." With my shouts, the soldiers who were already ready behind me pounced on the German soldiers who were standing or sitting, raised their daggers and stabbed them down. We have a large number of people, and we have been prepared for it. Almost all of these ten Germans were killed by our soldiers before they could react. When Godunov, who was at the back of the team, got the news and rushed over, all the German soldiers had been killed. Looking at the five motorcycles parked on the side of the road, Godunov said excitedly: "since you have these motorcycles, don't walk like us any more. You'd better go by car, so that we can speed up our March."