Chapter 775

Basmanov came up to me, looked at the back of Col. kosga, and said to me anxiously, "Comrade division, we are marching all the way north, won't we break into the German ambush?"

I waved my hand impatiently to the commander of the guard battalion and said, "it's impossible. According to the reports from the scouts, except for the 295th infantry division near gorodyser, the main force of the German army has all gone north. At present, seven infantry divisions and one tank division are blocking the front of the Don front army. In our region, there are only a few servant troops. Even if they encounter us, we can easily defeat them. " When I said that, seeing basmanov's blank face, I could only further explain to him: "the camps of these servant troops are far away from each other, forming a no man's land with a width of three to five kilometers. We just jumped out of these gaps, went around to the back of the German army, and found a chance to hit him, To provide some help for the front attack of the Don front army. "

"Don't the troops of the servant state stay in the camp as a whole and send out patrols?" Basmanov murmured unconvinced after listening to me.

Although he just said that casually, the speaker didn't mean to listen and the listener meant it. I actually heard it and immediately ordered him: "Comrade captain, your worry is reasonable. We have to guard against the enemy's patrol. You immediately send someone to the front to inform lieutenant colonel kosga. In addition to the troops to scout the terrain, you also send two small teams to go to the enemy's camp to take the guard. Once you find any change in the enemy, send someone back to report it to me immediately. "

Basmanov agreed, and then I heard him whispering to the soldiers beside him: "Hello, Mikhailov, go to the front of the line immediately, find commander kosja, and convey to him the latest order of the division commander: in addition to the reconnaissance troops, send out another two small units to guard near the enemy camps on the left and right sides of the march route, Keep a close watch on the enemy in the camp. If they have any changes, send someone back to report to the division commander immediately. "

As soon as I heard basmanov call the soldier's name, I felt familiar. When I heard his voice again, I immediately remembered that this soldier named Mikhailov had talked with me about all kinds of crimes committed by prisoners in Gulag concentration camp two days ago. At this moment, he heard basmanov's order, and immediately gave a loud promise. Then he ran forward with his weapon in his hand.

Not long after Mikhailov left, the more I thought about it, the more I felt uneasy. So I said to basmanov, "Comrade captain, I'm still not sure about this matter. Let's go straight to kosja." With that, I quickened my pace.

When I found kosja, Mikhailov had already conveyed my order. Kosja was calling a captain to him and ordered him to say, "Captain, you send a platoon to the enemy camp on the left and right of the route to hide nearby and watch the enemy movement in the camp. If you find any change, send someone back to report it to me immediately."

The captain agreed, ran to the side and yelled, "the guard company is out of line." With his shouts, the soldiers all around us broke away from the marching line and lined up in front of him. Then I heard him shout: "a platoon leader, you lead your platoon to the left side of the route, and go to the enemy's camp to set up a guard and monitor the enemy's every move; Second platoon leader, you guard near the enemy camp on the right; The third platoon leader, you stay with the third platoon, responsible for protecting the safety of the commander. Let's go With his command, the square array immediately divided into three parts and moved in three directions at the same time.

After the reconnaissance unit and the guard unit were sent out in turn, we continued to march forward. I haven't come so far for a long time. I've walked ten or twenty kilometers tonight. I can't stand it. Seeing that my pace was getting slower and slower, kosga asked, "are you tired, sir? Why don't we sit down and have a rest? "

I waved my hand and went on biting my teeth. After another distance, I turned to kosga and asked, "Comrade commander, how far have we gone?"

Cosga looked up at her watch and then replied, "it's about five kilometers." After a pause, he asked with some worry, "Comrade division, what should we do if there are enemy defensive positions in the hills?"

His words made my heart become uneasy. Yes, I just confirmed that there were no enemy troops in the hilly area where we were going to hide in the daytime according to the report of the reconnaissance team. If the enemy suddenly increased the garrison, our tired division would not seek its own death. I hesitated for a moment, and then said, "well, let's go another two kilometers and stop to have a rest, waiting for lieutenant colonel chejerikov and them to meet. We'll hold our ground until your reconnaissance team comes back with accurate information. "

"OK, that's it." Cosga readily agreed.

I don't know if it was shejerikov's regiment marching fast, or they haven't had a rest since they got off the bus. Anyway, as soon as we stopped to have a rest, Bantai leiev and shejerikov came to me together.

I just wanted to ask them how they came so quickly. Bantai leiev had asked first: "Sir, there is still a distance from our hiding place. Why did we stop?"

"I've sent a reconnaissance team to the front to conduct reconnaissance. We can move on when we make sure there is no enemy in the place where we are going to hide." I was deeply afraid that bantailiev would have any idea, so I said all the questions at one time, "if we rush through like this, even if there is no enemy defense line in the hilly area, even if there are only one or two patrol teams, then our efforts tonight will be wasted."

Bantai leiev nodded: "what you said is very reasonable. Let's stop and wait for the scout to come back." Then he turned around and told the next sergeant, "Comrade commander, let the soldiers of your regiment stop and rest."

Several of our division and regimental leaders sat together and discussed the next action. First of all, Xie jerikov said: "Comrade division commander, we have now reached the enemy's rear, and our ammunition and food are very limited. Therefore, even if we want to fight, we must fight quickly, or we will fall into the enemy's encirclement, and the fate of the whole army will be lost."

"The first group leader is right," bandeleev echoed, "the food and ammunition we are carrying can only last about seven days. That is to say, if we can't meet with the friendly forces on the fifth day, we should make up our mind to turn around and return to mamayev post. "

When bantailiev said that the troops only carry ammunition and food for seven days, I immediately thought of the "week offensive" of later generations. Due to the limited carrying capacity of individual soldiers, each battle can only last for one week, so it is also called "week offensive". I didn't expect that the action we are going to take will only last for seven days. When bantailiev finished speaking, I immediately asked kosja, "third commander, what's your opinion?"

"I agree with the deputy division commander and the first regiment commander," kosja also agreed with them. "We are separated from the rear and fight alone, so once we find that we can't complete the task, we should make up our mind to return to our defense area as soon as possible, so as to avoid fighting with the superior enemy in this area."

I took a serious look at kosga and immediately said, "since you understand our current situation, although we are facing many difficulties, I still hope that we can create as many favorable fighters as possible, annihilate an enemy, attract the attention of the enemy in the north, reduce the resistance of the Don front army, and put forward a situation that two troops are about to meet, It gives the enemy the illusion that their rear area has been seriously threatened, forcing them to deploy troops from the city to strengthen the defensive forces in the area between the two rivers. "

As soon as I finished, Bantai leiev hurriedly and cautiously reminded me, "Comrade teacher, is it a little too risky for you to do this? Once the enemy is attracted by us and the friendly forces are unable to provide us with effective help, then we are really in danger of being surrounded. "

"Deputy division commander, we are really at great risk in doing so. We may not only fail to restrain ourselves, but also expose our strength to the enemy. The enemy only needs to send an infantry regiment that has strengthened the tank battalion, plus the cooperation of the air force, we can easily be completely defeated. " After expressing my worries, I had to harden my head and say, "although our situation is very bad, now that we have come to this stage, we must rise to the difficulties and try our best to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."

As soon as my voice fell, busmanov came over and reported, "Comrade division commander, the soldiers who went to scout are back."

Hearing what he said, I quickly got up from the ground and said in a loud voice, "Comrade captain, come on, get the scouts here."

After a while, a soldier in helmet and raincoat came to us with busmanov. After he raised his hand to salute, kosja asked first, "sergeant adir, have you got all the information?"

"Make it clear, comrade commander." Sergeant adir, the scout, replied respectfully, "I took my comrades in class to the hill. After repeated searching, I found that there were two trenches on the hill..."

"Two trenches?" Bantaileiev asked in surprise, "do you see the enemy's garrison?"

Sergeant adir shook his head and replied, "report, comrade Colonel, there is no one on the hill. Our army should have dug the trenches. Many places have collapsed and are covered with weeds. You can't find them without walking in." When I heard this, I thought to myself that since the trench had been covered with weeds, it would be better for the troops to hide there. Just listen to sergeant continue to say: "I stand on the hill, looking northwest, one or two kilometers away, there seems to be a village, but did not see a light, I believe there is no German inside."

"Comrade sergeant, why don't you send someone to check it?" Kosga said to the sergeant in a reproachful tone, "you should at least put two guard posts in the village, so that if there is an enemy approaching the hill from the northwest, it can give us a warning in advance, so that we have enough time to respond."

"Well, comrade commander, stop criticizing the sergeant." Seeing that kosja had to go on, I quickly raised my hand to stop him, and explained to sergeant Adil, "maybe sergeant is to come back as soon as possible to report the situation to us, so I didn't think carefully for a moment, so I didn't send someone to the village for reconnaissance."

"Yes, sir." Sergeant adir said gratefully, "I finished the reconnaissance on the hill and saw that there was no light in the village in the distance, so I led the team to come back in a hurry." Now that the situation of the enemy in front of us has been made clear, there is no need for us to continue to stay on this open prairie, so I went on to order: "well, now that the situation in front of us has been made clear, let's start immediately. Let the troops rush to the hilly area as soon as possible and use those two trenches to hide. " Xijerikov and kosja agreed, turned and ran to their respective troops, shouting to their men to get ready to go. After another half-hour's March, we finally arrived at the camp. The fortifications on the hill were not as simple as Sergeant adir said. Besides two trenches, there were many shelters and even several command posts. Shejerikov and kosja established their respective command posts in the trenches where their troops were located. The largest division headquarters selected by bantailiev and I is located in the middle of the two regiment headquarters. Without telephone contact, it is also convenient for us to command the troops. After entering the trench, the first regiment and the third regiment were busy reinforcing the fortifications and sent out guard posts in all directions to prevent being caught off guard by the enemy. Bantai leiev stood at the gate of the headquarters, looking at the busy commanders and fighters in the distance, and without looking back, he asked me, "what's your plan, sir?"“ Let the troops rest first, and then send reconnaissance troops after daybreak to conduct reconnaissance in the vicinity, especially the village in the northwest, which is our first target of reconnaissance. " In order to avoid him asking me why I didn't send someone to carry out reconnaissance now, I first explained: "it's too dark and there's no moon tonight. It's very easy to get lost in the dark if we send the reconnaissance troops rashly. If the scouts break into the enemy's defense zone by mistake and become the enemy's prisoners, then all our troops hidden here will be exposed."