For a distance of more than 200 kilometers, even with a sled, it still took Lin Hua and the others more than ten hours to reach the vicinity of Kalmanovo until the early morning of the next day.
The sled stopped in a forest a few kilometers away from the prisoner of war camp. Lin Hua jumped off the sled, moving his hands and feet that were numb from the cold, and said loudly: "Come to me, commanders of each platoon."
Following his shout, several platoon leaders came to Lin Hua from different directions. Seeing that the platoon leaders had arrived, Lin Hua began to announce the purpose of his trip to them: "Comrade platoon leaders, the mission given to us by our superiors is to liberate a nearby prisoner of war camp, rescue our army's commanders and fighters detained there, and bring They armed themselves and fought against the Germans in the area."
Before departure, the platoon leaders did not ask about the mission of this trip, thinking that it was another mission like protecting the Istria Reservoir Dam. After hearing Lin Hua finish the mission, Vasily asked with some worry: "Comrade company commander, with our existing troops and equipment, there is no problem in taking down the prisoner of war camp. At best, it is a matter of the casualties of the troops. What I’m worried about is, when the enemy sees that the prison camp cannot be defended, will they massacre our comrades?”
Vasily's words immediately resonated with everyone, and Vanya also echoed: "Yes, if the enemy massacres our comrades, then we will not be able to complete this mission."
After everyone had expressed their opinions, Saveyev suggested to Lin Hua: "Comrade Company Commander, I think we should send someone to conduct reconnaissance first. It is not too late to find out the specific situation of the prisoner of war camp before formulating an action plan. "
Lin Hua agreed with Saviev's proposal. He shouted to Pavel who was standing not far away: "Comrade Corporal, please come to us!"
When Bavel heard Lin Hua calling him, he trotted over quickly. He raised his hand and saluted and asked, "Comrade Lieutenant, do you have any instructions?"
In order to form a reconnaissance squad in the company, Lin Hua did not let Pavel return to the company after completing the task of protecting the Istria Reservoir Dam, but allowed him to stay in the company. To find out the situation of the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camp, Pavel had to take action, so Lin Hua said to him: "Comrade Corporal, I need you to take a few people to the nearby prisoner-of-war camp to conduct reconnaissance and find out the number and strength of the enemy. Distribution."
As soon as Lin Hua finished assigning the task, Pavel shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Comrade Lieutenant, you asked me to take a few people to conduct reconnaissance, but where can I find them now?"
"Comrade Saviev," Lin Hua turned to look at Saviev and said, "Your guerrillas have been active in this area before. There must be a few comrades familiar with the terrain who can accompany Corporal Pavel on a reconnaissance mission. Bar?"
"Yes, Comrade Company Commander." Saviev said in a positive tone: "I have several comrades in the guerrilla group who are familiar with the terrain in this area. I can let them follow Corporal Pavel to perform tasks. "
With the help of many parties, the reconnaissance team was quickly formed. There were five people in total. The team was led by Corporal Pavel. His deputy was Stepan, the deputy platoon leader of the third platoon, plus three other people who were familiar with the terrain and had rich experience. Former guerrilla with combat experience. Lin Hua stood in front of the queue and asked the five soldiers who held their heads high, "Are you all ready?"
"Then let's go!" Lin Hua waved to them, "I wish you good luck!"
After the reconnaissance team left, Vanya asked Lin Hua for instructions: "Comrade Company Commander, I estimate that the reconnaissance team will not be able to return until the afternoon. What should we do during such a long time?"
"First build a few snow walls to shelter from the wind so that the soldiers can have a place to rest." Lin Hua said with a normal expression: "By the way, let the comrades put on the German military coats on the sled. Maybe in the next section For a while, we can only temporarily wear the enemy's clothes."
Hearing that Lin Hua asked the soldiers to wear German army coats, Vanya was startled for a moment, and then a surprised expression appeared on his face: "Comrade company commander, I understand why you want to bring these German army coats. It turns out that it is because This is the reason."
"Why do we want our soldiers to put on German military uniforms?" Even though Vanya had already guessed Lin Hua's intention, Andre still said with a confused look: "Their military coats don't have the same uniforms as ours." The short fur coat is warm.”
Lin Hua and Vanya looked at each other and laughed, making Andre even more confused. Finally, Saveyev explained to him: "Comrade Sergeant, haven't you seen the company commander's intention? He plans to let us put on German army coats and pretend to be enemies to capture the prisoner of war camp."
"But, but," Andre said in a panic: "Even if we put on German uniforms, no one can speak German. As soon as we come into contact with the Germans, will we soon become gangsters? As far as I know, most of the company All the comrades can only say 'Henderhohe', and they all learned it from the hygienist Asiya."
As soon as Andre finished speaking, there was a burst of good-natured laughter all around. After Lin Hua waited for the laughter around him to stop, he said to Andre: "Don't worry, Comrade Sergeant, although none of us can speak German, there is one person who speaks German very well."
"Who?" Andre asked curiously, because in his impression, apart from Asiya, there was really no one in the entire company who could speak German.
"Well, that's him." Lin Hua pursed his lips towards Ernst, who was sitting on a sleigh and eating something from a distance, and said, "When performing missions, Corporal Ernst is responsible for dealing with the Germans, so you don't have to worry about... Exposed.”
"What, let him go on a mission with us?" Saveyev couldn't help showing a surprised expression on his face when he heard what Lin Hua said. After he glanced at Ernst in the distance, he reminded Lin Hua in a low voice: "Comrade company commander, is it appropriate to let a German accompany us on a mission? We don't understand German. What if he is talking to the Germans?" When people come into contact, our identity is exposed, what should we do then?”
"Don't worry, comrades." Although Lin Hua was not worried about Ernst in his heart, considering that the company really couldn't do without Ernst's help if it wanted to carry out the mission in disguise. It was precisely because of this that he decided to take a risk. At this moment, seeing that everyone was wary of Ernst, he pretended to be calm and said: "After these few days of observation, I feel that Ernst is still a trustworthy person. I believe that he will definitely cooperate with us to complete the project." Task."
