The search team walked in the forest for a day, but found nothing. Seeing that it was getting late, Sokov ordered the troops to stop, camp on the spot, and wait until dawn the next day to continue searching.
The soldiers were surrounding the bivouac. A circular snow wall half a person's height was built. The purpose of this is, firstly, to block the biting cold wind, and secondly, even if the enemy comes to sneak attack at night, there is a fortification that can be relied on to fight.
As soon as the team's radio was turned on, it received a call from the unknown highlands. Sokov took the earphone and microphone from the operator and started talking to Belkin who stayed in the battalion command post: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, this is Sokov. What's the latest situation there? ?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Belkin's anxious voice came from the earphones: "When I sent people to the city to get the radio, the division headquarters informed us that the location of the missing plane was about 20 kilometers southeast of our station. About kilometers. I was deeply afraid that you were going in the wrong direction, so I ordered the radio operator to keep calling you."
"Thank you, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander." Belkin's words made Sokov secretly relieved. He said in his heart: Fortunately, there was Matlosov in the first echelon, otherwise he would have followed the route he had set. , the team took the wrong path during the day. He quickly said into the microphone: "Our search route today is along the southeast direction. If we are lucky, we should be able to find the missing plane tomorrow."
Before ending the call, Sokov asked again: "Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander, how is the situation in Susinich City?"
"What else can we do?" Belkin replied with a wry smile: "According to Corporal Maxim's report, the enemy is bombarding the city non-stop, so that our commanders and soldiers have to dig trenches and build shelters, leaving fewer troops. Take a loss."
Sokov called for Zheliya and Oleg and said to them: "Comrades, I just spoke with the deputy battalion commander. According to the latest intelligence, the plane we are looking for may be only a few meters away from us. Kilometers away. So tomorrow will be a very critical day..."
As soon as he said this, he was suddenly interrupted by the telegraph operator on the side: "Comrade Battalion Commander, someone is sending us a report."
Hearing what the operator said, Sokov thought to himself: I just spoke to Belkin, why did he start sending the message again? Could something urgent have happened? He quickly ordered the operator: "Comrade operator, collect the report immediately!"
Because Sokov was eager to know the contents of the telegram, he did not continue to explain the task to Zheliya and Oleg. Instead, he stood aside and quietly watched the telegraph operator receive the report. When he took the telegram from the operator's hand and read the contents clearly, he couldn't help being shocked. He saw that it read: "My reconnaissance team discovered a plane of ours that had made an emergency landing. While rescuing the people on board, an incident occurred with the Germans. There was a firefight. Now more than half of the team members have been lost, please support." The signature is: Grisa.
Zheliya, who was standing nearby, tilted his head to read the contents of the telegram clearly, and said with some excitement: "Comrade Battalion Commander, Grisa's reconnaissance team has actually found the missing plane. This is great."
After hearing this, Sokov nodded, put the telegram into his pocket, and ordered the operator: "Call back to Grisa immediately and ask him to report their location."
While the radio operator was sending the report, Zheliya took the initiative to ask Sokov: "Comrade Battalion Commander, since the whereabouts of the pilots are now known, please let me lead the team to pick them up."
"Don't be anxious, Sergeant Zheliya." Sokov waved his hand towards Zheliya and said: "We still don't know where Grisa is and whether there are German troops around them, so we can't act rashly. , let’s wait until his call back arrives.”
Grisa's call back arrived soon. The message said that after rescuing the crew on the plane, the reconnaissance team encountered the German army. After a fierce battle, only two of the team's crew members were left, and they were now being attacked by about two platoons. German troops, trapped somewhere.
Based on the telegram, Sokov quickly found their location on the map, which was less than five kilometers away from his campsite. It stands to reason that after knowing the location of Grisa and the others, Sokov should immediately lead people to rescue them. However, considering that the number of German troops was several times greater than ours, and that they were running blindly, if they rushed over hastily, they would very likely rush into the German encirclement. Not only would they not be able to save Griza and the others, but they would be trapped themselves in it.
Zheliya and Grisa had a good personal relationship. Seeing that Sokov was reluctant to make any decision after reading the telegram, he urged: "Comrade Battalion Commander, now that we know where Grisa and the others are, we should make a decision as soon as possible. Go rescue them, or they risk their total annihilation.”
"Comrade Sergeant," Sokov looked at Zhelia and said in a stern tone: "You only considered that they were in danger of being wiped out. Why didn't you consider us? If you rush over now and fall into What should we do if we fall into the enemy's trap?" Seeing that Zheliya was rendered speechless by himself, Sokov continued, "You go back and rest first. We will rush over to support them early tomorrow morning. "
Seeing that Sokov had reached this point, Zhelya knew that there was no point in arguing anymore, so she raised her hand and saluted him, and left with Oleg.
After Zheliya and Oleg left, Sokov ordered the telegraph operator: "Send a message to Grisa again, saying that reinforcements are on the way and asking them to hold on until noon tomorrow."
At five o'clock in the morning the next day, Sokov led his troops and advanced towards the place where Grisa and the others were besieged. After the troops had walked about three or four kilometers, Oleg, who was leading the way, sent Matlosov to report that a German sentry was found in the forest ahead and asked for instructions on what to do.
After listening to Matlosov's report, Sokov quickly gave the order to the second echelon: "Stop advancing and stay put!" Then he took a machine gunner and followed Matlosov to the front. .
Oleg and another soldier lay behind a bush covered with snow, vigilantly monitoring the enemy in the distance. Seeing Sokov and the others coming up from behind, he quickly moved to the side and reported in a low voice: "Comrade Battalion Commander, there is a German sentry two hundred meters ahead."
Sokov quickly raised his telescope and looked forward through the gap in the bushes. Sure enough, he saw a German soldier wearing a military coat and a helmet walking back and forth with a rifle in his arms. He put down the telescope and asked Oleg in a low voice: "The enemy hasn't noticed you, right?"
"No." Oleg said in an affirmative tone: "I have carefully observed that the German's helmet is also wrapped with a cold blanket, which will have a certain impact on his hearing. I think he must not have noticed it. us."
Sokov paused for a moment, then asked: "Oleg, can you confirm that our missing plane is in that direction?"
"It's hard to say." Oleg said with some embarrassment: "I just observed carefully with a telescope and found no airplane in the forest."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, look above our heads." Matlosov pointed to the trees above his head and said to Sokov: "The snow on the treetops is gone. It should be the snow when the plane was forced to land. It was blown away by the waves. Although I cannot confirm the specific location of the plane, I can guarantee that the plane we are looking for is within a one kilometer radius."
