After Jetrov waited for Sokov to leave, he quickly formed a sniper team consisting of five sharpshooters. The task he gave them was to snipe and kill all enemies that appeared in sight.
After hearing Jetrov's order, the elderly sharpshooter Matvey asked in confusion: "Comrade Captain, what about the cooking soldiers who go to the river to fetch water every day? Should we treat them as enemies and kill them too?" ?”
Jetrov looked at Matvey, gritted his molars and said: "Comrade Division Commander said, as long as they are wearing German uniforms, they are all our enemies. No matter what kind of arms they are, they will be eliminated. Understand ?"
"Understood!" Although the sharpshooters did not know the reason for Jetrov's order, they still replied respectfully: "We will definitely eliminate all enemies who appear in sight."
When Sokov returned to the division headquarters, Chief of Staff Potukin already knew about the formation of a sniper team. He asked Sokov cautiously: "Comrade division commander, why did you suddenly think of forming a sniper team at the front?"
Hearing Potukin's question, Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there anything wrong with the decision I made?"
"I would like to share my personal views. If I am wrong, please don't be angry." Potugin said cautiously: "According to our reconnaissance, the German army has an artillery battalion deployed on the other side. Once our army starts sniping, Killing the enemy on the other side may lead to retaliation from German artillery. You must know that our fortifications along the river are not strong, and once they are bombarded, we will inevitably pay huge casualties."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I have also considered the issues you are worried about." Sokov waited for Potukin to finish speaking and then began to express his own opinions: "After the battle some time ago, the morale of our division has dropped to the lowest level. Bottom line, if we don't find something to boost morale, I'm worried that our division's performance will be disappointing on the day the attack begins."
At this point, Sokov paused intentionally for a moment to observe Potukin's reaction. Seeing that the other party was silent, he continued: "The front of our position is not the Champs Elysees in Paris, where the Germans can walk freely. We want to eliminate them one by one and beat them until they are even in the trenches." Dare to stand up, do you understand?"
Potukin waited for Sokov to finish, then nodded with a wry smile and said, "I understand."
Sokov knew very well in his heart. Even though Potukin said it clearly, he did not agree with his actions in his heart, so he added: "Our snipers must closely monitor every place where the enemy may be. As soon as they show up, eliminate them. Don't underestimate the role of snipers. If they can eliminate five to ten enemies every day, then on the day of the attack, they will eliminate at least one company of enemies. This is An amazing result."
Sokov's words made Potukin's eyes light up, and he continued: "Comrade division commander, if it is true as you said, each sniper team can eliminate five to ten enemies every day, as long as we form a few more sniper team, then when the attack starts, the strength of the German army on the opposite side will be greatly weakened." As he said, he picked up the phone on the table, "I will call the commanders of the other two regiments and ask them to also Immediately form a sniper team to snipe the enemies who appear in front of their positions."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov saw that Potukin had been convinced by him and even took the initiative to call the other two regiment commanders to explain to them the formation of the sniper team. He quickly reminded: "Tell the two regiment commanders, When the sniper team starts a sniper operation in the early stages, it will definitely attract retaliation from German artillery fire, so I hope they will be mentally prepared in advance."
Shortly after its establishment, the sniper team of the 1135th Regiment hid in the woods beside the Zizdra River and fired cold shots at the German positions opposite. Among them, the most outstanding marksman was the sharpshooter Matvey, who was appointed as the squad leader. He fired a total of thirteen shots, killing 7 Germans and wounding 1, while other soldiers also killed one or two others.
Before the operation, Captain Jetrov had warned them to prevent retaliation from German artillery after sniping the enemy. Therefore, when they found that no target appeared in their field of vision, they promptly moved the sniping location.
As soon as they left, German artillery fire roared towards them. Matvey, who was walking at the end, saw dazzling fireballs rising in the woods. Several white birch trees as thick as a bowl were blown apart in the middle, and were thrown to the side by the air waves. This scene made him break into a cold sweat, thinking that if the transfer was not timely, the sniper team might have to be found here.
The other snipers saw Matvey running out of the woods in a panic, and quickly asked with concern: "Sergeant Matvey, are you okay?"
"It's okay, I'm okay." The pale-faced Matvey shook his head and said to his men: "While the Germans are bombarding this forest, let's find a new sniper location and teach the Germans a lesson. "
A young sniper heard what Matvey said and quickly reminded him: "Comrade Sergeant, we have killed a lot of enemies today. According to my statistics, there are far more than ten. I think we should go back first." , come back tomorrow.”
"No, we can't go back now." Matvey pointed to the other side and said to his men: "Don't look at the German troops on the opposite position who were beaten by us and dared not show their heads. At this moment, their artillery shells are bombarding these woods. I I'm sure someone will come out to check the effect of the shelling. Let's go, let's find a new sniper spot and teach the Germans a lesson." Seeing that Matvey was so stubborn, the snipers couldn't continue to refute, so they could only follow them. Behind, continue to look for new sniper locations.
When they came to a bush by the river, a sniper suddenly pointed to the opposite side and said excitedly: "Comrades, look, the Germans have really emerged from their positions."
Everyone looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough they saw a dozen German soldiers emerging from the originally empty trench. They were pointing at the shelled woods and discussing something happily.
Seeing this situation, Matvey shouted excitedly: "Everyone immediately entered the shooting position and each selected his own shooting target. After hearing my order, we fired at the same time. We must find a way to fire the target in the shortest possible time." Kill more Germans.”
The snipers agreed resoundingly, and rushed to the positions they chose. With the Mosin Nagant rifles in their hands, they aimed at the exposed German soldiers in the German positions in the distance.
