On the first day of the sniper battle, the 1135th Regiment's sniper team caught the Germans off guard, killing and wounding 31 Germans. Bindasov was very satisfied with such results. He said to his Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, I really didn't expect that after we adopted the sniper tactics proposed by the division commander, we eliminated 31 enemies, while we only had one enemy. The soldiers were slightly injured, which is almost as good as the results we achieved in a battalion-scale attack."
The chief of staff also said with a smile: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I really didn't expect the tactics proposed by the division commander to be so effective. I suggest that we immediately deploy sharpshooters from the other two battalions to form a sniper team, so that we can eliminate more people." Lots of Germans.”
In fact, as early as when the first battalion formed a sniper team, Bindasov gave orders to the other two battalions, asking the two battalion commanders to draw sharpshooters from the battalions to form sniper teams. However, the two battalion commanders believed that their defensive zones were too far away from the German positions, so they followed Bindasov's orders in a secretive manner.
Now that they learned about the achievements of the first battalion, the two battalion commanders could not sit still. While they ordered people to select sharpshooters in the battalion, they sat together to discuss where the sniper sites of the two battalions should be placed.
After Sokov learned about the results of the sniper attack, he did not get carried away. Instead, he said to Chief of Staff Potugin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, although today's sniper team has achieved good results, we still have many problems and need to Make improvements.”
"What's the problem?" Potukin asked curiously.
"Our snipers use ordinary Mosin-Nagant rifles without scopes." Sokov said: "If you snipe targets within a range of one or two hundred meters, it is not a big problem. Once it exceeds two hundred meters meters, without the help of a scope, their hit rate will be greatly reduced.”
Potukin wrote down what Sokov said in a small notebook, raised his head and asked: "Is there anything else, comrade division commander?"
"If possible, ask the superiors to replenish the artillery battalions required by the division artillery battalion as soon as possible." Seeing Potukin's questioning look, Sokov said before he could ask again: "Wait until the enemy is attacked. When our snipers are afraid to show their faces, we need our artillery to take them out of their hiding places. Do you understand?"
"I understand." After listening to Sokov's explanation, Potukin suddenly realized: "I will submit a report to my superiors as soon as possible and let them replenish the artillery required for our artillery battalion."
Early the next morning, two sniper teams from the second and third battalions of the 1135th Regiment came to the Zizdra River and chose a bush as a sniper site.
Matvey was leading his men, preparing to leave the position to perform the mission. From a distance, he saw the sniper teams of the second and third battalions entering the sniper position he had already selected, and quickly ran back to find Jetrov. .
After hearing Matvey's report, Jetrov's first reaction was: Impossible. How could the sniper teams of the second and third battalions come to our defense area. So he looked at Matvey and said: "Comrade Sergeant, are you not mistaken?"
"No, there is absolutely no mistake." Seeing that Jetrov refused to believe his words, Matvey said anxiously: "Comrade Battalion Commander, if you don't believe it, you can see for yourself where they are hiding. Maybe Germany Humans can’t see it, but it’s clearly visible from us.”
Hearing what Matvey said, Jetrov quickly walked to the lookout, raised his binoculars and looked towards the river. Sure enough, we saw seven or eight soldiers hiding behind a bush, two of them actually sitting facing each other and smoking. Seeing this situation, Jetrov couldn't help but became furious. He walked to the table, picked up the phone, and asked the communications soldier to connect to the second battalion. He said bluntly: "Second Battalion Commander, I am the acting commander of the first battalion. Captain Troff, I want to ask, why did your soldiers appear in my defense zone?"
When the commander of the second battalion heard Jetrov's call to accuse him, he quickly covered the phone and said to the commander of the third battalion who was sitting next to him: "It's Captain Jetrov's call." After saying that, he took his hand off the phone. He moved up and replied to Jetrov with a smile, "Comrade Captain, we also sent a sniper team to perform the mission under the order of the regiment headquarters."
"Comrade Major, I know the order from the regiment." Thinking that the other party's military rank was higher than his own, Jetrov could not get angry yet, so he could only try to control his emotions and asked in a calm tone: "But your sniper Detachment, why do you want to enter our battalion’s defense zone?”
The commanders of the second and third battalions looked at each other and said in an official tone: "Comrade Captain, you should know that except for your battalion, the defense areas of our battalion and the third battalion do not border the German army. We must complete the tasks assigned to us by the regiment." For my mission, I can only borrow a piece of space in your camp, I hope you can understand."
Hearing that the second battalion commander had already said this, Jetrov knew that there was no point in retorting, so he could only bite the bullet and said: "Okay, Comrade Major, since you said so, let's forget it today." But I hope that from tomorrow on, you and the snipers from the third battalion will not enter our area casually."
When the second battalion commander put down the phone, the third battalion commander sitting next to him said a little worriedly: "Brother, do you think Captain Jetrov will go to the regiment commander to file a complaint against us?"
"Don't worry, old man." The leader of the second battalion said carelessly: "Even if he goes to complain, we are not afraid. Anyway, it is all to complete the mission of the superiors. Who wants the defense zone of only one battalion to be across the river from the enemy's position? .”
Seeing that Jetrov had hit a soft nail, Matvey asked him for instructions: "Comrade Battalion Commander, our sniper position has been occupied by friendly forces. What should we do?"
"What should I do? What else can I do?" Jetrov looked at Matvey and said angrily: "You can only find a new position. Okay, it's getting late, so hurry up and set off. "
After the joint sniper teams of the second and third battalions occupied the sniper positions selected by the first battalion in advance, they were still worried that the other party would drive them away. When they received the information sent by the Second Battalion Commander, they immediately felt at ease. Second Lieutenant Bratash, who was in charge of commanding the joint sniper team, proudly said to the snipers: "Comrades, after negotiation between the battalion and the first battalion, this sniper position will be used by us today. Okay, everyone. Get ready to snipe."
The soldiers of this sniper team were happy that they had occupied a good sniper position, but they did not know that the god of death was approaching them step by step. The German army was attacked by snipers on the first day and suffered a lot of casualties. This incident immediately attracted the attention of the German commander. He sent a senior sniper overnight to deal with the Soviet snipers.
Before dawn, a German sniper lurked in a bomb crater in front of the position and carefully observed the movements of the Soviet position. When the joint sniper team of the second and third battalions entered the position, he was discovered. Because he did not know the strength of the Soviet snipers, he did not act rashly. Instead, he lay motionless in the crater and waited for the opportunity.
After dawn, the mortars on the German position opened fire first, and the artillery targeted the bushes where the joint sniper team was hiding. The bullets fired from there yesterday killed more than a dozen German soldiers, so it was set as a priority target by the German artillery.
The Soviet snipers hiding behind the bushes did not expect that the Germans would first bombard their hiding place with artillery fire. If they are professional snipers, they will definitely choose a suitable location to avoid shelling. However, these snipers were all sharpshooters who were temporarily mobilized and had no professional training at all. Once they were shelled, they would inevitably lose their position. In order to prevent being killed by artillery shells, they ran out of their hiding places and fled toward the positions behind them in a chaotic manner.
The German sniper hiding in the bomb crater saw two Soviet soldiers emerging from the bushes and running towards the trench 60 to 70 meters away. He knew very well that at such a short distance, it would only take ten or twenty seconds for the shells to be fired, so he did not hesitate to pull the trigger at the soldier running at the front. After the gunshot, the soldier was staggered and shot towards him again. After running forward for two steps, he fell to the ground. The soldier following behind him was tripped by his fallen comrade. When he got up from the ground, before he could stand up straight, the sniper's second bullet flew over again and accurately pierced his throat. Let him fall with his comrades.
