"Comrade Commander, I would like to ask." Sokov continued on the phone: "The numbers of the troops that broke through the German defenses and how to get in touch with them."
"The friendly force that broke through the German defense was a tank brigade of the Stalingrad Front." Since his superiors did not provide more detailed information, Chuikov did not know the number of the unit that broke through the German defense, but he said with a normal expression: "I will tell you the specific unit number before you arrive at your destination."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Chuikov could not tell the number of the friendly troops, Sokov did not continue to ask, but replied: "I will arrange the departure immediately and try to set off within half an hour."
As soon as the call with Chuikov ended, Sokov ordered Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a combat alert to the 192nd Battalion. We will set off in half an hour."
While Sidorin was on the phone to Goliath, Sokov came to the door and shouted outside: "Here comes someone!"
Following Sokov's shout, a soldier standing guard at the door came in and asked respectfully: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Go immediately and call your company commander, Lieutenant Seryosha, or Corporal Ernst." Sokov told the other party: "I have important matters to see them."
Not long after, Seryosha and Ernst appeared in front of Sokov. Sokov first said to Ernst: "Comrade Corporal, we are about to set off. How is your training going?"
As early as shortly after stationed at Mamayev Heights, Sokov considered that after the Battle of Stalingrad began, a steady stream of subordinates would be sent to pretend to be Germans to perform reconnaissance and sabotage missions. In this case, German It seems particularly important. Sokov recruited more than two dozen soldiers with language talents and some basic knowledge of German to learn German from Ernst. To go deep behind enemy lines this time, people who knew German were indispensable, so Sokov specially called Ernst over to ask, in order to find out how many people had German proficiency that could cope with this operation going deep behind enemy lines.
Ernst was silent for a moment and then said: "Comrade Brigadier, although most people can use German fluently for daily communication, they all have accents of varying degrees. If you are interrogating prisoners, there is no problem; if you are behind enemy lines When performing a mission, as soon as you open your mouth, you will be seen through.”
"Corporal Ernst," Sokov didn't want to hear Ernst's diplomatic vocabulary, so he interrupted him: "Just tell me, if we want to go behind enemy lines to perform a mission, how many people can we send?" Is it useful?"
"Five!" Ernst stretched out his palm and said: "Not only are they proficient in spoken language, but they can also understand simple German documents. If you want to perform special tasks behind enemy lines, they are the best candidates."
When he learned that five soldiers could not only speak fluent German, but could even read simple German documents, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed and quickly urged Ernst: "Comrade Corporal, please gather these five soldiers immediately. I will soon lead the team to carry out the mission behind enemy lines and ask them to set off with me." Just as Ernst turned around and was about to leave, Sokov felt that it would not be a bad thing to have more people in the army who knew German. Since the others He can also speak German, so he simply brought them all, "We will also call those soldiers who are proficient in spoken language."
When Seryosha was called over, he thought Sokov was going to assign him some important task. Unexpectedly, after arriving, he ignored him at all and kept talking to Ernst. After finally waiting for Ernst to leave, Seryosha immediately asked: "Misha, what's the matter with you calling me here in such a hurry?"
Hearing Seryosa call his nickname, Sokov knew in his heart that he had just neglected his old friend, and the other party was very dissatisfied with him, so he smiled and said: "Seryosa, I called you here , I have a task to assign to you."
"What mission?" Seryosha was also an insider about the fact that the troops were going deep behind enemy lines and heading north to join forces with friendly forces that had broken through the enemy's defenses. When he heard that a mission was assigned to him, the expression on his face suddenly became rich: "It's also about letting him Shall we go behind the enemy's rear?"
"You send a squad of soldiers to move with the troops." In order to ensure the safety of those soldiers who understand German, Sokov decided to allocate manpower from the guard company to protect them. "Their mission is to protect those soldiers who understand German. Understand?"
"Only one squad will be transferred?" Seryozha learned that the guard company only transferred one squad to participate in this reunification operation. He felt a little depressed: "Can't we transfer more people? If necessary, I can personally lead Team."
"Lieutenant Seryosha, I understand your mood very well." Couldn't Sokov guess what Seryosha had in mind? You know, joining forces with friendly forces and jointly breaking the German siege of Stalingrad is a great achievement. To be honest, Sokov is also willing to let Seryosha participate in this operation, but considering that the guard company has been split into pieces recently, if too many manpower are deployed, then it can almost be considered The establishment was cancelled, so he said to Seryosha resolutely: "However, the strength of the guard company has been almost mobilized. If more people are mobilized, who will protect the safety of the brigade headquarters?"
After Sokov finished speaking, he intentionally paused for a moment. Seeing Seryozha's silence, he continued: "Seryozha, there will be many days of meritorious deeds in the future. I will never forget such good deeds." your."
After hearing what Sokov said, Seryosha became happy again, nodded quickly and said: "Misha, I will go back and mobilize people to protect the translators who are performing tasks."
Half an hour later, Sokov set off with the commanders and fighters of the 192nd Battalion. Five German armored vehicles were filled with commanders and combatants disguised as German soldiers. Sokov and Golya were in the second vehicle. Ernst, wearing the uniform of a German captain, sat next to them. Behind the armored vehicle were more than a hundred infantrymen marching on foot.
After Golya glanced at the infantry behind him, he tentatively asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, is the speed of the armored vehicle too slow? If we march at this speed, we will not reach Austria until tomorrow morning at the earliest. Erlovka region.”
"Comrade Captain," Sokov turned to look at Golya and said to him: "Don't you think that when armored vehicles and infantry march together, they look more like German reinforcements? In this way, even if we are defeated by the German troops along the way, Even if we find out, they won’t intercept us, and they will even think that we are one of them.”
After Golya waited for Sokov to finish speaking, he asked cautiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I wonder which German defense areas we will pass through when we go north this time?"
"The first thing that passed was General Werner Sanne's 100th Chasseur Division," Sokov had done enough homework before setting off, so when he heard Goliath's question, he immediately answered without hesitation. : "The Orlovka we are going to is the area controlled by Erich Magnus' 389th Infantry Division..."
"If we encounter the enemy's questioning on the road," Goliath continued, "how should we answer the enemy?"
"Just say we are from the 295th Infantry Division." Sokov thought about the guardsmen sitting in the first car wearing the uniforms of the captured German 295th Infantry Division. If they want to pretend to be troops of the division, they should It was the most appropriate, so he said confidently: "I believe the enemy will not doubt it."
After walking about three or four kilometers, a German defense line appeared in front. There were checkpoints on the road. There was a barbed wire wooden fence in front of the checkpoint, and there was a sandbag fortification on the roadside. Seeing troops approaching, the sentry at the checkpoint immediately came out to stop the vehicle. After the vehicle stopped, he asked loudly: "Which unit are you from and where are you going?"
Before departure, Sokov asked those soldiers who were proficient in German to wear German officer uniforms specifically to deal with German interrogations. At this moment, when he heard the sentry at the checkpoint asking for the unit number, the fake officer sitting on the first armored vehicle stood up and replied: "We are from the 295th Infantry Division and have been ordered to go north to reinforce the 389th Infantry Division."
When the sentry heard that they were going north to reinforce friendly forces, they immediately moved the obstacles blocking the road, allowing the troops to pass the checkpoint smoothly. Golya sat in the car, turned his head and looked at the checkpoint that was gradually getting away, and said to Sokov with lingering fear: "Comrade Brigadier, your method is better. Let our commanders and fighters disguise themselves as Germans, so that we can be so relaxed." through this line of defense."
Don't see the first line of defense passing so easily, but Sokov did not dare to take it lightly. He said to Goliath: "Comrade Captain, this is just the first line of defense we passed. Can the following lines of defense pass?" Whether it will pass so smoothly is still unknown, so we must not be careless."
The troops walked for another hour or so. Just when Golya was about to propose to Sokov that the troops should stop and rest temporarily, the first company commander who was staying on the last armored vehicle asked the radio operator to send Golya a message. A telegram. After reading the telegram, Golya couldn't help being shocked. He leaned close to Sokov's ear and whispered: "Comrade Brigadier, something happened!"
"Something happened?!" Hearing what Golia said, Sokov couldn't help but feel his heart skip a beat, and quickly asked: "What happened, tell me clearly."
"That's it," Golia turned to look at the back of the team, and at the same time lowered his voice and said to Sokov: "The enemy was found behind us."
"There are enemies behind us?" Sokov frowned and asked angrily: "How many of them are there? Have they seen through us?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, so far, the enemy has not seen through us." Seeing that Sokov had misunderstood, Golya quickly explained to him: "There is a platoon of German soldiers who may have mistaken our troops for themselves. People actually marched behind our infantry. Do you think we should order the infantry to kill them all?"
"A platoon of soldiers wants to kill them all. This noise is not small." Since he was behind enemy lines at the moment, Sokov, who wanted to complete the mission, naturally did not want to cause trouble, so he told Goliath: "Immediately send the troops to the rear." The commander called back and asked them not to act rashly and just let the Germans march with us."
"Let the enemy march with our soldiers?" Golya was startled when he heard Sokov say this: "Comrade Brigade Commander, wouldn't it be too risky to do this? What if the enemy finds out that they are marching with them?" The troops are faked by our army, which will expose our whereabouts."
"Comrade Captain," Sokov said to Golya: "It's dark now. If the Germans don't observe closely, they won't be able to detect the flaws in our army. But if we take action to get rid of them, once a German soldier fires, Then it is possible to alert the nearby German troops, which will expose our whereabouts. Immediately pass on my order, let the troops continue to maintain the current marching formation, and ignore the German troops following behind."
"Okay, Comrade Brigadier." Seeing that Sokov was so stubborn, Golya couldn't persuade him any more. He could only nod in agreement and asked the telegraph operator to send Sokov's order in the form of a telegram.
After sending the telegram, although Golya did not say anything in his mouth, he repeatedly criticized Sokov's decision in his heart. Unexpectedly, a new cable received shortly after made him realize how wise Sokov's decision was.
Twenty minutes after the telegram was sent, the first company commander sent another telegram to Golia. He said in the telegram: The number of German troops currently marching behind our army has increased to two companies.
After Golia saw this telegram, he couldn't help being frightened and sweating. He thought to himself: If he followed his idea and let the infantry following the armored vehicle destroy the German platoon, maybe it would have been replaced by the new platoon at this moment. The incoming German troops hit him. Although he led two companies, the German army also had two companies, but one company of the German army had about 200 people, twice as many as him. He knew very well the combat effectiveness of his troops. Even in a one-on-one situation, he might not be able to win, not to mention that the number of people was only half of the opponent's. Once a fight breaks out, even if you have machine gun fire support from armored vehicles, you will probably suffer heavy losses.
Thinking of this, he quickly handed the telegram to Sokov, raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and said thankfully: "Comrade Brigadier, your decision was wise and you did not let us destroy that German platoon. Otherwise we would definitely have The German troops who arrived later saw the flaw, and in that case, we were in danger of being wiped out."
After reading the telegram, Sokov said lightly: "Comrade Captain, under the current situation, do not act rashly. Don't see two companies of German troops following us, but for us, it will increase With a higher safety factor, the enemies along the way will regard us as real Germans, which will allow us to rush to the Orlovka area smoothly."
