Ever since Grisa set off with his team, Sokov had been staring at the map on the wall, silently calculating their itinerary. Seeing that Sidorin hung up the phone, he quickly asked: "Chief of Staff, where do you think Grisa and the others are?"
Sidorin quickly walked to Sokov's side, looked up at the map on the wall, and considered how to answer Sokov's question. After watching for a while, he pointed at the bottom of Gorodishe with the red and blue pencil in his hand and said: "Comrade division commander, judging from the speed of Lieutenant Grisa's movement, they should have reached Gorodishe." Xie’s nearby.”
"Distance," Sokov continued to ask while staring at the map: "Grysa and the others have been setting out for five or six hours. Even if they move slowly, they should be close to Gorodishe by now. The question is, how far away are they from the target? Far distance?"
"It shouldn't be more than ten kilometers." Sidorin thought for a while again and replied decisively: "At this distance, there are many areas where you can hide. In my opinion, Lieutenant Grisa and the others may temporarily hide and send People went to the town of Gorodishe to conduct reconnaissance to find out whether the enemy's ammunition depot was located in the town."
Although Sokov also felt that Sidorin's analysis was reasonable, he was still uneasy in his heart. He was a little worried and asked again: "Chief of Staff, if our judgment is wrong, the enemy did not locate the ammunition depot here. , then Grisa and the others didn’t make their trip in vain?”
"Comrade Commander," seeing that Sokov, who had always been full of confidence, actually began to doubt his own judgment, Sidorin knew that it was because the other party was under too much pressure, so he quickly comforted her and said, "Don't worry, we last night The judgment made should not be wrong. You stayed up all night, take advantage of the fact that the enemy has not attacked yet, go and rest for a while."
"Okay." Sidorin said this. Sokov was really a little sleepy. He yawned, went to the camp bed in the corner and lay down with his clothes on. He told Sidorin: "If Grisa and the others have news, , wake me up immediately."
"When the enemy launches an attack on Mamayev Heights, do they need to wake you up?" Sidorin asked casually.
"No need to call me." Lying on the bed, Sokov waved his hands and said, "Even if the Germans launch another attack on Mamayev Heights, the end result will definitely be a loss of troops, so don't bother me for such a trivial matter. rest."
While Sokov was lying on the cot and soundly asleep, Grisa led his team to a small canyon south of Gorodishe. Grisa looked at the surrounding environment and felt that the troops were hiding here during the day and would not be easily discovered by the enemy, so he issued an order to the soldiers to hide on the spot.
Corporal Aino in the team heard Grisa's order and quickly ran over and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, didn't our superiors order us to rush to the town of Gorodishe? Why should we stop here."
Grisa glared at him and said, "Didn't you see that it's almost dawn? If we go further, there won't be any hiding place. If so many of us are still walking on the road in a big way, it won't be long. It will be wiped out by the Germans coming from all directions."
"But what about the tasks assigned to us by our superiors?" Aino asked.
"We have been traveling all night, and the comrades are all tired." Grisa replied: "Let them take the time to rest. I will lead a reconnaissance team into the town later to conduct reconnaissance."
As soon as he heard that Grisa was going to personally lead people to conduct reconnaissance, Aino immediately volunteered: "Comrade Lieutenant, let me go with you." He was deeply afraid that Grisa would not agree, so he specially emphasized, "You know, I Nowadays, even if he speaks German the best, even if the Germans hear it, they will not be suspicious."
According to Grisa's idea, this time when he went to Gorodishe town for reconnaissance, all the people he brought would be disguised as German soldiers. He was worried that he did not bring a soldier who knew German. When he heard Aino say this, he did not immediately believe it, but asked in a skeptical tone: "What, do you know German? Who did you learn it from?"
"Who else, of course, is Corporal Ernst." Aino said with some pride: "I have a good personal relationship with Ernst. Whenever I have time, I will go to his place and pester him to teach me German. I learned it. It’s been more than half a year, and now I’ve almost left the army.”
Grisa had a heavy responsibility, and he did not dare to take risks with the reconnaissance team, so he cautiously asked again: "Comrade Corporal, let me ask you again, do you really understand German?"
"Not to mention, even Ernst listened to my German and said it sounded like a German speaking." Seeing Grisa doubting himself, Corporal Aino became a little anxious: "I assure you, My German is good enough for anything.”
"Okay, Corporal Aino." Seeing that Aino was anxious, Grisa felt that the other party would not lie to him on such a big issue of life and death, so he nodded and said, "Then you will follow me later. Let’s go scouting together.”
The reconnaissance team was quickly formed, led by Lieutenant Grisa and including his old subordinates Corporal Aino, Sergeant Yelizavita and three other soldiers. Everyone put on the uniforms of the German army. Considering that Aino was the only one who knew German, Grisa let him put on the uniform of a German second lieutenant.
The entire group disguised itself as a German patrol and headed in the direction of the town of Gorodishe. Walking at the front were Grisa and Aino. Aino looked at the endless road and asked Grisa with a sad face: "Comrade Lieutenant, how far is it from us to the town of Gorodishe?"
Grisa replied without looking back: "It's not ten kilometers, it's seven or eight kilometers."
"Oh my god, it's still so far away," Aino wailed, "It would be great if there was a car."
"Don't worry, there will be a car."
"Do you have a car?" Hearing that there was a car for transportation, Aino's eyes suddenly lit up and he quickly asked: "Comrade Lieutenant, when you led your team to move around this area some time ago, did you hide a car somewhere? "
"What are you thinking about?" Grisa turned his head and glared at Aino, and said angrily: "Comrade Corporal, don't forget, this is an enemy-occupied area, and there are enemies everywhere. Even if we hide a car nearby, we probably won't. The enemy has discovered it a long time ago." He paused for a moment and then asked, "By the way, can you drive?"
"No!" Aino replied awkwardly: "I was an electrician in the factory before the war, and I never learned to drive."
Grisa snorted, looked at Aino with contempt and said: "Comrade Corporal, this is not possible. If we can't drive, what should we do if we capture the enemy's car? We can't blow it up directly. Bar?"
Before Aino could answer, the roar of a car motor suddenly came from the road behind him. Grisa's attention immediately became highly concentrated. He stopped, turned around and said to the soldiers behind him: "Comrades, get ready for battle! Remember, be calm and calm, act according to my eyes, and don't be exposed easily. identity!"
After the soldiers waited for Grisa to finish speaking, they responded in unison: "Yes!"
Griza turned to Aino and said: "Comrade Corporal, it depends on your performance. I hope you can convince the enemy's driver to let us take a ride into the town of Gorodishe."
Soon, a convoy of five trucks appeared in Grisa's sight. The cabin of each truck is covered with a tarpaulin. Judging from the appearance and shape of the tarpaulin, it appears that the vehicles are loaded with weapons and ammunition. Grisa saw that in the driver's seat of each vehicle, in addition to the driver, there were two German soldiers escorting the vehicle. He shook his head slightly at the soldiers and signaled them not to act rashly.
A German officer sitting in the first car frowned slightly when he saw a patrol suddenly appearing on the roadside in front. He put his hand on the holster of his gun and turned to tell the driver: "Slow down. Asking which patrol is who?”
Upon hearing the officer's instructions, the driver quickly released his foot on the accelerator and slowed down the vehicle. The officer rolled down the window, stuck his head out and asked Grisa and the others loudly: "Hey, which part are you from?"
Although Grisa could not understand what the German officer said, he guessed that the other party was asking for his serial number. He coughed lightly and winked at Aino, telling him to deal with the officer. Several soldiers nearby, after hearing Grisa's cough, put their fingers on the trigger, and pointed their guns vaguely at the officers in the car.
"Report to Mr. Lieutenant!" Aino quickly took two steps forward, raised his hand and saluted the officer sitting in the vehicle, pretending to be respectful and said: "Our patrol team of the 389th Infantry Division is on patrol duty."
"It turns out they are from the 389th Division!" After hearing Aino say the unit number, the German officer removed his hand from his holster, waved to Aino, and ordered the driver: "Speed up and keep on going!"
Grisa was worried that the officer would get out of the car on a whim to check the identities of his group, and his heart was in his throat. At this moment, when he saw the officer, he just asked casually, and after ordering the driver to speed up and leave, he breathed a sigh of relief. After the convoy had gone away, he gave the order again: "Keep moving!"
Everyone walked forward for another kilometer or so, and the roar of a car motor was heard again behind them. Aino listened carefully for a moment, and then asked Grisa: "Comrade Lieutenant, it sounds like there is only one car. Should we seize this car?"
"Going a little further ahead, there should be a German checkpoint." Grisa said thoughtfully: "Even if we capture the vehicle, it may not be easy to pass the German checkpoint smoothly." It’s an easy thing. I think you still have to find a way to convince the enemy’s driver to take us into the town of Gorodishe.”
"Comrade Lieutenant," Aino heard for the second time Grisa's words about convincing the enemy driver. The first time he thought the other party was joking. Now he knew it was not a joke, but was serious, and he couldn't help but said with a sad face: "How could the Germans let us just hitch a ride?"
"If you don't give it a try, how will you know it won't work?" Grisa raised his hand and patted Aino's shoulder twice and said, "Whether we walk or take a ride, it all depends on you!"
Aino gritted his teeth and jumped into the middle of the road. He waved his arms desperately and shouted at the approaching car with a cover: "Stop, stop quickly!"
The German driver stopped the car five or six meters away from Aino, stuck his head out and asked inexplicably: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, is something wrong?"
Ainuo couldn't help feeling ecstatic when he saw that the driver was the only one on the bridge. He walked quickly to the driver's side, pointed to the car behind him with his hand, and asked, "Is there anyone in the car?"
The German driver shook his head hurriedly.
"Where are you going to?" Aino asked again.
"Gorodishe town." the German driver replied.
"What to do?"
The German driver thought he had encountered a patrol and quickly replied honestly: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, I am there to collect military supplies."
"Since we are pulling military supplies, why is there no one escorting the car?" Aino asked with a deliberately straight face: "Aren't you afraid of encountering guerrillas?"
"Of course I'm afraid." The driver replied with a wry smile: "But the camp really can't spare any manpower, so I can only go to Gorodishe town alone."
Seeing that the driver was indeed going to the town of Gorodishe, Aino was so happy that he wanted to do some somersaults on the spot, but he still put on a serious face and asked: "Your unit number!"
"I'm from the 100th Chasseur Division."
"There have been guerrillas in the front area recently." Aino said pretendingly: "In order to prevent you from encountering guerrillas, I plan to have my patrol team go to the town of Gorodishe with you."
The German driver was overjoyed when he heard that a patrol was going to accompany him. He thought to himself that with this patrol, he would not have to be afraid even if he encountered Russian guerrillas on the road. He nodded vigorously and said respectfully: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, please get in the car with your troops!"
Aino walked around from the front of the car to the door on the other side, turned around and shouted to Grisa and the others who were standing aside: "Don't be stunned, hurry up and get in the car." He was afraid that Grisa and the others wouldn't understand, so he shouted He was gesturing desperately.
Although Grisa could not understand what Aino was shouting, he could guess from his gestures that he had successfully persuaded the German driver to let his group of people hitchhike. He shook his head to the soldiers next to him and signaled that they all boarding.
Aino did not get in the car immediately, but stood by the door. He saw all his comrades climbing into the back car, and then he got into the driver's seat. After closing the door forcefully, he ordered the driver with great dignity: "Driver, drive!"
The driver hurriedly agreed, restarted the vehicle, and drove along the road towards the town of Gorodishe.
Sergeant Yelizavita, who was sitting in the carriage, asked Grisa curiously in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant, what did Aino say to the German guy that he was so willing to give us a ride?"
"I guess Aino told the other party that there were guerrillas ahead, and giving us a ride would ensure his safety." Although Grisa couldn't understand the content of the conversation between Aino and the German driver, he guessed the whole thing. Ten: "Of course the driver wanted us, so of course he let us get in the car."
