After spending the day anxiously waiting, Sokov finally received Grisa's telegram after dark. The content of the telegram is simple: I have confirmed that the enemy's ammunition depot is indeed in the town of Gorodishe, and the attack will be carried out tonight.
After the telegram was circulated among several division leaders, Sidorin asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, how do you think we should reply to Lieutenant Grisa?"
"Chief of Staff, record my reply." Sokov said briefly: "I wish you victory!"
After Sidorin recorded this sentence, he looked up at Sokov again, waiting for him to continue. Unexpectedly, after waiting for a long time, Sokov didn't say anything else. He couldn't help but asked strangely: "Comrade Commander, if you just call back like this, isn't the content a bit too little?"
"Chief of Staff," Sokov stared at Sidorin and asked in a strange tone: "Lieutenant Grisa and the others have found the enemy's ammunition depot and plan to attack tonight. What else do you think we have? Do you need to warn him?"
"No, not anymore!" Sidorin replied in a panic: "I'll go and send him a telegram back."
When Sidorin dictated the message to the radio operator, Ivanov curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade division commander, Lieutenant Grisa and the others, can they withdraw safely after completing this mission?" Ivanov asked I have never seen the power of new rockets with my own eyes, and I am always skeptical about the idea that a small team can destroy enemy ammunition depots from a long distance.
"Don't worry, comrade deputy division commander." Regarding Ivanov's worries, Sokov comforted him and said: "Lieutenant Grisa and the others have been operating behind the enemy's rear for a long time. Without the cooperation of this new rocket, they would not be defeated. If the enemy is annihilated, the results that can be achieved will be very limited."
"Comrade division commander, the telegram has been sent." Sidorin came over and reported to Sokov.
Sokov thought that in addition to Grisa's team, there were several other small troops also operating behind the enemy's rear. He didn't know if they had achieved any results in the past two days, so he asked Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff , is there any news from the other teams?"
"No." Sidorin shook his head and replied: "I guess they have not achieved any valuable goals for the time being, so they cannot achieve the desired results."
"Don't be anxious. Most of the commanders and fighters in these teams have no experience in operating behind enemy lines. They need to continuously learn and accumulate experience in battle." Seeing Sidorin's expression of frustration, Sokov quickly comforted him. Said: "I believe it won't take long for them to learn how to fight behind enemy lines and achieve results that satisfy us."
…………
After receiving the call back from the division headquarters, Grisa was stunned. He asked the staff sergeant in charge of communications: "Comrade Staff Sergeant, did you not receive the entire message? Why is there only one sentence?"
"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant." The sergeant replied quickly: "I have repeatedly confirmed that the reply from the division headquarters only said this sentence."
"Comrades!" After confirming that the division headquarters' reply contained only one sentence, Grisa gathered the soldiers, raised the message in his hand, and said to them: "The division headquarters sent us a reply, and it contained only one sentence. : I wish you victory!"
When the soldiers heard what Grisa said, they couldn't help but look at each other, feeling strange about Sokov's concise reply. Seeing that everyone looked puzzled, Grisa explained to them: "Comrades, the division commander's reply to the phone is that he agrees with our battle plan and does not make any hard requirements on us. He only hopes that we can win." .You think, can we live up to the trust our teacher has placed in us?"
"No!" the soldiers replied in unison.
"Okay, now that everyone has the confidence to complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors, I'm relieved." After Griza finished speaking, he waved to the soldiers, "Everyone, hurry up and pack your things. We will set off in ten minutes. .”
Marching at night is much safer than during the day. As soon as the small team advancing along the road saw the lights of the convoy on the road, they would immediately hide on the roadside and wait for the enemy's convoy to pass by before continuing on their way.
After more than an hour of rapid march, the team arrived at the river. Looking at the heavily guarded bridge in the distance, Griza asked Yelizavita again: "Comrade Sergeant, let me ask you one last time, is it really impossible to establish a launching position on the right bank of the river?"
"This is too far from the town." Yelizavita replied: "If a launching position is established by the river, the chance of hitting the target will be very low."
"Okay, then we will find a way to cross the river to the other side, choose a place close to the town, and establish a launching position." After Grisa finished speaking, he immediately arranged for the soldiers to collect equipment that could cross the river and prepare to transport the rockets and launch tubes to the other side. go.
The October night in Russia was already very cold, and the river water was even colder. Grisa selected Yelizavita, Aino and five other warriors to cross the river with him to carry out the attack mission on the other side, while the remaining warriors stayed on the right bank to serve as guards.
Several people piled the military uniforms and weapons they took off on the raft with rockets and launch tubes, gritted their teeth and plunged into the cold river water. After seven or eight minutes of struggling, they finally reached the other side. When we landed, everyone's lips were purple from the cold and they were shivering all over.
Grisa was shivering and quickly put on her clothes, urging others: "Hurry up, put on all your clothes. If you get typhoid fever, you will be in trouble."
After everyone got dressed, they loaded up the rockets and launch tubes and trotted towards the town of Gorodishe. Although there is no moon in the sky and no one carries a compass, no one is worried about going in the wrong direction, because the brightly lit town of Gorodishe is like a guiding light, pointing out the way forward for the soldiers. .
"Okay, don't run." After running for a while, Grisa felt that he was already warm, so he remembered everyone and said to Yelizavita: "Comrade Sergeant, let's set up a launching position here. !”
Yelizavita stopped, squinted one eye, raised his thumb to measure the distance, then nodded and said, "Okay, Comrade Lieutenant, we will establish the launch position here."
When Yelizaveta began to set up the launch site, Grisa once again looked at the town of Gorodishe in the distance with the telescope, and thought with regret: If so much ammunition could be transported back to Mamayev Heights, How nice it would be. With so many weapons and ammunition, no matter how many enemies come, we can beat the crap out of them.
Yelizavita and other soldiers installed the launch tube on the tripod and began to aim and load the ammunition. After doing all this, he stood up straight and said to Grisa: "Comrade Lieutenant, the rockets have been loaded and can be fired at any time!"
Grisa took one last look at the town of Gorodishe with infinite nostalgia. He sighed softly at the town that was about to be razed to the ground, as well as the weapons and ammunition that would be reduced to ashes, and then he raised his raised hand downwards. With a wave of the ground, he shouted: "Launch!"
"Launch!" Yelizavita shouted immediately, and the soldier in charge of the operation launched the rocket.
Three rockets, dragging long flame tails, roared out of the launch tubes one after another and flew towards the distant town of Gorodishe. Although Yelizavita told Griza that there was an 80% chance of destroying the target by launching rockets at this distance, his heart was in his throat at the moment because the team only had these three rockets. Failure to hit the target means a complete failure of the operation.
In the church square in the town of Gorodishe, German soldiers were busy loading ammunition onto the trucks coming from the front. When they heard the screams in the air, they involuntarily stopped what they were doing and raised their heads into the air. Look. Seeing the rocket still flying in the air, although everyone didn't know what it was, they knew that if it landed on the ground and exploded, it would definitely take their lives, so everyone shouted and then ran away.
The first rocket hit the onion dome of the church. The rubble stirred up by the explosion fell from the sky overwhelmingly, smashing the German soldiers running in all directions below until they howled like ghosts. The second rocket missed its target a bit, passed over the church square, and hit a building on the east side.
Fortunately, the third rocket accurately landed in the ammunition pile in the square and exploded. The square immediately turned into an erupting crater, tightly wrapped in rising black smoke. There were explosions in the black smoke, one after another, and there were explosions everywhere, and fire everywhere. Some of the frightened and desperate German soldiers were running around like headless flies, and some were curled up on the ground holding their heads and howling desperately. However, without exception, they were all blown to pieces in the explosion.
Looking at the sky above the distant town, which seemed to be bursting with countless fireworks, Grisa knew that his mission was completed. He raised his hand and patted Yelizaveta on the shoulder several times, and said approvingly: "Well done, Comrade Sergeant. When we return to Mamayev Hill, I will definitely ask the division commander for credit."
Yelizaveta looked at the town of Gorodishe with constant explosions in the distance. Listening to Grisa's praise for herself, she grinned and then shouted to several soldiers: "What are you still doing? , If we don’t quickly remove the launch tube from the tripod, if we wait for the Germans to surround us, we won’t be able to leave even if we want to.”
Everyone packed up the launchers and tripods and hurried towards the river. Although there was a huge explosion in the town of Gorodishe, and the German soldiers staying inside and outside the town suffered heavy casualties, no one could guarantee whether there were still small enemy units nearby, so they had to flee to the other side of the river as quickly as possible to barely escape. Danger.
The sergeant waiting by the river saw Grisa and the others getting up from the river and hurriedly went to greet them. While helping them get dressed, he took out the vodka in the wine bottle and gave the trembling soldiers a few sips to drive away the cold.
The sergeant asked Grisa, who was shivering: "Comrade Lieutenant, I saw flames shooting into the sky in the direction of Gorodishe town and constant explosions. It seems that the enemy's arsenal has been destroyed by us. We need to spread the news immediately , report to the division headquarters?”
Grisa looked left and right and replied: "There may be a German patrol here at any time. We'd better find a safe place and send a telegram to the division headquarters."
After half an hour, the small team arrived at a safe area. Grisa saw that the surrounding environment was good, and then ordered the sergeant: "Comrade Sergeant, immediately send a telegram to the division headquarters, saying that we have successfully destroyed the enemy's ammunition depot in the town of Gorodishe."
Sokov received the telegram and cheered repeatedly, then picked up the phone and prepared to report the good news to Chuikov, but was stopped by Ivanov. The latter frowned and said in a suspicious tone: "Comrade division commander, don't you think the team completed the task too smoothly?"
After hearing what Ivanov said, Sokov immediately realized that there was something in the other person's words and instinctively asked: "Comrade Deputy Division Commander, what do you want to say?"
"Whether they destroyed the enemy's ammunition depot, I think we should verify it." Ivanov said expressionlessly: "I don't think we should report it to the headquarters until we get confirmed information."
"Verification, how to verify?" Sokov said with some dissatisfaction: "According to my analysis, Grisa and the others finally escaped from danger, should they be allowed to take risks again?"
"However, if you rush to report the results without verifying them, once they are proven to be unreliable, and your superiors will blame you, you and I will be in trouble!" Ivanov continued: "I think we should wait a little longer. If you I am unwilling to send Grisa and the others to verify the results of the battle, so I suggest that a new team be sent immediately to the direction of Gorodishe town to verify the results of the battle."
Just when the two people had differences of opinion, the phone on the table rang. Sidorin quickly picked up the phone and said: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Sidorin, where are you?...Hello, Comrade Commander, Any instructions please?…”
When they heard the call from Chuikov, the two stopped arguing and both pricked up their ears to hear clearly what Chuikov said. But Sidorin handed the microphone to Sokov: "Comrade division commander, the commander wants to speak to you!"
"Colonel Sokov!" Chuikov's voice came from the receiver: "Did you send someone to sneak attack the German ammunition depot in the town of Gorodishe?"
"Comrade Commander, we did send a small team in that direction to try to find and destroy the enemy's ammunition depot." Sokov hesitated for a moment and decided to report the contents of the telegram to Chuikov: "I just received a message from the A telegram from Lieutenant Grisa, the leader of the detachment, said that they had successfully destroyed the enemy's ammunition depot in the town of Gorodishe with rockets." However, he thought of Ivanov's concerns and finally added, " However, this result has not yet been confirmed.”
"If I can call you, I can prove that this victory result is real." Chuikov said with a smile on the phone: "I just received a call from the observation station in the barricade factory. They said that the town of Gorodishe Suddenly there were flames in the sky and constant explosions. It looked like a big explosion of arms. Think about it, if your soldiers had not succeeded in their actions, how could the enemy's ammunition depot have exploded?"
