After the armored convoy passed through the third battalion's defense area, it immediately turned around and headed west, preparing to bypass the Romanian army's defense area. After making a large circle, it detoured back to the rear of the German troops attacking the factory area and gave them a hard lesson.
After driving about five or six kilometers, Guchakov suddenly saw a checkpoint at the intersection in front of him. There was a sandbag fortification on each side of the road, and there were more than a dozen military tents nearby. It looked like this checkpoint There are quite a few people. Seeing this situation, Guchakov quickly informed Samoilov behind him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, an enemy checkpoint has been found in front of us. The strength is no less than one platoon. Please prepare for battle immediately."
"Understood." After Samoylov agreed, he said to the soldiers in the car: "We found an enemy checkpoint ahead. Everyone is ready to fight."
"Comrade Lieutenant," Taflin saw the machine guns in the roadside fortifications and asked tentatively: "If a firefight really breaks out, we will expose the target. Do you think you can go around it elsewhere?"
"If it were during the day, we could still consider taking a detour. But now it's night," Guchakov said with a frown: "The enemies at the checkpoint spotted our car lights from a long way away. If we change the route at this time, , but it will arouse the enemy's suspicion. We should continue to look forward. If the enemy sees through it, we will forcefully break through."
The armored vehicle stopped in front of the checkpoint's crossbar, and a soldier immediately came up to him. He raised his hand to salute Tavlin, who was sitting in the vehicle, and asked in broken German: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, please show me your ID!"
Hearing the non-standard German spoken by the soldiers, Tavlin was stunned for a moment. When he saw the other party's uniform clearly, he couldn't help but feel ecstatic, because the people at the checkpoint were not Germans, but Romanians. Even if the enemy saw through it, they could force him to The success rate of breaking through levels can also be greatly improved.
Before setting off this time, Sokov specially prepared a military card and identity card for Guchakov to deal with checkpoints along the way. These items were collected from German officers and soldiers who were captured or killed. Even if they were interrogated, their identities would not be revealed. But it was the first time for Guchakov and others to use their certificates. When they encountered enemy interrogation at the checkpoint, they inevitably lacked confidence.
Seeing that Tavlin did not have an accident certificate, the Romanian soldier repeated what he had just said: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, please show your certificate."
"This is my ID." Seeing the soldier asking for his ID again, Tavlin took out the military ID card that Sokov had prepared for them and handed it to the soldier calmly.
The soldier opened the document and checked it with the help of a flashlight photo. After seeing clearly what was written on it, he had a puzzled expression on his face: "Second Lieutenant Leo, from the 24th Armored Division?"
"That's right," Tavlin stared at the other person and asked, "Is there any problem?"
"Haven't the troops of the 24th Armored Division been transferred to the vicinity of the Russian barricade factory?" The soldier asked warily: "Why are you here?"
As soon as the soldier finished speaking, Tavlin heard the sound of the gun bolt being pulled from behind the nearby sandbag fortification. Although Taflin secretly screamed something bad, he still pretended to be tough and said: "Where do we appear, do we need to report to you? Where is your commander, call him over immediately."
The soldier was frightened by Taflin's attitude and quickly turned his head and shouted into the checkpoint. Soon an officer came out of the checkpoint. When he came to the armored vehicle, the soldier handed him the ID in his hand and murmured something under his breath. The officer nodded, looked up from Tavlin who was sitting in the car and said: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, which part do you belong to?"
"Are you blind, Lieutenant?" Tavlin saw clearly that the person talking to him was a lieutenant, but the other person was an officer of the Romanian army. Not to mention the lieutenant, even if he was a lieutenant colonel, he didn't have to be polite to him. After all, he Now wearing the clothes of their master: "Didn't you see clearly that my ID says 24th Armored Division?"
"Mr. Second Lieutenant," the Romanian lieutenant was suffocated by Tavlin's attitude. He carefully asked, "Can I ask why you are here? You know, since you handed over the defense, this is us. defense zone."
"We are here to perform a mission. As for what the mission is, let alone you, even your captain is not qualified to know." Tavlin pretended to be arrogant and said: "We have completed the mission now and are ready to If returning to the defense area and resuming operations will delay our time, can you afford the responsibility?"
The Romanian lieutenant hesitated for a moment, returned the certificate in his hand to Tavlin, and said respectfully: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, since you want to rush back to resume your life, I won't delay you." After that, he stood up He waved his hand toward the checkpoint and shouted, "Let's go!"
After passing through the Romanian army checkpoint without any danger, Tavlin took off his hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and said to Guchakov: "Comrade Lieutenant, luckily we met the Romanian army. If it was the Germans, maybe they would call to verify, and if we wanted to pass the checkpoint, we might have to shoot our way through."
Guchakov, who had always been highly nervous, breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he was getting farther and farther away from the enemy's checkpoint, and said to Tavlin: "It seems that the certificates prepared by the division commander for us are still very effective. "
After Guchakov finished speaking, Tavlin immediately asked: "Where should we go next?"
"Keep moving forward," Guchakov pointed forward with his hand and said, "This area is the Romanian army's defense area. We must find a way to go around it to avoid getting into trouble."
After driving forward for more than half an hour, the team entered a forest. Not long after, two forked roads appeared. After the driver stopped the car, he turned around and asked Guchakov: "Comrade Lieutenant, which way should we take?"
Guchakov stood up and looked around, but unfortunately it was still dark and he couldn't see anything. He could only point to the road on the right and said: "Comrade driver, let's take the road on the right."
The driver restarts the vehicle and drives along the road on the right. After driving two or three kilometers, there were another fork in the road ahead. This time there were not two, but three. He could only stop again and ask Guchakov for instructions.
Tavlin said before Guchakov made a decision: "Comrade Lieutenant, I find that we seem to be lost. If we continue to wander around blindly, I don't know when we will be able to leave these forest areas."
Hearing what Tavlin said, Guchakov seemed a little hesitant. He did not tell the driver which road to take, but called Samoilov on the car radio: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, can you come to the front?"
The armored vehicle Samoilov was riding in was only a hundred meters away from Guchakov's car. Hearing Guchakov's words, he guessed that he must have encountered some problem and quickly got out of the car and walked forward. When they arrived at the lead car, they saw Guchakov and Tavlin standing beside the car, whispering something. He asked bluntly: "Comrade Lieutenant, why don't you leave? What happened?"
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Guchakov replied with a grimace: "We seem to be lost in the forest."
"Isn't there a compass?" When Samoilov saw that the convoy stopped and refused to move, he thought something big had happened. After hearing Guchakov's words, he realized that he could not find the direction, so he said carelessly: "Just We need to follow the guidance of the compass and keep walking north, and we will be able to get out of this forest."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," Tavlin said: "It's too dark. Even with the help of a compass, you will get lost in the forest. In order to prevent us from breaking into the enemy's defense area, I suggest that we stop here first and wait until dawn. Keep moving."
"What, stay here until dawn?" Samoilov raised his hand and looked at his watch, frowning and said: "You know it's only two o'clock in the morning, instead of stopping here and waiting, it's better to keep going, maybe wait until dawn By that time, we had arrived near the target."
"If we break into the enemy's defense zone," Guchakov said softly, "it will be all over."
Guchakov's words made Samoilov hesitate, and if he continued to advance, there was indeed the possibility of breaking into the enemy's defense zone again. But if we wait here for dawn, the time to rush to the designated place will be greatly delayed.
For a while, none of the three people spoke, and they all remained silent.
"I think," Samoilov said firmly after an unknown amount of time, "we should move on."
"No." Guchakov objected, shaking his head: "I can't let the team take risks. If we really break into the enemy's defense zone, our mission may fail."
Seeing that the two men had their own opinions, Tavlin said tentatively: "Comrade commanders, why don't you send a telegram to the division headquarters, report our situation to them, and ask the division commander to make a decision."
"No!" As soon as Tavlin finished speaking, Guchakov and Samoylov shook their heads at the same time and rejected his proposal. Guchakov said slowly: "We can't send a telegram to the division headquarters now, as this will expose our whereabouts. I think we will stop here temporarily and wait until dawn to observe the surrounding terrain clearly before moving on. Bar."
Regarding the decision made by Guchakov, Samoylov smiled coldly and said expressionlessly: "Comrade Lieutenant, I reserve my own opinion. When I return to Mamayev Heights, I will take this matter to the next level." The matter was reported to the division commander."
"It's up to you." Guchakov waved his hand to Samoilov and said weakly: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, you go back to your car first, take the time to rest, and wait for dawn before rushing on."
After Samoylov turned around and left, Tavlin asked Guchakov worriedly: "Comrade Lieutenant, he used to be from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Will he cause trouble for you in the future?"
Guchakov had been captured by the German army twice, and he had an inexplicable fear of the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. But he is the top commander of this small team. If he doesn't dare to have his own opinion, how can he complete the next task. So he gritted his molars and said, "It's okay. I believe the teacher will figure out what's going on."
After a long wait, the sky began to gradually lighten up. Although the light in the forest was still difficult, the surrounding environment could still be vaguely seen clearly. Since there was no reference nearby, Guchakov had no idea where he had arrived. He stood in the carriage and checked the surrounding environment, then used the compass to check the direction, and finally pointed to the middle line with his finger. road, saying to the driver: "Let's take the middle road."
After driving forward for half an hour, Guchakov saw a horse-drawn cart appearing on the road ahead. The driver looked like an old man from the back. Guchakov quickly lowered his head and said to the driver: "Drive the car to the side of the big car and stop it. I want to ask him about me."
After giving instructions to the driver, Guchakov sat up straight again and said to Tavlin: "Comrade Sergeant, in order not to expose our identities, you will ask later."
"Hi, old man!" After the armored vehicle stopped beside the carriage, Tavlin stood up straight, leaned over and asked deliberately in broken Russian: "What is this place?"
When the old man driving the carriage saw an armored vehicle parked nearby, and a German officer in the vehicle asking him, he quickly reined in the horse and jumped off the carriage. After bowing slightly to Tavlin on the armored vehicle, he said respectfully: "Hello, officer, what can I do for you?"
"Let me ask you, where is this place?" Tavlin didn't know who the old man was and didn't dare to reveal his identity easily. He still asked in broken Russian: "Are there any villages nearby?"
The old man quickly said a difficult-to-pronounce place name, which literally translates to "country cemetery." Guchakov, who was sitting in the car, after hearing clearly the place name mentioned by the old man, quickly took out the map and quickly searched for the location mentioned by the old man. Soon, he discovered the village southwest of Gumlak Station.
After figuring out where we were, Guchakov quickly whispered to Tavlin: "Sergeant, I already know where we are. Let's keep going."
Tavlin nodded, raised his hand and slapped twice on the bridge, and ordered in German: "Let's go!"
Seeing the dust-raising armored vehicles passing by him, the originally bent old man straightened up, took a sip at the retreating armored convoy, and cursed viciously: "Damn German devils, our people will kill you sooner or later. Come back and collect yours."
The old man quickly said a difficult-to-pronounce place name, which literally translates to "country cemetery." Guchakov, who was sitting in the car, after hearing clearly the place name mentioned by the old man, quickly took out the map and quickly searched for the location mentioned by the old man. Soon, he discovered the village southwest of Gumlak Station.
After figuring out where we were, Guchakov quickly whispered to Tavlin: "Sergeant, I already know where we are. Let's keep going."
Tavlin nodded, raised his hand and slapped twice on the bridge, and ordered in German: "Let's go!"
Seeing the dust-raising armored vehicles passing by him, the originally bent old man straightened up, took a sip at the retreating armored convoy, and cursed viciously: "Damn German devils, our people will kill you sooner or later. Come back and collect yours."
