Hearing Guchakov's question, Ruzsky raised his eyebrows and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, can you be more specific?"
"For example, the enemy's headquarters, military camps, warehouses, etc." Guchakov asked cautiously: "Are there any of these military facilities nearby?"
Ruzsky thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "No. Our village is relatively remote and does not have the military facilities you mentioned. Otherwise, the Germans would not have left a group of Ukrainian soldiers in the village."
Learning that there were no important military facilities nearby, Guchakov showed a disappointed expression on his face. He felt that he had chosen the wrong direction and took the team far away from important military facilities.
Just as he was feeling disappointed, a guerrilla suddenly said to Ruziski: "Comrade deputy captain, why have you forgotten that there is an enemy airport in the northwest."
"The enemy's airport?!" The frustrated Guchakov felt as if he had been given a shot in the arm when he heard the guerrillas mention the airport. He immediately asked impatiently: "Where is it?"
"It's a bit far from here." Ruziski scratched the back of his head and replied: "It's northwest of the village, about forty or fifty kilometers away from here."
If it were an ordinary team, they would definitely retreat after hearing such a long distance. After all, walking on two legs would take at least a day. But the team is equipped with three armored vehicles, so this distance is not a big deal for them, and they can get there in two hours at most.
Guchakov grabbed Ruziski's arm and asked excitedly: "Comrade deputy captain, is there really an enemy airport in the northwest?"
"Yes," Ruziski nodded and replied affirmatively: "It is a newly built field airport. There are about twenty or thirty anti-aircraft aircraft. They take off early every morning and fly to the direction of the city for bombing."
After confirming that there was an airport nearby, Guchakov became even more unable to sit still. He quickly asked: "Comrade deputy captain, can you send us a guide to take us to the enemy's airport?"
"Okay, I'll let Torb lead you." Ruzsky pointed to the guerrilla who first mentioned the airport, "He has been there before, so he is the most suitable guide for you."
"Comrade Tolb," Guchakov turned to look at the young guerrilla and asked in a friendly tone, "I wonder when you can set off?"
Torb cast an inquiring look at Ruziski, and when he saw the other party nodded slightly in approval, he said: "Comrade commander, the enemy's airport is too far away from us. Even if we set off now, we will have to wait until We won’t reach our destination until tomorrow evening.”
"We have armored vehicles." Guchakov said with some pride after waiting for Torb to finish: "It's only 40 to 50 kilometers away, and we can get there in two hours at most."
"However, we may encounter enemy checkpoints and patrols on the road." Torb's reaction was a little slow. Guchakov had already said this, and he was still chattering: "What should we do then?" How to deal with it?"
"Don't worry, Comrade Torb." Guchakov said with a smile: "You didn't see that we are all wearing German uniforms. So far away from the front line, I think their vigilance should be It’s not too high, we can easily get through it.”
"Comrade Lieutenant, since you are sure to reach the enemy's airport in a short period of time, that's great." Ruzski felt very dissatisfied when he saw the appearance of Tuorb's ink marks, and quickly interjected: "If possible If so, you can set off overnight and reach your destination before dawn."
Guchakov called Samoilov aside and said to him: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I will take two armored vehicles and fifteen soldiers there, and the rest will stay here with you."
"No problem." Samoylov knew that Guchakov planned to use this place as a stronghold. There were not enough manpower to stay and the other party might not be worried, so he replied carelessly: "I will guard this place." He paused. After a moment, he asked tentatively, "Do I need to report this matter to the division headquarters?"
"No need for the time being." Guchakov shook his head and replied: "Now we just heard from the guerrilla comrades that there is an airport nearby, but we still don't know what the situation is there. For the sake of safety, this matter will be left for the time being. No more reporting to superiors.”
Samoilov had no objection to Guchakov's proposal. After nodding in agreement, he reminded Guchakov: "Comrade Lieutenant, what should we do with these three comrades in the guerrillas?"
Samoilov's words reminded Guchakov that of these three comrades from the guerrillas, except for one who acted as his guide, the remaining two definitely wanted to return to the guerrillas as soon as possible. If they were allowed to tell other members of the guerrillas that the Germans staying in the village were actually their own people in disguise, the news might leak out.
He thought for a long time and said cautiously: "Second Lieutenant, how about we leave them here first and then discuss how to deal with them after we return from the enemy's airport?"
"I'm afraid that's not right." Samoilov shook his head and said, "If they don't come back, the guerrilla comrades will definitely think that something happened to them, and they might send someone to try to burn down the barn. I Being able to catch them with Tavlin depends on a lot of luck. If another group of people throws Molotov cocktails here, I can't guarantee that there will be no casualties."
"Then what should we do?" Guchakov frowned: "The elements in the guerrillas are too complex. Who knows if there are any spies who have sneaked in? If the news about us here is revealed, we will not be able to stay. It’s here.”
"Leave this matter to me." Seeing that Guchakov was helpless, Samoylov volunteered: "I will handle it properly."
…………
Guchakov took fifteen soldiers in two armored vehicles and headed towards the distant airport under the leadership of his guide Tolb. Before setting off, Guchakov found a German uniform and asked Torb to change into it. This way, even if he encountered a real German patrol, it would not be easy for him to reveal his flaws.
Unexpectedly, as soon as the armored vehicle arrived at the entrance of the village, it encountered the German corporal and two Ukrainian soldiers. Seeing the armored vehicle leaving the village, the German corporal blocked the vehicle's path. After raising his hand to salute Tavlin, he respectfully asked: "Mr. Second Lieutenant, it's so late, where are you going?"
"We just received a notice," Tavlin stood up and said to the German corporal standing in front of the car: "Russian guerrillas were discovered not far away, and we were ordered to clear them out. Make way quickly, Don’t delay our mission.”
Hearing that Mr. Second Lieutenant and the others were on a combat mission, the German corporal did not dare to delay and quickly stepped aside to make way for the armored vehicle. When armored vehicles passed in front of him one after another, he raised his hand and saluted the people on the vehicle.
After the armored vehicle left the village, Tolb turned his head and glanced behind him, and said to Guchakov with lingering fear: "Comrade commander, you just scared me. I have never seen a living German so close to me. .”
Taulb's words aroused Tavlin's curiosity, and he asked in surprise: "What, Comrade Taulb, have you never fought head-on with the Germans?"
"I'm not afraid of your laughter." Looking at the young soldier wearing the uniform of a German second lieutenant in front of him, Tolb didn't know his military rank, but he estimated that his position was not low, so he replied respectfully: "The activities of our guerrillas behind enemy lines. The main ones are laying landmines, destroying telephone lines, bridges, and railways. Although everyone has weapons, at least half of them have never fired a gun." At this point, his face turned slightly red, "I have never fired a gun either. Fired, otherwise I wouldn’t have been so slow when you pointed the gun at my head.”
Torb's words caused a burst of laughter in the car, and Guchakov quickly stopped everyone: "Quiet, comrades, please keep quiet! It is late at night, and sounds that are not obvious during the day can be heard at this time. You guys don’t want to be discovered by the Germans even though you’re so far away, right?”
After the car regained calm, Guchakov said to Tavlin in a serious tone: "Comrade Sergeant, your task is to deal with possible Germans. Apart from that, I hope you can keep quiet. Understood. ?"
Tavlin, who was criticized by Guchakov, realized that he had made a mistake. Chatting so unscrupulously in the car could easily be discovered by the Germans hiding on both sides of the road, which would bring trouble to the squad. A devastating disaster. He quickly blushed and replied: "I understand, Comrade Lieutenant."
Under Tolb's guidance, the armored vehicle drove for an hour and a half and arrived two kilometers away from the airport. Taulb pointed with his hand towards the light ahead and said: "Comrade commander, in the distance is the German airport. You can't go any further, otherwise you will be discovered by the German security forces."
Knowing that the enemy's airport was ahead, Guchakov quickly stood up, raised his telescope and looked into the distance. He quickly saw clearly that on the brightly lit airport, one side of the runway was full of aircraft of various types, and the German ground crews were busy adding fuel and hanging bombs to the aircraft in preparation for an attack after dawn.
When Guchakov was observing the airport, Tolb said at the side: "Comrade commander, you have seen it clearly. The enemy is very guarded near the airport. Some time ago, we had a sabotage team trying to destroy the airport. Landmines were laid on the road in and out, but they were discovered by security forces. All five members of the sabotage team died, and no one was able to escape."
"Comrade Tolb," Tavlin, standing next to Guchakov, asked in a low voice, "What do you want to say?"
"Now that you know where the enemy's airport is, can we go back?" Tolb asked Tavlin in a low voice: "Anyway, we can't do anything if we stay here."
As soon as Torb finished speaking, he saw Guchakov put down the telescope and turned around. Just when Torb thought that Guchakov would give an order to retreat, he unexpectedly heard the other party say: "Comrades, set up a launching position here. Four launch tubes, each firing three rockets, must be Destroy all aircraft on the airport."
"Launching position?!" After Turb heard Guchakov's words clearly, he couldn't help but froze. When he turned around and tried to ask Tavlin what kind of launching position was to be established here, he saw two armored vehicles. The soldiers jumped out of the car one after another and set up two tripods more than ten meters away from the car, with two launch tubes fixed on each tripod.
"Comrade Commander," Torb saw the busy soldiers under the car, grabbed Guchakov, and asked curiously: "What are they doing?"
Guchakov had no time to educate Torb about science. He just smiled and said lightly: "Comrade Torb, please be patient. You will understand soon."
A few minutes later, the gunner reported to Guchakov who was standing in the compartment of the armored vehicle: "Comrade Lieutenant, the target has been locked, and all launch tubes are ready for firing."
Guchakov glanced at the airport in the distance, then nodded and gave the gunner the order to launch: "Launch!"
Four rockets roared out of the launcher, trailing long flame tails and flying towards the airport in the distance. Before the rocket hit the target, the loaders stuffed new rockets into the launch tube and recalibrated and aimed.
The German ground staff who were busy at the airport couldn't help but stop what they were doing when they heard a strange scream coming from the air, and looked curiously at the flying objects that appeared in the sky. Before they could make any reaction, the rocket landed on the ground and exploded. In the rising flames, the aircraft and personnel near the explosion point were blown to pieces. Aerial bombs and gasoline barrels were detonated, and the flying shrapnel knocked down the surrounding soldiers and left the plane riddled with holes; the burning gasoline turned the surrounding area into a sea of fire.
Guchakov and others had seen such scenes many times, and they could still remain calm. However, as a guide, Torb had never seen anything like this before. He was stunned by what happened in front of him. After a long time, he said tremblingly: "Comrade commander, I really didn't expect that you actually have weapons that can hit the enemy from such a distance. This is simply amazing!"
"Continue to launch! We must destroy the enemy's airport in the shortest possible time!" After Guchakov shouted at the busy soldiers below, he straightened up and said to Tolb: "Comrade Tolb, you If you have seen how we used to sneak up on the enemy, this will not be surprising."
After a series of rocket launches, the enemy's airport turned into a sea of flames. All the planes parked on the runway were destroyed, and every ground crew member in the airport was wiped out. The troops on guard duty around the airport discovered that the airport was under attack and immediately rushed towards the airport in an attempt to put out the raging fire inside.
Seeing that the enemy's airport had been destroyed, Guchakov let out a long sigh, and then ordered: "Comrades, our mission has been completed, move immediately!"
