"What, there isn't an enemy in the trench?" After hearing the soldier's report, Paulkoski had an expression of disbelief on his face. He turned his questioning eyes to the guide aside and asked in a low voice: "What on earth is going on? Why are there no enemies in the trenches?"
The guide got up from the ground, hid behind a pile of rubble, looked at the direction of the factory for a while, and then whispered to Paulkosky: "Comrade Captain, it seems that the enemy is hiding in the trench because it is too cold." I went to warm myself by the fire in the factory. You see, there are several fires in the factory."
In fact, even if the guide hadn't told him, Paulkoski would have seen the fire in the trenches long ago. But he didn't expect that the Germans would not stay in the trenches to keep watch, but would hide in the factory to warm themselves by the fire. They were really brave. He was so big that he didn't worry about being cornered in the factory by the Soviet army during a night attack.
The sergeant who had just been ordered to stay behind to serve as a guard saw that Paulkoski and the others had stopped moving forward, and even when the soldiers sent out to conduct reconnaissance came back to report the situation, they did not crawl back but ran back, so he guessed that the enemy situation might have changed. . The sergeant crawled from his hiding place to Paulkoski's side and whispered: "Comrade company commander, is there an accident?"
"Didn't I ask you to be on guard at the back?" When Paulkoski saw the sergeant leaving the guard position without authorization, he glared at him and said dissatisfiedly: "Who asked you to come up here?"
"Comrade Company Commander." The sergeant said with a playful smile: "I saw you stopped here and didn't move forward. I wondered if the enemy situation had changed, so I came over to take a look. If I guessed correctly, there should be no enemies in the trenches. ?”
Seeing that the sergeant's guess was so accurate, Paulkoski couldn't help but curiously asked: "Sergeant, how did you know?"
"Isn't this simple?" the sergeant pouted at the scout squatting aside and said, "If there is an enemy in the trench, when he comes back from a reconnaissance mission, he will definitely crawl back instead of running back. . Based on this, I judged that there must be no enemies in the trenches."
The absence of enemies in the trenches meant that the original deployment had to be adjusted. Paulkoski looked at the factory building glowing red in the distance, wondering whether he should let the sergeant and the others adjust the warning position to the trench, and then lead his men to sneak attack the enemies in the factory building?
Just as I was thinking about it, I heard the sergeant whisper: "Comrade company commander, do you think you can let me take the combat team there, and you and the remaining soldiers will stay in the trenches to serve as guards?"
"Okay." Paulkoski felt that the sergeant's suggestion was more reasonable, so he readily agreed: "Comrade sergeant, take your team over and have a look, and throw two grenades at each fire. After you blow up the enemy, pull back immediately and we will provide you with cover."
After getting Paulkoski's consent, the sergeant led the combat team across the trenches and dispersed into formations to cautiously move toward the factory building. But when they were still more than thirty meters away from the factory, there was a sudden "boom" and a huge fire ball rose up in the middle of them, as if a cannonball landed in the middle of them and exploded.
Seeing four of his men fall in the flames, Paulkoski couldn't help but be startled. Could it be that there was an enemy mortarman hiding nearby, and when he saw someone approaching the factory, he opened fire without hesitation? Not long after this idea came up, he denied it. If it was a mortar attack, in such a quiet night, you would definitely be able to hear the sound of the shell being ejected. I didn't hear any sound, so it must have been the combat team led by the sergeant who stepped on a mine.
He made a prompt decision and whispered to the soldiers around him: "Follow me up and carry your wounded comrades back." As soon as he finished speaking, the enemies in the factory were already alerted, and the machine guns set up inside were firing. He got up, but because the machine gunner was dazzled by the light of the bonfire, and he didn't know where the attacking Soviet troops were, he just shot aimlessly. The fight was quite fierce, but not a single bullet was fired. Hit any target.
Paulkoski led several soldiers and quickly approached the position where the sergeant and the others fell, using the cover of the bomb crater. He crawled to the sergeant's side, stretched out his hand to check his breathing, and found that the other man had stopped breathing. The few soldiers who came with him also quickly checked the situation of the other three comrades. Soon, they reported to Paulkoski: "Comrade company commander, one person died and two were seriously injured. What will we do next?" Do?"
"Put the wounded on your back and move them immediately." Paulkoski said to them: "The enemy will chase them out soon."
The soldiers quickly carried the wounded on their backs and stumbled along the original road, running towards the trenches. Paulkoski stayed behind, hiding in a crater, preparing to block the enemies who were chasing them out of the factory.
Before the soldiers carrying the wounded could run into the trenches, a group of enemies rushed out of the factory shouting. Paulkoski, who was hiding in the crater, picked up the submachine gun in his hand, aimed at the enemy and pulled the trigger. Half a round of bullets were fired, and the two German soldiers rushing in front fell to the ground. The soldiers following behind quickly fell down on the spot.
Seeing the enemy lying down, Paulkoski turned around and saw that the soldiers carrying the wounded had entered the trench. He threw several grenades in the direction where the enemy was lying, taking advantage of the explosion. Using the smoke of gunpowder as a cover, he quickly left a crater and ran towards the trench.
Paulkoski jumped into the trench, and immediately a soldier came over and asked with concern: "Comrade company commander, are you not injured?"
"No." Paulkoski shook his head and thought in annoyance: "It's really unlucky. First, the sewer leading to the factory was blocked by the enemy. Then the combat team sent to sneak attack the factory stepped on the enemy's buried trap. Mines, tonight’s operation is a complete failure.”
The German soldiers lying on the ground saw that the attacker threw a few grenades and then stopped moving. They guessed that the attacker must be trying to escape, so they crawled up from the ground one after another, shouting and rushing up.
Even though the number of German soldiers rushing up was twice as many as his own, Paulkoski and the others hiding in the trenches could rely on the favorable terrain to repel the enemy's attack. Paulkoski shouted loudly: "Comrades, get ready for battle! Fire when the enemy gets close!"
When the German soldiers were still more than thirty meters away from the trenches and Paulkoski was about to give the order to fire, the scream of artillery shells suddenly came from the sky, and then a series of artillery shells fell and exploded in the enemy's ranks. In an instant, the enemies rushing toward the trenches were enveloped in firelight and gunpowder smoke.
Seeing the enemy rushing up and being wiped out by the sudden shells, Paulkoski, who was hiding in the trench, was dumbfounded. He looked at the enemies strewn with corpses not far away and murmured: "What the hell, where did this come from?" There are shells flying from all over the place.”
