After repelling the German 333rd Infantry Division, calm returned to Luhansk.
On the second day after the German army retreated, two tank brigades, an artillery division and a rocket launcher battalion sent by the front army headquarters also arrived in Luhansk. The sudden addition of so many tanks and artillery to the city was a great joy for Sokov. In this way, he would have enough strength to resist the German attack.
Sokov personally took Samoilov's guard platoon to inspect the artillery division's defense area, and had an in-depth discussion with the division commander, Colonel Miyakotin, on the issue of providing artillery support to the defenders. By the time he left the artillery division headquarters, it was already dark.
"Comrade Division Commander," Sokov originally wanted to inspect the defense area of the 75th Guards Division after leaving the artillery division's headquarters, but Samoylov reminded him: "It's already very late. If you want I think we should go to the 75th Guards Division tomorrow. There may be German spies lurking in the city. If they hide in the ruins and make cold shots, we may have difficulty ensuring your safety."
When Sokov thought that this was really the case, he nodded and said: "Okay, let's go back to the division headquarters first, and then check the defense situation of the Gorishny Division tomorrow."
Seeing that Sokov followed his advice, Samoilov couldn't help but feel secretly happy. He knew that his division commander wanted to run around all day long, which made his security work more difficult. It was getting late now. If he was still wandering around the city, who knew if something would happen. Since he promised to return to the headquarters, that would be the best.
Sokov walked down the street toward his headquarters, surrounded by a platoon of guards. On the way, he also asked Samoylov: "Comrade Lieutenant, grassroots commanders have suffered heavy casualties in recent battles. Are you interested in joining a grassroots company and becoming a company commander or deputy battalion commander?"
"Comrade division commander, I still want to stay with you as a platoon leader." Samoilov said sincerely: "I come from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and have rich experience in security. But I have to serve as a commander at the grassroots level. As a member of the Communist Party of China, I find it difficult to fulfill this position.”
In fact, Sokov couldn't bear to leave Samoilov. With this commander from the Ministry of Internal Affairs by his side, not only would the safety factor be greatly increased, but some people would also feel more at ease about themselves. "Okay," he said reasonably: "Since you don't want to be a commander at the grassroots level, then just stay with me. Don't worry, I won't treat you badly."
As they were walking forward, a soldier in front suddenly asked loudly: "Hey, which part are you from?"
Hearing the soldiers' shouts, Sokov quickly looked forward and saw a patrol of seven or eight people approaching. With the bright moonlight, he could vaguely see the submachine guns slung on their shoulders and the uniforms on their uniforms. epaulets.
When the other side's patrol heard the soldiers' shouts, they immediately stopped. The leader, an officer wearing a big-brimmed hat, loudly replied: "We are from the Guard Battalion of the 41st Guards Division. Which part are you in?" "
"We are also from the guard camp." The soldier replied loudly.
"No," Sokov heard the other party's answer and immediately realized that something was wrong. He quickly said to Samoylov beside him: "They are pretended by the enemy!"
"The enemy pretended to be?" Samoilov asked in confusion: "Comrade division commander, why do you say that?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, what's wrong with you? Have you forgotten that the guard camp equipment is all German-style weapons and the soldiers are wearing old-fashioned military uniforms?" Sokov lowered his voice and reminded the other party: "Look at them again, they are all uniform. Popov submachine gun, the military rank is based on shoulder insignia, not the collar insignia commonly used in our division.”
After Sokov's reminder, Samoylov immediately came back to his senses. Today, the guard battalions of the Guards Division are all equipped with German-made weapons and wear old-fashioned military ranks. On the opposite side, they are obviously dressed as friendly troops. How could he be a soldier from the guard camp? Wanting to understand this, Samoylov quickly reminded the surrounding soldiers in a low voice: "Attention, the enemy is coming from the other side, everyone is ready to fight."
The soldiers in the guard platoon were all battle-hardened and had rich combat experience. No one was surprised by Samoylov's order. Instead, they quietly put their fingers on the trigger, pretending to be nothing, and moved towards him. The fake patrol walked over.
As the two sides passed each other, Sokov suddenly shouted: "Fire!"
The soldiers who were already ready to attack immediately opened fire on the enemies. Amidst the intensive gunfire, those people fell down. Two clever soldiers rolled on the spot in a hurry, hid in the ruins nearby, and started a fierce exchange of fire with the guard platoon on the street.
The remaining enemies showed great tenacity at all times, but in the face of the overwhelmingly numerically superior guard platoon, their resistance quickly collapsed. One soldier was beaten into a sieve, and the remaining one obediently threw away his weapon and raised his hands to surrender after draining all the bullets in his gun.
Although the shootout lasted only a short time, it still attracted nearby patrols. It happened that Major Tenev, commander of the security battalion, was patrolling nearby with a patrol. After hearing the gunfire, he immediately led people to come over for support. However, they were still a step late. By the time they arrived at the site of the firefight, the Germans disguised as Soviet troops had been completely wiped out.
Sokov glanced at the prisoner whose hands were cut behind his back by two soldiers, shook his head, and ordered Tenev and Samoylov: "Take him to the headquarters."
A few minutes later, Sokov returned to his headquarters.
Seeing Sokov entering, Vitkov asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, I just heard intensive gunshots coming from outside. What is going on?"
"There was a small German team pretending to be our patrol. I saw through it, and then a firefight broke out." Sokov said to Sidorin and the others who were surrounding them: "Most of the enemies have been killed on the spot, and only a few were caught. A prisoner."
After the prisoner was brought up, Sokov looked at the German wearing the uniform of a Soviet second lieutenant and asked: "Your name, position and rank."
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin reminded Sokov: "Our translator has not arrived yet. Do you think we should wait until the translator arrives before interrogating him?"
"No need," Sokov waved his hand and said, "He can understand Russian. Am I right?" The last sentence was asked while looking at the German prisoner.
"Yes, I understand Russian," the prisoner replied.
"I'll repeat the question I just asked," Sokov said, staring at the other person: "State your name, position, rank, and unit."
The prisoner replied readily: "My name is Felix, I have the rank of second lieutenant, and I am a combat staff officer of the 333rd Infantry Division."
"What is your purpose here?"
"We were ordered to assassinate your combat group commander Sokov." Felix said bitterly: "It's a pity that we were discovered by you just as we approached here." He looked at Sokov and asked, "This Mr. Colonel, I want to ask, I asked myself that my team has no flaws, how did you find out?"
"In the eyes of others, your dress and even your every move during the march are exactly the same as the commanders and fighters of our army." Sokov said with a sneer: "But in my eyes, they are all flaws."
"What's the flaw?" Felix asked.
"If you were pretending to be another unit, you might get away with it." Sokov said, "But you have to pretend to be the guard battalion of the Guards Division. You may not know that the guard battalion is the only one in the entire combat group. All the troops are equipped with German-style equipment, and because there is no time to change their uniforms, they all wear old-fashioned military ranks. But you, all wearing Bobosha submachine guns, and wearing military uniforms that the friendly forces have just changed to defend, this is the biggest flaw. "
"So that's it." Felix learned that it was such a small detail that allowed his disguised army to be seen through. He couldn't help but said in annoyance: "If I had known, I would have pretended to be another army."
"It's useless to pretend to be other troops." Sidorin said coldly: "Since this became the temporary headquarters of the combat cluster, all the troops patrolling outside have been replaced by division guard battalions. Even if other troops are here, , will also be subject to strict interrogation, and you may also have your identity discovered."
"Second Lieutenant Felix," Bely, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected and asked, "You said you are from the 333rd Infantry Division, so let me ask you, where are you from?"
"I am a Brandenburger." Felix replied: "Almost all the members of the 333rd Infantry Division are from Brandenburg."
"What a pity." Sokov sighed unexpectedly when he heard this. "It is a great tragedy that an elite force was used as an ordinary force."
When everyone heard what Sokov said, there were expressions of astonishment on their faces. Vitkov asked: "Comrade Commander, why do you say that?"
"On the eve of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the German army sent a large number of personnel to sneak into our country." Sokov said to everyone: "These people are wearing our army's uniforms and our army's equipment. They are destroying us." communication lines, blowing up railways and bridges, attacking our army's headquarters, paralyzing our army's command system. And these troops who carried out the destruction were the German Brandenburg troops.
I didn't expect that a unit with such great military achievements would be used as an ordinary unit after it was expanded into a division. It was such a pity. If they continue to do what they did before, disguised and dispersed to fight in the rear of our army, we will be devastated. "
Seeing that Sokov had such a high opinion of the Brandenburg troops, Felix couldn't help but feel a little fond of him. He couldn't help but asked curiously: "Mr. Colonel, can I ask, who are you?" "
"Who am I?" Sokov chuckled and replied: "Second Lieutenant Felix, I am the target you want to assassinate this time.
——Colonel Sokov, commander of the combat group. "
