Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov's infantry brigade made huge sacrifices when assisting the 188th Division in the defensive war. Two of the four battalions in the brigade had empty designations, and the casualties of the remaining two battalions exceeded one-third.
Upon receiving Samyko's notice, Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov suddenly felt like bread was falling from the sky. He quickly summoned several battalion commanders and said to them: "Comrade battalion commanders, I have some good news for you... …”
Before he finished speaking, the battalion commander couldn't wait to ask: "Comrade Brigade Commander, are the superiors going to replenish our troops?"
The words of the first battalion commander immediately aroused the interest of several other battalion commanders, especially the third and fourth battalion commanders. Their battalions had been assigned empty numbers, and all the commanders and fighters added up were not enough to form a platoon.
"Yes, and no." After Uzakov said this, he saw everyone looking at him with doubts, and quickly explained: "I just received a call from the Chief of Staff, General Samyko, saying that the commander ordered We went to the forest near Yakovlevo to capture the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp and rescue our commanders and fighters imprisoned inside."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the third battalion commander suddenly lost interest when he heard that his superiors ordered the infantry brigade to attack the prisoner of war camp: "Even if we rescue all the commanders and fighters held in the prisoner of war camp, they will be sent to the rear for review. We Why waste our troops in these places?"
"Comrade Major, I don't think you understand the commander's intention." Seeing the commander of the third battalion pouring cold water on him, Uzhakov felt a little unhappy, but he still patiently explained to everyone: "If other superiors If such an order is given to us, I may find a way to evade it, but I must unconditionally carry out this order given by the commander."
"Why?" the third battalion commander asked curiously.
"The reason is very simple," Uzakov explained to the third battalion commander and everyone: "As far as I know, every time the troops under the command of the commander liberate a prisoner-of-war camp, they will not send the commanders and fighters detained there to the rear. Instead, they were directly incorporated into the army after a simple screening. The purpose of doing this was to consider that the captured commanders and fighters were all veterans or combat backbones with combat experience. After being incorporated into the team, they could not only make up for the The loss of soldiers also ensures that combat effectiveness will not be diluted.”
"Comrade Brigadier," the second battalion commander heard this and couldn't help but interject: "If he does this, isn't he afraid that his superiors will hold him accountable?"
"Anyway, so far, he has not been criticized by his superiors for this matter." When Uzakov said this, he suddenly remembered Sokov's words and said casually: "Comrade Commander once It has been said: The victor should not be blamed. If these rescued commanders and fighters can achieve a series of results after being rejoined in the army, who will investigate their identities?"
After Uzakov's explanation, everyone finally understood that Sokov was different from the superior leaders they were familiar with. In the past, many troops were unwilling to liberate knowingly that there were prisoner of war camps nearby, because the rescued commanders and fighters could not replenish the troops, but also had to be sent to the rear for review. Therefore, no one was willing to do such a thankless thing. .
"Comrade Brigadier," the second battalion commander asked again, "I wonder how many German guards there are in the prisoner of war camp we are going to liberate, and how many of our comrades are there? Also, once they are rescued, what can they do to us? How much more troops will be added to the brigade?"
"As for the situation in the prisoner-of-war camp, all I know now is that there are about a thousand commanders and combatants inside, and they are not guarded by Germans, but by Italians." Uzakov said to his subordinates: "Comrade Commander, I would like to express my gratitude to you." I promise that once this prisoner of war camp is liberated, the rescued commanders and fighters inside can be given priority to replenish our brigade."
Uzakov's words made several battalion commanders happy. They no longer questioned whether they should liberate this prisoner of war camp, but asked the brigade commander when to set off and which battalion would take the lead. What they were thinking was that since the defenders of the prisoner-of-war camp were not Germans but Italians with low combat effectiveness, it would not be easy to capture the prisoner-of-war camp.
"The third and fourth battalions are now just empty frames and are not suitable to participate in any battles. They will move with the brigade headquarters later." Seeing the eagerness of several battalion commanders, Uzakov began to make arrangements Mission: "The second battalion takes the lead, and the first battalion serves as the reserve team."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the troops of the third and fourth battalion commanders were exhausted. They knew that this main attack mission had nothing to do with them, so after listening to Uzakov's deployment, they looked indifferent. But when the first battalion commander learned that his unit was to serve as a reserve unit, he immediately became anxious: "Our battalion has the largest number of remaining troops in the entire brigade. Why are we being asked to serve as a reserve unit? You know, we are fully capable of serving as the main offensive force." Task."
"First Battalion Commander, please be quiet!" Uzakov raised his right hand and pressed his palm down, signaling to the First Battalion Commander to listen to his explanation. After the first battalion commander calmed down, he said: "I know that your battalion currently has the largest number of troops in the entire brigade. Because of this, I decided to let you serve as the reserve team."
Seeing the puzzled look of the first battalion commander, Uzakov continued: "As a commander, when formulating a combat plan, you must take the worst case scenario into consideration. Now your battalion is the main force of the entire brigade. If your battalion is used as the main attack, if an accident occurs, the prisoner of war camp will be unable to be taken, and the enemy reinforcements will come up from other directions. Will the second battalion, which is weaker than yours, be able to stop them?"
After listening to what Uzakov said, the first battalion commander thought about it carefully and found that what the brigade commander said was very reasonable. Although the enemy's prisoner-of-war camp is not very well guarded, no one can guarantee that there will be no accidents during the attack. If it really happens that the prisoner of war camp cannot be taken down, and the enemy reinforcements rush up from other directions, the strength of the second battalion may not be able to stop the enemy.
Thinking of this, the battalion commander changed his mind. He quickly straightened his body and said to Uzakov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, please rest assured that our battalion will definitely live up to your expectations."
The soldiers were very fast. Less than ten minutes after the meeting ended, the commanders and fighters of the second battalion were assembled and set off towards the location of the prisoner of war camp. It was about ten kilometers from here to the prisoner of war camp. If they didn't encounter the enemy along the way, they could reach their destination within two hours.
Half an hour after the second battalion set off, the first battalion, the third battalion, the fourth battalion and the brigade headquarters also left the camp after completing their assembly and set off in the direction of the prisoner of war camp.
The Second Battalion, which served as the vanguard, approached the forest where the prisoner of war camp was located after marching for one hour and forty-five minutes. At this time, he served as the platoon leader of the sharp knife platoon and sent a scout to the second battalion commander.
The young scout came to the second battalion commander, raised his hand and saluted him, and then reported: "Comrade Major, Scout Sashiko is reporting to you. I am following your order, please give instructions!"
"Hello, Comrade Sashiko!" Although Sashiko is just an ordinary soldier, for the second battalion commander, the other party can provide him with useful information. He quickly held his hand and said enthusiastically: "I wonder if you could tell me about the situation in the prisoner of war camp?"
Sashiko nodded and said to the second battalion commander: "Comrade Major, in the clearing outside the forest, there is a relatively large prisoner of war camp, which contains about a thousand captured commanders and fighters of our army. Guard them. They were not Germans, but Italians, about a company's worth of troops."
"Do they have heavy weapons?" the second battalion commander asked.
Sashiko shook his head slightly and said: "Except for one machine gun on each of the six watchtowers around the prisoner of war camp and two machine guns at the gate, there are no other firepower points. There must be no heavy weapons such as mortars." arms."
After the second battalion commander got the information he wanted from Sasiko, he raised his hand and patted the opponent's shoulder hard twice, and said in an approving tone: "Comrade soldier, thank you. Wait until we capture the enemy's prisoners of war." Ying, I will definitely ask for credit for you."
When the second battalion commander continued on his way, he suddenly remembered something important and asked again: "By the way, comrade soldier, why are you the only one, where are the others?"
"There are a total of six people in our reconnaissance team. The team leader is Sergeant Lakuri. He is currently leading people at the edge of the forest to monitor the enemy's prisoner of war camp." Sahiko replied: "If there is any movement, he will immediately Sound the alarm.”
Ten minutes later, the second battalion commander met Sergeant Lakuri, the leader of the reconnaissance team. He shook hands with the other person and then asked: "Comrade Sergeant, how is the situation?"
"It's still the same." Lakuri replied: "There are six watchtowers around the prisoner of war camp, but after careful observation, I found that only three of them had people on them, and one of them was using a searchlight to observe the situation in the camp. There are Several patrol teams have been patrolling non-stop, but other than that, no other enemies have been found."
"Ah?!" After listening to Lakuri's narration, the second battalion commander said with some surprise: "The enemy's defense is so lax, there can't be any tricks, right?"
"Comrade Major, I feel that the enemy's defense is so lax because they feel that this place is far away from the front line and it is impossible for our army to get close to it, so they appear to be a little careless." Lakuri expressed his judgment to the second battalion commander: " Besides, the Italians’ fighting ability is inherently poor, and their defense is lax, which is normal.”
"Fourth company commander, your company will take the lead later..." After the second battalion commander learned what he wanted to know from Lakuri, he called the fourth company commander in front of him and said to him: "Although the enemy The combat effectiveness is weak, but when you approach the prisoner of war camp, you should try not to make any noise. It is best to wait until you are close to the barbed wire fence before firing at the exposed enemies."
"Understood, Comrade Major." The fourth company commander replied in a low voice.
"Comrade Captain," Lakuri said when he saw the fourth company commander turning to leave, he specifically warned him: "Soldiers must be careful when shooting, so as not to hurt any of your own people in the camp."
"I know." The fourth company commander said lightly, then turned and left, going back to his company for combat deployment.
"Comrade Sergeant, I understand your mood." After the second battalion commander waited for the fourth company commander to go away, he said to Lakuri: "Our soldiers will be careful when shooting. However, the bullets have no eyes, and some accidental injuries occurred. It is inevitable, and you must be mentally prepared.”
A quarter of an hour later, the commander of the fourth company saw that all his soldiers had entered the attack position, and he issued an order in a low voice: "Advance...!" As the order was issued, the commanders and fighters of the fourth company got up from the ground and entered in a skirmish line. Waist-deep in the grass, he walked toward the prisoner of war camp in the distance.
Seeing that the officers and men of the Fourth Company were still seventy or eighty meters away from the prisoner of war camp, at this moment, the second battalion commander saw a ball of fire rising in the queue, and a loud noise was heard, and then several soldiers around the fire fell down. .
"Did the enemy fire?" the second battalion commander asked himself silently in his heart, but he quickly denied this guess: "No, I didn't hear the sound or fire of the cannon. It should have been our soldiers stepping on it." Landmines."
As the landmines exploded, shouts came one after another in the prisoner of war camp. Soon, the second battalion commander saw countless figures running in the prisoner of war camp, and then the machine guns on the watchtower and the soldiers behind the barbed wire began to fire at the moving black figures. The horrifying sound of gunfire sounded particularly clear in the night, and a large piece of the advancing soldiers of the fourth company fell with a roar.
The last thing the second battalion commander wanted to see happened happened. He immediately stood up straight and shouted at several machine guns set up nearby: "Machine gun, shoot, be sure to suppress the enemy's firepower!"
"Comrade Captain," Lakuri said when he saw the fourth company commander turning to leave, he specifically warned him: "Soldiers must be careful when shooting, so as not to hurt any of your own people in the camp."
"I know." The fourth company commander said lightly, then turned and left, going back to his company for combat deployment.
"Comrade Sergeant, I understand your mood." After the second battalion commander waited for the fourth company commander to walk away, he said to Lakuri: "Our soldiers will be careful when shooting. However, the bullets have no eyes, and some accidental injuries occurred. It is inevitable, and you must be mentally prepared.”
A quarter of an hour later, the commander of the fourth company saw that all his soldiers had entered the attack position, and he issued an order in a low voice: "Advance...!" As the order was issued, the commanders and fighters of the fourth company got up from the ground and entered in a skirmish line. Waist-deep in the grass, he walked toward the prisoner of war camp in the distance.
Seeing that the officers and men of the Fourth Company were still seventy or eighty meters away from the prisoner of war camp, at this moment, the second battalion commander saw a ball of fire rising in the queue, and a loud noise was heard, and then several soldiers around the fire fell down. .
"Did the enemy fire?" the second battalion commander asked himself silently in his heart, but he quickly denied this guess: "No, I didn't hear the sound of the artillery being ejected or the light of fire. It should have been our soldiers stepping on it." Landmines."
As the landmines exploded, shouts came one after another in the prisoner of war camp. Soon, the second battalion commander saw countless figures running in the prisoner of war camp, and then the machine guns on the watchtower and the soldiers behind the barbed wire began to fire at the moving black figures. The horrifying sound of gunfire sounded particularly clear in the night, and a large piece of the advancing soldiers of the fourth company fell with a roar.
The last thing the second battalion commander wanted to see happened happened. He immediately stood up straight and shouted at several machine guns set up nearby: "Machine gun, shoot, be sure to suppress the enemy's firepower!"
