"Don't shoot, my own men!" The deputy company commander pressed his body tightly to the ground to prevent any soldier from pulling the trigger due to nervousness. Lying on the ground can reduce the chance of being shot, and shouted loudly at the same time Said: "I am the deputy company commander!"
Although the deputy company commander's voice came from the grass, the soldiers did not dare to relax their vigilance. The weapons in their hands were still pointed at the grass, ready to fire at any time.
The second platoon leader, holding a submachine gun, moved cautiously toward the grass and asked loudly: "Deputy company commander, are you in there?"
"It's me, it's me." The person who heard the question outside was the second platoon commander. The deputy company commander seemed to grasp a life-saving straw and said repeatedly: "Second platoon commander, it's me. I am the deputy company commander. I am now Stand up and tell the soldiers to put down their guns to avoid accidental injuries."
After confirming that the person hiding in the grass was the deputy company commander, the second platoon leader quickly shouted to the surrounding soldiers: "Put down your guns, don't accidentally injure the deputy company commander."
Seeing that the soldiers had all put their hands down, the deputy company commander crawled out of the grass in embarrassment. As soon as he came out, he couldn't wait to ask the second platoon leader: "How is it? How many enemies have been eliminated?"
The second platoon leader replied: "I don't know the exact number, but according to my estimate, there may be more than a dozen."
The deputy company commander pointed at the corpse on the ground with his hand and said to the second platoon leader: "Before I discovered this group of enemies, I saw several German soldiers heading towards the north of the village. You immediately lead the people and continue towards the village. Search north and we must find them."
"Yes!" The second platoon leader agreed loudly, then turned and shouted to his subordinates: "Follow me!"
When the second platoon leader led the soldiers to search north, the deputy company commander quickly returned to the company command post.
Lieutenant Paul, who was worried about the safety of the deputy company commander, saw the deputy company commander entering the door and asked anxiously: "Comrade deputy company commander, where did you go just now? I thought something happened to you."
"Comrade company commander, the enemy just touched the wooden house where I was sleeping. Fortunately, they didn't find me." The deputy company commander explained to Paul: "I had the opportunity to shoot as a warning."
Although Paul had already guessed that the person who fired the warning shot was the deputy company commander, when he heard these words from his own mouth, he still asked with lingering fear: "Comrade deputy company commander, since you have discovered the enemy, you should come back immediately. Report to me instead of risking your life."
Hearing Paul's words that were clearly reproachful but actually concerned, the deputy company commander grinned and then said: "Comrade company commander, when I discovered the first group of enemies, I also wanted to come back and report to you immediately, but who knew Before I could leave the cabin, a second group of enemies appeared again. I saw that they were heading towards our position, and I was worried that the soldiers would not be able to detect it and might suffer heavy losses, so I decisively fired warning shots."
"Wait a minute, you said there were two groups of enemies?" Paul sensed something was wrong from the deputy company commander's words, and quickly asked: "You said you saw two groups of enemies?"
"Yes, there are about five or six enemies in the first group, all carrying submachine guns. They are heading north of the village." The deputy company commander reported to Paul: "I have ordered the second platoon leader to search north with the soldiers. Moving forward, I believe we will soon find traces of these enemies.”
"Comrade Deputy Company Commander, something is wrong."
"Something's wrong!"
"Think about it, the two groups of enemies only have more than 20 people in total. Even if they attack our position together, they will probably be very weak." Paul analyzed to the deputy company commander: "But they happened to be divided into two groups. After entering the village, they moved north and south at the same time. Tell me, what do they want to do?"
If Paul didn't say so, the deputy company commander really didn't expect the reason why the enemy appeared here. In his mind, as long as the enemy appeared in his field of vision, there was only one thing he could do, shoot them without hesitation. As for the purpose of their coming here, that is a matter for the superior leaders to consider.
It is precisely because the deputy company commander held this concept that after hearing Paul's question, he just shook his head and said: "Comrade company commander, I think we should send someone to report the enemy's sneak attack on us to our superiors. As for the enemy I think the superiors will figure out why it is here."
"Deputy company commander," the more Paul thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong, and he quickly ordered the deputy company commander: "You immediately lead a squad, return to Yakovlevo overnight, and report what happened here to the brigade commander."
"Comrade company commander?" Upon hearing Paul's order, the deputy company commander couldn't help but be startled: "You want me to take a squad of soldiers back to Yakovlevo overnight?"
"Yes, Comrade Deputy Company Commander." Paul nodded and said in a positive tone: "I think the enemy may have some conspiracy and must report it to the brigade commander immediately. You just said that there are five or six German soldiers heading north. I'm worried that they have already left the village and lurked in Yakovlevo. If you take too few people and are ambushed by them, you may not be able to return to Yakovlevo."
"I understand, Comrade Company Commander." After hearing Paul's words, the deputy company commander felt that the current situation was more severe than he imagined. Maybe he would see him on his way back to Yakovlevo. The encounter with those German soldiers. However, in order to send the message back safely, he decided to tell the information to every soldier who went back with him. Even if he died, as long as one person returned alive, the information could be sent back.
What happened later proved that Lieutenant Paul's decision was completely correct. The German 255th Infantry Division was lurking two kilometers south of the village. The German soldiers eliminated by Paul and the others were just reconnaissance troops sent by the enemy.
The German division commander heard the gunshots and explosions coming from the abandoned village and realized that the reconnaissance unit he sent had been exchanged fire by the Soviet troops stationed outside the village.
He quickly called his chief of staff and said to him: "Chief of Staff, it seems that the actions of the reconnaissance team have been noticed by the Russians. Can you tell me what we should do?"
"Your Excellency, division commander," the chief of staff said cautiously, "I don't think the Russians can figure out our details at all. They will think that the reconnaissance team they discovered is just a small detachment of our army that has been broken up, and it will not cause any alarm at all. "
"What about our offense?"
"I think after another hour or so, the Russians will let down their guard. At that time, we can send a battalion to quietly approach their position, and then launch a surprise attack to wipe out the Russians outside the village in one fell swoop."
"Where is the first team now?" The German division commander knew very well that the two reconnaissance teams he sent were not operating together. It was the second team that was discovered by the Russians. The first team should still be following the plan. , approaching the town of Yakovlevo.
"A few minutes ago, I received a telegram from the first team." The chief of staff reported: "They have arrived outside the town of Yakovlevo and found that the Russians' defenses are relatively tight. They are looking for opportunities to sneak in. Go into town.”
"The Russians in the villages in front are nothing to worry about. We only need to launch a single charge to wipe them out." The German division commander said: "The main task of our division is to recapture Yakovlev from the Russians. to the town of Vo, and to build a defensive line there to prevent the Russians from approaching Belgorod from that direction.”
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, I really don't understand." The Chief of Staff waited for the Division Commander to finish and then immediately added: "We can obviously attack during the day, so why did our superiors order us to use night attack?"
"The reason is very simple." The German division commander explained to his chief of staff: "The Russians have already taken the initiative on the battlefield. If we launch an attack on Yakovlevo during the day, as long as the Russians send out air force bombing, we will be able to Our troops suffered huge casualties, which led to the failure of our offensive."
"Although we won't be attacked by the Russian air force if we attack at night." After the chief of staff and the division commander finished speaking, he elaborated on his point of view: "But due to low visibility and no cover from artillery and tanks, we can only use simple Infantry attack, so if you want to capture the town of Yakovlevo, you will definitely pay a huge price."
"Chief of Staff, don't you know that when our army retreated from the direction of Oboyan, most of the weapons and equipment had to be discarded because of the pursuit of Sokov's troops?" the German division commander said angrily: " I think even if we attack during the day, we probably won’t get support from artillery and tanks.”
The German division commander was right. In this pursuit, Sokov's troops not only captured thousands of prisoners, but also captured a large number of tanks and artillery. General Polubyarov and two artillerymen were captured. The teacher was so happy that he couldn't open his mouth from ear to ear. These captured equipment were enough to make up for the losses they suffered in the battle.
Besides, after the deputy company commander left the company command post, he led his people directly through the village in order to rush for time. When they came to the north of the village, they met the second platoon leader who was leading the search here.
When the second platoon commander saw the deputy company commander appearing here with a squad of soldiers, he thought the other party was here to support him, so he quickly stepped forward and asked the deputy company commander: "Deputy company commander, are you bringing someone to help me?"
After hearing what the second platoon leader said, the deputy company commander immediately realized that the search to the north of the village had not made any progress. He was afraid that his group would be confronted with these missing German soldiers outside the town of Yakovlevo later. encounter.
He did not answer the second platoon leader's question, but asked: "Have you found any traces of the enemy?"
"No." The second platoon leader shook his head and said with a wry smile: "There are many abandoned houses here, and the weeds are as tall as a person. It is very difficult to search. With just a few of us, we can find the hidden enemies. is very difficult."
"Second platoon leader," after confirming that the second platoon leader had not found the enemy, the deputy company commander said to him: "I am now ordered to return to Yakovlevo town to report the situation. Since you did not search for the enemy, I guess they are hiding in Outside the town, they are waiting for us to enter their attachment circle. Let's do this, you send a squad to follow us five hundred meters behind us. Once we are ambushed by the enemy, you can catch up as soon as possible to reinforce us. "
"No, Comrade Deputy Company Commander, this is too dangerous." But the second platoon leader rejected the Deputy Company Commander's proposal without hesitation and said to him: "If the enemy really ambush outside the town, you will have Life is in danger. Otherwise, I send a squad to clear the way in front. If the enemy really ambush outside the town, they can temporarily attract the enemy's attention and cover your smooth entry into the town."
If it were in the past, with the character of the deputy company commander, he would definitely feel that the second platoon leader's proposal was to sacrifice others to ensure his own safety. However, considering that he was going back to report to the brigade commander this time, if something really happened, the brigade commander in the town would not know what happened at the outpost.
It was out of this consideration that after hesitating for a long time, the deputy company commander finally agreed to the second platoon leader's proposal and asked the soldiers of the second platoon to open the way in front, while his own men followed far behind, ready to respond at any time. .
"Okay, second platoon leader." The deputy company commander nodded and said to the second platoon leader, "Then I'll trouble you."
"Sixth squad leader!" Seeing that the deputy company commander agreed to his proposal, the second platoon leader called over the sixth squad leader and said to him: "Take your squad and move towards Yakovlevo town immediately. Once you encounter the enemy There is an ambush, you must find a way to delay the time and ensure that the deputy company commander and others can enter the town safely."
"Second platoon leader," after confirming that the second platoon leader had not found the enemy, the deputy company commander said to him: "I am now ordered to return to Yakovlevo town to report the situation. Since you did not search for the enemy, I guess they are hiding in Outside the town, they are waiting for us to enter their attachment circle. Let's do this, you send a squad to follow us five hundred meters behind us. Once we are ambushed by the enemy, you can catch up as soon as possible to reinforce us. "
"No, Comrade Deputy Company Commander, this is too dangerous." But the second platoon leader rejected the Deputy Company Commander's proposal without hesitation and said to him: "If the enemy really ambush outside the town, you will have Life is in danger. Otherwise, I send a squad to clear the way in front. If the enemy really ambush outside the town, they can temporarily attract the enemy's attention and cover your smooth entry into the town."
If it were in the past, with the character of the deputy company commander, he would definitely feel that the second platoon leader's suggestion was to sacrifice others to ensure his own safety. However, considering that he was going back to report to the brigade commander this time, if something really happened, the brigade commander in the town would not know what happened at the outpost.
It was out of this consideration that after hesitating for a long time, the deputy company commander finally agreed to the second platoon leader's proposal and asked the soldiers of the second platoon to open the way in front, while his own men followed far behind, ready to respond at any time. .
"Okay, second platoon leader." The deputy company commander nodded and said to the second platoon leader, "Then I'll trouble you."
"Sixth squad leader!" Seeing that the deputy company commander agreed to his proposal, the second platoon leader called over the sixth squad leader and said to him: "Take your squad and move towards Yakovlevo town immediately. Once you encounter the enemy There is an ambush, you must find a way to delay the time and ensure that the deputy company commander and others can enter the town safely."
