Uzakov did not answer immediately. Instead, he grabbed the submachine gun placed on the table, put on a steel helmet, and said to the chief of staff: "Let the first battalion commander pay attention, and I will go outside to take a look."
Hearing that the brigade commander wanted to go outside to take a look, the chief of staff grabbed his hand and said anxiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, it's too dangerous outside. It's better to let others figure out the situation."
"Chief of Staff, if I don't understand the enemy situation outside, how can I command the battle?" Uzakov knew that the Chief of Staff was worried about his own safety, so he comforted him and said, "Don't worry, I just went to the bell tower of the church. Not going outside the town.”
Although Uzakov had already stated that he would not go outside the town, the chief of staff was still worried and called a guard platoon leader when he went out and ordered him to lead someone to protect Uzakov's safety.
Uzhakov came to the bell tower of the church, raised his binoculars and looked towards the area of firefight.
Since the moon had been obscured by dark clouds, he, like the soldiers who were on guard duty outside the town, could only see the muzzle flash when the gun was fired, and could not see how many enemies there were at all.
Uzakov thought for a while, then turned around and told the guard platoon leader standing behind him: "Comrade platoon leader, go back immediately and tell the chief of staff and ask him to order the first battalion commander to launch flares."
"Fire flares?!" Upon hearing Uzakov's order, the guard platoon leader froze.
"Comrade platoon leader, why are you standing there in a daze?" Seeing the guard platoon leader standing still, Uzhakov said with a bit of laughter and laughter: "Now I can't see the enemy's situation clearly at all, and I can't command the battle. Let's. The first battalion immediately launched flares, and I was able to figure out the enemy's strength and distribution, so that I could make a correct judgment."
The guard platoon leader responded, turned around and ran down the bell tower.
A few minutes later, Uzakov heard a faint banging sound above his head, and at the same moment, a dim white light illuminated everything around him. He quickly raised his binoculars and looked towards the place where the firefight was taking place. He saw five or six black figures lying in the ravine on the left side, shooting from time to time. On the right side, in the open space more than 30 meters away, several corpses were lying in a mess, and the remaining people were lying on the ground, shooting back at the enemy.
Just when he was about to put down the telescope and turn around to return to the command post, he unexpectedly saw a group of black figures in the distance through the telescope lens, bending over and running towards the fighting area.
"Damn it, are the Germans reinforcing them again?" Uzhakov thought to himself, and moved his eyes closer to the camera again, carefully observing the group of approaching black figures.
The black shadow seen by Uzakov was the soldiers led by the deputy company commander. They came to support their comrades who were nearby. Just when the deputy company commander felt that the light was too dark to see clearly where the enemy was, two flares rose in the sky, clearly illuminating the location where the Germans were hiding. Now that they could clearly see the enemy's position, they quickly found bunkers and shot at the promising targets.
The German soldiers who carried out the ambush never imagined that a small force would emerge from behind them. According to their thinking, even if the Soviet army wanted to support them, the reinforcements would come from the town. Therefore, there were dedicated people monitoring the direction of the town. However, they did not expect that the enemy actually appeared from themselves.
In just a few minutes, three soldiers were shot to death. The remaining three soldiers hid in the ravine and kept changing their positions to shoot, so that the deputy company commander and others did not dare to approach easily.
Seeing this situation, Uzakov turned around and walked down the bell tower and returned to his command post. He picked up the phone and said to the first battalion commander: "First battalion commander, have you clearly seen the enemy's location?"
"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." The first battalion commander quickly replied: "You can see it very clearly."
"Now that you have clearly seen the position of the Germans, what are you still doing?" Uzhakov said loudly into the microphone: "Kill them all with mortars immediately."
After receiving the order, the battalion commander immediately ordered the mortar platoon to set up only six mortars and bombard the enemy's hiding position. The shell flew past with a roar, landed on the edge of a ditch and exploded, sending plumes of black smoke mixed with soil into the sky.
The mortar crew's shooting speed was very fast. As soon as the shell there hit the ground, the new shell here was already out of the chamber. The shells exploded and caused countless mud balls to rise into the sky. The mud falling from the sky fell on the German soldiers hiding in the ravine.
Seeing that the enemy was suppressed by artillery fire and unable to move in the ravine, the first battalion commander quickly sent out another platoon of soldiers, carrying two machine guns, and went forward to a position less than fifty meters away from the ravine. The enemy cannot escape.
When one of the German soldiers was unfortunately directly hit by a shell, his body was scattered in pieces by the blast of air, which frightened the other soldier. He quickly raised his hands in the air, stood up from the ravine, and shouted loudly : "Stop firing, surrender, I surrender!"
However, his shouts were masked by the rumble of artillery, and the surrounding Soviet soldiers could not hear him at all. On the contrary, the machine gunner not far away saw a German soldier emerging from the ravine and immediately pulled the trigger at him. After a burst of intensive gunfire, the German soldier was hit by more than a dozen bullets and fell on his back in the ravine.
Mortars fired more than ten rounds at a time, and the ravine area was shrouded in black smoke. Upon seeing this, the first battalion commander knew that the enemy was almost dead, so he issued the order to attack.
When soldiers from the first battalion rushed forward, they found only six German corpses in the gully, and not a single one alive.
When the deputy company commander saw that the enemy had been eliminated, he stood up, walked over, and asked the soldiers loudly: "Brothers, I am the deputy company commander of the third battalion and the ninth company. Which part do you belong to?"
"We are in the first battalion." A sergeant came over and said to the deputy company commander: "I will take you to see our battalion commander."
After the deputy company commander met the first battalion commander, he followed the first battalion commander to Uzakov's command post.
"Comrade Deputy Company Commander," Uzakov asked after waiting for the Deputy Company Commander to reveal his identity, "Why did you come back to town overnight? Did something happen?"
"Yes, Comrade Brigade Commander." The deputy company commander reported to Uzakov: "There were Germans sneak attack on our position. The company commander was worried that the enemy might have some conspiracy, so he ordered me to come back overnight to report to you." Then, He gave a detailed report to Uzakov about how he accidentally discovered two groups of enemies while sleeping in the village.
After listening to the deputy company commander's report, Uzakov said thoughtfully: "Comrade deputy company commander, if according to what you just said, the enemies who bypass your defense line are divided into two parts, and one part goes to sneak attack your position. They were eliminated by you. But the other part quietly came outside the town, are they planning to attack our headquarters?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I don't think so." In response to Uzakov's statement, the Chief of Staff shook his head and retorted: "If they are planning to attack our headquarters, I don't think they will be able to attack our headquarters when the deputy company commander and others appear. , they rashly opened fire and exposed their target. There were only six of them, while we had more than 3,000 people. It would be too far-fetched to use six people to deal with more than 3,000 people. Therefore, I think the purpose of their coming was, It’s not a sneak attack on the headquarters.”
While the two were analyzing the reasons for the appearance of German soldiers outside the town, the phone on the table rang. The chief of staff picked it up and listened for a moment, then quickly handed the microphone to Uzakov and said respectfully: "Comrade Brigadier, this is the call from the commander."
Uzhakov took the phone and put it to his ear. Sure enough, he heard Sokov's voice coming from inside: "Lieutenant Colonel Uzhakov, someone reported to me that they heard the news from Yakovsky where you are. From the direction of Wo Town, gunshots and cannon fire were heard. What on earth is going on and why don’t you report it to me.”
"Comrade Commander, only a few German soldiers have been eliminated by us." Faced with Sokov's doubts, Uzakov said with a smile: "I think you must have fallen asleep, so there is no reason for this." Little things bother you."
Uzakov guessed correctly. Sokov had already fallen asleep, but was woken up by Chief of Staff Samyko. The latter reported to him: "Comrade Commander, I just received a report from the observation post. There were gunfire and artillery sounds from the direction of Yakovlevo. It seems that a battle is underway."
In order to facilitate the command of operations, Sokov's headquarters has been moved from the Pushor River to a place less than five kilometers away from the town of Yakovlevo. In the dead of night, you can indeed hear gunshots and explosions coming from the direction of the town.
Since the town of Yakovlevo is the closest stronghold to the enemy, Sokov is very concerned about anything that happens there. After learning that there were gunshots and explosions coming from the direction of the town, he quickly asked Samyko: "Does Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov have any report?"
"No." Samyko shook his head and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov didn't call."
The war was imminent, and any small negligence might lead to a big mistake. Sokov, who knew this truth well, took the initiative to call Uzakov and asked what happened outside the town.
After listening to Uzhakov's detailed report, he frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think these Germans are lurking outside your town?"
Uzakov was stunned by Sokov's words. After a long time, he murmured: "Comrade Commander, I think this should be a German scout. In order to find out our deployment, he even prepared Capture some sentries."
"Since you think they are scouts, have you found the radio they used?" Sokov asked.
Hearing Sokov's question, Uzakov quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked the battalion commander standing aside: "First battalion commander, after you eliminated those enemies, did you find the radio they carried. "
"No." The battalion commander shook his head and replied: "It's too dark outside, and we didn't find any radio stations."
"Immediately arrange manpower to search, and we must find the enemy's radio station. Move quickly!" After assigning the task to the first battalion commander, Uzakov released his hand covering the microphone and said to Sokov: "Commander Comrade, I have ordered my subordinates to go to where the Germans are hiding to search for the radios they carry. I believe it will not take long to get results."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, I don't think so." In response to Uzakov's statement, the Chief of Staff shook his head and retorted: "If they are planning to attack our headquarters, I don't think they will be able to attack our headquarters when the deputy company commander and others appear. , they rashly opened fire and exposed their target. There were only six of them, while we had more than 3,000 people. It would be too far-fetched to use six people to deal with more than 3,000 people. Therefore, I think the purpose of their coming was, It’s not a sneak attack on the headquarters.”
While the two were analyzing the reasons for the appearance of German soldiers outside the town, the phone on the table rang. The chief of staff picked it up and listened for a moment, then quickly handed the microphone to Uzakov and said respectfully: "Comrade Brigadier, this is the call from the commander."
Uzhakov took the phone and put it to his ear. Sure enough, he heard Sokov's voice coming from inside: "Lieutenant Colonel Uzhakov, someone reported to me that they heard the news from Yakovsky where you are. From the direction of Wo Town, gunshots and cannon fire were heard. What on earth is going on and why don’t you report it to me.”
"Comrade Commander, only a few German soldiers have been eliminated by us." Faced with Sokov's doubts, Uzakov said with a smile: "I think you must have fallen asleep, so there is no reason for this." Little things bother you."
Uzakov guessed correctly. Sokov had already fallen asleep, but was woken up by Chief of Staff Samyko. The latter reported to him: "Comrade Commander, I just received a report from the observation post. There were gunfire and artillery sounds from the direction of Yakovlevo. It seems that a battle is underway."
In order to facilitate the command of operations, Sokov's headquarters has been moved from the Pushor River to a place less than five kilometers away from the town of Yakovlevo. In the dead of night, you can indeed hear gunshots and explosions coming from the direction of the town.
Since the town of Yakovlevo is the closest stronghold to the enemy, Sokov is very concerned about anything that happens there. After learning that there were gunshots and explosions coming from the direction of the town, he quickly asked Samyko: "Does Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov have any report?"
"No." Samyko shook his head and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov didn't call."
The war was imminent, and any small negligence might lead to a big mistake. Sokov, who knew this truth well, took the initiative to call Uzakov and asked what happened outside the town.
After listening to Uzhakov's detailed report, he frowned and thought for a while, then asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what do you think these Germans are lurking outside your town?"
Uzakov was stunned by Sokov's words. After a long time, he murmured: "Comrade Commander, I think this should be a German scout. In order to find out our deployment, he even prepared Capture some sentries."
"Since you think they are scouts, have you found the radio they used?" Sokov asked.
Hearing Sokov's question, Uzakov quickly covered the microphone with his hand and asked the battalion commander standing nearby: "First battalion commander, after you eliminated those enemies, did you find the radio they carried. "
"No." The battalion commander shook his head and replied: "It's too dark outside, and we didn't find any radio stations."
"Immediately arrange manpower to search, and we must find the enemy's radio station. Move quickly!" After assigning the task to the first battalion commander, Uzakov released his hand covering the microphone and said to Sokov: "Commander Comrade, I have ordered my subordinates to go to where the Germans are hiding to search for the radios they carry. I believe it won’t take long to get results.”
