When the German firing squad left, they did not take away the bodies of the executed officers, but left them piled in a corner of the execution ground, planning to wait until the next day to send someone to deal with them.
They left on the front foot, and Sokov's scouts sneaked up on the corpses. Except for the two scouts who were on guard, the rest rummaged through the corpses for identification, trying to figure out what unit these dead officers came from.
But after much trouble, nothing was found, and no documents could be found on the body. The commander could only regretfully lead his men out of the execution ground and return to his hiding place.
As soon as they arrived at a safe area, the commander ordered the radio operator: "Operator, immediately send a telegram to the Army Reconnaissance Office, saying that we have searched the executed German officers, but no documents that can prove their identity were found on them. It was impossible to tell which army they belonged to."
The telegram was quickly placed on Sokov's desk. After reading the telegram, he said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since the scouts cannot identify the executed German officers, tell them not to investigate. There is still a lot to do. There is no need to waste it on such unnecessary things."
"Comrade Commander," Samyko reminded Sokov: "If General Konev asks, how should we answer him?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov felt that since it was difficult to find out the truth about this matter, there was no need to waste precious manpower, so he said to Samyko: "Our scouts have more important things to do behind enemy lines. There is no need to waste their energy on this matter. If General Konev asks, it will be up to me to explain to him."
Since Sokov was willing to take responsibility, Samyko no longer insisted on his own point of view, but nodded obediently, picked up the phone and called the reconnaissance office, and asked them to convey Sokov's meaning to the scouts behind enemy lines. .
After Samek put down the microphone, he asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I wonder when Colonel Yakov's hovercraft unit will go to the 384th Division's night attack site?"
"Wait a moment, Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a moment." Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and said to Samyko: "It's not dark yet. If they act too early, they are likely to be killed. The enemy has discovered their whereabouts. To be on the safe side, I think we should wait until after ten o'clock in the evening before setting off."
"Comrade Commander, I think you should talk to Colonel Yakov." Samyko did not raise any objection to Sokov's words, but reminded him: "Maybe he has other ideas."
Sokov and Samyko had been working together for a long time, so he could naturally hear his implication and picked up the phone on the table calmly. After the call was connected, he heard Yakov's voice coming from inside, and said bluntly: "Yasha, please come to my place."
The place where Yakov stayed was not far from Sokov's headquarters. In less than five minutes, he appeared in front of Sokov: "Misha, I am leading people to inspect the hovercraft. If you have anything to say, please tell me quickly. Bar."
"Yasha, in order to prevent your whereabouts from being discovered by the Germans, I plan to let you set off after ten o'clock in the evening."
"That's not possible." Unexpectedly, Yakov said unexpectedly: "The hovercraft is fast, and the route it travels is basically forest and swamp. If you move at night, without lights, accidents can easily happen."
After Yakov finished speaking, he saw that Sokov was silent and continued: "When the hovercraft is driving in the forest, not to mention at night, even during the day, it will inevitably hit the trees, let alone at night. What? In order to avoid such unnecessary losses, I suggest that the hovercraft set off now to avoid accidents when traveling in the forest at night."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Samyko had already said what he wanted to say, and quickly added: "I agree with Colonel Yakov's opinion. It is best to set off before dark so that we can arrive in time. Designated place."
"But, Yasha, what will you do if you are discovered by the enemy?" Sokov said worriedly: "Wouldn't that affect our next move?"
"Misha, you are worrying too much." Yakov said: "It's really because it's not dark yet. Our hovercraft can travel on the road or in the forest at a relatively fast speed, and can completely avoid the enemy's aerial reconnaissance."
"Okay, Yasha." Sokov thought about it carefully and felt that what Yakov said still made some sense. He nodded and agreed to the other party's request: "Then you should set off early. Be sure to pay attention to safety on the road. , I'm waiting for your return."
Shortly after Yakov returned, he set off with the hovercraft unit.
Ever since they set off, Sokov's heart has been hanging on his chest, fearing that something might happen to the other party on the way, and that he might be doomed by then.
However, Yakov seemed to be lucky. An hour later, he sent a telegram to Sokov using the radio of the 384th Infantry Division, saying that he had arrived safely, which put Sokov's hanging heart back in his stomach. inside.
Now that Yakov has safely arrived at the designated location, Sokov is free to focus on other things. He asked Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, have the 299th Guards Regiment that acted as a feint attack withdrawn?"
"All have been withdrawn, Comrade Commander." Samyko reported to Sokov: "When the second battalion of the regiment was retreating, a German armored force came out of the oblique stab and tried to cut off their retreat. , but were repelled by our army's fierce artillery fire." Sameko said with emotion, "You are still thoughtful and guessed that the enemy might use armored troops to cut off our army's retreat, so you specially arranged artillery fire to cover the retreat of the troops. .”
"The Germans are very good at using armored forces on the battlefield. In the early days of the war, our army lacked effective anti-tank means to deal with the German armored forces, and we paid a heavy price." Sokov said with a solemn expression. : "Although the 299th Guards Regiment is our bait to attract the attention of the German army, we cannot let our commanders and soldiers sacrifice themselves at will. We must find a way to allow more people to come back alive."
"Comrade Commander," Sokov said, which touched the past in Samyko's heart. He said with a heavy expression: "I once participated in the Soviet-Finnish war and encountered similar situations. But that one served as a decoy. The troops were not as lucky as the commanders and fighters of the 299th Guards Regiment."
This was the first time Sokov heard Samyko talk about his experience in the Soviet-Finnish war, and he quickly asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened at that time, please tell me the truth."
"The situation at that time was similar to today. The superiors deliberately sent a force to launch an attack on a certain section of the defense line to attract the enemy's attention and cover the main force to break through the enemy's defense line in other sections. Unexpectedly, after the enemy was attacked, , immediately mobilized heavy troops to the area to counterattack our feigned attack troops."
"Then what did your superiors do next?"
"In order to prevent the failure of the plan, our superiors gave us an order not to reinforce the friendly forces that were counterattacked by the enemy, but to allow them to fight the enemy to the death." Sameko said with a painful expression: "In this way, the feint attack troops were quickly destroyed due to lack of support. Soon we were surrounded by the enemy, and in the end we were completely wiped out because we ran out of ammunition and food.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems you have a deep memory of this matter."
Sameko picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette and held it in his mouth. He lit it and took two strong puffs. "My brother and several friends were all in that army. Not even a complete corpse could be found.”
After listening to Samek's words, Sokov didn't know how to comfort him for a while. He could only sigh softly, patted him on the shoulder twice, and sat beside him silently without saying a word.
After a while, Samek finished smoking the cigarette in his hand, put out the cigarette butt in the ashtray on the table, raised his head and looked at Sokov, and regained his former shrewd and capable expression: "Comrade Commander, I'm fine. Okay, is there anything else you need to know?"
"Has Colonel Chuvashov counted the casualties of the 299th Guards Regiment?"
"Please wait a moment, I'll call and ask." After Sameko finished speaking, he dragged the phone on the table in front of him, first shook the crank of the base a few times, then put the phone to his ear and said, "I'm Samyko, get close to the headquarters of the 98th Guards Division and ask for the division commander, Colonel Chuvashov."
Colonel Chuvashov's voice soon appeared on the other end of the phone: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, do you have any latest instructions?"
"Have the casualties of the 299th Guards Regiment been counted?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, the 299th Guards Regiment suffered heavy casualties during this feint attack..."
Samyko had no intention of listening to Chuvashov's misfortune. Instead, he asked straight to the point: "I'm asking you about the casualties in your troops. Don't let the topic go too far."
Seeing that Samyko saw through his little trick, Chuvashov was not upset. After laughing twice, he said to Samyko: "The first battalion to attack the enemy had more than half of its casualties; The third battalion that attacked in the second wave suffered one-third casualties. The second battalion that covered the retreat suffered the most serious casualties, with casualties reaching an astonishing two-thirds."
When Samyko and Chuvashov were on the phone, Sokov stood next to Samyko and listened to the conversation between the two. After listening to Chuvashov's report, Sokov's heart sank suddenly. He knew that this feint attack would definitely cost a lot of casualties, but when he actually heard the casualty figures, he was still a little psychologically unbearable. .
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell Colonel Chuvashov," Sokov said to Samyko: "As soon as the battle to liberate Kharkov is over, we will replenish them. He lost one soldier. I Give him a soldier; if he loses a squad, I will give him a squad. What they have to do now is to find ways to hold the bridge over the Oude River and prevent the Germans from taking it away."
Samyko relayed Sokov's meaning to Chuvasov, who was overjoyed when he heard the news. Chuvasov believed in Sokov's character and knew that the other party would definitely keep his word.
"Comrade Commander," Samyko put down the phone and asked Sokov worriedly: "Do you think that if we let the 299th Guards Regiment launch a feint attack on the enemy today, will it give the enemy a false impression?"
"That's for sure, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov said in a positive tone: "Before the attack, we used intensive artillery fire to launch a fierce bombardment on the enemy's arc position, and put on a formidable posture. The enemy will definitely be fooled by the offensive posture.”
"Although the shelling is fierce, our offensive troops are a bit too few."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget, we also used a tank battalion to attack with the 299th Guards Regiment." Sokov reminded Samyko: "And the first battalion to attack was still in tanks. Under the cover of the enemy, they successfully broke through the defense line of the German 320th Infantry Division, causing the enemy to panic for a time.
As for the fact that we have not invested many troops, it is indeed easy to arouse the enemy's suspicion. However, the heroic performance of our officers and soldiers in the battle should dispel the enemy's doubts. They will think that our purpose in doing this is to expand the area of the landing site so that more troops can be deployed there. "
Samyko thought about what Sokov said, and it seemed that it was really the case. Although their own troops established a landing site on the east coast, which the Germans called a "bridgehead," the area was too small to deploy more troops. If a full-scale attack was to be launched, the landing site must be expanded in advance.
"You are right," Sameko nodded and said: "The combat effectiveness of the 299th Guards Regiment is no less than that of a friendly division. When the enemy sees us using such elite troops to attack them, they will indeed think that we are The purpose of this is to expand the landing site.”
While the two were talking, a combat staff officer hurried over. He handed a telegram in his hand to Sameko and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there is an urgent telegram."
"Emergency telegram?" Sameko asked as he took the telegram casually: "Where did it come from?"
"It is the headquarters of the Voronezh Front."
"Voronezh Front Army Headquarters?!" Hearing what the combat staff said, Sokov was a little puzzled: "Why did General Vatutin send me a telegram?"
"Comrade Commander, no, something big has happened." The answer was soon revealed. Samyko said in panic: "The telegram said that in order to assist our troops in attacking Kharkov from the west, the Voronezh Front sent An infantry division and a tank brigade. But these two troops suddenly lost contact with them when they were close to our defense area. General Vatutin asked us to help find the whereabouts of the two troops."
"What, an infantry division and a tank brigade lost contact with the Voronezh Front Army Headquarters?" Sokov's first reaction when he heard the news was whether the two troops encountered a wormhole and collectively traveled to other time and space. But he quickly rejected his ridiculous idea. It was reasonable for one or two people to travel through time, but the two armies added up to more than 10,000 people. It was too unbelievable to just say that there would be no more. He quickly asked: "Where did they lose contact with General Vatutin?"
