Not long after the meeting here ended, Nikitin received a call from Sokov: "General Nikitin, this is Sokov, what are you doing?"
"I just convened a military meeting with the commanders above the battalion, and made a summary of what happened today at the meeting." Nikitin reported to Sokov: "And ordered all commanders, if in the future If you find yourself near our defense area again, don't be polite, no matter how many they come, we will destroy them."
Sokov was very satisfied with Nikitin's remarks. He nodded and continued: "For what happened today, Comrade Marshal criticized your division by name. Later, I made a lot of reflections and finally agreed not to stop. Investigate. But this matter is not over yet, because Comrade Marshal will conduct random checks on you at some point. If something happens again, even I can't protect you, do you understand?"
"Comrade Commander, please rest assured." Nikitin did not have any doubts about Sokov's statement. You must know that he is a representative from the front army headquarters. Because the previous division commander was injured, he acted as the division commander's deputy. position. As a member of the front army headquarters, Rokossovsky knew him, but he didn't seem to give him a good look today, which proved that the other party was dissatisfied with him: "I will never let you down."
After dark, Nikitin lay on the camp bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. He did not expect that he had not been the acting division commander for long and had not achieved any results. Instead, he left a bad impression with Rokossovsky. My impression is that if things continue to develop like this, it will probably be very detrimental to my future prospects.
He opened his eyes and happened to see the division chief of staff sitting at the table with his back to him. He got off the camp bed, walked to the table, picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out a cigarette, held it in his mouth and asked Said: "Chief of Staff, is there any latest situation?"
"Everything is calm." The division chief of staff replied: "However, the commander of the 310th Artillery Regiment called not long ago and said that they do not have enough manpower. It may be difficult to send manpower to serve as secret sentries at night under normal duty conditions. .”
Nikitin became angry when he heard this. He took out the cigarette from his mouth, threw it heavily to the ground, and said angrily: "There are only one or two hidden whistles, how can there be a shortage of manpower? You know, the enemy is far away from us. Being so close, who can guarantee that the enemy will not come over in the middle of the night? If the enemy kills our outposts and then attacks the sleeping commanders and soldiers, it will cause us huge losses."
"Then I'll call the regimental commander," said the division chief of staff, "and convey your wishes to him."
"Okay." Nikitin nodded and said, "I'm afraid except for the artillery regiment, the other infantry regiments also have similar problems and don't take hidden sentries seriously."
"Then what are you going to do?"
Nikitin thought for a while and said: "I plan to check the sentry tonight to see if each regiment has deployed hidden sentries in the defense area in accordance with the regulations of the division headquarters."
The division chief of staff looked out the window, then frowned and said, "Comrade division commander, it's getting dark. I think we'd better go at another time."
"At another time, what time?" Nikitin said dissatisfied: "Should I wait until dawn before going on patrol to see if each regiment has deployed secret sentries in accordance with my regulations?"
After hearing what Nikitin said, the division chief of staff obediently kept his mouth shut. He knew that what happened today was very irritating to Nikitin, and the 310th Artillery Regiment had the misfortune to hit the muzzle of the gun. If he continued to speak, the other party might Get angry at yourself.
"Guard!" Nikitin shouted to the guard who was dozing in the corner. "Take your gun and follow me outside."
After the guard was awakened, he was still in a state of confusion. It took him a while to understand what the division commander meant. He hurriedly picked up the submachine gun placed at his feet and followed Nikitin outside.
After leaving the division headquarters, the guard approached Nikitin and asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, it's so late, where are we going?"
"Follow me to check the sentinel!" Nikitin said briefly.
"Check the sentry?!" The guard has never carried out the task of checking the sentry at night since he followed Nikitin. Now that he heard that he was going to check the sentry, he couldn't help but feel a little confused: "How to check?"
"We will go to the defense areas of the nearby troops to take a look." Nikitin explained: "To see if they have deployed the hidden sentries we specified in addition to the normal open sentries."
"Comrade division commander," after figuring out what was going on, the guard asked tentatively: "Which unit do you plan to go to check the posts?"
Although Nikitin knew the defense situation of each unit very well, he still deliberately asked his guard: "Which unit is closest to here?"
The guard thought for a while and then replied: "It is the station of the Second Battalion of the 334th Guards Regiment." He pointed forward with his hand and said, "Go along this road and you will see it at the edge of the town. Their sentry."
After hearing the guard's answer, Nikitin nodded with satisfaction and said, "I didn't expect that you are quite familiar with the nearby troops. Let's go to the Second Battalion of the 334th Regiment to check their sentry posts. Duty status.”
The two of them walked along the street. When they were still a hundred meters away from the entrance of the town, a low voice suddenly came from the alley next to them: "Stop, password?!"
Nikitin came out temporarily to check the sentry. He didn't know the password of the night sentry, and he was stunned on the spot. Seeing that the situation was not good, the guard hurriedly stood in front of Nikitin and said to the people in the alley: "The person behind me is the division commander. Who are you?"
The people in the alley heard that the person outside was the division commander, so they walked out cautiously, shined a flashlight on Nikitin's face, and then moved away in a hurry. Soon, Nikitin heard the sound of the heels of boots hitting each other. It was obvious that the man was standing at attention. "Excuse me, Comrade Commander. I did not recognize you."
After the soldier walked out of the alley, Nikitin used the moonlight to see clearly that the soldier was a middle-aged soldier with the rank of corporal on his shoulder straps. Then he said politely: "Hello, comrade corporal! I wonder what you are doing here?"
"Report to comrade division commander." Hearing Nikitin ask himself, the corporal quickly replied: "I am a secret sentry arranged by the company commander, and the open sentry is outside the town."
Nikitin looked in the direction of the opponent's finger, and sure enough he saw a soldier walking back and forth with a rifle at the entrance of the town. "Comrade Corporal," after figuring out the identity of the other party, Nikitin couldn't help but frowned: "Since you are a secret sentry, you should hide in the dark and observe the situation carefully. How can you expose the target casually?"
The sentry blushed and said, "I'm sorry, comrade division commander, I was wrong!"
"Forget it this time. Don't make similar mistakes next time." Fortunately, Nikitin was reasonable and did not care about the matter. Instead, he said to the corporal in a pleasant manner: "You can continue to hide."
The secret whistle agreed, raised his hand to salute Nikitin, and turned around to enter the dark alley. But Nikitin stopped him: "By the way, comrade corporal, I wonder what the password is tonight?"
"Destroy the invaders!" The sentry knew that Nikitin would have to patrol many places next. If he didn't know the password, he might misunderstand the sentry, so he quickly reported the password he knew to the other party: "The reply is: Nearby The Guards will win!"
After hearing this, Nikitin nodded and said with emotion: "That's a very good command. Comrade Corporal, please continue on duty."
When Nikitin led the guards towards the entrance of the town, he was still thinking: In addition to the open sentries, there should be more hidden sentries deployed. Even if the enemy eliminates the open sentry during a sneak attack, the hidden sentry hidden in the dark can still send out an alarm in time, allowing our troops to respond as soon as possible.
Knowing the nighttime password, Nikitin and the guard successfully approached the sentry at the entrance of the town. He asked politely: "Comrade soldier, where is your company headquarters?"
The sentry pointed to a lighted room dozens of meters away and said, "Here, comrade division commander, it's over there."
Under the guidance of the sentry, Nikitin successfully arrived at the illuminated company command post. As soon as he entered the room and opened the door, he was surprised to find that the second battalion commander was also here. The commanders in the room were sitting around the table chatting. When they saw Nikitin suddenly entering the door, they hurriedly stood up from their seats, straightened their bodies and saluted him.
Nikitin walked up to several commanders who were standing straight and asked the second battalion commander: "Comrade Major, why did you stay up in the middle of the night and come to the company?"
The major glanced at Nikitin and replied resoundingly: "Comrade division commander, I'm here to check the defenses of each company to prevent them from being attacked by German troops at night. After all, enemies often appear near the town. If you don't be vigilant, Once we encounter their sneak attack, we may suffer big losses."
"What's the result of the inspection?" Nikitin was very satisfied with the second battalion commander's answer. He asked with a smile: "Did you find the enemy who made a sneak attack?"
Nikitin's teasing immediately relaxed the atmosphere in the room. The second battalion commander was no longer as restrained as before and said relaxedly: "Reporting to the division commander, everything is safe now. No abnormalities have been found for the time being." Then, he He also took the initiative to introduce to Nikitin several commanders standing beside him, who were all the company commander, instructor and deputy company commander of this company.
After Nikitin shook hands with his commanders one by one, the second battalion commander took the initiative to propose to Nikitin: "Comrade division commander, since you are here to inspect defense, why don't you let me walk around with you and take a look at other places? The deployment of the two companies.”
Naturally, Nikitin would not object to the second battalion commander's proposal. The purpose of his coming out tonight was to conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the night duty of each unit. So he readily agreed and said: "Okay, Comrade Major, I would like you to be my guide and show me around."
The major led Nikitin and his guards out of the trenches and walked towards the direction of the battalion headquarters. Nikitin looked at the direction and found that in a few minutes, he would pass by the location of the hidden sentry just now, but he didn't know if the hidden sentry would come out again this time to investigate him.
While he was thinking wildly, a soldier wearing a steel helmet walked towards him. He initially thought that the whistle came out again, and was about to criticize the other party. But upon closer inspection, I found that the other person was much shorter. When the soldier saw several commanders approaching him, he quickly slung the rifle in his hand over his shoulder, stood on the roadside and raised his hand to salute them.
Nikitin did not speak, but glanced at the other party expressionlessly, thinking that according to his own rules, the secret sentry was on duty all night long. Could this person be here to change the guard? But why did he not see the original secret sentry leaving? ?
When they were parallel to the visitor and about to separate in the opposite direction in a moment, he suddenly smelled a faint smell of blood coming from nearby, and an ominous premonition suddenly filled his heart. He clenched his pistol and shouted to the soldier who turned around to leave: "Hey, comrade soldier, please wait a moment!"
The soldier who was stopped by Nikitin was actually not a Soviet soldier, but a German scout named Masucci. Two days ago, he received an order from the commander to put on makeup and sneak into the 120th Guards Division. defense area to conduct reconnaissance on the Soviet defense situation.
Tonight, Masucci took the reconnaissance map he had drawn and prepared to pass through the Soviet defense line without anyone noticing and return to his own side. Unexpectedly, as soon as he left the hiding place, he saw two Soviet soldiers walking along the street in front of him, one of whom was wearing a big-brimmed hat. According to his understanding of the Soviet army, the person who came out with guards must be an officer with a high rank.
Just as he was thinking about how to kill both of them without alerting others, he saw a man jumping out of the dark alley on the side of the road, blocking their way. Although the distance was too far, he couldn't hear what a few people said, but he guessed that the person who came out to investigate must be a secret sentry of the Soviet army.
He hid in a corner, staring intently at the three Soviet officers and soldiers in the distance, thinking about what he should do next. When Nikitin led his guards towards the entrance of the town, Masucci still stood by the wall and did not move.
He secretly guessed in his heart that this Soviet officer must have come to check the sentry, and it seemed that he was not too vigilant. If he could be killed when he returned. Then, coupled with the Soviet defense map on his body, after returning to his own unit, not only can he receive medals and promotions, but his superiors may also give him a precious vacation to return home and reunite with his family.
Thinking of this, Masucci made a decisive decision to send the Soviet officer to see God when he returned. But before carrying out this ambush operation, it is necessary to eliminate the hidden outposts of the Soviet army to prevent their plan from failing.
However, where exactly the Soviet army's hidden sentry was hidden in the alley, Masucci couldn't find it for a while because it was too dark. What he can do now is to quietly approach the location of the hidden whistle against the wall and kill him before the other party notices him.
After the corporal who served as a secret sentry returned to his hidden position, he stared at the street outside the alley with vigilant eyes, not realizing that the danger was approaching him.
In fact, the distance between Masucci and the secret whistle was less than twenty meters apart, but due to the obstruction of the house, he could not see the specific location of the hidden whistle. In order not to alert the secret whistle, he leaned against the wall and listened quietly to the movement in the alley.
But after listening for a long time, he didn't hear any movement, as if there were no whistles around him at all. If Masucci hadn't seen with his own eyes that the hidden sentry emerged from nearby and stopped the officers for interrogation, he would have almost thought that there was no Soviet hidden sentry here at all.
