The search force commanded by Koshkin conducts a search in the forest area. While they were searching for the whereabouts of the pilot, they also had to be wary of the sudden appearance of the Germans, so the search was carried out slowly.
"Comrade Captain," Major Okunev, the battalion commander of the 109th Infantry Brigade, came over and said to Koshkin with a frown: "At our search speed, how long will it take to find the missing pilot?"
"No way, Comrade Major." Koshkin knew that Okunev was Sokov's classmate at the Frunze Military Academy, so he spoke to him very politely: "In this vast forest, there are not only our troops, but also our troops. There are also German troops. If we don't be more vigilant during the search, if we encounter the enemy, I'm afraid we will pay a heavy price."
Okunev strongly agrees with Koshkin's statement. However, he did not want to see his troops staying in the forest for a long time. "Comrade Captain, what you said does make sense, but I think we should speed up the search and find our needs before the Germans." Looking for a pilot."
As soon as he finished speaking, gunshots and explosions came from the forest ahead. Okunev and Koshkin listened carefully and knew that it was their own troops who were engaged in a firefight with the enemy. But judging from the sound of gunfire and the explosion of grenades, there were not many Germans.
"Come here!" Okunev shouted to the side.
Soon a captain appeared in front of him and asked respectfully: "Comrade Major, what are your instructions?"
"Captain, did you hear the gunfire and explosions from the front?" Okunev ordered the other party: "You immediately bring people over to support, and you must not let the Germans escape."
"Yes!" the captain agreed, turned around and shouted to the soldiers around him: "Follow me!" When he ran forward with his pistol, hundreds of people followed him immediately.
There is strength in numbers, and as reinforcements were dispatched, the gunfire and explosions in the front soon stopped.
A soldier carrying a rifle hurried over, stopped in front of Okunev and reported to him: "Comrade Battalion Commander, there are 25 enemies in total, and they have been wiped out by our army. The captain is afraid that you will worry, so he specially sent me Come and report to you.”
"Well done." After learning that all the enemies found in the front had been eliminated, Okunev praised the other party and turned to Koshkin and said: "Comrade Captain, since the enemies have been eliminated, let's go to the front Go check it out.”
Soon, the two came to the site of the battle, which was a clearing in the forest. The captain was leading people to clean the battlefield.
In addition to the corpses of German soldiers on the ground, there were also about a dozen motorcycles parked nearby, both two-wheeled and three-wheeled. However, most of them were damaged by bullets or grenades and could no longer be used.
Seeing the arrival of Okunev and Koshkin, the captain quickly stepped forward and reported to the two men: "We have wiped out all the enemies, and there is no one left alive."
"Comrade Captain." Koshkin looked at the captain and asked, "Tell me, why did the enemy appear here?"
Hearing Koshkin's question, the captain didn't know how to answer for a while, so he could only turn to his battalion commander for help.
Seeing this, Okunev coughed heavily, and then said: "Comrade Captain, didn't you just say that there are not only our troops in this forest, but also German troops. These Germans appeared here and fought with It’s no surprise that we had a firefight.”
"No." Koshkin looked at the German corpses on the ground and said, "A small force of more than twenty people looks like a patrol, but they are equipped with heavy weapons like general-purpose machine guns. It is too unreasonable. .”
After Koshkin's reminder, Okunev also realized the seriousness of the problem. He cautiously said: "Are these Germans also out to search for pilots?"
"It's very possible." Koshkin nodded and said, "If I guess correctly, our missing pilot should be nearby."
Okunev looked around, then pointed in one direction and said to Koshkin: "Comrade Captain, there is black smoke rising over there. Maybe the downed plane is there."
"Let's go over and take a look!" Koshkin walked to the motorcycles, picked out a still usable motorcycle, and headed towards the direction of the rising black smoke. Okunev wanted to follow him, but he couldn't ride a motorcycle. He had to ask the soldier next to him: "Who knows how to ride a motorcycle?"
A soldier raised his hand: "Comrade Major, I can ride a motorcycle."
Okunev got into the sidecar of a three-wheeled motorcycle and told the soldier: "Come up quickly and take me to chase Captain Koshkin."
Several motorcycles were speeding through the forest. When they passed through the dense forest and came to a forest clearing again, they saw two Soviet aircraft in front of them. One plane fell to pieces and was still burning violently; while the other plane was parked more than thirty meters away, relatively intact. Between the two planes lay two bodies wearing bomber jackets.
Koshkin quickly drove the motorcycle to the two corpses. He lifted his legs and got out of the car, squatted in front of the corpses and began to study them carefully.
When the soldiers on foot arrived panting, Koshkin had already completed the on-site survey and had a bold guess about the whole thing.
Okunev stared at the corpse of the pilot on the ground and found that there was something wrong with the posture of the two. It seemed that one person was shot from behind and died while running with the other person on his back.
Koshkin walked to Okunev's side and asked: "Comrade Major, do you see anything?"
Okunev nodded and expressed his judgment: "Based on my observations, I think one of the pilots was injured, and another compatriot was carrying him and wanted to leave, but was shot from behind by the enemy. Shot to death."
"Well, Comrade Major, what you said is roughly consistent with my judgment."
"Approximately the same?" Okunev asked back: "Captain Koshkin, I wonder what conclusions you came to through the on-site investigation just now?"
Koshkin pointed to the bodies of the two pilots and said to Okunev: "Comrade Major, judging from the shape of the bodies at the scene, it should be that one of the pilots was injured, and when his companions were preparing to transfer him, he was killed by the Germans. Shot from behind."
"Comrade Captain, I want to ask." Okunev raised his question to Koshkin: "I also think it is a pilot carrying an injured companion, preparing to transfer. But the problem comes, after being attacked Where does he plan to move his companions if the enemy pursues them?"
"Comrade Major, if you want to know the answer, I think I might be able to answer your question."
"Tell me, Captain Koshkin." Okunev asked: "What on earth is going on?"
Koshkin pointed to the burning plane, then pointed to another plane parked nearby, and began to tell Okunev his speculation: "If my analysis is not wrong, this burning plane should was shot down by the Germans. Fortunately, the pilot was lucky and survived when the plane crashed on the ground. The pilot of the fighter plane next to him saw that his companion's plane was shot down by the Germans, so he boldly landed in the forest sky On the ground.”
"Maybe as soon as he got off the plane, he saw the Germans coming from all sides. In order to save his companions from danger, he pulled his companions out of the burning plane, and then ran towards his own plane. But regrettably, The Germans came so fast that before he could reach his plane, he was shot to death by the Germans chasing after him."
After listening to Koshkin's analysis, Okunev thought for a while, then nodded and said: "Comrade Captain, I think your analysis is very reasonable. This pilot should have been killed by the Germans in order to save his comrades." Beaten to death." He thought of the German corpses he had just seen in the last forest clearing, and added, "Maybe it was the enemies we eliminated who did it."
"Collect the pilot's body and let's go back and report to the commander."
Now that the missing pilots have been found, even though they all died, Koshkin still has to go back and resume his life.
An hour later, Koshkin appeared at the army headquarters and reported the search experience and final results to Sokov and others. When he told the news that both pilots had died, he said in an annoyed tone: "This is all my fault. If I had acted faster, I might have been able to rescue these two pilots."
"It's useless, Captain Koshkin." Sokov waited for Koshkin to finish, then shook his head and said, "If things are really as you analyzed, I estimate that the pilot should have died shortly after landing. He was sacrificed in the hands of the Germans. In other words, the pilot had already died at the moment we received the mission from our superiors."
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Sidorin agreed with Sokov's statement: "When the nearby Germans saw that our aircraft had been shot down and landed on their own initiative, they immediately rushed over and tried to arrest them. to capture our pilot. But the enemy ended up shooting at our pilot, killing both of them."
"I understand." Sokov nodded and said, "Let me think about how to report this to the front army headquarters." After that, he closed his eyes and started thinking.
When Sokov opened his eyes again, he had already thought about how to report the matter to Rokossovsky. He said to everyone: "I think Comrade Marshal must be impatient. I will call him now to report situation here.”
"Comrade Commander," Sidorin reminded Sokov, "I am only speculating on the sacrifice of the two pilots. I am afraid only the Germans who were eliminated by us know the specific situation. You reported the situation in such a hurry, Does it fit?"
"Since our superiors have assigned us the task of searching for the pilot, no matter what the final outcome is, we should report it to Comrade Marshal in a timely manner."
Seeing that Sokov insisted on reporting to Rokossovsky, Sidorin knew that his persuasion would be of no use, so he could only say with a wry smile: "Okay, Comrade Commander, since you insist, report it to the Marshal immediately. Comrade reported the matter. But I can’t guess how he would react after hearing the report.”
Sokov nodded: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am mentally prepared. No matter what Comrade Marshal says, I will listen quietly instead of going against him."
After saying that, he picked up the high-frequency phone on the table, broadcast a number, and said politely to the operator: "Operator, this is Sokov. Please contact the front army headquarters and find Comrade Marshal. I have important work." To report.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." The operator replied simply: "I will help you take over the front headquarters immediately."
The call was quickly connected, and Rokossovsky's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, what do you want from me?"
"I'm reporting to you about the two pilots."
"Oh, about the pilot?" Rokossovsky couldn't help but feel happy when he heard what Sokov said, and then asked: "So, your people have found them?"
"Yes, they were indeed found." Sokov said with a heavy heart: "But they all died."
"What, all sacrificed?" After hearing this, Rokossovsky was shocked: "What on earth is going on? Why did they sacrifice themselves?"
"Comrade Marshal, please allow me to report to you." Before making the call, Sokov had already thought about how to reply to Rokossovsky: "At that time, two aircraft were attacking the enemy on the ground in the air, but unfortunately A plane of our army was shot down by the enemy and crashed in a forest glade. The pilot was lucky to survive.
When his companions saw that he was shot down, they immediately lowered their altitude and landed in a forest clearing, preparing to use their own plane to carry their wounded comrades back to the airport. But unfortunately, the German army appeared at this time. When they saw a pilot of our army carrying an injured pilot running towards the plane parked not far away, they shot and killed the pilot of our army without hesitation. "
"Damn Germans." After hearing what Sokov said, Rokossovsky cursed through gritted teeth, and then asked: "Where are those Germans? We must pay them the blood debt they owe. Ask for it back."
"Comrade Marshal, you don't have to worry about this." Sokov continued: "The Germans who killed our pilots have all been eliminated by the search team on the search mission."
"Oh, you have already eliminated them?" Rokossovsky said in admiration: "I didn't expect that you were so fast and eliminated all the enemies who killed our pilots."
"It must be a coincidence." Sokov said modestly: "After those enemies killed our pilots, they did not leave, but lingered nearby, probably thinking of dealing with our search troops. They should order them What we didn't expect was that the search team we sent was not a small team, but a large number of regular troops. With such a disparity in strength and equipment, it was only natural that they were eliminated."
Since the pilot has sacrificed, their matters have been put aside for the time being. Rokossovsky asked with concern: "What is the situation south of the town of Puutusk? Can you withstand the attack launched by the German army against you?" .”
"Comrade Marshal, please rest assured." Sokov said to Rokossovsky: "My troops have long been prepared for defense. When the enemy attacks, they will rely on the existing fortifications to defend. Now They have repelled two German attacks. It is impossible for the enemy to seize the position from them."
"Since you have confidence, I'm relieved." Rokossovsky said, "I wish you good luck!"
. "
