After two hours of time, at 4:30 in the morning, we entered the troops at the designated location one after another and sent reconnaissance teams to the areas where we were preparing to attack.
Before the battle, sending reconnaissance teams to the combat area was a common tactic used by the Soviet army in the late war. The tasks undertaken by the reconnaissance team were, first, to reconnaissance the enemy's deployment, and second, when the time was ripe, as the vanguard of the entire unit, he took the lead in attacking the enemy, so as to seize a foothold in the enemy's defense line for the subsequent troops.
Lieutenant Bisklev was a scout of the 18th Tank Brigade. He was ordered to lead a 40-man team to go deep into the area to attack for reconnaissance. Before leaving, the commander General Baharov personally met him and said earnestly: "Comrade Lieutenant, due to the change in the combat plan, we know nothing about the situation of the area to attack. We don't know how many troops the enemy has; we don't know how many tanks and armored vehicles there are; we don't know how many fortifications and cannons there are. The task of your team is to figure out the enemy's deployment of troops and promptly feedback the situation."
"I understand, comrade commander." Bisklev and Baharov finished speaking, straightened their bodies and replied firmly, "We will definitely understand the enemy's troops deployment in the shortest time."
"Comrade Lieutenant," the chief of staff came over and said to Bisklev: "There is not much time left for you. It is now 4:30. In two hours, our air force will launch a large-scale operation to carry out intensive bombing of the enemy's positions. In order to ensure your own safety, you must complete the reconnaissance mission before the bombing begins, and choose the right place to hide and wait for the start of the ground attack."
Although Bisklev was just a lieutenant, due to his position, he knew very well that the troops would launch a full-scale counterattack against the German army at 10 a.m. Therefore, when he heard the words of the Chief of Staff, he couldn't help but ask with some confusion: "Is it a bit too early to bomb the German positions at 6:30? You must know that our ground attack will not start until 10 a.m.."
Hearing Bisklev's question, Baharov sighed softly and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, according to the initial plan, the air strike should be carried out half an hour before the shelling begins. However, due to the heavy rain that just ended not long ago, the superiors worried that during the daytime battle, our air force might not be able to take off the air due to the weather, so we had to advance the air strike time."
He raised his hand to look at the time, then waved at Bisklev: "It's getting late, let's go."
Bisklev took his subordinates to leave his position and headed towards the north of October Farm. A sergeant came to Bisklev and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant, it is about five kilometers away from the enemy's defense zone. It will take us about an hour to walk over. Can the remaining time be successfully completed in the reconnaissance mission?"
"Comrade Sergeant," Bisklev turned his head and glanced at his subordinate, and said unhappily: "I also want to take a car over. But the rain has just stopped for a while, and the ground is particularly muddy, and the vehicles are particularly prone to falling into the mud. At that time, we will probably be pushing carts in the mud for half of the time. Also, the roar of the car engine can be heard far away when the night is quiet. If the enemy hears it, it will not mean that the target will be exposed?"
After hearing Bisklev's words, the sergeant knew that the other party was talking about the truth. Heavy rain had just stopped and the road was full of water puddles. When the vehicle was driving, in order to prevent the target from being exposed, he would definitely not be able to turn on the lights. He would break down or fall into the mud at any time. In this way, the speed of the car might not be as fast as possible.
Fortunately, the officers and soldiers of the reconnaissance team all had experience in forcing the army, and these few kilometers were indeed nothing to them. In just forty minutes, they arrived on a hill not far from the German defense.
Bisklev lay on the top of the hill, looking at the crisscrossing trenches and traffic trenches in the farm in the distance, and couldn't help but say in surprise: "Hey, when I came to the farm a few days ago, there were no trenches here at all."
The sergeant who was lying beside him took the telescope in his hand, looked at it for a while, and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, these trenches and traffic trenches are shallow, and there is no sign of collapse by the rain. They should have just been dug."
"So, did the enemy guess that we might attack them in this direction?" Bisklev said thoughtfully: "I need to report this situation to the brigade commander immediately."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Lieutenant." The sergeant quickly stopped Bisklev, "This is just our guess. We cannot report it in a hurry, so as not to affect the judgment of the superior commander."
"Then tell me, what should we do?"
The sergeant thought for a while and replied, "Why would I take a few people over to scout?"
Bisklev knew that the sergeant spoke well in German, so he agreed with him: "Well, you want to capture a prisoner and find out from him the German defenses in this area."
The sergeant called four smart warriors, looked at the hills underground, and took advantage of the darkness to sneak into the trenches in the farm. Bisklev on the hill saw the five men getting closer and closer to the trenches, but there was no movement in the trenches. I don’t know if it was the Germans still sleeping or if there was no defense at all.
Unexpectedly, just when they were twenty or thirty meters away from the trench, a loud bang suddenly came, as if a shell was falling from the sky, and they were sitting next to everyone and exploded. Two soldiers fell down in the flames on the spot.
Seeing this, Bisklev was shocked. What was going on? Did the enemy have discovered their traces and deliberately waited for them to approach the trenches before firing the cannon. But then he thought, if they were bombarded by the German army, why didn't they hear the sound of shells flying in the air? I guess he accidentally stepped on a landmine.
At this time, there was movement in the trench in the distance, and several German helmets emerged, and then they heard whistles and shouts. It was probably the sentry that was yelling. Bisklev hurriedly said to the soldiers beside him: "Prepare for battle, cover the sergeant and the others to withdraw."
When the sergeant saw his comrade stepping on a landmine and slamming the ground, he quickly ordered the uninjured soldiers to move to the direction of the hill, but he stayed behind as cover. The time was not long, more than 20 German soldiers jumped out of the trench and rushed over with guns and shouting. The sergeant shot several points in a row, knocking down the two German soldiers who rushed to the front, and then quickly lying down on the ground, looking for a suitable hiding place, and shooting at the sergeant.
The sergeant finished a magazine in one breath. Seeing that the Germans were lying on the ground and did not dare to move, he turned his head and looked behind him. Seeing that the soldiers carrying the wounded had climbed up the hill. He hurriedly changed the magazine and shot two points at the German soldiers who were lying on the ground. Then he bent down and ran towards the hill in the distance with his gun.
Seeing the sergeant starting to retreat, the German soldiers lying on the ground got up again and chased after him with guns, while chasing him while keeping his guns. The sergeant was about to reach the top of the hill, but a bullet hit his leg. As if his body was backward, he rolled down the hillside.
Seeing this, Bisklev quickly shouted: "Cover me!" and then stumbled down the hill to rescue the sergeant.
The German soldiers who caught up with him never dreamed that there were so many Soviet commanders and fighters ambushing on the top of the hill. Half of them were knocked down for a moment, and the rest retreated in a hurry.
Bisklev rushed to the side of the sergeant and asked loudly, "Hey, how are you?"
"Comrade Lieutenant," said the sergeant grinning in pain, "I'm hit by a bullet in my calf, and I may not be able to walk. Don't worry about me, take the soldiers and take them down first."
How could Bisklev leave his comrades? He bent down and carried the sergeant on his shoulders, and walked upwards step by step along the hillside. Fortunately, the German soldiers chasing at this time had been repelled, so he didn't have to worry about being shot by the Germans. Seeing Bisklev come back with the sergeant, two soldiers hurriedly came up and helped him to the top of the hill.
"Comrade Lieutenant," after coming to the top of the hill, the sergeant asked Bisklev: "We have been discovered by the enemy, and if we do not transfer as soon as possible, they will soon chase after us."
Bisklev turned his head and looked at the other side of the hill. He saw a gully under the hill, full of water, and suddenly had a good idea in his mind. He called a sergeant and said to him: "Comrade Sergeant, take a few soldiers, and move the wounded on his back to the distance. Remember, don't be too fast, but you must show a particularly embarrassed look. Do you understand?"
Although the sergeant did not understand Bisklev's intention, he still answered instinctively: "I understand, Comrade Lieutenant."
When the sergeant led seven or eight soldiers and carried the wounded to the distance, Bisklev said to the remaining soldiers: "Comrades, we hide in the gully first. When the enemy emerges from the hills, we hide in the water. When they cross the gully and chase the sergeant and the others, then attack them by surprise."
After the repelled German soldiers retreated back to the trenches, they soon gathered more people and rushed towards the hill. When they came to the hill, they did not rush up the hill, but instead bombarded the top of the hill with mortars. They made sure that the defenders above had no movement, so they rushed up the hill with guns.
The German officers and soldiers came to the top of the hill. The second lieutenant who led the team saw the Soviet commanders and fighters fleeing from a distance. He deliberately observed with a telescope for a while and found that there were several wounded people in the escaped crowd. He knew that the existence of the wounded would slow down the movement of the troops. He quickly put down the telescope and chased after him with more than 30 of his soldiers.
Bisklev, hiding in the gully, saw that the enemy had not discovered him, so he crossed the gully and chased the fake targets that attracted them from afar. He quickly emerged from the water and whistled, indicating that the soldiers hiding in the water could come out and destroy the enemy.
The German officers and soldiers who were pursuing the "fleeing" of the Soviet army never dreamed that behind them, more than twenty black muzzles were pointed at them. With Bisklev's order, all the weapons opened fire at the same time. Due to the close distance and the German soldiers were unprepared, they all fell under the muzzle in less than a minute.
Bisklev crawled out of the ravine, checked carefully, and saw that there was no living, so he gave the rest of the soldiers: "Take off all the German uniforms."
"Wait a minute." Just as the soldiers were about to remove the military uniforms from the German corpses, Bisklev suddenly stopped them, then rushed to the ground to pick up a German submachine gun, and pulled the trigger to the uninhabited place on one side. After firing the bullet in the magazine, he picked up a German grenade, pulled the string and threw it away.
After the grenade landed and exploded, Bisklev said to the soldiers: "You can also learn from me, shoot at the same time with the weapons of the German and our army, and throw a few grenades from time to time, so as to make the appearance of fierce fighting on this side of the hill."
The soldiers were still confused at this time, but they strictly followed Bisklev's orders, shooting at places where no one was, and throwing a grenade from time to time.
Seeing that the German corpse had almost been stripped off, Bisklev stopped everyone and then said to the returning sergeant: "Put on the uniform of the German lieutenant, and I will point at you to deal with the Germans later."
When the sergeant heard Bisklev say this, he was stunned at first, and then he understood what the other party meant: "Comrade Lieutenant, are you planning to let us pretend to be Germans and mingle with the enemy's position?"
"Yes, that's what I mean." Bisklev said to the commanders and fighters: "Half of them wore German uniforms, while the rest still wore our uniforms. Then we pretended to be escorting the captives and sneaked into the German defense zone."
"Comrade Lieutenant," said the sergeant to Bisklev with some concern: "We don't know how many enemies there are in the defense zone. If we break in rashly, we may suffer."
"Comrade Sergeant, don't worry." Bisklev comforted Sergeant: "When the enemy was chasing you, I carefully observed the German positions in the distance. At best, it was a company's strength, otherwise they would not have sent only dozens of people to pursue us. We had more than forty people, and even if the enemy's company was full, there were only two hundred people. Now they have lost fifty or sixty people, and at most one hundred and fifty people left. And they are in such a wide area. I think there should be no big problem for us to get in."
Chapter completed!