Burning Moscow

Section 64 Reconnaissance behind enemy l

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, the special unit has been assembled, please give instructions!”

The person who is reporting to me is the soldier Aji in a white camouflage suit. He was the soldier who directly stabbed the German sentry’s jaw with a dagger during the night attack I led. Because of his bravery, he was quickly promoted to a sergeant by the relevant departments.

Late at night the day before yesterday, I went back to the front army headquarters in the snow, and briefly reported my current situation to Zhukov. Of course, I didn’t mention Stalin’s substitute injury, nor did I dare to mention it. I stayed in my own room for one night. Early the next morning, Zhukov politely declined Zhukov’s goodwill stay and insisted on returning to the Sixteenth Army that I am familiar with.

For my return, Rokosovsky, who is currently short of experienced commanders, cannot be expected. I only worked for one day in the command post of the Group Army Headquarters, Rokosovsky gave me a special task and asked me to form a capable special unit to investigate in Jasnaya Polyana. The enemy’s defenses were then reported back to the group army. After he mastered the detailed situation of the enemy, he was able to formulate a detailed counterattack plan according to the command of the command.

When I accepted this mission, I felt very strange, because such reconnaissance missions are usually handed over to guerrillas to complete. How can we use regular troops this time? So he asked him back: “Comrade Commander, isn’t there our guerrilla in Jasnaya Polyana?”

“Yes.” At that time, he replied with a serious expression: “Because the German army is advancing too fast, we have not had time to send guerrillas and sabotage teams to the area, so we need to temporarily set up a special unit to complete this task. . And the commander of this small team, you are undoubtedly the best candidate.”

So, I accepted this task and selected twelve elite fighters like Aji who are capable or skilled from the remnants of the group army. Right now I am asking them to gather in the trenches outside the guard camp shelter, preparing to mobilize them before departure.

I nodded to Aji and said, “Get in.” Aji saluted me, stepped back and returned to the queue. I carried my submachine gun and walked back and forth two times in front of the queue. With the help of the light from the mask, my eyes flowed through the twelve ordinary faces in front of me one by one. These faces looked simple and calm, and their eyes moved with me. And moving, looking forward to my upcoming battle mobilization.

“Comrades.” As soon as I said something, they came and stood at attention neatly.

“Please rest!” I continued: “Our mission this time is to carry out reconnaissance missions to Jasnaya Polyana. Because the German army has already occupied this area, we have taken several tens of kilometers. We can’t go there by any means of transportation. We can only walk over with our own legs. I stated in advance that the risk factor of this mission is very high, not to mention the fate of the entire army if it fails. Even if the mission can be successfully completed , There will be many sacrifices for comrades. Therefore, if anyone is afraid of death and does not want to go, he can raise it immediately. I will definitely not embarrass him…”

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,” Kroshkov, the political instructor who had been in the shelter, didn’t know when he appeared, interrupted me in a hurry, and whispered in my ear, “How can you do it?” Such fighting mobilization will affect morale.”

“I have a sense of measure, you don’t have to worry.” I whispered to him, then coughed, and asked the soldiers: “Do you want to stay? If you want to stay, take a step forward; or raise a hand. , Just say something.”

After I said this, there was a moment of silence. No one spoke, and no hand was raised or stepped forward.

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,” my words made Kroshkov a little embarrassed, and he said dissatisfied: “In the face of a fierce enemy, even if the bayonet hits his chest, our soldiers will not back down….”

I raised my hand to stop Kroshkov from continuing, and then said to the soldiers: “Since everyone is not afraid of death, they are willing to participate in this operation. Then I will put the shame on the front. If on the battlefield, who If you are greedy for life, fear of death, cringe or flee,” At this point, I raised the submachine gun in my hand and said loudly, “I know him, but the submachine gun in my hand does not recognize him. Understand?”

“Understood!” the soldiers replied in unison.

“Okay, let’s go!” I gave an order, and the soldiers collectively came and turned to the right, and walked forward along the trenches.

“Comrade Lieutenant Colonel,” I heard Kroshkov calling me from behind. I turned around and saw him reaching out to me. I quickly reached out and took his hand. When shaking hands, he said sincerely: “The future is difficult, be careful!” I gratefully shook his hand, and after letting go, regardless of my rank higher than him, I solemnly said He gave a military salute. During the salute, I felt my nose sour from time to time. Before he returned the salute, I turned around and chased the squad in front, and at the same time secretly raised my hand to wipe away the tears that fell on my cheeks.

Marching in the snow-covered forest, finding the road is not easy and it is easy to get lost. In order to prevent accidentally running into the German position, our squad would stop every five hundred meters or so, and use the compass to correct the direction before moving on.

The squad was divided into three parts. Aji led two fighters as pioneers and walked about ten meters in front to clear the way for the squad; Sergeant Gerlia and three other fighters fell behind ten meters to serve as our back. Mission; and I walked in the middle of the team with a sniper, a surveyor, a communicator carrying a communication equipment, and two submachine gunners.

set off in the middle of the night. By dawn, we traveled for five or six hours in the snow. According to the surveyor, the distance travelled did not exceed fifteen kilometers, and the straight-line distance was estimated to be shorter.

The fog began to form in the forest in the early morning, and our vision became more and more blurred. At the beginning, I could see the sights from 30 to 40 meters away, but in the end, I could only see the scenery 5 or 6 meters away. I shrunk my neck to avoid the snow falling from the treetops, carefully led the troops through the forest, and listened vigilantly to the surrounding movement with my ears Suddenly the soldiers who opened the road in front panicked. One ran over and whispered to me: “Comrade Lieutenant Colonel!”

“I’m here,” I don’t know what’s going on, and I don’t dare to shout loudly, lest I expose the team’s goal. When the soldier ran to me, I asked him in a low voice, “What happened?”

“Aji heard movement in the distance, and he thought that a large force was coming towards us. Aji asked me to report the situation to you. He has been in an ambush with someone himself and is continuing to observe the situation.”

“The one behind, hurry up!” I turned my head and greeted the four soldiers who came later, then looked at the soldiers standing on the left and right, and said, “Follow me.”

ran forward more than ten meters and saw Aji crawling in the snow. I hurriedly fell to his right and asked in a low voice: “How is the situation? Do you hear what kind of unit it is?”

“I only heard the sound of one or two motorcycles, and the rest were walking, probably an infantry unit.”

As we were talking, the soldiers behind also rushed over and fell on the snow. Because we are all wearing white camouflage clothes, lying on the snow, if we don’t look carefully, we really can’t find us.

“Ready to fight!” I whispered an order to everyone. I turned my head and looked at the sniper lying on my right side, and told him: “If I order to fire later, you will be responsible for knocking out the German commander. Do you understand?”

“Understood, comrade lieutenant colonel. See you, as long as the commander of the German army dares to show up, I will surely kill him.”