251 Small Village in the Forest (Part 2)
The entire division was broken up into parts, and a clean-up operation was carried out.
The battle lasted only two days, and I found that my original judgment was wrong. The number of German soldiers hiding in the villages or settlements is far below my estimate. There are only five or six people, and as many as 20 people. Not only do they have no heavy weapons, they even have rifles or submachine gun ammunition. insufficient.
Every time our army is dispatched, it is a battalion of troops. Its strength is ten or twenty times that of the German army. It is well-equipped and has high morale. It has an advantage against the German army, which has become a dog of mourning. Coupled with the use of more deception, hundreds of people beating a few or a dozen others, it is not a catch.
Yesterday, Major Lomov, the commander of the third battalion of the 1077 regiment, was fighting in a small village. The whole battalion did not fire a single shot, so relying on the bayonet, he eliminated all the German troops in the village.
Seeing the brilliant results of my subordinates, I, who had always been in the division’s command post by remote control, couldn’t help but feel itchy. So despite Yegorov’s and Kistyakov’s opposition, the guards were used as the backbone, and a group of people were transferred from other forces to form a battalion-scale suppression force, and the guard company commander, Captain Yushchenko, was appointed as the battalion. Long, I will personally lead the search for the remnant enemy.
But by my luck, I found no Germans in the villages or settlements I passed by for two days.
Seeing the soldiers’ joy gradually turned into disappointment, I was particularly anxious. Every time my subordinates attacked, they were able to gain something, but I, the leader of the first division, led the team to attack, but got nothing, which made me feel very shameless.
Tomorrow is New Year’s Day. In the morning, I received a call from Commander Vlasov, saying that our group army and various Soviet troops attacked separately and encircled some units of the German 9th Army and the 4th Armored Army in the Vyazma area. The retreat of the besieged German army was also completely cut off by the paratroopers airdropped by our army. He asked me to rush to Vyazma’s headquarters immediately to discuss new combat missions in the coming 1942.
The compound battalion that escorted me to the headquarters of the group army was the mixed battalion that was formed only two days ago. After the soldiers boarded the vehicle quickly, the long convoy was driving towards Vyazma. I sat in Grisa’s jeep and looked out the window without saying a word, and I saw Yushchenko sitting on the co-pilot seat turning his head several times, as if I wanted to say something to me, but I With a discordant expression, he closed his mouth wittily.
After sitting in the car for more than half an hour, my mood gradually calmed down. Although the battalion I led has not found any remaining German soldiers in the past two days, it will soon be on the battlefield, and there are still more opportunities to fight the enemy. Now.
I was about to say a few words to Yushchenko in the front row, when suddenly there was a violent explosion in front of me, and then all the cars driving in front came to a halt.
Yushchenko turned his head, and said solemnly: “Comrade Master, I will go ahead and have a look.”
I nodded and said, “Go!”
He pushed the car door, jumped down, and trot forward with the submachine gun.
I poked my head and looked back and forth. The soldiers on the front and rear trucks had lifted the tarp and jumped off the truck, quickly scattered to the edge of the woods on both sides of the highway, seizing the favorable terrain and being warned by guns.
Except for the explosion just now, there was no more movement. I saw a thick smoke rising in front, and neither the explosion nor the gunfire was heard anymore, because there were too many vehicles blocking the line of sight, and I couldn’t confirm what happened.
A few minutes later, Yushchenko ran back out of breath. Before he stopped, I pushed the car door to greet him and asked loudly, “Comrade Captain, what happened?”
He stopped quickly and saluted me immediately and reported: “Report to comrade commander, the explosion just now happened to the truck we were driving in front of mine.”
“Ah?!” I was taken aback, and hurriedly asked: “How about the casualties?”
Yushchenko lowered his head and said sadly: “The driver and the ensign who led the team have died on the spot. Six soldiers in the carriage were seriously injured and 14 were slightly injured. I have arranged for a health worker to treat them. After the bandaging, Just send them back to the rear.”
As soon as his voice fell, a truck with a canopy swayed from the front, passed by our side, and drove back in the same direction.
I watched the truck go away, and then turned around and said to Yushchenko: “Let’s go, Comrade Captain, let’s go ahead and take a look.”
Yushchenko immediately reached out and blocked my way, and said with some embarrassment: “Comrade Commander, the front is too dangerous, you should stay here.”
I frowned and asked him: “Can the team continue to move forward?”
He shook his head and replied: “It’s not possible for the time being. There are still mines laid by the enemy on the road. I have arranged for the engineers on the truck in front to start the mine clearance. You will stay here and wait for a while. It is estimated that we will be able to move on soon. .”
Hearing what he said, I had no objection. After all, the lethality of landmines is too great If I don’t clean it up, I don’t dare to let me go forward. I don’t want to kill like Bakkanidze, political commissar of the 7th Guards Division. So I told him: “Comrade Captain, it’s too cold on this road. Except for the mine-sweeping engineers and necessary guards, let the rest get back to the car.”
“Yes!” He promised, and seriously carried out my order.
I got back into the car and closed the door. Grisa, who had been in the car, turned his head and asked me: “Comrade Commander, what’s going on ahead?”
I looked at the snow-covered forest on the roadside outside the window. While wondering if I could go around the forest, I replied to him: “It was the truck driving in the front that struck a mine, and all the officers and soldiers on the car were injured or killed. ”
The snow in the forest is too deep. It is estimated that many places are more than one meter. People may be able to pass through such places, but cars will definitely not be able to pass. It seems that you can only wait patiently for the engineering soldiers to finish demining before moving on.
I leaned back in my chair and closed my eyes to rest. I suddenly heard someone outside the car shouting to me: “Comrade teacher, comrade teacher.”
What happened again? I opened my eyes abruptly, stuck my head out of the window, and saw that it was an ordinary guard company soldier. I quickly asked, “Comrade Warrior, what happened?”
The soldier changed his submachine gun to his left hand, and then saluted and replied: “Report to Comrade Commander, there are people moving in the forest. Our Captain personally took them to check. He asked me to tell you and let you be safe!”
“I see, I will pay attention.” I nodded at him, smiled and said, “Thank you!”