Chapter 1254 Pre-war Reconnaissance

  The time went back two hours, and at 4:30 in the morning, troops entered the designated positions one after another, and sent out reconnaissance teams to the area that was about to attack.

   Before the battle, sending a reconnaissance unit to the combat area is a tactic commonly used by the Soviet army in the later stages of the war. The tasks of the reconnaissance unit are, first, to scout the enemy's deployment, and second, when the time is ripe, as the vanguard of the entire army, take the lead in attacking the enemy and gain a foothold for the follow-up troops within the enemy's line of defense.

  Lieutenant Bisklev is a scout of the 18th Tank Brigade. He was ordered to lead a team of forty people to go deep into the area to be attacked for reconnaissance. Before departure, the army commander, Major General Baharov, personally met him, and said earnestly: "Comrade Lieutenant, due to the change of the combat plan, we don't know anything about the situation in the area we are about 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 artillery there are. The task of your squad is to find out the enemy's troop deployment and report back the situation in time."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Bisklev waited for Baharov to finish speaking, straightened his body, and replied firmly, "We will definitely find out the enemy's deployment of troops in the shortest possible time. "

"Comrade Lieutenant," the chief of staff of the army came over, and Bisklev said: "You don't have much time left, it's 4:30, and in two hours, our air force will make a big move, yes The enemy's position is carrying out intensive bombing. In order to ensure your own safety, you must complete the reconnaissance mission before the bombing begins, and choose a suitable place to hide and wait for the start of the ground attack."

Even though Bisklev was only a lieutenant, due to the nature of his job, he knew very well that the troops would launch a full-scale counterattack against the German army at ten o'clock in the morning. Therefore, when he heard the words of the chief of staff, he couldn't help but asked in puzzlement: "Isn't it too early to bomb the German positions at 6:30? You know, our ground attack will not start until ten o'clock."

Hearing Bisklev's question, Baharov sighed softly and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, according to the original plan, the air strike should be carried out half an hour before the bombardment. The heavy rain caused the superiors to worry that during daytime operations, our air force might not be able to take off due to the weather, so we had to advance the air strike time.”

  He raised his hand to look at the time, then waved to Bisklev: "It's getting late, let's go."

   Bisklev led his subordinates, left his position, and headed towards the north of October Farm. A sergeant came to Bisklev and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Lieutenant, this place is about five kilometers away from the enemy's defense zone. It will take us about an hour to walk there. The rest of the time , can you successfully complete the reconnaissance mission?"

"Comrade Sergeant," Bisklev turned his head and glanced at his subordinate, and said angrily, "I also want to go there by car. But the rain just stopped not long ago, and the ground is still extremely muddy, so vehicles are particularly prone to getting stuck in the quagmire." Among them, it is estimated that half of our time will be spent pushing carts in the mud. Also, the roar of a car engine can be heard far away in the dead of night, if the enemy hears it, doesn't it mean that the target is exposed?"

After listening to Bisklev's words, the sergeant knew that what the other party said was true. The heavy rain had just stopped, and the road was full of puddles. When the vehicle was driving, in order to prevent the target from being exposed, the lights must not be turned on. There is a possibility of breaking down or getting bogged down, so you may not be able to travel faster than you can walk.

   Fortunately, the commanders and fighters of the reconnaissance unit all have experience in forced marches. These few kilometers are really nothing to them. In only forty minutes, they came to the hill not far from the German defense.

   Bisklev lay on the top of the hill, looking at the criss-crossing trenches and traffic trenches on the farm in the distance, he couldn't help saying with some surprise: "Damn, when I came to the farm a few days ago, there were no trenches at all here."

The sergeant lying next to him took the binoculars in his hand, looked there for a while, and said, "Comrade Lieutenant, these trenches and communication trenches are very shallow, and there is no sign of being washed away by the rain. They should have just been dug. not long."

   "So, the enemy guessed that we might be in this direction and launched an attack on them?" 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, and we can't 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 don't I take a few people over there for reconnaissance?"

   Bisklev knew that the sergeant spoke good German, so he agreed with him: "Well, you try to capture a prisoner and find out from him the German defense situation in this area."

  The sergeant called four clever soldiers, looked down the hill, and while it was not too bright, quietly moved towards the trenches in the farm. Bisklev on the hill saw the five people getting closer to the trench, but there was no movement in the trench, and he didn't know whether the Germans were still sleeping or there was no defense at all.

Unexpectedly, when they were still 20 or 30 meters away from the trench, there was a loud bang, as if a shell had fallen from the sky and exploded right next to the crowd, and two soldiers fell down in the flames on the spot .

   Seeing this situation, Bisklev couldn't help but turn pale with fright. What's going on? Could it be that the enemy has already discovered their tracks and deliberately waited for them to approach the trenches before firing. But then I thought about it, if they were shelled by the German army, why didn't they hear the sound of shells flying in the air? He must have accidentally stepped on a landmine.

  At this time, there was movement in the trenches in the distance, and several German helmets appeared, and then they heard whistles and shouts. It should be the sentinel issuing an alarm. Bisklev hurriedly said to the soldiers next to him: "Get ready to fight, cover the sergeant and the others to withdraw."

  The sergeant saw his comrades stepping on landmines and fell to the ground with bombs. He quickly ordered the uninjured soldiers to move the wounded on their backs to the direction of the hill, while he stayed behind as a cover. Before long, more than 20 German soldiers jumped out of the trench and rushed over with their guns in their hands, yelling. The German soldiers quickly lay down on the spot, looked for a suitable hiding place, and shot at the sergeant.

  The sergeant finished a magazine in one go. Seeing that the Germans were lying on the ground, not daring to move, he turned his head and glanced behind him. He saw that the soldiers carrying the wounded had already climbed up the hill. He hurriedly changed a magazine, and fired two bursts at the German soldiers lying still on the ground, and then bent over and ran towards the distant hills with the gun in hand.

  Seeing that the sergeant began to retreat, the German soldiers who were lying on the ground got up again, and chased after them with their guns in their hands. They kept firing while chasing. Seeing that the sergeant was about to reach the top of the hill, he was hit in the leg by a bullet, and his body fell backwards, rolling down the hillside.

   Seeing this, Bisklev quickly shouted: "Cover me!" Then he stumbled down the hill to rescue the sergeant.

  The German soldiers who were chasing up never imagined in their dreams that so many Soviet commanders and fighters were ambushing on the top of the hill. Half of them were knocked down immediately, and the rest retreated in a hurry.

   Bisklev rushed to the sergeant's side and asked loudly, "Hello, how are you doing?"

   "Comrade Lieutenant," said the sergeant, grinning his teeth in pain, "I got a bullet in my calf, and I may not be able to walk. Leave me alone and lead the soldiers down first."

  How could Bisklev leave his comrades behind? He bent down and carried the sergeant on his shoulders, and walked up the hillside step by step. Fortunately, the German soldiers who were chasing him had been repulsed at this time, so he didn't have to worry about being sniped by the Germans. Seeing Bisklev come back with the sergeant on his shoulders, two soldiers rushed up to help him to the top of the hill.

   "Comrade Lieutenant," the sergeant asked Bisklev after reaching the top of the hill, "We have been spotted by the enemy. If we don't move as soon as possible, they will soon come after us."

   Bisklev turned his head and looked at the other side of the hill, and saw a gully under the hill, which was full of stagnant water, and immediately had a good idea in his mind. He called a sergeant and said to him: "Comrade sergeant, you take a few soldiers and move the wounded on your back to the distance. Remember, don't go too fast, but you must show a particularly embarrassed look, understand ?"

  Although the sergeant didn't understand Bisklev's intentions, he replied instinctively: "Understood, Comrade Lieutenant."

When the sergeant led seven or eight soldiers and moved away with the wounded on their backs, Bisklev said to the remaining soldiers: "Comrades, let's hide in the ravine first. When the enemy emerges from the hills, we will Hidden in the water, and when they crossed the ravine and chased the sergeant and them, I caught them by surprise."

  The repelled German soldiers retreated to the trenches, and soon gathered more people and rushed towards the hill. When they came near the hill, they did not rush up the hill, but bombarded the top of the hill with mortars. After making sure that the defenders above were silent, they rushed up the hill with their guns in hand.

  The German officers and soldiers came to the top of the hill. The second lieutenant who led the team saw the fleeing Soviet commanders and fighters in the distance, and observed with a telescope for a while, and found several wounded among the fleeing crowd. He knew that the presence of the wounded would slow down the troop's movement speed, so he quickly put down his binoculars and led his thirty-odd soldiers to chase after him.

Bisklev, who was hiding in the gully, saw that the enemy did not find him, and crossed the gully to chase the false target that attracted them from a distance. Soldiers can come out and destroy the enemy.

  The German officers and soldiers who were chasing the "fleeing" Soviet army never dreamed that there were more than 20 black guns pointing at them behind them. With Bisklev's order, all the weapons fired simultaneously. Due to the short distance and the unpreparedness of the German soldiers, they all fell under the guns in less than a minute.

   Bisklev crawled out of the ravine, checked carefully, and saw that there was no one alive, so he gave an order to the rest of the soldiers: "Take off all the German uniforms."

"Wait a minute." Just as the soldiers were about to pick off the military uniform off the German corpse, Bisklev suddenly stopped them, then rushed to the ground, picked up a German submachine gun, and pointed at the place where no one was there. , pulled the trigger. After finishing the bullets in the magazine, he picked up a German grenade, pulled the string and threw it far away.

After the grenade fell to the ground and exploded, Bisklev said to the soldiers: "You should follow my example, shoot at the same time with the weapons of the German army and our army, and throw a few grenades from time to time to make the side of the hill look like a mountain. It looks like it's fighting."

  The soldiers were still confused at this time, but they still strictly followed Bisklev's order, using German weapons and their own weapons, shooting at places where no one was around, and throwing a grenade from time to time.

Seeing that the military uniforms on the German corpses were almost stripped off, Bisklev stopped everyone, and then said to the returning sergeant: "Put on the uniform of the German second lieutenant, and I will point you at you to deal with the Germans later." people."

  When the sergeant heard Bisklev say this, he was taken aback for a moment, and then he understood the meaning of the other party: "Comrade Lieutenant, are you planning to let us pretend to be Germans and sneak into the enemy's position?"

"That's right, that's what I mean." Bisklev said to the commanders and fighters: "Half of the people put on the uniforms of the German army, while the rest still wore the uniforms of our army, and then we pretended to be the troops escorting the prisoners and sneaked into the German defense zone."

   "Comrade Lieutenant," the sergeant said to Bisklev with some worry, "We don't know how many enemies are in the defense zone. If we rush in recklessly, we may suffer losses."

"Comrade sergeant, you don't have to worry." Bisklev comforted the sergeant and said, "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 Only a few dozen people were sent to chase us. We have more than forty people, and the enemy's company is only two hundred people even if it is full. Now they have lost fifty or sixty people, and there are at most one hundred and fifty people left. Such a wide area, I think we should not have much problem if we want to mix in."

Hearing what Bisklev said, the sergeant's eyes lit up immediately: "Comrade lieutenant, your method is good. The enemy will definitely relax their vigilance when they see their own men coming back with a group of prisoners. Infiltrate their defense zone. What are you waiting for, act quickly."

  (end of this chapter)