Chapter 1510 Advance to the Dnieper River (4)

  Shamrikh received a call from Uzakov and immediately ordered the whole regiment to get off the train. After preparing to complete the formation, he marched along the railway to Kremenchug.

   Unexpectedly, when they were queuing up, there was a sudden commotion at the location of the first battalion, and then Shamrich saw a dozen soldiers running northward. After seeing this, he couldn't help frowning, and quickly ordered someone to call the new battalion commander Yakuda, and asked displeasedly: "Comrade Captain, what's going on with your battalion, why are you making such a big noise? Aren't you afraid of alerting German scouts who might be hiding nearby?"

Yakuda, who was blamed, waited for Shamrih to finish speaking, and quickly explained to him: "Comrade commander, the situation is like this. When our battalion was gathering, the second company commander suddenly said that he saw a figure shaking nearby. Suspecting it was a German scout, he led his men to chase after him."

"Oh, German scouts." Hearing what Yakov said, Shamrikh felt a little uneasy. You must know that the passwords issued by the officers were all in Russian when they got off the car. If there are German scouts in the hide, then the troops have been exposed.

Shamrih's attitude suddenly changed, and he told Yakuda: "Comrade Captain, if the figure found by the second company commander is really a German scout, there may be more Germans nearby. Take someone to meet them, and absolutely not let them go away alone."

   "Understood." Yakuda agreed, called more than 20 soldiers, and chased in the direction where the second company commander disappeared.

   "Comrade commander," Lieutenant Shapovalenko, the political commissar of the acting regiment, asked after Yakuda took people away, "Do you need to report this to the division commander?"

   "I think it's not too late to report to the teacher after we catch someone."

Shapovalenko immediately refuted Shamrikh's statement: "Comrade commander, this matter cannot be postponed. Report the situation to the division commander earlier, so that the whole division can prepare for battle earlier. In order not to wait for the enemy to rush over, the other commanders and fighters in the division don't know what happened."

   Hearing what Shapovalenko said, Shamrih realized that it should be reported earlier. In any case, it is absolutely necessary for the troops to prepare for battle in advance. Although there was a telephone in the carriage leading directly to the carriage behind, Shamrich felt that it would be more appropriate to report this kind of matter to Chuvashov in person.

  Shamrih called the chief of staff of the regiment and ordered him to continue to direct the troops to assemble, while he and Shapovalenko walked towards the last carriage, preparing to report the emergency to Chuvashov.

Chuvashov, who was talking to Uzakov in the carriage, suddenly saw the appearance of Shamrikh and Shapovalenko, and couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked: "Major Shamrih, don't you keep an eye on the troops?" Gather up, what are you doing here?"

   "Comrade Commander," Shamrih quickly replied, "Something unexpected happened and I need to report it to you immediately."

   "Unexpected situation?" Chuvashov frowned and asked, "What unexpected situation?"

   "It's like this, Comrade Commander." Shamrich quickly reported to Chuvashov and others that the second company commander of the first battalion found a figure shaking nearby and led people to chase him.

   After Chuvashov finished listening, he turned his head and looked at Uzakov who was aside: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"

  Uzakov thought for a moment, and replied: "Comrade commander, no one has been caught yet. It is difficult for us to determine whether the figures appearing near the railway are German scouts or civilians passing by."

  Dobrushin couldn't help but asked curiously: "If they were really civilians, how could they turn around and run away when they saw our team? I think it is very likely that they are German scouts."

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Shamrich said after hearing Dobrushin's words, a little dumbfounded, "We are wearing German uniforms. If ordinary civilians see us, they can hide as far away as possible." , how could it be possible to come up and say hello to us?"

"That's true." Dobrushin looked at the German uniform on his body, realized that he had made a common sense mistake, smiled embarrassedly, and then said: "The civilians saw the military uniform we are wearing. , will indeed be scared away.”

"Major Shamrih," Chuvashov said to Shamrih after some thought, "You and your regiment political commissar go back first, continue to gather troops and prepare for departure. Wait for the second company commander After you catch someone, come and report to us."

After Shamrikh and Shapovalenko left, Chuvashov immediately ordered Uzakov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately issue a battle alert to the other two regiments, so that the commanders and fighters are ready to fight, so as to prevent the Germans from possibly Launched a sneak attack."

  Shamrih and Shapovalenko returned to their original positions and found that the chief of staff of the regiment had completed the assembly of troops. Seeing the two come back, the chief of staff of the regiment hurried over to ask for instructions: "Comrade commander, when can we leave?"

   "Wait a little longer." Shamrih said to the chief of staff of the regiment: "Wait until Captain Yakuda brings someone back. We must first find out who is appearing near the railway."

After waiting for seven or eight minutes, Shamrih saw a dark figure approaching from a distance, so he couldn't help raising his vigilance, and ordered the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, there are many people coming from a distance, immediately order the troops to prepare for battle .”

  Just as the chief of staff of the regiment was about to order the troops to prepare for battle, someone hurried over. The chief of staff of the regiment recognized him as a soldier from the first battalion, guessing that he might be with Captain Yakuda, and asked quickly: "Comrade soldier, are you with Captain Yakuda?"

"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The soldier replied: "We have caught the figure that appeared near the railway and are rushing this way. The battalion commander is worried that it will be too dark for our friendly troops to see clearly, and unnecessary accidents will happen. If there is a misunderstanding, I will send me back to say hello to you first."

Knowing that the soldier in front of him was on a mission with Yakuda, Shamrih walked up to him quickly, and asked very quickly: "Comrade soldier, tell me quickly, what are you grabbing?" people?"

   "Three prisoners wearing prison uniforms." The soldier replied: "They said they had just escaped from a prisoner-of-war camp. The battalion commander didn't know whether what they said was true or not. He planned to bring them back for you to interrogate in person."

   "Prisoners who escaped from the POW camp?" Shamrih asked in surprise, "Can you determine their identities?"

   "I can't be sure at the moment." The soldier shook his head and replied, "They don't have any documents on them that can prove their identity, so we can't judge whether they are telling the truth or lying."

   "Comrade Commander," Shapovalenko asked Shamrih immediately after listening, "Should we report the situation to the division commander immediately?"

"Wait a minute, Comrade Commissar." Now that everyone has been brought back, Shamrikh decided to interrogate himself before making a decision, so he rejected Shapovalenko's proposal: "Since everyone is arrested by Yaku Captain Da has brought it back, I think it’s better to interrogate him before we talk about it.”

Not long after, Yakuda appeared in front of Shamrih and Shapovalenko with a group of soldiers, and he reported to them excitedly: "The head of the regiment, the political commissar, captured three people who claimed to be from Our soldiers who escaped from the prisoner-of-war camp, please screen them."

  Shamrih looked around and felt that it was not appropriate to interrogate the prisoners next to the train, so he shook his head at Yakuda and said, "Take them into the car, and I will interrogate them slowly."

  The three prisoners were brought onto the train. After finding a wooden stool and sitting down, Shamlih looked at them who were skinny and asked, "Your names, which army did you serve in before, and when were you captured?"

The youngest prisoner among the three stepped forward, straightened his body and reported to Shamrih: "Comrade Major, my name is Ye Liaoming, and I am a second lieutenant. I belong to the 164th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the 12th Army. Captured in battle."

  Since someone started the conversation, the remaining two prisoners also came forward and reported their families: "My name is Kudry, a corporal of the 164th Infantry Division. I am a subordinate of Second Lieutenant Ye Liaoming. I was captured in the Battle of Uman."

   "My name is Lyaftsev, an ordinary soldier, and a subordinate of Second Lieutenant Yeleoming. I was also captured in the Battle of Uman."

   "Oh, it turns out that you are all in the same army and were captured in the same battle." Shamrih nodded after hearing this, and continued to ask: "I want to ask you, why did you appear near the railway?"

   Although Shamrih and others were wearing German uniforms, when Ye Liaoming and others were escorted back, they realized that the army in front of them was just Soviet troops wearing German uniforms, and they felt much more at ease. Hearing the question raised by Shamrih, Ye Liaoming quickly and truthfully replied: "Comrade major, the enemy expelled the commanders and fighters in the prisoner-of-war camp to build the **** Dnieper River defense line. The three of us also participated in the construction work. During this time, I heard that I The army was approaching the Dnieper River, the enemy began to fall into chaos, and our management was not so strict, so I discussed with my two old subordinates, took advantage of the opportunity of the enemy's lax defense to escape, and looked east for our troops.

  When I passed by here, I found a military train parked on the railway. I thought the train was full of Germans, so I hid near the railway and planned to wait for the military train to leave before continuing on my way east. Unexpectedly, once the train stopped, it stopped moving forward, and there were even engineers building the road ahead.

   We wanted to transfer just in time for you to get out of the car and line up. In order to prevent being discovered by you, I plan to escape in the dark. But at this moment, I heard the officers in the queue shouting passwords in Russian, and I immediately realized that the German troops in front of me might be disguised by my own troops. "

   Knowing that Ye Liaoming heard his subordinates yelling passwords in Russian, and quickly judged that his troops were German soldiers in disguise, he was shocked into a cold sweat. He quickly asked, "How did you escape from the POW camp? Are there any Germans chasing you?"

  According to Shamrich's thinking, if Ye Liaoming and the others were discovered by the German army when they escaped from the prisoner-of-war camp, someone would definitely chase them, and then his own troops would be in danger of being exposed. That's why he asked this question.

Ye Liaoming shook his head vigorously after hearing this, and explained: "In order for us to build the defense line on the Dnieper River, the Germans drove us from the prisoner-of-war camp near Uman. The temporary prisoner-of-war camp here is just several layers of barbed wire surrounding an open space After finishing work every day, we were housed in this open space surrounded by barbed wire. I accidentally found that one of the barbed wires could be lifted, so I escaped with Kudry and Lyaftsev in the dark. "

The chief of staff of the    regiment waited for Ye Liaoming to finish speaking, and asked cautiously, "Why did you three escape only?"

"Comrade Major," Ye Liaoming replied after seeing the rank of the chief of staff: "There are so many people that it is easy to expose the target. Maybe the last person will not be able to escape. I plan to take the two of them to the east to find our troops." , and then lead the troops to rescue the comrades in the prisoner-of-war camp."

   "How many people are in your prisoner-of-war camp?" Shamrih asked, "How far is it from here?"

  Ye Liaoming thought for a while, and replied: "There are about 2,000 people, and the prisoner-of-war camp is about two kilometers away from here."

   "How many guards are there?"

   "Less than a hundred people."

   After learning about the location of the prisoner-of-war camp, the number of guards, and the number of prisoners, Shamrih was silent for a moment, and then asked, "How is the physical condition of the soldiers detained in the prisoner-of-war camp?"

This time it was Ye Liaoming's turn to be silent. After a long time, he said: "Comrade Major, the physical condition of the comrades in the prisoner-of-war camp is similar to that of the three of us. After all, we all stayed in the German prisoner-of-war camp for two days." Years, surviving in itself is not an easy thing.”

   "If you were given weapons, would you be able to fight the Germans?"

Ye Liaoming listened to Shamrih's words, and after a long time, he nodded slowly and said, "Yes, Comrade Major, as long as we are alive, we can face the Germans as long as we have weapons in our hands." to fight."

"Very good!" After Ye Liaoming finished speaking, Shamrih turned to the chief of staff of the regiment standing beside him and said, "Comrade chief of staff, they seem to be famished, go and get them something to eat. Let’s have some more to drink, so that they can recover and serve as our guides.”

   Just as the chief of staff of the regiment turned around and was about to leave, Shapovalenko stopped him: "Comrade chief of staff, don't eat too much. They have been starving for a long time. If they eat too much at one time, their lives may be in danger."

   "Comrade Major," Ye Liaoming couldn't help asking curiously when he heard Shamrih say that he would be the guide, "Where do you want us to take you?"

"Where else can I go?" Shamrich thought that two or three kilometers away from here, there was a German prisoner-of-war camp, in which more than 2,000 Soviet commanders and fighters were detained, and there were less than a hundred German soldiers guarding them. Go ahead and clean them up without hot knives cutting through butter—a breeze. "Naturally, go to the prisoner-of-war camp you just escaped from. Didn't you say that you want to take the troops to rescue those comrades who were detained, I will fulfill your wish now and take the troops to rescue your comrades in arms."

   "This is really great, Comrade Major." Ye Liaoming was moved to tears when he heard what Shamrih said, and said repeatedly: "On behalf of my comrades, thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"

The chief of staff of the regiment soon came back with food, and while the three of them were devouring food, Shamrikh came to the carriage at the rear of the car again and reported to Chuvashov: "Comrade commander, I have figured it out, The figures swaying beside the railway track turned out to be three commanders who had just escaped from a German prisoner-of-war camp."

   After hearing this, Chuvashov immediately became interested: "Where are they?"

   "We are eating in the carriage where our regiment is." Shamrich said to Chuvashov: "They have agreed to be our guides and take us to take away the German prisoner-of-war camps."

  (end of this chapter)