Chapter 1561 Three Big Fires (Part 2)

  Sokov was worried that the two spies who had escaped would use arson to indicate the target for the bombing German bombers, and he also specially gave Samoilov an order to make the patrol team take more precautions.

   But unfortunately, the patrol team who received Sokov's order felt like a dog biting a hedgehog and couldn't bite. Although Klemenchug is not a big city, it still has a large area and nearly 100,000 residents. Finding the spies who slipped through the net and preventing them from arson in the city is a hell-level task.

  Many patrol captains were complaining to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, the city is so big and our manpower is limited. If the spies who slipped through the net want to set fire to the city, we have nothing to do."

  After Samoilov glanced over the crowd, he found that his deputy, Lieutenant Serelkov, remained silent, bowed his head in silence, and asked tentatively, "Lieutenant Serelkov, why don't you speak?"

  Seryolkov looked up at Samoilov, and said slowly: "Comrade company commander, tell me, if the German army wants to bomb the city, which target do they want to bomb the most?"

"It goes without saying," Serelkov had just finished speaking, and Samoilov's other deputy, Lieutenant Sapochuk, the company commander of the 98th Guards Division, said first: "The enemy most wants to bomb The target must be the headquarters of the group army. As long as the bombing can destroy the headquarters, our troops will be plunged into chaos due to the loss of unified command..."

   When Sapochuk said this, he suddenly stopped, with a shocked expression on his face. He looked at Samoilov and asked tentatively: "Comrade company commander, the enemy really doesn't want to bomb the headquarters of the army group?"

   "It's possible." Samoilov carefully weighed this issue on the way back from the headquarters, and felt that if the enemy carried out another night bombing, the first choice of target must be the army headquarters. As Sapochuk said, the army headquarters was destroyed, and the troops deployed on both sides of the Dnieper River fell into chaos because of the loss of unified command. If the Germans launched a fierce attack at this time, they might be able to drive all the defenders on the right bank landing field into the Dnieper River.

   "Comrade Company Commander," Sapochuk asked nervously, "How can we prevent spies from arson?"

"Come and see," Samoilov spread a city defense map on the table, and said to everyone sitting at the table: "I just heard from the commander in the headquarters that if the enemy wants to attack the enemy at night, If the plane guides the bombing target, it can only ignite three fires, and let the enemy planes bomb the triangle formed by the fires."

Serelkov is a smart man. When he heard Samoilov say this, he immediately guessed his intentions. His eyes lit up immediately, and he said: "Comrade company commander, you mean that we should focus on the headquarters of the group army. Find out where it might be set on fire by spies?"

"That's right, that's what it means." Samoilov scratched the back of his head and said with a look of embarrassment: "Even if we focus on the triangle area centered on the headquarters, only with our existing two hundred No. 1, it is still very difficult to completely prevent the enemy from setting fire."

Sapochuk stared at the map for a while, then pointed to a location and said: "This is a bookstore. If spies want to set fire to it, this is undoubtedly the best place. I suggest deploying one or two patrols here Team, prevent spies from entering the bookstore and setting fire to it."

"Yes." After Samoilov readily agreed to Sapochuk's suggestion, he looked at Serelkov and the rest of the patrol captains and said, "Where else do you think is the place where spies might set fire? Why not?" Say it all."

  As soon as Samoilov's voice fell, the patrol captains expressed their opinions one after another:

   "This is a school. The school library is also a place that is prone to fire."

   "And here, there are several clothing stores on this street. If the spies want to set fire, this is also the best place."

   "..."

  The patrol captains are very familiar with the area they are in charge of. Under the prompt of Sapochuk, they immediately named more than a dozen locations that are easy to be set on fire by spies.

   At the beginning, Samoilov was still at each point, depending on whether it was important, he chose to put one or two patrols, but he soon found that he had no one to use.

   Just when he was in a dilemma, he suddenly heard Serelkov ask: "Comrade company commander, do you have a headache because you have no soldiers at your disposal?"

   "Yes, Lieutenant Serelkov." Samoilov did not hide anything, and said truthfully: "If we want to deploy defenses in all areas, we need at least double the manpower."

"Comrade company commander, don't worry." Serelkov waited for Samoilov to finish speaking, and said with a smile: "Don't forget, there is still an elite unit in the headquarters that has not been used. If you can get With their help, there must be no problem in dealing with the two spies who slipped through the net."

"There is still an elite unit in the headquarters?" The doubts on Samoilov's face only stayed for a few seconds, and he thought of what unit Serelkov was talking about: "Lieutenant Serelkov, you are talking about the second lieutenant The training company and the junior commander's teaching company?"

   "That's right, it's them." Serelkov said: "There are 270 people in these two companies. If we get their assistance, we can completely stop the conspiracy of the spies to set fire in the city."

   "Okay." Samoilov felt that what Serelkov said made sense, so he nodded in agreement: "I will immediately call Comrade Chief of Staff and ask him to send us these two companies."

  When Sameko received a call from Samoilov to borrow the second lieutenant training company and the junior commander's teaching company, he seemed a little hesitant. When Sokov proposed to assign these commanders and fighters to the grassroots companies to serve as company platoon leaders, he was one of the opponents. Now it is a waste to let these commanders and fighters serve as patrols.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov, who was talking to Managarov, saw Sameko answering a phone call, and just held the receiver in a daze. What's the matter?"

  Sameko said: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Samoilov wants to second the Second Lieutenant Training Company and the Junior Commander Teaching Company."

   "What are you borrowing for?"

   "In order to prevent German spies from setting fire to the city, they deployed defenses in more than a dozen places." Sameko explained: "Now there are not enough manpower, so they plan to borrow these two companies."

   "If he wants to use it, just lend it to him." After hearing this, Sokov said carelessly: "Anyway, the commanders and fighters of these two companies stay in the headquarters every day with nothing to do."

   "However, let these future commanders serve as patrol members." Sameko said with some hesitation: "Isn't it a bit too talented?"

   "Let them exercise." Sokov felt that it was a waste for these commanders and fighters who should have received the baptism of war to stay in the headquarters all day doing nothing. Now that he finally had a chance to exercise, he would not give up easily, so he told Sameko: "Let them report to Lieutenant Samoilov immediately."

Now that Sokov has made it clear, Sameko can no longer object, and can only say into the microphone: "Lieutenant Samoilov, Comrade Commander has agreed. The second lieutenant training company and the junior commander's teaching company will be in the In the shortest possible time, I rushed to report to you."

  After dark, the German bomber fleet was dispatched again to bomb Klemenchug.

  The reason why the German army chose to attack at night was because the Soviet army had already obtained air supremacy on the battlefield. If they bombed Klemenchug during the day, it is estimated that as soon as they entered the sky above the city, they would be attacked by Soviet fighter planes that had been waiting for a long time. In the bombing at night, the Soviet fighter planes could not attack in time, and the city lacked the necessary air defense measures, so it could only be passively bombed.

  Guchakov heard the roar of aircraft engines from the sky. Although the night was too dark to see anything, he knew in his heart that the Germans were preparing to bomb the city again, so he quickly called to warn.

When Sameko received the call from Guchakov, his face changed drastically, and he quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Major Guchakov reported that a large number of German planes flew over his defense area." Flying over, presumably preparing to bomb the city."

Knowing that the enemy planes were coming, Sokov immediately issued two orders to Sameko: "Chief of Staff, record my orders: 1. Deploy the air defense forces along the Dnieper River to conduct anti-aircraft fire and disrupt the German bombers. Second, issue an air raid siren and implement a blackout on the city so that the enemy cannot find targets on the ground."

  The anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns deployed along the Dnieper River were originally intended to protect the bridges on the river, so there are commanders and fighters on duty at all times. After receiving Sameko's order, they quickly prepared for combat, and cut off the fire as soon as the enemy plane entered the air defense area.

  Because there is no searchlight guidance, it is very difficult to hit an enemy plane flying at a high altitude in the dark. However, the high-explosive bombs exploded in the air still disrupted the German bomber formation. In order to avoid being shot down, the German bombers had to disrupt formation and dodge anti-aircraft fire from the ground.

  Although the anti-aircraft artillery fire on the ground did not shoot down any enemy aircraft, and caused almost negligible damage to the enemy aircraft, it successfully disrupted the formation of the German bomber formation. As a result, bombers that could fly over the city in a few minutes had to regroup in areas without anti-aircraft artillery fire.

   As for the blackout in the city, it is even simpler. Although it has been a while since the city was liberated, due to various reasons, the power supply has never been restored. Residents in the city can only light candles at night.

  When the air raid sirens sounded, the experienced residents blew out the candles in their homes, took small bags containing food and water, and entered the air-raid shelter closest to them in an orderly manner, where they avoided air raids.

   Samoilov, who was leading people to patrol the street, couldn't help laughing when he saw the residents entering the underground air-raid shelter. The soldiers on the side saw it and couldn't help asking curiously: "Comrade company commander, what are you laughing at?"

Samoilov pointed to the residents who were filing into the air-raid shelter, and said in his mouth: "A few days ago, the residents entered the air-raid shelter to avoid our army's air attack; but now, they entered the air-raid shelter to avoid the Germans. Human airstrikes."

   At this time Serelkov said: "Comrade company commander, the enemy plane will soon reach the sky above the city. I don't know what happened. I feel panicked."

Hearing what Serelkov said, Samoilov not only did not laugh at him, but also echoed: "Yes, Lieutenant Serelkov, I am not at ease. Don't look at the appearance of being safe now, Maybe in the next minute, the fire will rise somewhere in the city, and then the enemy planes will be able to bombard the target pointed out by the spies without restraint."

   "In the final analysis, our manpower is still too small." Serelkov said: "Although we have deployed defenses at a dozen or twenty points, if the spies are aware of it, they will choose a new place."

   "Yes, this is also what I am worried about." Samoilov continued: "Unless I have another battalion in my hand, it is impossible to monitor all possible accidents."

  The two were talking, when they suddenly saw a red light glowing in the distance, and then a flame of black smoke rose up. Seeing this, Samoilov's heartbeat suddenly reached 120 beats per minute, and he asked nervously, "Lieutenant Serelkov, where is the fire ahead?"

   Serelkov is very familiar with various locations because he often leads patrols to patrol the city. He only looked at it for a moment, then frowned and replied: "Looking at the location of the fire, there should be a public bathroom."

   "Public bathroom?" Samoilov asked with some surprise: "Why did the bathroom catch fire?"

   "It's very simple. The cabinets in the locker room are all made of wood. Just light one place and it will burn."

   "How long will it take for the nearest patrol to arrive there?"

   "The nearest patrol team is about 200 meters away." Serelkov replied: "If the patrol leader responds in time, he should be able to reach the scene of the fire within five minutes."

   "Five minutes?!" Samoilov shook his head and said, "It's too late. I'm afraid the German planes will enter the sky in five minutes."

"Comrade company commander, don't worry." Serelkov comforted him and said, "Because we deployed control at many suspected locations, the spies could not set fire there, so we had to move the location of the arson to a place further outside. As a result, , it will take longer for them to light the second, third fire."

   But as soon as he finished speaking, the flames rose again on the other side. It seems that the two spies who slipped through the net acted separately, so that two fires could be ignited within a short period of time. Although it would take some time for the spies to ignite the third fire, Samoilov couldn't hold back anymore. He found a phone in a nearby barracks and planned to call Sokov directly to warn him. .

   As soon as the first fire was lit, Sokov got the report. He came to the bell tower alone, and was about to raise the binoculars to observe the fire scene, when he found that another place was also on fire. Sokov saw that the time between the two burning locations was not long, and immediately realized that the spies might want to guide their location to the German bombers.

  Thinking of this, he didn't bother to observe the situation, and hurriedly went downstairs from the bell tower. As soon as he came to the hall, Sameko came up to him and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Samoilov called not long ago, saying that the enemy may ignite three fires, and prepare for the German bombers that are about to fly over the city. The group guides the target."

"Proceed with the order," Sokov knew that once the headquarters became the target of the German bombing, staying here would be tantamount to death, so he decisively issued the order: "Everyone immediately move to a safe place, and wait until the bombing of the enemy plane is over. return."

  Sokov's order was issued in a timely manner. When the commanders and fighters in the church withdrew one after another, the spies had already ignited the third fire site, clearly pointing out the location of Sokov's headquarters for the German bombers.

  (end of this chapter)