Chapter 1961

Early the next morning, both sides of the streets in Otatz were full of Soviet commanders and fighters. The residents in the city were a little surprised and wondered what the Soviet army was going to do. Why were they guarding some important streets? Is there someone big coming?

   At the headquarters, Sokov and the others are already ready to welcome the condolence group. Considering that the old man was the main character in today's meeting, he deliberately invited the old man to the headquarters.

   "Comrade Commander," the old man asked with concern, "Have you prepared the deployment nearby?"

"Yes," Sokov nodded, and said, "We have deployed snipers on many commanding heights in the city, and Lyudmila and Vasily have also chosen the appropriate sniper locations. "

   "Where do you think the German snipers will choose the sniper position?"

Facing the old man's question, Sokov was silent for a long time, and then said: "If it is an ordinary sniper, after the sniper position is exposed, he will never appear there again. This is a question that both the enemy and the enemy can think of." , so that exposed location will be ignored during the search. And if I were an ace sniper, in order to complete the mission, I might take the risk and dive back to that location.”

After listening to Sokov's analysis, the old man had a smile on his face: "Comrade Commander, your analysis is very correct. If you are an ordinary sniper, you will definitely give up the exposed sniper location. And an excellent sniper, They will take advantage of everyone's misunderstandings and try to find a way to use this place again."

Sameko next to him heard this, and quickly suggested to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the location you mentioned was indeed ignored by us. See if you can send someone to notify Lyudmila and Vasily to let them lurk. Near that sniper point, come and stop the ace sniper of the German army."

   "No." Sokov and the old man said in unison: "We can't send someone to monitor him."

  Sameko looked at Sokov, then at the old man, and asked puzzledly, "Why?"

"Anyone who can become an ace sniper has observation and sensitivity that exceed ordinary people. If you arrange someone to ambush you early, it will be easy for him to detect." Sokov explained: "In order to avoid being detected by the other party , I told Lyudmila and Vasily to stay away from this area as much as possible."

   "Comrade Commander, if that ace sniper is still lurking in the attic, taking advantage of the time when the condolence team gets out of the car to carry out the sniper, wouldn't he be able to achieve his goal?"

   "Don't worry, I won't let him succeed." Sokov gritted his teeth and said, "Today we will have a complete end."

   After saying this, Sokov suddenly remembered the telegram sent by Ponegerin, saying that he planned to launch an offensive in Romania, so he asked Sameko: "Is there any latest news about the battle group?"

"Not yet." Sameko replied: "According to General Ponegelin's intention, he swaggered to mobilize troops during the day just to attract the attention of the Romanian army in the city. If the opponent does not want to fight, he will send people to fight with them." Negotiate; if no negotiators are sent, it proves that the other side wants to fight us."

   "This is a good way." Trofimenko nodded and said, "Whether it's a friend or an enemy, you can find out in one try."

"That's right, if the Ponegerin battle group remains on hold after entering Romania, the Romanian army will always take a wait-and-see attitude because they can't figure out the details of our army." Sokov said: "If you fight with them Fight a battle, let them see the true strength of our army, and they will know how to make a choice."

   "Do you think General Ponejielin's troops can take those two cities in a few days?" Trofimenko asked.

   "It's hard to say," Sameko said: "According to General Ponejelin, in order to avoid accidentally injuring civilians in the city, they will try not to use heavy weapons in this attack on the city."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, please tell General Ponegerin." Sokov agreed with Pornegerin's statement that civilians should not be harmed, but in siege battles, blindly not using heavy weapons, that is It's so old-fashioned. If you encounter a strong enemy fortress and don't need heavy weapons to destroy it, should you use the lives of the commanders and soldiers to fill it? Therefore, he told Sameko: "In battle, we must decide whether to use heavy weapons according to the specific situation, and don't let our soldiers sacrifice their lives in vain."

   "Comrade Commander, if heavy weapons are used, the civilians in the city may be injured." Sameko reminded Sokov in a low voice.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think Comrade Commander is right." The old man unexpectedly expressed support for Sokov's statement: "I have been on the battlefield, so naturally I know very well that facing the enemy's strong fortifications, if you don't Destroying it with heavy weapons, but blindly taking human lives to fill it, this is irresponsible to many commanders and fighters."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Trofimenko saw that Sokov and the old man had the same opinion, and said to Sameko: "You have been a commander for a long time, don't you know that orders from superiors are for Execution, not discussion? You just pass on the commander's order to General Pornejerin, and you don't have to worry about the rest."

"Okay, Comrade Deputy Commander." Seeing that Trofimenko said the same thing, Sameko could only choose to obey. He immediately turned around and walked to the communication area, found a radio operator, and asked him to send Sokov's order It was sent to Ponegelin in the form of a telegram, allowing the other party to decide whether to use heavy weapons according to the situation on the battlefield.

At nine o'clock, Koshkin walked in from the outside and reported to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the convoy of the consolation regiment has arrived, and it is still five or six hundred meters away from the headquarters. It will take another three to five minutes at most. will arrive.”

   "Old man," Sokov said to the old man with a smile, "there are many old friends of yours in the condolence group, let's go out to meet them together."

   Seeing that Sokov only invited the old man to go out to greet him, Trofimenko couldn't help feeling anxious: "Comrade Commander, what about me?"

   "Comrade Deputy Commander," Sokov said to Trofimenko with a smile: "I think you are still staying at the headquarters with the two comrade chiefs of staff. We are just going out to pick up people and will be back soon."

  Sameko knew that Sokov’s life might be in danger when he went out to meet the members of the condolence group, so he hurriedly reminded him: “Comrade Commander, it’s too dangerous outside, let me go to meet the comrades of the condolence group.”

   "No." Unexpectedly, Sokov said resolutely: "I am the commander. There are condolence groups from Moscow here. I should definitely be the one to greet them."

"However, there may be an ace sniper of the German army outside." Sameko reminded Sukov: "If you go out, won't you become the target of the other party? I have no right to let you take risks, or I should represent Are you going to meet the condolence team?"

   "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov was still very moved by Sameko's concern. However, he had already made complete preparations, so he didn't have to worry about any ace snipers of the German army, so he politely declined Sameko's kindness: "The old man and I will be back soon, everything will be fine."

When Sokov and the old man walked outside, the old man worriedly said: "Comrade commander, it's really too dangerous outside. Otherwise, you can stay in the corridor. I'll meet the members of the condolence team at the door. By the way See which old friends have come to visit me specially."

   "No need." Sokov said confidently: "I have made thorough preparations, old man, don't worry."

   The old man followed Sokov to the gate of the headquarters with apprehension.

  The sentinel outside the door saw Sokov coming out, and quickly raised his hand to salute with his gun.

When the two stood at the door, waiting for the approaching convoy, the old man couldn't help but glanced at the attic from the corner of his eye. He didn't dare to look directly for fear of being discovered by the snipers hiding there, so he could only choose to steal it. way of glancing. Seeing this, he was startled immediately. Someone opened a gap in the window that was originally closed, and someone was clearly hiding inside.

"Comrade Commander," the old man hurriedly approached Sokov, and whispered anxiously, "There is someone in the attic. I suspect it is the ace sniper we are looking for. Go back to the corridor quickly. If you wait for the sniper to shoot , but it’s too late to leave.”

  The convoy stopped outside the headquarters, and Sokov and the old man walked down the steps to greet them.

A major general came out of the first jeep. Sokov recognized this person as the adjutant of Marshal Konev, and hurriedly went up to shake hands with him: "Hello, comrade adjutant. I really didn't expect that the condolence team came this time. It was you who led the way."

  "Hello, General Sokov!" The adjutant also said politely: "Originally, Comrade Marshal wanted to come here in person, but the situation on the battlefield changed, so he had to stay and deal with it, so he changed his mind temporarily."

Knowing that Konev couldn’t come due to something, Sokov secretly said yes in his heart. It’s best if Konev doesn’t come. .

"Comrade Adjutant, although Comrade Marshal can't come, it's the same for you as his representative." Sukov saw a lot of people getting out of the jeep behind, so he asked the adjutant tentatively: "These are all A member of the condolence team?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The adjutant nodded and said, "A total of 21 people, including social activists, scholars and writers, as well as chemists, physicists, mathematicians, astronomers, biologists, philosophers, Economists, meteorologists. With so many top experts, almost everyone said they knew Mr. Morozov, and some even worked with him.”

   "Hey, there are quite a few experts." Sokov jokingly said to the adjutant: "If any accident happens to your convoy on the road, it will cause huge losses to all walks of life in our country."

"That's right," the adjutant said in a complaining tone, "It's the first time I have received a consolation group with so many experts, and what is even more strange is that there are so many experts and scholars, everyone knows the old man, so let the old man I'm a little puzzled."

Although Sokov knew the reason, he did not tell the adjutant, but said with a smile: "Comrade adjutant, anyway, when you leave later, you have to take the old man away. If you are interested, you can ask the old man on the way , I am sure he will be interested in telling you his story."

  After the members of the condolence team came, they immediately surrounded the old man in the middle, chatting all over for a while, making the old man a little tired of coping.

"Comrade Adjutant," although Sokov had already made careful arrangements, he was always careful in case something went wrong. Not only would he not be able to lure out the ace sniper of the German army, but he might even risk his own life. So he took the initiative to invite the adjutant to his headquarters: "This is not a place to talk, let's chat in my headquarters."

   Just as Sokov led his adjutant, the old man, and a group of people from the condolence team, they stepped up the steps and were about to enter the building. Suddenly, there was the scream of shells piercing the air. Just when everyone didn't know why, the shell had already hit a house several hundred meters away. Amid the huge explosion, the upper half of that house was shrouded in smoke.

   Seeing the buildings hit by shells in the distance, the adjutant and the condolence team were dumbfounded. The old man approached Sokov and asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander, is this what you are preparing for?"

   "Old man, you are right." Sokov nodded and said with a smile: "This is the deployment I made."

   "Oh my God," the old man exclaimed in a low voice, "how did you come up with such a wonderful idea?"

Seeing the adjutant and the members of the condolence team, Sokov was still staring at the smog-shrouded attic, and when he didn't notice himself here, he approached the old man and whispered: "Since the ace sniper of the German army is going to deal with me, we often use The method is useless. Not to mention ordinary snipers, even Lyudmila and Vasily, ambushing within 300 meters of the attic, may be detected by German snipers. So I chose long-range artillery attack A German sniper can observe targets 300 meters or 500 meters away, but can he still observe targets 800 meters or 1,000 meters away?"

   "I can't observe it." The old man replied without hesitation: "If a normal sniper rifle wants to hit such a distant target, the hit rate is pitifully low."

"Old man, you are right." Sokov nodded again and said, "But if you use artillery to bombard it, it is another matter. I greeted General Tsarev in private yesterday and asked him to transfer a batch A gunner with high technical and tactical level. After locking the position of the German sniper, he directly calls the artillery for long-range artillery strikes.

  I think the German snipers must have observed the surrounding environment before carrying out the mission, and entered the attic after confirming that there was no danger. And what he never dreamed of was that I would arrange artillery to lock his position at a distance of thousands of meters. "

   "Comrade Commander, I have another question." The old man frowned and asked, "How does the artillery who is a thousand meters away know when to fire?"

"I asked Lyudmila to go to the artillery unit and let her stay with the artillery observer." Sokov explained to the old man: "The order I gave her was that when the German snipers tried to carry out the sniper mission, Just decisively fired bombardment at the attic."

"Oh, so that's what's going on, I understand." The old man gave Sokov a thumbs up: "Comrade Commander, your move is really great, and you actually easily killed the ace sniper of the German army." .”

  (end of this chapter)