After receiving Uzakov's call, Shamrich immediately ordered the entire regiment to get off the train, and after preparing to complete the formation, they headed towards Kremenchug along the railway.
Unexpectedly, while lining up, there was a sudden commotion at the location of the first battalion, and then Shamrih saw a dozen soldiers running towards the north. When he saw this, he couldn't help but frowned, and quickly ordered someone to call
The newly appointed commander of the 1st Battalion, Yakuda, 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 the German scouts who may be hiding nearby?"
The scolded Yakuda waited for Shamrih to finish 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.
, suspected that it was a German scout, so he led his men and chased him."
"Oh, German scouts." Hearing what Yakov said, Shamrich also felt a little uneasy. You must know that when he got off the car, the commands given by the officers were all in Russian.
If there are German scouts hidden, then the troops have been exposed.
Shamrich's attitude suddenly changed. He ordered Yakuda: "Comrade Captain, if the figure discovered by the second company commander is really a German scout, there may be more Germans nearby. You should immediately
Bring someone to pick them up, and never let anyone leave."
"Understood." Yakuda agreed, summoned more than 20 soldiers, and chased in the direction where the second company commander disappeared.
"Comrade Commander," Captain Shapovalenko, acting political commissar of the regiment, asked after Yakuda and his men left, "Do I need to report this matter to the division commander?"
"I think it's not too late to wait until the person is caught and then report to the division commander."
Regarding Shamrih's statement, Shapovarenko immediately refuted: "Comrade commander, this matter cannot be postponed. Reporting the situation to the division commander earlier will enable the entire division to prepare for battle earlier.
So that when the enemy rushes over, other commanders and fighters in the division still don't know what happened."
After hearing what Shapovalenko said, Shamrih realized that he should report it earlier. In any case, it was completely necessary for the troops to prepare for battle in advance. Although there was a telephone in the carriage that led directly to the carriage behind
, but Shamrih felt that it would be more appropriate to report this kind of thing to Chuvashov in person.
Shamrih called the chief of staff of the regiment and told him to continue directing 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 Uzhakov in the carriage, suddenly saw the appearance of Shamrich and Shapovalenko. He couldn't help being stunned, and then asked: "Major Shamrich, don't you keep an eye on the troops?"
Assemble, what are you doing here here?"
"Comrade Commander," Shamrih replied quickly: "Something unexpected happened and I need to report to you immediately."
"An unexpected situation?" Chuvashov frowned and asked, "What unexpected situation?"
"That's it, comrade division commander." Shamrih quickly reported to Chuvasov and others in detail that the commander of the second company of the first battalion noticed a figure moving nearby and led his men to chase him.
After Chuvashov heard this, he turned to look at Uzakov aside: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think?"
Uzakov thought for a moment and replied: "Comrade division commander, no one has been arrested yet. It is difficult for us to determine whether the figure appearing near the railway is a German scout or a passing civilian."
Dobrushin couldn't help but asked curiously: "If it was really a civilian, how could he turn around and run away when he saw our team? I think it is very likely that he was a German scout."
"Comrade Deputy Division Commander," Shamrih said with some confusion after hearing what Dobrushin said: "We are wearing German uniforms. If ordinary civilians see us, they can hide as far away as possible.
, how could you 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 sheepishly, and then said: "Civilians saw the military uniforms we wore.
, will indeed be scared away.”
"Major Shamrih," Chuvashov said to Shamrih after some thought: "You and your regiment political commissar should go back first and continue to assemble the troops and prepare for departure. Wait for the second company commander
After you catch the person, come back and report to us."
After Shamrih and Shapovalenko left, Chuvashov immediately ordered Uzakov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately send a combat alert to the other two regiments to prepare the commanders and soldiers for combat to prevent the Germans from possible
A sneak attack launched."
Shamrih and Shapovalenko returned to their original positions and found that the regiment chief of staff had completed the assembly of the troops. Seeing the two men returning, the regiment chief of staff quickly came over and asked for instructions: "Comrade regiment commander, what are we doing?"
When can we leave?"
"Wait a moment." Shamrih said to the regiment's chief of staff: "We will wait until Captain Yakuda brings his people back. We must first find out who is appearing near the railway."
After waiting for seven or eight minutes, Shamrih saw a group of dark figures coming from a distance. He couldn't help but raise 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 regiment's chief of staff was about to order the troops to prepare for battle, a man hurried over. The regiment's chief of staff recognized the man as a soldier from the first battalion and guessed that he might be with Captain Yakuda, so he quickly asked:
"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 heading here. The battalion commander is worried that it is too dark and our friendly forces cannot see clearly, and unnecessary incidents will occur.
There was a misunderstanding, so I sent me back to say hello to you first."
Knowing that the soldier in front of him was on a mission with Yakuda, Shamrih walked quickly to him and asked very fast: "Comrade soldier, tell me quickly, what did you catch?"
people?"
"They are three prisoners wearing prison uniforms." The soldier replied: "They said that they had just escaped from the prisoner of war camp. The battalion commander did not know whether what they said was true or false, and planned to bring them back for your personal interrogation."
"Prisoners who escaped from the prisoner of war camp?" Shamrih asked with some surprise: "Can you confirm their identities?"
"We 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 lies."
"Comrade Commander," Shapovarenko immediately asked Shamrih for instructions after hearing this: "Would you like to report the situation to the division commander immediately?"
"Wait a minute, comrade political commissar." Now that everyone has been brought back, Shamrih decided to interrogate him personally before making a decision, so he rejected Shapovarenko's proposal: "Since everyone has been brought back by Yaku
Captain Da has brought it back, I think we should talk about it after interrogating it."
Not long after, Yakuda appeared in front of Shamrih and Shapovarenko with a group of soldiers. He excitedly reported to the two of them: "The leader of the group, the political commissar, captured three people who claimed to be slaves.
Please screen our soldiers who have escaped from the prison camp."
Shamrih looked around and felt that it was not appropriate to interrogate the prisoners beside the train. He shook his head towards Yakuda and said, "Bring them on board and I will interrogate them slowly."
The three prisoners were brought onto the train. After Shamrih found a wooden bench and sat down, he looked at their skinny bodies and asked: "What are your names, which army you served 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, my position is second lieutenant, I belong to the 164th Infantry Division of the 17th Army of the 12th Group Army, in Uman.
Captured in battle."
Now that someone had started, the remaining two prisoners also stepped forward and introduced themselves: "My name is Kudli, 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 Lyavtsev. I am an ordinary soldier and a subordinate of Second Lieutenant Ye Liaoming. 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 all 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. After hearing Shamrih
Ye Liaoming quickly answered the question raised by He: "Comrade Major, the enemy drove the commanders and fighters from the prisoner-of-war camp to build the damn Dnieper River defense line. The three of us also participated in the construction work. During this time, I heard that our army was approaching the Dnieper River.
, the enemy began to fall into chaos, and their management of us was not so strict, so I discussed with two of my old subordinates to take advantage of the enemy's lax defense to escape and head east to find our troops.
When passing by here, I found a military train stopped on the railway. I thought the train was all Germans, so I hid near the railway, preparing to wait for the military train to leave before continuing eastward. Unexpectedly, the train stopped.
After a while, we stopped moving forward, and there were even engineers building roads ahead.
When we wanted to move, we happened to catch up with you guys getting out of the car and lining up. In order to prevent you from discovering me, I planned to escape under the cover of night. But at this moment, I heard the officer in the queue shouting commands in Russian, and I immediately realized
The German troops in front of us may be our own troops in disguise."
When he learned that Ye Liaoming heard his subordinates shouting commands in Russian and quickly judged that his troops were German soldiers in disguise, he was suddenly shocked into a cold sweat. He quickly asked: "How did you escape from the prisoner of war camp?"
Come out, are there any Germans chasing you?"
According to Shamrich's idea, if Ye Liaoming and the others were discovered by the Germans when they escaped from the prisoner of war camp, someone would definitely chase them, and then his unit would be in danger of being exposed, so he asked this question.
After hearing this, Ye Liaoming shook his head vigorously and explained: "In order for us to build the Dnieper River defense line, the Germans drove us from the prisoner-of-war camp near Uman. The temporary prisoner-of-war camp here was just a few layers of barbed wire surrounding an open space.
, after finishing work every day, we were kept in this open space surrounded by barbed wire. I accidentally discovered that one of the barbed wires could be lifted, so I took advantage of the night to escape with Kudry and Lyavtsev.
"
After Ye Liaoming finished speaking, the regiment chief of staff asked cautiously: "Why are only the three of you escaping?"
"Comrade Major," Ye Liaoming replied after seeing clearly the rank of the Chief of Staff: "With a large number of people, it is easy to expose the target, and maybe even the last person will not be able to escape. I plan to take the two of them to escape 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 prison camp?" Shamrih asked. "How far is it from here?"
Ye Liaoming thought for a while and replied: "There are about two thousand 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 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: "What is the physical condition of the commanders and soldiers detained in the prisoner-of-war camp?"
This time it was Ye Liaoming and others' turn to be silent. After a long time, he spoke: "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 have all been in the German prisoner of war camp for two years.
It’s not easy to survive for years.”
"If you were given weapons, could you fight the Germans?"
After listening to Shamrich's words, Ye Liaoming waited for a long time before he nodded slowly and said: "Yes, Comrade Major, as long as we still have breath, we can face the Germans face to face as long as we have weapons in our hands."
to fight.”
"Very good!" After Shamrih waited for Ye Liaoming to finish speaking, he turned to the chief of staff of the regiment standing next to him and said: "Comrade chief of staff, they look like they are hungry. Go and get them some food. Finally,
Let's get some more drinks so that they can regain their strength and serve as our guides."
Just as the regiment's chief of staff turned around and was about to leave, Shapovarenko stopped him: "Comrade chief of staff, don't have too much food. They have been hungry for a long time. If they eat too much at once, their lives may be in danger."
"Comrade Major," Ye Liaoming heard Shamrih saying that he would be the guide, and couldn't help but curiously asked: "Where do you plan to let us take you to?"
"Where else can we go?" Shamrich thought about a German prisoner-of-war camp two or three kilometers away from here, which contained more than two thousand Soviet commanders and fighters, and there were less than a hundred German soldiers guarding them. His regiment
Rushing over, it's not like cutting butter with a hot knife to deal with them - it's easy. "Of course we go to the prisoner-of-war camp you just escaped from. Didn't you say that you want to lead the troops to rescue those imprisoned comrades? I will satisfy you now.
I wish to lead the troops to rescue your comrades."
"This is really great, Comrade Major." When Ye Liaoming heard what Shamrih said, he was moved to tears and said repeatedly: "On behalf of my comrades, I thank you, thank you, thank you so much!"
The regiment chief of staff came back soon with the food. While the three of them were devouring the food, Shamrih came to the carriage at the rear of the car again and reported to Chuvashov: "Comrade division commander, everything is clear.
The figures swaying beside the railway track turned out to be three commanders and fighters who had just escaped from the German prisoner-of-war camp."
After hearing this, Chuvasov suddenly became interested: "Where are they?"
"They are eating in the carriage where our regiment is located." Shamrich said to Chuvashov: "They have agreed to be our guides and take us to destroy the German prisoner-of-war camp."