The first battalion and one company of the 73rd Infantry Brigade were withdrawn from the front line for rest and recuperation, and were stationed near the Dnieper River bridge. Although the company commander, Captain Narva, did not receive an order to form a patrol, he still set up a patrol on the river.
Sentries were posted on the side to prevent possible German infiltration.
On duty that night was a recruit named Komarov. It was his first time on duty alone. He stood by the dark Dnieper River, listening to the rushing water, and felt very scared. When he was scared, he felt
My stomach feels a little uncomfortable and I want to go to the toilet.
He looked left and right, and with the help of the moon's light, he found that there was no one everywhere, so he left his post and found a secluded place to solve the problem. After he finished relieving himself, he did not return to the post immediately, but leaned against
Next to a rock, he took out the cigarettes in his pocket, took one out and put it in his mouth.
He searched all over his body but couldn't find any matches. Then he remembered that before he took up the post, a veteran asked him to borrow a match. He lent the match to him and confiscated it. Just when he was annoyed, he suddenly saw a dozen or two dozen guns in the distance.
A small team of ten people was heading towards their location along the river.
Seeing someone coming towards him, Komarov felt happy and thought that he could borrow fire from the other party. Just when he was about to come out from behind the rock, he unexpectedly discovered that these people, although wearing Soviet uniforms,
All of them, without exception, were carrying a large box in their hands. Komarov felt strange: "What do these people do? Why do they each carry a box in their hands?"
Komarov was extra cautious and did not come out from behind the rock immediately. Instead, he silently said the number of people on the other side: "One, two...seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty." Counting.
After counting the number of people on the other side, he began to mutter in his mind, "Patrol teams usually only have 12 people. How come this team has 20 people? It's really strange."
Just as he was thinking about it, the team had already reached a place not far away from him. When Komarov was hesitating to go out and interrogate the other party's origins, he suddenly heard someone in the team say something. But the words were not in Russian.
, but a language that I don’t understand.
It's the Germans! Komarov's heart suddenly rose to his throat. He held the assault rifle tightly in his hand, thinking to himself that if he was discovered by the Germans, he would shoot without hesitation.
The comrades in the camp warned.
"Shut up!" Another voice came from the team, and he said sternly in Russian: "We are now in the Russian defense zone, and we are wearing their uniforms, so we can only speak their language, understand.
Yet?"
"Understood." The soldier who accidentally spoke German quickly apologized and said, "Mr. Captain, I was wrong. Please forgive me. I will not make a similar mistake next time."
"I emphasize again." The German, known as the captain, lowered his voice and said to his subordinates in Russian: "We are behind the Russian defense area, and we cannot make the slightest mistake, otherwise we will lose our lives.
Understand?"
"Understood." The surrounding soldiers agreed in unison, but they all lowered their voices in unison.
The German captain looked up at the sky and continued: "The rain has stopped and the moon has come out. Our actions may be exposed. We must be more vigilant when we march later. If we find anything wrong, we will start immediately."
Gun shot."
Soon, the German squad disguised as Soviet troops continued to move forward.
When the squad was out of sight, Komarov was like a wind-up toy, popping out of his hiding place and running desperately towards the location of the company headquarters.
He rushed straight into the room and reported to the awakened company commander Narva: "Comrade company commander, it's bad, the enemy has been found in our defense area."
Hearing that the enemy had been discovered, not only Narva stood up from the cot, but also the soldiers and communications soldiers lying on the ground nearby sat up straight and looked at Komarov, trying to figure out where the enemy came from.
.
Narva rubbed his eyes and recognized that the soldier standing in front of him was Komalov, the sentry guard on duty tonight. He frowned slightly and asked: "Where did you find the Germans?"
"At my sentry post." Komarov could tell from Narva's expression that the other party didn't seem to believe him, so he quickly told Narva everything that had just happened.
After hearing this, Narva stared at Komarov for a while, and then asked: "How many troops do the Germans have? How are their equipment?"
"I counted carefully, there are 20 people in total." After answering this question, Komarov carefully recalled the details before continuing: "Each of them was carrying a big box in their hands, and they seemed to be carrying submachine guns on their chests.
.”
After Narva figured out what he wanted to know, he picked up the phone on the table and contacted the battalion headquarters. When the voice of battalion commander Mikheyev came from the receiver, he quickly reported: "Battal Commander
Comrade, I have important information to report to you. Traces of Germans have been found in our company's defense zone."
Mikhailev was surprised when he heard this information: "We found traces of the Germans. Where did they infiltrate from?" When saying this, Mikhail was still thinking about whether he should communicate with Guchakov.
Communicate and find out where the enemy is coming from.
"According to the sentry's report." Narva turned to look at Komarov and continued: "The Germans came along the river. It may have been raining just now and the visibility was limited, so they were able to get through so easily.
The defense zone of the mechanized army.”
"How many people are there in the enemy? What kind of equipment do they have?" Mikhailov waited for Narva to finish and then asked a series of questions: "Where do you think their destination is?"
Narva confidently replied: "There are 20 enemies in total, and they are all wearing the uniforms of our army. Each of them is carrying a large box in his hand, which looks like explosives. According to my analysis, the enemy's target must be Dni."
Bridge over the River Bo."
"Comrade Captain, your analysis is correct." Mikhailov nodded and said: "Once the Germans blow up the bridge, our connection with the left bank will be interrupted. What measures do you plan to take to deal with this enemy?
?”
"I plan to concentrate my forces, follow the Germans, and choose the right time to attack them." After Narva revealed his plan, he reminded Mikhailev: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I think you should
Report this matter to your superiors as soon as possible so that the troops guarding the bridge can prepare for battle."
"I will report this matter to my superiors." Mikhailev said to Narva: "Comrade Captain, your company lost too much in the battle some time ago. We have to deal with 20 Germans, so the strength may be somewhat lower."
Not enough. Let’s do this, I will immediately send Yegor’s Second Company to help you.”
"With the assistance of the Second Company, we will be more certain to deal with this enemy."
After Mikhailev finished his phone call with Narva, he immediately reported what happened here to Guchakov. Finally, he emphasized: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I think it is necessary for the bridge guarding troops to strengthen their alert.
No one is allowed to get close to the bridge, otherwise the enemy's sabotage plot may succeed."
Guchakov agreed very much with Mikhailev's statement. He nodded and said: "Comrade Captain, you are right. Since our army established the landing site, the battle has been far away from the bridge.
The bridge guarding troops may feel that the enemy cannot get close to the bridge, so they will not be too vigilant and will suffer losses from the German sneak attack. This matter is of great importance, and I will report it to the Army Headquarters immediately."
Guchakov knew very well that once the Dnieper River Bridge was destroyed by the Germans, the supplies shipped from the left bank would definitely be interrupted for a period of time, and then his troops might be short of supplies. Therefore, as soon as he finished talking to Mikhail
If there is a call, immediately ask the communications soldier to connect you to the headquarters.
The phone was connected, and a strange voice came from inside: "This is the Army Group Headquarters, where are you?"
Guchakov guessed that the person who answered the phone should be the staff officer on duty. In order to prevent the other party from not paying attention to his report, he quickly identified himself: "I am Major Guchakov, commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. I have an important situation.
Report to Comrade Commander."
"Comrade Major," the watchman said politely, "the commander and chief of staff have taken a break. If you have anything, you can tell me. I will tell them after daybreak."
"No." Knowing that the watchman had to wait until dawn before reporting to Sokov and Samyko, Guchakov became anxious at the time: "The situation I wanted to report was extremely urgent, so I immediately called up the commander and chief of staff.
Otherwise, if you delay the opportunity to fight, you will be facing a military court."
Hearing Guchakov's harsh tone, the duty officer realized that the problem might be more serious than he thought. He did not dare to disturb Sokov, so he could only wake up Samyko and said cautiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff
, Major Guchakov called and said that there is something urgent and he needs to report it to you or the commander immediately."
Samyko, who was woken up from his sleep by the attendant, was holding back his anger and was about to have an attack. When he heard clearly that it was Guchakov's call, he suddenly woke up: "Have you hung up the phone?
?”
"not yet."
Samyko bent down and put on his boots, quickly rushed to the table where the phone was placed, grabbed the microphone on the table, put it to his ear and said: "Major Guchakov? I am Guchakov, you
Is there anything important to report?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff." When Guchakov heard that Samyko answered the phone, he reported to him truthfully: "I received a report that a group of enemies disguised themselves as our troops passed through the mechanized army along the Dnieper River.
's defense zone and entered our defense zone."
When he learned that a group of enemies disguised themselves as Soviet troops and penetrated deep into the defense area of the infantry brigade, Samek could not help but frowned. While looking down at the map in front of him, he asked with a serious expression: "How many troops do the enemies have and what are their intentions?"
What is it?"
"There are 20 enemies, each carrying a big box in his hand." Guchakov reported to Samyko: "Based on what they are carrying and the direction they are heading, I guess they are preparing to destroy the Dnieper River.
Bridge.”
Samyko looked at the map in front of him carefully and agreed very much with Guchakov's analysis. He then asked: "What measures have you taken?"
"Mikhailov's first battalion has dispatched the first and second companies respectively; I have also dispatched a company from the fourth battalion to rush for reinforcements." Guchakov said: "I am worried that there are too few defenders on the bridge. Once
In the event of a sneak attack by the German army, I am afraid that the bridge will soon fall into the hands of the enemy."
"I understand, Major Guchakov." After Samyko thought about the countermeasures in his mind, he said to Guchakov: "Leave the rest to me. Thank you for the timely information you provided.
"
After Samek put down the phone, he stared at the map and thought for a while. He felt that the Germans appeared in the infantry brigade defense area at this moment, and their destination must be the bridge across the Dnieper River. As long as the bridge was blown up, the transportation volume on both sides of the river would be greatly increased.
Reduced because the two newly built pontoon bridges can only be used by infantry, and materials must be transported by manpower.
Seeing Sameko standing in front of the table in a daze, the duty officer asked tentatively: "Comrade Chief of Staff, do you need to wake up the commander?"
"It's not necessary." Samyko shook his head and rejected the watchman's suggestion. In his opinion, the German army's attempt to destroy the bridge was indeed a big deal, but to wake Sokov up for it was a bit of a fuss. He
He picked up the phone on the table and said into the receiver: "I'm Samek, give me the special line."
The call was connected, and a lazy voice came from the receiver: "Who is it?"
"I'm Samyko." Samyko said sternly: "Get Lieutenant Samoylov on the phone immediately."
When the person who answered the phone learned that the caller was Samek, he immediately changed his face: "It turns out to be Comrade Chief of Staff. Please wait a moment. I will immediately call the lieutenant to answer the phone."
Soon, Samoilov's solemn voice came from the receiver: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Samoilov. What instructions do you have?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, according to reliable intelligence, a German squad disguised as our army passed through the mechanized army's defense zone along the bank of the Dnieper River and is heading towards the bridge across the river," Samyko said bluntly.
Said: "You immediately send capable personnel to reinforce the defenders on the bridge to prevent the Germans from destroying the bridge."
"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Samoilov learned that the German army was trying to blow up the Dnieper River Bridge, and he quickly said seriously: "I will immediately send reinforcements to the bridge defenders."
"Comrade Lieutenant, let me remind you." Samyko was worried that Samoilov would suffer a loss, and specifically reminded him: "The German troops are pretending to be our troops. Maybe when you get to the bridge, they will have already occupied the bridge. You go on the bridge.
Always be vigilant to avoid being caught off guard by the enemy."
"Thank you, Chief of Staff, for the reminder." Samyko's words were like a revelation. Samoylov realized that tonight's task was not easy to complete, and he quickly expressed his position: "We will be more vigilant when going up the bridge."