Soon, Lieutenant Constantine arranged for his men to set up their machine guns, pointing the muzzles at the dark forest ahead, and were ready to fire at any time.
With the help of the moonlight filtering through the leaves in the forest, Sokov could clearly see the nervousness written on the faces of the nearby soldiers. It is no wonder that it is unknown how many people there are on the other side and what kind of equipment they have. Not to mention that the soldiers are nervous.
, even Sokov, as the commander, was still uneasy.
Since he didn't know the details of the other party, if he opened fire rashly, it would probably make the situation worse. So Sokov lowered his voice and said: "Everyone, please pay attention, no one is allowed to fire without my order. Repeat, no
My order is that no one is allowed to shoot casually."
After waiting for a long time, there was no movement from the front. Constantine approached Sokov and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Captain, what's going on? Why is there no movement on the other side? Have they discovered us?"
Sokov began to think quickly in his mind. What would he do if he was in the opponent's situation? Should he retreat immediately and change directions, or should he be on guard in place and send people to conduct reconnaissance to find out?
What happened before?
Seeing that Sokov was still silent, Constantine continued: "How about we send someone over to conduct reconnaissance to see who the other party is?"
"Second Lieutenant, don't act rashly." Sokov took Constantine's hand and whispered: "We currently don't know the details of the other party, and they also know nothing about us. So what we have to do now is,
It means to remain unchanged in response to all changes.”
"Okay then." Since Sokov was prepared to stand still, Konstantin, as a subordinate, could not make his own decisions. He could only tell the soldiers to stand ready and prepare for battle.
Time passed by minute by second, and there was no movement in front of me, as if there was no one there.
Just when Sokov secretly wondered whether the sentry had made a mistake, he suddenly saw a red dot appearing in the forest in front of him, as if someone was smoking.
"Comrade Captain, have you seen it?" Constantine pointed to the red dot and said to Sokov: "It seems like someone is smoking there."
"Yes, I saw it." Sokov began to consider whether to send someone up to catch the smoking man, and then just bring him back for interrogation, and he would be able to figure out what kind of troops appeared nearby.
"How about we send someone to capture him for questioning?" Constantine suggested to Sokov.
Sokov felt that the most suitable candidate for a task like catching tongues was Chulsin. But when he looked around, he saw no trace of Chulsin, and then he remembered that the other party had been sent out to perform a reconnaissance mission. He had left other people to him.
Soldiers went to carry out this mission, but Sokov was worried.
"What do you think, Comrade Captain, send two people over and capture him."
"Do you have a suitable candidate?" Sokov explained to Constantine: "If you send inexperienced soldiers there, maybe the tongue will not be caught, but our actions will be exposed, and then the gain will outweigh the loss."
When the two of them were struggling, the person on the other side seemed to hear the noise coming from here. The red dot disappeared immediately. It must be that the smoker heard the noise and stamped out the cigarette butt.
"Not good!" When Sokov saw the cigarette butt on the opposite side suddenly extinguished, he immediately realized that he might have been exposed, and quickly issued a battle alarm: "Everyone is ready for battle. When you hear my command, shoot immediately."
As soon as Sokov gave the order, Sergeant Zub, who was lying not far away, suddenly crawled over and whispered to Sokov: "Comrade Captain, it seems that we are in front of you."
"Our people?!" Sokov asked warily: "How do you know?"
"I vaguely heard someone speaking opposite, speaking Russian." Sergeant Zub said to Sokov: "If they were Germans, they might not speak Russian in an uninhabited forest."
"Did you hear that correctly?" Sokov asked tentatively, "Is there really someone speaking Russian on the other side?"
"That's right, Comrade Captain." Sergeant Zub said in a positive tone: "My hearing has always been relatively good, and I will never hear anything wrong."
Seeing Zub's tone so certain, Sokov couldn't help but hesitate, wondering whether he should send someone to conduct reconnaissance or contact?
"Comrade Captain," Constantine said to Sokov: "Since Sergeant Zub said that there may be our people on the other side, I suggest sending someone over to contact them."
"Okay." Sokov nodded and agreed to Constantine's proposal, then turned to ask Zub: "Comrade Sergeant, do you dare to go over on our behalf to understand each other's situation?"
"No problem, Comrade Captain." Zub handed the weapon in his hand to Sokov: "I will go over and contact them now."
Seeing Zub handing the weapon to Sokov Konstantin couldn't help but feel anxious: "Sergeant Zub, how could you not bring a weapon? If the other party is an enemy, and you go there with bare hands, aren't you going to die?"
Zub grinned and said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, if the other party is really an enemy, then what is the difference between me with weapons and without weapons? It is better to leave the weapons and let other comrades use them to eliminate more
enemies."
Although various signs indicated that the person on the other side might be one of his own, when Zub got up and walked out, Sokov still warned him from behind: "Be safe!"
"I will pay attention, Comrade Captain."
After Zub walked forward twenty or thirty meters, Sokov heard a cry from the forest ahead: "Stop, if you don't stop, I will shoot!"
Sokov felt much more at ease when he heard that the speaker was speaking Russian with a clear accent. He turned to Konstantin and said: "That's right, Comrade Second Lieutenant. You heard how authentic the Russian speaker on the other side spoke,
There is no doubt that he is one of our own."
When Zubu heard the other party's shout, he stopped and said loudly into the darkness: "Don't shoot, it's one of our own."
"What part are you in?"
"Don't shoot, I'm alone and unarmed." Zub replied, "Please let me pass and I will explain it to you in detail."
The other party was silent for a moment, and then said: "Come here, don't move too fast, otherwise it will cause unnecessary misunderstandings, and you will be responsible for the consequences."
When Sokov heard the conversation between Zub and others, he couldn't help but feel a cold sweat for him. He was worried that if the other party's sentry was nervous and pulled the trigger when Zub approached, Zub's life would be in danger.
Fortunately, what he was worried about did not happen. Apart from the sound of Zub stepping on fallen leaves and dead branches as he moved, no other sounds could be heard.
A few minutes later, there was a rush of footsteps in the darkness ahead.
Hearing the footsteps, and without waiting for Sokov's instructions, Constantine directly ordered the soldiers: "Be ready for battle and be ready to shoot at any time!"
But the next moment, Zub's voice came from the darkness: "Comrade Captain, don't shoot, we are our own people, we are all our own people."
Sokov listened carefully to Zub's voice. It was the kind of voice that was made out of excitement. It didn't sound like he was being coerced. Then he said to Konstantin: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, tell the comrades to keep your fingers off."
Trigger, so you don’t accidentally pull the trigger.”
As soon as the alert was lifted here, Zub appeared in Sokov's field of vision. Sokov also saw two people following Zub. Although their faces could not be seen clearly, one of them was wearing a big-brimmed hat.
, we can conclude that this is an officer.
"Comrade Captain, I'm back!" Zub came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and reported excitedly: "I also brought the commander of the friendly forces!"
Sokov saw clearly that the person coming was a captain, and quickly raised his hand to salute him, and said politely: "Hello, comrade captain! I am Captain Sokov, commander of the special company of the 37th Group Army Headquarters. I don't know who you are.
?”
The captain raised his hand in return and said politely: "This is Captain Karelin, the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 405th Regiment of the 135th Infantry Division of our 40th Group Army. He was ordered to come to find General Vlasov, the commander of the 37th Group Army.
.”
Hearing what Captain Karelin said, Sokov showed a surprised expression on his face: "What, are you here to find General Vlasov?"
"Yes, Comrade Captain." Karelin stared at Sokov and asked: "I think your special company should protect the safety of the headquarters. Can you take me to see General Vlasov?"
Regarding Karelin's request, Sokov pondered for a moment. Although the other party said that he was sent by his superiors to find Vlasov, it was not ruled out that he was a German in disguise. If he was really the German Brandenburg
If a member of the army took him to see Vlasov, wouldn't he put Vlasov in danger?
Seeing that Sokov didn't speak, Karelin guessed what he was worried about, so he reached into his coat pocket: "Comrade Captain, if you have any doubts about my identity, I can show you my military ID card."
.”
Hearing what Karelin said, Sokov felt a lot more at ease. If it was really the Brandenburg troops who were pretending, they usually would not take the initiative to show their IDs. Since the other party can take the initiative, they can use their IDs to prove their identity.
, it shows that they are truly one of our own.
Thinking of this, Sokov made a gesture of invitation to Karelin: "Comrade Captain, please come with me, and I will take you to see General Vlasov!"
A few minutes later, Sokov brought Karelin to Vlasov and reported: "Comrade Commander, this Captain Karelin is from the 1st Battalion of the 40th Regiment of the 135th Division of the 4th Army. His
The mission is to go to the forest to find your whereabouts."
"What, are you here to find my whereabouts?" Vlasov couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he heard what Sokov said. He turned his head and glanced at Colonel Del and Nikolsky, then turned his attention back to Ka
Leylin: "When did you set off?"
"Yesterday." Karelin replied: "I received the mission to find you yesterday and set off with my troops."
Hearing Karelin say that he set off yesterday, Vlasov showed a vigilant look on his face: "You know, I just contacted the front army headquarters during the day and reported our location to them.
How did you find this place so quickly?"
Karelin is also a smart man. From the tone of Vlasov's words, he realized that the other party had doubts about him, and quickly explained: "Comrade General, please listen to my explanation. Our commander gave our division the instructions
The mission is to go out of the defense area to search. Since they don’t know your specific location, the search range they assigned me is no further than 3 kilometers from the defense line. And your current location is exactly on the edge of 30 kilometers."
"Comrade Captain," Nikolsky interrupted: "How many of you are here?"
"A battalion." Karelin glanced at the rank on Nikolsky's collar badge and replied respectfully: "A full battalion, comrade regimental political commissar."
"The number of people is really large." After Nikolsky said to Vlasov, he turned his attention to Karelin: "I wonder how many groups you divided the soldiers into to search for them?"
"Comrade regimental political commissar," Karelin replied: "Since German airdrop groups appeared in these areas, I gathered the troops together and did not disperse."
"Comrade Captain," Vlasov stared at Karelin and asked, "Where is your division's defense zone?"
"Belopoliye." Karelin replied without hesitation: "Our regiment is holding the entire division's outpost position."
"Have enemies attacked you recently?" Vlasov continued to ask.
"Not yet, Comrade General."
"Captain Sokov," Vlasov turned to ask Sokov after learning some information that he was interested in: "Do you think we should go to Belopoliye?"
"Of course, Comrade Commander." Sokov nodded and said: "Since we have merged with Captain Karelin's troops, we naturally have to go to Belopoliye. Even if you want to go somewhere else,
When operating in our military's defense zone, safety can be guaranteed."
"Okay, since you said so, we will go to Belopoli first." Vlasov said: "Captain Sokov, let the soldiers pack up and prepare to go to Belopoli according to the notification from friendly forces.
yeah."
"Comrade Commander, I think it would be more appropriate to wait until daybreak before leaving." Sokov thought that Chuersin and others had not returned from their reconnaissance. If they moved overnight, there would not even be a ghost here when Chuersin and others came back.
If they can't be found, they will lose contact with the troops: "We still have a reconnaissance team that has not returned."
After Sokov's reminder, Vlasov immediately remembered the reconnaissance team sent to the northeast, raised his hand and slapped himself on the forehead, and said with a bit of annoyance: "Yes, yes, we are still here."
A reconnaissance team was sent to the northeast. We cannot move before they come back, otherwise they will cut off contact with the troops."
When Karelin heard that Vlasov and others wanted to move after dawn, he did not raise any objection. He just asked Vlasov for instructions: "Comrade General, if you allow, I plan to transfer all my troops to
Come here to keep you and your colleagues safe."
"It's allowed, of course it's allowed." Vlasov said with a smile: "After you transfer the troops, we will have enough troops. Even if we encounter the Germans, we will have the strength to set up a battle array with them.
It’s time.”
Seeing that Vlasov allowed himself to move the troops over, Karelin quickly turned around and ordered the soldier he brought over: "Go back immediately and tell the deputy battalion commander that I have found General Vlasov and ask him to bring the troops over.