The small team led by Christopher approached the Gumlak station guarded by the Soviet army before dawn. After receiving the report from the front vehicle, Christopher immediately ordered: "Do not alert the defenders in the station.
Find a way around on the ground." The reason why he issued such an order was because he was worried that the sentries would immediately sound the alarm if they discovered that he was a fake German convoy. If there was a misunderstanding and a fight broke out, it would not end well.
Driving seven or eight kilometers forward, the armored vehicle leading the way notified Christopher via the on-board radio: "Comrade Lieutenant, a troop of about 300 people was found on the road ahead. There is no way around the left and right sides. What should we do?"
manage?"
Hearing that a troop of several hundred people appeared in front of him, Christopher quickly asked: "Is it our people or the Germans?"
"It's our people, comrade lieutenant." The commander sitting in the first vehicle was a sergeant. He reported to Christopher: "They have discovered us and are looking for cover on the spot. They seem to be ready."
Fire at us! What do we do now?”
Christopher knew that there was no way around the road ahead. If the armored convoy forced its way forward, it would most likely start a fight with his own people. In desperation, he could only order the convoy to stop: "Stop the convoy and stay put!"
After the car stopped, Christopher stood in the carriage, raised his binoculars and looked forward. He saw hundreds of Soviet commanders and fighters lying in the ravines or grasslands on the roadside, hundreds of meters away, with the muzzles of black holes.
They all aimed at the location of the convoy. "What should we do?" Christopher asked himself in his mind: "Should we rush over by force, or go back and find the road again?"
"Comrade Lieutenant, what should we do?" Corporal Aino from the Fourth Company, seeing that Christopher kept holding the telescope and never put it down, reminded him kindly: "If our convoy keeps stopping here, it will be unnecessary.
trouble."
Christopher, who was facing a dilemma, heard Corporal Aino's reminder and asked casually: "Comrade Corporal, tell me, what should we do now?"
"If we move forward, we will conflict with our own troops." Corporal Aino looked ahead and said: "But if we turn around and find other ways out, it will waste unnecessary time. Therefore, both methods are not advisable.
."
Corporal Aino's words aroused Christopher's interest. He put down his telescope, turned around and asked, "Comrade Corporal, do you have any good ideas?"
Corporal Aino pointed forward with his hand and said: "The best way is to continue driving forward along the highway."
"But you just said that once we continue to advance, we will conflict with the troops in front." Christopher looked at Aino and said coldly: "Do you really want us to fight with our own people?
?”
"Comrade Lieutenant, I have just observed carefully. There should be no enemies nearby." Aino said to Christopher: "We only need to send someone over to identify themselves and ask them to clear a way for us. That's it.
."
"Send someone over to identify us?" Regarding Corporal Aino's bold proposal, Christopher thought for a while and felt that it would be better to try this plan than to remain in a stalemate. He asked: "Comrade Corporal,
Who do you think should be sent to complete this task?"
"Since this suggestion was made by me," Aino said, "then I will be responsible for implementing it."
After getting Christopher's consent, Aino got out of the car and found a branch on the side of the road, tied a white handkerchief to it, and walked forward with one hand raised.
The Soviet commanders and fighters hiding on the other side thought that there would be a fierce battle after they encountered the German armored convoy. Unexpectedly, not only did they not start a fight, but on the contrary, the other side also sent a soldier over with a white flag.
The person with the highest military rank was a captain. When he saw someone coming from the other side holding a white flag, he quickly stood up from the ground and shouted to the left and right: "Don't shoot, don't shoot either."
After shouting, the captain stared at the German soldiers walking towards him and thought to himself: "What is going on? After this German armored convoy encountered him, not only did it not open fire, but someone came over holding a white flag.
Are they planning to surrender to us?"
Aino stopped a dozen steps away from the Soviet commanders, and then shouted loudly: "Which of you is the commander of this unit?"
Hearing that the German soldier coming over holding a white flag spoke fluent Russian, the captain stood up and said to him: "I am Captain Golya, the company commander of the 192nd Infantry Division. Are you ready to surrender to us?"
"What are you talking about? Why should we surrender to you?" Aino was not affected by the fact that Golia had a higher military rank than him at all. He said reluctantly: "We are from the 73rd Infantry Brigade and are performing a special mission. Please ask you
Get out of the way."
"The 73rd Infantry Brigade?!" Captain Golya was stunned for a moment when he heard what Aino said, and then asked: "Is it the unit that holds the Mamayev Heights?"
"Yes, we are indeed stationed at Mamayev Heights." Aino asked in surprise: "Have you ever heard of our troops?"
"Yes, I've heard of it." Golya nodded and said, "The original mission of our division was to garrison the Mamayev Heights. Who knew we were about to reach Stalingrad, but they informed us that the place was already there.
The 73rd Infantry Brigade was stationed, so our division was transferred to the left bank of the Don River to block the German attack."
"Comrade Captain, if you have no objection, you can follow me to see our commander." Aino pouted towards the convoy behind him and said, "He is on the armored vehicle in the middle."
"Deputy company commander," Golia shouted to a second lieutenant lying not far away: "Gather the troops immediately and prepare to continue on the road."
"But, Comrade Company Commander." The second lieutenant pointed to the armored vehicle in the distance and said awkwardly, "The armored vehicle in front is blocking our way."
Goliath said: "Don't worry, the people in the car are all our comrades, just hurry up."
The second lieutenant agreed, got up from the ground, and began to regroup the troops. Golia followed Aino and walked towards the armored vehicle where Christopher was.
When Christopher saw Corporal Aino coming with an officer, and the officer's rank was higher than his own, he quickly got out of the car and stood by the car waiting. When the other person came over, he immediately raised his hand and saluted: "Hello,
Comrade Captain. I am Lieutenant Christopher, commander of the reconnaissance company of the 73rd Infantry Brigade."
Golia returned the salute, "I am Captain Golia, commander of the 192nd Infantry Division! Comrade Lieutenant, may I ask, where do you plan to go, disguised as Germans and riding in a German armored vehicle?"
"I'm sorry," faced Goliath's curiosity, Christopher said politely: "We are performing a special mission, please forgive me for not being able to comment. By the way, Comrade Captain, where are the other people in your division?
, where are you planning to go?”
Golia waited for Christopher to finish speaking, then said with a wry smile: "Comrade Lieutenant, haven't you seen that there are only a few hundred people left in our division? Except for me and the deputy company commander, all the officers
He died in the battle. As for your question about where we are going, I can only answer you: I don’t know! We can only go forward along the road and wait for a force to take us in."
Hearing Golia's pessimistic words, Christopher couldn't help but have an idea. Although this unit only had a few hundred people, if they could be persuaded to join the infantry brigade, the brigade commander would definitely be very happy. Thinking of this, Ke
Risdorf said to Golya: "Comrade Captain, if you are willing, I can send someone to take you to Mamayev Hill, where you can rest and replenish your supplies."
Christopher's words made Goliath's heart skip a beat, and he asked tentatively: "Is this appropriate?"
"There's nothing inappropriate." After Christopher finished speaking, he called Aino over and told him: "Corporal Aino, you don't have to participate in this operation. Your new mission is to lead the comrades of the 192nd Division.
Let’s return to Mamayev Heights.”
Knowing that he could not participate in the mission, Aino showed an embarrassed expression on his face. Just when he was about to say something, he heard Christopher say: "Comrade Corporal, as long as you can successfully bring this unit to
Mamayev Heights, I believe the brigade commander and the others will be very happy. Do you understand?"
Christopher's words gave Aino an enlightenment. He immediately thought that if he really brought this unit back to Mamayev Heights, the contribution he would make would definitely not be as great as following Christopher deep behind enemy lines.
, to seize the enemy's warehouse. Maybe the brigade commander will be promoted to a military rank if he is happy. So he quickly stood at attention and replied: "Comrade Lieutenant, please don't worry, I will definitely bring them back to the horse safely."
From Mayevgan.”
At noon, Aino led the remnants of the 192nd Division to Mamayev Heights. Sokov heard that a troop of several hundred people had come to his defense area and hurriedly walked out of his tent.
Golya and Aino were standing in the open field talking. When they saw Sokov approaching, the two quickly stood at attention and raised their hands to salute each other. Aino reported: "Comrade Brigadier, this is Golya from the 192nd Division.
Captain, we met his troops by chance during the mission, and Lieutenant Christopher ordered me to bring us here."
"Welcome, Captain Goliath." Sokov stepped forward and held Goliath's hand, and said with a smile: "You must be hungry, I will arrange for you to fill your stomach and rest."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Golya glanced at the rank on Sokov's collar and said cautiously, "I want to ask, can you take us in?"
When Sokov heard what Goliya said, he couldn't help being stunned, and then asked: "What, comrade captain, you don't plan to return to your division?"
The expression on Golya's face became solemn. He looked at Sokov and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we are the only ones left in our division."
"Comrade Captain, if you have anything to do, let's talk about it in the tent." Sidorin felt that it was not appropriate to say something in public, so he called everyone into the tent and at the same time told Corporal Aino: "Take them to the guard company for daily training.
Let’s go to a place to rest and ask the cooking soldiers to get them some food.”
After entering the tent, Sidorin asked Golya: "Comrade Captain, I have served as the chief of operations of the 64th Group Army before, and I know that the 192nd Division is deployed on the right bank of the Don River. If I remember correctly,
Your defense line is at least more than 120 kilometers away from here. Tell me, how did you get here?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Golia suddenly stood up from his seat, stared at Sidorin with wide eyes, and asked angrily: "Do you think we are deserters?"
"Comrade Captain, don't be excited." Sokov walked up to Goliath, raised his hand and patted his shoulder gently twice, and said softly: "I think you must have experienced a lot, what can you do for me?
Shall we all talk about it?”
After Golya sat down, he raised his chin towards Sidorin and said: "The former Comrade Chief of Operations was right. Our 192nd Division was indeed initially deployed on the right bank of the Don River. But in late July
, the German army broke through the defensive positions of our division and the 184th Division after a strong attack. They not only sent planes to bomb our division headquarters, but also sent small groups of troops to sneak attacks. The division commander, Colonel Zakharchenko, organized staff to attack the attacking enemy
He carried out a counterattack and even shot down an enemy plane with a machine gun. However, he was unfortunately hit by a bomb dropped by an enemy plane and died heroically on the spot.
Just the day before yesterday, the German army, led by tank troops, once again launched a strong attack on our position. In the face of the enemy's offensive, we carried out tenacious resistance. During the battle, the new division commander Colonel Zhularev and Chief of Staff Taran
Tsefu and the political commissar all died heroically. When the entire division entered the position, there were more than 6,000 people, but in the end, only the more than 300 people led by me successfully broke through the German encirclement."
"What about the other troops on the right bank?" Sidorin asked curiously after listening to Golia's words: "Did they also break through the German encirclement and return to the left bank?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't know." Golia shook his head and said: "When we were breaking through, the 184th and 205th Divisions on the left and right wings were also trapped by the German army. As for whether they broke out, I don't know.
It’s clear.”
"What are your plans for the future?" Sokov asked briefly.
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, can you take us in?" Golia said with a gloomy expression: "The 192nd Division has almost been destroyed. Maybe the superiors will cancel our organization. If you don't take us in, the remaining people will be
They will be split up and assigned to other units."
"Comrade Brigadier," Belkin said when he saw the more than 300 soldiers. Although everyone looked tired, since they were able to stand out from the enemy's encirclement, it proved that they were elite soldiers and generals. If they could be included
Having subordinates under his command can improve the combat effectiveness of the troops, so he suggested to Sokov: "I think, just keep them."