red moscow

Chapter 2849

Just as Zhukov and Rokossovsky were worried about the officers and soldiers of the special company, this unit had already appeared in the defense zone of the infantry brigade.

When the officers and soldiers of the special company appeared 500 to 600 meters in front of the second battalion's position, they were immediately spotted by the soldiers in the position. Because they were wearing German uniforms, they were naturally mistaken for Germans by the soldiers, who immediately issued a combat alert: "Combat alert, combat alert, Germans are approaching our position."

After receiving the report from his subordinates, Captain Alexa immediately found a position with a good view and raised his telescope to observe the "German troops" approaching the position.

After observing for a while, Alexa felt something was wrong. If this group of enemies was coming to attack her position, why had they not yet deployed their attack formation, but were instead marching slowly in four columns as if they were taking a leisurely stroll in the garden?

"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander," Alexa handed the binoculars to the deputy battalion commander standing beside him, and said in confusion, "Hurry up and take a look. What are those Germans doing? They are only 500 to 600 meters away from our battalion's position. Why haven't they deployed their battle formation yet?"

The deputy battalion commander took the telescope, stared at the troops for a while, and couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Battalion Commander, have you noticed that there are several stretchers in the German troops, with wounded soldiers lying on them, and the officers and soldiers walking in the middle of the troops are basically injured."

Hearing what the deputy battalion commander said, Alexa quickly grabbed the telescope and observed carefully. As the deputy battalion commander said, there were several stretchers in the German ranks, and the officers and soldiers walking in the middle were more or less injured. He put down the telescope and said in confusion: "Yes, there are indeed wounded in the German ranks. What is going on?"

The deputy battalion commander put forward his own opinion: "Could it be that these German soldiers got lost and thought their field hospital was in our area?"

Alexa thought about it and immediately denied the deputy battalion commander's statement: "I don't think it's possible. If it was a troop escorting the wounded, there would definitely be several medical staff in it. There might even be medical staff holding infusion bottles next to the stretcher. But look, there are no medical staff in this troop at all. Your guess is not valid."

The deputy battalion commander was a commander who only knew how to obey. When faced with such a situation, he couldn't figure out the reason and could only suggest to Alexa: "Comrade Battalion Commander, how about we report our findings here to the brigade headquarters?"

"That's a good idea." Alexa nodded and agreed with the deputy battalion commander's suggestion: "Maybe after receiving the report, the brigade commander can figure out what's going on."

After that, Alexa took the telescope and ran back to his battalion command post. He then ordered the signalman: "Connect me to the brigade headquarters immediately. I have important information to report."

The call was quickly connected. Alexa heard the voice of Chief of Staff Karsokov coming from the receiver, and hurriedly said respectfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Captain Alexa, the commander of the second battalion. I have an important situation to report to you. A German unit was found 500 to 600 meters ahead of our battalion's position, and it is moving towards our battalion's position."

When Karsokov heard this, he became anxious: "Since there are enemies, are you ready to fight?"

"All officers and soldiers of the battalion have entered combat positions," Alexa reported according to the regulations, "and are ready to fight at any time."

Sokov, who was discussing the current situation with Belkin, heard Karsokov talking about the enemy when he answered the phone. He immediately stopped talking to Belkin and looked at Karsokov with a serious expression and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what happened? Where did you find the enemy?"

Karsokov didn't bother to cover the microphone, and reported directly to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the second battalion commander reported that a German unit was found a few hundred meters ahead of their position and was approaching their position."

Upon learning that traces of the German army had been found at the front of the Second Battalion, Sokov hurriedly walked to Karsokov's side, took the microphone from his hand, and whispered in his ear: "Captain Alexa? I'm Sokov! You said that traces of the Germans were found in front of your battalion's position, right?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigadier."

"How many troops do they have? Are there any tanks with them?" Although Sokov did not hear any gunfire from the direction of the Second Battalion, he still asked as usual: "Has your battalion's position been bombarded by the Germans?"

"No, Comrade Brigade Commander, our battalion's position was not bombarded by the Germans." Alexa reported to Sokov, "The enemy that appeared in front of our battalion's position was only about a hundred people, and there were no tanks accompanying them. What's even more strange is that this unit has a lot of wounded soldiers, and is only a few hundred meters away from our battalion's position, but it did not deploy a battle formation, but adopted a marching formation of four columns, slowly advancing forward!"

"There are no tanks accompanying them, no battle formation, and there are wounded in the ranks?" Sokov repeated the key words Alexa said and muttered, "What are the Germans trying to do?"

But the next moment, Sokov thought of a possibility and quickly asked into the microphone: "Comrade Captain, how many people do you think the German troops are?"

"About a hundred people."

"Comrade Captain, please take a closer look at the uniforms worn by the German troops to see if there are any bullet holes or blood stains on them." Sokov guessed that the German troops Alexa saw might be the special company he sent last night to attack the German supply point. They had finally withdrawn, and if they were mistaken for Germans by their own people, they would probably have to make unnecessary sacrifices. Therefore, he specifically reminded Alexa: "No one should shoot casually before finding out the true identity of the other party, understand?"

"Comrade Commander, why?" Alexa asked puzzledly after hearing Sokov's order: "Could it be our own troops?"

"We can't rule out this possibility." Sokov thought that the special company had entered the German-controlled area from the position of the first battalion last night. Captain Alexa, the commander of the second battalion, should not know about this, so he explained to him: "Last night, one of our troops disguised as Germans went deep into the enemy's rear to perform a special mission. I think the German troops you saw might be the special company that withdrew from the enemy's rear."

When Alexa heard this, she was immediately shocked and broke into a cold sweat. She quickly said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, I will go and observe again right away."

After hanging up the phone, Alexa called three signalmen and said to them urgently: "Go to the three companies immediately and tell the company commanders that the German troops ahead may be disguised as our own people. Tell them to be on guard. No one is allowed to shoot without my order. Do you understand?"

"Understood!" the three signalmen answered in unison.

"Now that you understand, go and convey the order to the company commanders." Alexa waved at them, "Tell them not to shoot!"

After the signalman left, Alexa brought the deputy battalion commander back to the observation point. After Sokov's instructions, Alexa carefully checked the uniforms of the officers and soldiers during the second observation.

Sure enough, just as Sokov said, not to mention the wounded, even the uninjured officers and soldiers walking in front and behind the column had bullet holes and bloodstains around the bullet holes on their uniforms.

After seeing clearly, Alexa put down the telescope, turned his head and looked at his deputy battalion commander, and said with some fear: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, it seems that the brigade commander's judgment is correct. It is not the enemy that is coming, but the troops sent by my brigade to carry out the mission against the enemy. The uniforms they are wearing are left by the German soldiers who were killed, so there are bullet holes and bloodstains on the uniforms."

"It was a close call. If we hadn't reported it to the brigade commander, our soldiers might have mistaken them for Germans and shot at them." It was a cold day, but the deputy battalion commander's forehead was covered with sweat. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat off and said with lingering fear: "No wonder the brigade commander was able to become a brigade commander at such a young age. It turns out he is really capable."

"Deputy Battalion Commander, since these people are our own, send someone to contact them and lead them into our battalion's position."

"I'll go myself."

The deputy battalion commander left the position with two soldiers and walked towards the opposite troop.

When the two sides were still about ten or twenty meters apart, the deputy battalion commander said to the other side: "I am the deputy battalion commander of the second battalion. Which unit are you from?"

After hearing the deputy battalion commander introduce himself, Zaryakin, who was walking in the front, showed a bitter smile on his face. He turned to the deputy brigade commander Regalin who was walking beside him and said, "Comrade deputy company commander, it seems that we have taken the wrong road and have actually walked into the defense zone of the second battalion."

After saying this, without waiting for any response from Regarin, he stepped forward and raised his hand to salute the deputy battalion commander: "Hello, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander. I am Captain Zaryakin, commander of the special company. I am under the order of Major Sokov, the brigade commander, to carry out a special mission behind enemy lines."

The deputy battalion commander heard that, yes, they were indeed the troops sent by Sokov to carry out the mission behind enemy lines. He hurriedly stepped forward and shook hands with Zaryakin, then said with a smile: "Comrade Captain, I will take you through our position."

Zaryakin knew very well that there was a minefield in front of the second battalion's position. If they rushed through it without anyone to lead them, some unlucky soldiers would definitely step on the mines. So he politely said to the deputy battalion commander: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, please lead the way for us."

After entering the second battalion's position, the deputy battalion commander brought Zaryakin to Alexa and introduced him, "Comrade Captain, this is our battalion commander, Captain Alexa."

"Hello, Comrade Captain." Zaryakin raised his hand and saluted quickly: "I am Captain Zaryakin, the commander of the special company, and I have just returned from a mission behind enemy lines!"

"Comrade Captain, you have worked hard." Alexa shook Zaryakin's hand and asked with concern: "Is there anything we can do for you?"

"Many of our comrades were injured while carrying out combat missions." Zaryagin asked tentatively, "I wonder if you can provide us with a batch of medicines. If there are medical staff, it would be even better."

"We do have several medical staff in our camp who can rebandage the wounds of your wounded." Alexa glanced at the seriously injured soldiers lying on the stretcher and said with a complicated expression, "But these seriously injured soldiers can only be sent to the field hospital, where there are military doctors who can perform surgery on them."

If Alexa hadn't mentioned the field hospital, Zaryagin would not have remembered it. After the other party reminded him, he quickly said: "Comrade Captain, if that's the case, then we won't bother you, we will take people directly to the field hospital."

When Zaryagin was about to leave with the officers and soldiers of the special company, Alexa reminded him: "Comrade Captain, you have entered the defense zone of my brigade. It may not be appropriate to wear this uniform. It may cause unnecessary misunderstandings."

"You are right, Comrade Captain. I was inconsiderate." Zaryagin turned to his men and said, "Everyone, listen to my command. Take off your German uniforms to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings later."

As the order was issued, the officers and soldiers of the special company took off their German uniforms one after another, revealing the Soviet uniforms underneath.

After doing all this, the special company continued on their journey.

Without waiting for the special company to go far, Alexa went straight into the battalion command post, picked up the phone on the table, and reported to the brigade: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to report to you. The brigade commander's judgment is correct. The German troops that appeared in front of our battalion's position were indeed disguised by the officers and soldiers of the special company. Now they have passed our battalion's defense zone and are heading towards the location of the brigade headquarters."

"That's great, comrade captain, that's really great." Karsokov, who answered the phone, seemed particularly happy to learn that the special squadron had returned. He said into the microphone: "Thank you for telling me such good news."

As soon as Karsokov put down the phone, he turned to Sokov and Belkin and said excitedly: "Comrades, great news, the special company has successfully passed the second battalion's position and is heading towards the brigade headquarters."

While Sokov was happy, he remembered that Alexa just said that there were many wounded in the team, so he couldn't help asking: "By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff. When Captain Alexa reported to you, did he tell you about the casualties of the special company?"

Karsokov's smile froze on his face. After a long while, he said awkwardly, "I'm sorry, Comrade Brigade Commander, I forgot to ask about this. Otherwise, I will call Captain Alexa again and ask about the details."

Seeing Karsokov reaching for the phone, Sokov quickly stopped him: "Forget it, no need to call. Captain Zaryakin and his men will be at the brigade headquarters soon anyway. He will give us a detailed report on their achievements in last night's battle and the casualties of the troops."

Karsokov heard that this seemed to be the case, so he gave up the idea of ​​calling the Second Battalion. He quickly walked to the door of the tent and looked into the distance to see if the special company had reached the vicinity of the brigade headquarters.

Seeing this, Sokov couldn't help but laugh: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are too anxious. This place is several kilometers away from the Second Battalion's position, and there are still many wounded in the team, which will definitely slow down the special company's march. They will have to wait at least an hour to get here."

(End of this chapter)