red moscow

Chapter 2962

Yefim put down the phone, gave a few instructions to his deputy battalion commander, and then hurriedly left his temporary command post.

Upon arriving outside the building, Yefim saw a three-wheeled motorcycle parked not far away. He quickly walked over and asked the rider, "Do you know which way the reconnaissance team's motorcycles went?"

"I know!" The motorcyclist nodded and pointed to the western exit of the settlement. "They left in that direction."

After learning the direction the reconnaissance team had gone, Yefim climbed into the sidecar of the motorcycle and ordered the rider, "Take me to catch up with the reconnaissance team, let's go!"

Upon hearing Yefim's order, the motorcyclist immediately started his motorcycle and chased after the reconnaissance team in the direction they had gone.

The reconnaissance team, which had set off about ten minutes earlier than Yefim, parked several motorcycles beside a slope by the roadside. The settlement was about five or six kilometers away. The team leader felt it necessary to observe the surroundings from a higher vantage point before deciding which direction to proceed with the reconnaissance. He left two soldiers to guard the motorcycles while he led the rest of the team to the top of the slope, intending to observe the enemy's movements from that vantage point.

As the group approached the top of the hill, they heard the sound of a car engine in the distance. To avoid revealing their position, they crawled to their observation post. From there, they could see forests all around, with a rugged path winding through the middle of the forest ahead.

"Lieutenant, look quickly!" Stavsky, who had received little military training, climbed to the top of the slope in a very disheveled manner and came to the side of the reconnaissance team leader. After looking around, he suddenly said excitedly, "There are our comrades over there."

"That can't be right." The lieutenant frowned upon hearing this. "There shouldn't be any of our troops in that direction."

“That’s right, they’re all wearing our army uniforms, so they’re definitely one of us.” Stavsky, completely oblivious to the lieutenant’s cautious tone, continued excitedly, “Let’s go over and say hello to them; maybe we can get some useful intelligence from them.”

The lieutenant looked in the direction Stavsky was pointing and saw a truck full of Soviet soldiers parked on the road at the edge of the forest in the distance. Two Soviet officers were standing in front of the truck, talking to each other in hushed tones.
“Comrade Stavsky,” the lieutenant bluntly poured cold water on Stavsky, “our troops should not be present in this area.”

Upon hearing the lieutenant's words, Stavsky seemed unconvinced: "Just because our troops shouldn't exist doesn't mean they won't appear. Comrade Lieutenant, perhaps they are troops who escaped from the enemy's encirclement."

The lieutenant, holding up his binoculars, stared at the Soviet soldiers sitting in the carriage and the clothing of the two officers, then said decisively, "Comrade Stavsky, you said these commanders and soldiers might have jumped out of the German encirclement, am I right?"

“Yes.” Stavsky nodded and continued, “Perhaps they learned that you were about to attack the settlement, and rushed over to support you as soon as they jumped out of the enemy’s encirclement.”

“That’s impossible. If they were troops trapped in the enemy’s encirclement, how could they possibly know that we were going to attack the enemy’s settlement?” The lieutenant voiced his doubts to Stavsky: “Comrade Stavsky, you may not have seen troops who have just escaped from the enemy’s encirclement. Everyone was pale and emaciated, and their clothes were tattered. Aren’t their uniforms a little too clean now?”

Upon hearing the lieutenant's words, Stavsky was speechless. He felt that the lieutenant made a very good point. Even if this unit had just escaped from behind enemy lines, their uniforms were indeed too clean, and it was obvious at a glance that their origins were questionable.

Although Stavsky had already agreed with the lieutenant's statement in his heart, he was unwilling to admit it aloud: "Comrade Lieutenant, I think we should send someone to contact them. That way we can find out whether they are enemies or our own people."

“No way.” The lieutenant rejected Stavsky’s suggestion without hesitation: “These people in front are most likely Germans. If I send someone to make contact, it would be sending them to their deaths. I’m not going to do something that stupid.”

Just as Stavsky was pondering how to persuade the lieutenant to agree to send someone to make contact with that unit, a wagon suddenly emerged from the forest ahead. The wagon was piled high with dry branches, and an old man wearing a baseball cap was waving a whip to urge the slow horse to go faster.

Upon seeing the suddenly appearing old man, Stavsky couldn't help but show a look of joy: "Lieutenant, did you see that? There's an old man driving a horse-drawn carriage, heading towards the location of that truck. I'm sure we'll soon be able to figure out the true identities of those people."

Soon, the old man's horse-drawn carriage arrived near the truck.

The two officers, who had been chatting and laughing, were startled when a horse-drawn cart carrying dry branches suddenly appeared before them. Their expressions quickly returned to normal. One of the officers, a tall, thin lieutenant, even stepped forward and asked the old man, "Hey, who are you? What are you doing here?"

The old man was startled. After a brief moment of panic, he explained to the other party, "I am a villager from a nearby village. I came to this woods to collect some dry branches to take back as firewood."

"Why are you all alone? Isn't there a young person to help you?" the lieutenant asked.

"Yes, Commander," the old man replied respectfully. "All the young people in the village have joined the army, leaving only old people like me. So things like gathering firewood are left for old men like me to do."

"Is there any water?" the lieutenant asked politely. "My captain is a little thirsty and would like some water!"

"Yes, yes." The old man quickly turned around, took a military water bottle from the carriage, and handed it to the lieutenant opposite him.

The lieutenant took the canteen, glanced at it, and asked with some curiosity, "Sir, this looks like a military canteen?"

"Yes, comrade commander." Upon hearing the question, the old man said with considerable pride, "This is the water bottle my son was issued when he joined the army. He gave it to me when he left home."

"Oh, I see." After figuring out where the canteen came from, the lieutenant handed it to the captain next to him: "Captain, have some water."

The captain took the water bottle, and the lieutenant turned to the old man and asked, "Are there any of our troops around here?"

The old man shook his head and said, "No! Apart from you, we haven't seen our own army in a long time. A few days ago, a group of Germans occupied a settlement not far from here. If you continue along this road, you might run into them."

"Don't worry, we'll be careful." After listening to the old man's advice, the lieutenant patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Old man, even if we really run into them, it's not certain who will suffer."

"That's great, that's great!" The old man said with a look of relief after hearing the lieutenant's words. "If you really defeat the Germans, I think the villagers will be very happy to hear the news."

While the two were talking, the captain had already unscrewed the cap of the canteen, put his mouth to the spout, and tilted his head back to take a sip.

But the next moment, he bent down and spat out everything he had drunk, cursing, "Damn it, how come the canteen is filled with wine?" In his excitement, he forgot to conceal his identity and actually spoke those words in German. The old man, who was chatting with the lieutenant, froze on his face with a look of disbelief as he stared at the two men: "You, you're German?"

Before the elderly man could react, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen.

He looked down and saw that the lieutenant who had been chatting and laughing with him not long ago was now holding his shoulder with one hand and stabbing a dagger into his abdomen with the other.

Seeing that the old man did not die immediately, the lieutenant drew his dagger and stabbed him several more times. Only when the old man showed no signs of life did he release his grip, letting the body fall to the ground. Then he bent down and wiped the blood-stained dagger on the old man's clothes.

The captain threw the water bottle on the ground and winked at the lieutenant who had just wiped the blood off the dagger.

Seeing this, the lieutenant nodded, then raised his right hand high above his head and waved it vigorously a few times.

As the signal was given, the truck parked next to it started, carrying a truckload of soldiers in Soviet uniforms, and slowly drove forward along the road.

Not long after, another three-wheeled motorcycle emerged from the forest, carrying soldiers in German uniforms. Then, a second, a third, a fourth, and many more motorcycles drove out of the forest, slowly following the truck in front.

Everything that happened at the edge of the forest was clearly seen by the people lying on the slope.

One of the scouts started counting: "One, two, three... eleven, twelve. Damn it, why are there armored vehicles and trucks too?"

When Stavsky saw the old man being killed by the German soldiers, his expression became complicated. He soon felt his stomach churning, hurriedly got up, bent over and ran to the other side of the slope, where he vomited violently.

Seeing Stavsky's condition, the lieutenant knew he was terrified by what had just happened. He quickly bent down to his side, took a flask from his waist and handed it to him, saying, "Comrade Stavsky, have a drink. It will help ease your tension."

Stavsky thanked the lieutenant, took the flask from his hand, took a big gulp, and then, panting heavily, said somewhat embarrassedly, "Comrade Lieutenant, am I really that bad? I get so terrified just seeing a dead man from so far away."

“Comrade Stavsky!” the lieutenant comforted him, “It’s normal to be scared when you see a corpse for the first time. You won’t be scared anymore once you’ve been on the front lines for a while.”

The two rested on the slope for a while. As the lieutenant was about to turn around and return to the top of the slope, Stavsky, having overcome his fear, volunteered, "Comrade Lieutenant, let me go up with you."

"Comrade Stavsky!" Seeing that Stavsky's face was still pale, the lieutenant advised, "We'll be down soon, so you don't need to keep running back and forth with me. Just sit here and rest."

Just as Stavsky was about to say something more, he heard someone calling him. Looking down the slope, he saw a captain running towards him.

Soon, the captain approached Stavsky, saluted, and politely asked, "Are you Comrade Stavsky from Pravda?"

“Yes, I am Stavsky.” Stavsky looked at the unfamiliar captain before him and tentatively asked, “May I ask who you are…?”

“Comrade Stavsky, let me introduce you.” The second lieutenant who hadn’t left yet quickly stepped forward to introduce Stavsky, saying, “This is Captain Yefim, the battalion commander of our 1st Battalion. Commander, this is Comrade Stavsky.” He was referring to Captain Yefim.

"Hello, Captain Yefim!" Stavsky grasped Captain Yefim's hand, shook it vigorously twice, and asked cautiously, "What brings you here?"

“Comrade Stavsky, I am here on orders to take you back.” Yefim explained his purpose. He was worried that Stavsky would not be willing to go back with him, so he emphasized, “It was Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, the brigade commander, who was worried that you would be in danger. He gave me a strict order to take you back to the settlement at all costs.”

Yefim had thought he would have to use a lot of persuasion to convince Stavsky to go back, but to his surprise, Stavsky nodded and said, "Alright, Captain, I'll go back to the settlement with you."

Seeing Stavsky turn and walk down the slope, Yefim quickly grabbed the lieutenant and whispered, "Lieutenant, is something wrong?"

The lieutenant glanced at Stavsky, who was walking down the slope, and quietly reported what had just happened to Yefim.

Upon hearing this, Yefim clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm, gritting his teeth as he said, "This is another blood debt owed by the Germans, and we will settle it with them sooner or later. By the way, Lieutenant, where is that enemy force now?"

The lieutenant led Yefim to the top of the slope, pointed to the German troops advancing along the dirt road in the distance, and said, "Comrade Battalion Commander, look, the Germans are coming towards us along the road. In no more than fifteen minutes, they will reach our position."

"We will immediately return to the settlement and prepare for battle."

And so, the members of the reconnaissance team followed Yefim back to the settlement on motorcycles.

Upon entering his temporary command post, Yefim immediately contacted the brigade headquarters to report the enemy situation he had observed to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is Captain Yefim. I have important military intelligence to report to you."

“Speak, Comrade Captain,” Sokov said, “what did your scouts see?”

"According to observations, the enemy has deployed 8 armored vehicles, 15 trucks, and 12 three-wheeled motorcycles, all of which are full of soldiers and are heading towards the settlement along the road."

"Captain, is the information reliable?"

“Of course it’s reliable, Comrade Brigade Commander,” Yefim said confidently. “These are what I saw on the slope where the scouts were lying in ambush to observe the enemy situation when I was chasing Comrade Stavsky.”

(End of this chapter)