red moscow

Chapter 2763

When hundreds of soldiers appeared, Vlasov showed a relieved expression on his face. He turned to Colonel Del and Nikolsky and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, Military Commissar, with such a force around us, we don't have to worry about the German airdrop team. It's fine if they don't come, but if they do, they will definitely come and never come back."

Colonel Del was also confident. He looked at Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, we will set out at daybreak and try to reach Belopoliye as soon as possible."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, don't worry." Vlasov said with a smile, "We have sent out a reconnaissance team. We can wait for them to come back before continuing on our journey. Don't worry, we have so many troops around us. Let alone the German airdrop team, we can even fight against an organized unit."

As dawn approached, an explosion suddenly came from the northeast, alarming everyone in the forest.

As soon as Sokov heard the explosion, he rushed to Vlasov and the others. You know, their safety is the top priority now, and they must not be allowed to get into trouble before arriving in Belopoliye.

"What's going on?" Vlasov frowned as he saw Sokov rushing over and asked, "Where did the explosion come from?"

"It was in the northeast direction," Sokov replied quickly, "but we don't know what the explosion was about yet."

Yesterday's bombing left a shadow in Colonel Del's heart. He asked nervously, "Could it be that the enemy planes are bombing again?"

"Impossible, this is absolutely impossible." Sokov shook his head and said, "First of all, we didn't hear the roar of the plane's engine. Secondly, it's not even daybreak yet, how could the plane take off? It must be something else that caused the explosion."

"Could it be a mine?" Colonel Del asked again.

"That's impossible." Sokov once again denied Colonel Del's guess: "If it's near the defense zone, it makes sense to deploy a minefield. We are deep in the forest where few people go. Neither our army nor the Germans can lay mines in such a place."

"What could have made that explosion?" Colonel Del thought with a frown.

At this moment, two consecutive explosions were heard.

As soon as the explosion stopped, Captain Karelin rushed over and said to Vlasov: "Comrade General, there was an explosion in the northeast. According to my experience, this should be the sound of a German airdrop team using a portable light mortar to attack a target."

"What, is that the sound of a mortar?" Although this was not Sokov's first time traveling through time, he spent most of his time in the headquarters, so he couldn't tell what caused the explosion by the sound of the explosion like Captain Karelin. He thought of Chulxin and others who were scouting in the northeast, and was worried that the gunshots were from the German airdrop team, attacking Chulxin and others.

"Comrade Commander, the direction from which the artillery fire came is exactly the area where our scouts are heading." Sokov said to Vlasov, "They may have been attacked by the German airdrop team. I ask for your permission to take people to rescue them."

Vlasov did not immediately agree to Sokov's request. Instead, he looked at Karelin who had just come over and said, "Comrade Captain, can you send some people to rescue our reconnaissance team?"

Karelin glanced at Sokov, then fixed his gaze on Vlasov: "Comrade General, the German airdrop team usually consists of more than a dozen people. In order to rescue our comrades, I am willing to invest as many troops as possible. But considering that it is not yet daybreak, it will be difficult to command if there are too many troops, so I will only provide two platoons to follow Captain Sokov to carry out the rescue mission."

Sokov felt that Karelin was right. This unit had just joined his own and was not familiar with each other. If they were rushed into battle, there would be huge problems in coordination. Too many people would be involved in the battle, and there might be chaos due to poor command. If such a situation really occurred, let alone destroying the enemy, they might even be beaten around by the enemy.

Therefore, he readily agreed: "Thank you, Captain. Two platoons of soldiers are enough."

In this way, Sokov led two platoons of soldiers and rushed towards the direction where the explosion came from.

After walking in the dense forest for seven or eight minutes, there were gunshots and explosions ahead. It should be Churxin's reconnaissance team and the German airdrop team that captured it. Thinking of this, he urged the soldiers behind him: "Comrades, our comrades are being attacked by the Germans and are in danger now. Speed ​​up and rescue them as soon as possible."

After hearing what Sokov said, the soldiers immediately quickened their pace, ready to rush over to join their comrades and destroy those damn Germans.

Soon, the soldiers walking in the front engaged in a firefight with the enemy.

Sokov listened carefully to the gunshots and found that besides the sound of the Mosin-Nagant rifle, there was only the roar of the MP40 submachine gun. Just from these gunshots, it can be judged that the German airborne troops were well equipped, all with MP40 submachine guns.

Sokov knew very well that if all the troops were pressed forward, they would not be able to exert their power at all, so he divided his troops into three groups. One group rushed to the battle area, and the other two groups went around from the left and right wings respectively, making sure to surround the enemy and prevent any of them from escaping.

As Sokov had expected, a German airdrop team of more than a dozen people encountered Chulhin's reconnaissance team. The Germans first attacked with mortars, killing one and injuring one in the reconnaissance team. Chulhin and others immediately dispersed and fired, using the dense bushes as cover to engage in battle with the German airdrop team.

The German airdrop team never dreamed that the mantis was catching the cicada, but the oriole was behind. They concentrated their forces to attack Chulxin and others, and did not realize that they had become prey. Before they could make more progress, they were surrounded by Sokov's men.

The battle was over in just over ten minutes. After all, nearly a hundred people were against a dozen others, and they were using sneak attack tactics. If they couldn't win, Sokov might as well choke himself to death by peeing.

Chulxin, who was trapped in a desperate situation, never dreamed that he could not stop the German attack, and a group of his own people would come out from behind the Germans. After the battle, Chulxin and the surviving scouts did not stand up immediately to avoid being injured by mistake, but lay there and waited quietly, waiting for the enemy commander to appear before they could show up again.

Unexpectedly, just as he was trying to observe, he heard a familiar voice coming from the crowd: "Churxin, Churxin, where are you? Churxin..." After hearing it was Sokov's voice, Churxin couldn't help but be surprised and happy, and quickly agreed: "Comrade Captain, I'm here." Although he responded, he did not stand up immediately, because there were still soldiers nearby searching for the captured enemy. If he stood up rashly, the nearby soldiers might get nervous and shoot at him directly.

Sokov heard Chulxin's answer, but still didn't see anyone. He was a little angry at first, but then he thought that maybe the other party was worried about causing misunderstanding, so he shouted quickly: "Churxin, stand up from your hiding place and let me see where you are. When you stand up, move slowly, so that we soldiers will not mistake you for an enemy."

Chulsin followed Sokov's advice and slowly stood up. After standing up, he stood still and shouted to Sokov, "Comrade Captain, I'm here."

After confirming Chulsin's location, Sokov quickly stepped forward, opened his hands and patted his arm, and asked with concern: "Are you not injured?"

"No." Churxin shook his head, then looked down at his comrades lying on the ground and said sadly: "Except for me and one wounded soldier, the rest of the comrades have died."

"In war, there will always be sacrifices." Sokov was most concerned about Chulsin's safety. He didn't care about the lives of the other members of the reconnaissance team. "Come on, follow me to see the commander and report the intelligence you have gathered to him."

When Chulxin followed Sokov to the camping site, he looked at the officers and soldiers around him and asked Sokov in surprise: "Comrade Captain, I see that these people around me are all strangers, as if I have never seen them before. Where did they come from?"

"They are troops from Belopoliye, and they are here specifically to find the commander." Sokov said with emotion: "If I didn't have this troop by my side, I really wouldn't be able to rush over to support you when you were in danger."

Soon, Sokov brought Churhin to Vlasov and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, the reconnaissance team I sent to the northeast has returned. If you have any questions, feel free to ask Churhin."

Vlasov nodded, looked at Churhin and asked, "Comrade Churhin, thank you for your hard work."

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"It's not hard."

"Can you tell me what you have discovered?"

"Report to the commander," Chulsin quickly reported to Vlasov, "We went to the northeast to conduct reconnaissance and found that our troops were stationed there. However, due to the German defense zone in the middle, we were unable to contact them, so we are unable to figure out what kind of troops they are for the time being."

Although he did not get a satisfactory answer from Chursin, Vlasov was not discouraged at all. He turned to Karelin and asked, "Comrade Captain, I now know that the troops stationed in Belopoliye are your 40th Army. Can you tell me what other troops are nearby?"

Karelin also heard what Chulsin said. When he heard Vlasov's question, he quickly replied: "To our south is the 21st Army commanded by General Goldov, who is responsible for the defense of Shishaki. I think the troops of our army that this soldier comrade saw may be part of the 21st Army."

"Comrade Commander," Colonel Del interrupted, "We have now confirmed that there are troops of our army in the north and northeast. Where are you planning to go?"

Vlasov glanced at Colonel Del, then said slowly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't you hear Chulhin say that there is a German defense line between us and our troops? If we want to go to the northeast and join the 21st Army, we must find a way to pass through the German defense line. Do you think we can successfully break through the German defense line with our current strength?"

Colonel Del thought about it, then shook his head and said, "I don't think so." He turned his eyes to Captain Karelin: "The troops brought by the captain belong to the 40th Army. It is obviously inappropriate to escort us to the 21st Army. So I think the best option is to go north into the defense zone of the 40th Army and get rid of the German encirclement."

"Yes, you think the same as I do." Vlasov nodded and said, "I also think that entering Belopoliye is our best option." He looked up at the sky and continued, "Since the reconnaissance team has returned, I think it's about time. Let's set off now."

Ten minutes later, the assembled troops set off.

In order to ensure the safety of the march, Captain Karelin divided the troops into three echelons: the first company was the first echelon, walking in the front to explore the way; the second company was the second echelon, walking in the middle with Vlasov and Sokov's troops, responsible for protecting the safety of the target person; the third company was the third echelon, responsible for covering the rear.

At the beginning, Karelin was still in the first echelon. After walking for a while, he came to the second echelon, found Sokov, and asked tentatively: "Captain Sokov, I want to ask you something, and I hope you can answer me truthfully."

"Excuse me, Comrade Captain." Sokov made a gesture of invitation to Karelin.

"When General Vlasov arrives in our defense zone, he will either be sent to the front headquarters or directly sent back to Moscow." Karelin looked at Sokov and asked, "What will you do then? Will you follow him or stay with us?"

Sokov knew a little about Major General Podlas, the commander of the 40th Army. He was a corps commander in the 40s and had participated in the Battle of Zhanggufeng. He was dismissed and imprisoned because he publicly criticized the commander of the battle for his blind command. Later, with the help of Timoshenko, he returned to the army and was awarded the rank of major general. After he became the commander of the th Army, although he tried his best, he still couldn't stop the German attack.

In March 1942, he was appointed by Timoshenko as the commander of the 3th Army and participated in the Second Battle of Kharkov. Unfortunately, in this battle, in which the Soviet army initially had an advantage but ended in a disastrous defeat, he, as the commander of the 57th Army, was surrounded by the German army. He was unfortunately shot and killed in the breakout operation.

Sokov certainly didn't want to follow Vlasov, but a general like Podlas had no appeal to him. He was eager to follow Vlasov back to Moscow to see if there was a chance to meet Rokossovsky. After all, only by holding on to the thigh of the future marshal could he achieve something.

Therefore, he politely declined Karelin's invitation: "Comrade Captain, thank you for your kindness. Since my responsibility is to protect General Vlasov's safety, I will go wherever he goes."

(End of this chapter)