Red Moscow

After repelling the German 333rd Infantry Division, Lugansk regained its calm.

On the second day of the German retreat, two tank brigades, an artillery division and a rocket launcher battalion sent by the Front Command also arrived in Lugansk one after another. It is a great joy for Sokov to add so many tanks and artillery in the city at once. In this way, he has enough strength to resist the German attack.

Sokov personally took Samoilov's guard platoon to inspect the artillery division's defense area, and had an in-depth discussion with the division commander, Colonel Miyakotin, on providing artillery support for the defenders. By the time he left the headquarters of the artillery division, it was already dark.

"Comrade Commander," Sokov left the headquarters of the Artillery Division and wanted to inspect the defense area of ​​the 75th Guards Division, but Samoilov reminded him: "It's getting late, if you want to Go to the 75th Guards Division, I think we should go tomorrow. There may be German spies lurking in the city, if they hide in the ruins and shoot coldly, we may not be able to guarantee your safety."

Sokov thought about it, and it seemed that this was really the case, so he nodded and said, "Okay, then let's go back to the division headquarters first, and check the defense situation of the Gorishny division tomorrow."

Seeing that Sokov followed his suggestion, Samoilov couldn't help but feel secretly happy. He knew that his division commander wanted to run around all day long, which added a lot of difficulty to his security work. It was getting late now, if he was still wandering around in the city, who knew what would happen, since he promised to go back to the headquarters, it would be great.

Surrounded by a platoon of guards, Sokov walked down the street in the direction of his headquarters. On the way, he also asked Samoilov: "Comrade lieutenant, commanders at the grassroots level have suffered heavy casualties in recent battles. Are you interested in becoming a company commander or deputy battalion commander in a grassroots company?"

"Comrade commander, I still want to stay by your side as a platoon leader." Samoilov said sincerely: "I come from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and have rich experience in security. But I want to be a commander at the grassroots level." As a member, I find it difficult to be competent for this position.”

In fact, Sokov is also reluctant to part with Samoilov. With this commander from the Ministry of Internal Affairs by his side, not only the safety factor is greatly increased, but some people will feel more at ease with him. "Okay," he said reasonably, "since you don't want to be a commander at the grassroots level, then stay with me. Don't worry, I won't treat you badly."

They were walking forward when a soldier in front suddenly asked loudly, "Hey, what part are you from?"

Hearing the soldiers' shouts, Sokov hurriedly looked forward, and saw a patrol team of seven or eight people coming. With the help of the bright moonlight, he could vaguely see the submachine guns on their shoulders and the uniforms on their uniforms. epaulettes.

The patrol team on the other side stopped immediately when they heard the soldiers shouting, and an officer in a big-brimmed hat who led the team replied loudly: "We are from the Guard Battalion of the 41st Guards Division, which part are you? "

"We are also from the guard battalion." The soldier replied loudly.

"Not good." Hearing the other party's answer, Sokov immediately realized that something was wrong, and quickly said to Samoilov beside him, "They are impersonated by the enemy!"

"Is it impersonated by the enemy?" Samoilov asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, why do you say that?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, what's the matter with you, don't you forget that the guard battalion is equipped with German weapons, and the soldiers are all wearing old-fashioned military uniforms?" Sokov reminded the other party in a low voice: "Look at them again, they are all uniforms. Popov submachine guns, the ranks are epaulets, not the usual collar insignia in our division."

After being reminded by Sokov, Samoilov immediately came back to his senses. Today, the guard battalions of the Guards Division are all equipped with German-made weapons, and they all wear old-fashioned military ranks. How could it be a soldier from the guard battalion. Wanting to understand this, Samoilov quickly reminded the surrounding soldiers in a low voice: "Attention, the enemy is coming from the opposite side, everyone prepare for battle."

The soldiers in the guard platoon were all seasoned and experienced in combat. No one was surprised by Samoilov's order, but quietly put their fingers on the trigger, pretending to be nothing, and moved towards The fake patrol walks over.

When the two sides passed each other, Sokov suddenly shouted: "Fire!"

The soldiers, who had already been ready to go, immediately opened fire on those enemies. Amid the dense gunfire, those people fell down in response. Two clever soldiers rolled on the spot in a hurry, hid in the nearby ruins, and launched a fierce exchange of fire with the guard platoon on the street.

The remaining enemies were extremely tenacious at any time, but their resistance quickly collapsed in front of the overwhelmingly superior guard platoon. One soldier was beaten into a sieve, and the remaining one obediently threw away his weapon and raised his hand to surrender after the bullets in his gun were emptied.

Although the gun battle lasted for a short time, it still attracted nearby patrols. It happened that Major Tenev, the commander of the security battalion, led a patrol team to patrol nearby. After hearing the gunshots, he immediately brought people over to support. However, they came a step too late, and by the time they reached the site of the exchange of fire, the Germans disguised as Soviet troops had been wiped out.

Sokov glanced at the prisoner whose hands were cut behind the back by the two soldiers, shook his head, and told Tenev and Samoilov: "Take him to the headquarters."

A few minutes later, Sokov returned to his headquarters.

Seeing Sokov enter the door, Witkov asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, I just heard intensive gunfire outside. What's going on?"

"There was a German squad, pretending to be our patrol, which I saw through, and then there was an exchange of fire." Sokov said to Sidolin and the others who surrounded them: "Most of the enemies have been killed on the spot, only captured A prisoner."

After the prisoners were brought up, Sokov looked at the German in the uniform of a Soviet second lieutenant and asked, "Your name, position and rank."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin reminded Sokov, "Our interpreter hasn't arrived yet. Look, should we interrogate after the interpreter arrives?"

"No," Sokov waved his hand and said, "He can understand Russian. Am I right?" The last sentence he asked was looking at the German prisoner.

"Yes, I can understand Russian," replied the prisoner.

"Let me repeat the question just now," Sokov stared at the other party and said, "Report your name, position, military rank, and the unit you are in."

The prisoner replied readily: "My name is Felix, I am a second lieutenant, and I am a combat staff officer of the 333rd Infantry Division."

"What is the purpose of your coming here?"

"We were ordered to assassinate Sokov, the commander of your combat group." Felix said bitterly, "It's a pity that we were spotted by you just as we approached here." He looked at Sokov and asked, "This Mr. Colonel, I want to ask, I ask myself that my team has no flaws, how did you see through it?"

"In the eyes of others, your clothes and even your every move during the march are exactly the same as the commanders and fighters of our army." Sokov said with a sneer, "but in my eyes, it is full of flaws."

"What flaw?" Felix asked.

"If you pretended to be another unit, you might have gotten away with it." Sokov said: "But you have to pretend to be the guard battalion of the Guards Division. You may not know that the guard battalion is the only one in the entire combat group. The troops are all equipped with German equipment, and because there is no time to change their outfits, they are wearing old-fashioned military ranks. But you, all of you are equipped with Bobosha submachine guns, and you are still wearing the military uniforms of friendly troops that have just changed defenses. This is the biggest flaw.”

"So that's the case." Felix learned that it was such a small detail that allowed his disguised army to be seen through, and he couldn't help saying angrily: "I would have pretended to be another army if I knew it."

"It's useless to pretend to be other troops." Sidolin said coldly: "Since this has become the temporary headquarters of the combat group, all the troops patrolling outside have been replaced by divisional guard battalions, and other troops are counted here. , will also be closely interrogated, and you also have the possibility of being identified."

"Second Lieutenant Felix," Beley, who had been silent all this time, suddenly interrupted and asked, "You said you belonged to the 333rd Infantry Division, so let me ask you, where are you from?"

"I am from Brandenburg." Felix replied: "The members of the 333rd Infantry Division are almost all from Brandenburg."

"What a pity." Sokov sighed unexpectedly when he heard this, "It is a great tragedy that an elite army is used as an ordinary army."

When everyone heard Sokov say this, their faces showed expressions of astonishment. "Why do you say that, Comrade Commander?" asked Vitkov.

"On the eve of the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the German army sent a large number of personnel to sneak into our country." Sokov said to everyone: "These people are wearing our army's uniforms and equipment. The communication lines of the army were blown up, the railways and bridges were blown up, and the headquarters of our army was attacked, which paralyzed the command system of our army. And these troops who carried out the sabotage were the German Brandenburg troops.

It was a pity that such a unit with great military exploits would be used as an ordinary unit after being expanded into a division. If they continue to fight in the rear of our army with make-up as before, it will make us suffer. "

Seeing that Sokov had such a high opinion of the Brandenburg troops, Felix couldn't help feeling a little fond of him, and he couldn't help asking curiously: "Mr. Colonel, may I ask, who are you? "

"Who am I?" Sokov chuckled and replied, "Second Lieutenant Felix, I am the target of your assassination this time."

—Colonel Sokov, commander of the combat group. "