Red Moscow

Less than an hour after Ruhlie's troops left, part of the German 15th Panzer Regiment, which followed, appeared at the position they had abandoned.

The leading German company commander, after carefully inspecting the hastily constructed field fortifications, immediately ordered the signal soldier: "Immediately report to the regiment headquarters that our company has successfully occupied the Russian position after a fierce battle." .”

"Mr. Captain." Seeing that his company commander was going to lie about the military situation to his superiors, the radio operator hurriedly reminded the other party carefully: "But we occupied the Russian positions without firing a single shot."

"The regiment headquarters is still more than ten kilometers behind us." The German company commander sneered at the concerns of the communications soldiers: "Even if I reported to the regiment commander that my company was fighting the Russians, he didn't know whether it was true or not."

"But, Mr. Captain." The communications soldier said tremblingly, "If the superiors pursue it, I may be court-martialed, or even shot directly."

"Don't worry, if you send the report according to what I said, your superiors will definitely not send you to a court-martial or shoot you on the spot." The German company commander threatened the communications soldier: "But if you don't send the report, I will report it now." I can shoot you."

The communications soldier trembled in fright, and quickly sent the telegram to the regiment headquarters according to the company commander's instructions.

Seeing that the communicator sent a telegram to the regiment headquarters according to his instructions, the German company commander nodded with a smile and said, "Did you see the burning tanks and armored vehicles in the distance? I can definitely send those burning tanks and armored vehicles are counted as our company’s battle results. When I write reports in the future, I will specifically emphasize that after a fierce battle with the Russians, my troops successfully destroyed the tanks covering the Russian infantry’s attack. Abandoned the position and fled."

Looking at the burning tanks and armored vehicles in the distance, the communications soldier suddenly felt more at ease. Even if the Russians set fire to these tanks and armored vehicles when they fled in a hurry, they can still be fully included in the results of the battle of the company. In doing so, there may be a chance to get a cross.

After blowing up the tanks and armored vehicles without fuel, Ruhlie's tank brigade marched quickly along the forest on the roadside towards the assembly point in the east. In order to prevent some soldiers from falling behind, or some people who are greedy for life and fear of death as deserters, he also ordered the chief of staff to organize a special containment team to contain the soldiers who fell behind or attempted to become deserters.

After walking for more than two hours, the number of fighters taken in by the containment team was close to a hundred.

When Luhlie received the report from the chief of staff, he couldn't help being taken aback. He quickly asked, "Comrade chief of staff, why are there so many deserters?"

"Comrade Brigadier, these people have just been incorporated into our troops, and their emotions have not yet stabilized. If there is any trouble, they may become panicked." The chief of staff reported: "I am worried that if any deserters are captured by the Germans , I'm afraid it will expose our whereabouts."

"Go and tell those fighters who lagged behind or tried to become deserters, just say that from now on, no matter what they thought before, I can let it go." Ruhlie said with a straight face: "But if the battle starts, who will If you dare to be a deserter, I will enforce battlefield discipline."

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier Commander." The chief of staff agreed, then turned and ran to convey Ruhlie's order.

After walking forward for more than two hours, the battalion commander of the leading battalion sent someone to report that a small village was found ahead. At the east and west entrances of the village, German sentries were found.

After listening to the report, Ruhle asked the soldier, "How many enemies are there in the village?"

"Ah, how many enemies are there?" Hearing Ruhlie's question, the soldier couldn't help being taken aback, and then replied awkwardly: "Our scout saw an enemy in the village ahead and felt it necessary to report to you immediately, so he didn't Get close to the village to scout."

"Nonsense, you are simply nonsense." Ruhlie said angrily: "As a scout, I didn't even know how many troops the enemy had. You know, when we, as commanders, draw up combat plans, we rely on The information obtained by the scouts. Now you are asking three questions, so what order should I give the soldiers, should I attack the village or bypass the village?"

The soldier blushed and replied, "Understood, Comrade Brigadier Commander. I'll go back and report to the battalion commander immediately, and ask him to send someone to reconnaissance."

"It's too late." Ruhlie knew very well that if he wanted to get rid of the enemies behind him, he had to speed up his march, so he said to the soldier, "Tell your battalion commander to launch a tentative attack on the village."

"Understood, I will tell him immediately."

After the soldiers ran away, the chief of staff asked worriedly: "Comrade Brigadier, we ordered the troops to attack without even knowing the enemy's situation. Isn't this decision a little too hasty?"

"It's not sloppy at all." Ruhlie waved his hand and said, "The village in the distance is not big, even if it is full of enemies, there are only more than two hundred people. But we have thousands of people now, and we can still do it if we want to eliminate them." owned."

"However, we can find another way to bypass this village." The chief of staff was always worried that the enemies behind would catch up, so he reminded Ruhlie: "If the battle starts, it cannot be ended within two hours. , we may fall into the encirclement of the enemy, and maybe our entire army will be wiped out by then."

"Bypassing the village is easy to say, but it's not so easy to do." Ruhlie denied the chief of staff's statement: "If you want to go around the village, you not only need to walk a longer distance, but also have the possibility of getting lost. Most of the soldiers in the brigade are currently in a state of low morale, if they choose to take a detour, it will make them even more depressed, maybe after we detour the village, some of them will disappear."

Seeing the thoughtful expression on the chief of staff's face, Ruhlie continued: "But if we launch an attack on the village and eliminate the enemies entrenched in the village, it will boost the morale of the troops." effect."

The chief of staff thought for a long time before finally nodding his head: "Comrade Brigadier, your view is absolutely correct. Our army with low morale and unstable morale really needs a victory to unite the hearts of the people."

After the order to attack was issued, the leading battalion commander and his troops quietly approached the village under the cover of the forest. However, he did not immediately give an order to attack, but called a sharpshooter and said to him, "Did you see the sentinel at the entrance of the village? I order you to kill him!"

When the sharpshooter was looking for the shooting position, the battalion commander said to the company commanders under him: "Attention everyone, as soon as the sharpshooter kills the sentinel at the entrance of the village, the attack will be launched immediately. The first company attacks from the front, and the second and third companies detour from the two wings. Outflank, I will lead the troops directly under the battalion as a reserve."

The sharpshooter quickly found an ideal shooting position. He set up his gun, locked the German sentinel at the entrance of the village, and fired decisively. The place where he was hiding was only more than two hundred meters away from the German sentinel. Because of the cold weather, the sentinel kept standing there and kept stomping, which undoubtedly became the best target. After the gunfire, the German sentry fell to the ground.

"Comrades, brothers!" Seeing that the German sentry had been killed by sharpshooters, the head battalion commander raised his pistol and shouted to the soldiers lying in the snow: "Forward!"

Hearing the battalion commander's shout, the commanders and fighters who were lying in the snow got up from the ground, held their weapons, shouted "Ula", stepped on the snow that had not covered their uppers, and staggered forward.