Red Moscow

Although the deputy company commander was a little at odds with Paul, he still faithfully carried out Paul's order and transferred a fully staffed infantry squad from the second platoon to serve as night security.

After the second platoon leader waited for the fifth squad that was operating at night to leave, he took the deputy company commander to the ruins of a wooden house near the entrance of the village. After he lit a cigarette for the other party, he began to complain: "Comrade deputy company commander, I really feel worthless for you."

The deputy company commander looked up at him, didn't speak, and continued to smoke.

Seeing that the deputy company commander did not refute himself, the second platoon leader seemed to be encouraged, and continued: "Our company is the unit with the strongest combat effectiveness in the whole battalion. The company commander died in battle a while ago, whether it is based on seniority or military exploits, you Taking over the position of company commander is expected by everyone, but the superior sent a new company commander, who was actually a prisoner officer. He not only took away your position as company commander, but also damaged the honor of our company."

The deputy company commander raised his head again, and asked in surprise, "Second platoon commander, what do you mean by that?"

"Comrade deputy company commander, haven't you heard the gossip?" The second platoon leader said a little unconvinced: "Now the soldiers of the other two companies in the battalion will say when they hear our company: Here, They are the soldiers of the company whose commander is a prisoner of war..."

"That's enough, stop talking." The deputy company commander interrupted the second platoon leader when he heard this, threw the half-smoked cigarette in his hand on the ground, and said angrily: "Second platoon leader, what you said today , I can pretend that I didn’t hear it. If any rumors reach my ears in the future, you don’t want to be a platoon leader. Understand?”

The second platoon leader didn't expect the deputy company commander to turn his back on him, so he quickly stood up straight and said, "Understood, comrade deputy company commander, I won't make similar remarks in the future."

Although the deputy company commander forbids anyone to speak ill of Lieutenant Paul in the background, he is also unwilling to let him return to the company command post and be in the same room with Paul. He looked around and asked, "Second Platoon Leader, where are you going to sleep tonight?"

The second platoon leader was also unwilling to squeeze into the shelter with the soldiers, so when building the fortifications, he prepared to transfer a few soldiers, went to the village to find a relatively complete room, packed it out, and planned to sleep there at night.

Hearing the question from the deputy company commander at this moment, the second platoon leader smiled a little embarrassedly, and then replied: "Deputy company commander, I really can't hide anything from you. I did send someone to clean up a room nearby. A house with a roof, even if it rains in the middle of the night, is not afraid.”

"What are you still standing here for?" The deputy company commander stood up straight, seeing that the second platoon leader was still standing there in a daze, and said impatiently, "Why don't you hurry up and take me there?"

"Deputy company commander!" The second platoon leader was confused, and he asked tentatively, "Aren't you going back to the company command post?"

"I've already done what I should do, so it doesn't matter if I go back or not?" The deputy company commander pushed the second platoon leader with his hand, and said impatiently: "Stop talking nonsense, take me there quickly. "

The second platoon leader didn't dare to neglect, and quickly led the deputy company commander to the room he had secretly cleaned up.

The deputy company commander looked at the indoor environment, nodded his head and said: "Although the four wooden walls have been damaged and the wind is everywhere, but fortunately there is still a roof, so you don't have to worry about it even if it rains in the middle of the night." He walked to the bed He took off his boots, leaned his whole body back, then pulled the blanket on the side to cover his body, and said to the second platoon leader, "You can leave now, remember to call me at dawn."

After the second platoon leader left, the deputy company commander, who was about to go to bed, realized that this place was not far from the Germans. To be on the safe side, he took out a pistol from his holster and put it within his reach. After doing all this, he closed his eyes and went to sleep boldly.

After sleeping for an unknown amount of time, he suddenly heard footsteps outside the house and the rustling of people passing through the grass.

"Who is this? He came here to disturb my sleep on purpose." The deputy company commander thought a little angrily, his eyes unconsciously looked at the door, and he was going to scold the other person as soon as someone appeared there, ruthlessly Teach this group of guys who disturbed your sleep a lesson.

Unexpectedly, the footsteps stopped suddenly when they reached the side of the house, and then the deputy company commander heard someone talking. He was about to blame the people outside for disturbing his sleep, but unexpectedly found that he couldn't understand a word the people outside said.

After being dazed for a moment, the deputy company commander immediately realized that the people speaking outside were not his subordinates' tactics, but Germans. The reason why he couldn't understand what they said was because they spoke German.

He quickly grabbed the pistol and looked out through the crack in the wall. Standing outside the wall were five or six German soldiers wearing steel helmets and submachine guns hanging around their necks. Compared with the equipment in their hands, the deputy company commander's pistol was as ridiculous as a toy. Once the two sides seized it, within ten seconds, the deputy company commander would be shot into a sieve.

There is only one cavity between the enemy and himself, and the deputy company commander can even hear the opponent's breathing clearly. In order to prevent being discovered by the other party, he slowly adjusted his sitting posture, trying not to make any movement. He stuck his muzzle out of the crack in the wall, ready to shoot if the Germans spotted him.

But the enemy did not expect that in a crumbling wooden house next to them, there was actually a sober Soviet commander aiming at them with a pistol.

The Germans did not find the deputy company commander in the wooden house. After chatting for a while, they continued to walk forward. Seeing the enemy walking away, the deputy company commander slowly fell back on the bed on his back as if all his strength had been emptied.

The deputy company commander's mind began to think quickly: How could the Germans be found here? How many of them are there? Are the few German soldiers who just passed by the vanguard or all members? What is their purpose, are they going to occupy the village and destroy the Ninth Company stationed here, or are they going to bypass the village and attack Yakovlevo?

After thinking for a long time, the deputy company commander didn't come up with a reason. He sat up straight again and looked out of the wall with his ears, but he didn't hear any human voice. But for the sake of safety, he looked out from the crack in the wall, and found that the outside was empty, and there was no one in sight.

Seeing that there was no one outside, the deputy company commander thought he should go back to the company command post immediately and report this matter to Lieutenant Paul, saying that enemies had sneaked into the village, and he should dispatch manpower to destroy these enemies as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, just as he put on his boots and was about to leave the house, he heard the rustling sound of people walking through the grass outside. He quickly clenched his pistol and looked through the crack in the wall towards the direction of the sound.

Soon, he saw several black figures emerging from the grass and walking straight towards the wooden house where he was. Seeing the black shadow getting closer and closer, the deputy company commander's heart beat faster, and even the palm of his hand holding the pistol was wet with sweat.

It may be that the Germans felt that the village had long been abandoned, and there would be no one in these wooden houses buried in the grass, so they didn't even have the interest to search, so they directly bypassed the wooden houses and moved towards the direction of the southern position of the village. .

Seeing the enemy walking towards the south, the deputy company commander screamed in his heart that it was not good. The deployment of the troops was aimed at the enemy who might appear from the south, and no one thought that the enemy would come from behind. Although the enemy is at a disadvantage in numbers, the commanders and fighters who are resting are bound to suffer heavy casualties in the event of an exchange of fire.

Thinking of this, the deputy company commander no longer cared about his own safety, and quickly raised the pistol in his hand, aimed at the back of the German soldiers who were going away, and pulled the trigger.

The sudden gunfire, in the silent night, was as shocking as artillery during the day.

A black shadow fell down immediately, and the remaining black shadows froze in place. They seemed to want to figure out where the bullet was coming from. Seeing this, the deputy company commander quickly fired two more shots at the black shadow. After the shots, he immediately rushed out of the wooden house and hid in the nearby grass.

The sound of gunfire in the village woke up the sleeping soldiers in the shelter, and also woke up Paul who was sitting and dozing in the company command post. He stood up abruptly and asked loudly, "Where did the gun fire?!"

Hearing Paul's question, the communications soldier wanted to answer that the sentry's gun might have misfired, but then two more gunshots rang out, making him realize that the gun must not have misfired, and the enemy must have touched it. He listened for a moment, quickly judged the direction, and reported to Paul: "Comrade company commander, the gunshots came from the village. It must be that the Germans entered the village from other directions."

"Ready to fight!" Paul pulled out his pistol, shouted in a very majestic manner, and then quickly rushed out of the company command post.

He had just rushed into the trench and was trying to determine where the enemy was by listening to the sound of the MP40 firing. The second platoon leader ran along the trench and asked out of breath, "Comrade company commander, is the deputy company commander here?" Is it in the command post?"

"Not here!" Although Paul didn't know the purpose of the second platoon leader's question, he still replied truthfully: "Since he went out to arrange the sentry on duty at night, he has never returned to the command post."

Guessing that the second platoon leader might know the whereabouts of the deputy company commander, Paul quickly asked, "Do you know where the deputy company commander is?"

"Comrade company commander." Knowing that the deputy company commander hadn't come back, the second platoon leader was frightened out of his wits. He clearly heard the sound of German submachine guns firing, worried that the deputy company commander had already encountered an accident, and quickly replied: "The deputy company commander After the leader arranged the duty of the fifth shift, he went to sleep in the village."

"Going to sleep in the village?" Hearing what the second platoon leader said, Paul said a little puzzled, "Didn't all the houses in the village be burned down? Where can he go to sleep?"

"It's like this, Comrade Company Commander." The matter has reached the point where the second platoon leader can no longer hide it, so he can only answer truthfully: "When our platoon was building fortifications, I found a few soldiers to help me clean up. Let’s go to a wooden house in the village. I planned to sleep there tonight, but the deputy company commander got there first.”

After listening to the second platoon leader's explanation, Lieutenant Paul roughly knew what was going on. He said to the second platoon leader: "Second platoon leader, I guess it was the deputy company commander who shot us as a warning after discovering the enemy. Now the village The gunshots are still ringing, I think he is still alive. You immediately take the remaining soldiers of the second platoon and go to the village to rescue the deputy company commander."

The second platoon leader agreed, turned around and ran back to his platoon along the trench, led the fourth and sixth squads, dispersed in battle formation, and searched for the village.

Besides, after the deputy company commander hid in the grass, he lay motionless on the ground. He knew very well that the enemy was equipped with submachine guns, and he only had one pistol. If he fought face to face, he would be smashed into a sieve by random guns in an instant. He secretly prayed in his heart, hoping that Paul could hear his gunshots, and then send out his hands to rescue him.

At first, I was worried that the soldiers who arrived would not be able to find the enemy just by firing a few shots. But I didn't expect the Germans to cooperate quite well. Seven or eight submachine guns aimed at the wooden house where the deputy company commander used to stay, and fired. The dense bullets sent sawdust flying on the wooden wall.

Seeing the deputy company commander in the grass not far away, and seeing this scene, he couldn't help but feel lucky in his heart, if he didn't rush out of the house in time before the enemy recovered. Under such intensive firepower, I am afraid that the chance of surviving is not high.

Although the place where the deputy company commander is hiding is only a dozen meters away from the wooden house, if the Germans conduct a search, they may be discovered at any time, but he lay on the spot and did not dare to move, fearing that any movement he made would expose himself The goal.

Fortunately, not long after, gunshots came from behind the Germans. The deputy company commander's ears were sharp, and he immediately heard the sound of shooting from the Mosin Nagant rifle and the Popov submachine gun. It seemed that the soldiers on the ground heard the gunshots from the village and were rushing over to support him.

The Germans stopped shooting at the wooden house, turned around and fired in the direction of the gunfire, trying to prevent the Soviet soldiers from approaching.

But the Germans were outnumbered, and after a few minutes of firefighting, half the soldiers were shot and fell. The remaining few soldiers, firing their guns randomly, retreated towards the wooden house where the deputy company commander stayed overnight.

A retreating soldier unexpectedly arrived within two or three meters of the deputy company commander by accident. He knelt down on one knee, changed the magazine, aimed the muzzle at the position where the Soviet army appeared, and prepared to pull the trigger. But how could the deputy company commander give him this chance, and shot him in the head first.

After the sound of gunfire, the German soldier's head tilted to the side, and blood gushed out of the crater like a spring. When he fell to the ground, the submachine gun in his hand was thrown aside.

The deputy company commander couldn't help being overjoyed when he saw the submachine gun that had just been reloaded and threw it not far away from him. He quickly stuck the pistol in his back, then crawled over and grabbed the German submachine gun. Then he raised the muzzle of the gun, aimed at the shadows who were fighting and retreating, and pulled the trigger violently.

After a series of crisp gunshots, all those black figures fell to the ground. Seeing that the enemy was completely knocked down, the deputy company commander lay on the ground again. The bullets on the battlefield were not eye-catching, and the sky was so dark. If he jumped out rashly, he might be killed by his soldiers as enemies. The safest way is to lie on the ground and not move, and wait for your own people to come over before talking.

The second platoon leader saw that the gunshots from the wooden house had completely stopped, so he led a few soldiers over cautiously, and shouted loudly as he walked: "Deputy company commander, where are you? Deputy company commander, where are you?"

"Second platoon leader, stop shouting!" The deputy company commander heard the shout of the second platoon leader and kept silent until the other party was only five or six meters away from him, then he responded loudly: "I am here! "

Hearing the deputy company commander's voice suddenly startled the second platoon leader and the soldiers around him, and all the guns were pointed at the deputy company commander's position at the same time.