Red Moscow

The battle to defend the landing site started in the early hours of the second day.

The German army, which was preparing to attack the landing site, borrowed the tactics of the Soviet army and sent a reconnaissance force of 200 people before the battle started. The German troops went deep into the Soviet defense zone, and they were prepared with two hands: one was to conduct reconnaissance on the Soviet positions and figure out the Soviet defense deployment; , to occupy some forward fire support points, as the starting point for the German attack.

The reconnaissance troops of the German soldiers touched an outpost position to the south of the landing field. The troops standing here were a platoon of the 764th Regiment of the 254th Infantry Division. Shortly after dark, the platoon leader received a call from the regiment headquarters informing him that friendly troops would take over their defense.

Therefore, when the German reconnaissance unit appeared nearby, the platoon leader took it for granted as a friendly army to take over the defense. The German commander, wearing a Soviet uniform, saw that the opponent regarded himself as a defensive unit, so he took the initiative to greet him.

When the Soviet platoon leader saw a captain, he quickly raised his hand to salute, and reported: "Comrade captain, I am the platoon leader of the defenders, and I have been ordered to hand over the position to you."

After the German captain returned the salute, he pretended to say: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, after you hand over the position to us, you can take your people to the back to rest."

In this way, the unsuspecting Soviet platoon leader handed over the commanding heights held by his platoon to the German troops disguised as Soviet troops. After completing the handover, the platoon leader left the position with his subordinates and walked back along the hill path.

Watching the Soviet troops leaving in formation, another German commander prepared to order his subordinates to shoot and wipe out all the kept-in-the-dark Soviet commanders and fighters. But the German captain stopped him and said in a low voice: "Lieutenant, don't shoot. Once you shoot, it will alarm the Russians, which is not good for our next move."

Hearing what the captain said, the German lieutenant withdrew his gun, looked at the Soviet commanders in the distance, and said through gritted teeth, "Those Russians are lucky. Next time I see them, I will definitely not let them go lightly."

The Soviet commanders and fighters who withdrew from the hills did not know that they had handed over their positions to the Germans disguised as Soviet troops. Still retreating according to the designated route, preparing to rush there as soon as possible to join the main force of the division.

Unexpectedly, not long after walking, the second squad leader's shoelace was loose, and he bent down to tie his shoelace. When he accidentally saw a footprint on the ground, his eyes widened in surprise.

At this time, the platoon leader came over and saw the second squad leader under him, bent over in a daze. Then he patted him on the back and asked, "Hey, second squad leader, what are you in a daze for?"

"Comrade platoon leader," the second squad leader grabbed the platoon leader, pointed to the footprints on the ground and said to him, "Hurry up and look at the footprints on the ground."

"Footprints on the ground?" The platoon leader glanced at the footprints on the ground with the help of the moonlight, and said disapprovingly, "The footprints are so strange, maybe they were left by the friendly troops who came to defend them just now."

"Comrade platoon leader," the second squad leader said anxiously, "If it is really left by the friendly troops who just took over the defense, it will be terrible."

The platoon leader hadn't noticed that there was a problem with the troops receiving the defense until now, and he asked in a daze, "Second squad leader, don't scare me, what's wrong?"

"Comrade platoon leader, hurry up and look at these footprints." After the second squad leader pulled the platoon leader to squat down, he pointed to the footprints and said to him: "The studs on the bottom of our military boots are all round, while the German boots They look the same as our boots, but they have square studs on the sole."

After listening to the words of the second squad leader, the platoon leader quickly lay down on the ground and carefully inspected the shoe prints. The shape of the spikes on them was indeed square. He raised his head and asked the second squad leader with a bloodless face: "Second squad leader, if these shoe prints are really left by the receiving troops, it means that they are disguised by the Germans!"

"That's right, Comrade Platoon Leader." The second squad leader nodded and said, "I think the troops taking over our defense should be disguised by the Germans."

Hearing what the second squad leader said, the platoon leader was even more scared out of his wits. He knew that the mistakes he made were enough to cost him his life, so he said unwillingly: "Second squad leader, tell me, will it be us? Did the Germans leave footprints here before they took the hills?"

"This is impossible, comrade platoon leader." The second squad leader poured cold water on the platoon leader: "After our platoon was stationed in the hill position, I once went to inspect the vicinity, and I didn't find any footprints on this road at all. It should be just left."

What the second squad leader said made the platoon leader even more confused. He grabbed the other party and asked nervously: "Then what should I do?"

"We should find a way to get the position back."

"How?" The platoon leader replied in panic, "We only have forty people, and I think the other party has two hundred people."

"Comrade platoon leader," at this time a soldier ran over from the front of the team, and he reported to the platoon leader: "I found a small army ahead, it should be one of our own. The first squad leader asked me to come and report to you."

The second squad leader was still somewhat uncertain about his own judgment, but now that he heard the soldier's report, he immediately understood in his heart that the small army that came in front should be the real friendly army that came to defend him.

"Second squad leader," the platoon leader asked the second squad leader crying, "what should I do?"

The second squad leader thought for a moment, and then asked the bewildered soldier: "How far is that small army from us?"

"It's about three hundred meters away." The soldier replied, "We'll meet up in five minutes at most."

"Comrade platoon leader," the second squad leader waited for the soldiers to finish speaking, and said to the platoon leader, "Let's go say hello to the small unit on the opposite side and see where they belong."

A few minutes later, the troops withdrawing from the hill met the oncoming troops.

The two sides stopped 20 to 30 meters away, and then a lieutenant officer walked out of the opponent's camp. He shouted at a distance of 5 or 6 meters: "I am the commander of the fifth company of the second battalion of the 21st brigade of the 1st mechanized army. You were ordered to come here to take over the defense, which part do you belong to?"

After listening to the other party's self-report, the platoon leader and the second squad leader hurried out and saluted each other: "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant, we are from the 764th Regiment of the 254th Infantry Division. We are ordered to stick to the hill position behind us."

The lieutenant glanced at the hill behind the two, frowned and asked, "Comrade Second Lieutenant, our company hasn't reached the position yet, why did you withdraw first?"

"Comrade Lieutenant," the platoon leader said with a sad face, "not long ago, a unit arrived at our position and said it was to take over the defense, so I handed over the position to them."

"Nonsense, except for our company, the superior didn't send troops to take over the defense." The lieutenant asked with a straight face, "Tell me truthfully, who did you hand over the position to?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, please listen to my explanation." The second squad leader saw that his platoon leader was in a mess and didn't know how to answer the other party's question, so he hurriedly stepped forward and said to the lieutenant: "I will report the situation to you truthfully."

"Tell me, Comrade Sergeant." The lieutenant slowed down and said reasonably, "What's going on here?"

"Comrade Lieutenant, if my judgment is correct, then a group of Germans disguised as our army pretended to be you and took over our position."

"What, there is a group of Germans disguised as our army, pretending to be us to take over your position?"

"Yes, that's right."

Regarding the statement made by the second squad leader, the lieutenant thought it was too far-fetched: "Then how did you find out? Also, since you found out that they were disguised by the Germans, why did you hand over the position to them?"

"Comrade lieutenant, the situation is like this." The second squad leader continued: "When our platoon was withdrawing from the position, I accidentally saw a footprint on the mountain road. The shoe spikes in the footprint are square."

The lieutenant also knew that the studs of the Soviet military boots were different from those of the German military boots, so he tentatively asked, "You can tell from this that the troops taking over your defense are disguised by the Germans?"

"Yes, Comrade Lieutenant, I judge based on this." In order to make his words more convincing, the second squad leader continued: "We are behind the garrison position. Those footprints, therefore, can only be left by those who took over our defense."

"Comrade Second Lieutenant," the lieutenant waited for the second squad leader to finish speaking, then turned to ask the platoon leader, "What are you going to do next?"

"There are too many enemies, we can't beat them." The platoon leader has already lost his position, not thinking about how to regain the position, but wants to leave this place of right and wrong as soon as possible: "In my opinion, we should retreat."

"What did you say?" The lieutenant drew out his pistol, held the platoon leader's forehead, and said sharply, "Believe it or not, I shot you!"

Seeing his platoon leader with a gun on his forehead, the soldiers in the platoon raised their guns in unison and aimed at the lieutenant. And the lieutenant's subordinates, fearing that their company commander would suffer, also raised their guns.

Seeing that the two sides were on the verge of breaking out, and a fight might break out at any time, the second squad leader quickly turned around and shouted at the soldiers in the platoon: "Put down the gun, put down the gun quickly, don't let your own people fight with your own people."

Seeing the troops on the opposite side, after listening to the words of the second squad leader, they all put down their weapons. The lieutenant also retracted his pistol, and at the same time waved his hand backwards, ordering his subordinates: "Put the gun down."

After both sides put down their weapons, the second squad leader wiped the sweat from his forehead, and then said to the lieutenant: "Comrade lieutenant, I think the position should be taken back as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the Germans gain a firm foothold, this place will become theirs." The starting point of the attack."

"There are more than 200 Germans on the ground now," the lieutenant said, turning his head to look at his own troops, then at the withdrawn friendly troops, and then said: "We only have more than a hundred people in total." , how can you win it back?"

"It should be reported to the superior immediately." The second squad leader suggested to the lieutenant: "Let the superior know the situation here, and they will know how to deal with it."

The lieutenant felt that what the second squad leader said made sense, so he turned around and waved to his subordinates: "Come to me, radio operator!"

Following his shout, a soldier carrying an intercom trotted over.

When the radio operator came to him, the lieutenant told him: "Get in touch with the battalion immediately and tell us that we cannot complete the defense mission."

The radio operator put the radio on the ground, squatted beside him, and called the battalion headquarters with a microphone on his earphones. Soon, he contacted the battalion headquarters and reported the lieutenant's words to the battalion.

After a while, the radio operator looked up and said to the lieutenant: "Comrade company commander, the battalion commander is online and wants to talk to you personally."

The lieutenant quickly took the headset and put it on, and said into the microphone: "Comrade Battalion Commander, it's me!"

"What happened?" The battalion commander asked angrily, "Why can't we complete the defense work?"

"Comrade battalion commander," the lieutenant glanced at the stunned platoon leader, and said into the microphone: "We have not yet reached the designated location, but we encountered friendly troops who had withdrawn from the position."

"What, the friendly troops withdrew before you entered the position?"

"Yes."

"They dared to withdraw without handing over the defense. Aren't they afraid of being punished by military law?"

"Before we arrived, there was a German army pretending to be our army to take over their defense."

"What, what did you say?" The battalion commander was stunned when he heard this, and quickly asked, "Then where are you now?"

"After we merged with our friendly forces, we stayed at the rear of the position and are considering whether we should take back the position."

"That's for sure, Comrade Lieutenant." The battalion commander said: "If you don't take back the position as soon as possible, the enemy may use it as a starting point for attack after dawn."

"But our strength is insufficient." The lieutenant replied: "My company only has more than 80 people, plus more than 40 people from the friendly army, but only 130 people. The Germans have 200 people, and there are still fortifications. It can be relied on, and our strength is simply not enough to regain the position."

"I see." The battalion commander said to the lieutenant: "You stay where you are and monitor the enemy's movements. I will report this matter to the brigade commander immediately to hear what his plans are."

After finishing the call, the battalion commander immediately reported to the brigade commander. After receiving the report, the brigade commander realized the seriousness of the problem, and quickly reported to the army commander Solomatin.

After listening to the brigade commander's report, Solomatin threw the tea cup in his hand on the ground. The teacup fell to the ground and shattered, the tea in it splashed everywhere, even some of Sokov's trousers were splashed.

"Comrade General." Seeing Solomatin's gaffe, Sokov realized that something serious must have happened. He didn't bother to wipe the tea on his trouser legs, so he asked with concern, "What happened?"

"Comrade Commander, something has happened." Solomatin suppressed the anger in his heart, pointed to the outpost that his troops planned to defend, and said to Sokov: "According to the plan, a company of the 21st Brigade will be mechanized. They will take over the defense of the outpost. But before they reached their destination, they encountered troops withdrawn from the position."

"Didn't enter the position, but met the withdrawn troops?" Sokov asked in surprise, "What's going on?"