Red Moscow

After receiving the telegram from Rusuf, Fomenko was taken aback for a moment, and then an expression of ecstasy appeared on his face. He quickly came to Sokov with a telegram, and reported to him excitedly: "Comrade Commander, good news, good news! The Rusuf Regiment has successfully captured Jingji Town."

"What, the Rusuf regiment has captured Jingji Town?" Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch, and found that it was only an hour and a half since he gave Rusuf the attack order. In such a short period of time, he succeeded. It is really surprising that the town of Jingji, which was occupied by the German army, was captured so easily.

He snatched the telegram from Fomenko's hand and began to scan it carefully. After confirming that it was correct, he waved his fist vigorously and said excitedly: "It's really great. It's a miracle that the Rusuf Regiment can take down Jingji Town in such a short period of time."

When handing the telegram back to Fomenko, he also specially told the other party: "General Fomenko, please tell Colonel Rusov to immediately deploy defenses inside and outside the town to prevent possible counterattacks by the Germans."

"Understood." Fomenko knew the importance of Jingji Town. Now that it is under the control of his own troops, he would not let the Germans take it away. He waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately said: "I will immediately Send a telegram back to Colonel Rusuf and tell him to take the time to do defensive work."

When Fomenko asked the telegrapher to send a telegram to Rusuf, Rusuf was discussing the deployment of defenses with the two battalion commanders in Jingji Town: "...It is estimated that the Germans will attack Jingji Town in a big way at dawn. We should use this limited time to build fortifications inside and outside the town to resist the ferocious German offensive."

As soon as Rusuf finished speaking, the battalion commander went on to say: "Comrade commander, I don't think we can carry out passive defense. We should take some actions to disrupt the German offensive steps and take the initiative on the battlefield in our hands." in the hands of the army."

As soon as Ru Sufu heard that the first battalion commander had his own ideas, he raised his chin at him and said, "First battalion commander, if you have any good ideas, you might as well tell them."

"According to the information we have, the Germans have set up artillery positions nearby." The first battalion commander said, "I'm afraid they will start shelling Jingji Town at dawn, which will cause a lot of damage to our troops. I think it is better to send out a small force to destroy the German artillery positions than to stay here and passively defend.”

Hearing what the first battalion commander said, Rusuf stared at him for a long time, and then said: "First battalion commander, the German artillery position has always been a key defensive area. How many troops do you think we need to send to destroy it?"

Ru Sufu's implication is that sending too many troops will definitely affect the defense of Jingji Town. And if too few troops are sent, it will have no effect at all.

Unexpectedly, after listening to the first battalion commander, he smiled slightly, and then said: "Comrade commander, I think it is enough to send one platoon."

"What, a platoon?" The second battalion commander heard this, and immediately exclaimed: "I said, first battalion commander, you send a platoon to attack the German artillery positions. Isn't this letting them go to death? With this little force , it was impossible to break through the cordon of the German infantry, let alone approach the enemy's artillery."

"Second battalion commander, who said I'm going to send this platoon to attack the enemy's artillery position?" The first battalion commander smiled slyly at the second battalion commander, and then said: "Did you forget that we still have a long-range weapon that can also attack the enemy's artillery positions?" Threat to German artillery positions."

"Long-range weapons?!" The second battalion commander frowned and repeated the first battalion commander's words, and suddenly a shocked expression appeared on his face: "First battalion commander, do you plan to use new rockets to attack the German artillery positions?"

"Yes, that's what I thought about it."

"But," the second battalion commander glanced at Ru Sufu, and asked cautiously, "Didn't the superior tell us to hand in all the new rockets? Where do you still have them?"

"To tell you the truth," the first battalion commander said quite proudly: "When the superior asked us to hand in all the rockets, my third company commander set up an ambush and secretly hid three rockets. I believe three rockets should be enough to destroy the German artillery positions."

Hearing that the commander of the first battalion secretly hid three rockets, the commander of the second battalion looked at Rusuf again, and said with some concern, "First battalion commander, if you do this, aren't you afraid that your superiors will hold you accountable if they find out?"

"It's okay." Without waiting for the first battalion commander to speak, Rusuf said: "The first battalion commander did the right thing. Keeping such a powerful weapon in private will be very useful for us to attack the enemy in the future. If the superior knows this If you want to investigate the matter, as your team leader, I will take the initiative to bear all the responsibilities."

Seeing that Ru Sufu took the initiative to express his willingness to bear all the consequences caused by this matter, the two battalion commanders couldn't help secretly heaving a sigh of relief.

After a short pause, the first battalion commander asked Rusuf for instructions: "Comrade commander, can I leave? I want to return to the battalion immediately to arrange the attack on the enemy's artillery position."

"Comrade No. 1 Battalion Commander, I think this matter is related to the safety of the whole regiment. If someone else goes there, I don't feel at ease." Rusuf said to the No. 1 Battalion Commander, "I think you should lead the team yourself."

"Comrade commander, I'm afraid it won't work." Hearing this, the second battalion commander couldn't help interjecting, "This matter is too dangerous. If something happens to the first battalion commander, then the first battalion will lose its unified command..."

Rusuf ignored what the Second Battalion Commander said, but said to the First Battalion Commander: "First Battalion Commander, you immediately hand over the command to your deputy, and then you set off with the squad to destroy the German artillery positions." .”

The first battalion commander is a commander with more than 20 years of military experience. Obedience to the orders of his superiors has already been deeply rooted in his bones. Even if the enemy's firepower charged, he would not frown. After all, he had personally seen the scene of a divisional commander leading soldiers to charge, so he simply replied, "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will return to the battalion immediately and hand over the command to the deputy battalion commander."

Before the battalion commander left, Fomenko's telegram arrived.

After reading the telegram, Rusuf said to the two men: "Comrade battalion commanders, the division commander said in the telegram that we should hurry up to repair the fortifications and prepare for the German attack. Now, both of you return to your respective battalions. Here, arrange for the construction of fortifications."

The first battalion commander returned to the battalion, called the deputy battalion commander in front of him, and said to him: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, the division has just received the latest order, let us hurry up to repair the fortifications and prepare for the enemy's attack." Prepare. I will give you full responsibility for this matter, and when I am away, the entire battalion will be under your command."

The deputy battalion commander heard something wrong from the battalion commander's words, so he tentatively asked: "Comrade battalion commander, I will command the troops, so what are you doing?"

"It's like this. The regiment commander gave me an order to lead a small force to attack the enemy's artillery positions." The first battalion commander explained to the deputy battalion commander: "I don't know how long I have to leave, anyway, I will During your absence, the entire battalion will be under your command."

"What, the regiment commander asked you to take a small unit to sneak attack on the German artillery positions?" The deputy battalion commander was taken aback by the words of the first battalion commander, and he said nervously: "Comrade battalion commander, this is really too dangerous. Otherwise, You stay in command of the troops, and I will take the squad to attack the enemy's artillery positions?"

"No, no." Although he knew that the deputy battalion commander was worried about his own safety, he offered to take charge of this dangerous task, but the first battalion commander waved his hand and refused: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, you should feel at ease here to command the troops." , Let me do the attack on the enemy artillery positions."

Seeing that the battalion commander's attitude was so firm, the deputy battalion commander knew that no matter how much he tried to persuade him, it would have no effect, so he could only step forward and hold the opponent's hand, and said sincerely: "Comrade battalion commander, please come back alive!"

"Don't worry, Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander." The first battalion commander said with a smile, "I will definitely come back alive."

In this way, a battalion commander led a platoon of soldiers, carrying their only three rockets, and moved towards the direction of the German artillery positions.

Since the German commander learned that Jingji Town was occupied by the Soviet army again, and planned to use shelling to destroy this troop that caused him headaches, he gave the artillery an order to fire. When a battalion commander led the soldiers to touch the artillery position, the German artillery was preparing for the shelling, and the entire position was brightly lit.

When a battalion commander led his troops to 800 meters away from the artillery position, in order to prevent being discovered by the German security forces, he ordered his subordinates to stop advancing. He found a position with a wide view, raised the binoculars and looked forward, and saw a busy scene on the German artillery position, which seemed to be preparing for the shelling.

After observing for a while, the first battalion commander found that the soldiers had fixed the launch tube with a tripod and adjusted the direction of launch, so he decisively issued a launch order.

As the three rockets left the launch tube and flew towards the German artillery position, the first battalion commander's heart rose to his throat. These are the only three rockets he has. If they miss, all plans will be lost. It's all gone.

When the rocket flew to the artillery position, the German artillery on the position was adjusting the firing angle of the artillery, and the ammunition hands were carrying the shells. When the rocket popped up overhead, they all stopped what they were doing and stared in amazement at the three balls of fire flying towards them.

The rocket landed in the middle of the German artillery position, and one of them hit the ammunition piled up by the German army impartially, causing the shell to explode immediately. In an instant, the artillery position of the German army turned into an erupting volcano, the sound of the explosion was loud, and there were dazzling flames and thick gunpowder smoke everywhere. Countless cannon parts and soldiers' limbs were thrown high into the air by the explosion.

Seeing the scene on the German artillery position, the first battalion commander couldn't help showing a smug smile on his face. He was worried that the German security forces would search for them soon, so he quickly ordered the soldiers to put away the launch tubes and immediately retreat to Jingji Town.

It was already dawn when they returned to the town.

As for the explosion sound from a distance, Ru Sufu already knew that the first battalion commander had successfully completed the task, so he personally greeted him outside the town. Seeing the first battalion commander and others coming in a hurry, he hurriedly went forward to shake hands with him, and said appreciatively: "Good job, first battalion commander! You have killed the enemy's artillery positions and relieved them of Jingji Town and the river. This is a great achievement, and I will definitely ask for credit for you."

Hearing what Rusuf said, the commander of the first battalion blushed slightly, and said with a simple and honest smile: "Comrade commander, look at what you said, if the enemy's artillery positions are not wiped out, once they fire at the town, they will Inflicted considerable casualties on my troops."

On the way to the command post of the regiment, Rusuf learned in detail about the process of destroying the German artillery positions and the casualties caused to the enemy artillery from the first battalion commander. When he learned that the enemy's artillery positions had basically been destroyed, a knowing smile appeared on his face.

As soon as he returned to the regiment command post, he told the radio operator: "Radio operator, connect me to the division headquarters immediately. I will report what happened here to the division commander in time."

In contact with the division headquarters this time, Rusuf did not send a telegram, but reported to Fomenko by radio what happened here. He finally said: "Comrade Commander, the German artillery positions have been destroyed by us. I believe that in a short period of time, they will no longer be able to block the Dnieper River with artillery fire. In this way, our friendly forces can quickly complete the river crossing."

Hearing that the small troops sent by Rusuf used rockets to destroy the German artillery positions, Fomenko couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Colonel, when we bombarded the town of Ratesve, didn't we order the regiments to use the new rockets in their hands?" Did you hand in all the bombs? Where did you get them?"

Rusuf hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "Comrade commander, when we handed in three rockets, we missed three. Due to my negligence, I didn't find this mistake. They were all going to attack the German artillery positions." The comrades of the first battalion discovered that they still had three rockets in their hands..."

Such a far-fetched reason can only be used to deceive a three-year-old child, how can it deceive Fomenko. Just when he was about to get angry, Sokov walked up to him and said softly: "General Fomenko, the victor should not be blamed. Although the Rusov regiment concealed three rockets But these rockets played a great role in destroying the German artillery positions. Therefore, they should not only not be criticized, but on the contrary, they should be commended."

Now that Sokov has set the tone, it would be too inappropriate if Fomenko insisted on criticizing the Rusuv regiment for concealing rockets. He could only go along with the situation and say: "Comrade Colonel, the commander just said that the victor should not be blamed. Since these three hidden rockets played a great role in destroying the German artillery positions, the commanders and fighters who hid the rockets will not only not be punished; on the contrary, they will also receive corresponding honor."

When Rusuf made this phone call, he was actually quite disturbed. Hearing what Fomenko said, the boulder in his heart finally fell to the ground. He said repeatedly: "Thank you, thank you, Comrade Commander! I represent the First Battalion. Commanders and fighters, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to you.”

"Comrade Colonel, there is no need to say thank you." Fomenko interrupted the other party and said with a serious expression: "Since Jingji Town is in your hands, then try to hold it and hold on until the 7th Guards Army The troops have arrived. How about it, are you confident?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Rusuf replied confidently, "We will definitely persist until the friendly troops arrive."