Sokov was worried that the two escaped spies would set fire to indicate the targets for the German bombers, and he also gave Samoilov a special order to let the patrols take more precautions.
But it is regrettable that the patrol team that received Sokov's order felt like a dog biting a hedgehog. Although Kremenchug is not a big city, the city still has a lot of area, and there are
With nearly 100,000 residents, it is a hellishly difficult task to find spies who have slipped through the net and prevent them from setting fire to the city.
Many patrol captains complained to Samoilov: "Comrade Lieutenant, the city is so big and our manpower is limited. If a spy who slips through the net wants to set fire to the city, there is nothing we can do."
After Samoylov's eyes swept across everyone, he found that his deputy, Lieutenant Serelkov, remained silent, lowered his head and remained silent, so he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Serelkov, why don't you speak?"
Serelkov looked up at Samoilov and said slowly: "Comrade company commander, tell me, if the German army wants to bomb the city, which target do they want to bomb the most?"
"It goes without saying." As soon as Serelkov finished speaking, another of Samoilov's deputies, Lieutenant Sapochuk, the company commander from the 98th Guards Division, said first: "The enemy wants to bomb the most.
The target must be the group army headquarters. As long as the headquarters can be destroyed by bombing, our troops will fall into chaos due to the loss of unified command..."
When Sapochuk said this, he suddenly stopped, with a shocked expression on his face. He looked at Samoylov and asked tentatively: "Comrade company commander, the enemy does not really want to bomb the group army headquarters.
Bar?"
"It is possible." Samoylov carefully considered this issue on his way back from the headquarters and felt that if the enemy carried out night bombing again, the first choice target would definitely be the group army headquarters. Just as Sapochuk said
, which significantly destroyed the group army headquarters, then the troops deployed on both sides of the Dnieper River fell into chaos because they lost their unified command. If the Germans launched a fierce attack at this time, they might be able to knock out all the defenders of the landing field on the right bank.
Rush into the Dnieper River.
"Comrade Company Commander," Sapochuk asked nervously, "How should we prevent spies from setting fires?"
"Come and see," Samoilov spread a city defense map on the table and said to everyone sitting at the table: "I just heard the commander say in the headquarters that if the enemy wants to attack at night,
If the plane guides the bombing target, it can only light three fires and let the enemy planes bomb the triangular area formed by the fires."
Serelkov is a smart man. When Samoylov said this, he immediately guessed his intention. His eyes suddenly lit up and he continued: "Comrade company commander, you mean that we should center on the group army headquarters.
Find out where the spies might have set fire to?"
"Yes, that's what it means." Samoilov scratched the back of his head and said with an embarrassed look: "Even if we focus on the triangle area centered on the headquarters, with only the two hundred or so we have,
No. 1, it is still very difficult to completely prevent the enemy from arson."
Sapochuk stared at the map for a while, then pointed to a location and said: "This is a bookstore. If a spy wants to set a fire, this is undoubtedly the best place. I suggest deploying one or two patrols here.
Team to prevent spies from entering the bookstore and setting fire to it."
"Okay." After Samoylov readily agreed to Sapochuk's suggestion, he looked at Serelkov and the other patrol captains and said, "Where else do you think the spies may set the fire? You might as well
Say it all."
As soon as Samoylov finished speaking, the patrol captains expressed their opinions one after another:
"This is a school. The school library is also a place prone to fires."
"And here, there are several clothing stores on this street. If the spies want to set fire to them, this is also the best place."
"..."
The patrol leaders were all very familiar with the areas they were responsible for. Following Sapochuk's prompting, they immediately named a dozen locations that were easily set on fire by spies.
At the beginning, Samoilov still chose to place one or two patrols at each point, depending on whether it was important, but he soon found that he had no one available.
Just when he was in trouble, he suddenly heard Serelkov ask: "Comrade company commander, do you feel a headache because you have no soldiers to use?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Serelkov." Samoilov did not hide anything and said truthfully: "If we want to deploy defenses in all areas, we will need at least double the manpower."
"Comrade Company Commander, don't worry." Serelkov waited for Samoilov to finish speaking and then said with a smile: "Don't forget, there is still an elite unit in the headquarters that has not been used. If we can get it
There must be no problem with their help in dealing with two spies who slipped through the net."
"There is still an elite unit in the headquarters?" The confusion on Samoylov's face only stayed for a few seconds before he thought of what unit Serelkov was talking about: "Lieutenant Serelkov, you are talking about the second lieutenant.
Training company and junior commander instruction company?”
"Yes, it's them." Serelkov said: "There are 270 people in these two companies. If we get their help, we can completely prevent the spies from setting fire to the city."
"Okay." Samoylov felt that what Serelkov said made sense, so he nodded in agreement: "I immediately called Comrade Chief of Staff and asked him to send these two companies to us."
When Samoylov received a call from Samoilov, asking to borrow the second lieutenant training company and the junior commander training company, he seemed a little hesitant. Originally, Sokov proposed to assign these commanders and fighters to basic companies to serve as
When he was the company platoon leader, he was one of the opponents. Now that these commanders and fighters are used as patrols, he feels it is a waste.
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov, who was talking to Managarov, saw Samyko answering a phone call and held the phone in a daze, thinking that something big had happened, so he quickly asked: "Excuse me
What happened?"
Samyko said: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Samoilov would like to second the second lieutenant training company and the junior commander training company."
"What are you borrowing for?"
"In order to prevent German spies from setting fires in the city, they have set up defenses in more than a dozen places." Sameko explained: "Now we are short of manpower, so we plan to borrow these two companies."
"If he wants to use it, just lend it to him." After hearing this, Sokov said carelessly: "Anyway, the commanders and fighters of these two companies have nothing to do in the headquarters every day."
"But, let these future commanders serve as patrol members." Sameko said hesitantly: "Isn't it a bit overqualified?"
"Let them go exercise." Sokov felt that it was a waste for these commanders and fighters who should have been baptized by war to stay in the headquarters all day doing nothing. Now that they finally have an opportunity to exercise, how can they be willing to do so easily?
He gave up and ordered Samyko: "Let them rush to report to Lieutenant Samoilov immediately."
Now that Sokov has made his position clear, Samyko could no longer object and could only say into the microphone: "Lieutenant Samoilov, comrade commander has agreed. The second lieutenant training company and the junior commander training company will be in
I will rush to report to you as soon as possible."
After dark, the German bomber group was dispatched again to bomb Kremenchug.
The reason why the Germans chose to attack at night was because the Soviets had already gained air superiority over the battlefield. If they bombed Kremenchug during the day, they would probably be attacked by Soviet fighter planes that had been waiting for a long time as soon as they entered the sky above the city. And in
During the night bombing, the Soviet fighter planes were unable to attack in time, and the city lacked necessary air defense measures, so they could only be passively bombed.
Guchakov heard the roar of aircraft engines in the sky. Although the night was too dark to see anything, he knew in his heart that the Germans were preparing to bomb the city again, and he quickly called to warn.
When Samyko received the call from Guchakov, his expression changed drastically, and he quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, Major Guchakov reported that a large number of German aircraft were flying over his defense area.
Flying over, they must be preparing to bomb the city."
Upon learning that the enemy plane was attacking, Sokov immediately issued two orders to Samyko: "Chief of Staff, record my order: First, the air defense troops deployed along the Dnieper River should conduct anti-aircraft shooting to disrupt the German bombers.
formation; second, issue an air raid warning and implement light control on the city so that the enemy cannot detect targets on the ground."
The anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns deployed along the Dnieper River were originally to protect the bridges on the river, so commanders and fighters were always on combat readiness duty. After receiving Samyko's order, they quickly made combat preparations and waited for the enemy planes to arrive.
Once you enter the air defense zone, fire decisively.
Since there is no searchlight guidance, it is very difficult to hit enemy aircraft flying at high altitudes in the dark. However, the high-explosive bombs exploding in the air still disrupted the German bomber formation. In order to avoid being shot down
, the German bombers had to disrupt their formation and dodge anti-aircraft fire from the ground.
Although the anti-aircraft fire on the ground did not shoot down any enemy aircraft and caused almost negligible damage to the enemy aircraft, it successfully disrupted the formation of the German bomber formation. It was possible to carry out the city attack in a few minutes.
The bombers overhead had to regroup in areas without anti-aircraft fire.
As for the light control in the city, it is even simpler. Although the city has been liberated for some time, the power supply has never been restored due to various reasons. Residents in the city can only light candles at night.
When the air raid siren sounded, the experienced residents blew out the candles in their homes, took small bags with food and water, and entered the nearest air raid shelter in an orderly manner to avoid the air raid.
Samoilov, who was patrolling the streets with his men, couldn't help laughing when he saw the residents entering the underground air-raid shelters one after another. When the soldiers on the side saw it, they couldn't help but curiously asked: "Comrade company commander, why are you laughing?"
Samoilov pointed at the residents who were filing into the air-raid shelters and said: "A few days ago, the residents entered the air-raid shelters to avoid air raids by our army; but now, they enter the air-raid shelters to avoid the German air raids."
Human air strikes.”
At this time, Serelkov spoke: "Comrade company commander, the enemy plane will soon arrive over the city. I don't know what happened, and I feel panicky."
Hearing what Serelkov said, Samoilov not only did not laugh at him, but also echoed: "That's right, Lieutenant Serelkov, I don't feel at ease either. Even though he looks fine now,
Maybe the next minute, fire will rise somewhere in the city, and then enemy planes will be able to bomb the targets directed to them by the spies without restraint."
"After all, our manpower is still too small." Serelkov said: "Although we have deployed defenses at more than ten or twenty points, if the spies are aware of it, they will choose new places."
"Yes, this is also what I am worried about." Samoilov continued: "Unless I have another battalion in my hands, it is simply impossible to monitor all places where things may happen."
The two were talking when they suddenly saw a red light in the distance, and then flames with black smoke rose up. Seeing this, Samoylov's heartbeat suddenly reached 120 beats per minute, and he was nervous.
The ground asked: "Lieutenant Serelkov, where is the fire in front?"
Serelkov often led patrols in the city and was very familiar with various places. He only looked at it for a moment, then frowned and replied: "Looking at the position of the fire, there should be a public bathroom there."
"Public bathroom?" Samoylov asked in surprise: "How could the bathroom catch fire?"
"It's very simple. The cabinets in the locker room are all made of wood. If you light one spot, it will burst into flames."
"How long does it take for the nearest patrol to arrive?"
"The nearest patrol is about two hundred meters away." Serelkov replied: "If the patrol leader responds in time, he should be able to reach the fire scene within five minutes."
"Five minutes?!" Samoilov shook his head and said, "It's too late. I'm afraid the German planes will enter the sky over the city before we can wait five minutes."
"Comrade company commander, don't worry." Serelkov comforted him and said: "Because we have deployed control at many suspected locations, the spies cannot set fires there, and have to move the arson sites to more outer areas. In this way, the spies cannot set fires there.
, when they want to light the second or third ignition, it will take longer."
But as soon as he finished speaking, another fire started on the other side. It seemed that the two spies who slipped through the net acted separately, so that two fires could be ignited within a short period of time. Although the spies lit the third one
It would take some time for the fire to start, but Samoilov couldn't keep calm. He found a phone in a nearby barracks and prepared to call Sokov directly to warn him.
As soon as the first fire started to rise, Sokov got the report. He came to the bell tower alone and was about to raise his telescope to observe the fire situation, when he found that another fire also started to appear. Sokov saw
The time between the two fire locations was short, and I immediately realized that the spies might want to point their location to German bombers.
Thinking of this, he ignored the observation of the situation and hurriedly went down from the bell tower. As soon as he arrived in the hall, Samyko came up to him and reported: "Comrade Commander, Lieutenant Samoilov called not long ago, saying that the enemy has
It may ignite three fires and guide the German bomber groups that are about to overrun the city."
"Send the order." Sokov knew that once the headquarters became a German bombing target, staying here would be equivalent to death, so he decisively issued the order: "Everyone should move to a safe location immediately and wait until the bombing by enemy planes ends."
return."
Sokov's order was issued in time. When the commanders and fighters in the church gradually withdrew, the spies had already ignited the third fire scene, clearly indicating the location of Sokov's headquarters to the German bombers.
This chapter has been completed!