The target of the 27th Group Army's attack was the Svetlovodsk area northwest of the landing site. More than half a month ago, Sokov had planned to launch an active attack from here. However, before the attack began, he unexpectedly discovered that there was a reconnaissance
By mistake, there were more enemies stationed here than expected, so the attack was temporarily canceled.
Fomenko, the commander of the 84th Division, got angry because of the cancellation of the attack. He called Sokov and Samyko every day and wanted to know when the attack could be launched as planned. But the answer he got every time was the same: Wait.
, when it is your turn to attack, I will naturally give you orders.
After a long wait, the day of attack finally arrived.
Although Sokov arranged for three divisions to participate in the attack in this direction, the leading unit was Major General Fomenko's 84th Infantry Division.
There was still an hour before the artillery preparations before the attack. Fomenko received a call from Sokov: "General Fomenko, has the reconnaissance team been sent out?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Fomenko quickly replied: "They have been sent out."
"Who is leading the team?"
"Second Lieutenant Ivar."
Sokov knew in his heart that the Second Lieutenant Iva Fomenko was talking about was Sergeant Iva, the deputy captain of the last reconnaissance team. He was promoted because he discovered the changes in the German army's strength in time and avoided the troops suffering huge losses.
He is a second lieutenant. He nodded slightly and then asked: "What order did you give him?"
"I ordered him to lead a small team to occupy the 103.9 heights east of the Svetlovodsk District and be responsible for guiding our artillery's artillery direction."
The altitude of 103.9 meters above sea level can only be regarded as a small mound in the mountainous area, but it is a commanding height on the bank of the Dnieper River. This highland Fomenko said can clearly see the entire Svetlovodsk district, where the establishment of
The artillery observation point allows artillery fire from the rear to carry out precise strikes on German positions.
"Very good." Sokov raised his hand and looked at the time. "There are still 58 minutes left before the artillery preparations begin. Are you sure that Second Lieutenant Ivar and the others can capture the 103.9 Hill?"
"Comrade Commander, I don't think the problem is big." Fomenko replied confidently: "According to our reconnaissance, the German defenders on Highland 103.9 only have two squads, with a total number of no more than 25 people. Second Lieutenant Iva led
The reconnaissance team consists of 30 people, all wearing German uniforms. They will go around the high ground and then ascend the high ground from the direction of the German defense zone."
Although the fighting at the landing site on the right bank has never stopped, there has never been a battle in the Svetlovodsk district, located northwest of the landing site. The German troops responsible for the defense there were inevitably slacking off. Second Lieutenant Iva wore makeup.
The reconnaissance team ascended the high ground from the direction of the German defense area, which should not arouse the vigilance of the sentries.
"General Fomenko," Sokov warned Fomenko on the phone, "as soon as Second Lieutenant Iva and the others capture the high ground, they will immediately get in touch with the 1st Artillery Division and the 2nd Artillery Division, and use artillery fire to destroy the German army in Svetlo
Defensive positions in Vodsk district.”
"clear."
…………
Second Lieutenant Ivar led the reconnaissance team in makeup and climbed the 103.9 Hill along the path from the direction close to the German defense area. At this moment, it was just dawn and the German officers and soldiers on the high ground were still sleeping. There was only one sentry carrying a 98K rifle.
Walking back and forth in the trench.
Seeing a small unit walking along the trail towards the high ground, the sentry quickly took off his rifle from his shoulder, faced it with the gun in hand, and asked warily: "Stop, which unit are you from?"
Walking at the front of the team was Ivar, who was wearing the uniform of a German second lieutenant. He said to the sentry: "We are from the ninth company and have been ordered to come to take over your defense."
The German sentry had long known that there would be troops to take over his defense. Seeing the small team led by Ivar at this moment, he did not have the slightest doubt. However, he did not lower his gun and continued to perform his duties and asked: "Second Lieutenant
Sir, your ID."
"Oh, my ID." When Ivar said this, he winked at a soldier beside him, then pretended to take out the ID in his pocket and walked towards the sentry: "Yes, I should show it to you.
My ID."
Fortunately, Ivar often performed this kind of reconnaissance mission disguised as the German army, and he had already prepared his ID. He came to the sentry, took out his ID from his pocket and handed it to the sentry.
In order to better check the ID, the sentry put the rifle back on his shoulder, and then took the ID from Ivar's hand. Just when he lowered his head to look at the ID, the soldier who had received Ivar's hint had already arrived quickly.
Behind the sentry, he covered his mouth with his hand, quickly touched his neck with the prepared dagger, then released his hand and took a step back.
The sentry whose throat was cut covered the wound with his hand, trying to stop his blood from flowing out. But it turned out that his efforts were in vain. After a moment, he fell softly to the ground, with blood flowing out from the wound.
The ground beneath him was dyed red.
"What's going on?!" Ivar stared at the soldier who killed the sentry and whispered in an unhappy voice: "Didn't I tell you many times that after covering the enemy's mouth, he stabbed him directly in the lungs with a dagger?
The blood that flows out will quickly flood his alveoli, preventing him from making any screams. Moreover, in this way, not much blood will flow out, the smell of blood is not strong, and it will not be easily detected by nearby enemies. Just look at it and you will do it.
What happened? Such a big pool of blood, you can smell the strong smell of blood from a distance of ten or twenty meters."
Before the soldier could admit his mistake, Ivar waved his hand to him and said, "Okay, if you have anything to say, we'll wait until the battle is over. Now go kill those enemies who are still sleeping. Remember, try to use cold weapons.
To deal with them, don't shoot if you can, so as not to expose the target."
After hearing Ivar's order, the soldiers behind him rushed into the trench with a roar, looking for the shelter where the German troops lived, and prepared to kill the sleeping German troops inside.
The operation went smoothly at first. The soldiers used the daggers in their hands to send the sleeping German soldiers back to their hometowns. However, no one noticed that their actions were interrupted by a man who was taking advantage of the grass.
The German soldiers saw it. The German soldiers were shocked when they saw a group of people wearing German uniforms coming out of the shelter with blood stains on the daggers in their hands. Especially when these people got together, they
What he said was a language he didn't understand.
The German soldier immediately understood that the high ground had been attacked by Russians disguised as his own people. He used the cover of weeds to quietly crawl down the mountain, hoping to report the news that the high ground was occupied by the Russians to his superiors as soon as possible.
Besides, after the Soviet soldiers who occupied the high ground eliminated the enemies in the shelters, they all came to report to Ivar that all the enemies on the high ground had been eliminated.
As a senior scout, Second Lieutenant Ivar was very vigilant. After the soldiers finished reporting, he asked: "Have you counted the number of people? How many people are there?"
A soldier in charge of counting the number of people quickly reported: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I have counted carefully, there are 24 people in total."
"That's not right!" After hearing the soldiers' report, Ivar had an ominous premonition in his heart: "According to our prior reconnaissance, there were 25 enemies on the high ground. Why are there only 24 now, and one has arrived?
Where did you go?"
The soldier who had just killed the sentry heard what Ivar said and said disapprovingly: "Maybe he had a health problem and went to the hospital in the rear to see a doctor. Or maybe he went back to deliver a message last night and didn't come back overnight."
"Nonsense." As soon as the soldier finished speaking, Ivar retorted: "Is this your first day as a soldier? Don't you know that even if there is a sick case, you have to wait until the garrison withdraws before you can take the sick case with you?
Shall we return to the hospital together? Also, there is a telephone line leading to the rear on the high ground. Is there anything that cannot be contacted by phone instead of sending someone back to deliver a letter? "
Ivar's analysis made the soldier look shocked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, do you think an enemy has been missed?"
"That's right, maybe he is hiding somewhere in the highlands right now." Ivar told the other party: "Organize manpower to search immediately and be sure to find him."
While the soldiers were searching on the high ground, Ivar called the radio operator and artillery observer to him. He first told the radio operator: "Comrade radio operator, contact the division headquarters immediately and say that we have successfully occupied the area.
Highlands.”
Later, he said to the artillery observer: "Comrade observer, please measure the distance immediately, and then report the shooting parameters to the artillery unit."
The area of Highland 103.9 is not large. In less than ten minutes, the soldiers completed the entire search and returned to Second Lieutenant Iva.
"What, no trace of the enemy was found?" After listening to the report, Ivar asked in surprise: "Then where will he hide?"
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," a gray-haired veteran reported to Ivar: "I saw a pile of fresh excrement in the grass outside the position, and the weeds leading to the foot of the mountain showed signs of being suppressed. I guess we
When the enemies on the high ground were being eliminated, the German soldier who slipped through the net was taking a walk in the grass. Seeing that the situation was not good, he quietly climbed down the mountain."
Ivar believed in the veteran's judgment. He nodded and said, "You are right. The missing German soldier must have discovered our whereabouts and sneaked down the mountain."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant, what should we do?" the veteran asked, "Should we prepare for battle?"
"You are right, comrade veteran." Ivar put a hand on the veteran's shoulder and said to him: "It won't be long before the Germans will send troops to retake the high ground. We must do this in advance.
Ready for battle."
Knowing that the Germans might launch an attack on the highlands, the soldiers immediately took action and began to prepare for battle. The veterans set up a captured MG42 general-purpose machine gun and aimed at the path leading to the highlands. They waited for the Germans to appear and immediately
Shoot and shoot.
Iva raised his hand and looked at his watch. There were still nearly forty minutes left before the artillery preparations before the battle. He began to consider whether he should tell General Fomenko that his whereabouts might have been discovered by the Germans. In order to ensure that he could be more
In order to effectively eliminate the enemy, can the bombardment time be advanced?
Although he knew that he was only a second lieutenant, it would be impossible to change a general's decision-making. But in order to ensure victory, he could only take a risk. He called the radio operator to him and said to him
: "Comrade radio operator, pick up the division commander for me immediately. I have important information to report to him."
The radio operator quickly contacted the division headquarters, but the person who answered the phone was not Fomenko, but political commissar Colonel Manokhin: "Second Lieutenant Iva, this is Manokhin. The division commander is busy giving combat orders to the troops.
I don’t have time to answer your call. If you have anything, you can tell me.”
"Comrade Political Commissar," although the person who answered the phone was not Fomenko, Iva didn't care at all, because he knew that Manokhin would truthfully convey what he said to Commander Fomenko: "There was an accident.
"
"What accident?" Manoxin's heart skipped a beat when he heard what Iva said, and then he asked warily: "Have you been discovered by the enemy?"
"Comrade Political Commissar, I'm not sure, I'm just saying it's possible." Iva explained to Manoxin: "After we captured the enemy's high ground, we only found 24 corpses, which was one less than the number of people we knew in advance.
."
When he learned that there was only one missing body, Manoxin's heart in his throat returned to his stomach. He said disapprovingly: "Maybe someone has been transferred away in the past two days. Comrade Second Lieutenant, don't worry about this."
Such a useless trivial waste of time. To put it bluntly, even if the Germans know that we have occupied the high ground, before they can mobilize their troops to attack the high ground, our artillery preparations will begin, leaving them trembling in the artillery fire..."
Although Manokhin didn't care about this matter, it didn't mean that others didn't care about it either. Fomenko, who had just finished making a phone call, learned that there was a German corpse missing on the high ground he had just occupied, and he quickly snatched it away.
The microphone asked Ivar: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, have you confirmed that the number of German corpses is one less than the actual number?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, I am absolutely sure." Iva replied in a positive tone: "I not only sent people to search the position, but also repeatedly checked the number of corpses. There is indeed one missing. And I
One of his veterans found fresh feces in the grass near the position, as well as traces of someone crawling towards the foot of the mountain..."
Having said this, it would be too idealistic to say that Second Lieutenant Iva and the others are neurotic. After thinking for a while, Fomenko asked: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, what do you think?"
"I think artillery preparations should be made in advance." Although Iva had thought about asking Fomenko to prepare artillery fires in advance before contacting the division headquarters, when he actually said this, he was still very hesitant, fearing that he would be attacked.
Fomenko's refusal: "This will give the Germans a heavy blow before they can react."
When Fomenko learned that the capture of the high ground might be noticed by the Germans, he really wanted to carry out artillery bombardment in advance. However, since the artillery preparation time was set by his superiors, he did not dare to make any independent decisions. He could only say into the microphone
: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, I understand. I will report to the Army Headquarters immediately and ask my superiors to advance the time of the artillery bombardment." He also reminded Ivar, "When our army's artillery bombardment begins, you must pay attention to concealment to avoid being attacked by me.
The army's artillery fire accidentally injured."
"Don't worry, comrade division commander." Although Fomenko did not give Iva a definite answer, Iva knew in his heart that after listening to his report, the other party had plans to prepare artillery fire in advance. As long as Sokov nodded.
, the overwhelming shells will pass over your head and land at the location where the shooting parameters have been marked: "When the shelling starts, we will be well hidden."
This chapter has been completed!