Although the troops of the 15th Guards Division could not reach Chigilin yet, since there were troops of the 84th Division responsible for defense work in the city, Gritsenko immediately ordered the troops in the city to attack after receiving Sokov's order.
The two regiments withdrew from the city in an orderly manner. At the same time, he also ordered the regiment that remained outside the city to wait for the main force to complete its retreat before starting to retreat.
The troops of the 384th Division began to retreat, but the Russov Regiment standing firm in Jinji Town was still fighting fiercely with the German troops attacking the town. Although a section of the German army broke through the defense and rushed into the town, they did not wait until they could reach the church in the center of the town.
Nearby, the commanders and fighters were driven out of the town by the counterattack.
After the German army withdrew from the town, the Soviet commanders and soldiers were repairing the fortifications when they suddenly saw more than a dozen mortars set up on the German position in the distance. They thought that the German army was going to shell the town again, so they quickly found a place to hide to avoid the German army.
shelling.
As soon as they were concealed, the German mortars opened fire. The concealed Soviet commanders and fighters soon discovered that the Germans were not launching lethal high-explosive bombs, but propaganda bombs. Propaganda bombs were placed at defensive positions inside and outside the town.
It exploded in the sky, and the leaflets contained inside fell down like snowflakes.
After the leaflets landed, many soldiers stepped forward to pick them up and found that what was written on them was the German army's persuasion to surrender to the Soviet army. At the end of the leaflets, it was also said that as long as you took these leaflets and surrendered to the Germans, you would get preferential treatment.
After reading the contents of the flyers, some soldiers sneered and threw them away; some soldiers not only did not throw away the flyers, but bent down to pick up more flyers and put them into their pockets. Standing nearby
When the standing commander saw this situation, not only did he not stop it, but he smiled all over his face. He even bent down to pick up two pieces and put them into his pocket.
If it were other troops, the commander would usually shout loudly when he saw his men picking up leaflets dropped by the Germans. But in Sokov's army, they were very relaxed about this kind of thing. Because Sokov was very worried.
Clearly, the fact that commanders and soldiers picked up leaflets on the battlefield did not mean they intended to surrender to the Germans. They usually used these leaflets to roll cigarettes or even use them as toilet paper.
Regiment commander Rusuf received a telegram from the division headquarters, asking him to prepare to hand over defense to friendly forces. He did not dare to neglect, and after telling the regiment chief of staff to be responsible for all matters in the command post, he took two guards with him
, went to the town to inspect, and at the same time prepared each battalion to prepare for the handover of defense.
Not far away, Rusuf saw corpses lying on the street, including his own men and Germans. Not long ago, a desperate hand-to-hand battle took place here. In the end, the soldiers drove away the enemies who rushed into the town.
Got out.
Looking at all this, Rusuf couldn't help but repeat to himself: "Hold it! We finally held the town! We just wait for the friendly forces to arrive and hand over the defense to them..."
After walking a little further, Rusuf saw soldiers cleaning up the battlefield not far ahead. They separated the bodies of their fallen comrades and German officers and soldiers and placed them neatly on both sides of the road.
Rusuf stopped and stared at the busy soldiers, thinking to himself: "I really didn't expect that the German troops attacking the town were so powerful. I thought that my troops were equipped with assault rifles, new rockets and rocket launchers, and they had to block it.
The enemy's attack is not difficult at all. But after the battle started, the enemy still stubbornly broke through his defenses. Fortunately, friendly forces will soon take over his defenses. Otherwise, if he continues to fight, it will be difficult to defend the town.
It’s an unknown quantity.”
"Comrade Commander," a lieutenant walked up to Rusuf, straightened his body and reported to him: "The commander of the ninth company is reporting to you that we are cleaning up the corpses of both the enemy and ourselves. Do you have any instructions?"
It turned out that Rusuf had been standing here in a daze for too long. He was seen by the commander of the ninth company who was leading the soldiers to clean the battlefield. He felt that he needed to report his work to the commander.
"Take a break!" Rusuf asked the ninth company commander: "How long have you been working here?"
"About seven or eight minutes, Comrade Commander." The ninth company commander reported respectfully: "We followed the battalion commander's order to collect the bodies of both sides and bury them properly."
After hearing this, Rusuf nodded and said: "Comrade Lieutenant, hurry up, we will evacuate here soon."
Hearing what Rusuf said, the Ninth Company Commander couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, are we going to give up here?"
"We are not giving up here, Comrade Lieutenant." Rusuf patiently explained to the other party: "Friendly forces will soon come to take over our defense. Once the handover of defense is completed, we will withdraw to the original landing site. The troops who will take over the defense will
Friendly troops are not familiar with the situation in the town. Cleaning the battlefield is best done before they arrive. You have to bury all our fallen comrades, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." The Ninth Company Commander replied loudly and asked tentatively: "Can I go back and continue working?"
"It goes without saying, Comrade Lieutenant." Rusuf nodded and said, "You can continue working with your subordinates."
Rusuf continued to walk forward, and there were more signs of fighting here. There were collapsed buildings everywhere, bomb craters one after another, as well as the remains of tanks that were still burning after being destroyed, and various destroyed weapons.
Soon, Rusuf and his guards walked out of the town and headed towards the position outside the town.
Not far away, a guard suddenly said to Rusuf in surprise: "Comrade commander, hurry up and see why there are so many people surrounded in the trenches. They are crowded together. Aren't they afraid of being shelled by the German army?"
?"
Rusuf looked in the direction pointed by the guard, and sure enough he saw a large number of people crowded in the trench dozens of meters ahead. If a German artillery shell landed nearby and exploded, at least half of the people could be wiped out.
"What's going on?" Rusuf led the guards quickly to where the crowd was gathering and asked loudly: "There are so many of you crowded here because you are worried that the German shells will fall and the people who will be reimbursed will be too many."
Is it missing?"
When the commanders and fighters crowded in the trench heard Rusuf's voice, someone immediately said in surprise: "Comrade Commander is here!" As Rusuf entered the trench, the crowded commanders and fighters dispersed slightly to make room for him.
There is room for a foothold.
"Comrade Deputy Battalion Commander." Rusuf looked to the left and right and saw clearly that the Deputy Battalion Commander of the Second Battalion was standing not far away with a bandage on his head. He frowned and asked, "What happened?
Why are there so many people crowded here? Do you all want to be the target of German artillery?"
"Comrade Commander, let me introduce you." The deputy battalion commander pouted at the three officers wearing blue hats standing next to him and said with disdain: "They are officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They are here with us.
To eliminate possible traitors and cowards."
After hearing the deputy battalion commander introduce his identity, the captain with the highest rank among the three officers came over, raised his hand to his forehead, and saluted Rusuf: "Hello, comrade colonel, we are from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and we have been ordered to
Go to the front to eliminate possible traitors and cowards."
Rusuf asked coldly: "Comrade Captain, is this your first time on the front line?"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel." When the captain heard what Rusuf said, a surprised expression appeared on his face: "How did you know?"
"Comrade Captain," Rusuf said with a straight face, "Everyone who has been on the battlefield knows that you are not allowed to salute the commander on the battlefield. This is equivalent to telling the enemy's snipers that you are here.
Shooting target. Do you understand?"
Hearing Rusuf say this, the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs' face suddenly turned red. He lowered his head and said, "I'm sorry, comrade colonel, I shouldn't have saluted you. I will pay attention to it next time."
Rusuf put his hands behind his back and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Captain, I am Colonel Rusuf, the regiment leader. Can you tell me the reason why you came to our unit?"
"Comrade Colonel," the captain heard Rusuf asking himself, and quickly replied: "I was ordered by my superiors to come to the front to eliminate the cowards and traitors hiding in the army."
"Why, do you think there is such a person in my army?"
Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the captain nodded vigorously and replied: "Yes, Colonel Rusuf, when we came here, we did find two traitors hiding among you."
Rusuf raised his eyebrows and turned to ask the deputy battalion commander next to him: "Comrade deputy battalion commander, what is going on? How can there be a traitor hidden in our army?"
"Comrade Commander," the deputy battalion commander glanced at the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, curled his lips and said, "I think this must be a misunderstanding. There are no traitors in my battalion."
"Why not?" A lieutenant from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who had never spoken took two steps forward, came to Rusuf, waved a few pieces of paper in his hand, and said excitedly: "This is the evidence. I collected it from the traitor's body."
from."
Rusuf took a piece of paper from his hand, and after a quick glance, he found that it was a leaflet from the German army urging them to surrender. He did not continue to read, but handed it back to the lieutenant, and asked disapprovingly:
"What's wrong with this?"
"Comrade Colonel, these leaflets were found from their bodies." Rusuf's disapproving expression angered the lieutenant. He pointed at the two veterans standing against the trench wall with the backs of his hands and said excitedly: "Why are they
If you want to hide the German leaflets on your body, isn't it just to prepare to surrender to the Germans with these leaflets when our army is in a disadvantageous situation?"
"Comrade leader," a veteran with a goatee defended himself: "I am not a traitor, I collect leaflets..."
Before he could finish speaking, the remaining second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs shouted at him: "Shut up, you have no place to speak here."
The veteran who was reprimanded by the second lieutenant could only shut his mouth obediently and looked at Rusuf anxiously, hoping that he would come out and say some fair words to him.
"Colonel Rusov," the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said again: "We want to take away these two traitors. I hope you can send someone to assist us to avoid being attacked by their accomplices along the way."
"Comrade Captain, I will not let you take away my men." But after Rusuf waited for the other party to finish speaking, he said in a neither humble nor condescending manner: "Yes, you did find the leaflets dropped by the Germans from their bodies, but
This does not mean that they want to be traitors. The purpose of collecting these leaflets is to roll cigarettes or use them when going to the toilet. You cannot just rely on this to arbitrarily say that they are traitors."
Seeing Rusuf supporting the two veterans, the surrounding soldiers also shouted: "Yes, you can't take away our people, they are not traitors..."
"Colonel Rusuf," the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs saw that the soldiers around him were in a turbulent mood and felt that things were a bit tricky. In order to leave here smoothly, he decided to open a breakthrough from Rusuf: "To eliminate the traitors and cowards in the army, it is the special service section of the group army.
Anyone who resists the command of the Lord shall be equally guilty as them.”
The words of the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs frightened the soldiers around him. They all fell silent and cast inquiring glances at Rusuf, wanting to know how he planned to deal with these three officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"The special service section of the group army!" Rusov repeated the unit mentioned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs officer, and sneered: "How come I have never heard of it?"
"Comrade Colonel," the young second lieutenant of the Ministry of Internal Affairs jumped out and said, "This proves that you do not pay attention to the higher authorities. No wonder you will find hidden traitors in your troops."
When Rusuf was about to refute the other party, he suddenly thought of a key question and asked the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs: "Comrade captain, you haven't told me which department you are in?"
Upon hearing Rusuf's inquiry, the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs raised his head and said arrogantly: "Of course we belong to the Special Service Section of the 7th Guards Army."
Before the captain answered his question, Rusuf was still feeling uneasy. He was planning to call the division commander Fomenko for help when things got too much to deal with. But at this moment, when he heard the other party say the number of his unit, he
He couldn't help but sneered: "Comrade Captain, it turns out that you are from the Special Service Section of the 7th Guards Army?"
"That's right." The captain asked, somewhat confused, "Is there something wrong?"
"Comrade Captain, I would like to ask you to clarify one thing first." Rusuf said in a contemptuous tone: "Our regiment is affiliated to the 27th Army. As an officer of the 7th Guards Army, what qualifications do you have to join me?
The troops are here to tell us what to do?"
"Ah?!" This time it was the captain's turn to be shocked: "What, you are not the 222nd Guards Regiment?"
"No." Rusuf shook his head and said: "The 222nd Guards Regiment, which came to take over our defense, has not arrived yet, so until now, our 254th Regiment is still defending Jingji Town."
After figuring out that the unit in front of him was the 254th Infantry Regiment, not the 222nd Guards Regiment, the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs blushed again. He apologized to Rusuf with some embarrassment and said: "I'm sorry, Colonel Rusev. I made a mistake.
, I apologize to you for my rashness."
Rusuf didn't want to deal with such people, so he waved his hand to the captain of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and said: "Comrade captain, you have nothing to do here. You and your subordinates should leave quickly. We have to seize the time to repair the fortifications."
, to prevent the Germans from launching a new attack."
After the three officers of the Ministry of Internal Affairs left in despair, the commanders and soldiers in the trench cheered so loudly that they even alerted the German army more than 200 meters away, making the enemy think that the Soviet army was preparing to launch an attack.
"Quiet, everyone, please be quiet." Rusuf raised his hands, pressed down twice, and after the surroundings quieted down, he said loudly: "Comrades, in a while, the friendly 222nd Guards Regiment will arrive.
Taking over our defense, everyone will be able to retreat to the rear to rest. But before the friendly forces arrive, we must first repair the fortifications so that they can rely on these fortifications to resist the German attack."
This chapter has been completed!