Since it was already dawn, the selected team could only stay in the tunnel for another day, and then set off from Mamayevgang and drove along a road full of craters and bricks and rubble toward the old city.
Before the troops set off, Sokov personally called Captain Andre and told him that three German armored vehicles would pass through his defense zone, and the comrades who were disguised as enemies were sitting on the car, asking him to pay attention to identifying them to avoid accidental injuries.
Although Andrei notified his subordinates as soon as he received Sokov's order, he said that there were friendly troops disguised as enemies and that they had to pass through the defense zone in three German armored vehicles, so that everyone could let them go, and never stop them. However, some combat teams scattered in the ruins did not receive this order.
When the armored vehicle that the squad was riding in entered the Ninth Company defense zone, Guchakov, who was sitting in the front car, also said to Samoilov, who was sitting in the last car with a car radio station: "Comrade Lieutenant, my Ninth Company defense zone is ahead of me. They must have received the order to let us pass, don't worry..."
Before Guchakov could finish his words, a gunshot came not far away, and then he heard the sound of bullets hitting the body of the car. "Enemy attack," Taflin, sitting next to Guchakov, in the uniform of the German lieutenant, reacted immediately and shouted to the soldiers sitting in the car: "Low down and lower your body, so as not to be hit by the bullet."
A 9th Company soldier hiding in the ruins saw that the shot he fired did not cause casualties to the people in the car. He quickly picked up a grenade, pulled the string and threw it out. The grenade landed more than ten meters away from the vehicle and exploded. The flying shrapnel hit the body of the car and the soldier's helmet and jingled.
After the soldiers sitting in the armored vehicles were suddenly attacked, they immediately set up their guns to fight back, but were stopped by Guchakov. He shouted loudly: "Don't fight back, don't fight back, it's his own people. Everyone lowered their bodies to avoid being hit by stray bullets." After shouting on both sides, he shouted at the driver: "Get quicker and hurry up."
After rushing out of the defense zone of the Third Battalion, Guchakov quickly counted the number of people and found that two soldiers in the car were injured. Fortunately, the injuries were not serious and would not affect the subsequent battle. Seeing that the battle had not started, unnecessary casualties occurred. Guchakov was really crying: Didn’t the division commander say that he had already greeted the battalion commander, why would he still open fire at us? What angered him the most was that the place where the convoy was attacked was still the defense zone of his 9th Company. This was simply slapping himself in the face. When he returned from completing the mission, he must clean up the people who fired randomly.
"Comrade Lieutenant," just as Guchakov was thinking about it, a sudden voice of Samoilov's anger came from the on-board radio station: "Didn't you say that it is your company's position? Why do those soldiers hiding in the ruins fight with you, the company commander? If it really causes huge casualties to the squad, I see how you complete the task."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant, please listen to my explanation." Since the convoy was attacked in the defense area of ​​his company, Guchakov said guiltily: "Maybe the soldiers hiding in the ruins did not receive the order from the battalion commander. When he saw several armored vehicles loaded with soldiers suddenly appeared, he instinctively fired. By the way, are there any casualties in your car?"
"No, there were no casualties in my car." Samoilov said impatiently: "Will we encounter our own cold guns again in front of us?"
"We have completely left the defense zone of the Third Battalion." Guchakov said with a smile: "Comrade Lieutenant, I promise you that no more similar incidents will happen."
After being attacked by his own people for no reason, the soldiers in the car were filled with anger, but because Guchakov was his superior, they dared not speak out. Seeing that the atmosphere in the car was a little nervous, Taflin hurried out to smooth things over: "Comrade Lieutenant, there may have been a small misunderstanding just now. The soldiers hiding in the ruins regarded us as Germans. Fortunately, their shooting skills were not good, otherwise they would definitely cause us some casualties."
Hearing Taflin say this, Guchakov's face showed an embarrassing expression: "Comrade Sergeant, I'm going to tell you that there are many workers and residents in our company. They have been holding guns for a short time, so their marksmanship is naturally not good. If you fight against the enemy, this is their shortcomings; but for a misunderstanding today, it is a good thing."
After resolving the embarrassment in the car, Tavlin continued to ask: "Comrade Lieutenant, I want to ask, where are you going to attack the target first?"
"When selecting the candidates for the team, I heard from the guard battalion commander Major Tenev that some time ago, Lieutenant Grissa led a squad to penetrate near the town of Gorodice, and used rockets to destroy the enemy's open-air arsenal, disrupting the enemy's offensive plan against the barricade factory and the Derrensky factory. I think we can also adopt the same tactic this time to attack the enemy's ammunition depot first. If the enemy has no ammunition, there is no ability to continue to attack friendly forces."
"I don't think so." Taflin and Guchakov finished speaking, retorted: "The enemy was bombed the arsenal last time. I think their defense will be more tight now. It may take us a while to reconnaise to find the location of the arsenal."
"Don't worry, comrade Sergeant." Guchakov said confidently: "The division commander did not set a deadline for us to fight, that is, we should stay as long as we want to stay behind the enemy. We have enough time to find the enemy's ammunition depot, military camp and command."
"Comrade Lieutenant," a soldier sitting next to Taflin asked curiously after listening to the chat of the two: "I want to ask, we can obviously move directly from Mamayev hill to the northwest, but why do we have to build such a large circle from the south?"
Hearing the questions raised by the warrior, Guchakov was stern and was about to scold the other party, but he was stopped by Taflin with a hand. Taflin smiled and said to the warrior: "Comrade Warrior, we all know that after leaving Mamayev's hill, you can reach the rear of the enemy in the shortest time. Am I right?"
"Yes." The warrior nodded vigorously: "You are right."
"Since we know that this line is the shortest, can't the Germans think of it?" Tavlin explained to him with a smile: "In order to prevent our army from sending troops deep into their rear, they must have set up tight defenses in this direction. If we move directly in that direction, we might plunge into the enemy's trap. Not to mention sneak attacks on the enemy, whether we can save ourselves is a problem. If we take a big circle, it is completely beyond the enemy's expectations. Even if we appear behind them, it will be difficult for them to notice it at the first time."
Chapter completed!