The perspective shifted to nearly a hundred kilometers away. Balzen's troops were like Siberian tigers, hiding in the newly sprouted bushes, watching every move of the German troops in the distance.
The scouts were spread out in platoons. They had been exploring along the enemy's lines for the past few days and drawing the enemy's buildings on the map. For example, where was the fortress and where were the foxholes. Clear machine gun positions and artillery positions.
was recorded, but the further ones were abandoned because they could not be seen.
The Germans openly took off their coats, wearing only white shirts, wielding hoes and shovels, and built long trenches. The excavated soil also built many bunkers. Some soldiers were carrying wood, apparently reinforcing various facilities.
.
Balzen led the core second platoon to lie down in the grass as always. They had no intention of Demacia, they just wanted to turn into a stone and steal German intelligence without attracting attention.
"If I had a camera at this time, it would save me the time of squatting here. After lying down for several days, my whole body is stiff!"
Compared with this complaint, he was also uncomfortable not being able to smoke.
The second platoon leader comforted him: "Don't worry, company commander. Our mission is important. Our superiors require us to move freely. As for how to understand this order, you know best."
"Yes! Stay calm, record the enemy's situation, and collect intelligence for future offensives." Balzen frowned, raised his telescope and continued to observe.
He was not afraid of fighting with this group of enemies. He pointed the curved ruler on the telescope at the enemy's figure and estimated that the ambush was four hundred meters away from the enemy.
From such a distance, the figures are very small. Only snipers and precision shooters with good eyesight can kill the enemy easily from this position.
He could also estimate why the distance was four hundred meters. After all, the normal fighting distance was four hundred meters! Beyond this distance, the accuracy of various firearms was greatly reduced, but the power of artillery fire was not reduced at all.
"The enemy is so cunning! And this unlucky forest! If the deputy division commander and others plan an attack, our advance will be blocked, and it is difficult to deploy heavy weapons in advance, and will be covered by the enemy's artillery fire!" Thinking of this, he
I wrote a few more sentences in my notebook.
Just as he finished writing the last word, the second platoon commander gave him a fierce hug and said nervously: "Sir, there is a new situation!"
Balzen cleverly picked up the telescope and saw a group of people coming out of the enemy's "construction site" escorted by German soldiers.
From the outside, these people were actually wearing a variety of clothes, some of which were familiar. Balzen stared at them for a while and roughly estimated that there were two hundred people in this group. They were loosely dressed, and some of them still held axes in their hands.
On both sides were people with loaded guns, some wearing very obvious gray military uniforms, and the rest were in chaos. The common feature was that they were all wearing German-made steel helmets.
The more Balzen thought about it, the more strange he felt. Suddenly a thought came to his mind: "Could these people be prisoners of war? What are they here for? Are they being shot?"
The second platoon leader affirmed: "It's possible. After all, the road behind the Germans is also a transportation artery. Some of us on the eastern front will definitely be captured. The enemy will probably massacre these people to vent their anger because of the failure of the last battle."
"But why do they still have axes in their hands?! Even if they are killed, they dare not resist?" Balzen thought again, "Maybe the Germans forced them to cut trees?!"
This group of people was slowly approaching the ambush of the reconnaissance company, and Balzen became more and more convinced that whether these people were prisoners of war or not, they would serve as coolies.
"Second Platoon Commander, I think your guess is not accurate. This group of people must be a logging team. We must retreat now." Balzen patted his comrades on the back and ordered all three platoons to retreat, and
Do not shoot without permission.
Balzen wanted to see what the enemy was up to, so he personally led the second platoon in a tactical retreat.
Soon, people holding axes entered the forest under the supervision of gunmen. Only then did Balzen notice that these people not only had axes, but also double saws! Judging from their clothes, there were indeed many
People were wearing Soviet cotton-padded clothes, including some gunmen.
Some people have already started to work, heavy axes are chopping birch trunks, or saws are making sharp noises.
The soldiers of the ambush reconnaissance company suddenly heard the order in Russian. It came from a German, and it meant "work quickly", and also included insulting words.
"Idiot, this idiot actually called us Slavic pigs?!" Second Platoon's teeth were itching with hatred, and he was hiding in the dark with his gun pointed at this man.
Balzen quickly pressed down the rifle he raised and said impatiently: "I think that idiot's scolding was also appropriate. We were all exposed by your gunshot. After that, we were covered by the enemy's artillery fire. We all went to heaven and to hell."
Liyanov! We’d better be smart and continue to endure.”
The second platoon leader reluctantly threw down his gun and said: "I think these people are prisoners of war! They are our people, we have to find a way to rescue them and train them into our soldiers!"
"Your idea is good, but our mission is not just this, and now is not the time for rescue."
Balzen hoped to wait a little longer and observe what else these people did.
Among these armed men, those who wore Soviet cotton-padded clothes but wore German steel helmets, their behavior could be called "traitors of the great motherland". Because they were indeed punching and kicking the woodcutters, and using bad words at them, without any trace of emotion.
What sympathy.
The soldiers of the reconnaissance company are increasingly reminded of the "serf era" in the textbooks, and they probably treat serfs just like this! The soldiers hate traitors more than enemies.
Just from the words of the gunmen, it can be estimated that these people are really former Soviet soldiers who surrendered to the Nazis.
"Damn it! Rather than being captured and humiliated, I chose to commit suicide. These people with axes didn't resist! Even if they risked their lives to fight, they could kill a Nazi, and now the Nazi is right in front of them!" Balzen slammed hard!
Covering the soil, if these people are all prisoners of war, their situation is really pitiful. Now they have the last chance to make a fool of themselves, or if they all disperse and run away, or die in battle or escape, they will be raped like slaves. They have a double mentality.
Abuse is strong!
Balzen noticed that his soldiers were also accumulating hatred. Everyone squatting in the grass urgently needed a Demacia to vent their anger.
But attacking collectively is not the best strategy. In order to find out what the enemy is doing, it is necessary to catch a few tongues.
Therefore, at the moment when this group of people was cutting down trees, the second platoon of the reconnaissance company, under Balzen's deployment, was preparing for the tongue-catching operation. This operation must be quick and clean, and the most important thing is the precise timing.
Now, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity suddenly arrives! 8