The task of reconnaissance fell to the anti-United Nations squad commanded by Zhu Zhendong. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info but in order to strengthen their strength, Chernyshov also specially added him with several fighters, including a guide and a telegrapher.

Marching in the waist-covered forest is not a great event for Lao Zhu and them, who have fought guerrilla warfare in the northeast for several years, and God takes good care of them today, and there is no wind and no snow continues to fall, except that the snow is still very deep and the temperature is still very low, the forest does not have too many obstacles to hinder the march. Moreover, because the weather was so cold, the German scouts did not come out to move, making it much less likely that they would be discovered by the Germans while marching through the forest.

Popkovo was about a dozen kilometers away from Suchinich, and in other seasons, it would take two hours at most for the detachment to reach its destination, but the snow in the forest and the arrival of a few new fighters seriously slowed down their march. By the time they arrived near Popkovo, it was already afternoon.

Zhu Zhendong took Li Muzi and Tang Sanshui and approached the village on a crawling basis, and found that there were two snow-covered tanks parked at the entrance of the village. According to Lao Zhu's experience, this should be the German army's firepower point or shelter.

Seeing this situation, Lao Zhu whispered to Li Muzi: "Muzi, it seems that the Germans' defense is quite tight, we can only wait for it to get dark and then find a way to touch it." ”

"Platoon commander, look!" When Lao Zhu was discussing with Muzi what direction to sneak into the village, Tang Sanshui, who was lying on the side, pointed to the church in the middle of the village and whispered: "On the church bell tower in the middle of the village, there is a German observation post, do you see that reflection, it must be the Germans observing the surrounding environment with binoculars." ”

Lao Zhu first looked around, and the camouflage suit on his body and the surrounding snow had been integrated, as long as he didn't move, it was not easy to be found at all. He whispered to his two subordinates: "Everyone continue to observe, no matter what, we must find a way to enter the village and find out whether the enemy's artillery position is in the village." ”

"Oh, I said Lao Zhu." When Li Muzi saw that there was an enemy observation post on the bell tower of the church, he couldn't help but retreat, and when he saw that Lao Zhu insisted on entering the village, he persuaded him: "The enemy is so well guarded, it is very difficult for us to enter without being discovered." ”

"So what are we going to do, just go back?" When Lao Zhu heard Mu Zi say this, blood suddenly gushed on his head, and he said angrily: "It's easy to go back, but we can't complete the task assigned to us by our superiors, what should we do?" You tell me, what are we going to do? ”

"Okay, okay, old Zhu, don't get angry." Seeing that Lao Zhu was angry, Li Muzi hurriedly admitted defeat: "It's me who is wrong, can't I be wrong?!" Rest assured, we will stay here with you and continue to observe where you can sneak into the village. ”

"Stop arguing, hey, I said you two should stop arguing first." Tang Sanshui, who had not spoken, heard that the tone of the two was full of gunpowder, and hurriedly came out to play a round: "Look, there is a rabbit running towards the village." ”

Hearing Tang Sanshui say this, Lao Zhu and Mu Zi both looked in the direction of his finger, and sure enough, they saw a gray hare that came out of nowhere, bouncing on the snow and heading towards the village.

"This rabbit is so fat." Tang Sanshui looked at the rabbit in the distance and said, "If you take it and eat it, it will taste good." ”

Hearing Tang Sanshui say this, Lao Zhu's face couldn't help but show a smile, he looked at the rabbit that was getting closer and closer to the German tank, and was about to tease Sanshui a few words, when he suddenly heard an earth-shattering explosion, the rabbit was wrapped in a pile of snow powder and flew into the sky, and then disintegrated in the air, and then scattered down one after another, evenly spread on the nearby snow.

"Holy, minefield." Seeing the rabbit that was blown to pieces, Li Muzi couldn't help but whisper in surprise: "Damn the Germans, they actually laid a minefield outside the trenches. If it weren't for this rabbit, we would definitely have suffered if we touched it at night. ”

"Platoon commander, what should we do now?" Seeing that the enemy had laid mines outside the village, Tang Sanshui was also frightened, and he nervously asked Lao Zhu: "Do you want to stay here, or do you want to withdraw?" ”

"Don't be in a hurry, keep lying here and don't move." Lao Zhu yelled at the two of them: "The rabbit made such a big noise, didn't the Germans react at all?" ”

After Lao Zhu's words were finished, the first to react was the enemy staying in the tank, a tank crew pushed open the top cover of the turret, leaned out half of his body, and looked at the location of the explosion. At this moment, the door of the wooden house not far behind also opened, and out of it came a German soldier with a submachine gun, who walked up to the tank, looked up and asked the tankman loudly. When he got the answer, he laughed twice and returned to the wooden house where he had just come out.

After the tankers also re-intracted into the tank, Lao Zhu raised his binoculars and looked towards the clock tower in the middle of the village, only to see a German officer holding a telescope and looking over this way. Lao Zhu was afraid of exposing the target, so he hurriedly put down the binoculars and cautiously lay on the snow.

Finally, when the German officer on the bell tower shifted his gaze, Lao Zhucai whispered to the two subordinates lying beside him: "Okay, while the Germans don't notice here, we will move immediately." ”

After returning to the forest where the team was hiding, Chen Xiaopaw first ran over and asked, "Platoon commander, I seem to have heard an explosion just now, what happened?" ”

"It's not a big deal." Lao Zhu waved his hand and said, "It's just that a rabbit accidentally stepped on a mine planted by the Germans and was blown to pieces." By the way, there's no situation here, right? ”

"No, everything is fine." After Chen Xiaopaw finished saying this, he continued to ask: "Platoon commander, is the artillery position of the Germans in the village?" ”

"I don't know," Lao Zhu said, shaking his head, "This village is too big, and many enemies can't observe the position we are in." Coupled with the fact that the enemy had set up an observation post on the church bell tower in the middle of the village, we could not get any closer to the village. ”

"So what are we going to do?" Hearing Lao Zhu say this, Chen Xiaopaw couldn't help frowning, "Are you just waiting stupidly here?" ”

"We can wait." Tang Sanshui didn't wait for Lao Zhu to speak, so he hurriedly said: "If the German artillery position is really here, they will definitely shell Suhinich early tomorrow morning, so that we can find out whether the enemy's artillery position is really here." ”

"It's a good idea, but it's just too long." Regarding Tang Sanshui's proposal, Li Muzi was the first to agree, and he saw that Lao Zhu had not expressed his position for a long time, so he asked carefully: "Platoon commander, what do you think?" ”

"Send a report to the division headquarters first, and report the situation here to them." Lao Zhu called the telegraph operator over and ordered: "Send a telegram to the division headquarters saying that the enemy's defense in the village is very tight, so we cannot get close, so we cannot provide effective reconnaissance information for the time being." We intend to stay here and continue to observe if any artillery fires tomorrow morning. ”

Chernyshov's reply came quickly, and the above content was very simple, that is, a bomber formation was coming to bomb Popkovo in the evening, and hoped that they would guide the bombers in the direction of bombing.

When he saw this telegram, Lao Zhu was dumbfounded, if there is no problem guiding the direction of the bomber during the day, but at night there are black lights everywhere, how can he guide the direction of the aircraft?

While they were trying to orient themselves on how to guide the bomber formation, Rokossovsky was in the command headquarters discussing with Malinin about night bombing.

Rokossovsky frowned and asked: "Chief of Staff, what's going on with this 588 night bomber regiment, I don't seem to have heard of it?" ”

"I called and asked the front command, this is a women's bomber regiment, and the pilots in it are all women." Ma Linin said with some pride: "They were formed after the outbreak of the war, the women's flying regiment, after half a year of training, tonight's bombing will be their first battle after graduation." ”

"Hell, how can you let a group of pilots with no combat experience carry out night bombing missions?" Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "And it's a group of female pilots, and I'm worried that during the bombing, they will be so nervous that they will throw all the bombs into the open field." ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Malinin comforted the distraught Rokossovsky, saying: "They had been in the flying club before the war and had a lot of experience. Coupled with another six months of rigorous training, I believe that they will be able to achieve good results in tonight's bombing. ”

"In the dark of night, if you go to bomb a strange area?" Rokossovsky said disapprenously: "I am afraid that after they attack, they may not even be able to find the location of the enemy." Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and ordered Malinin, "Chief of Staff, call General Chernyshov and ask the scouts he sent if there is a way to indicate the target of attack for the bomber regiment at night?" ”

After Malinin dialed Chernyshov's phone, he didn't bother to greet him, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade division commander, the commander asked you if there is a way to indicate the direction of attack for the night bomber regiment?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Chernyshov replied with a sad face, hearing Malinin's question, "I don't think it's possible at all, so you should persuade Comrade Commander to cancel tonight's bombing operation." ”

"No, Comrade Division Commander." In response to Chernyshov's reply, Malinin said very angrily: "If you think of a way, you have to think about it, and if you can't think of a way, you still have to think about it, this is an order and it must be carried out." Do you understand? After a brief pause, he added, "I'll call you again in half an hour, hoping to hear your reply then." ”

After Chernyshov put down the phone, he pointed his hand at the staff officers who were busy in the command headquarters and said loudly: "You all hurry up and help me think about how to indicate the direction of attack for the bombing planes at night." ”

When neither the division headquarters nor the staff officers of the army group headquarters had yet to figure out how to give directions to planes carrying out bombing missions at night, Lao Zhu, who was staying near Popkovo, came up with a good idea. After consulting with Muzi, Sanshui, and the pawns, he felt that this method was not bad, so he asked the telegraph operator to send a telegram to the division headquarters.

After reading the telegram, Chernesov could not help but be amazed, and hurriedly picked up the telegram and dialed the headquarters of the group army, and as soon as he heard Malinin's voice, he said excitedly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, in less than half an hour, I have already thought of how to indicate the direction of the bomber regiment." ”

"Oh, Comrade Division Commander, have you come up with a solution?" Seeing that Chernyshov had thought of a way so quickly, Malinin also felt quite surprised, and hurriedly urged: "Hurry up and listen to it!" "I called and asked the Front Command, this is a women's bomber regiment, and the pilots in it are all women." Ma Linin said with some pride: "They were formed after the outbreak of the war, the women's flying regiment, after half a year of training, tonight's bombing will be their first battle after graduation." ”

"Hell, how can you let a group of pilots with no combat experience carry out night bombing missions?" Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "And it's a group of female pilots, and I'm worried that during the bombing, they will be so nervous that they will throw all the bombs into the open field." ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." Malinin comforted the distraught Rokossovsky, saying: "They had been in the flying club before the war and had a lot of experience. Coupled with another six months of rigorous training, I believe that they will be able to achieve good results in tonight's bombing. ”

"In the dark of night, if you go to bomb a strange area?" Rokossovsky said disapprenously: "I am afraid that after they attack, they may not even be able to find the location of the enemy." Speaking of this, he paused for a moment and ordered Malinin, "Chief of Staff, call General Chernyshov and ask the scouts he sent if there is a way to indicate the target of attack for the bomber regiment at night?" ”

After Malinin dialed Chernyshov's phone, he didn't bother to greet him, and asked straight to the point: "Comrade division commander, the commander asked you if there is a way to indicate the direction of attack for the night bomber regiment?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Chernyshov replied with a sad face, hearing Malinin's question, "I don't think it's possible at all, so you should persuade Comrade Commander to cancel tonight's bombing operation." ”

"No, Comrade Division Commander." In response to Chernyshov's reply, Malinin said very angrily: "If you think of a way, you have to think about it, and if you can't think of a way, you still have to think about it, this is an order and it must be carried out." Do you understand? After a brief pause, he added, "I'll call you again in half an hour, hoping to hear your reply then." ”

After Chernyshov put down the phone, he pointed his hand at the staff officers who were busy in the command headquarters and said loudly: "You all hurry up and help me think about how to indicate the direction of attack for the bombing planes at night." ”

When neither the division headquarters nor the staff officers of the army group headquarters had yet to figure out how to give directions to planes carrying out bombing missions at night, Lao Zhu, who was staying near Popkovo, came up with a good idea. After consulting with Muzi, Sanshui, and the pawns, he felt that this method was not bad, so he asked the telegraph operator to send a telegram to the division headquarters.