In order not to reveal the whereabouts of the troops, after sending scouts in several directions, we continued to hide and rest in this fortification, which was flooded with wild grass. For a whole day, it was quiet outside, and no movement was heard, and it seemed that the Germans had not discovered our troops that had quietly penetrated into their rear, otherwise they would not have been so calm.

In the evening, Sederikov first walked into the division headquarters and reported to me: "Division commander, the three reconnaissance groups we sent out to reconnoiter have returned. ”

"Did you spot anything?" I asked.

Shederikov shook his head and replied: "No, within ten kilometers of our east and south, no German troops were found, except for the camps of the two servant state troops that were monitored last night. ”

As soon as Sedjerikov's report ended, Kosgaa also walked into the headquarters, and he reported to me with a stern expression: "Comrade division commander, two of the three reconnaissance groups we sent have returned, and one is missing. ”

"And the other one, why haven't you come back yet?" Bandereev asked curiously, "According to the regulations, shouldn't they all return to the hidden places of the troops at this time?" ”

Hearing that my whereabouts were unknown, my heart sank suddenly, and I hurriedly walked up to Kosgaard and asked, "Which direction is this reconnaissance group responsible for?" ”

Kosgaard replied: "It is to the north-west, and because I am afraid of encountering the enemy, I have the largest number of men assigned to this reconnaissance group, a full two squads. ”

When I heard him say this, I couldn't help but sigh, and I understood that Kosgaard had done something bad with good intentions. If like other reconnaissance groups. It was equipped with only five people. The estimated target is not large. But the number of people in this group that has not returned for a long time is actually about 20 people, and it is impossible to walk on an open grassland on such a scale without revealing the target. This is in the rear of the German army, and once it encounters a large army, this is not enough for other armored troops.

"This reconnaissance group, if you don't know it, you won't be able to come back." Shedelikov whispered beside him.

Seeing Kosgaard's look of annoyance, I casually asked, "Who is leading the reconnaissance team?" ”

"Sergeant Adil, he's an old scout now. He has a lot of experience in reconnaissance, so I sent him to lead the team. I didn't expect ......" Speaking of this, Kosgaard couldn't say any more, just sighed heavily.

Less than a day after Kosgaard reunited with his troops, he inexplicably lost a capable subordinate, and it was no wonder that I was not sad, so I hurriedly comforted him and said: "Okay, comrade lieutenant colonel, don't blame yourself. Although Sergeant Adil did not return, it also showed that they were in the direction of their reconnaissance. There were indeed German units. When it gets dark, you send a reconnaissance team. Follow Sergeant Adir's route to find out the enemy's strength and disposition. ”

After Sederikov and Kosgaard had left, Bandereev let out another long sigh and said worriedly: "Sergeant Adir's reconnaissance unit may have really encountered the German troops, and if they were all killed, the Germans might think that they were just a small unit that had been scattered; But if someone is captured, then our sleeper forces will be completely exposed. Comrade division commander, I think we should have planned ahead of time, lest the enemy, who knew where we were hiding, rush and catch us off guard. ”

"Comrade Deputy Division Commander, what do you think?" I kicked this conundrum back to Pandereev.

Seeing that I asked him to make up his mind, Bantai Laiev couldn't help but hesitate and said, "Or, in addition to letting the two regiments draw half of their troops to serve as a guard at any time." At the same time, another company was sent to the village and an outpost was established there. Do you think it's okay? ”

In my heart, I really didn't want to send troops into the village, because the village was surrounded by open land, and once it was surrounded by the Germans, I couldn't withdraw if I wanted to, but in the current situation, I could only sacrifice one army to buy time for the transfer of the large army, so I could only nod my head and agree very reluctantly: "Well, since you say so, I will draw troops from the most well-armed regiment, and enter the village overnight, and build the necessary fortifications." ”

As we were talking, there was a sudden sound of hurried footsteps outside the headquarters, and the soldiers on duty rushed to shout the password. Hearing the movement outside, I instinctively pulled out the pistol on my waist and pointed it at the entrance, but it was Kosgaard, who had just left, and I put the gun away.

After a few moments, a surprised Kosgaard rushed into our headquarters, stood in front of us, and said breathlessly, "Division Commander, Deputy Division Commander, Sergeant Adil is back. ”

When I heard the news, I was stunned at first, and then I was ecstatic, thinking that this was really good, and that Sergeant Adil would bring us some information about the Germans, so I urged Kosgaard: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, take us to Sergeant Adil quickly, and ask him if he has detected any important information?" ”

When I pulled Kosgaard to leave, he stood still, and when he saw me looking at him strangely, he said, "Only three people from the reconnaissance detachment, including Sergeant Adil, came back, and they were all wounded. ”

"It seems that Sergeant Adil must have had an exchange of fire with the Germans, so it is even more important to find out what is going on." I saw that he was still standing still, and hurriedly urged him: "Let's go, I still have a lot to ask the sergeant." ”

We arrived at the command post of the 3rd Regiment, and as soon as we entered the shelter, we were greeted by the smell of blood mixed with vodka, and in the dim candlelight there were three wounded men lying inside, and a soldier who looked like a hygienist was tending to them. Sergeant Adil lay by the doorway, and although it was cold, he stripped off his shirt and lay on the plank to let the hygienist scrub and bandage the wound on his back, grinning in pain as a cotton ball dipped in vodka wiped his wound.

I shuddered at the sight of several bloody wounds on his back. Just when I was so nervous that I didn't know how to speak, fortunately he noticed our arrival and took the initiative to greet me: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander. ”

I hurriedly took another step forward. Stand by his plank. Bowing his head and asking with concern, "Comrade Sergeant." It doesn't matter what your injuries are, right? ”

Sergeant Adil hurriedly shook his head twice and replied, "Thank you for your concern, I am fine, but I have a few cuts in my back that have been cut by a stone." ”

"Tell me, Comrade Sergeant." I had not forgotten the purpose of my own visit, and after being concerned about his injuries, I proceeded to ask them about the enemy they had detected. "What happened to your reconnaissance detachment in the process of reconnaissance?"

Then. The hygienist had finished cleaning the wound on his back, helped him up and sat him down, and began to bandage his wound. Adil sat up straight and reported to me: "Comrade division commander, we took my detachment north, walked about 15 kilometers, and came to a hill, where we saw a small city in the distance. In order to find out if there was any enemy in the city, I divided the detachment into two parts, I led one to approach the city from the east, and the other to enter the city from the west.

Unexpectedly, we were on a small hill a kilometer away from the city. It was found that the city was full of Germans, probably two battalions of troops. I'm going to check it out somewhere else. He signaled to the squad to the west to move closer to us. Unexpectedly, when they were only two or three hundred meters away from us, they suddenly encountered a patrol composed of two armored vehicles. As soon as the enemy spotted them, the machine guns on the armored vehicles immediately opened fire on them without hesitation, three fighters were killed on the spot, and the rest retreated while fighting. The German soldiers in the car also jumped down and rushed towards our fighters with their guns in hand. ”

When I heard him say this, my heart bleed, and my heart said that you are in an open field and encounter with the enemy's armored vehicles, is it still possible to escape? At the same time, there was a suspicion in his heart, the reconnaissance detachment only returned three wounded, could it not be because Sergeant Adil rushed up to rescue his comrades with the rest of the soldiers on impulse? Sergeant Adil's next remarks confirmed my suspicions, "Seeing that our comrades were in distress, we naturally could not stand idly by, so I also rushed towards the enemy with my own soldiers and hit them hard from the side. ”

I just cursed Sergeant Adil for his actions: stupid! Unexpectedly, Bandereev said loudly: "Sergeant, you are doing the right thing, seeing that your comrades are in danger, as a heroic Red Army soldier, you should decisively rush forward and destroy the enemy and rescue your comrades." ”

I did not say anything about Bantai Leev's compliment, but faintly continued: "Comrade sergeant, what happens next?" Have you destroyed the enemy? Have you rescued those comrades who were in danger? ”

My series of questions made Adil red-faced, and he replied in a low voice: "No, we rushed forward, and although we knocked down five or six of the enemy, the machine gun on one of the enemy's armored vehicles turned around and fired at us, and immediately four or five fighters were shot and fell to the ground." Seeing that something was wrong, I had to loudly order the warriors around me to retreat. As I was backing up, I stepped on my back and planted myself in a long ditch in the grass, and when my back hit the ground, I was cut several times by the stones in the ditch. I saw that there were not many soldiers left around me, so I hurriedly ordered the remaining soldiers to jump down and run south along the long ditch with me. We ran for a while, and we didn't stop until we couldn't hear any movement. ”

"Sergeant Adir," I said unceremoniously when he was finished, "it is an act of courage to brave my comrades to rescue them when they are in danger, and I admire you personally. But as a division commander, I'm going to criticize you harshly. Your mission is to reconnoiter the enemy, not fight to the death, and if you and the two surviving fighters don't happen to hide in a long ditch, it is estimated that your reconnaissance detachment will be wiped out. In this way, the task assigned to you by the superiors cannot be completed, and we have to send another unit to carry out the reconnaissance mission that should be completed by you. ”

Sergeant Adir, who was criticized by me, lowered his head deeply and confessed his mistake to me with a flushed face: "I'm sorry, Comrade Division Commander, I was wrong. I will definitely distinguish the priorities in the future, and I will never make similar mistakes next time. ”

"Alright, Comrade Division Commander." Bandereev came out in time to play a round and said good things for Sergeant Adil: "Although the sergeant made a mistake on the spur of the moment, his intentions are good, after all, they still figured out the location and approximate strength of the enemy, which is very useful to us. Speaking of this, he leaned close to my ear and whispered, "Comrade Division Commander, since the enemy situation is generally clear, should we go back and study the next plan of action?" ”

I nodded, turned to Kosgaard and said, "Lieutenant Colonel, you go with us to the division headquarters." Then he instructed Basmanov: "Captain, you go to the headquarters of the 1st regiment and inform Lieutenant Colonel Sederikov that he should come to the division headquarters for a temporary military meeting." (To be continued......)