There is a small church in the middle of the village, and people stand on the bell tower, and with the help of telescopes, they can clearly observe the situation within a radius of more than ten miles. In order to keep abreast of the progress of the battle on the battlefield in a more timely manner, I moved the headquarters here.

Standing on the bell tower, I looked through my binoculars at the troops digging trenches in the distance, and said to Boroda with some bewilderment: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I don't understand a little. Usually the troops are stationed in the village, and the commanders like to set up the headquarters in the church, first, because it is spacious and can accommodate many units of the headquarters; The second is that the building is sturdy, and even if it is hit by a bomb or shell, it will not collapse so easily. But why didn't Colonel Dorofeev choose this place, but set up their headquarters in an ordinary house? ”

Boroda, who was standing next to me, heard my questioning and replied with a wry smile: "Comrade division commander, I once asked other commanders in the division about this question, and I heard from them that when Division Commander Dorofeev first entered this village, many people suggested that he set up his headquarters here, but he refused. ”

"For what?" I put down my binoculars and asked curiously.

"Division Commander Dorofeev said: The target here is too obvious, and once it encounters a German attack, it is easy to become an attack target for German artillery or air force."

"Greedy for life and afraid of death!" Having come to such a conclusion to Colonel Dorofeev, I raised the telescope again.

"Comrade Division Commander," Boroda said to me suddenly, "I don't know if Captain Avtukhov's independent telephone company has moved to the church now, and we will be in contact with the front later." But it's all counting on them. ”

"Then go down and have a look. Meet the Captain. Tell him by the way. After the battle starts, it is necessary to send someone to report the battle to the bell tower in time. ”

"Yes!" Boroda agreed, turned and descended from the bell tower.

In the distance, the trenches of the Caucasian battalion had already been dug, and most of the fighters were crouching or standing in the trenches, while some were walking around in the communication trenches with their waists straight. Nearby, there was a busy combat camp, where soldiers in steel helmets were bent over digging trenches. Perhaps because of the hot weather, many soldiers took off their military uniforms and waved shovels naked. The seven tanks of the tank company were lined up behind the trenches, and the muzzles of the black holes pointed to the front of the defensive positions.

At this moment, Boroda trotted up the spiral staircase up the bell tower and reported to me in a loud voice: "Comrade division commander, a telegram from the partisans has arrived, the Germans have already been dispatched and are heading in our direction. As he spoke, he handed me a telegram.

I took the newspaper. Looking down, it read: "The vanguard of the German army has left the village of Pyatnica at 3 p.m." Clearing the way were an armored vehicle and two trucks full of soldiers. After reading it, I handed the telegram back to Boroda and said disapprerovitically: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the Germans have come out with such a small number of troops, and our troops on the front line will be enough to annihilate them all." ”

Seeing that I was a little underestimated, Boroda hurriedly reminded me: "Comrade division commander, you can't underestimate the enemy." To know that this is only the vanguard of the Germans, we still don't know how many troops there are in the village and what kind of technical equipment. Perhaps as soon as the battle began, the German tank and artillery units would be dispatched, and perhaps planes would be dispatched to bombard our positions indiscriminately, and then it would be a real vicious battle. ”

Hearing Boroda say this, my face couldn't help but blush slightly, and I quickly changed the topic and instructed him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, go and ask where the infantry battalion that went around to the rear of the enemy army has arrived?" By the way, Major Caucasov was informed that the Germans had set out and would soon be in front of his position, so that his troops would be well concealed and not exposed until the battle began. ”

Seeing that Boroda was walking down the stairs, I told him again: "Comrade Boroda, the next time you come up, it is better to bring a signal soldier with you, so that he can do something for him." ”

"Okay, comrade division commander." Boroda said yes and went downstairs.

The armoured cars and trucks of the German vanguard came into my sight an hour later, led by an armoured car, with a German officer wearing a large-brimmed hat sticking out of the hatch with his upper body propped up on the roof and his body swaying back and forth with the violent jolting of the armored car. When the armored car was still more than 500 meters away from the position of the Caucasian battalion, he stretched out his right hand wearing white gloves and pointed to the side of the road, and the armored car immediately stopped on the side of the road with a sharp brake. The truck that followed behind also braked sharply and stopped clinging to the tail of the armored car.

The officer raised his binoculars and looked carefully at the trench where the Caucasian battalion was located, after all, the trench was freshly dug and the new earth piled in front of the position could be seen at a glance. When the Germans observed, the soldiers of our army were all squatting in the trenches, burying their bodies low, and no one rashly leaned out to check where the Germans were. Although the soldiers of our army were well concealed, my heart still rose to my throat, and I was deeply afraid that some soldiers would not be able to hold it back and shoot without authorization, alarming the Germans.

The German officer observed for a while, saw that there was not the slightest movement in the trench, probably thought it was an abandoned defensive line, so he did not continue to observe, raised his right hand and waved forward, and the armored car slowly moved forward again. It was only after the armoured car had driven some way that the drivers of the two trucks restarted their vehicles and followed from a distance.

I breathed a long sigh of relief when I saw the armored vehicles continue to move forward, and prayed in my heart that they would drive faster so that they could press down on the anti-tank mines planted by our troops as soon as possible.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, the German armored car was more than 100 meters away from the position, and finally pressed an anti-tank mine, and in the firelight, the parts of the armored car were blown up all over the sky, and the officers and soldiers on the car were blown into pulp.

The sound of the explosion was an order to shoot, and the fighters of the Caucasian battalion put their guns on the edge of the trench and pulled the trigger on the German truck. Amid the heavy gunfire, the German truck stopped again, and the soldiers on it jumped out of the car. Due to the fierce fire of our troops, they were caught off guard again, and some of the soldiers were shot and killed indiscriminately before they could jump out of the car, and their bodies either fell directly into the carriage or hung on the carriage baffle. The soldiers who jumped out of the car hid behind the car and fired desperately back at the car.

The fighters of the Caucasian battalion did not rush into the charge, and while firing at German soldiers with machine guns, submachine guns, rifles, mortars, they also set up mortars to bombard trucks. But after several mortar shells accurately hit one of the trucks and blew it to pieces, the German resistance was completely broken, and five or six survivors fled from the other truck, rolling and crawling towards the forest in the distance.

As soon as the battle ended, I was watching some fighters leave the trenches and go to clean up the battlefield, when I suddenly heard the voice of Captain Avtukhov: "Comrade division commander, a call from Major Caucasov. ”

I turned my head to see Avtukhov walking up the spiral staircase with a telephone in his hand and a coiled telephone cord on his shoulder. I hurriedly greeted him, smiled politely at him, then took the phone from his hand, picked up the microphone and said loudly: "Is it Major Caucasov?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Division Commander." Caucasov's excited voice came from the microphone: "The battle has ended smoothly, blowing up one German armored car and one truck, killing more than 50 German soldiers, and our army has no casualties." ”

"Well done, Comrade Caucasov." I praised him loudly and reminded him: "But you can't be proud, this is only the vanguard of the Germans, and the hard battle is still to come." ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Division." Caucasov proudly said: "An enemy like this, no matter how many comes, is not our opponent." Our camp is here, let alone holding on for one day, even if it is ten days, there is no problem. ”

"Comrade Major, I remind you once again that the battle has just begun, and you must overcome the mentality of underestimating the enemy and be prepared to fight a tough and vicious battle. Well, you go and urge the soldiers to strengthen the fortifications again, so that they will not be blown up by the German artillery. ”

I really had the potential for a crow's beak, and half an hour later, the positions of the Caucasovs were shelled by the Germans. According to the intelligence of the partisans, the Germans, after learning that the vanguard had suffered heavy losses, immediately sent another large force. In addition to the infantry in trucks, there were armored units and artillery. Five or six kilometers after leaving the village, their artillery set up artillery positions in an open area and, on the instructions of the artillery observers, began shelling the positions of the Caucasian battalion.

German shells whizzed down in front of and behind the long trenches, and our forward positions were quickly enveloped in smoke from explosions. The soldiers of the Caucasian battalion, who had just won the battle, were subjected to heavy artillery shelling by the Germans before their laughter stopped, and the huge contrast made the soldiers with little combat experience panic.

I put down my binoculars and frowned at the shells that were falling one after another around the trenches, wondering what I could do to stop the damn German shelling. At this moment, I suddenly heard Boroda next to me exclaim: "Comrade division commander, look, someone has run out of the trench. ”

I held the binoculars again and looked at the front line, only to see quite a few of our soldiers coming out of the smoke of gunpowder, and instead of charging forward, they turned around and ran desperately towards the second-line position. They escaped from the battle?! The thought popped into my head, and then I thought viciously: I should put a team of overseers in the back and kill all those who escaped. (To be continued......)