After debunking the camouflage of the German army for Guryev, I was full of admiration for the German commander who made this decision, knowing that the situation of the war had developed to the point where the area occupied by the enemy and the enemy was intertwined, and it was possible for two hostile forces to appear at the same time in any area. There will be no suspicion about their appearance, whether it is an offensive or defensive unit, or an army that wears the same uniform as itself. Fortunately, this German unit pretending to be our army used the number of our independent division, and it happened that the commander of my independent division saw through the other party's poisonous plan, otherwise, Guriev's guards division would have suffered a great loss.

Now that he knew that it was the enemy, Guriev knew that he was coming, and he continued to ask the scout: "How far are the German units posing as friendly troops from us?" ”

The scout already knew from our conversation that the so-called friendly soldiers with whom he had dealt were actually impersonated by German troops, and he was immediately shocked into a cold sweat, and his forehead was covered with sweat in such cold weather. Hearing Guriev ask himself, he quickly raised his hand to wipe his sweat and replied: "After passing through Guò Tsekhovsky Street, they occupied the buildings on both sides of the street, and arranged defenses and sent a guard post in the direction of another German army. ”

After hearing this, Guriev turned his head and asked for my opinion: "Colonel Oshanina, what do you think we should do with this German unit pretending to be you?" ”

I thought for a moment and replied, "The two German armies are so close that no matter which one we turn around and fight, we are likely to be flanked by the other army." In that case, it's not good for us. ”

"You mean, just let this force stay there?" Guriev said with some displeasure: "But have you ever thought about it? We are because of your deposit. I was lucky enough to see through the camouflage of this German army. If you switch to another friendly unit. But if you can't distinguish the authenticity in the shortest possible time, you will suffer a big loss. ”

"Comrade General, you have misunderstood." Seeing that Guriev was in a hurry, I hurriedly waved my hand again and again, and said my intentions: "The enemy does not know that their disguise has been seen through by us, and since their purpose is to occupy the Krudo Gully, they will definitely try to create an opportunity to approach here." Now that we know the enemy's plan of action, then we can prepare a trap for the enemy next. Let them obediently jump in. ”

As soon as I finished speaking, Guriev asked with interest: "How can we dig a trap for them?" ”

"Comrade division commander, come and see, there is a distance of more than 300 meters from the entrance of the gully to the first bend. We can hide the commanders and fighters behind the slag piles on both sides and place a dozen machine-gun fire points on them. When the enemy entered our ambush circle, first the machine guns opened decisive fire to disrupt the enemy's marching columns, and then the fighters hidden behind the slag heap rushed to the top of the slag heap and taught them a hard lesson with grenades. It won't take a few minutes. You can inflict heavy damage or even annihilate this group of enemies. ”

"What about the entrance to the gully?" Guriev groaned and did not speak, but the chief of staff of his division voiced the question in his heart: "If you don't leave the troops to guard." Seeing that the entrance is unguarded, the enemy may halt its advance, or even divide its forces to march along the top of the slag heap, so that our ambush plan will be frustrated. If only a small number of troops were sent to stay, they might be disarmed by this group of Germans wearing our uniforms. ”

"The chief of staff has a point," Guriev echoed his chief of staff, and then asked me: "Colonel Oshanina, what can you do to reassure the enemy to enter the ditch boldly and without warning?" ”

When I gave advice to Guriev, I really didn't think about what the chief of staff said, and when I heard that Guriev had the same concerns, I couldn't help but make a mistake. After a short period of consideration, I said to Guriev: "Comrade General, I thought about it this way, first of all, the scouts went to the German commander and gave him false information that because the situation in the factory area was tight, the Guards Division, after seizing the Krudo Gully, left only one company of troops to guard the entrance, and the rest of the troops rushed to the factory area. Second, leave a company of troops at the entrance to the ditch, remember, a company with strong combat effectiveness, and on the commanding heights on both sides of the entrance to the ditch, machine guns must be erected. When the enemy troops arrived, even if they had any intention of picking up our remaining troops, as soon as they saw the machine-gun positions on both sides of the entrance, they would dispel this idea and continue to camouflage, and would speed up their speed to rush through the gully. ”

After listening to my plan, Guriev nodded, turned his head and asked his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what do you think of this plan of Colonel Oshanina?" ”

The chief of staff glanced at me, smiled and said: "Comrade division commander, I think Colonel Oshanina's plan is well thought out. ”

"The other German army won't follow, will it?" Guriev asked a little uneasy.

"I think the main purpose of the enemy staying there is still a purpose to contain our troops, and they will definitely not move lightly." After the chief of staff expressed his judgment, he looked at the scout standing next to him with some concern and said: "What I am most worried about now is whether the scout will show a flaw when he goes back to deceive the German commander." ”

The Chief of Staff's words made my heart chuckle, the key to the whole plan was now on this scout, and if he had made a mistake because of nervousness when he met the German commander again, it would not have been so easy to destroy this German unit pretending to be our army. As soon as they wander to the other defensive areas of our army, they will inflict heavy losses on the garrisons there.

Seeing that several of us were all looking at him, the scout became more and more nervous.

Seeing this of his expression, Guriev sighed slightly, and said sincerely to the scout: "Comrade soldier, because this matter is the most important, I don't force it on you. If you don't think you're fit for the task, just say it, and I'll arrange for someone else to do it. ”

The scout, who was originally nervous, suddenly blushed with excitement when he heard his division commander say this. I held it for a while. Only then did he say in a rough voice: "Comrade division commander." Rest assured, I promise to complete the task. If I can't accomplish the task you've given me," he patted the pistol pinned to his waist, "and I'll shoot myself in the head without you having to deal with me." ”

Guriev and the chief of staff looked at each other at the scout's statement, and then both of them had a knowing smile on their faces. Guriev walked over and patted the scout on the shoulder. He said amiably: "Comrade soldier, don't be nervous, you should report the situation to your superiors as you usually do, and say to the German commander: Due to the fierce fighting in the factory area, after our troops have captured the Crudo ditch, only one company will be left to guard the entrance to the ditch, and the rest of the troops will go through the gully to reinforce the garrison of the factory, and ask them to immediately enter the ditch to take over our defense." Remember? ”

"Remember, Comrade Division Commander." The scout replied loudly, "Don't worry. I promise to complete the mission! ”

Guriev nodded in satisfaction, then waved his hand to the scout and said, "Then go quickly." Comrade fighters. When this battle is over, I will give you credit. ”

After the scouts left, Guriev consulted with the chief of staff about which unit should be responsible for guarding the ditch mouth. After some discussion between the two, it was finally unanimously decided that the first battalion and three companies that had participated in the first round of the attack should be appointed. The chief of staff also specially called the commander of the third company, who had a bandage on his head, and repeatedly explained to him a series of precautions to be taken when he saw the arrival of a German unit pretending to be our army.

Guriev and I came to the back of the slag pile at the turn, where his troops had built a simple command post for him, and the movement in the ditch could be clearly observed.

After half an hour of waiting, German units posing as ours appeared. Since we had made careful arrangements in advance, and the defenders holding the mouth of the ditch had set up a machine gun on each side of the commanding heights, the Germans did not dare to act rashly, but entered the ditch in a formation as we had envisaged.

Seeing the enemy entering the ditch, the chief of staff hurriedly called the commanders who were lying in ambush on both sides and told the troops below to prepare for battle.

Taking advantage of the lack of attention from the chief of staff, Guriev gently touched me with his elbow and whispered: "Colonel Oshanina, are you interested in going with me to the top of the slag heap to see if our fighters are fighting?" I looked at the chief of staff who was on the phone and nodded slightly.

In this way, Guriev and I, along with five or six commanders and fighters, cautiously came to the top of the slag heap, and lay on the ground to observe the German troops walking into the ditch and walking towards us.

When the German soldiers, disguised as our troops, walked proudly in the middle of the ditch, just when we thought we had deceived our commanders and fighters, they passed through our defensive positions and entered our rear, with a sudden burst of gunfire, an unexpected scene happened to them!

"Fire! Fire!! Fire!!! As soon as the starting gun rang out, a series of shouts rang out one after another, and the machine guns on the commanding heights on both sides opened fire violently, and a network of crossfire composed of more than a dozen tongues of fire covered the dense German soldiers in the ditch. Before the hundreds of German soldiers could come to their senses, nearly half of them were knocked down by a dense burst of bullets, and the rest hurriedly dispersed, each looking for a hiding place, trying to organize a stubborn resistance on the spot.

As soon as the dense machine-gun fire stopped, hundreds of fighters hiding behind the slag pile, under the orders of commanders at all levels, decisively rushed to the top of the slag heap and smashed countless grenades into the ditch, blowing up the remaining enemy ghosts and howls. Without waiting for the grenade explosion to stop, the light and heavy machine guns, which had been replaced with magazines, opened fire on the Germans again. The commanders and fighters who had finished throwing two rounds of grenades also picked up their guns one after another, aimed at the ditch and fired.

To my right was the commander of the guard battalion, Basmanov, and to his right was a soldier of the guard company. From the very beginning of the battle, he also shot at the enemy at the bottom of the ditch with his gun. I only watched him shoot twice, and I noticed that he was different, everyone else aimed and then pulled the trigger, but he didn't even aim and raised the gun, and after one shot, he pulled the bolt to withdraw the cartridge case, and then fired a second shot, and almost every shot was fired, a German soldier would fall to the ground.

When the gunfire stopped and the smoke cleared, I saw corpses all over the ditch, rivers of blood, and the screams of the wounded but not dead German soldiers were earth-shattering. As the new order was issued, the soldiers slowly walked down from the top of the slag pile with their weapons in their hands, and launched a dragnet search, in addition to collecting weapons and ammunition, as long as they found that there were still panting, they did not hesitate to replenish their guns one by one.

I remained silent about this killing of the Guards Division, in fact, as early as when Guriev said that his troops were not capable of containing prisoners, and hinted that his regimental commander had executed those prisoners, I knew in my heart that the 39th Guards Division would not have any German prisoners for at least a long time. And this group of German soldiers disguised as our troops can only blame them for their bad luck, and they just hit the sharp knife edge of the Guards Division. (To be continued......)