Chapter 2055: unexpected reunion

  Chapter 2055 Unexpected reunion

  Although Sokov gave the troops an order to stop attacking and switch to defense on the spot, some troops still did not implement his order. A dozen tanks from the 3rd Battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade were following behind the 65th Brigade of the 11th Guards Tank Army, rushing towards Ketong, a small town more than ten kilometers away.

  The first company commander, Lieutenant Kavachuko, took the T-34/85 and rushed to the forefront of the entire battalion. According to the instructions of the battalion commander, Lieutenant Kupala, they kept a distance of three to four kilometers from friendly tanks to avoid confusion during the battle because they were difficult to identify.

   There were five people in the tank. In addition to Kavachuko, there were Sergeant Sorokin the driver, Sergeant Asan the gunner, Sergeant Yakushev the loader, and Corporal Bulova the electromechanical officer.

  When the tank was four or five kilometers away from Ketong, it was intercepted by German artillery fire. Kavachuko saw through the observation hole that the friendly tanks in front were constantly being destroyed by German artillery fire and were burning on the road. Looking at the scene in front of him, he couldn't restrain the fear in his heart. You must know that among these burning tanks, some comrades who fought side by side with him not long ago have turned into charred corpses.

   "Lieutenant Kavachuko, what happened in front?" The voice of the battalion commander Lieutenant Kupala came from the radio: "Why do I see a lot of smoke rising?"

"Comrade Battalion Commander," Kavachuko hurriedly reported to the battalion commander: "The group of friendly tanks that are advancing has been bombarded by heavy German artillery. Many tanks have been destroyed and are burning on the road. What you see What I saw was the thick smoke rising from the burning of these tanks."

  After a moment of silence, Kupala's voice came from the earphones: "Go ahead, Comrade Lieutenant, keep going! Only by continuing to advance towards Koton can we avoid the fate of the tank being destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire."

   "Yes, keep moving forward to get rid of the fate of being destroyed by German artillery fire." After repeating Kupala's order, Kavachuko ordered the driver Sorokin sitting next to him: "Sergeant Sorokin, speed up!"

   Sorokin promised to increase the speed of the tank to the fastest speed, and it was not walking in a straight line, so as not to be hit by German artillery fire. The high-speed tank trembled violently, bumped, and swayed from side to side with the ups and downs of the tracks. But Kavachuko ignored the bumps of the tank, and still observed the movement ahead through the observation hole.

At this moment, they saw that they were approaching a small town. Kavachuko saw two German tanks parked next to the collapsed buildings on the right side of the road. Their muzzles were pointing at where their tanks were, and he quickly issued a password. : "Load armor-piercing shells!"

   "The armor-piercing shells are loaded!" Sergeant Yakushev, the loader, answered hoarsely.

  The tank stopped suddenly and locked on one of the German tanks in the shortest possible time. Kavachuko immediately ordered to fire when he saw this. The armor-piercing projectile whistling out of the chamber accurately hit the observation hole of the tank. A moment later, from the open hatch at the top of the turret, flames and gunpowder smoke shot up to Lao Gao like an erupting volcano. Two tank soldiers who were covered in fire got out from under the vehicle, and regardless of the danger of being shot by machine guns, they turned around and fled to a further place.

   Another German tank, seeing its companion was destroyed by the galloping Soviet tank, hesitated for a moment, and quickly backed up to the back of the building to avoid possible attacks.

   At this time, the IS-2 tank of the battalion commander Captain Kupala rushed up and rushed directly towards the collapsed building. The tank stopped next to the building and fired at the German tank hiding behind, blowing the opponent's turret away with just one shot.

  In the next attack, the battalion commander's IS-2 rushed to the forefront of the whole battalion, and at the same time became the target of the anti-tank firepower hidden nearby. The German anti-tank guns were very accurate, hitting the target again and again. As this heavy tank was hit by shells again and again, fireballs splashed from the turret from time to time. However, the IS-2's armor could withstand the attacks of the German small-caliber anti-tank guns, and these attacks did not slow down its advancement at all.

   Seeing the battalion commander rushing to the forefront, Kavachuko pointed forward with his hand and said to Sergeant Sorokin: "Comrade sergeant, keep up with the battalion commander's tank, and don't fall behind!"

   "Understood, Comrade Company Commander." Sorokin replied loudly, "I will appear wherever the battalion commander's tank is."

  The long-range artillery fire of the German army has stopped shelling because it was bombed by Soviet bombers. The Soviet tank troops that rushed into the town are fighting with the defenders in the town.

  Compared with the copper and iron fortifications of the city, this poor defense in the town is not worth mentioning. The German soldiers who were hiding in the buildings and shooting were locked on by the Soviet tanks just after firing a few shots, and even if they were not killed on the spot, they would be buried by the collapsed bricks and rubble.

  In less than forty minutes, the entire town was occupied by Soviet tank troops.

  The newly arrived 36th Tank Brigade and the 12th Motorized Rifle Brigade took over the offensive task of the 65th Tank Brigade and continued to rush in the direction of Katong, preparing to occupy the city.

  The Third Battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade under Sokov stopped planning to continue the offensive due to lack of ammunition and fuel. The battalion commander, Captain Kupala, reported the combat situation of his battalion to the brigade commander through the vehicle-mounted radio, and reported the lack of fuel and ammunition to the brigade commander.

  He finally said: "Comrade Brigadier, if we have enough ammunition and fuel for our battalion, I am confident that I will be the first to charge into Ketong City."

"Nonsense, it's nonsense." Unexpectedly, the brigade commander said angrily after hearing this: "Comrade commander has issued an order to stop the offensive and turn to the defensive on the spot. How dare you disobey the order and lead the troops to occupy the enemy's territory without authorization?" If you launch an attack on the city of the city, if the troops suffer heavy losses, you can wait to be court-martialed."

   "Comrade Brigadier," Kupala broke into a cold sweat from the brigade commander's words, and then said, "I will immediately count the casualties of the troops, and then report to you."

   After finishing the call, he got out of the tank and asked his three company commanders to report the damage.

   Soon, the statistical results will come out. The battalion originally had 27 tanks of various types, but 7 were lost when Seidlce was captured, leaving 20 tanks left. In the battle that ended not long ago, three more were lost, and now there are 17 left.

  After listening to the statistical speed of the company commanders, Kupala felt more at ease. Although his troops suffered a lot in today's battle, most of their strength was still preserved. In other words, the combat effectiveness of his own battalion did not suffer much loss in today's battle.

   While everyone was talking, some ordinary people appeared on the street. These Polish ordinary people looked at the Soviet army on the street without any expression of joy, so it can be seen that they did not welcome the Soviet army appearing in the town.

  At this time, a young woman wearing a headscarf walked quickly in front of Kupala and Kavachuko, and asked in Russian: "Comrade commander, what part do you belong to?"

  Hearing the woman's question, Kavachuko asked vigilantly: "Why do you ask this?"

  The woman said with a smile on her face: "I just want to know which part of the Soviet army that liberated this town belongs to."

   Kupala stared at the woman for a long time, feeling that the other party did not look like a bad person, and thinking that revealing the designation of his unit would not be considered a leak, he said carelessly: "We are a tank brigade belonging to the 48th Army."

   "The 48th Army?!" After hearing this, the woman's eyes widened in surprise: "Are you Misha's subordinate?"

  The woman's words made Kupala startled: "Who is Misha?"

   "Misha is General Sokov." The woman said emotionally, "Are you the troops under his command?"

  Hearing that the woman called her commander very intimately, Kupala asked tentatively: "Girl, can you tell me what relationship you have with our commander?"

   "Comrade Captain," the woman glanced at Kupala's military rank, and asked tentatively, "Can the radio station in your tank reach the headquarters of the Army Group?"

"Although my radio station cannot directly contact the army headquarters, I can contact the brigade headquarters first, and then the brigade headquarters and the army headquarters can get in touch." After Kupala finished speaking, he continued to ask: "But in Before that, I must know your identity, girl."

"Well, if Misha asks, just say my name is Adelina, and he will know who I am." Perhaps to increase persuasiveness, she pointed to the tank parked next to her and said, "I remember Misha installed a telephone on the back of the tank so that people outside could communicate with people inside the tank."

   Originally, Kupala had some doubts about Adelina's identity, but after hearing what she said, she immediately realized that what she said might be true. Although there are many tanks with telephones installed in the tank brigade, not many people know that it was invented by Sokov. He quickly and politely said to Adelina: "Comrade Adelina, please wait a moment, I will help you contact the commander immediately."

   When Sokov was talking to Ponejielin and Sidolin in the headquarters to discuss how to solve the problem of weapons, the phone on the desk rang.

Sidolin picked up the phone and listened for a while, then turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the tank brigade said that one of his battalion commanders named Kupala was in a village a few kilometers west of Siedlce. In the town, I met an acquaintance of yours."

   "An acquaintance of mine?" Sokov asked a little puzzled, "Who is it?"

   "Captain Kupala said that the girl claimed to be Adelina." Sidolin said to Sokov: "The other party specifically emphasized that as long as you say her name, you will know who she is."

"Yes, I do know a girl named Adelina." When Sokov heard Adelina's name, he couldn't help being secretly surprised. The last time he met her was in the underground opposite Lubyanka How could she be in Poland while she was recuperating in the hospital? But if you want to find out about this, you have to wait for Adelina to come here, so he said to Sidolin: "You tell the tank brigade commander and arrange for someone to send that Adelina girl here immediately." .Remember, make sure she's safe."

  Sidorin nodded, and said into the microphone: "Comrade Brigadier, the commander said that the girl is indeed his friend, and I asked you to send her safely to the Army Group Command as soon as possible. Do you understand?"

   Waiting for Sidolin to put down the phone, Ponejielin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, who is this girl named Adelina? I feel that you seem very nervous when you hear her name."

"How should I put it, it can be regarded as a friend." Sukov considered that Adelina will be here soon, and it is impossible to completely avoid Ponegerin and Sidolin in some conversations with her, so Then he told the two about the process of knowing Adelina and her identity.

After learning about Adelina's identity, Bonejelin nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, if this Adelina is in charge of lurking inside the enemy to collect intelligence, she may appear here for the sake of Personally send some important information. Look, should we contact the front army headquarters first and let them be responsible for arranging this matter?"

   "Don't worry." Sokov waved his hands and said, "Although she appears here, it is very likely that she will convey important information, but it is best to understand the specific situation before reporting to the superior."

   "Alright then." Ponegerin felt that what Sokov said made sense, so he agreed with him: "Then we will decide whether to report to the superior after this Adelina arrives."

  Although Sokov knew that Adelina was coming from the town west of Siedlce, it must have taken a lot of time on the road. But I didn't expect to wait until the early morning before Agelina appeared at the army headquarters.

After seeing Sokov, Adelina stepped forward and gave him a warm hug: "Misha, I am so happy to see you here. When I was trapped in the small town, I thought I couldn't leave the town alive, but I didn't expect your troops to rush into the town with tanks, wiped out the defenders inside, and let me see hope again."

Sokov patted Adelina on the back lightly, comforting her and said: "Adelina, you will be completely safe when you come to my place. You must be very tired, why don't you go to rest first, what's the matter?" , and talk about it after dawn."

Unexpectedly, Adelina let go of Sokov after hearing this, she took two steps back and said to Sokov, "No, Misha, I can't rest now, I have important information and need to report it to my superior immediately. "

   "Important information?" Sokov asked tentatively, "What is it about?"

  Hearing Sokov ask herself, Adelina hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "This information comes from the German Army Command in Warsaw. It is related to the next combat deployment of our army, and it needs to be reported to the superior immediately."

   "Since it's important information," Sokov asked a little puzzled when he heard that it was important, "Then why don't you use the radio to send the report, but take the risk to send the information?"

"Our intelligence system in Warsaw has been destroyed by the Germans because of the betrayal of the traitors." Agelina said solemnly: "Since I have always been in single-line contact, the comrade in charge of contacting me was captured by the German army. I died during the arrest, so my identity was not exposed. Because the information I obtained was very important, and there was no radio station to send it, so I could only make up and leave Warsaw, preparing to send the information myself.”

Sokov didn't ask any further, because he knew very well that the content of the intelligence involved confidentiality, and no matter how close he was to Adelina, she would never tell herself: "Adelina, I will give Luo Marshal Kosovsky is calling to see how he plans to arrange for you."

  (end of this chapter)