Red Moscow

Early the next morning, Sokov took a few soldiers to the position in the south of the city to learn about the drainage of the trenches here. After the car stopped near the position, Sokov took the lead and jumped into the trench. Although there is no water in the trenches, the soil on the ground has not yet dried out, and the feet are as soft as stepping on a thick carpet.

Griza, who was still sleeping in the company's command post, heard the report from the soldiers that Sokov had come to inspect the position, so he quickly tidied up his military appearance and ran out to meet him.

Seeing Griza running towards him, Sokov asked first, "Comrade Lieutenant, have you cleaned up all the accumulated water in the trench?"

"Yes, Comrade Brigadier Commander." Grisa quickly replied, "Through the efforts of all the commanders and fighters of the company, all the accumulated water in the trenches was drained before dark last night."

Sokov walked quite a distance in the trench and didn't see any stagnant water anywhere. He was very curious about where Griza and the others drained the water, so he asked curiously: "Comrade Lieutenant, I would like to ask , where did you drain the stagnant water, did you drain it all back into the Tnebra River?"

After listening to Sokov's question, Griza replied with a smile: "Comrade Brigadier, please come with me, and I will take you to see the drainage place."

Under the guidance of Sokov, they came to the forefront of the position. When he saw clearly the expanse of ocean in front of the position, he couldn't help asking in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant, have you drained all the stagnant water to the front of the position?"

Griza nodded, and replied affirmatively: "That's right, we drained all the stagnant water in this open space, which is equivalent to forming a natural barrier. If the Germans want to attack from here, their soldiers will Having to wade through knee-deep water so our fighters can shoot them all like a target."

Looking at the waterlogged area several kilometers wide and five or six hundred meters deep in front of him, Sokov nodded with satisfaction, and said to himself: This is really a blessing in disguise. The Germans sent saboteurs to destroy the gate on the Tenebra River. , flooded the positions of the second battalion and the first company. Unexpectedly, Griza's mind is quite good, and he actually discharged all the accumulated water in the trench to the front of the position. With such a wide water surface, the German tanks can't come over. They can only rely on the infantry to wade in. However, in front of the defensive positions equipped with a large number of machine guns, they can only be killed in groups. in the water.

"Not bad, very good." Sokov said approvingly: "If the Germans want to attack your company's position, they must first cross the Tenebra River, and then walk five or six hundred meters before reaching your position. Against an exhausted enemy, it only takes a few machine guns to stop them."

Sokov saw that the accumulated water in front of the Grisa company's position formed a natural barrier. He felt that as long as the German commander was not in the water, he would never choose the direction of attack here. Therefore, he took the accompanying soldiers with confidence and rushed to inspect the position in the west of the city.

Both Sokov and Griza believed that the enemy would not attack in a direction full of stagnant water. However, at two o'clock in the morning, the sentinel Yelizaveta, who was on duty in the position, vaguely heard something moving in front of the position. While he was lying on the edge of the trench to check, another sentry named Ainuo came over and asked curiously, "Hey, Elizaveta, what are you looking at?"

"I heard something moving by the river." Elizaveta pointed to the dark river with his hand, and said, "The sound came from that direction."

Ainuo squinted his eyes and looked in the direction Yelizaveta pointed, but because there was no moon in the sky, he couldn't see anything clearly, so he shook his head and said, "But I didn't see anything." .”

"No, this matter needs to be reported to the company commander immediately." After Yelizaveta finished speaking, he got up and walked into a nearby observation post, picked up the phone hanging on the wall: "Hello, is this the company department? I am Elizaveta, Sentinel on duty tonight."

"Comrade Elizaveta," the person who answered the phone was Griza. He heard that it was a sentinel on duty who called him, so he asked politely, "Is there anything you need to report to me?"

"Comrade Company Commander," Elizaveta said with some unease, "I seem to hear something moving by the river."

"Movement, what movement?" Grisa, who was awakened by the ringing of the phone, was still a little confused at first, but when she heard Elizaveta said that there was movement by the river, she immediately became sober: "Speak clearly. , what happened by the river?"

"I can't tell, Comrade Company Commander." Elizaveta said, "It feels a bit like people are rowing a boat, but unfortunately there is no moon in the sky, so I can't see anything clearly."

"I see," Griza said into the microphone while putting on his boots, "I'll go to your place right away and find out what the noise is that keeps ringing."

When Elizaveta hung up the phone, Ainuo also criticized him and said: "If you don't figure out the situation, call the company commander. If the company commander comes later and finds that there is no movement by the river, it is you If you got it wrong, I will definitely criticize you then.”

Hearing what Aino said, Elizaveta was also in a state of turmoil, but since he had already called the company commander, whether he would be criticized could only depend on his luck. So he bit the bullet and said, "We are the two of us on guard tonight. If we notice something unusual and don't report it in time, we will be punished afterwards."

Griza came soon, followed by a platoon leader and a soldier. He flashed the flashlight at the faces of the two of them, and then it went out quickly. He asked in a low voice: "Is that Comrade Elizaveta?"

"It's me, Comrade Company Commander." Elizaveta was afraid Griza would not know where he was, and reminded him, "I'm just a few steps ahead of you."

Griza came to Elizaveta's side and asked in a low voice, "What's going on, is there any movement?"

Elizaveta pointed forward and said, "Comrade Company Commander, it's just in the direction of the river. I heard the sound of rowing boats, but it was too dark to see anything clearly."

"Signaler." Griza waited for Elizaveta to finish speaking, then turned and said to the soldiers following him, "Shoot a flare into the sky."

The signaler agreed, loaded a flare into the gun, and fired a shot into the air. After the flares rose into the sky, they illuminated the water in front of the position, but the water was calm and nothing could be seen. Elizaveta's face turned red immediately, he felt that he must have heard wrongly, how could the German army appear in such a bad place.

Just when the flares went out, Grisa suddenly raised his voice and said to the signalman: "Fire another flare, and shoot it towards the river. Do you understand?"

"Understood." The signal soldier agreed, and after loading the flares again, he tilted the muzzle of the gun and pulled the trigger again.

When the flares rose into the sky, everyone's eyes turned to the river. I saw a row of small boats parked by the river, and countless German soldiers were jumping off the boats, wading towards the position with guns in hand.

"Battle alert." Sokov turned to the platoon leader and said, "The enemy has begun to attack. Immediately order your troops to enter the defensive position."