Chapter 28: Battle
"Da Da Da"
In the misty night, the sudden sound of gunfire seemed even clearer.
In the two-story tower of the Lutsk radar station, Yuri stood in front of a large table that had been temporarily vacated, staring at a hand-drawn military , frowning and saying nothing.
Just ten minutes ago, the rebels composed of Bandera elements attacked the simple station in the south of Lutsk and burned down two warehouses of the station. Near the station, an infantry squad under the 3rd Company of the 209th Battalion had a brief exchange of fire with the rebels. According to the report of the 3rd Company, there were about 60 rebels and they were equipped with at least two light machine guns. The infantry squad that engaged in the fire was obviously at a disadvantage and chose to retreat after losing one man.
Almost at the same time as the battle at the station started, another group of rebels broke into the town from the east and tried to pass through the town to attack the radar station from the east, but was blocked by the 2nd Company with a machine gun platoon. The battle between the two sides was fierce, and looking east from the tower where Yuri was, he could clearly see the tracer formed by the bullets breaking through the night.
The two battles started at the same time, which made Yuri feel uneasy. He felt that both the intelligence previously transmitted by Lviv and the intelligence detected by the scouts might have errors and omissions. The number of rebels should be more than a hundred people. Their strength should be more, or even much more.
This suspicion was well-founded, because so far, judging from the intensity of the battle, the rebels had deployed more than 100 troops in the eastern part of the town alone, and the 2nd Company's blocking battle was very difficult. If the rebel forces attacking the temporary station were included, their strength would have exceeded 200, and according to Yuri's judgment, the rebels should have reserve forces, otherwise they would not have continued to launch offensives after encountering the powerful blocking of the 2nd Company.
The map on the table was hand-drawn by Yuri after he completed the survey of the terrain near the radar station. He had studied this simple hand-drawn map many times and made some predictions about the various possibilities of the enemy launching an attack.
Judging from the current situation, if the rebels only attack the 2nd Company position on the eastern front, they will probably only get hurt - after all, the rebels are just rebels, and most of their members are ordinary people who have not received any military training. When facing real military forces, they have a big gap in terms of both the quality of their soldiers and their weapons. What's more, the 2nd Company's position is set up in a previously vacated civilian house, where there are many hiding places and it is better to defend than to attack.
However, Yuri believed that the rebel commanders would not be so stupid. Both the attack on the station and the assault on the 2nd Company's position were probably feints. The real target of the rebels was most likely the northern front.
From a geographical point of view, the radar station was built on the west side of the town. To the east of the radar station were the town's houses. To the west was a drinking water ditch built by the collective farm. This ditch was only 10 meters wide and inverted triangle-shaped. Although it did not form an obstacle, it was not as convenient as flat terrain. To the south was the collective farm's farmland, which was flat, but there were two wind mills between the farmland and the radar station. The mills were built of stone, tall and solid, and were natural firepower points. Yuri set up a machine gun point on each of the two mills, and also equipped them with a platoon of soldiers. If the rebels attacked from this side, they would definitely not get anything good.
The only remaining side was the area to the north of the radar station, which was a vast stretch of woodland with a narrow view and no good defensive strongholds. It was undoubtedly an excellent location for the rebels to attack.
The rebels chose to attack at night, and arranged feint attacks in two other directions to confuse the enemy. Their main attack direction was most likely arranged in the north.
If he did not take the initiative, relying on the defense, Yuri would be able to repel the rebels' attack and win the battle. The problem now was how to eliminate the enemy as much as possible and expand the results of the battle.
In order to achieve the goal of destroying the enemy as much as possible, Yuri decided to adopt some small strategies in the battle on the north side, using the tactic of adding fuel to the fire to paralyze the enemy, induce them to indulge in the illusion of victory, and waste their manpower. At the end, perhaps he could seize the opportunity to launch a beautiful counterattack and wipe out the rebels.
"Da Da Da"
"coax!"
The fighting on the east side is still going on, and the intensity of the fighting is tending to intensify.
Yuri put down the curved meter in his hand, stood up straight with his hands on the map, stretched his muscles hard, and was about to call the communicator when he heard heavy footsteps outside the door.
The footsteps were clearly coming towards his room and stopped at the door. Then, the half-closed door was pushed open from the outside, and a tall, slightly thin-faced officer walked in.
"Comrade Captain Yuri," the officer stood at the door and saluted in a standard manner, but his tone was not very friendly, "Did you hear the gunshots outside?"
Yuri raised his head slightly, glanced at the other person with sidelong eyes, then lowered his head and continued to look at the map on the table, but said no word.
The officer seemed very angry when he didn't get the answer he deserved. His fair face turned slightly red. He took a few steps forward and walked to the table in front of Yuri. He supported the table with one hand and raised his voice and said, "Comrade Captain Yuri, I am reminding you that the battle has been going on for half an hour and your soldiers are bleeding."
"This is a battle, a battle between Soviet revolutionary fighters and the Bandera gang," Yuri didn't like this officer, not only because of his fair, delicate face, but also because of his condescending attitude. Therefore, when he said this, his tone was not very good, "Since it is a battle, there will be bloodshed."
"Of course there will be bloodshed in battle, but as a commander, you always need to do something!" The officer took off his military cap angrily, and his long black hair instantly fell down. It turned out that this delicate-looking officer was actually a woman.
That’s right, this second lieutenant is the commander of the radar station’s communications platoon, Second Lieutenant Nikita.
"Comrade Lieutenant Nikita, please be aware of your identity," Yuri raised his head, looked at the lieutenant expressionlessly, and said, "I am the commander of the 209th Battalion. This battle is under my command, and the task of guarding the radar station is also my responsibility. As for you, as a national security lieutenant, your duties are limited to the scope of your position. Your identity does not give you the power to command beyond your authority."
"You!" The second lieutenant was choked, stared at Yuri with wide eyes, unable to say a word for a long time.
"Okay, Comrade Captain Yuri, I admit that you are right." After a moment's silence, the lieutenant calmed down his excitement and said, "I have no right to interfere with your command, but as a commander, you can't ignore the lives of your troops, right? Lieutenant Anastasia has asked you for help twice. The battle at his position is very fierce and he needs reinforcements."
Lieutenant Anastasia was the commander of the 2nd Company of the 209th Battalion. As far as Yuri knew, during the few days they were stationed at the radar station, this lieutenant and Lieutenant Nikita became very familiar with each other, but it was not known whether they had an affair.
"I have already responded to Lieutenant Anastasia's request for assistance," Yuri pushed the map away from the table, turned away from the table, and said, "I don't have any extra troops to assign to him."
"You still have two companies... no, at least one company." Lieutenant Nikita chased after him and shouted.
Yuri ignored her. He had long been fed up with Nikita. This woman was very arrogant, always looking down on others, and she liked to get involved in everything, pointing fingers and making comments.
Although Yuri has a high military rank and a high position, there is nothing he can do. He is a second lieutenant in the Ministry of State Security. What is the Ministry of State Security? It is a key department that was separated from the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs not long ago. Yuri, a captain, has no control over them.
Coming out of the room, Yuri went down the spiral staircase. At the staircase, two soldiers with guns were standing guard there. When they saw Yuri coming down the stairs, they saluted.
"You still have at least one company at your disposal," Nikita chased after them , shouting, "Why can't you hold on? You should know that we have already contacted the Special Military District. Maybe you only need to hold on for three hours. By daybreak, other supporting troops will be here."
What a joke! Yuri didn't even have the interest to say a word to this woman. As a commander, it would be foolish to pin his hopes solely on reinforcements. The battlefield changes rapidly. Who can predict what will happen next?
Ignoring Nikita's nagging, Yuri came out of the building, stood on the steps in front of the building and looked towards the north side of the radar station.
The night was quite dark, and because of the rain, there was a faint mist, and nothing could be seen clearly. However, as the gunfire from the east became more and more intense, Yuri became more and more convinced of his guess - any attack from other directions was a feint, and only the north was the main attack direction of the rebels.
"Signalman!" Without any hesitation, Yuri stood on the steps and shouted.
"Here!" A young soldier hurried over in the darkness and answered loudly, "Comrade Captain Yuri!"
"Go to the 2nd Company and convey my order to Lieutenant Anastasia!" Yuri said, "Tell him that I don't have any extra troops to allocate to him, but no matter how fierce the enemy's attack is, he must hold on. He has only two choices, either hold on or wait for a military court!"
