Chapter 85 Crisis
Yuri and Lobachev looked at each other, and they both had the same idea in their minds, which was which unit was causing such a big commotion on the other side of the river? There was even a more tense question: which side's unit were they from?
"Arseny, telescope!" Yuri was stunned for a few seconds, then quickly reacted and shouted to Arseny.
"Yes!" Arseni was also very nervous. The straight-line distance from here to the jungle on the opposite bank was only a few hundred meters. If the German army appeared on the opposite bank, their situation would be very dangerous.
Of course, Yuri and Lobachev were not only concerned about their own safety, but also the safety of the entire 16th Army and the entire Mozhaysk Line of Defense. At present, the various units of the 16th Army had not yet built their own lines of defense, and they had not even deployed their forces. If the German army appeared on the Vazuza River line at this time, the 16th Army would probably be quickly cut off and surrounded.
Arseny moved quickly, and in just a few seconds, Yuri's telescope was delivered to him.
Yuri looked through the telescope at the jungle on the other side of the Vazuza River. At first, he did not see any tanks through the telescope, but the increasingly clear roar of the engine made him feel more and more depressed. There is a clear difference between the engine sound of Soviet tanks and that of German tanks. Yuri has been on the front line for a long time and he knows this. Judging from the current sound, most of the tanks in the jungle on the opposite side are German tanks.
"How is it? Have you found anything?" Lobachev asked urgently with a noticeable tremor in his voice.
Just when Yuri was about to shake his head, a white figure suddenly appeared in the field of view of the telescope. It was a tank. Although the tank was camouflaged and the body was painted milky white, the cross pattern on the side of the turret could be seen very clearly.
"Quick, hide!" Yuri didn't bother to continue observing. He growled and quickly hid behind a coniferous pine tree.
Everyone was prepared, and after hearing his words, they hurriedly found a hiding place to hide.
This time, I could see without a telescope that tanks were driving out of the jungle on the other side of the river. Their wide tracks stirred up the snow at the edge of the woods and slowly climbed up the slope beside the river.
"Horses, war horses!" Yuri hid himself and turned his head to find several war horses tied not far away. This place was too close to the opposite bank. Although there was cover from the woods, the German soldiers on the opposite side could still find these war horses with a little observation through binoculars.
Arseni jumped up quickly, led two guards and rushed over, untied the reins, led the horses and galloped deep into the woods.
Lobachev's forehead was covered with cold sweat, and he did not bother to tell others anything. He ran out from behind the pine tree where he was hiding, and in two strides rushed to the edge of the pile of firewood for the bonfire. He pounced on the snow like a tiger, and then swept the firewood wildly, breaking it into pieces.
During the whole process, Yuri was worried. He kept a close eye on the German troops on the other side of the river. He knew very well that as long as the guns on the other side fired, it meant that they were exposed. Of course, they still had a chance to run away, but knowing that the German troops had been exposed, they would probably speed up their march.
Fortunately, the German troops on the other side of the river obviously did not pay attention to the jungle on this side. On the leading tank, a man dressed as a commander got out of the cockpit, stood on the top of the turret, and observed in the northwest direction through the telescope in his hand for a while, probably looking for a bridge to cross the river.
Seeing that Arseny and his men had hidden deep in the woods and Lobachev had returned behind the pine trees, Yuri finally breathed a sigh of relief. He knew that the nearest bridge was in Sychevka. Although the Vazuza River had frozen at this time, the ice was not thick enough and would certainly not be able to support the tanks crossing the river.
This German army should be the vanguard, and their purpose must be to seize the bridge over the Vazuza River to ensure that the follow-up troops can cross the river smoothly. Since it is the vanguard and their purpose is to sneak attack and seize the bridge, the size of this German army should not be too large. As long as they can reach Sychevka before them, they will have time to organize forces to block them.
The German commander standing on the top of the turret observed for a while and apparently did not find any problems. He waved towards the woods behind, then jumped off the tank, walked down the river bank, and reached the river.
As the commander walked down the river bank, more than a dozen people came out of the jungle one after another. Surprisingly, all of them were wearing Soviet uniforms, and one of them even wore the epaulettes of a captain.
These men walked down the river bank, and two of them began to drill holes in the ice on the river with an iron chisel to check the thickness of the ice.
As Yuri expected, the men broke the ice after only a dozen chiselings. They talked together for a while and probably thought that the ice could not bear the weight of the tank, so the commander climbed up the river bank again and boarded the tank. Meanwhile, a dozen guys in Soviet uniforms began to walk towards the river.
Yuri's heart was in suspense again. He was worried that these guys would just walk to the river. Once they got on the road, even if they hid well, they would be discovered. The reason was simple. There were footprints left by them on the snowy road, but the heavy snow was not enough to cover all the traces.
A dozen guys in Soviet uniforms obviously wanted to cross the river directly. Their route was very clear and they didn't even change direction along the way.
"Prepare for battle!" Seeing these dozen people crossing the river that was dozens of meters wide and finally disappearing in the shadows under the river bank, Yuri exhaled heavily and said while pulling out his pistol.
After all, Lobachev was a military commissar and did not have much combat experience. He was a little surprised when he heard Yuri's order, but then he followed Yuri's gaze and looked outside the woods. When he saw the messy footprints on the snow, his whole face turned pale.
Yuri was also worried. There were 9 people in their group now, including him and Lobachev. As for weapons, he, Lobachev and Arseny were only equipped with pistols . The rest of the guards were all equipped with PPSh submachine guns, but they had not expected any battle, so they were only equipped with one drum magazine.
The atmosphere in the jungle suddenly became tense. Arseni, who had just hidden his horse deep in the woods, was even more nervous. He was not afraid of death, but worried that something might happen to Yuri.
Time passed by second by second in the tense atmosphere, and every minute seemed as long as a year.
I don't know how long it took, probably about five or six minutes. The German tanks on the other side of the river had hidden in the woods again, and none of the German soldiers who should have climbed up the riverbank showed up.
"What's going on?" Yuri was surprised. Could it be that the Germans who came across the river fell into the ice hole?
However, as soon as he asked the question, his brain reacted. Due to his nervousness, his thinking was in a dead end. Of course, the dozen guys in Soviet uniforms could not have fallen into the ice hole. They just did not go directly to the river bank. They were probably below the river bank and walked directly along the river bank.
Arseni probably guessed this, and he crawled out from behind the pine tree where he was hiding and gestured to Yuri, meaning that he was ready to go for reconnaissance.
Yuri nodded, and watched him move slowly through the snow to the edge of the woods, and finally stop behind a dry bush covered with snow, as fluffy as a snowball. He peeked at the road, then turned back and gestured.
His gesture was very simple, just pointing towards the north, which meant that a dozen Germans had already headed north.
Yuri breathed a sigh of relief. He raised the telescope again and looked into the woods across the river. There was no movement over there and the sound of tank engines was fading away. He guessed that the German tanks had also left.
"Their target is Sychevka," Yuri said solemnly, coming out from behind the pine tree where he had been hiding.
"Lobeiskoye Bridge!" Lobachev gritted his teeth and said fiercely.
Yuri nodded, agreeing with his guess.
The geographical location of Sychevka is very special. The three rivers, the Vazuza River, the Losimina River and the Yablonya River, converge in the Sychevka area. Sychevka is located at the triangular estuary where the Vazuza River and the Losimina River meet, making it a very good defensive stronghold.
Currently, the Soviet troops stationed in the area are the 1st Moscow Motorized Division commanded by Colonel Livkov, but according to information given by Lobachev yesterday, the troops of the 1st Moscow Motorized Division are still in Zhernovka, about ten kilometers away from Sychevka. The troops stationed in Sychevka are actually a mixed militia unit.
There is no doubt that it is impossible to rely on a militia unit of less than 300 people and without heavy firepower support to fight against the German vanguard supported by tanks, not to mention that they have no defense at all.
"Comrade Military Commissar, the situation is urgent now. We have no time to waste," Yuri said after a brief consideration. "I ask you to rush to Zhernovka immediately. If Colonel Livkov's troops are still stranded there, please order him to reinforce Sychevka as quickly as possible. I will rush to Sychevka immediately and take over the militia detachment there. It would be best if we can blow up the Lobeiskoye Bridge. If not, I will try my best to delay the German army on the west bank of the Vazuza River."
After saying this, Yuri emphasized: "Comrade Military Commissar, you don't have much time, because I may not be able to hold on for long."
