Karpov looked at me in great astonishment, as if considering whether what I had said was true or false, because what I had said was beyond what he could understand. After hesitating for a while, he cautiously asked, "Colonel, are all you saying true?" ”

"Yes." I gave him a very direct affirmative answer: "I am telling the truth, and if I had not been sincere, I would not have come to you today." ”

"Colonel, from the fact that you can come here, I can feel your sincerity." Karpov had a smile on his face. "Then we should be able to discuss the details of how to get out of this hellish place."

From Karpov's words, I could see that the sincerity I expressed dispelled his concerns and further won his trust. I brought up the two options again, and I hope that he can choose one of them, so that we can refine the details of the action in the following talks.

Unexpectedly, Karpov shook his head and said casually: "Colonel, I don't think these two plans are perfect, if they are put into practice, whether it is our battalion or the receiving troops, there may be a fierce battle with the surrounding German troops." Once the fighting starts, the possibility of the entire army being annihilated is very high, and even if they are lucky enough to break out of the encirclement, the troops will be completely lost. ”

His words aroused my curiosity, and my fingers quickly drew question marks on the table in front of me, and at the same time asked curiously: "Captain Karpov, do you have a better plan?" ”

"It's no surprise!" Karpov said confidently, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned, and a smile on his face that made me unpredictable. "I also prepared a plan to get out of danger. compared to your plan. The risk should be so small that our troops can even reach your position without firing a shot. ”

"Oh, to hear that makes me curious. Can you tell me about your plan? Karpov's confidence made me even more interested in his proposal.

"Look here," he said abruptly, leaning forward, and pointing his hand at a spot above. I quickly tilted my head to look in the direction of his finger. Just listen to him: "Two kilometers southwest of our camp there is a camp in which an Italian unit is stationed. ”

When I heard him say this, I nodded, took over and said, "Well, I know this Italian battalion, they are responsible for guarding the German military supplies, and because of the heavy security, our reconnaissance unit has not been able to successfully infiltrate. But I don't understand, is there any connection between the Italian battalion and your extrication operation? ”

"Absolutely." Karpov said in the affirmative, looking at me with a blank expression on his face. Hastened to explain to me: "It's like this, Colonel Oshanina, there are contradictions between the Italian battalion and the Germans in the vicinity. It used to be a German camp, but because there were often clashes with the Italians, the German commander had to transfer our battalion to ease the conflict between the two armies. ”

Although Karpov did not finish his sentence, I had already heard the song and understood the meaning of the song, and my eyes lit up, and I hurriedly asked: "You mean to let the Germans and Italians clash again, to divert the attention of the German commanders, so that you will have the opportunity to slip out of the place where the Germans' defenses are lax." ”

"Exactly," Karpov was so happy that he could not keep his mouth shut when I guessed what he wanted to say, and praised me repeatedly: "Colonel, you are so clever that you have guessed my plan before I have finished my sentence." ”

After he said this, I could not help but fall into silence, although his plan was very ingenious, but first of all, we must find ways to provoke the contradictions between the German and Italian armies, so that the situation is chaotic, and they will have the opportunity to slip away. But how can I provoke a conflict between the two armies? Can't I, I run outside the Italian camp with a bunch of commanders and fighters, spit on them and throw stones at them, right? Of course, there is no need to shout and scold outside the camp, first, we are pretending to be German troops, and we are not fighting between the two countries, so there is no need to scold outside; On the other hand, there must have been communication between the Italian and German camps, and perhaps before we could sell a few words, the SS or the Gestapo would come and wipe out our impostors.

Seeing that I had not spoken for a long time, Karpov suddenly remembered something and asked: "Comrade Colonel, do you think that even if the Germans and Italians get into trouble, we will not see a chance to take advantage of it?" ”

Although I heard that his speculation was somewhat biased, I felt that he was still a very assertive commander during the time I was in contact with him, and his opinion was quite important on how to get the Eastern Battalion out of danger, so I said with a smile: "Yes, that's what I thought. Don't know if you have any better ideas? ”

"Quite simply, due to the location of the Italians, exactly in the rear of the 44th Division. In the event of a conflict, in order to prevent the situation from escalating, the enemy will inevitably bring back some of his forces from the front line to be on alert. At this point, I was able to report to the German commander through the Guò Soldier Inspectorate and apply to take over the forward defense of the 44th Division. As long as we get approval, we can swagger to the front. We don't even need to send troops to meet us, we can put on a pretend offensive posture and quickly rush into the defense zone of the independent division. ”

Karpov's plan was not only ingenious, but also quite bold, and if one of the links went wrong, it would be the result of the failure of the previous work. However, compared with the two proposals I proposed first, they are more operable, so I only thought about it for a moment, and then agreed without hesitation: "Captain Karpov, your plan is good, then our next discussion will revolve around this topic." ”

Without waiting for Karpov to say anything, Savchenko, who was guarding the door, suddenly opened the curtain and walked in, muttering: "Hell, there is obviously a moon in the sky, why does it suddenly rain." As he spoke, he patted the rain hanging from his shoulders with his hands.

Originally, I wanted to wait until Karpov was discussing the ugliness of his stature, and then call Savchenko in to have a closer look, since he walked in himself, I would not have to call him again. I beckoned to him. Motioned for him to come to the table.

After Savchenko came over. He asked politely, "Commander." What's the matter? ”

"Where's Captain Grams?" I asked.

"Didn't you just send him to take a few men to spy on the Germans in the soldier monitoring group?" Savchenko was surprised when he heard me ask, but he honestly replied: "He should still be on a surveillance mission." ”

"Just now Captain Karpov proposed a plan to get out of trouble, you can take a look, by the way, tell me your personal thoughts." As I spoke, I will explain the plan just put forward by Karpov as it is.

Savchenko stared at the map for a long time. Finally, he nodded slowly and expressed his opinion: "Comrade division commander, I think Captain Karpov's mention is very good, if the Germans really transfer his troops to the front line, then it is a very simple thing for them to hold anyway and successfully enter the defense zone of our division." At this point, he paused for a moment, his brow furrowed tightly, "But what can we do to bring the Germans and Italians into conflict?" If only they hadn't clashed. Captain Karpov rashly made a request to the German commander to transfer his defenses, which would attract unnecessary suspicion from the enemy. ”

"yes. Comrade Savchenko. I sighed deeply and said, "I haven't thought of a way to stir up contradictions between the enemy." What about you, what's the good one to build? ”

Savchenko shook his head with a wry smile and said, "Comrade division commander, you can't even think of a way, let alone say it. ”

The three of us continued to discuss for a long time, but we did not come up with a practical and effective solution, so we had to take out my original plan and study it, focusing on how to improve the details.

After daybreak, a tired Gramss walked into the tent and reported to me, "Report to the division commander, I have returned from my mission. It's not early, it's time for us to go back. ”

Listening to Grams's lame Russian made me feel particularly upset, so I said to him angrily: "Captain Grams, the next time you see an interpreter around me, please speak German, lest I have to listen hard." ”

Grams, who didn't understand some words, quickly pulled Savchenko to ask what was going on, and when he understood what I meant, he snapped up and said loudly: "Yes! ”

On the return, it was Grams, still in the co-pilot's seat, and Savchenko and a dozen or so former German soldiers were sitting in the compartment. Seeing my sullen appearance, Savchenko kindly comforted me and said: "Comrade division commander, don't be in a hurry, when you return to the camp, you will discuss with the political commissar and the chief of staff to see if there is any good way." ”

I hummed and asked him, "Is our truck coming back the same way?" ”

He shook his head and replied: "No, we are now heading to the defensive area of the German 44th Division and returning to our heights from the vicinity of Heights 107.5." ”

I nodded, didn't speak, and then closed my eyes and began to close my eyes to make up for the sleep I had missed last night.

I don't know how long I drove, but the truck jolted so hard that I hit my head the side fender of the car, and because of the heavy impact, even though I was wearing a steel helmet, it still knocked me into the eyes.

Suddenly, there was a noisy roar from the back of the car, which alarmed everyone in the carriage, and the two fighters who were sitting on the tailgate also lifted the tarpaulin to see what was going on. I stood up with the fender and looked out over the open tarpaulin at the back of the car, and saw several officers and soldiers in Italian uniforms standing by a puddle, dancing and yelling at our car.

"What's going on?" I asked Savchenko strangely.

He shook his head, then walked up to one of the soldiers, asked a few questions, and then returned to me and reported to me: "Comrade division commander, it is so, when our car passed in front of the Italian soldiers standing guard, we accidentally splashed water from a puddle on them, and they are angry about it. Then he said to himself, "Isn't it just a little splash of water on your body, and it's worth all the fuss?" ”

At this moment, I thought of a way to provoke a contradiction between the German army and the Italian army, so I hurriedly said to Savchenko excitedly: "Savchenko, let Captain Grams stop and reverse the car." ”

Although Savchenko didn't know why I gave such an order, he raised his hand and patted the top of the cockpit vigorously. When Grams, who heard the commotion, pulled the door and poked his head out of the car, Savchenko conveyed my order to him. Without saying a word, Grahms immediately ordered the driver to stop and quickly retreat towards the Italian soldiers.

Seeing that the truck was getting closer and closer to the Italian soldiers, Savchenko asked me: "What should we do when the truck is in front of them?" ”

"Get all the fighters out of the car and beat these Italian sentries to the ground!" (To be continued......)