—— Red Army Sniper ——140And I outlined my plan to the officers.
‘Well, it’s risky, even a gamble to some extent, but in principle
it could work. Let’s consult with our “senior” – what does he say?’
The ‘senior’ was ‘in favour’. ‘When it comes to wiping out Nazis,
any means are fine!’ he told Agashin.
At exactly 1900 hours I crept out of my trench and, hiding
behind some bushes, crawled on my elbows in the Germans’
direction, taking cover now and then in shell holes. It was still
about a hundred metres to their front line. About forty metres
from our trenches I arose from a shell hole and, whistling loudly,
raised a white handkerchief on a stick. The Germans noticed this
manoeuvre – this was apparent immediately; the firing from their
side ceased. And, to the contrary, intensified from our side. But
I noticed what was the main point: the Germans had begun to
flock into their trenches and their heads peeped out more and
more frequently along the whole line. ‘Let them gather!’ I was in
no hurry to continue on my way.
After waiting for about ten minutes I raised myself up. ‘Well,
come what may! Might get away with it!’ I thought and stood up to
my full height. At once our ‘precision’ fire opened up. Single tracer
bullets marked their lethal course. I again lay down in the shell
hole. Then I crawled about another five metres. There were even
more Germans in the trenches. I could already hear them calling:
‘Komm, Komm, Soldat! Schnell, Kvickly!’ I waited, as if I was afraid
of them firing, even began to groan softly, as if I were wounded.
There were even more Germans in the trenches. They even started
shooting at our side, cutting me off, as it were, from my own forces,
clearly implying that they would not touch me.
To be honest, I was quaking in my boots. What if one of our
lads misses and hits me accidentally? At this point I stood up to
my full height and, raising high my white handkerchief, waved it
in the air, and then vigorously lowered it, thereby giving a signal
... Not to the Germans, but to our own forces. And our mortar
bombs began to whine, exploding in the German trenches. Our
machine guns started up and our snipers opened fire at any