USSR 1941

  Chapter 21 Pilot

  Things turned out to be exactly as Shulka thought, and news came from the troops that they were preparing to break out early the next morning.

   But it wasn't because Shulka convinced Major Gavrilov.

  In fact, after Major Gavrilov returned to the headquarters and gave an impassioned statement to the instructor, not only failed to persuade the instructor to break through, but also strengthened his determination to stick to it.

   "The current situation is very clear, Comrade Artur!" Major Gavrilov said: "If we don't break through again, we will never have a chance again!"

   "You mean our comrades are still resisting in the central fortress?" the instructor asked back.

   "Yes!" Major Gavrilov did not understand what the instructor meant by asking this.

   "You mean we will leave them alone to break through?" the instructor asked again.

  Major Gavrilov was speechless for a while, but at the same time understood what the instructor meant.

"No, I will never abandon our comrades to break through!" The instructor said sternly: "Comrade Major, have you ever thought that if we succeed in breaking through, the Germans will concentrate their forces to attack the central fortress, which is almost impossible. It means that we single-handedly cut off their way of life!"

   "But we have no choice..."

  Major Gavrilov is obviously correct. There is no such thing as saying that no one hurts anyone on the battlefield. In extreme cases, the gecko tail must be used to preserve strength.

"Of course we have!" The instructor interrupted Major Gavrilov: "Believe in our motherland, believe in our army, Comrade Major. The batch of supplies we have now obtained is enough for us to be stationed for half a month. But Obviously, within half a month, our army will drive these invaders back, and then we will be saved! Didn’t you see? This is a good opportunity for us to make great achievements!”

Hearing this, Major Gavrilov understood that the most important thing is the words "make contributions". At this moment of life and death, the instructor is still thinking unrealistically in his mind: stick to the Brest Fortress , When the Soviet army came back, they became heroes, and then they got promoted and made a fortune.

  If Shulka heard this, he would know that this is impossible, unless they can hold on for three years...The Soviet army did not fight back until three years later and regained Brest.

   But Major Gavrilov was not sure at this time, and he couldn't convince the instructor at the same time, so he could only heave a long sigh.

  Major Gavrilo originally thought that he would continue to stick to the fort just as the instructor said, but things changed.

   Influence comes from the central bastion.

The situation of the central fortress is similar to that of the Kobrin fortress. It is commanded by Commissar Fomin and Captain Zubachev. The difference is that there are many officers’ families in the central fortress. Another point is that Commissar Fumin and Zubachev have the same ideas. , they all believe that they should stick to it.

On the one hand, it is because they need to protect their families, and they cannot break out with women and children. On the other hand, they are not clear about the outside situation, thinking that this is a local battle that will end soon, and as long as they hold on long enough, they can wait for reinforcements .

  Until a Soviet warplane appeared over the fortress...

   It was an I-15 biplane fighter. Its appearance made the soldiers in the central fortress cheer loudly. They thought they had finally waited for this moment, and the Soviet army came back.

   But before their cheers stopped, two German fighter planes emerged from the clouds, and shot down the Yi-15 very simply.

   Fortunately, the pilot parachuted in time and was rescued by the soldiers of the central fortress.

   "Have the reinforcements arrived? Where are they?" Political Commissar Fuming asked the pilot impatiently.

   "What reinforcements?" The pilot looked at the young political commissar in confusion.

   "Our army!" Fuming asked again: "Where are they? We need rescue!"

The pilot hesitated for a while, and then seemed to understand what was going on. He told Fumin regretfully: "Sorry, Commissar. Our army has already retreated, and the Germans hit Baranovich. There are no reinforcements, and no one." Knowing that you're still fighting, I'm just lost..."

  Fuming froze on the spot for a long time but did not react.

   Knowing the exact situation, of course they would no longer have the unrealistic illusion of standing still and waiting for help, so they quickly formulated a plan to break out.

  There is no doubt that the north is the best direction to break out of the siege. In addition to the reasons Shulka analyzed before, it is also because the Kobrin Fortress to the north of the central fortress is still resisting, and the two armies should join forces to break out of the siege together.

  So Fumin sent several signal soldiers to the Kobrin fortress.

  In the early morning, the sun gradually rose from the east, and the sun penetrated the dense fog on the Bug River and cast a little golden light on the Kobrin Fortress.

  Shuerka opened his jerky eyes and shivered. Although it was already summer, the outdoor temperature was still as low as ten degrees at night. Sleeping in the trenches with a cold gun was definitely not a pleasant experience.

   After a while, other soldiers woke up one after another... It wasn't the sun that woke them up, but the cooking soldiers began to distribute food, no one would want to miss this.

   "Hey, today's distribution is bread!" Long Legs exclaimed in surprise when he got the food.

   "You should thank Comrade Shulka!" Pukarev glanced in the direction of Shulka: "Thanks to him!"

"certainly!"

   "For your bread, Shulka!"

  …

The cook saw something from the performance of the soldiers, so he secretly put half an extra piece of bread in Shulka's lunch box, and shook hands with Shulka: "It's an honor to meet you, Comrade Shulka! "

   "Thank you!" Shulka replied, accepting his gift with peace of mind.

  However, before Shulka had time to stuff the bread into his mouth, intense gunshots rang out.

  Shuerka was not in a hurry. He covered the lunch box and put it in his satchel before grabbing his gun, while other Soviet soldiers dropped their food and immediately grabbed their guns and prepared for battle in front of the trench.

   Turns out Shulka was right...

  This time is different from before, it only has gunshots but no gunfire, and the direction is coming from the south, which proves that it was not the Germans who launched the attack.

   Sure enough, after the sound of gunfire, the surrounding area fell into silence again, except for the occasional ferocious barking of German shepherd dogs.

   "It's the comrades in the central fortress!" Okunev whispered: "They want to cross the river and approach us at night!"

   "Looks like they didn't make it!" Shulka said.

  But soon Shuerka realized that he was wrong. Just when Shurka and others were about to return their rifles, a small black spot suddenly appeared in the thick fog and stumbled towards the trench.

  (end of this chapter)