USSR 1941

  Chapter 23 Preparation

Shulka knew that if he wanted to appease the anger of the soldiers and gain their trust, he had to tell the truth. If he tried to cover up or try to suppress it, he would only add fuel to the fire... The soldiers were not fools, and they were even less willing to tell the truth. Being taken for a fool.

   "How do you know this?" Shulka was asked.

   "The German prisoners confessed!" Shulka replied: "I was being interrogated as a traitor at the time, so I was lucky to know what they confessed!"

   Many people know this, so it's convincing.

   "But you didn't tell us!" Another soldier blamed Shulka: "You may be with them!"

  Okunev objected on the spot: "Think with your brain, comrade, Shulka is of course ordered not to say this!"

  The soldiers nodded in agreement. They had more or less similar experiences, so they understood this very well.

"I don't want to justify myself!" said Shulka, "but I think you should consider the major's difficulties... How can I tell you this? Have you ever thought about this! Tell you that we have no reinforcements ? Even the enemy has penetrated more than 100 kilometers into our country? What do you think will happen?!"

  The soldiers fell silent in an instant.

"Look!" Shulka spread his hands towards everyone: "The result I told you is like now, everyone is unwilling to fight, and thinks that there is no hope of victory, and then the Germans can easily break through our defense line , put bayonets into our chests, point guns at our heads... or there is another option, that is what the Germans say, they will treat prisoners preferentially, and you can use the status of 'captives' to 'gloriously' live Come down!"

  Soviet soldiers are generally dissatisfied with the high-pressure policy of the Soviet Union, but they still look down on people who are greedy for life and afraid of death. Therefore, everyone showed contempt on their faces.

   "That is to say, there are two choices before us!" Shulka continued: "Death or captivity! Do you want to die?"

   No answer.

   In fact, there is no need to ask, the people standing here don’t want to die, otherwise they should point their guns at their heads in a certain corner.

   "Do you want to be prisoners?" Shulka asked again.

  The soldiers shook their heads, and several gave negative answers.

   "Then, we have only one way to go!" Shulka said: "As the major said, break out at seven o'clock in the evening. You should be very clear that only this way can survive..."

   "They are liars!" Someone shouted: "They lied to us, why should we obey their orders and fight for them!"

   "No, comrade!" Shulka objected: "We did not fight for anyone, not for officers, not for civilians, not even for the Soviet Union!"

   Speaking of this, the instructor wanted to stand up and object, but was stopped by Major Gavrilov, who had sharp eyesight and quick hands.

   "Don't do anything stupid, Comrade Artur!" Major Gavrilov whispered in the instructor's ear.

   "Don't you understand, comrades!" Shulka continued: "We are fighting for ourselves, in order to be able to live, what could be more important than living?"

  The soldiers were silent for a while, and then someone said: "Shuerka is right, we are fighting for ourselves!"

   "Yes, for myself to live!"

   "If you want to live, you must unite and organize a breakout!"

  …

   But the soldiers are still a little worried. They worry that the officers, especially the instructors, will settle their accounts after the fall.

   Of course Shulka understood this, and he turned his gaze to Major Gavrilov behind him.

  Major Gavrilov understood, he stepped forward and said: "I promise, I will not pursue any responsibility for this incident, just pretend it never happened!"

   As he spoke, Major Gavrilov winked at the instructor again.

  The instructor stood up reluctantly and said, "I promise, I will not pursue any responsibility for this incident, as if it never happened!"

  In fact, the soldiers don’t need to worry about this at all, at least not right now, because even if they break through the siege, they are close to death, and it’s not certain who will survive to the end. Maybe the instructor failed to break through? Or maybe someone shot him in the back?

  However, it was a bit of psychological comfort to get this guarantee, and the soldiers scattered back to their posts in twos and threes... Fortunately, the German army did not attack just now, otherwise there would be no need to choose.

  Major Gavrilov didn't say anything, just patted Shulka on the shoulder and left.

   Major Gavrilov is very smart, and the taboo at this time is to get too close to him, otherwise Shulka will be suspected of being with him.

   "Wow, Shulka!" Okunev said, "I just found out today that you can talk so well..."

   "No way, Okunev!" Shulka replied: "I was forced!"

   "Forced?"

   "I want to live too!"

  Okunev nodded in understanding.

  If you want to live, you have to do this, but other people's thinking is not as clear as Shulka.

  The battle during the day went smoothly, and the German army launched several more attacks as usual, but after receiving supplies and even adding more than a dozen mortars, the Soviet army's defense was significantly improved.

   This was beyond the expectations of the German army, so they were repelled again and again, and the defense line did not move an inch. What changed was that there were more corpses of German soldiers on the battlefield, and the Soviet camp also suffered some casualties.

  If this continues, things are likely to be as Shulka hoped. After 7 o'clock in the night, the central fortress and the Kobrin fortress broke through to the north at the same time and caught the Germans by surprise.

  Of course not all of them can successfully break through the siege, especially the army in the central fortress. They must first break through the river bank blocked by the German army to reach the Kobrin fortress, and then continue to break through the siege north along the gap opened by Major Gavrilov.

  But on the one hand, the German army was unprepared, and on the other hand, you can enter the forest only two miles north... Entering the forest almost means safety.

  So, if there is no accident, quite a few people can succeed.

  At five o'clock in the evening, the soldiers ate the "Last Supper" under the setting sun.

   This time they don't plan to save money, because no one is sure whether they will survive to eat the next meal.

  Then they silently took care of their luggage... Breaking out is different from fighting in normal times. They have to consider the follow-up issues after entering the forest, so they carry more ammunition and food, and even have to choose between the two.

   "Compared with food, I will choose to bring a few more bullets!" Matvey shook the bullet in his hand, and then stuffed it into his satchel.

  Matvey is right, it is summer, and the warm climate makes the forest full of animals and edible plants.

   Shulka was about to tell the other soldiers to do the same when gunshots rang out from the other side of the trench...

  (end of this chapter)