USSR 1941

   Chapter 24 Accident

  The gunshots were not from the Germans attacking, but from our own people.

  Shuerka quickly came to such a judgment from the location of the gunshots.

  And this is what worries Shulka... The gunshots from the Germans are not surprising at all, but the gunshots from our own people prove that there is trouble.

   Sure enough, news soon came from the other end:

   "Someone ran away, they went and surrendered to the Germans!"

   "It was from the third battalion, there were eight in total, and three were killed!"

   "These cowards!"

  …

  Different from the Soviet soldiers who were busy cursing these deserters, Shulka turned pale when he heard the news.

  Matvey also seemed to understand the truth, so he turned his attention to Shulka and asked, "Comrade squad leader, what should I do?"

  Shuerka knew what Matvey meant when he asked this question... It is a trivial matter to escape a few soldiers. The problem is that they know that they will break out at 7 o'clock tonight, and even the direction of the breakout is not a secret. It must be the forest in the north.

  In order to please the Germans and obtain some kind of "preferential treatment", these deserters will inevitably disclose the information of the breakout to the Germans.

   "Report to Comrade Major!" Shulka said.

   "Yes!" Matvey replied, but just got up and ran for a while and came back, because the major had rushed over after hearing the sound.

  The soldiers rushed to report to Major Gavrilov:

   "Major, someone surrenders to the Germans!"

   "They may give information to the Germans!"

   "The Germans will lay a trap for us!"

  …

  There are still many sensible people among the Soviet soldiers.

   "From now on!" Major Gavrilov ordered: "All commanders are optimistic about your soldiers, and no one is allowed to take the opportunity to escape!"

   "Yes, Major!" replied the soldiers.

   This is indeed necessary, but it is not the solution.

   "The battalion commander has a meeting at the headquarters!" This was Major Gavrilov's second order, apparently to discuss a solution.

   After walking a few steps, Major Gavrilov turned around and called out, "Shulka!"

   "Yes, Comrade Major!" Shulka responded reflexively.

   "You will also attend this meeting!" Major Gavrilov left behind this sentence.

   "Me?" Shulka stood there in a daze. Although he was the squad leader, his military rank was still the lowest...Private.

  Okunev pushed Shulka from behind and said, "Why are you still standing there? Not everyone can go to this meeting!"

  Of course Shulka knew this, so he walked towards the headquarters timidly.

  The reaction of the soldiers on the road gave Shulka courage:

   "Shulka, we believe in you!"

   "Don't let those officers betray us!"

   "Don't forget you're a soldier, Shulka!"

  …

  At this time, Shulka realized that Major Gavrilov had asked him to participate in the meeting for another purpose: to stabilize the morale of the army. The Soviet army at this time needed this very much.

  When Shulka got into the command post, a bunch of people had already gathered inside, and there was a heavy smell of tobacco everywhere, and the atmosphere was very depressing.

Major Gavrilov said something to the instructor in a low voice, then turned to the participants and said: "Comrades, the situation has changed. Several of our soldiers have fled to the enemy's camp. We have reason to believe that They will disclose the situation of the breakout to the enemy, which will obviously increase the risk of our breakout exponentially, what do you think about this?"

   "I suggest breaking out early, Comrade Major!" It was the commander of the first battalion who spoke, that is, Lieutenant Venyakov, the battalion commander of Shulka.

  Shuerka had seen him several times in battle before this, he was a cold-spoken person, always with a straight face.

  Shuerka thinks his suggestion is still reliable.

  The Soviet soldiers had just surrendered, which meant that the German army would only get the news, and the news they got was that the Soviet army would break out of the siege two hours later, and they thought they still had time to prepare.

  So, if the Soviet army advances the time, such as breaking through now, even if the German army gets the information, it will not help.

   "The problem is that we are not acting alone!" Major Gavrilov said: "There is also the central fortress, and they will break through at seven o'clock as agreed!"

   "It is impossible to break through at seven o'clock, Comrade Major!" Lieutenant Venyakov replied coldly: "If you stay here, you will die..."

   "No, Comrade Venyakov!" The instructor interrupted Venyakov: "This is a crime, not only that, but also disobeying the orders of Comrade Political Commissar!"

   "Order?" Venyakov replied: "Do you still want to execute the order even though you know it's not feasible?"

   "Of course!" The instructor replied without thinking: "Because we are soldiers, and we just learned from the correspondent that there are many women and children in the central fortress. Are you planning to abandon them together?"

  The officers fell silent for a while, abandoning women and children... This is also despicable, even more disgusting than being a deserter.

  However, how will this account be settled in the end?

  Everyone knows that it is impossible to break through if this continues, and it is even more impossible to bring women and children.

  In this battle in history, the Soviet army in Brest chose to let the family members of women and children surrender to the German army, and continued to defend the fortress... This is also an admirable approach.

   After being silent for a while, an officer said: "I have a compromise idea, advance the attack time to six o'clock, and at the same time send a correspondent to explain the situation to the central fortress!"

   "No!" Major Gavrilov shook his head and denied: "One hour is enough for the Germans to prepare. If this is the case, it is better to attack at seven o'clock as originally planned!"

  Major Gavrilov was right. The German army moved quickly, let alone an hour. After ten or twenty minutes, the breakout would have lost its meaning.

  So the compromise method seems to be useful, but in fact, not only will it not have any effect, but it will also make itself into chaos.

   Then, without knowing who started it, the officers fell into a quarrel:

   "We have no other way, Comrade Major! Order to break out!"

   "I agree with Comrade Venyakov, we should break out immediately!"

   "No, it's murder!"

   "Even if you don't think about the comrades in the central fortress, you should think about the women and children there!"

  …

   "Shulka!" cried Major Gavrilov.

   "Yes, Comrade Major!" Shulka responded.

"What do you think?"

"What?"

   "What do you think?" Major Gavrilov asked, looking intently at Shulka.

   "Comrade Major!" Shulka replied: "I was wondering... in this situation, is there any possibility for us to break out to the south!"

  (end of this chapter)