USSR 1941

  Chapter 16 Veteran

  Suddenly found that there are so many rewards, thank you brothers for your support!

  ********

   Until returning to the trench, Shulka hadn't recovered from the mental struggle just now. He squatted in the trench in a daze, silently holding the gun in a daze.

   "Hey, Shulka... Shulka?"

   "Oh!" Shulka woke up after Okunev's cry.

   "Tell me!" Okunev asked impatiently, "Is there anything good?"

   "Oh, yes!" Shulka replied: "I became the monitor!"

   "Squad leader? Are you the squad leader?" Okunev's eyes widened, and several Soviet soldiers around him turned their heads and looked in this direction in unison.

   "Yes!" Shulka nodded.

   "Great!" Okunev stood up immediately, and then stood up and saluted Shulka: "Comrade squad leader, waiting for your order!"

   Then Okunev waved to the side again and said, "Hey, did you all hear that? Shulka is our squad leader!"

  The soldiers had some reluctance on their faces, which may have something to do with Shulka's previous reputation.

  Or, they thought that Shulka had just gotten lucky and made meritorious service.

Among them was especially the soldier with glasses, with his sunken cheeks and protruding nose like an eagle's beak, on which a pair of glasses as thick as the bottom of a beer bottle rested. Sometimes Shulka wondered how he will be a soldier.

  However, a red star on his left breast shows that he is a veteran and has made meritorious service.

   "Sorry, we haven't received the order yet!" The veteran replied coldly.

   "Matvey!" Okunev said dissatisfiedly: "What's your attitude? Can you talk about this kind of thing casually, or do you want the major to come and tell you in person?"

   "I still say that, Okunev!" Matvey replied: "We have not received orders!"

   As he spoke, Matvey wiped the rifle in his hand, and Shulka noticed that he could easily put the rifle together without even bowing his head.

  At this time, an officer with boots came over and shouted in this direction: "Squad 1, Shulka will be your squad leader from now on!"

   Then the officer shook his head at Shulka again: "I'll keep an eye on you, Shulka, you'd better let each of them blow up a tank like you, or they will kick you to Siberia!"

   "Yes, sir!" Shulka replied.

  Later Shulka knew that this officer who always spoke with a bit of a joke was his immediate superior, the second platoon leader Pukarev.

   "Comrade monitor!"

   "Comrade monitor!"

  …

   Several Soviet soldiers came up reluctantly and saluted Shulka one by one.

   "Comrade Matvey!" Shulka called to stop the veteran who was about to leave.

   "Do you have any orders, Comrade Squad Leader?" Although Matvey answered in his mouth, his eyes were full of disdain, and even a bit of banter.

   "Your Red Star Medal!" Shulka raised his head towards Matvey's left chest with an envious expression, and asked, "Can you tell me its story?"

   Shulka didn't really want to hear the story.

But there is no way, he knows that if he wants these subordinates to be obedient, he must first establish a good relationship with these veterans, because veterans have a certain reputation in the army, they don't need military ranks or positions, soldiers will spontaneously favor them...they Possess combat experience that no one else has.

   Matvey felt a little embarrassed when Shulka asked him this question.

"Well, it's nothing, Comrade Squad Leader!" Matvey replied: "It was the Winter War. I discovered the enemy's night attack while I was on guard, and saved our army from losses!" (Note: The Soviet army called it Sufen War for the Winter War)

   "Wow, you participated in the Winter War!" Shulka showed great interest, he moved a little bit to signal Matvey to sit down, and he even called a few soldiers in the squad to form a circle.

   "I think we should listen to Comrade Matvey's combat experience!" Shulka said: "Because it is likely to appear on the battlefield in the future, and then this experience will save our lives!"

  The soldiers agreed with this, but what they didn't know was that Shulka was actually using Matvey to make them obey him.

   "It must have been a tough battle, didn't it?" Shulka asked.

"Yes!" Mavit nodded, and after a moment of silence, he recalled: "We thought that the war would end soon, that the Finns would surrender to us in just a few days...but that's not the case. They don't Fight us face to face, but use a small group of troops to attack us suddenly when we are not paying attention, and we have suffered heavy casualties!"

   "It doesn't seem like the Germans!"

   "Of course!" Mavit said, "The Germans are much more difficult to deal with than the Finns!"

   Speaking of this, Mavit stopped talking.

   Everyone understands what Mavit means: If the Finns have caused heavy casualties to the Soviet army, then the Germans, who are much more difficult to deal with than the Finns...

   This hit the weak point hidden in the soldiers' hearts. Everyone was more or less thinking about a question: Can they go back alive?

   "Don't worry!" Okunev said: "Tomorrow, tomorrow our troops will fight back and rescue us! Isn't it, Shulka?"

   "Oh, yes... yes!" Shulka replied: "Tomorrow, until tomorrow!"

   This is not the truth, but Shulka was ordered not to tell the truth.

  The reason is very simple. If the soldiers knew the truth, that is, the fortress was surrounded, the Germans had already hit Slutsk and even Minsk soon, and there would be no reinforcements to rescue them, many soldiers would collapse.

   This is understandable, and at the same time, Shulka also believes that this approach is correct. After all, most of the Soviet troops in the fortress are recruits, and they don't have much psychological endurance at all.

   But at the same time, Shulka knew that this was not a long-term solution. If it was delayed day by day, there would always be a day when it would be exposed.

   Matvey seemed to read something from Shulka's expression, but he said nothing.

   This made Shulka feel relieved, because Matvey is already cooperating with him, which shows that what Shulka just did was not in vain.

  The night gradually fell, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet. The German army seemed to need a rest after a whole day of intense attack, so they stopped the attack.

   But that doesn't mean they'll just let the fort go.

   What will happen in the future? Shulka did not know.

  He only knows that although Major Gavrilov has interrogated the captives, he believes the situation of the fortress... From this aspect, it is imperative to break out of the siege.

   However, Major Gavrilov's belief is not important, what is important is the attitude of the instructor.

  (end of this chapter)

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