Shulka did tell the second lieutenant these words, but Shulka knew very well that this was just a formality... After the second lieutenant and others returned, it was impossible for them to warn other Germans as political commissar Fomin said.
As for not showing up on the battlefield...
"This is not something we can decide!" the second lieutenant replied.
"Yes I know!"
"But I still want to thank you!" The second lieutenant shook hands with Shulka: "You kept your promise and lived up to my trust in you. But..."
After a pause, the second lieutenant continued: "You are also a terrible person. I hope you understand: one day when we meet on the battlefield, I will kill you without hesitation!"
"Me too!" Shulka said.
"Then I made a profit!" the second lieutenant laughed.
"What?" Shulka didn't understand what the second lieutenant meant.
"I'm not an important person!" the second lieutenant explained: "Now I can even be called a traitor to the country. If I can exchange for your life, of course it's a good deal!"
Shulka smiled and secretly thought that this second lieutenant was also a character, yet he was so calm and humorous at this time.
"You can leave!" Political Commissar Fuming ordered.
"Thank you!" The second lieutenant nodded to political commissar Fu Ming to express his gratitude, and then led a group of subordinates back in a panic along the way they came.
Major Gavrilov waved his hand and said: "It's time for us to leave. Boys, do you want to stay here and wait for the enemy's shells?"
The soldiers said yes, then the cat lowered its head and ran into the grass.
Although it was dark and couldn't see clearly, Shulka could still feel their excitement and excitement. Some people even danced with excitement. If it weren't for the fear of being discovered by the Germans, they would have cheered loudly.
Shulka could understand this feeling. After many life and death attempts, he finally succeeded in breaking through and was about to join the main force. Even Shulka felt an unreasonable impulse in his heart.
"You are right, Shulka!" Major Gavrilov walked beside Shulka at some point.
"There's an element of luck, Major!" Shulka replied.
"No, that's not what I'm talking about!"
"what is that?"
"Of course, you are very smart!" Major Gavrilov said: "You once again led us to break through the encirclement and escape from danger, which is worthy of praise. But I think what is more important is your performance just now..."
"What was your performance just now?"
"Yes!" Major Gavrilov stopped to rest for a while in front of a field stalk, and Shulka also stopped.
"I'm talking about your behavior of protecting the Germans just now!" Major Gavrilov patted Shulka on the shoulder and said, "This is great! It's what a man should do, and it shows your
Morality, this is even more important than your intelligence!"
"I just... think I should do that!"
"Yes!" Major Gavrilov said: "I also think I should do that, but I hesitated because I have a lot of scruples, understand?"
Shulka nodded to express his understanding. Officers in the Soviet army were not that easy to be. If political commissar Fuming had not spoken, no one would have dared to release those German prisoners.
The reason is very simple. If the worst is to be said, this is undoubtedly a very serious crime: collaboration with the enemy and rebellion!
"So!" said Major Gavrilov, "you make me ashamed, Shulka!"
After saying that, Major Gavrilov continued to run forward, but Shulka was stunned for a while... He was actually not as great as Major Gavrilov said, he just didn't think about it.
What if Shulka had considered this aspect?
Will he still protect the German second lieutenant like he did just now?
Shulka didn't know the answer. After all, he had realized the cruelty of this kind of struggle before... The sound of the instructor firing the gun behind him still seemed to be ringing in his ears.
"What's wrong?" Agata caught up from behind and asked when she saw Shulka squatting there in a daze.
"Oh, no, it's nothing!" Shulka responded absently, and then followed the troops with Agata.
The German soldiers were right, this patch of grass was indeed a relatively safe "infiltration" location.
Originally Shulka was worried that the Soviet soldiers on the defense line would accidentally injure his own people because of the darkness, but he soon learned that this worry was unnecessary... Many Soviet soldiers and civilians fled from this direction into the Soviet defense line, so he stayed at the defense line.
Soviet soldiers in this area were especially careful.
When they arrived in front of the defense line, a row of machine gun bullets were fired, but it was obvious that these bullets were fired into the sky as a warning.
"Stop!" A voice came from the darkness: "Which section are you from?"
"Comrade!" Major Gavrilov said excitedly: "I am Major Gavrilov, commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment of the 42nd Division, and we are from Brest!"
"Brest? This is impossible!" the voice in the darkness shouted angrily: "Don't try to lie to me, you German spies!"
Apparently, he thought that the German spies had confused the location or the numbers of the troops, so he used Brest to deceive people. After all, Brest was on the other side of the swamp.
"We are not spies!" Political Commissar Fuming quickly revealed his identity: "I am Fuming, Political Commissar of the 333rd Regiment. We spent several days walking through the swamp to get here!"
There was silence in the darkness for a while, and then a flare was fired with a "teng" sound.
"Stand up!" came the command from the other side: "Let me see you!"
Major Gavrilov and others slowly stood up.
After observing for a while, the Soviet soldiers on the opposite side gradually believed it, but to be on the safe side, they still asked the Soviet soldiers to put down their weapons before they could pass... Such caution was necessary, after all, they had suffered such losses before.
But this was certainly not a problem for Major Gavrilov and his party. In the end, they did not dare to believe it until they checked the military certificates of the major, the political commissar and several others.
"Unbelievable!" They were greeted by a captain. He sometimes looked at the map, sometimes looked at Major Gavrilov and others, and said: "Sorry, Comrade Major. The reason why we did this..."
"It doesn't matter!" Major Gavrilov replied: "It doesn't matter, we know. In fact, even we ourselves can't believe it, we are finally back, we succeeded!"
As he spoke, Major Gavrilov waved his fist back and shouted: "We succeeded!"
There was a burst of cheers in the trench, and the soldiers shouted:
"We made it!"
"We are safe!"
…
Only Shulka remained silent.
Because he knew that joining forces was one thing, but safety was another... At this time, no place on the Soviet front line was safe.