"They can at least consume the German bullets!" While Shulka and the captain were in a stalemate, Major Mikhailovich came up.
He glared at Shulka, then pretended to be indifferent, and then said to the captain: "You heard it right, comrade captain! Of course we are a heroic army. We have just returned from Mamayev Hill."
Withdraw, countless Germans died at our hands..."
"I don't care about that!" the captain interrupted Major Mikhailovich: "What kind of army you are in has nothing to do with me, does it?"
"You are right!" Major Mikhailovich said: "I just want you to know that we really need some soldiers who charge on the battlefield. The enemy will not care how many times they have escaped, they will only pull the trigger.
Pull the trigger and shoot these traitors dead! Why not?”
The captain nodded slowly and said, "Then you have to watch out, don't let me catch them again!"
"Of course!" Major Mikhailovich replied: "Don't worry, I will definitely let them die on the battlefield!"
The captain who had already turned around and left did not answer, but raised his pistol and pointed it at Major Mikhailovich.
After the captain left, Major Mikhailovich helplessly said to Shulka: "Are you sure you need these deserters?"
"Yes, Comrade Mikhailovich!"
"Okay!" Major Mikhailovich said, "Then they will be yours, and you can do with them whatever you want!"
After saying that, he turned around and left as if to run away.
Shulka didn't know why Major Mikhailovich behaved like this. They were just a group of deserters. The life and death of these deserters were even in the hands of the Soviet army. What did Major Mikhailovich fear?
Soon, Shulka quickly understood what was going on.
When the deserters stood up from the ground, the one who had shouted "just do it" breathed a long sigh of relief. Shulka noticed that his military rank was sergeant, and there was a scar on his head that was still oozing blood.
.
The sergeant raised his head towards Shulka and asked: "Well, comrade captain! Since we don't have to die, can we give you a piece of bread? Or a cigarette!"
Valery stepped forward and gave him a gun butt: "Don't forget that the captain just saved you!"
"Save me?" The sergeant laughed, coughed a few times while covering his chest, and replied: "Comrade, don't you know we are dead? Can you save a dead man? Or..."
As he spoke, the sergeant approached Valery fiercely, pointed at his head and said: "Comrade, give me a good time and I'll pay you back!"
Seeing this, Shulka seemed to understand the sergeant's mentality. He no longer cared whether he lived or died.
This is not quite accurate, because if they didn't care whether they lived or died, they wouldn't find a way to escape.
At this time, they should have the mentality of risking everything... It's best if they can escape, that's what they earn. If they can't escape, they should die. There is no hope of living anyway.
Fighting in a "punishment camp" can easily lead to such a mentality.
Because they are no longer treated as normal people, they are branded as "traitors" and "cowards", and then sent to the most dangerous places on the battlefield to perform the most dangerous tasks. Even if they die, they still cannot wash away these shames.
.
So, what is the difference between them and death?
Since they are already dead, why should they be afraid of anything?
Why should they abide by any military regulations or take officers seriously?!
Major Mikhailovich should have known this for a long time, so he was afraid to avoid it as early as possible.
Valery didn't know what to do with them, so he turned his attention to Shulka.
"Give them something to eat early!" Shulka ordered: "Give them another rifle!"
"Rifle?" Valery couldn't help being stunned when he heard this.
"Captain!" Valery walked up and whispered to Shulka: "Given their condition, fire the gun..."
"I know!" Shulka interrupted Valery.
It should be said that Valery's worries are justified. If a person puts aside everything and is not even afraid of death, then nothing can cure them.
If you put guns in their hands under such circumstances... there is no guarantee what they will do.
Shulka walked straight up to the deserter sergeant and asked, "What's your name, sergeant?"
"Sokolov, comrade captain!"
Shulka nodded, handed Sokolov a cigarette and lit it for him.
Then he glanced at all the deserters and said, "Let's put it this way! You have a chance now. After entering my army, you will fight like a normal army. Do you understand what I mean?"
Sokolov couldn't help being stunned when he heard this, and even forgot to take a drag on the cigarette in his mouth.
The other soldiers were also stunned. They all looked at Shulka with suspicion in their eyes.
"No, you don't have this power, Captain!" Sokolov gritted his teeth and said: "You are a liar, you just want to use these words to make us work for you!"
Valery was about to step forward but was stopped by Shulka.
"I really don't have this power, Sokolov!" Shulka lit a cigarette for himself, took a long puff, exhaled the smoke, glanced at the deserters who had caught his appetite, and then continued.
: "But don't you realize that you have another chance? Maybe it's your only chance!"
"What chance?" Sokolov asked.
"Let's put it this way!" Shulka replied: "Our unit, the 82nd Infantry Regiment, was originally a quasi-'punishment battalion.' I mean, the 'punishment battalion' had not been formally established at that time. You understand
What am I talking about?"
Sokolov nodded slightly. This was not a secret in the Soviet army. The "punishment camp" actually existed before this, it just didn't have a name like it does now.
"If you don't believe it, you can ask them!" Shulka raised his head to the subordinates around him and said: "Any one of them, they will tell you what the situation of the 82nd Infantry Regiment was before this, and they will tell you the situation of the 82nd Infantry Regiment before this.
What kind of danger was the 82nd Infantry Regiment in, and then step by step it got where it is now!"
With that said, Shulka leaned into Sokolov's ear and said: "You are a smart man. You should understand that what they want is not the corpses of a few deserters, but soldiers who can defeat the enemy! In other words,
As long as we can defeat the enemy... nothing else matters!"
Sokolov looked around, still wary and responded: "I don't doubt this, comrade captain! But how can I guarantee... that we can get everything we deserve when we work hard!"
"I can't guarantee it, and I have no right to guarantee it!" Shulka replied: "But you have no choice!"