Otherwise, Shulka almost ignored the fifth company and handed it over to Sokolov.
If Shulka interfered in any way, it was because he gave Valery a few words and asked him not to interfere too much in the affairs of the fifth company.
This made Andrianka a little confused.
"I thought you would make some changes to the fifth company!" said Andrianka, "or at least say something to them!"
"I've already said what needs to be said!"
"Then..." Andrianka shrugged: "Are we just going to wait like this? Take them to the battlefield to perform tasks? I won't say if there are any bad consequences, they will be criticized by their superiors and entangled by the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Are you going to
We have considered that this company may bring danger to the entire army!"
"Of course I know!"
Shulka does know that the other way out for "deserters" is to flee to the German side, and this may be a better way out... If you flee to the direction of the Soviet army, you will always be worried about being found out, and you will have to flee.
If you go to the German army, you can serve as a prisoner of war until the war is over.
Of course, being a prisoner of war also involves many uncertain dangers, but it is not much better than being cannon fodder in a "punishment camp".
Therefore, if one of the "deserters" becomes ruthless and stabs the 82nd Infantry Regiment from behind at the critical moment when the battle is fiercest and then surrenders to the Germans... it will be a nightmare for the 82nd Infantry Regiment.
Shulka, who was cleaning his gun, stopped what he was doing.
This should be said to be something he is also worried about.
You must know that this is a battlefield. Even if he can trust the fifth company, he cannot easily hand over the life and death of the 82nd Infantry Regiment to others. He has no right to do so.
But he felt relieved the next day.
"Comrade Shulka!" Valery reported to Shulka early the next morning: "Six people from the fifth company died!"
"What? What's going on?" The first thing Shulka thought of was enemy agents or spies.
But Valery quickly overturned Shulka's idea.
"We haven't investigated clearly yet!" Valery replied: "They don't want to say anything!"
"What is unwillingness to say?" Shulka felt strange.
"These people were strangled to death!" Valery explained: "The bodies were found 100 meters away from the Fifth Infantry Company, but everyone's answer was 'I don't know'!"
This is obviously abnormal, because the platoon leader and squad leader will always count their subordinates. If a few people are missing, they will be discovered soon, so there will at least be some clues, such as whether these people are on sentry duty or performing some tasks.
The missing person, what time period it was in, etc.
Therefore, if everyone comes back with "don't know", it often means that everyone knows but doesn't say anything.
Because Shulka had previously told Valery not to interfere too much in the affairs of the 5th Infantry Company, Valery didn't know how to handle this situation.
For this reason, Shulka had to go to the fifth infantry company in person.
The camp of the 5th Infantry Company is located in a vacant warehouse at the port...Due to insufficient inventory, there are many such vacant warehouses near the port.
In fact, the 82nd Infantry Regiment is not so free. They need to be divided into two groups, day and night, to check the people coming and going at the port in rotation.
Search, inquire, and check the letter of introduction (note: ordinary people do not have soldier IDs or officer IDs. The way they prove their identity is to carry a letter of introduction from their work unit or street letter with an official seal).
However, these letters of introduction are easy to forge and their usefulness is very limited.
The reason why the 5th Infantry Company was placed in an empty warehouse so idly is because they were deserters not long ago. Of course, they cannot suddenly become law enforcers under the eyes of the Ministry of Internal Affairs... Otherwise, everything will be messed up.
Shulka met Valery outside the warehouse.
Seeing Shulka, Valery followed Shulka's footsteps and complained: "Comrade Shulka, I think you should assign this unit to other battalions. They cannot be said to be an army at all. They have become
Unstable factors in the army..."
It's not surprising that Valery feels this way.
As mentioned before, sometimes the soldiers in the "punishment camp" are not all afraid of death. They may even be the least afraid of death, because they have been defined as dead people anyway.
On the contrary, those regular and normal troops are restrained because they are worried about this and that, some want to be promoted, some want honor, some are worried about their families, etc.
Therefore, this fifth infantry company composed of deserters is certainly the most difficult unit to manage.
"I think we should select a few people to be severely punished in front of them!" Valery said: "This way we can command this army normally..."
At this point Valery said no more.
This was not because they had already entered the warehouse, but because the soldiers in the warehouse consciously stood up and saluted as soon as they saw Shulka entering the warehouse.
Then, with an order, everyone lined up in a neat formation as quickly as possible.
Sokolov quickly ran to Shulka, stood up and saluted, and reported: "Comrade Shulka, all 209 people of the 5th Infantry Company have assembled!"
Valery stared at everything in front of him dumbfounded. This was not the case before he came here.
Shulka glanced at the warehouse. The 5th Infantry Company was obviously not idle, because they had set up trenches with sandbags and set up a row of targets in the warehouse... However, due to ammunition supply problems, live ammunition shooting could not be carried out, but the practice
Tactical moves are still fine.
"209 people?" Shulka asked: "Comrade Sokolov, these are not the only people I gave you!"
"Unknown loss of six, Comrade Shulka!" Sokolov replied.
"What is unknown attrition?" Shulka asked.
Sokolov was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "Report to Comrade Shulka that I ordered their execution!"
Valery's jaw almost dropped when he heard this.
"What mistake did they make?" Shulka asked.
"They tried to escape!" Sokolov replied: "I hung them from the rafters!"
Shulka raised his head and looked around. There were several wooden main beams across the top. It was indeed a perfect place for hanging.
Lynching is strictly prohibited in the army, because it also means that the power of life and death of the entire army will be controlled in the hands of one person, and eventually the army will become a private army rather than a national army.
However, different situations should be treated differently.
These are extraordinary times, especially for a unit like the 5th Infantry Company... A unit composed of deserters must never allow deserters to appear again, otherwise it will not be able to become a normal unit or even be able to form combat effectiveness.