Chapter 77 Artillery blockade
Then the first round of German artillery coverage stunned the recruits.
It was still dark at that time, and the time was around 3:30 in the morning.
After marching all the way and spending more than two hours to complete the construction, the 333rd Regiment finally got a little rest.
Shulka and a group of former subordinates fell asleep...Although they are not experienced enough to start the battle now, the battlefield is the best training ground. Falling asleep "skills" again.
Having said that, if you haven't learned this by now, it means you can't fall asleep for more than ten days. I'm afraid that people will not be human and ghosts, and the game will be over without the enemy's hands.
Not so with recruits.
At this time, they are entering the stage of "pre-war syndrome"... This name is said by the veteran Matvey. Shulka doesn't know if there is such a name in medicine, but this phenomenon does exist.
This is the personal experience of Shulka and others. To put it simply, everyone’s performance is different when they know that the battle is coming... For example, some recruits at this time are too nervous to speak, and some People held their guns and dared not leave the darkness in front of them for a moment. Some people seemed very excited, while others tried their best to show that they didn't care.
But it’s all for the same reason: nervousness, fear.
These are of course not what Shuerka needs to care about... Even if Shuerka wanted to care, he couldn’t care about it. There are more than a dozen recruits in a platoon, and sleeping is something that even if they put a gun to their heads, there is no way.
"They need to be trained on the battlefield!" Shulka told himself: "Just like everyone else!"
So Shulka nestled in the trench with peace of mind, covered his head and face with a marching blanket and forced himself to sleep.
But it wasn't long before Shulka was woken up.
There was a "bang..." gunshot.
Then someone shouted: "It's the enemy, the enemy is coming!"
Then there were a few more "bang bang" shots. Everyone picked up their rifles and lay down in front of the trenches to prepare for battle. Shulka also turned over and aimed his guns forward.
But soon someone shouted: "Don't shoot, it's your own! Don't shoot!"
"Who fired the shot?" Second Lieutenant Davydov cursed from a distance away in another trench: "I told you that no shooting is allowed without an order!"
Shuerka took a closer look, and it turned out that the person coming from the opposite side was his own man in a Soviet uniform... To be precise, he was withdrawn, and the defense line was built in the rear to allow the troops on the front line to retreat smoothly.
At this time, they were obviously frightened by the burst of gunfire, and they all lay down on the ground, not daring to move. Occasionally, there were a few howls and curses from the officers.
"Who fired the shot?" Shulka also asked.
"Comrade Sergeant!" A recruit who got into trouble himself replied palely, "It was me...I thought they were the enemy!"
Shuerka couldn't help but feel bitter. Although this should be said to be normal in battle, of course something will happen to recruits who go to the battlefield without training.
The problem is...someone got hurt, maybe even killed.
This is not something Shulka can handle.
While Shulka was having a headache, there was a sudden roar of shells in the air... The enemy bombarded him.
"Cover!" Shulka yelled, and at the same time retracted his head into the trench involuntarily.
A row of shells exploded nearby, followed by several rows of shells, which became more and more violent.
Apparently, it was the Germans who saw that the Soviets were retreating in the dark and started chasing after the victory... This is very common on the battlefield, although the Germans usually don't choose to fight at night, but the enemy's retreat is a good opportunity to attack, which may be pursued all the way Unexpected results were obtained, and the well-trained German army certainly knew this.
The retreating Soviet army became chaotic at the moment of shelling, and they fled backwards despite the artillery fire.
It is a well-known taboo to get up and run around when under enemy fire, even recruits know this.
But sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's right or wrong.
The reason is that when the German army used artillery fire to blockade the depths, the other side must have launched a fierce attack.
It is true that lying still can avoid the bombardment of shells, but it will not be long before the German army will cover up and kill them from behind, and I am afraid that they will not only face shells.
As a result, the originally peaceful wilderness turned into **** in an instant: there were flames from shells everywhere, Soviet soldiers thrown into the air everywhere, pieces of corpses and stumps fell from the sky, and Many Soviet soldiers were knocked down by shrapnel as soon as they ran to the top of the trench, and fell in rows in the trench. It didn't take long for the corpses to almost level the trench.
The bombing lasted for thirty minutes before it gradually stopped.
What followed were screams and howls... In fact, a considerable part of the screams cannot be called screams and howls. Many recruits hiding in the trenches were not injured, they were just screaming in fright yell.
This is a normal physiological reaction. When the fear is extremely unbearable, shouting can reduce the psychological burden.
Shuerka asked the squad leaders to count the number of people and casualties. He was surprised to know that only two people were missing.
Stationed in the trenches, and the trenches have not been seriously damaged, missing almost means fleeing.
Originally, Shulka thought that at least half of the recruits would flee in disorder. After all, this is a good opportunity.
This should be a comforting thing, but when Shulka saw the trembling recruits huddled in the trenches, he knew it was nothing to be comforted...they didn't escape more because they didn't have the courage to step out of this road trenches.
Therefore, Shulka should catch up with the two escaped recruits and tell them that they are actually qualified soldiers with potential and hope to become heroes.
Of course, this is just thinking. Shulka has no time to do this, because there are already bursts of gunshots and the sound of tank motors ahead...the German vanguard has already killed here.
From this we can see how fast the German army moved. In just thirty minutes, they broke through the Soviet defense line and advanced ten kilometers forward.
Or it can also be said that the retreat of the Soviet army was quickly turned into a rout after being discovered by the German army.
But in any case, the German army has already reached the front, and the next step is the problem of the "roller" line of defense.
"Get ready to fight!" Second Lieutenant Davydov ordered loudly: "Be careful, don't accidentally injure your own comrades!"
At this time, Shulka remembered the incident of accidental injury caused by nervous recruits.
But now no one will pursue it, so for the recruits, this cannon fire came at the right time.
(end of this chapter)
