USSR 1941

"Comrades, the facts have proved that as long as you are willing to fight for the Soviet Union and Stalingrad, we will not give up on you. You have always had the opportunity to return to the embrace of the motherland. Now is the time for you to make a decision..."

Soon, loudspeakers that were still functioning in the streets and alleys of Stalingrad were advertising the deeds of the Fifth Infantry Company everywhere.

In fact, Zhukov personally ordered a batch of horns to be transferred from the east bank of the Volga River to Stalingrad for this matter, because he thought it was an excellent opportunity for publicity. Not only to Stalingrad, but also to the entire army and even the entire Soviet Union.

You must know that this is a time when the supply line is blocked, and the delivery of horns that cannot be eaten or fought at this time is enough to prove the importance Zhukov attaches to this matter.

Then, the Commendation for the Fifth Infantry Company came down quickly.

Sokolov was promoted to second lieutenant, and together with ten other outstanding soldiers in the infantry company, each received a Red Star Medal.

This is of course what Zhukov meant.

In fact, if you just look at performance, it is normal for the officers and soldiers of the Fifth Infantry Company to be promoted because of their previous stains, but they have not yet reached the level where they can receive medals.

Zhukov obviously wanted to use these to prove that the 5th Infantry Company was a normal unit, and he wanted to create a model unit for deserters.

These medals were awarded to them by Shulka himself.

Because of the urgent military situation, Shulka chose to issue the award to them during the withdrawal of the Fifth Infantry Company.

However, only eight were issued in the end, because two soldiers had died on the battlefield during this period.

Shulka could not forget the moment when several soldiers were decorated with medals. All the soldiers of the 5th Infantry Company shed tears without exception.

Their faces were smoky on the battlefield, and their tears were wiped again and again. Their entire faces were covered with flowers, which looked a little funny, like children who had been punished after playing in the mud for a day.

But no one can laugh seeing them like this.

Because everyone knows what they paid for today, for this moment.

It is true that soldiers in other units also paid the same, but at least they did not experience the feeling of being abandoned and marginalized...A considerable part of the deserters were unwilling to surrender to the German army.

If this matter is considered from the perspective of the "punishment camp\

,"It can almost be said that they have no way to survive. If there is any way to survive, they will join the German army.

But a considerable number of people would rather die as a Soviet soldier in the "punishment camp" than live in a German prison camp.

Otherwise, they should have fled in the direction of the Germans rather than trying to escape through the ports to the east coast.

However, the feeling of being cast aside by the motherland is terrible. They feel that the world has no place for them, and at the same time they have lost their support and belief in survival, just like rootless duckweed drifting with the tide.

"Thank you, Comrade Captain!" Sokolov excitedly shook Shulka's hand, and Shulka could even feel his hands trembling with excitement.

"You didn't lie to us!" Sokolov said: "You helped us win these, honor, belief, and other things. Some things, you only know how precious they are after you lose them. Now, we take them again." came back……"

"No, Comrade Sokolov!" Shulka replied: "You earned it yourself, and you deserve it! Besides..."

As Shulka said, he took out the two medals and supporting documents that had not been issued and handed them to Sokolov, saying, "I hope you can give these two medals to their families!"

Sokolov nodded and gave Shulka a hug in gratitude.

Sokolov knows what this means. Medals may be a trivial matter to others, especially this kind of Red Star Medal. It has been awarded a total of 370,000 pieces. It can be said that it is a very common and very common kind of medal.

However, it was very important to the soldiers of the 5th Infantry Company, because it was almost an affirmation of their identity, and even their family's identity.

If necessary, their families can produce medals and documents to prove that they are not family members of "traitors to the motherland".

Of course Sokolov knew what Shulka meant, and so did the others.

So, when Shuerka left, everyone spontaneously stood up to Shuerka, and gave a military salute in an upright manner.

Another benefit of the 5th Infantry Company being a model unit was the normalization of their supplies.

This is also Zhukov's instruction, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to improve the supplies of a "punishment battalion" at this time.

But with a reason, it is different from the order of the superior. Even if Stalingrad is short of supplies, it will not be short of equipment for a reinforced company.

As a result, food was quickly rationed normally, and equipment such as machine guns, heavy machine guns, mortars, and rocket launchers were divided into three batches and arrived within a day.

This caught Sokolov a little off guard.

As I said before, the quality of the Fifth Infantry Company is not high, and the use of rifles by the whole company does not require the cooperation of different equipment to function normally. Once various equipment is incorporated into the army, it will be a bit confusing, especially the rocket launcher... ...not a few bazooka shooters to be found among the deserters.

This is because the bazooka has just been equipped with the Soviet army not long ago, and the bazooka is given priority to equipment with strong combat effectiveness. The deserters and the soldiers of the "punishment battalion" have only heard of the bazooka but have never even touched the bazooka.

As a last resort, Shulka could only ask Valery to pull the Fifth Infantry Company off the battlefield and concentrate on training for a few days.

What Shulka didn't expect was that this kind of training continued for a long time after it started and even became a tradition of the 2nd Infantry Regiment.

The reason is that deserters or "punishment battalion" soldiers have been fleeing to the 2nd Infantry Regiment...

On this day, Shulka was discussing the counterattack at night with Major Mikhailvich and others facing the map.

Because there will be new situations in the tug-of-war on the battlefield every day, the position of the defense line and the deployment of the enemy's troops and firepower are different, so every night's counterattack must analyze specific problems and formulate a different counterattack plan according to the actual situation.

However, because the Soviet army is familiar with the terrain and there are many underground passages that can be used, it is difficult for the enemy to find the location of these underground passages even if they are reused... Climbing out of the passages in the dark, the German troops are often chaotically attacked by internal and external attacks before they can react. In a ball, it was too late to find the passageway.

Therefore, the Soviet army can always take the initiative and gain an advantage at night.

At this moment, Andrianka reported: "Comrade Shulka, dozens of people have joined us!"

Major Mikhailvich frowned, and replied without raising his head: "This kind of thing does not need to be reported, Comrade Andrianka, just lock it up with the prisoners of war!"

"But..." Andrianka said, "They are our own!"