The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Of course, everyone who participated in the Battle of Holm was registered, including those who died on the battlefield, those who were missing, and those who were returned wounded.

In fact, this work started when the 1st Infantry Regiment arrived in Holm, but at that time it was to be able to make better and more reasonable use of everyone instead of rewarding according to merit.

Then, when the 1st Infantry Regiment pulled out of Holm in cars, the "special medals" promised by Hitler were distributed to every soldier.

Of course Qin Chuan also got one.

The entire shape of this medal is a shield. In the shield frame, the main body of the upper part is a pendant-winged eagle with its head turned to the right side of the shield. The eagle's talons are holding a third emblem with the word "Wan" in the middle. The Iron Cross of the Three Reichs has both sides of the wings extending to the bottom of the Iron Cross. The lower part is the capital letter "CHOLM", and under the letters is the Arabic numeral "1942" representing the year in which the battle took place.

"Good luck!" Werner said excitedly as he pinned the shield on his left arm: "This is the first medal I have received. You must know that we have not received any medals after fighting in Africa for two years, but It’s only been a few months…”

As he spoke, Werner flashed the medal on his arm to everyone.

"Compared to this, what I want more is a vacation!" The baker waved the medal in his hand: "Do you still remember how long it has been since you went home to see it?"

"Two years, two months and four days!" Yacop replied.

There was a silence in the car compartment. Obviously this topic aroused their homesickness.

"I'm better than you!" Dominic said, leaning against the car guardrail: "The last time I was injured, I was at home recuperating for three months!"

"That must feel good, right?" The baker cast an envious look at Dominic.

"Maybe!" Dominic shrugged: "But... just like we complain about thirst and heat in the desert, and we curse the humidity and cold in the Soviet Union, we may not be able to stay at home!"

"How can it be!"

"This guy is showing off in front of us!"

…

Dominic's words soon attracted scoldings from the soldiers, but later they realized that what Dominic said was not a lie, at least not entirely.

"Captain!" At this time, the correspondent handed the phone to Qin Chuan and said, "Major's call!"

The major was referring to Bazel, and the calls he made usually contained some orders.

Sure enough, when Qin Chuan answered the phone, he heard Bazel say: "Transmit the order and take a month's leave!"

"What?" Qin Chuan could hardly believe what he heard.

"Take a month off!" Bazel said: "We will drive directly to the train station and then take the train back to Germany!"

Qin Chuan turned to the soldiers in the carriage with an incredulous expression and said: "Take a vacation, they gave us a vacation!"

"How long?" asked the baker.

"One month!"

There was silence in the car for a while, and then a cheer broke out with a bang. The soldiers in other cars obviously heard the news, so the cheers continued one after another.

After thinking about it, Qin Chuan felt that it was time for a holiday... After the Battle of Holm, several German army groups had basically stabilized their positions. But despite this, the German army was unable to launch a counterattack in a short period of time, and could only stalemate with the Soviet army on the Holm line until more supplies arrived and a large number of defeated troops had time to train.

Therefore, taking advantage of this gap, the First Infantry Regiment got a rare month's vacation.

The convoy went straight to the Velikie Lucki railway station... There was no shortage of space on the train back to Germany, as a large number of trains came here loaded with supplies and then returned almost empty. So it didn't take much time for the 1st Infantry Regiment to "get" a train large enough to carry the entire regiment back to Germany.

In the mist-like steam of the train station, several Soviet members of the security team were selling the products they had made to the German soldiers in blunt German:

"Sir, don't you take some souvenirs back? Look at this, a cross made of bullets, a Soviet military cap, and a collar badge... You can take it back and tell your relatives and friends that these were taken from the enemies you captured. Come down! They will be envious of you, and this... a red flag, this is not a common thing!"

The German soldiers couldn't help but look at each other in shock after hearing this. They had indeed made many military exploits and captured many prisoners, but they never thought about picking anything from the prisoners and bringing them back to their families. After all, they never thought that they would There are holidays.

But they do need to take something back to show off to family or friends.

So they could only grit their teeth and spend their savings to buy souvenirs from the Soviets that were usually readily available.

Werner bought a red flag, and then he couldn't wait to unfold it and said to the others: "Look, this red flag is paired with a coat of arms. I believe my family will be proud of me!"

"Unless you can dig a few holes in this red flag, Werner!" Qin Chuan said.

"What?"

"Have you ever seen a flag captured by the enemy on the battlefield that had no bullet holes or damage?"

There was a burst of laughter in the carriage.

Werner half-opened his mouth and said, "So, I was deceived by them?"

"Of course!" Qin Chuan said: "Do you think this is a red flag captured from the battlefield? No, it is just a piece of red cloth. It may have just been dyed and will fade soon!"

"These cunning Soviets!" Werner cursed through gritted teeth: "He cheated me out of two cans!"

"It won't make any difference!" said the baker. "Like the captain said, you just need to burn a few holes in it with cigarettes, and then you can start telling your heroic deeds!"

"That's right!" Werner said and took out a cigarette.

When everyone had smiles of longing and expectation on their faces, Qin Chuan turned over the information in his hands worriedly.

Qin Chuan couldn't even remember the names of his family members, so he had to review them temporarily.

What kind of people are they? What is that home like? Will you become suspicious of yourself when you meet them?

All this made Qin Chuan hesitate whether he should return to the place where he was familiar with "Frick".

But obviously, it is impossible not to go back, because it will make everyone feel strange, not only comrades, superiors, and even the German Military Intelligence Agency.

After thinking about it, Qin Chuan finally decided to put aside all these worries... Who cares, the battlefield has come, will he still be afraid of a home in a peaceful society?