Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

"Comrade division commander, comrade division commander! Oh no! The 54th Belarusian Division on our left has surrendered to the German army!"

At the headquarters of the 102nd Division of the 31st Army surrounded by the German army, the adjutant hurried into the temporary command post of division commander Leonid and reported the not-so-good news. He couldn't even remember how many troops this was that had surrendered to the Germans.

"What?! These damn traitors! This is a shameless betrayal of the motherland! They should all be shot!" Leonid cursed furiously, but there was a hint of panic that could not be concealed in his curses. Because with the surrender of the 54th Division, their 102nd Division was really besieged on all sides.

But before he could roar a few times, Leonid sat down on the chair helplessly; he was really "powerless", his troops had already run out of ammunition and food, and even he, the division commander, only drank half a bowl this morning. The multi-grain porridge was so thin that he could see the bottom. The few shouts just now consumed his remaining energy. Now he was sweating coldly and feeling dizzy.

It's not that they haven't thought about breaking out, but they are trapped within the second line of defense. The tanks in the division are lying down due to exhaustion of fuel and cannot move at all. They could only use infantry to attack the German positions, but were repelled by the fierce German firepower without any suspense. He charged hard several times, and in addition to using up all the remaining bullets, he also suffered heavy casualties.

If the German army takes the initiative to attack at this time, they will have no choice but to fight with the German army with bayonets. Fortunately, the German army only trapped them and had no intention of launching an attack, not even artillery bombing or aircraft bombing. Leonid also saw that the Germans wanted to trap them here. I am afraid the Germans thought that the shelling was a waste of shells.

"Have you been contacted by radio?" I don't know how many times I have asked this, but the answer I get every time is that I can't be contacted.

Sure enough, the result was the same this time. When the radio was mentioned, the adjutant was equally frustrated. "Comrade Division Commander, Commander Pavlov doesn't care about us and wants us to fend for ourselves, right?" Because they couldn't make contact via radio, they didn't know that Commander Pavlov had been shot and left first.

He didn't even know that Timoshenko, the newly appointed commander of the Western Front, was also sighing. He tried various methods to contact the troops in the encirclement. Sending a few small units to sneak in secretly, but they were discovered by the Germans and almost the whole army was annihilated; the planes sent were either shot down by German fighter planes at high altitudes, or shot down by German ground anti-aircraft fire at low altitudes. In short, they were destined to die, let alone airdrops. Supplies. He didn't even know that most of the Ukrainian and Belarusian troops in the encirclement had surrendered, and only some Russian troops were struggling to hold on.

After taking a few breaths, Leonid said with great determination. "Of course not. I believe that Commander Pavlov and Comrade Stalin will never abandon us. They were just stopped by the German army. But even if we don't get reinforcements, we will fight to the death with the German army!" Habitually tense Leonid tightened his belt and gritted his teeth. "If we can't contact you again tonight, we can only kill the horse to satisfy our hunger." This was a last resort decision. There is a deep relationship between soldiers and war horses. They regard the war horses as their close comrades-in-arms and revolutionary comrades; if they hadn't fallen into In such a desperate situation, he wouldn't even think about it.

"Comrade division commander, we are not a cavalry unit. Even the few horses in the communications company are not enough to eat." Originally, there were many horses in the logistics unit responsible for transporting supplies, but because they rushed too hard, the logistics unit had not yet had enough food. Before they had time to catch up, the German encirclement was formed. Moreover, the war horse is not a meat horse. It only weighs three to four hundred kilograms when it is exhausted. It has lost a lot of weight without eating in the past few days. Even if it is slaughtered, it will not produce much meat.

"It doesn't matter whether he has enough food or not, if we don't kill him, we and they will both starve to death."

The adjutant scratched his head, the division commander was right. "Comrade division commander, if you want to kill, don't wait until night. Do it now? I'm almost starving to death." As the division commander's adjutant, his dietary standards are the same as the division commander's, and he only drank half a bowl of cereals in the morning. Porridge; but the division commander can stay in the command post to conserve his energy, while he, the adjutant, has to deliver various orders and messages back and forth. He has made several trips, but now his calves are shaking and he can hardly stand.

Leonid sighed helplessly and waved his hand. "Then you go make arrangements."

"Yes!" The adjutant saluted excitedly and quickly ran to the cooking class at the division headquarters to deliver the order. "Quick, comrade division commander has ordered that the horses in the communication company be slaughtered and eaten as meat and soup!"

"Very good!"

"Comrade Commander is wise!"

The soldiers in the cooking squad who were also hungry suddenly became energetic and immediately sharpened their knives and rushed towards the communications company.

Seeing that these guys couldn't help but take away their beloved war horses, the soldiers of the communication company almost clashed with them. However, this was an order personally issued by the division commander, and they did not dare to disobey. They could only watch their beloved war horses being taken away by various companies. The cooking team is divided up and cleaned up.

Two hours later the adjutant brought two bowls of hot horse meat. Leonid couldn't wait to pick up the piece of meat and put it into his mouth. Before he finished chewing one piece, he picked up another piece and stuffed it into his mouth. Because he ate too fast, his teeth chattered as if fighting. Soon, a large bowl of horse meat was eaten into his stomach, and he burped unsatisfiedly.

The adjutant also destroyed another bowl of meat like a whirlwind. "I didn't expect horse meat to be so delicious. It's a pity that I can only eat two more meals."

The so-called feeling full and warm, Leonid, who just now clamored to fight to the death with the Germans, suddenly no longer wanted to die so much.

The adjutant seemed to read his mind and said something in his ear. Leonid's expression changed, but he did not have an attack. He frowned and seemed to be thinking about something. Because at this time the Soviet Supreme Command had not issued the terrible "Soviet Defense Council Order No. 227" (requiring soldiers not to retreat even a step; surrendered soldiers will be treated as surrendering to the enemy, and their families will be implicated.), so Leonid It was natural for him to seriously consider the adjutant's words.

Upon seeing this, the adjutant struck while the iron was hot. "Comrade Division Commander, you have to make a decision as soon as possible. There are two different treatments: surrendering now or waiting for the Germans to attack and be captured." He simply spelled out the word "surrender" clearly.

Leonid had a look of embarrassment on his face. "But I'm afraid the political commissar won't agree."

The adjutant looked around and lowered his voice again, making it as inaudible as a mosquito. "I heard that the Ukrainian and Belarusian troops executed their respective political commissars before surrendering, cleanly."

Leonid's expression changed uncertainly for a while, but he was still hesitant. "But we still don't know what kind of treatment we will receive after surrendering." You must know that the Soviet Union did not sign the "Geneva Convention". If after surrendering, the German army dragged him to do hard work until he died, it would be better to fight to the end. , at least you can still get the title of hero and martyr after death.

Seeing that the division commander was already interested, the adjutant immediately recommended himself. "Comrade Commander, I can go to the Germans and see what kind of treatment they can give me."

Leonid finally nodded. "Then sneak over there at night and be sure not to be discovered."