USSR 1941

Leading the dozen or so female relatives was a young female officer named Agata... Shulka recognized her as Da Shi by her rank.

Perhaps a non-commissioned officer could not be called an officer in the troops of other countries, but in the Soviet army, he could command a platoon or even a company.

Needless to say, the reason is that Soviet officers suffered a lot of losses for some reason before the war, so that Gavrilov could serve as the head of the regiment only as a major, which generally requires a colonel in other armies.

At this time, Agata was discussing something with the platoon leader Pukarev, and then Pukarev called out to Shulka, who was more than ten meters away, impatiently:

"Shulka!" Pukarev raised his head towards the female relatives: "I have a task for you, responsible for their safety!"

"What?" Shulka couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words.

If he was not mistaken, these female relatives were all armed, and they all held pistols or even rifles in their hands, so they didn't need protection at all.

But Pukarev ordered involuntarily: "They are handed over to you!"

"Yes, Comrade Platoon Commander!" Shulka replied.

The female officer walked towards Shulka generously, stretched out her hand and introduced herself, "My name is Agata!"

Shulka saluted Agata and replied, "My name is Shulka, sir!"

Agata couldn't help laughing: "You'd better forget about the superior-subordinate relationship, Shulka! Otherwise, it will be difficult for you to carry out your mission!"

This is another place that puzzles Shurka. Agata's military rank is higher than that of Shurka. It stands to reason that Shurka should obey Agata's orders.

Seeing Shulka's puzzled expression, Agata explained: "Don't doubt, Shulka, I manage the library, and I have never used it before..."

Saying that, Agata leaned the rifle in her hand against the wall, then sat down, and asked her subordinates to do the same.

Agata looked young, in her early twenties, with short hair, and looked very energetic in a military uniform, at least much better than those female relatives who used a few holes in the sheets as clothes.

"I don't understand!" Shulka said. "Why does the platoon leader look like that? He's like..."

"Dump us like a pile of trash?" Agata laughed and asked, "Any smoke?"

Shulka cast his eyes on Okunev, who spread his hands. He had used up all his Mahe cigarettes before the battle.

"Forget it!" Agata sighed: "Let's put it this way, Shulka! Your mission is not to be responsible for our safety, but at the last moment...you understand!"

Shulka had a look of horror on his face.

Of course he understood what this meant, but he didn't know if he could put his gun on these women's heads and pull the trigger.

Agata seemed to have seen through Shulka, and said, "You have to do it, understand? Every one of us!"

Shulka couldn't help being speechless, he looked in Pukarev's direction, Pukarev seemed to be ashamed to avoid Shulka's gaze.

Another difficulty was food... There was no shortage of food in the Kobrin fortress because Shulka had found extra supplies, and they did bring food with them, but there was not much left after distributing it to the hungry others.

"We should look for food!" said Major Gavrilov. "Maybe there is something missing!"

Political Commissar Fuming shook his head and replied: "We have searched for all the places we need to find! Unless we can get rid of those ruins..."

A few soldiers rummaged through boxes and cabinets in the basement, hoping to find something useful, and the thief Fovalikov was one of them... He used his housekeeping skill again to unlock a side door with a wire. A lot of things rolled down with a "squeak".

"Oh, that's great!" The thief picked one up and put it on his head and said, "Look,

We got gas masks! "

"I'd rather it be a pile of bread, thief!" said veteran Matvey.

"Be content, veteran!" The thief casually threw a gas mask at the veteran, but the veteran didn't follow, and the gas mask rolled in front of Shulka.

"Sorry, comrade squad leader!" said the thief.

Shulka didn't answer, picked up the gas mask and looked at it... This is a gas mask with an extension tube. Because poison gas warfare was commonly used in World War I, gas masks were basically a must-have item for the armies of all countries in World War II. , The German army even returned a pair.

"What are you thinking?" Agata asked suspiciously, "Haven't you seen a gas mask?"

"No, of course I have!" Shulka replied.

Shulka lied, he hadn't actually seen it, at least not the real one.

"It's useless, Shulka!" said Agata. "The Germans don't need gas at all, it's a waste for them..."

"No, it might work!"

"Stop being funny!" Agata laughed, but gradually stopped smiling when she saw Shulka's serious expression.

"What you say can't be true!" said Agata.

Shulka got up with the gas mask and replied: "I may not be able to complete the task, Agata!"

"What?" Agata didn't understand the meaning of these words at first, and it wasn't until Shulka left that she realized that it was a "last-minute" task.

Shulka found Major Gavrilov, who was discussing something with several battalion commanders facing the map, presumably studying where it was easier or safer to get water.

The quality of Major Gavrilov is worthy of respect. He will not fall into negative emotions and choose to give up on himself in a crisis or even a desperate situation. He is still full of energy to boost morale, organize water collection, find food, etc. Every effort to make the best out of a bad deck, which even Shulka couldn't do... Shulka had almost given up.

In fact, Shulka also knew that this was only a small force shown by Major Gavrilov.

In history, he persisted in the Brest Fortress alone for more than a month with almost no other people... Brest's large-scale resistance was crushed in about a week, and then the streets and alleys relied on The sporadic battles hidden in the ruins can last for more than a month, until Major Gavrilov was seriously injured and captured.

This is impossible without tenacious perseverance and unswerving spirit until death. No one can persist in that state for more than a month. Shulka doesn't believe it, because he can't even stand it for a few days.

But a living example is right in front of Shulka.

"Comrade Major!" Shulka saluted Major Gavrilov, then handed over the gas mask and said, "I hope you can see this!"