Then the first round of German artillery fire covered the recruits.

It was not yet dawn, and it was about half past three in the morning.

After marching all the way and then taking more than two hours to complete the construction, the 333rd Regiment finally got a little rest.

Shulka and his former subordinates fell asleep...... Although they are not very experienced in the first few days of the war, the battlefield is the best training ground, and they have learned the "skills" to fall asleep in a stressful or harsh environment.

Having said that, if you haven't learned this until now, it means that you can't sleep for more than ten days, then I'm afraid that people don't look like people and ghosts like ghosts, and you don't need the enemy to do it.

Not so with the recruits.

At this time, they are entering the stage of "pre-war syndrome...... The name was given by the veteran Matvey, and Shulka didn't know if it existed in medicine, but it did exist.

This is the personal experience of Shulka and others, and to put it simply, when they know that the battle is coming, everyone behaves differently...... For example, some recruits at this time were so nervous that they couldn't speak, some didn't dare to leave the darkness in front of them for a moment with their guns in their eyes, some people seemed very excited, and some tried to show that they didn't care.

But all of them are for the same reasons: nervousness, fear.

These are certainly not Shulka's concerns...... Shulka couldn't care even if he wanted to, there were a dozen recruits in a platoon, and there was no way to sleep even if he put a gun to their heads.

"They need to be tempered on the battlefield!" Here's what Shulka told himself: "Just like everyone else! ”

So Shulka nested in the trenches with peace of mind, covering his head and face with a marching blanket, and forced himself to sleep.

But it didn't take long for Shulka to be woken up.

A "bang......" gunshot.

Then someone shouted: "It's the enemy, the enemy is coming!" ”

Then there were a few more "bangs", everyone picked up their rifles and lay down in front of the trench to prepare for battle, and Shulka also turned over and aimed his gun forward.

But soon someone shouted: "Don't shoot, it's your own people!" Don't shoot! ”

"Who fired the shot?" Second Lieutenant Davydov yelled at the distance of another section of the trench: "I told you, you are not allowed to shoot without an order!" ”

Shulka looked at it, and it was indeed his own person in the uniform of the Soviet army who came up on the other side...... To be precise, it was withdrawn, and the rear line was built in order to allow the troops on the front line to retreat smoothly.

At this time, they were obviously frightened by the sound of gunfire, and they all lay on the ground and did not dare to move, and occasionally there were a few wails and curses from the officers.

"Who fired the shot?" Shulka asked.

"Comrade Sergeant!" One of the recruits got into trouble and replied with a pale face, "It's me...... I thought they were enemies! ”

Shulka couldn't help but feel angry, although this should be said to be normal in battle, of course there will be problems when recruits go to the battlefield without training.

The problem is ...... Some people have been wounded, possibly even killed.

This is not something Shulka can pass through.

Just as Shulka had a headache, there was a sudden whistling of cannonballs in the air...... Enemy shelling.

"Mask!" Shulka shouted, retracting his head into the trench without saying a word.

A volley of shells exploded nearby, followed by several more rows, one after the other, becoming more and more violent.

Obviously, it was the Germans who found out that the Soviets were retreating in the night, so they began to pursue the victory...... This was common on the battlefield, and while the Germans did not usually choose to fight at night, a retreat was a good opportunity for the enemy to attack, which could lead to unexpected results along the way, and the well-trained Germans knew this.

The retreating Soviet troops were in chaos at the moment of the shelling, and they desperately fled backwards under artillery fire.

It is well known that it is taboo to get up and run around when bombarded by enemy artillery, which even recruits know.

But sometimes it's hard to tell whether it's right or wrong.

The reason for this was that when the Germans were using artillery fire to blockade the depths, the other side must have also launched a fierce attack.

It is true that lying still can avoid the shells, but it will not be long before the Germans will be coming from behind, and then they will only be afraid of shells.

As a result, the originally calm wilderness suddenly turned into hell: everywhere there was the fire of shells, everywhere there were Soviet soldiers thrown into the air, pieces of corpses and stumps fell from the sky, and many Soviet soldiers were knocked down by shrapnel as soon as they ran above the trenches, so they fell into the trenches one by one, and it didn't take long for the corpses to almost level the trenches.

The bombardment lasted for more than thirty minutes before it gradually stopped.

Screams and wails followed...... In fact, there was a considerable part of the screams that could not be called screams and wails, and many of the recruits who hid in the trenches were not injured, but were simply screaming in fright.

This is a normal physiological response, and when the fear is too much to bear, shouting loudly can reduce the psychological burden.

Shulka asked the squad leaders to count the numbers and casualties, and he was surprised to learn that only two were missing.

Garrisoned in the trenches, and the trenches were not badly damaged, going missing almost meant fleeing.

Originally, Shulka thought that at least half of the recruits would take advantage of the chaos to escape, after all, this was a good opportunity.

It should be a good thing to be happy about, but when Shulka saw the recruits huddled in the trenches shivering, he knew it was nothing to be happy about...... They didn't flee more because they didn't have the courage to step out of the trench.

Therefore, Shulka should catch up with the two new recruits who have escaped and tell them that they are actually qualified, potential, and hopeful heroes.

Of course, this was just a thought, and Shulka didn't have time to do that, because there were already bursts of gunfire and tank motors ahead...... The vanguard of the German army has already slaughtered here.

This shows how quickly the Germans moved, but in just thirty minutes they broke through the Soviet line and advanced ten kilometers.

Or it can be said that the retreat of the Soviet army was discovered by the Germans and quickly turned into a rout.

But in any case, the Germans have already slaughtered in front of them, and the next question is the "drum" line of defense.

"Prepare for battle!" Second Lieutenant Davydov commanded loudly: "Be careful, don't injure your comrades by mistake!" ”

That's when Shulka remembered the previous recruit's accidental injury due to nervousness.

But now no one will pursue it, so for the recruits, this artillery fire came at the right time.