The gunfire was not an attack by the Germans, but from their own people.

Shulka quickly drew such a judgment from where the gunshots were heard.

And that's what worries Shulka...... The sound of gunfire from the Germans was not at all strange, and the sound of gunfire from their own people proved to be in trouble.

Sure enough, the news soon came from the other end:

"Someone fled, they went to surrender to the Germans!"

"It's three battalions of people, there are eight in total, and three were killed!"

"These cowards!"

……

Unlike the Soviet soldiers, who were busy cursing the deserters, Shulka turned pale when he heard the news.

Matvey seemed to understand the reasoning, so he turned his gaze to Shulka and asked, "Comrade squad leader, what should I do?" ”

Shulka knew what Matvey meant by asking...... Escaping a few soldiers was a trivial matter, the problem was that they knew that it was not a secret to break through at seven o'clock tonight, and even the direction of the breakthrough, it must be the forest to the north.

And these deserters, in order to please the Germans to win some kind of "preferential treatment", will inevitably reveal the information of the breakthrough to the Germans.

"Go and report to Comrade Major!" Shulka said.

"Yes!" Matvey answered, but had just gotten up and walked a little way back again, for the Major had already heard the noise.

The soldiers reported to Major Gavrilov:

"Major, someone surrendered to the Germans!"

"They may reveal intelligence to the Germans!"

"The Germans will set a trap for us!"

……

There are still quite a few people who understand among the Soviet soldiers.

"From now on!" Major Gavrilov ordered: "All commanders are optimistic about your soldiers and will not allow anyone to take the opportunity to escape!" ”

"Yes, Major!" The soldiers replied.

This is necessary, but it is not the solution.

"The battalion commander has a meeting at the headquarters!" This was the second order from Major Gavrilov, apparently to negotiate a solution.

After taking a few steps, Major Gavrilov turned around and shouted: "Shulka! ”

"Yes, Comrade Major!" Shulka reflexively responded.

"You're at this meeting too!" Major Gavrilov threw down the sentence and turned his head away.

"Me?" Shulka stood in place, stunned, although he was the squad leader, his military rank was still the lowest...... Private.

Okunev pushed Shulka in the back and said, "What are you doing in a daze?" It's not for anyone! ”

Shulka knew this, of course, so he walked in the direction of the headquarters with some timidity.

On the way, the reaction of the soldiers gave Shulka courage:

"Shulka, we believe in you!"

"Don't let those officers betray us!"

"Don't forget you're a soldier, Shulka!"

……

It was then that Shulka realized that Major Gavrilov might have another purpose in letting him attend the meeting: to stabilize the morale of the army. The Soviet army at this time was in great need of this.

By the time Shulka entered the headquarters, there had been a crowd of people inside, and the smell of tobacco was everywhere, and the atmosphere was very oppressive.

Major Gavrilov whispered something to the instructor, and then turned to the participants and said: "Comrades, the situation has changed in a new way, several of our soldiers have fled to the enemy's camp, and we have reason to believe that they will reveal the situation of the breakthrough to the enemy, which will obviously increase the risk of our breakthrough exponentially, what do you think about this?" ”

"I propose an early breakout, Comrade Major!" It was the commander of the 1st battalion, that is, the battalion commander of Shulka, Captain Venyakov, who spoke.

Shulka had seen him a few times in battle before that, and he was a man of few words, with a straight face at all times.

Shulka thinks his advice is still reliable.

The Soviet soldiers had just surrendered, which meant that the Germans had only gotten the news that the Soviets had broken through two hours later, and they thought they still had time to prepare.

Therefore, if the Soviets had advanced the time, for example, to break through now, even if the Germans had received information, it would not have helped.

"The problem is that we're not alone!" Major Gavrilov said: "There is also the central fortress, and they will break through at seven o'clock, as agreed!" ”

"It's impossible to break through at seven, Comrade Major!" Captain Venyakov replied coldly: "To stay is to wait for death......"

"No, Comrade Venyakov!" The instructor interrupted Venyakov: "This is a crime, and not only that, but by doing so, you are disobeying the orders of Comrade Commissar!" ”

"Orders?" Venyakov replied: "Do you still carry out the order when you know that it is not feasible?" ”

"Of course!" Without thinking, the instructor replied, "Because we are soldiers, and we have just learned from the correspondent that there are many women and children in the central fortress, are you going to abandon them with you?" ”

The officers were silent for a while, abandoning women and children...... This is equally despised, even more abhorrent than being a deserter.

But how will this account be calculated in the end?

Everyone knows that it is impossible to break through and succeed in this way, and it is even more impossible to bring women and children.

In this battle in history, the Soviet army in Brest chose to let the women and children surrender to the Germans, and they continued to defend the fortress themselves...... This is also an admirable practice.

After a moment of silence, one of the officers said: "I have a compromise idea, advance the attack to six o'clock, and at the same time send a messenger to explain the situation to the central fortress!" ”

"No!" Major Gavrilov shook his head and denied: "One hour is enough time for the Germans to prepare, if this is the case, it is better to attack at seven o'clock as originally planned!" ”

Major Gavrilov was right, the Germans moved quickly, let alone an hour, and in another ten or twenty minutes, the breakthrough would have lost its meaning.

So a compromise may seem useful, but in fact, not only will it not have any effect, but it will also throw you into chaos.

Then, without knowing who started it, the officers fell into a quarrel:

"We have no other way, Comrade Major! Order a breakout! ”

"I agree with Comrade Venyakov that we should break through immediately!"

"No, it's murder!"

"Even if you don't think about the comrades in the central fortress, you should think about the women and children there!"

……

"Shulka!" At this time Major Gavrilov shouted.

"Yes, Comrade Major!" Shulka stepped up in response.

"What do you think?"

"What?"

"What do you think?" Major Gavrilov asked, his eyes fixed on Shulka.

"Comrade Major!" Shulka replied: "I was thinking...... In this case, there is no possibility for us to break through to the south! ”