Major Gavrilov did not accede to the wounded's request in the end, although the final result was almost certain.

It's sometimes hard to tell what is cruel and what is merciful, and it's impossible to choose.

Soon, the time given by the Germans came...... Shulka found it interesting that even on the battlefield the Germans were trying to live up to what they had said. This is clever because they know that if they are not acted upon again and again when they are used to threaten the enemy, then the threat after that is useless is useless.

So, the Germans counted down the horns with great precision and then poured piles of shells on the central fortress again, including gasoline drums dropped by bombers, as Shulka saw a fire burning outside.

HOWEVER, BECAUSE THE BASEMENT WAS SO STRONG, THE GERMAN ARTILLERY FIRE DID NOT "END EVERYTHING" AS THEY SAID, EVEN THOUGH THEY ONCE AGAIN COMMITTED 600MM MORTARS.

Amid the rumbling of cannons, Shulka began to hate the fortress.

Fortresses are incompatible with modern warfare, and they should not even exist......

It is more suitable for combat in the Cold Weapon era, where the enemy has swords and guns in hand, or there are cavalry, which makes it impossible for the enemy to damage the defenders hiding in the fortress.

However, as the equipment becomes more and more advanced, the role of the fortress becomes smaller and smaller, and it is even a kind of cocoon:

Enemy artillery and aircraft may easily cross the walls and enter the fortress, and then simply block a few places such as bridges, or send a small number of troops to garrison the riverbank, and easily encircle more enemies in the fortress.

Even the fortress is not yet able to function as it should...... The original intention of the fortress was to block this communication artery and prevent the enemy from advancing, but the main German forces bypassed the fortress and attacked the Soviet hinterland.

It will only work if it is tightly sealed with the entire gap like the Maginot Line, but it turns out that even the Maginot Line can be bypassed.

This is the case at this time, it is Shulka who suffers or the besieged side.

The sound of artillery died down, but the situation remained grim.

The biggest problem is drinking water.

When preparing to cross the river before, everyone thought about breaking through and did not take the opportunity to fill more water, and at this time the kettle was gradually empty, especially the wounded and their families needed a lot of water...... The need for water is not just to clean the wound, the wounded who have lost too much blood need to be rehydrated. Needless to say, no one can stand the longing eyes of those children and the pleading of their mothers.

In this case, the major had to send someone to the river to fetch water, as before.

However, the Germans blockaded the river much more tightly than before, and when carrying out the task of fetching water, they often sent a squad to return one or two alive.

"It's Altu!" Major Gavrilov said hatefully: "He is well aware of our weaknesses and is familiar with the terrain in this area!" ”

Major Gavrilov was right, others might have told the Germans that there was a shortage of water in Brest, but they could not tell the Germans which locations were suitable for getting water and where to place targeted fire blockades...... Only officers like instructors know this.

The next second you don't even have to guess, because the instructor's voice has been heard from the loudspeaker:

"Comrades, I am the instructor, Yermak. Altu! ”

The soldiers were stunned when they heard this.

Major Gavrilov couldn't help but scold: "This bastard, he actually calls himself an 'instructor'!" ”

Political commissar Fuming also scolded.

But whether everyone wanted to listen or not, the instructor's voice came clearly from the other end of the speaker:

"I have to admit that there is no point in resisting!" The instructor said over the loudspeaker: "Because at this very moment the Germans are almost to Minsk...... Any idea what that means? From where you are, the Germans have occupied all of the 350 kilometers from where you are, and it will go further as time goes on, so even if you succeed in breaking through, where will you go? There is no place for you anymore, comrades, surrender! Even if you don't think about yourself, think about your family, your wife, and your children......"

The instructor is a person who specializes in ideological work, and he knows the Soviet soldiers, so he is much more clever than the German hard countdown and threats, these words pierced the city wall like a sharp sword into the most vulnerable part of the soldiers' hearts, so that the Soviet soldiers silently lowered their heads, and a few sobs came from the darkness.

There was of course indignation, because many people knew what the instructor was all about, and what he said was nothing more than for his own benefit, as he had said to the Soviet soldiers before he surrendered.

This includes Shulka, but he is more of a resentment than a grudge, because even now, Shulka still thinks that this is not his own war.

Shulka just felt sick, he couldn't imagine how anyone in this world could do such a shameless thing, and he could still speak with full anger and no shame at all.

Whatever Shulka thinks, what can't be avoided is ...... More and more Soviet soldiers sneaked out in the dark and fled to the German camp.

Even Major Gavrilov and Commissar Fomin were powerless to stop it.

In fact, they also don't have a lot of will to stop it.

If there is no hope of staying here, it makes no difference if there are more people and fewer people, and the result is the same, so why force them to be left together to die?

After a long silence, Commissar Fomin said to Major Gavrilov: "Perhaps, we should send women and children out!" ”

Major Gavrilov was stunned for a moment, then nodded silently in agreement, although he knew that it would not be better to send them out, but it was better than waiting to die here.

So, under the order of the organization of the political commissar of Fuming, the woman and the old man walked out of the basement with the children trembling, raised trembling hands, slowly walked towards the German camp, and then slowly disappeared into the darkness.

Shulka smiled bitterly, this had happened in history, but he didn't expect it to happen again.

But a dozen people remained, much to Shulka's surprise.

Matvey gave the answer: "They're single, and they're beautiful!" ”

So Shulka understood.

Being single means having no children to take care of, otherwise you have to take the children with you anyway. Beauty meant that it was difficult for them to escape the humiliation of the Germans, so they should stay with the soldiers, even if they knew the final result.

It's cruel, but it's also helpless.

During the war years, beauty was a mistake.