It was a recruit named Leonev.

Shulka beckoned him to him after seeing his behavior, and asked, "What's your name?" ”

"Leonyev, Comrade Sergeant!" As soon as he stepped forward, he stood in a non-standard military posture.

"Can you tell me what you're doing?"

Leonyev hesitated, then replied: "I'm exchanging cigarettes with them with a lighter...... They told me it was allowed, Comrade Sergeant! ”

This was indeed allowed, and the warriors often bartered, such as Shulka, who had a mirror, a haircomb, and a razor.

In this respect, Leonev had done his homework before getting here.

Shulka didn't answer, but asked while nibbling on bread, "Is business good?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Sergeant!" Hearing Shulka ask this, Leonyev seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, he glanced around and then lowered his voice and asked: "Comrade Sergeant, do you have any cigarettes?" German Smoke ...... You know, from the Germans, they can be sold for a good price in Kyiv! ”

"What's the price?" Shulka asked.

"A cigarette can sell for a ruble or more!" Leonev replied: "If the whole package is unopened, it can be sold for thirty rubles......"

"I don't think you understand how serious the problem is, private!" Shulka interrupted Leonev's business: "The Germans are only a few miles away from us, their tanks will appear in front of us at any time, you should use this time to learn how to use your rifle or ask the veteran for combat experience, instead of changing into a large pile of German cigarettes in your backpack!" ”

The actor interjected: "Don't worry, comrade platoon commander, I will follow him!" ”

"Thank you!" Leonyev gratefully said to the actor: "I will fight with you!" ”

"You think I'm protecting you?" The actor looked at Leonev's backpack: "No, private, I've taken a fancy to your backpack!" I'm waiting for the moment when you are killed by the Germans, and then ...... It's mine! ”

The surrounding fighters laughed with a "coax", including the new recruits who had just come in.

"No problem!" Shulka said to the actor: "He's yours!" ”

The warriors burst into laughter again.

Later, Shulka learned that Leonyev was a vegetable seller, and what he usually did was buy vegetables from vegetable farmers at low prices and then ship them to Kiev to sell them to earn the difference, so it is no wonder that he would find opportunities to make money in the army.

It's just that what Leonev didn't know was that making money at this time was simply worthless...... If Kyiv is surrounded soon after, money is a piece of paper that can't buy something.

That is, Leonyev completely did not realize what war meant.

In fact, not only Leonev, but also other recruits, because Shulka often heard recruits ask questions like this:

"How long will this war last, you say?"

"We're on the verge of victory!"

"When our reinforcements arrive, it's time for the Germans to flee!"

……

The war happened so suddenly that they had no time to adapt.

Or it can be said that they have a kind of blind confidence in the Soviet army like the Soviet high-level, thinking that the German army is not capable of attacking the Soviet Union, and that the German army will win the victory in the early stage only because the Soviet army is not prepared, as long as the Soviet army relaxes its breath, it will soon drive the invaders out.

Perhaps, that's why they chose to join the army.

This drove Shulka a little mad, as the recruits apparently didn't know anything, and they hadn't even touched a rifle before.

So the 333rd Regiment soon became a boot camp...... More than half of a unit that looks like it's about to fight the enemy is still learning how to use a rifle.

This was unimaginable for Shulka, but the facts were in front of him.

On the other hand, Admiral Kirponos apparently accepted Shulka's suggestion.

Because that night, the 333rd Regiment was ordered to retreat ten kilometers back to build a defensive line.

A march of ten kilometers is nothing, and the construction of a defensive line will stump Shulka...... He had never learned any work.

The veteran seems to have noticed this, so he took the initiative to come forward and relieve Shulka.

"Straight ahead is the direction of shooting!" The veteran drew a curved line on the ground with a shovel and said, "Use this line as a base and dig down until only the head is exposed!" ”

The width of the trench is about 1.2 meters, and the depth is 1.1 meter, just enough for people to stand at the bottom of the trench and hold the gun and aim in front of it, digging a small hole in the back side wall to store ammunition, and digging a few pits larger than the soles of the feet in the front side wall...... It is said that this is a feature of the Soviet army's trenches, so that they can jump up from the trenches and charge quickly when charging.

A hundred meters in front of the trench there was an engineering unit working, they were digging deep and wide anti-tank trenches.

"What's that?" Leonyev asked curiously: "Why are the trenches they dug different from ours?!" ”

The veteran couldn't help but laugh.

The thief explained: "That's an anti-tank trench, private, the tank can't drive through such a deep ditch!" ”

"Oh, that's great!" Leonev praised: "Who invented this thing? ”

"This is great?" The veteran stopped what he was doing and looked at Leonyev with an incredulous expression: "You mean it can hold off the tanks of the Germans?" ”

"Can't you?" Leonyev was said to be confused.

"Don't forget that the Germans have planes and shells!" The actor said, "They're going to blow it to the ground!" ”

"Flattened?" Leonev looked at the anti-tank trench in front of him in surprise, and the other recruits also had shocked looks on their faces.

Shulka knew what they were thinking.

Compared to the anti-tank trenches, the trenches built by the fighters are nothing more than a ditch.

The recruits are not fools, they quickly think: if such deep anti-tank trenches will be blown up, then what about the trenches they dug? And more importantly, what about them in the trenches?

"Keep getting your hands up!" Seeing that the recruits had stopped, Shulka urged: "If you don't finish these trenches, the Germans don't need to blow you up with shells at all, bullets can wipe you out!" ”

The recruits suddenly stopped talking, as if frightened by what they had just said.

After a while, Shulka listened to them discuss in a whisper:

"Don't worry, it won't be as terrifying as Comrade Sergeant said!"

"Yes, the sergeant just wants to scare us so that we can dig this ditch properly!"

"What if it's really what they say?"

……

Then there was another silence.

Shulka could only shake his head and smile...... Unbeknownst to these recruits, the battlefield was far more terrifying than they said.