"I will atone for my sins, Comrade Captain," he repeated hastily, "and I will go ...... now"

His words were drowned out by a dull, loud voice coming from the loudspeaker. It was the voice of a non-Russian in a hoarse speech of surrender, coming from outside, above the smoking ruins. In the thick air, it spread far away, and at this time it was clearly audible even in all the positions and shelters: "The German command advises you to stop the senseless resistance. The positions had been surrounded, the Red Army had been routed, and the brave German army was charging towards the city of Leningrad. Your resistance has lost any meaning. Give you an hour to think about it. If you refuse to surrender, you will be wiped out and your positions will be razed to the ground. ”

The hoarse voice repeated it twice, each time spitting out each word in a low voice and clearly. Everyone in the position listened to the sound with bated breath, and when it stopped, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the rhythmic ticking of the timer came from the loudspeaker.

"Go get water," said the captain, who stood silently beside the captain and looked at Andreasdorf with vicious eyes, "just be careful, Sasha." ”

"I'll be careful."

"Please allow me to go," enclosed Andrasdorf, "please allow me to go, Comrade Captain. I'm going to get some water. Get as much as you need. ”

"Your task is to retake the theater building," the captain said coldly, "and by all indications, in an hour the Germans will begin shelling: you must rush to the theater during the bombardment and repel the Germans there at no cost." No matter what it takes! ”

The captain went away after he had finished the last sentence, and did not listen to his unclear and useless assurances. Andrasdorf sighed guiltily and looked around: in the trench of the position, Solnyrev sat in the corner with the tall recruit who had been slightly wounded.

Andrasdorf struggled to remember what his last name was: Inuit Leg.

"Get all of our people." He said he sat down as he felt his knees go limp.

Solnyrev and Inuteleg found a few more people in the position. They gathered in a trench and talked quietly. Somewhere deep in the position, there was still the faint cry of a baby, a cry of grievance that was more terrible to Andrasdorf than any punishment.

He sat on the floor in a daze, sullenly thinking that he had done a terrible thing: betrayed his comrades. He doesn't seek to defend himself, he doesn't pity himself: he tries to figure out why this happened.

"No, I'm not afraid of death now," he thought, "and that showed in yesterday's attack." When the offensive began, I panicked and relinquished command. I think about what I will tell people in the future. It's not about how to fight, it's about what you're going to tell people in the future......"

Two regular army soldiers with light machine guns approached: "We have been ordered to cover you. ”

Andrasdorf nodded silently. Two regular soldiers were fiddling with machine guns and checking the cartridges, and he thought bitterly that with these soldiers, he could not repel the Germans from their positions, but he did not want to ask for help.

"It's better if I'm dead," he muttered, "it's better if I'm dead." ”

Their company had the highest casualty rate of any unit, and now only a few men remained.

For some reason, he tried to avoid the word "killed" and instead said, "I'm dead." As if he wished to die of a cold.

"Well, we only have two grenades," Inuitleg said, not glancing at anyone.

"It will be delivered," said one of the regular army soldiers, "and I will not leave you alone: they are all my own companions." ”

Then about fifteen more came. A reddish-brown haired sergeant with artillery markings reported that the men had been sent for reinforcements. Because of the fierce attack of the Germans in this area, the regular army suffered heavy casualties, so the superiors asked them to fight with the survivors of the punishment battalion for the time being. Together with the sergeant, Andrasdorf assigned the new soldiers to the various positions.

Everything was ready, and the German timer was still ticking, counting the time second by second. The sound of the timing was always in Andrasdorf's ears, and he tried to suppress it by concentrating on the attack, but the loud ticking bore into his ears in annoyance.

Soon the captain came. The state of preparation was checked, and the troops were personally arranged. He ignored Andrasdorf, even though Andrasdorf courteously circled him. Later, he suddenly said: "It is impossible to attack during the day." What do you think? Commander? ”

Andrasdorf was at a loss, he was speechless and nodded hesitantly.

"The Germans also considered it impossible, and they waited for a night attack. That's why we chose to attack during the day. The main thing is that you can't lie down, no matter how fierce the fire. Submachine guns are scattered, have you considered this? ”

"Considered."

"Give you a chance to atone for your sins."

Andrasdorf wanted to reassure the exhausted captain that he was sworn to complete the mission, but he couldn't find a suitable job for a while, so he just nodded again.

"I know what you're trying to say, I believe you," the captain's serious face seemed to pass a smile for the first time, "let's go, go see your soldiers." ”

The captain went to the various positions to see that the "Soviet dust" were preparing for the attack, and everywhere he went he repeated what he had said to Andreasdorf: the submachine guns were scattered, the Germans did not expect to attack, and the main thing was not to lie down, but to run under the walls of the theater building in one go.

"There's only five minutes left to think about it!" The announcer said loudly in a hoarse voice.

"That is, in four minutes you will be attacking," said the captain, taking out his pocket watch, looking at it, "and I will attack at the first order, and not a single shot will be fired." Silently, unexpectedly - this is our weapon. ”

He looked at Andrasdorf, who immediately understood his gaze and walked towards the trench, which had a very high wall, and therefore it was quite difficult to climb out from there. But the soldiers of the camp had already gotten some bricks and built the steps. Andrasdorf stepped up the steps, unhooked the safety of the submachine gun, and waited for orders. Two grenades were handed to him, and he pinned them headfirst up into his belt.