Two German soldiers were in a foxhole behind a wheat field, enjoying a rare gift of canned beef and delicious brown bread. This beautiful food has an inexplicable attraction for the soldiers on the front line, and the improved food has also made more and more soldiers feel the signs that the war is coming to an end.

The two men talked in a low voice about various topics, eating and talking about what they wanted to do one day after the war ended. They placed boxes of gas masks in the corners of the crater, where their backpacks were stacked, as well as sapper shovels and neatly tied tents.

The younger soldiers leaning against the wall of the foxhole were observing the movement of the Soviet positions in the distance through a gap, after all, they were not far from the area controlled by the Soviet defenders, but for some special reason, they did not have time to break out here, and it was indeed long enough.

Fifteen days have passed since Army Group N moved in and was ordered to be stationed, and everyone has enjoyed a rare time of peace since the beginning of the war, the troops can rotate back to the rear for repairs normally, and some soldiers can even enjoy an unavoidable opportunity to return home to visit their families.

After the young soldier looked at it twice, he retracted his head: "There are no decent defenders on the opposite side, and if we push forward, maybe in a few days, we can advance 100 kilometers." ”

The older soldier was dealing with a not-so-rotten piece of beef in a can, and he fiddled back and forth with his folding fork before giving up and pouring the soup from the can onto his brown bread. The crumbs of the potatoes inside were also poured out, because the warmth had a hint of aroma.

He took a bite of the bread and said vaguely, "You know the! Before you added to the squad, we were in St. Rudolph, oh, Stalingrad, and we fought so badly. Now that there are such good conditions, you can steal the joy and go, if we were still in St. Rudolph, you would have died a long time ago. ”

"Hey, I said, I've only been on the front line for a short time, can you tell me the story of the battle for St. Rudolph? I'd love to hear how my troops fought valiantly on the front. When the young soldier heard of the battle of St. Rudolph, he was visibly interested.

"St. Rudolph?" As if recalling something sad, the veteran took a bite of the bread and muttered with some embarrassment, "What do you want to hear? What do you think everything looks like? All I remember about it is the ruins and the ruined streets, and the constant sound of gunfire and enemy snipers. ”

"There are landmines everywhere, you have to be careful when you walk, Gulf and I walked through that damn street, ten meters wide, and we were cautious. But when I ran behind the opposite wall and leaned there to catch my breath, I found Gulf lying in the middle of the street. The veteran choked up a little as he said this, and he touched his cheek and glanced at the recruit next to him, who already regretted mentioning it.

Then he threw the rest of the bread into the tin can, and continued: "I called him and he lay there motionless, I thought he was joking with me, deliberately scaring me, and when I tried to go to him, I was stopped by the friendly forces behind me. ”

He paused, then asked a question: "You know what they say to me? They said, you've got blood all over your pants, and that's when I saw that Gulf's blood had splashed my buttocks." Hell, that was my last unwashed pants, you know it was my last unwashed pants. ”

After saying this, the veteran smiled bitterly, and then patted the shoulder of the embarrassed recruit twice: "If you have seen the broken heads of your comrades, nesting in the rubble and ruins every day, and not daring to close your eyes at night for fear of being strangled by the enemies who touch you, you will shoot frantically to kill a few enemies in a few hours, and watch your bullets fly other people's front teeth behind the crosshair...... You know that not being to St. Rudolph is probably the luckiest thing you'll ever do in your life. ”

People who did not experience the battle for St. Rudolph are willing to bring up this bloody battle, and they prefer to bury everything they have experienced in their hearts. You must know that among the Ukrainian units with the greatest losses, there are even some soldiers whose losses have reached 1 in 10. The bodies buried in the rubble of the streets and alleys have not yet been cleaned up, and civilians were killed by landmines buried in the rubble a few days ago.

It was a terrible battle, and humanity and civilization were far away from that terrible place. In the endless variety of battlefields, only the brutal power of the beast dominates. Humans rely on strength and ferocity to decide who has the right to continue living, relying on cunning and cruelty to distinguish between their experience and sophistication......

Just as the veteran was recalling the worst battle he had ever experienced, an officer, accompanied by a platoon commander, walked along the ridge at the other end. They came to the side of the foxhole, looked at the two soldiers on duty inside, and the officer at the head opened his mouth and ordered: "In a few moments a Soviet convoy will come over, and their cars have white flags on their bumpers, which are easy to distinguish." Don't fire at these targets, let them go through here and let them safely reach the checkpoint at the intersection behind you, understand?"

"Sir, have the Soviets surrendered?" the veteran asked in an excited voice, looking at the officer from the rear with a look of surprise. This was too important for him, and the surrender of the Soviet Union meant that the war was over, and the war was over, and for all Germans, it meant that good days were coming.

"No, don't rejoice too soon. The officer smiled, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. He really wore a lot of medals, and the Iron Cross around his neck was even more conspicuous: "If it is more accurate, only a part of the Soviets are ready to surrender - just preparation, nothing more." ”

"That's really good news. The veteran laughed, and the lines on his face were like a blooming flower.

"Of course, this is definitely good news. The officer walked along the ridge with his hands behind his back, and there was also a sniper's observation post on the other side, and another foxhole where three infantry were stationed. They were going to inform the soldiers over there and bring the good news to the soldiers who hadn't been able to get home for months.

The faint cheers could be heard about how uplifting the news was for the soldiers. By the time the officers and platoon commanders walked back, some of the soldiers poked their heads out of the foxholes and raised their right hands at the two men. They raised their hands in Großdeutsche to express their joy and gratitude to the commanders for the good news.

Half an hour later, a military vehicle painted Soviet grass green drove up along the dirt road from the opposite side, and behind this car there were several cars, all of which were covered with paint with a five-pointed star and with a striking white flag on the front of the car. The cars drove cautiously, as if they were afraid of the German troops on the opposite side suddenly opening fire, but soon the people in the cars realized that their worries were a little unnecessary, and many German soldiers sat in the open space with their weapons in their arms, looking curiously at these "surrenderers" who had come from afar.

On the violently rocking cars, nervous Soviet guards pressed pistols on their waists, the only weapons they carried, a little too shabby for the German soldiers who were armed with MP-44 assault rifles, G43 semi-automatic rifles, and Mauser Type 98K rifles. However, they were only escorting the "diplomatic corps" in the car, who had come to negotiate with the Germans, so they could not carry larger weapons.

And inside these military vehicles are the bigwigs from Chelyabinsk, who now represent not the well-known Soviet Union, but a new country, the Siberian Federation, which has come to sign a peace agreement with the Third Reich and establish diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level.

"As long as we accede to the German Führer's request, declare independence and join the Axis bloc, give up some of our interests and open up the main railway lines to the Far East, we can achieve self-government on the land we have. A former Soviet diplomat was clearly confident in the peace trip: "Germany will guarantee our security, and Stalin's reign of terror will soon be a thing of the past." ”

"I advise you not to be too optimistic, for I know that the German Führer was very greedy and no less brutal. In the car, another older politician was a little uncomfortable with the shaking car, frowning and pouring cold water on his colleague, as if doing so would make him more comfortable: "We don't have much to offer, and we don't know if we can buy the final peace." ”

For the newly formed so-called Siberian Commonwealth, military disadvantages and diplomatic compromises were not too hard bargaining chips in the face of the powerful Third Reich. When we came, the most discussed topics were more colonial topics such as mining rights and right of way, and these topics also made the atmosphere on the car fall to the cold bottom.

"All right, gentlemen!" said a well-dressed middle-aged man at the head, "In fact, we don't have to insist too anything other than establishing a state and exercising sovereignty. To put it mildly, even if we want to give it, the Germans don't necessarily want it!"