Chapter 154 Robbery

The train sped forward, and the temperature dropped sharply after passing the narrow Caucasus pass.

It is said that the cold air blowing from Siberia is blocked by the Caucasus, so Crimea, located in the south of the Caucasus Mountains, is like spring all year round. (The average temperature in winter is 1 to 2 degrees)

Shulka knew from the veteran that the train was heading northeast.

This is the same as Shulka guessed, the train cannot go directly to Moscow... The reason is that at this time Moscow has been surrounded by the German army from the north, west, and south, and the only place that can freely enter and exit is the east.

Therefore, starting from Crimea, you have to make a big circle, first drive to Stalingrad and then enter Moscow from the east.

The soldiers who were bored in the train would chat to relieve their boredom, or discuss the future battlefield and the difficulties they might face in the future. Some even guessed the location of the German army, and then imagined how the Soviet army would surround and annihilate the enemy.

But after a few hours the discussion dwindled, because everyone knew a little bit...the information they knew was pitifully small, everything was based on guesswork, and reality was often cruel.

Trains often stop when they are entering a station or at a transit station.

This is not for carrying people. In fact, the goal of this train is very clear. Just distribute it.

The stop is for train scheduling. The railway network here is obviously much more complicated than the railway from Kyiv to Odessa, so sometimes I have to wait for other trains to pass by.

At this time, various transactions will be carried out on the platform: local people will take what they have, such as potatoes, eggs, cucumbers, etc., to the platform to exchange with passing soldiers.

The items exchanged were items sent by the soldiers from home or from the troops: gloves, tobacco packets, needles and threads, pencils, etc.

What the people need most is clothes, because they depend on them for the winter, so the price is very cheap: a sweater for a large jar of pickles, clean foot wraps (things that Soviet soldiers wrapped around their feet as socks) for a bottle of milk , a homemade lighter can be exchanged for 10 potatoes.

Homemade lighters were very popular in the Soviet army. They called them bullet casing lighters because they were made of bullet casings... The bullet casing was used as the main body of the lighter, filled with a little gasoline and then stuffed with cotton. Solder a simple device with a roller and a flint, and a lighter is complete.

Of course, this can only be done with the help of engineers, so engineers generally have good popularity in the army.

People getting a lighter means they can save money on matches, and gasoline is everywhere around Crimea.

It is a pity that the soldiers' lighters and other equipment were confiscated in Odessa.

Soon deceit and violence were used.

Shulka didn't realize this at the beginning, and occasionally he saw a few old women standing on the platform staring in disbelief at the departing train, and some had tears on their faces.

Shulka didn't know what happened, he thought it was something else.

But soon he knew that was not the case.

The veteran stood up and stopped the Cossack and several of his men.

"Go away, Crimean!" The Cossack said to the veteran in a low voice, "Don't ask for trouble!"

"People like you!" said the veteran, "will be run over like rats by the Crimeans!"

"Don't bother!" The Cossack laughed: "We are all the same in Moscow!"

The meaning of this statement is obvious, and it may be one of the reasons why the Cossacks did these disgraceful things... Going to Moscow is very dangerous, why not enjoy it before then?

What's more, even if I made a mistake, how can my superior punish me?

locked up?

shot?

No, they need soldiers who can fight to defend Moscow!

"What's the matter?" Shulka asked, and this strange quarrel woke Shulka from his sleep.

"Comrade company commander!" said the veteran, "They snatched their baggage from the old man on the platform!"

"No, I bought two pairs of socks!" replied the Cossack.

"Oh, is it?" Shulka said, "So can you unpack in front of everyone?"

After saying that, Shulka stood up, and the assistant instructor who had just come out of the toilet also noticed the situation here and walked up immediately.

The Cossack was taken aback, and glared at the veteran angrily. Under Shulka's gaze, he could only slowly unpack the package with a fluke mentality...

Inside were an embroidered towel, two pairs of gloves, a pair of socks and an undershirt.

"You mean... you traded two pairs of socks for these things?" Shulka asked, then shook his head at the other unopened bundle: "There's even another unopened one?"

The Cossack froze in place and did not dare to speak. These obviously cannot be exchanged for two pairs of socks, and no one would have socks for socks.

Shulka knocked the Cossack to the ground with one blow.

"If you continue to go your own way and disobey orders, Kuzia!" Shulka said to the Cossack, "then get out of my army!"

"And you!" Shulka said to the Cossack subordinates: "Don't think that this is just the responsibility of the squad leader! Who are you? Soldiers defending the motherland or criminals? Do you know who you are stealing from? They Your son and husband may have lived and died on the front lines like us, think about your own mothers, think about your family members... How would you feel if you knew that they were treated the same way back home?!"

Although the assistant instructor didn't know the cause and effect, but seeing this, he could guess that it was almost the same.

This was the moment when he should have said something, but he didn't.

The deputy instructor walked forward and squatted down in a slow manner, and said to the Cossack who was lying on the ground wiping blood from the corner of his mouth: "Do you think I will send you to a military court or kick you out of the army as Comrade Company Commander said? ? No, I have a better place..."

"No, Comrade Deputy Instructor!" The Cossack looked terrified.

"You are already on my reserve list!" The deputy instructor grabbed the Cossack by the collar: "If you have anything to dissatisfy the company commander!"

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Instructor!"

Only then did the deputy instructor stand up in satisfaction, and then whispered to Shulka: "You shouldn't reason with the bandits, Comrade Company Commander. There are better ways to deal with them!"

Shulka was dumbfounded.