USSR 1941

  Chapter 173 Breakout Heroes

  Due to the emergency of the military situation, Zhukov, who was dismissed and sent to Leningrad, was urgently transferred to Moscow to serve as the representative of the Western Front Army as the Supreme Command...in fact, he commanded the defense of the entire Moscow.

  So, in the era of war, talented commanders don’t need to worry about dismissal and transfer. Their careers will be promoted by the enemy, because no one can defeat the enemy except these talented commanders.

   On the contrary, those military officers who have made a name for themselves in peacetime will show their true colors.

   Zhukov didn't complain about this. When he received the order, he only said: "I need to transfer the most elite troops to Moscow!"

  The 333rd regiment is certainly one of the most elite troops.

In terms of training and equipment, the 333rd Regiment can hardly be called an "elite", because they are even a mixed army of various arms, and some are even equipped with pistols instead of rifles. The situation of the Ninth Army was changed.

However, judging from the record of this unit, they are truly "elite": breaking out from Brest, beautiful defensive battles and breakout battles on the old border, and the anti-encirclement of Kyiv and the final attack on Ao Desa.

  Every battle is remarkable, even the real elites such as the 5th Airborne Brigade do not have such impressive results.

  So "shooting the top bird", it is a matter of course to transfer the 333rd regiment to defend Moscow.

   Handing over the affairs of the guerrilla headquarters to Major Varenka, Shulka and others boarded the train to Odessa under the **** of the guards.

  As I said before, transferring a unit from Kyiv requires a big detour. Fortunately, the 333rd regiment is in Odessa instead of Kyiv, which saves a lot of trouble.

  So Shulka, Major Gavrilov, and the deputy instructor got off the car directly at the Odessa port.

  It was after nine o'clock in the evening, and it was still raining, but the amount of rain was much smaller.

The three of them put on raincoats and got off the train. They saw darkness all around them. Although people could be faintly seen coming and going, there were no lights or flashlights... Any light could attract bombs from enemy bombers. Operate in the dark.

   Even in order to avoid the risk of exposure, troops need to turn in flashlights, lighters, cigarettes and the like before entering the port.

  Even Shulka and others are no exception... Several large baskets were piled up at the entrance, and the soldiers guarding the door whispered tirelessly:

   "Please hand over the lighter, flashlight, anything that can shine!"

   "Cigarettes here, lighters here..."

   Gavrilov was a little bit reluctant to part with the two packs of German cigarettes he brought out from the Front Army Command, so he asked, "Cigarettes don't glow by themselves, can I carry them with me?"

   "No, Comrade!" The soldier replied: "If you have a cigarette in your pocket, you will always find a way to light it!"

   "Will you give it back to us?" Shulka asked.

   "Oh, of course, comrade!" The soldier replied, then took Shulka's cigarette and put it in his pocket naturally.

  Looking at Shulka's protesting eyes, the soldier said: "Comrade, you can mark the items, and then we will fly them to Crimea by plane!"

   Several soldiers laughed.

   Then Shulka realized that this is indeed a very stupid question. Now the materials are shipped from Crimea, and there is no reason to bring the materials back to Crimea, which is relatively affluent, including cigarettes.

   Then walking into the entrance, Shulka and others soon discovered that they couldn't even take their rifles, pistols or even raincoats with them.

   "You will be boarding the boat soon, you don't need raincoats!" said the soldier in charge of collecting the raincoats.

   Major Gavrilov complained: "They almost took away our military uniforms and let us board the ship naked!"

   "Keep your voice down, Major!" said Shulka, "Let them hear it, and they might do it!"

   Then Shulka and Major Gavrilov laughed, but the assistant instructor didn't respond at all.

   "Comrade Deputy Instructor!" Shulka couldn't help but asked in doubt: "Have you always been this serious?"

   "Is there any question?" The assistant instructor asked back.

   "No, there's no problem!" Shulka was a little embarrassed, maybe this is the need of his work!

After groping in the dark for a long time, I finally found the location of the 333rd regiment...it was not easy to find a unit in the dark, I was asking people and directions, even though the 333rd regiment was so big But it wasn't really confirmed until after face-to-face inquiries.

  At this time, the 333rd regiment was all disarmed. In fact, they left their equipment on the front line, and they were also drenched in the rain without wearing raincoats.

  Seeing several people from Shulka, the soldiers couldn't help shouting excitedly:

   "Comrade regiment commander, comrade company commander, we thought you would miss the boat!"

   Shulka joked: "If we can't catch up, you can mess around!"

   "Of course not, Comrade Company Commander!" The actor said: "During the time you were not in the army, we seemed to be missing something!"

   "Really? Don't think this can fool me, Okunev!" Shulka said: "You were searched for cigarettes, I tell you... mine was also searched!"

  The soldiers let out a burst of laughter.

   But Leonyev said: "He is right, Comrade Company Commander. In fact, not only us, comrades in other troops are also asking this!"

   "What?" This made Shulka a little confused: "What did they ask?"

   "Ask when you'll be back!"

   "Yes! Nikov asked several times in a row!"

   "There are three battalions of Varlaam!"

  …

   "Why do they care about this?" Shulka asked as he found a seat and sat down.

   "Because everyone knows you're the 'runaway hero'!" The actor laughed: "They think the troops are safe only when you're around!"

  Shuerka couldn't help being a little ridiculous when he heard the words... Can such an army be called an elite? An elite team defending Moscow?

The deputy instructor stood up at this moment, cleared his throat, and said in a very serious tone: "Comrades, I think I must emphasize one thing, from now on the 'running hero' does not exist, Comrade Shulka It's 'Breakout Hero,' get it?"

   "Yes, Comrade Deputy Instructor!"

  …

  The soldiers answered one after another.

  Shuerka asked suspiciously when the assistant instructor sat back: "Why, comrade assistant instructor? It's just a nickname!"

   "You will know later!" The assistant instructor replied: "It's not just a nickname!"