Chapter 421: counterattack

Chapter 421 Counterattack

As planned, the battle was fought from Kerch.

The Soviet army in Kerch is the 50th Front Army... At this time, they can't tell which army it is, because they have gathered a large number of troops that have been withdrawn from the front line and concentrated here, and they are intertwined with each other. Officials could not be found, officers could not find soldiers, and the organization was in chaos.

After Kulik left this mess and left, in principle the command was in the hands of his staff officer, Colonel Leonid, but the only troops that Colonel Leonid could actually command were the guard company of the headquarters.

Mechelis sent a telegram to Colonel Leonid: "I hope you can organize a counterattack!"

"Comrade Mehlis!" Leonid replied in embarrassment: "I hope it will be difficult to stop this harassment, let alone launch a counterattack!"

But of course Mehlis would not listen to his explanation.

Mehlis's approach is simple: "If you can't do it, just wait to become a sinner of the motherland!"

These words immediately drove Leonid to a desperate situation.

Soviet army officers are different from soldiers. If a soldier surrenders to the German army, he may be listed as missing or sacrificed by the Soviet Union due to management chaos.

But military officers, especially those who are being targeted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs... It is difficult to escape their sight with all kinds of detailed information recorded, especially when the other party is the director of the General Political Department, Mehlis.

It doesn’t matter if Leonid himself dies. If he becomes a "sinner of the motherland", it means that his family members may be implicated or even sent to Siberia.

This was unacceptable to Leonid, because his child was only a few months old.

Thinking of this, Leonid made up his mind. He took off the armed belt from the wall and walked out of the headquarters with two guards and got into the jeep.

The jeep drove all the way to the Kerch pier, where there was a lot of yelling, full of Soviet officers and soldiers who were vying for fishing boats and even made their own floating tools to escape.

Leonid stood on the jeep and picked up the horn and shouted at them: "Stop, you idiots!"

Speaking of this, he fired two shots into the sky "bang bang".

The soldiers set their sights here, but were not afraid of Leonid.

Because Leonid only has one person and two guards, they can take him out with just a few people and no one knows who did it...or everyone did it together.

"Is it useful to escape?" Leonid shouted through the loudspeaker: "Do you think you can go back alive? Even if you are lucky enough to cross the strait in the icy water, you know that there is something waiting for you on the other side of the strait." What is it? Shame, death, and the pain of your family!"

What Leonid said is correct, it’s okay if he didn’t escape, because it’s hard to know whether he died in battle or disappeared or other reasons.

But if he escaped through the strait, it is evidence of a deserter, even a corpse.

In fact, most Soviet officers and soldiers did not take this into consideration. They were just frightened by the death and danger in front of them. In addition, they held a little bit of luck, hoping that the law would not blame the public, and that there would be different results if there were more deserters. .

But Leonid's next words quickly made them realize that this was unrealistic.

"Do you know who is in command on the other side of the strait?" Leonid said: "Mechelis is waiting for you over there. He just sent me a telegram and ordered us not to take a step back, otherwise all of us will die." A 'traitor to the motherland'!"

The officers and soldiers were stunned.

They knew who Mehlis was, and they also knew that Mehlis would never be merciful, and falling into his hands would be more painful than death.

If Mehlis on the other side of the Kerch Strait knows that he still has this role, I'm afraid he will have to show off even more.

After being stunned for a while, a soldier shouted: "Forget it, Kulik has already escaped!"

"Yes, he can escape, why can't we?"

…

"I don't know!" Leonid replied: "You should ask Kulik these questions instead of me. I only know that I didn't escape. I'm still standing here, and I'm still trying to drive you to the battlefield!"

After a pause, Leonid went on to say: "And, I can guarantee, comrades, if you are willing to return to the battlefield with me, I will go ahead of you!"

So the soldiers hesitated.

The situation at this time is actually very clear. Running away is death, and going back to fight is also death. The problem is that the former will also involve family members.

Then Leonid made another suggestion: "If any of you are orphans, I will pretend not to see. Otherwise...you know what I mean, you should pick up guns and come with me like men!"

This made the soldiers completely believe in Leonid.

Because if Leonid didn't really consider the officers and soldiers, he wouldn't "pretend not to see" at all, and he didn't have to do so.

So, soon a few people stood up with guns, and then a few more, and then a few more, more and more... Troops, especially low-quality troops, are often like this. They have a herd mentality. When they saw someone running away, they swarmed and ran away, and when they saw someone stand up, they would stand up one by one.

The reason for this is that many people actually don’t know or it can be said that they are not sure what the choice is the most correct. If so many people make mistakes together, it will feel better psychologically.

But no matter what, Leonid succeeded this time. He successfully organized an army of more than 10,000 people and reported to Mahlis.

"We are ready, Comrade Mekhlis!" Leonid said in the telegram: "I don't know which unit they belong to, because they have different numbers and I have no time to reorganize. But they have More than 10,000 people, and we dug out all the equipment in the warehouse to arm ourselves!"

"Very good, Comrade Leonid!" Mechlis replied: "The motherland will know your heroic deeds. I am proud of you. At that time, we will have an air force to cooperate with your attack..."

The next words are not important, Colonel Leonid breathed a sigh of relief, and the whole person relaxed.

After that, Colonel Leonid really fulfilled his promise, and he rushed to the forefront of the troops during the counterattack.

One thing for sure is that he didn't come back alive, and even his body was never found after the war.

However, for Colonel Leonid, this is also not important.

(end of this chapter)