Section 3: The Trial of Unwavering Loyalty and Ruthless Discrimination

  At noon, the commander of the 8th Armored Division, Stierlitz, brought to the Fuehrer a dossier on the Kalmyks, detailing the causes and consequences of events, some of which were connected to the Fuehrer himself. He furrowed his brow, resting his right fist on his forehead as he thought back to mid-November, when he and Hepner had gone deep into the forest to inspect the Kalmyk shock troops.

  ……

  That evening, after Li De took away the instructor Ranya of the Kalmek assault team from the training ground, the assault team members stood still for a full ten minutes, almost an hour without speaking. It wasn't because they were excited, but because they had no instructor left, and although they were scolded every day, now everyone found that it was even more difficult to get through the days without being scolded by her.

  When the Kalmyks saw their leader return to camp, they saw that not long ago the vigorous and spirited team members had become castrated domestic animals: Bao'er raised his head to look at the sky, as if pies would fall from it; Tuerqin stared blankly at the treetops, as if there was delicious food there; Misha muttered to himself, as if a monk reciting scriptures; The most painful one was naturally Tuoding, although she had hurt him so much, he still wanted to see her figure.

  Gleb, with a mischievous glint in his eye, tossed a stone at Misha: "Hey, Misha, isn't this great? Now you won't have to think about it anymore."

  In front of the commander, the Kalmyk people who were putting on airs immediately showed their true face. He cursed and kicked the people lying on the ground: "Get up, you are sheep to be slaughtered?"

  Bao Shu-ting would rather be beaten than get up: "Head, without instructors how can we train? You can explain to the commander-in-chief not to take our female instructor away."

  "Cut the crap. In a day or two, I'll be back to work and then we'll be betting again, with our necks on the line. And do you have nothing better to do than waste time?" As he spoke, he tweaked Bostrom's ear, and before he could apply any force, Bostrom sprang up.

  Karl took off his helmet and pulled out a piece of paper that was lining it: "Stop your idle chatter, everyone! From now on, I'm announcing the names you'll be using after we join the Soviet Army. Listen up! We're from the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the Baltic Fleet of the Soviet Navy, sent to Lake Onega to form a new fleet. Remember your Russian names: Misha - Gorikori, Baldy - Valentin. Valentin means 'healthy' in Russian."

  "Yes, he's healthy, apart from his hair." Grubbs said sarcastically.

  "Ludmila in Russian means loving people, Grubbs, since you love Misha so much, this name is yours. Bauster, your name in German means udder, I'll give you a better name... Vagim" - the ruffian said.

  "Is Bao'er a ruffian? Are you kidding me? If a sissy is a ruffian, then Tartars should be giant beasts." Misha said.

  The Kalmyk people also lost their usual laughter and scolding, apparently, Rania's departure had the greatest impact on him. She actually played the role of deputy, now she has to find a new deputy, he didn't want to be bothered with mundane tasks. But who should take over as vice-captain, this was quite a headache.

  He felt inexplicably annoyed. He simply let everyone disperse, and he himself climbed into the forest, where there was a watchtower. Every time he felt irritable, he would climb up dozens of wooden ladders to look far away.

  This was worth the effort, Dog Egg had one hand stuffed in his pants and was intently looking at something through a high-powered telescope when a Kalmyk man slapped him on the shoulder, he actually jumped up.

  The Kalmyk people dragged him away, bent over the telescope and found two wolves in it. He gave Dog Egg a white eye: "This is all you're worth, haven't seen your dad and mom doing this, don't you feel disgusted? Clean up your pants and roll down, come back in half an hour."

  The Kalmyk gazed out at the endless forest, where smoke curled in the distance - burning peat bogs. A cold wind swept through the treetops, blowing across his face, and he suddenly felt a shiver: the unit was about to carry out a mission behind enemy lines, or as he put it, go gamble with their lives. But for some reason he couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't quite right with the men under him - his Russian comrades and the handful of German soldiers who had been incorporated into the unit earlier had all proven themselves, but what about the German penal troops who had been assigned to them a fortnight ago, or the Russian prisoners of war who had been brought in as reinforcements?

  Before his eyes, such a scene emerged: the Kalmyk assault team encountered Soviet troops behind enemy lines. At this time, a soldier ran from the assault team to the Soviet army, shouting as he ran - Comrades, these people are disguised German soldiers... Then the Soviet army opened fire, and he and the assault team members fell in a pool of blood...

  "No, this menace must be eliminated." He went straight to Hepner's headquarters after coming down from the watchtower. After Hepner arranged for the head of intelligence to conspire with the Kalmyks, he decided to carry out a reconnaissance operation that night.

  In the middle of the night, the sleeping team members were awakened. The Kalmyks hastily informed everyone to evacuate quickly, as a Russian detachment was approaching not far from the camp.

  After a brief flurry of activity, the team members gathered in an open area and then hastily made their way into the forest, transferring to a pre-arranged second camp.

  The dense forest blocked the starry sky, and the troops advanced with a thud, occasionally someone tripped, suddenly more than a dozen handheld flashlights enveloped them, the light intentionally or unintentionally swept across the standing gun barrels, they were surrounded.

  These people stepped forward, surrounding them tightly in the middle. "Don't shoot, be careful not to hurt your own people." The Kalmyk man commanded, then came out to negotiate.

  First and foremost, a "Soviet" regimental commissar shouted in a low voice: "You fascists, traitors to the Soviet Motherland, if we didn't still have a mission to complete, we would wipe you all out. But I won't let you off either, so here's what will happen: as long as you return to the people's embrace, I guarantee that past mistakes will be forgiven."

  "What about the Germans?" asked Karl Mek.

  "The commissar exchanged a glance with the person next to him and replied: 'In the Soviet army, there are troops composed of German anti-war activists and German communists who fight side by side with the Soviet army. After you Germans surrender, you can join the Free Germany Battalion.'"

  After a moment of silence, the "Politruk" lost his patience and said to the one beside him: "Those who stubbornly refuse to surrender, voluntarily sacrificing themselves for fascism, whether they are Germans or Russians, will be executed on the spot."

  A burst of rifle bolts being pulled around, to some people this sound is even louder than the cannon fire. A timid voice came: "Don't shoot, I'm the son of a German Communist Party member... I want to cut ties with fascism once and for all." The German soldier who broke through the company commander's head stood up, almost running into those "Soviet" troops.

  Then a Russian soldier who had risen up with the Kalmyks also stood up, and the Kalmyk opened his mouth in astonishment: "Ivan, how did you...".

  The Russian sneered: "You country bumpkin, don't think that after training in Brandenburg you'll all be like you. Let me tell you, I'll make it clear to you too. I'm a KGB outsider, go die, traitors of the Motherland." He stood in front of the "politruk", glaring at his comrades with whom he had been together just recently, and even spat on the Kalmyk's eyes.

  "The commissar" yelled: "Who else is going to step out? If not, you'll all be dead in two minutes. You, step out." He pointed at Bowers, and immediately someone pulled Bowers out. Bowers actually cried, he grabbed the arm of a Tartar next to him, but was forcibly pulled away, then he hooked his feet around the tree trunk, finally finding an effective way: he wailed while wrapping his legs around the tree trunk.

  "If you agree to join the Free German Forces, we'll let you go." The commissar tempted him, but Bauster shook his head vigorously while crying.

  "Also, I'll assign a female soldier to you." The person next to him seemed to know what he liked and promised, but Bao Si Te hesitated for a moment before shaking his head.

  Someone put a pistol to his temple, but he didn't cry. He closed his eyes and waited quietly. The pistol went "click", Boustead opened his mouth, realized it was empty and opened his eyes in terror, protesting: "The Geneva Convention prohibits shooting prisoners of war."

  The commissar flew into a rage, waved his hand and Misha, Grubbs and Baldy were dragged out.

  "Want to know how a Red Army man surrenders to the Germans? I'll tell you: on the east bank of the Neva, when a damn SS unit attacked and took women and children as human shields, our regimental commander asked for orders from above. Comrade Stalin's order was: 'Open fire on the accursed fascists and their accomplices.' I will never forget the wails of the women and children. Do you think such a government is worth being nostalgic about?"

  The commissar also retorted, but his tone was noticeably milder: "You're really naive, you haven't even lived long enough to know the age of a dog, and yet you dare to talk about a lifetime. Let me tell you, just a few days ago, the Supreme Command issued an order, in order to inspire the people in the occupied areas to resist the invaders, we even disguised ourselves as Germans and burned, killed and looted our own people. The goal is glorious, and the means are justified, you're too idealistic, next one."

  Gruhlke shouted at the man who was trying to recruit him for Free Germany: "You can take down your pants and let me see how white your ass is, I'll screw your stinking ass, you son of a bitch." The other man wouldn't take off his pants for Gruhlke to screw but instead kicked him in the ass back into the ranks.

  When it was his turn to be shaved, he closed his eyes and moved his lips. People thought he was afraid, but after listening for a long time, they realized that what came out of his mouth was not an accusation against the Germans or praise for the Soviets, but a prayer from 1 John: "We should love one another. This is what you have heard from the beginning, this commandment. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and those of his brother were righteous. Brothers, do not be surprised if the world hates you..."

  A few minutes later, the "commissar" took off his Soviet army coat and put on a German military uniform. The Kalmyks were satisfied that most of their people had withstood the test. Those who were unsteady received a bullet as a reward. At the same time, because of this rotten idea, everyone was shocked, and for several days the team members did not speak to the Kalmyks.

  ……

  "Bang!" Li De slammed his fist on the table, startling the 8th Armored Division's commander, General Sidorov. Li De said with relish: "It feels great! That bastard Grubbs is really something else... and then there's Bauster, at least he didn't betray us... and Baldy..." His face suddenly darkened.

  "What's wrong, Yuan Shou?" asked the teacher.

  "This bald head sacrificed himself in a battle with German-disguised Soviet commandos near Kaluga, Central Front Army Group. He may not have won the heart of a woman, but he won the respect of the German people." Li De regretted not patting his shoulder when inspecting the assault team.