[European style] go home

A sharp sound of the train whistle pulled me out of the wonderful dream, and the green ocean in the carriage began to move slowly.I stood up and straightened my wrinkled clothes, and walked out behind the crowd.

After half a year, I came to Kiev again.Compared with a few months ago, there is almost no change here, except that the road here has become more difficult due to rain and snow. On the way from Kharkov, the train was forced to stop several times to wait for the engineers. Shovel snow to clear roads.It can be said that the biggest enemy of our army in winter is not the hateful Bolsheviks or partisans, but the deep snow, hard frozen soil and unbearable cold.

My next stop was Lublin, Poland, where every soldier on leave had to change trains.The pick-up time is 4pm, so I have two hours to spare to reminisce about the good times I had here.In fact, I was only in Kiev for three days.After three days, we finished our repairs and embarked on the journey to the east again.Nasty saboteurs blew up so many holes in the Kiev-Kharkov railway that we had to drive there.Fortunately, the autumn weather here is pleasant. Along the way, I saw the golden leaves of linden and maple trees in the dense temperate forests of the Eastern European plains, the boundless Ukrainian fertile fields, and the low and simple rural farmhouses emitting black smoke. ... Only when Erich's squad was replaced to drive this Opel truck loaded with 75mm infantry guns, did I withdraw my gaze from the tourists and follow the rear of the truck in front of me firmly.

Sometimes I hate war, and sometimes I appreciate it.If it hadn't been for this great battle, maybe I would never have come to this place, nor would I have seen such a charming scenery, nor would I have known this group of lovely friends.

I went to the Kiev Railway Station to take a look. The passers-by walked leisurely on the street. When they saw me, a disarmed soldier, they all gave me a friendly smile.The citizens here are as lovely as the city itself.

120 minutes passed by like a river.I went back to the platform and waited to get on the train.This time I was on a civilian train. In addition to us soldiers returning home, there were also a large number of Slavs heading to Minsk. Most of them were red-faced peasants with thick beards, wearing shoddy and cheap coats, and seemed to be living in poverty. .

Contrary to the war-ravaged and silent Germans, those Russian peasants possessed unimaginably great joy. They sang loudly and drank like happy synthesizers in the carriages, and the whole train was filled with joy. The noise made by alcohol and musical notes.But this kind of noise is something we like to hear, and it keeps the place from becoming dead.The down-to-earth and generous peasants also distributed the wine to the accompanying soldiers, so I was lucky enough to drink real Ukrainian red wine.Thanks to the catalytic effect of alcohol, my body gradually warmed up, and gave birth to inexplicable satisfaction and joy.Apparently, the same goes for the other soldiers.

There was even the sound of an accordion all around me.The Russians huddled shoulder to shoulder and sang songs I couldn't understand, but one thing I was sure of was that they were very happy.So after they sang a song, we sang the song "Erica, We Love You" (②) with the accompaniment of the harmonica.In that atmosphere, anyone is willing to sing their lungs into a bellows.That song still rings in my ears today: "Erica, we love you, Erica, we love you, that's why we're coming back, that's why we're coming back..."

I never thought that I could get such comfort in a brutal war. At this moment, we seem to have forgotten the tragic battle that is going on on the Eastern Front, and the Waterloo that the African Army in the South encountered in Alamein (③) Forget the intriguing submarine warfare under the calm sea in the north, and the relatives and friends in the west who are eagerly looking forward to our return home. All that is left in the world is this carefree music bunker we are in.

This is the happiest day I've had this year.The last time I felt this happy was last Christmas.Thinking of this, my thoughts began to travel through time and space again, drifting into the distance.

Just as we shuttled back and forth on the vast wilderness to transport material reserves to the front line, winter in Russia came quietly.Until then, it never occurred to me that hypothermia could kill a person.Goose feather-like snow fluttered down from the sky and fell to the ground, covering everything exposed to the air with a white blanket.Originally, snow was something I was looking forward to when I was at home. Whenever winter came, Helmut and I could build snowmen and have snowball fights in the yard; In the field, enjoy the comfort of this free rug.

But once something loses its proper balance and develops without limit, everything becomes less wonderful.The snow here can last for a week until everything is swallowed up in the snow.The falling snow often accumulates to the height of my military boots, making it difficult for people to move.The most unbearable thing is that when the rainy and snowy weather passes and the sun rises, the surrounding thick snow begins to melt, and the temperature suddenly drops to minus 30 degrees. No one can survive in such a harsh environment without heating equipment live for two days.Many suffered from chilblains, others were unable to walk due to frostbite, and some were dying of tetanus due to frostbite wounds.In the wilderness where there is no indoor toilet, even the solution has to endure the test of life and death.

Under such circumstances, shoveling snow has become a daily task for all soldiers.Every morning, the first thing we do after eating is to clear the snow that has accumulated at the gate of the camp. Sometimes when the snow shovels are not enough, we take off our helmets and even take our own stainless steel lunch boxes to hold the snow.At the same time, affected by the low temperature, we had to start the engine an hour earlier, and use grenades and pickaxes to get the wheels rolling.In the wild, it is a common accident that the vehicle stalls. Sometimes it cannot be started, so it has to be parked in place and wait for rescue.

In December 1942, due to the poor road conditions in Russia in winter, our speed of execution of orders became extremely slow, and the transportation task became extremely difficult.

However, even under such difficult conditions, the warriors of the Sixth Army (④) are still fighting hard in Stalingrad (⑤), we cannot give up.In most cases, we started from Kharkov and sent a steady stream of strategic materials to Voronezh in the north and Rostov in the south (⑥).In fact, it wasn't really a front line, and the honorable task of getting logistical supplies to Stalingrad was given to the 9th Division, made up of battle-hardened veterans.

As the battle became tighter, our tasks became more and more onerous, and at the same time, the sabotage of the guerrilla organizations in the rear became more and more rampant. I spent almost the entire December standing guard outside the German Army Headquarters building in Kharkov. I was also accompanied by a few comrades from the same company, which left me no time to think about other things, because during that time my spirit was highly tense, and I was afraid that a bullet would be fired somewhere.

I have not seen the handsome Captain von Kagneck since my farewell at Kiev, although he has left an indelible impression on my mind.Perhaps, after the war, I will include him in my personal memoirs, as I am doing now.The cruelest thing about war is that it allows you to meet all kinds of people that you could never meet before, but it also allows you to say goodbye forever without warning.Since the day we officially joined the war, four people from our company have died. I clearly remember the circumstances before each of them died. Died by bombs dropped by Allied bombers . . . I don't think I'll ever forget those who died so early in the war.Strangely enough, I can't recall a single one of the thousands of dead bodies I witnessed later in the trenches.They are just obstacles to my progress.Maybe one day I'll be a part of it too.

But to my surprise, God was merciful to me at that time.

The author has something to say: ① Lublin: A city in eastern Poland.

② "Elekka, We Love You": A ballad widely sung in the German army during World War II.

③The Battle of Alamein (1942.10.23-1942.11.3): On the North African battlefield of World War II, the African Armored Corps under the command of Erwin Rommel, the German commander of the Axis powers, and the British General Bernard Montgomery Battle of Alamein, Egypt, fought by Commonwealth forces.The war ended with the victory of the British-led Allied Forces, which completely reversed the situation in the North African battlefield.

④Sixth Army: An army unit of the German army in World War II. It was the main force of the German army in the Battle of Stalingrad, commanded by Paulus.

⑤ The Battle of Stalingrad (1942.6.28-1943.2.2): In World War II, Nazi Germany fought for the southern city of Stalingrad in the Soviet Union, which was a turning point on the Eastern Front.

⑥Voronezh, Rostov: Soviet cities.All near Stalingrad.