The night above the vast grassland is different from other places. After the sun, which is releasing scalding flames, completely sinks below the horizon and disappears, all that is left behind is the boundless coldness and desolation shrouding everything under the dark night.
The drop in temperature will slow down the decomposition of the corpse, but this does not mean that Malashenko cannot smell the increasingly pungent smell.
To be precise, from the battlefields where we fought during the day to the villages, the air was filled with the disgusting smell of putrid corpses.
After the corpses of the dead German soldiers were collected together by Malashenko and the German prisoners commanded by Malashenko, they were thrown into a pile a few hundred meters away in front of the position outside the village.
At the top of the pile of thousands of German corpses, there was a white flag with "The End of the Fascist Invaders" written in Russian. In this way, Malashenko left a message to those who would still advance from here tomorrow.
The German follow-up force was a surprise.
The corpse decomposes so quickly in summer that a pungent and unpleasant rotten smell will appear after just a few hours.
Malashenko could not take away the remains of the sacrificed Red Army soldiers for burial, let alone properly dispose of them. In order to avoid the outbreak of the plague and the breeding of mosquitoes, flies and maggots, digging a hole and burying the remains of the sacrificed Red Army soldiers on the spot was the only way.
.
The German prisoners of war, who had not eaten anything since noon, had just finished carrying the bodies of their comrades and piled them into a pile. Then they were ordered by Malashenko to dig graves in an open space outside the village.
No matter how physically fit a person is, he can't stand it. After a day of fighting, he continues to do high-intensity physical work without eating. Malashenko, who didn't regard these German prisoners of war as human beings at all, wore a cold face from beginning to end.
The dead man's face stopped to stare and personally supervised the work.
Many German prisoners who wanted to stutter were able to swallow their saliva and go back to work digging holes after seeing Malashenko's terrifying face.
"Why on earth are we digging these holes? Does that Russian officer want to kill us all?"
"God, stop talking, Fred, I'm scared! Listening to what you say, I feel like I'm digging a grave for myself now."
"Don't you two have any brains? That Russian officer wants to kill us, why does he need to dig a hole now? You just carried thousands of corpses when the sun went down and you forgot? This is for those who died.
The Russians are digging graves, you two idiots!"
Several German prisoners slowed down their movements and listened to the whispers of the workers, which soon attracted the attention of Malashenko, who was supervising the work at the rear.
Malashenko, who frowned and said nothing, took advantage of the situation and picked up a riding crop removed from the corpse of the sacrificed cavalry soldier and held it tightly in his hand. He stepped forward in three steps and two steps and immediately faced the immortals.
The German prisoners who worked conscientiously were beaten wildly.
Crack - crack -
"ah!!!"
The force of Malashenko's attack was so great that the young German prisoner in his early twenties who was caught off guard was whipped to the ground on the spot. Malashenko, who had no intention of stopping just now, whipped harder and harder.
Then he raised his right leg and kicked the German prisoner who was dishonestly working. His body, which already looked a little thin, was quickly beaten with bruises and bruises, and he kept wailing.
"Please! Officer, don't hit me again! I'll get to work right away, right now!"
Miserable wails and pleas for mercy echoed through the night. Ignoring the shrill sounds, Malashenko continued to go his own way and continued to beat him.
The two German prisoners of war who had been chatting quietly with the young brother just now were so frightened that they did not even dare to say anything. They just pretended not to see this scene and continued to dig hard at the soil with the tools in their hands.
Dozens of Red Army soldiers watched indifferently, holding their weapons tightly and still standing guard loyally to their duties.
Malashenko's seemingly crazy move was noticed by Commissar Petrov who was smoking not far behind him. Commissar Petrov, who estimated that Malashenko had been beating him for at least a minute, sighed lightly.
Then he took the cigarette out of his mouth and prepared to step forward to do what he should do.
Commissar Petrov, who had just taken a step forward, felt his right hand being forcibly grabbed by someone. He looked back with some surprise and saw Lavrinenko standing next to him.
"He has a sense of control and will not kill anyone. At least let him do something he wants to do, otherwise it will drive him crazy. You should understand, comrade political commissar."
Lavrinenko's soft words seemed a little sad in the dark night, and Commissar Petrov didn't know if he heard wrongly, but in short, he did stop after Lavrinenko persuaded him.
At the same time that Lavrinenko's voice faded, Malashenko, who had been fighting for almost a minute and a half, finally stopped using his hands and feet.
Looking at the young German prisoner who was huddled on the ground and was almost beaten by him without the strength to turn over, he could only groan. Malashenko kicked him dozens of times, but most of them were aimed at his thighs and buttocks.
He kept his face expressionless.
Malashenko reached into the lining pocket of his clothes and took out a package of solid objects wrapped in rough paper. After weighing it in his hand, he threw it in front of the young German prisoner.
"Keep your reward."
The broken but concise German is easy to understand.
The young German prisoner, who was beaten by Malashenko and was out of breath for a while, remained curled up on the ground and struggled to reach out with trembling hands to pick up the paper package in front of him. After opening it, he found that there was a whole package inside.
A piece of military bread that has not yet been eaten.
Mumble——
The surrounding German prisoners who could almost smell the aroma of wheat in the night wind couldn't help but stop what they were doing and cast envious and longing looks at the young German prisoner who was knocked to the ground.
This was accompanied by the grunting sound of swallowing saliva unconsciously, echoing in the silent night sky.
"You all listen carefully, if anyone dares to snatch something from his hand or take away even a piece of it, what you are digging now is for your own use! I will do what I say!"
Sasha, who was standing a few steps away from Malashenko and alert, did not need to remind him. Before he finished speaking, he immediately repeated Malashenko's words in German.
The German veterans who originally planned to bully this new recruit for his unreasonable thoughts immediately trembled and shrank their heads after hearing this and gave up the idea.
After venting his negative emotions and making some amends, Malashenko turned around and walked away, but unexpectedly, a broken Russian sentence came from behind him.