Chapter 9 Academics
"After the attack with an army as the first echelon, the Ninth Army has opened a gap in the Finnish defense line. If the 163rd and 122nd Divisions can be transformed into more mechanized tank or armored divisions and equipped with resources that can sustain combat for six days, then they will be able to deploy in a large area of at least 50-80 kilometers wide and 100 kilometers deep, and advance at a high speed."
In the classroom, on the east wall hung a map of the Soviet-Finnish battlefield, which marked the previous combat situation of the Ninth Army on the central front. Colonel Leonid held a pointer made of a simple tree branch.
As he spoke, Colonel Leonid pointed his pointer towards Oulu on the Gulf of Bothnia, which was the main attack direction of the 163rd Division. As long as they occupied that place, the Soviet army would be able to cut the Finnish army into two parts, north and south, thus achieving the original strategic goal.
"Okay, that's all for today's class." Without making any direct comments on the Ninth Army's defeat, Leonid put down his teaching stick and said calmly, "I will still be in charge of the class tomorrow morning, which will be about the advantages of paratroopers in assault operations."
Two classes passed by unknowingly. As Colonel Leonid announced the end of the course, two soldiers in blue trousers walked in from outside the door. They waited for Colonel Leonid to tidy up the podium and walk out the door, and then followed him out.
The soldier in blue trousers was obviously from the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs. It seemed that Colonel Leonid was still an important target of their surveillance.
"Hey, Paulenka, let's go," Yuri was still tidying up his handwriting for this class. August, who sat in front of him, couldn't wait any longer. He turned around and urged him, "Don't come to the artillery class this afternoon. Let's go to the party."
Having said that, he looked around, then moved closer to Yuri's face and said in a low voice: "If we're lucky, maybe we won't have to guard an empty dormitory alone tonight."
"Can't you be a little more simple-minded?" Yuri said, rolling his eyes at him unhappily.
August shrugged and said disapprovingly: "Do you like simplicity? But those lesbians may not like your simplicity."
Yuri was speechless, but this kind of thing was normal. The Soviet Union was different from the country he was familiar with. There was no feudal tradition that had lasted for thousands of years. In matters between men and women, the style was more open. Just like the famous "flower boy" Marshal Sokolovsky, there were countless gossips about him, but even during the Great Purge, no one made a fuss about this kind of thing.
"Hey, Paulenka," August chattered softly as he followed Yuri, who had packed up his things, out, "You have to work harder today. I think Olga seems to be interested in you, well, at least she has some interest in you."
"Why didn't I feel it?" Yuri said casually, holding his own information and walking without stopping.
"Believe me, I'm not wrong," August pursed his lips and said, "During breakfast, Olga's eyes stayed on you most of the time. She, I feel, she admires you very much."
Yuri was too lazy to talk to this guy, so he simply shut up.
"Come to think of it," August muttered to himself, not caring. "You are six years younger than me, but you are already a captain. You also have a good family background, making you the first choice for the organization to select cadres. In addition, you have outstanding performance on the battlefield and are the hero representative selected by the Leningrad Military Region. People like you will definitely become a general in the future, or at least a general. It's normal for girls to favor you. This is really jealous."
The campus was very noisy after classes were over, with groups of students rushing out of the school. Most of them had no classes scheduled in the afternoon, so they were rushing to Moscow at this time and could have a good afternoon.
Yuri couldn't help feeling complacent as he listened to August's mumbling. To be honest, he had never considered that he had so many advantages.
"Look, you get more supplies at the supply depot than I do," August complained at last.
"But you seem to have used up most of my quota," Yuri said, "especially the cigarettes. Are you going to complain about that?"
"Of course this is not a complaint," August said with a grin, putting a hand on Yuri's shoulder, "I'm just telling you to seize the opportunity. Don't forget, we're going to stay here for two years. Don't you want a woman to accompany you and help you relieve your loneliness?"
I'm afraid we can't stay here for two years. Yuri didn't say anything, but sighed in his heart.
The two walked out of the classroom side by side. Instead of going directly to the school gate, they went around the playground in front and headed east to the communications training area on the east side of the campus.
August once complained that he should have signed up for the communications corps, because when he was training here, there were only female soldiers in the communications corps training class, and female soldiers made up the majority.
However, as a technical branch of the military, the communications corps has more training courses. Unlike infantry command, which only has two classes in the morning, they have to take three hours of courses.
Perhaps because the military ranks of the communications soldiers participating in the training were generally low, the conditions of their classrooms were rather poor. To be precise, it was not a classroom at all, but a large abandoned workshop without even a roof. It was ventilated everywhere and was very cold.
This morning, the communication class was probably about troubleshooting and wiring. When Yuri and the others arrived at the shabby classroom, more than 40 students were busy wiring. They were in groups of four, one in charge of wiring, one in charge of counting, and the remaining two were ready to replace each other.
The captain instructor in charge of the course was an old woman who looked to be in her forties. She was very skinny and her expressionless face looked like a skull.
Among the many branches of the Soviet Union, the highest status is naturally the aviation, followed by the navy, and in the sequence of the army, the highest status is the cavalry, followed by the infantry, and as for the technical communication soldiers, according to the unspoken rules, their status is much lower. August certainly did not take the female instructor, who was also a captain, seriously. Even though she was in class, he pushed the door open and walked in without even saying a word.
Yuri was not as arrogant as him. After entering the door, he took the initiative to greet the unhappy female instructor. In fact, Yuri was still not used to everything in this country. Although the Soviet Union was a socialist country, after Stalin came to power, especially after the 12th Party Congress of the Bolsheviks in 1922, the country was becoming increasingly hierarchical, which was particularly evident in the army and in the cadre sequence.
Facing Yuri's smiling face, the female instructor didn't say much. She even forced herself to give him a fake smile.
"Hey, Julia, Nasha." Olga's group happened to be the ones who had eaten together in the morning. August walked over and greeted them one by one. "We have finished the class. How are you doing here ?"
After saying this, he looked around again, exhaled a puff of white mist, and complained: "It's really cold here, why don't you put two charcoal stoves?" As he said this, he took off his cotton gloves and handed them to the female soldier named Nasha next to him, "Here, put this on, I've warmed it up."
Nasha is a female soldier with a small round face. Although her face is small, her breasts are quite big. Perhaps it is because of this that she became August's target.
When Yuri walked over, Nasha had already taken the gloves and was putting them on her hands with a smile . Judging from her rude look, August had a high chance of succeeding.
Influenced by August, when Yuri walked to the table, the rest of the people looked at his hands consciously or unconsciously. He was also wearing a pair of gloves, exactly the same as August's.
Feeling the gazes of several people, Yuri smiled. He knew that these people wanted to see who he was going to give the gloves to.
"Why are you looking at me?" Yuri was too lazy to play such tricks. He took off his gloves and threw one to Julia and the female soldier named Domicheva. "I only have two gloves."
After saying this, he took another step forward, leaned close to Olga, held both of her hands, rubbed them gently to keep her warm, and said with a smile: "But in addition to gloves, there are two hands, which are equally effective in keeping warm."
No one expected him to do this. They were all stunned for a moment, and then August started to make fun of him.
Yuri was shameless and didn't take everyone's teasing seriously. Seeing that Olga had no intention of refusing to break free, he put her hands to his mouth and blew two puffs of hot air.
"What are you doing?" Hearing the noise, the instructor couldn't help it. She walked over quickly, glared at August, and scolded, "This is a military classroom, not a vegetable market!"
His eyes fell on the table, and the instructor continued to ask, "Why don't you continue your work? Comrade Sergeant Olga Vlasovna, why did you stop? Are your skills qualified? How long was the last test?"
"Report to the instructor, 6 minutes and 12 seconds!" Olga quickly pulled her hand back and answered loudly.
"6 minutes and 12 seconds," the instructor said. "If the command center loses contact with the combat troops for more than a few minutes on the battlefield, do you know what it might mean?"
"Report to the instructor comrade, that may mean failure !" Olga moved her lips and her voice became much softer.
