Part five. Frontline
Zolotonosha was liberated in October, and things became a bit calmer in the village. People still had to work hard for the army and men were drafted into service, but at least their own people weren’t shooting them. A field military enlistment office started operating in Vilkhy, where seventeen-year-old Ivan Bilashchenko was taken.
The boy opened the door wide and saw a hundred men of various ages from 17 to 50: a lot of people. Everyone had to go through a medical commission, which was hard to call «commission», — because they took everyone without visible disabilities.
— Any complaints? — the military doctor asked the boy when it was his turn. — None that I know of.
— Then line up, you’re in the second line.
Times are such that the commission is as it is, because there is a war to fight, and there are fewer and fewer people. Some minutes later, the same doctor approached the young man from behind and patted him on the shoulder.
— Will you beat the Germans?
— Of course, — the boy replied, thinking there was no other answer.
When the commission ended, they began to divide the conscripts into specialties. Ivan was the only one who had a Komsomol card with him. Back in 1941, the boy put it in a clay pot and buried it so the Germans wouldn’t find it. Thus, he preserved it, and after the village was liberated, he dug it up again. Komsomol members had privileges in the army, so the boy was made a senior and placed in the signal corps. Then he was sent to Poltava for some training, where he was taught how to establish communication and repair breaks, ahead was the Belarusian front.
When the boy arrived, he was put in command of a section, most of his subordinates were twice his age and had combat experience. He had to constantly ask questions and learn a lot so as not to let his comrades down. In the summer of 1944, the Belarusian offensive operation «Bagration» began for the unit.
The battle was fierce; it wasn’t like in the movies where they sit in trenches and shoot. They had to run literally under bullets. Those who were afraid and ran away could be shot by their superiors. So everyone followed the order «Forward». After running a bit, the boy felt pain, it was a wound. He regained consciousness in the hospital, where they removed the shrapnel and allowed him to recover. The treatment lasted for 2 months, and after recovery, Ivan was sent to an artillery unit — the 138th Artillery Regiment, 67th Division. Then back to the fight.
The commander approached the boys, and Ivan’s entire attention was fixed on what they would be told before their first battle.
— When advancing, spread out to avoid clustering together. If a shell explodes, it could kill everyone at once, whereas spreading out reduces the risk to fewer individuals, — the commander instructed his subordinates before the battle.
Ivan listened carefully and quickly grasped everything, and the commander was satisfied with him. Before the battle, the boy was noticeably nervous and had strange premonitions, but his comrades encouraged him. The boys spread out in the forest, and unexpectedly, running past a bush, Ivan saw some movement. He turned his head, and there was a German. A man about fifty years old: he stuck his rifle bayonet into the ground and surrendered: «Nicht schießen», — asking not to shoot.
— Why are you sitting in the bushes like that? I could have shot you in a fit of rage, — the boy exclaimed, barely standing on his feet, because his body was trembling from the thought that he almost killed the surrendering man.
Somehow on fingers and broken language, the prisoner explained that he had two children of the same age as Ivan back home. Their conversation lasted about 40 minutes, the German even tried to treat the boy to cider, but Ivan didn’t know what it was, so he refused. Ivan didn’t allow his comrades to shoot the prisoner, saving his life.
Dozens of months of war, hundreds of battles, and thousands of deaths fell on Ivan’s lot during his service. He stood by guns, howitzers, and went into battle with a machine gun. He went through Minsk, Vitebsk, Kaunas… He participated in battles for Lithuania, Latvia, and was in Tukums and Lijepaja. After the death of the fire platoon commander, the boy was appointed in his place. However, he didn’t manage to serve long. A month later, a shell exploded near the newly appointed commander, and he was concussed. Ivan had to be treated in the hospital.
After recovery, he was sent to Lijepaja for further training, as he already held an officer’s position in the service. He couldn’t finish his studies either; the effects of the concussion prevented him. In the hospital, the doctors decided to issue a disability group. The young man was discharged from service shortly before the victory over the German invaders.
Guided by tenets, driven by purpose
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