From Penal Battalion to Reconnaissance

9 hrs. 2 min.

Romance & Prose

Language Russian

Author Alexander Terentyev

Narrator Windman

Description

He “washed his guilt with blood” in a penal company, where he ended up on the basis of a slanderous report. He voluntarily became a reconnaissance soldier—ones who behind their backs were called “suicide boys,” since the chances of survival in a reconnaissance platoon were lower than in the penal battalion. He carried out dozens of searches behind enemy lines and faced death hundreds of times—taking “trophy men” (prisoners) and going on desperate diversion raids into the enemy rear, seizing bridges and blowing up ammunition depots.

But he hadn’t yet been given as dangerous an assignment as this: he must escort a girl sniper across the neutral strip, ensuring she can get within range for a direct shot at a German general.