When the message from the General was heard on the radio around our forward HQ, I could not believe my ears. We were fighting a retreat from Romania - my motherland - to the Russian's homeland when the
Bolnaves [1] surrounded us in Brasov as we trekked northward. The forward elements of the 42nd Guards Rifle Division were massacred by the Bolnaves; our commanders ordered us to fall back to the city and wait for further instructions - which by now is what the General is saying now. I'll write what he is speaking through the radio.
"-have been surrounded. Those creatures who attacked us have us surrounded within this city - Brasov. I know that it may seem that all is lost; impossible to survive against a creature that knows no pain and fears no death. But I will tell you this; when the Fascists attacked Moscow, we never backed down. When the Fascists attacked Stalingrad, we fought them back, inch by bloody inch. In Leningrad, we suffered under the Fascists, but NEVER fell. And WE WILL NOT FALL HERE! For every inch of land those creatures try to take, REMEMBER! If we shall fall, then we will bring them down with US!"
His speech motivated us, the Russians (obviously) started drinking vodka and singing Russian songs;
Государственный гимн СССР. They do get drunk easily, but they party crazy.
[A gap is present between this entry and the next one. The feel of this next entry is more tense.]
We've suffered our....I'm not sure how many survived, but from the day before's 7,000, around 5,000 - 5,500 survived the fifth, sixth...I'm not sure as to the number of waves that the Bolnaves came in, but they are decimating our defences. Originally, we started almost 8 miles from the city but after this attack, we are just 1, 1-half mile from the city's outskirts....
Our spirits are not as high as they were about 4 days ago. That, along side with the decreased ration of food and supplies; General Kriuchenkin decided to tighten the hold onto the dwindling amount of rations. On the second day, he created a table for ration division. Combat troops or Ration I troops were given a daily maximum of 1,698 grams (3.74 lb) which included 700g of bread, 136g of meat, 9g of coffee (I hated the stuff to begin with; by the third day, I would kill to have a sip) and an assortment of other items.
Support troops (engineers etc.) or Ration II groups would be given a daily maximum of 1,483 grams (3.26 lb) which included 600g of bread, 56g of meat, 3g of coffee (thank God I'm not in Ration) and an assortment of reduced items. The last group was the personnel in the HQ, they were given a range between those in Ration I and Ration II groups; however, they got the most coffee; about 10g of it.
Today, the Major of our brigade informed us the restrictions on our rations; Ration I's would receive a daily maximum of 1,256 grams (2.76 lb) of ration while Ration II's received a daily maximum of 1,038 (2.28 lb), just over 1,000g of Ration. We won't survive long. The men that I'm with; Sergei, Vladimir, Petru, Yuri, Viktor and a Cossack we just call "Coss" all complain about it; but we're still better than the support units. God, I pity them....
Surrounded by all sides, the 42nd was effectively trapped with no hope of reinforcements
[Another gap is present. This time, it's just a single paragraph, written messily and in cursive Romanian. I've asked Yuroslav to help me decipher it but some words are just too messily to understand.]
Third defense broken.....back to HQ.....the Bolnaves are coming [or attacking] from all sides. Sergei and Petru were killed [or attacked] by the Bolnaves.....me, Coss and Viktor....retreating towards the HQ....General Kriuchenkin ordered.....mass fall back.....writing as I'm.....shots everywhere...soldiers screaming as.....rip apart....going to make it....
[Again, another gap. This time, this following is written legibly and is unlike the previous entry.]
Me, Coss and Viktor weren't able to make the HQ in time, which apparently is a blessing in itself. As the Bolnaves chased us, we were forced into an apartment building some 100-150 meters from the HQ - the radio that Coss had in his kit was brought out and turned on. At once, the quiet in the building disappeared as voices came out of the radio like boxer throwing jabs at his opponent. Voices fought against one another as the we struggled to listen;
"This is Gunner Privalova...couldn't make it to the HQ but I have two other gunners along with an injured soldier from the 10th Batt- NO! Get him off Cornel!! NOO!!!......" - "-tention, the north sector of the city has fallen. I repeat, the northern sector of the city has fallen. This is......" - "We cannot survive! Our leaders have lied to us! We are expen....."
And a lot more of voices from the radio was heard, but I gave up after the third. There is a window in the room that we are in and after exploring up the apartment, we found out that it had 12 floors - us being on the second.
[This is the last entry.]
I've given up hope. It's madness. Maria, my darling wife, I will see you soon. Robert, my son, papa is coming home.