After a while, Romka noticed that our actions were being observed from the direction of the village of Petrino. I took the boy's binoculars and also spotted a group of eight or nine men hiding behind some buildings. Some of them were holding weapons, and one was talking into the radio, most likely calling for reinforcements. The suspicious individuals were a long way off, about four hundred meters, but that didn't mean anything—if the only road ahead was blocked, the entire column would be trapped. I remembered the militiaman's words about the bandit region to the north and decided that we couldn't linger here any longer than necessary.
"Sergey, wrap it up! It's not worth risking our lives with diesel fuel. You'll drive the rear truck instead of Slavik. Slavik, take the machine gun. To th
