en: ciril-zlobec: chapter-6: c: 6 title: "First combat with German forces" subtitles: sequence-1: s: 1 from: "00:00:00,14" to: "00:00:09,01" text: "I was so eager to exchange blows with the enemy." sequence-2: s: 2 from: "00:00:09,01" to: "00:00:10,27" text: ~ sequence-3: s: 3 from: "00:00:10,27" to: "00:00:24,18" text: "I was in a battalion, equipped with only three machine-guns and rifles, very poorly armed." sequence-4: s: 4 from: "00:00:24,18" to: "00:00:30,25" text: "The Germans surrounded us with tanks during the night." sequence-5: s: 5 from: "00:00:30,25" to: "00:00:37,18" text: "It was their mighty army against ours. They waited until morning to attack." sequence-6: s: 6 from: "00:00:37,18" to: "00:00:51,22" text: "I immediately offered to go, and three more men were equally enthusiastic to go with me up against the German tanks with hand grenades." sequence-7: s: 7 from: "00:00:51,22" to: "00:00:58,12" text: "We imagined it was just a matter of throwing the grenades, we would simply kill the Germans" sequence-8: s: 8 from: "00:00:58,12" to: "00:01:05,15" text: "and blast everything to ruins. Older and more experienced Partisans told us to calm down." sequence-9: s: 9 from: "00:01:05,15" to: "00:01:13,17" text: "There would be many more opportunities to fight. They clarified that it’s not that simple to destroy a tank." sequence-10: s: 10 from: "00:01:13,17" to: "00:01:20,04" text: "They’re not made of paper, rather of steel, and also the Germans were not sleeping." sequence-11: s: 11 from: "00:01:20,04" to: "00:01:28,21" text: "We were atop this hill. There was also a bit of forest around." sequence-12: s: 12 from: "00:01:28,21" to: "00:01:44,08" text: "The Germans approached in a dense line of ‘shooters’ followed by a display of tanks, slowly advancing in the rear." sequence-13: s: 13 from: "00:01:44,08" to: "00:01:47,26" text: "We then recognized the horror." sequence-14: s: 14 from: "00:01:47,26" to: "00:01:54,12" text: "We were all novices, it was our first fight, except for a few leading cadres." sequence-15: s: 15 from: "00:01:54,12" to: "00:02:02,09" text: "On the basis of my four grades of high schooling, I was named right off as the Political Commissary of a unit;" sequence-16: s: 16 from: "00:02:02,09" to: "00:02:09,21" text: "without any previous fighting experience. I had to take care of my men." sequence-17: s: 17 from: "00:02:09,21" to: "00:02:15,02" text: "We had these dugouts or shelters made from stones." sequence-18: s: 18 from: "00:02:15,02" to: "00:02:22,18" text: "During a fight we were to defend ourselves from behind the shelters." sequence-19: s: 19 from: "00:02:22,18" to: "00:02:33,05" text: "The command was to remain quiet and calm and to wait until the commander yelled charge (‘juris’)." sequence-20: s: 20 from: "00:02:33,05" to: "00:02:43,09" text: "We were to wait for the enemy to approach within 20 meters and then each man was to pick his own target enemy." sequence-21: s: 21 from: "00:02:43,09" to: "00:02:49,15" text: "We would all charge together. Then something unexpected happened." sequence-22: s: 22 from: "00:02:49,15" to: "00:02:58,28" text: "Of the 300 men on our side the enemy was expecting at least 100 to die." sequence-23: s: 23 from: "00:02:58,28" to: "00:03:06,11" text: "But when the Germans approached, not 20 meters away but rather 40 meters," sequence-24: s: 24 from: "00:03:06,11" to: "00:03:15,08" text: "the guy behind the machine-gun started firing the machine-gun too soon." sequence-25: s: 25 from: "00:03:15,08" to: "00:03:26,19" text: "We all charged at that moment, all frantic, all in a rush." sequence-26: s: 26 from: "00:03:26,19" to: "00:03:37,01" text: "We were suddenly inside the German lines, which were well organized according to the logic of a military attack." sequence-27: s: 27 from: "00:03:37,01" to: "00:03:43,06" text: "The 300 young men charged among them and provoked such havoc" sequence-28: s: 28 from: "00:03:43,06" to: "00:03:48,12" text: "that the Germans were so surprised they didn’t even shoot." sequence-29: s: 29 from: "00:03:48,12" to: "00:03:58,09" text: "Had they shot at us they would have also been shooting at their own people, because we were among them." sequence-30: s: 30 from: "00:03:58,09" to: "00:04:03,29" text: "We broke through their lines without a fight." sequence-31: s: 31 from: "00:04:03,29" to: "00:04:11,00" text: "Instead of 100 of our men dying, only two fell, two were wounded and one was taken captive."