Chapter III. past of Tomek from Wrocław, Part I.
Tomek introduced his tesla to the underground parking lot of a five-story building at 91 Obornicka Street in Wrocław. It was 2:00 in the morning with minutes. It's been a long day for Tom. He was returning from Poznań from a delegation. He placed the tesla in his place, hooked up the charger, got on the elevator, and drove to the third-floor apartment, which he and his wife and 2 daughters occupied.
The quietest way to open the door was to put the laptop bag distant and hang the bag with the suit in the closet. He went to the kitchen, took a beer from the fridge, and sat in the surviving area at a faint light of the cinema. He opened the can, took the first sip, closed his eyes, and gloated for a minute with a hop taste with delightful bubbles. Then he put a cold can to his forehead and was relieved to feel the tension of the full day slow passing into history. “You gotta slow down with this job,” thought Tom. “Money is not all — family...” he thought more and more sleepy, pulling long sips from a tiny can. He sat there for, like, 20 minutes, felt more and more sleepy, and quietly went into the bedroom. At the girls' room, he wanted to open the door and watch them sleep. But he gave up on it, fearing that the creaking of the hinges could awaken individual from the household.
He slipped into a matrimony bed. He managed not to even wake Eve's wife. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. erstwhile Eve woke him up at the light dawn, he felt like he had just laid down.
- Tom, get up! War! — the tension in Eve’s voice reached zenith.
— What war?! — Mr. Tomek was dreaming — Eve, what time is it?
- Five! Get up, the war's started!
— Can’t this war wait? — Tomek had yet to learn the meaning of his wife’s words — I laid down before the third... I request to get any more sleep. I can’t start a war so terribly unsleepy... — he fell on his back and immediately snarled. He was not awakened by the sounds of low flying fighters or the suppressed sounds of explosions somewhere on the side where there was an airport a twelve miles away.
The panicful Eve gave up her husband, knowing that after 2 hours of sleep and a day in the delegation, there would be no benefit to him at the moment. She was hot calling her friends and family, trying to figure out who's doing what, and what should she do about it? Time flowed fast, and conflicting information reached even faster. Finally, at 7 a.m., she definitely woke her husband up and unquestionably painted a dramatic situation before him. Tomek was clearly surprised.
- Holy shit! Couldn't you wake me up sooner?
— I tried! You said you don't start fighting erstwhile you're awake.
- Really?
- Yes, really. That's you!
— Okay, okay — Tom didn’t truly know what to say, let alone what to do, do you have any ideas?
— Of course. I already packed us up. We're going west to Germany. You just gotta go get my sister to fresh Manor. She has no 1 to go with. And we're not leaving her.
Tomek was not very fond of sister-in-law – an old woman with 3 cats. “The All-Knowing Witch Ple-Ple” — he called her in her mind.
— Eve... — Tomek began uncertainly - But we're just taking a guy... without cats?
- Man! Get dressed and go. You already slept all you could! And don't freak out, just come back and get us. I inactive gotta pack up. Does he know how long we're not gonna be home? A day or two? possibly for the remainder of the week. And pay any cash from the ATM. Just in case.
Tom picked up clothes, sports shoes and left the apartment. Although he lived only on the 3rd floor, as usual, he pressed the elevator button and waited a minute until her door spread out in front of him. He entered, pressed the level of “Garage” and tried to put in his head what he did not want to fit into it. “War,” he thought, “Who knew? But here in Wroclaw, it's not going to be any war... But to the east border, it's... Yeah? How much? What about Berlin 300? Or less? The Yankees will be here any minute. possibly a small Ewka exaggerates...’. At the moment, a slight tug interrupted his meditation. The light went out and the elevator froze. “What the fuck?” thought Tomek. any perverse voice in his head immediately gave him a mocking answer: “What is it? War, man!”.
Before Tomek could figure out what to do next, the light came back and the elevator moved on. shortly she reached the parking lot and her door spread quietly. At that minute the light went out again. Tom just jumped out of the elevator and crashed into something. “Come on, fuck you!” he snorted through his teeth, realizing that with all the momentum he ran into a cart from a close supermarket that individual dumped in the parking lot right in front of the elevator door. As he rattled, the cart drove off into the impenetrable darkness of the parking lot, and Tom took his cell telephone out of his pocket and turned on his flashlight.
He looked at the display. “Fuck!” he spelled again that morning, realizing that erstwhile he went to bed, he did not put his telephone to the charger. 20% battery left. “What a unusual parking lot erstwhile there is no light” — it went through his head. “You can get lost. And something so quiet... Where is everybody? After all, the hell we have a war.” These and akin thoughts flew through his head as he walked in Egyptian darkness into the parked Tesla. In a weak light, the cell telephone unplugged the charger cable, got in the car and looked at the dashboard. The onboard computer has informed him that the battery charge is 45%. That wasn't the best information.
Tomek left the parking lot, promising himself that first of all he would drive up to the fast charging station and finish the tesla batteries full. “Finally, does he know what's next?” he thought rather logically. However, his logic has already destroyed the process of joining the traffic from the residential street. The narrow Obornicka street was blocked in both directions by a string of slow moving cars.
It took Tomkow 15 minutes to scope the “Marino” buying centre, located a mile and a half from his home. On the way, he realized that his Tesla was not the only 1 hungry. He besides last ate something about 9 o'clock last night at a gas station. Beer did not count, though he utilized to say jokingly that it was bread in liquid form. someway he didn't eat much. Reaching “Marino”, he pointed out that the neon of the restaurant “Mc Donalds” is shining and inside you can see people. “Oh, they have electricity! Our good!” — he rejoiced in his thoughts and decided to drive through Mc Drive and take a wrap quickly.
As he thought, so he did. It went highly smoothly, and a fewer minutes later, armed with a dose of protein without GMOs, he drove distant from the Mc Drive window. After crossing the Maka building, his eyes appeared respective charging stations. All taken. In addition, a group of respective people were vividly gesticulating with chargers; thus: queue. “Holy shit!” thought Tomek. It's not like he's going to stand in God knows how long a line to load. That and an hr may take, judging by the number of people who are hanging around the loaders. “All right, I'm going to recharge on the way back, and let the panicant eat now,” he thought, at the same time strengthening himself with a sense of self-depreciation and a rush-eating Mc-Wrap.
He left the parking lot on two-way Żmigrodzka Street and headed consecutive for the road entrance. There was no traffic here anymore. He didn't turn on the navigation. He's had it checked multiple times. The fastest way to the Nowy Dwór property was always through the road bypass. Like you don't hang around and figure it out. The bypass is the only average variant.
However, erstwhile he entered the highway, he could not truly get ahead. All 3 lanes were filled with cars. Driving almost a bumper into a bumper (“those drivers will never learn to keep a safe distance,” thought Tomek), abruptly felt a deaf tap. It's like he fell into a hole. “Strange...” thought Tomek, taking his ft off the gas to give himself a small more area to watch the surface. “A gap on the highway? that doesn’t happen...” — he didn’t know what to think. Meanwhile, another tap came to him, but he did not have time to think about it, due to the fact that the vehicles in front of him began flashing emergency lights, giving a sign that they were approaching the traffic and would should be braked. Tomek besides turned on the emergency and pressed the brake.
The next tap was definitely louder and came from above, not from under the wheels. Besides, the car was already standing. Tomek leaned over the steering wheel and looked up through the windshield. The sky above it was cut with fancy condensation streaks, almost like pig tails. “What the hell?” thought Tom.
At the moment, the detonation was no longer heard. Up and out. A second later, something flew with a whistling over the traffic vehicles and hit the 200, possibly 300 metres in front of Tomek's tesla. Almost instantaneously, the air tore off a frightening explosion, and over the roofs of dense cars a red-black ball of flame and smoke rose. The shock wave was crawling with tesla, and tiny objects began falling from the sky: any sheet metal, pieces of plastic, wires... 1 of them swung loudly over Tomko Tesla's mask and froze. Thomas focused his eyes on the object that fell on the lid of the front trunk. In front of him lay the inside to the top of a torn human hand. Ladies. You could see the intricate manicure. It's pretty. Tomek could have sworn that the hand just moved her fingers.
So far, the sharp image has been foggy, and Tomek has become very aware that he is rapidly moving out of air. He opened the door, put his left ft on the asphalt, but he felt the force was leaving him. At the same time, there is an impossible wave in the stomach. Tomek supported the door hard and threw up. large pieces, just like a bitten wrap, landed on the asphalt and splashed a white shoe.
Chapter IV. Lessons from the experiences of Ani and Tomek
I hope I didn't take your appetite away. Sorry, I didn't think of that. All right, I thought. But I don't decide where the rocket dropped by anti-aircraft defense, do I? Neither are you. If you're fortunate – you won't see anything like it. If you are not fortunate – you will see worse things. Collateral Damage. That's what they call it, in English. “Aside from destruction” translated into Polish. Very professional and very nice, isn't it? It's beautiful to throw up.
All right, all right, I'm changing the subject. I know you request a decent breakfast. You and your full family. Even that small eater. There's no disgust today. They all eat scrambled eggs. You'd better bring the sausages with you. Finally, you can eat them besides cold and cold eggs? I don't urge natural eggs either. What? Cook them hard? Bravo – see? – you start to think very practically. Cook the eggs hard. How much? I don't know, a lot – 3 per head at least. I hope you have adequate of them in the fridge...Okay, you take care of the eggs, and I'll point out a fewer points where our heroes from the 2 above stories did not truly aid their happiness.
In the case of Neither mistakes – and rather serious – were several. War doesn't come out of nowhere. The concentration of troops continues. In the event of an attack on Ukraine, it took at least a fewer months. First the exercises at the border, then the prolonged concentration, then the subsequent dates erstwhile it could begin: Catholic Christmas, fresh Year, Orthodox Christmas, no – yet started on 24 February 2022. Although it was said to have 22.02.2022 – a nicer date. Since everyone knows where things are going, it is worth assuming that option W. In this case, respective iron rules should be maintained on the eve of this option.
First of all, you don't put it off, but it's never, ever, refueling/loading the car for the next day. This has to become a routine. You gotta refuel – you're filling up today. Even if it was 3:00 in the morning. There may not be a chance to do it at 7:00 in the morning. Starting a war with an empty tank (batteries) is simply a terrible shot in the knee at the start.
Second, you know where you live. You know the risks. The situation of Ani surviving about 20 km from the border is definitely unfavourable in the first hours of the invasion. Nevertheless, the first day of the invasion will carry this unfavourable situation to about 100 km from the border. This is the actual scope of armoured columns moving on their own caterpillars without refueling. What happened to Ania in the first minutes and the first hr of aggression will happen to residents of the border area of the belt (up to 80-100 km) during the first hours or the first day. On the second day this depth will increase, most likely reaching the Vistula line (on selected runs, as you say nicely).
However, it should be taken into account that armored (mechanized) tails will not occupy the area like a flooded map of red paint. Under the control of the enemy, there will be communication routes in the main directions of the attack. What will be the directions will know the aggressor's planners. We'll know 1 thing. After a bridge with a burden capacity of 15 or 20 tons, many tanks with a typical weight of 50-60 tons will not pass. Physics has rights. So if there's mostly these crossings in your neighborhood, you're safe. Which does not change the fact that most likely these crossings will be destroyed by the Polish army. Not everywhere there will be enemy tanks – somewhere there will be a light infantry and it will be stopped from breaking crossings. The war in Ukraine has shown that the army of the Russian Federation (as many armies) has very serious problems with pushing water obstacles, even if they are 2-3 metres wide. You don't request to know all the tactical and engineering nuances. All you request to remember is that a 3 m wide stream with wet edges (and almost all stream has 1 – unless it is simply a mountain waterfall) will halt attacking enemy units for hours.
Thirdly, since the war does not take place overnight, you will have plenty of time to learn what the enemy's basic military vehicles look like. You request to know what the T-72 tank looks like, what the BMP, BRDM, BTR, Kraz truck looks like, how uniformed the Russians or Belarusians are, what tactical markings they usage on technology. You just request to know. Did you announcement that Anna didn't see any signs on the truck blocking the road? Just due to the fact that she didn't announcement them doesn't mean they weren't there. The truck surely had any of its “Z”, “V”, “O”, a triangle, a square, an infinity sign – or whatever else will be deduced as an easy tactical indication, allowing you to rapidly separate your own from strangers. You have these signs you know. Give yourself a chance. I will not encourage you to ride with binoculars – binoculars are a typical spy tool, but you must know the shapes of enemy vehicles and their markings. You can't drive into a post block and figure out who it is, can you?
Fourth, the means of communication. You have most likely already noticed that a mobile telephone is instantly deprived of its basic functions – there is no reception, no Internet. That's what's going to happen in a combat zone, you can take it for granted. GSM infrastructure will be destroyed by an aggressor to paralyze communications. Many net cables go in road routes, including bridges. Blowing up the bridge at the same time is breaking the fibre optic Internet. In addition, there will be a radio-electronic war to suppress the cell telephone signal, in a band of military equipment.
Given this, the best solution for Polish conditions will be CB radio. If Anna had them in her car, possibly she could make contact with individual close her parents. I know having a radio in a CB car might be suspicious. But the occupiers will rapidly learn that in Poland it is simply a very common phenomenon and does not prove anything.
Learning from Anna's mistakes, it would should be concluded that in her situation it was best to simply stay home, check the sources of autonomous power (generators, power banks, solar batteries, etc.), food supplies and water and observe developments, trying to gather as much reliable information as possible.
And 1 more thing. Anna was very fortunate to find “good mosquitoes”. possibly due to the fact that they were the first minutes of invasion. The enemy has not suffered any losses yet, he was fed, sleepy, in good condition and champagne mood. But it won't last long. Not all enemy patrols will act that way. There'll be ones that shoot without asking, rape, take the telephone or the car. They're gonna rob the cash. This must be considered as possible. Notice, however, that Anna helped her happiness by learning Russian. The ransomee will surely appreciate those who are fluent in it (if he does not shoot them first). I'm not saying you're expected to learn Russian in 2 months. But you'll always have a fewer days to learn the shapes of Russian vehicles so you don't bump into the enemy as spontaneously as Anne did.
Now let's look at Tomek's communicative from Wrocław. First mistake, same as Anna's. He came home late, but he should have loaded him up before leaving his car in the garage. That wouldn't be a problem in the mediate of the night. I guess I don't gotta add that we put our cell telephone under the charger before bed. No substance what they compose about it in popular online guides.
Second mistake – usage of elevator. Tomek lived on the 3rd floor. In the first hours after the start of the war, you must anticipate that there will be completely unpredictable power shortages. The enemy will attack more or little in this order: military and civilian airports, military barracks, military concentration sites, key communication nodes in the rear, but besides critical infrastructure facilities: power plants, refineries, fuel storage, power transmission networks and communications networks, decision-making centres. We leave legal considerations on the way conflicts are conducted completely aside. Studies on global humanitarian law of armed conflicts usually have half a 1000 pages of scholarly words. And rockets like they hit hospitals, schools, exile camps – they hit. Even if it is simply a war crime. There it is. So what? The point is to survive, not become an innocent victim, whose case will be dealt with by the global Criminal Court for the next 30 years.
Oh! – I started with an elevator and in a flash I found myself in the global Criminal Court. And I'm here to aid you last the first hours of the war. Let's get to it then. The crucial thing is that you will cease to have electricity, water, gas, telephone communications, the net immediately after the start of armed action. Tom didn't care. He almost got stuck in an elevator. Imagine how many people in case of specified a abrupt power outage will jam in the elevators? Think about it. How many hours will it take to get them out? Hours! erstwhile it truly counts minutes. So, from the elevators as far distant as possible. Even if it comes on ft with 23 floors of suitcases. You're just gonna take little suitcases with you. General regulation in the case of W. – the little you carry with you, the further you can go. Remember that.
Tomek's 3rd mistake – regular usage of a lost route. erstwhile the war begins, nothing will happen as usual. No traffic like usual. They'll be bigger and different places. erstwhile you usage the roads, you gotta follow 1 iron regulation – you only drive the roads where you can turn around. And that's no joke. No expressways, no highways, no tunnels. You always get stuck in traffic on a highway? That's 800 meters from the exit? But a traffic jam like that? What kind of bluntness is that? I remember that years ago I stood in Warsaw at a 45-minute intersection, trying to turn left from John Paul in Aleje towards the Palace of Culture. It was Friday evening and critical mass (rowers driving around the center meaningless in a fewer hundred-person flock). In those 45 minutes, I drove about 200 meters. Now imagine that during these 45 minutes rockets fly over their head, and any of them fall into random places shot down by aviation and anti-aircraft defense. Of course, you can't be protected from traffic in town. But you can avoid traffic on the road in a simple way – without choosing the highway.
Traveling in your own car during the war, 1 must constantly anticipate that the road will become impenetrable at any time. Traffic, blockposts, damaged pavement, barricades. There may be a request for a physical reversal at any moment. certain thing – you can do it like in American films – police turning on manual and heating against the current. Do you truly think you're going this far? I don't think so. I'll say it again due to the fact that it's critically important. On your way, you choose ways to turn around.
And 1 more thing. On any path, consider that at any time and for the least expected reasons you may gotta brake to zero in a very “failure” way. So – the distance between vehicles (calculated in tens of meters, and preferably have 200 meters of space ahead and behind) and definitely safe speed. I stress: safe speed, that is, 1 that will let at night, in rain and in weak lighting to see an unmarked concrete barricade advanced per metre set on a national road. See and stop. Driving across Ukraine, I saw many cars stuck in concrete blocks lying on the roads. I bet those who had the misfortune to meet them were most likely driving along that road the another day and no obstacles were encountered.
