Chapter 1572 Prisoners of War Parade in Kiev (Part 2)
Seeing the raging commander, I felt fortunate in my heart. Fortunately, on a whim, I took the initiative to take the task of supervising the **** of prisoners of war from Konev. If it is really just an ordinary staff officer to supervise these prisoners Before they were sent to Uman, they were all killed by those commanders who had been in the POW camp for several years.
I waited for the room to return to calm, and then slowly said: “Comrades commanders, I want to ask you, who knows the parade of prisoners of war in Moscow?”
“Moscow prisoners of war parade?” When the commander sitting below heard my question, there was a dazed expression on his face. They looked at each other and muttered quietly: “Do you know what’s going on?”
“I don’t know, have you heard anyone say it?”
“Of course I haven’t heard of it, otherwise I won’t ask you.”
At this time, Ah Funing, who was sitting next to him, coughed heavily. Hearing his cough, the commander below immediately closed his mouth and focused his eyes on him, wanting to hear what he was going to say next. .
“Comrades, the situation is like this.” Afunin said to his subordinates: “In order to show the great victory our army has achieved and to boost the morale of the soldiers and civilians throughout the country, the Supreme Command was on July 17th. There was an unprecedented parade of German prisoners of war in Moscow.
The German prisoners of war who paraded the street were mainly composed of German prisoners of war escorted to Moscow by the Belarusian Front, about 60,000. The entire team of prisoners of war was divided into 90 square teams, stretching for more than 3 kilometers. Under the **** of the Dzerzhinsky Division, they passed through downtown Moscow and were sent to the prison camp where they were held. ”
After everyone’s whispered exclamation, Lu Jin stood up and asked me on behalf of the commanders present: “Is this true, Comrade Deputy Commander?”
“Yes. Not long ago, Moscow did have such a prisoner-of-war parade.” I found out that if I hadn’t taken the initiative to mention the prisoner-of-war parade in Moscow, these division-level commanders would not have known it. At this moment, since Lukin is asking me this question on behalf of everyone, I will follow the flow of the boat and say: “The reason why I asked you to **** the German prisoners of war captured in the Lviv battle to Uman is because we plan to be in Uman next month. Kiev also engaged in a similar parade of prisoners of war.
The German prisoners of war who participated in the parade were not only from one of our fronts, but also from the Belarusian First and Second Fronts, and the Ukrainian Second Front. If we provide fewer prisoners of war than other fronts, isn’t it a shameful thing? ”
After I finished speaking, the room fell into silence again, and everyone seemed to be thinking hard about what I said. The first to break the silence was Major General Rumyantsev, the commander of the 4th Division of the Guards Airborne Corps. He stood up and said loudly: “Comrade Deputy Commander, please entrust the task of escorting prisoners of war to our division. I assure you. , We will surely **** these prisoners of war to Uman smoothly.”
“General Rumyantsev,” Rumyantsev’s words just fell, and Major General Vasily, commander of the 2nd Division of the Guards Airborne Corps, also stood up and competed with his colleagues for this task: “I think it is our division. Complete this task. After all, half of the commanders in your division have been in the German prisoner-of-war camps. If they are escorted by them, I am worried that there will be violations of the law. Maybe they will wait until the prisoners of war reach Uman. Killed all.”
Seeing the two men at war, I quickly came out to stop them: “Well, two generals, you two should stop arguing. I have long thought about which unit will **** the prisoners of war.”
“Which unit is it?” the two asked in unison.
I pointed to Lu Jin, who had just sat down, and said, “I will give the new editor the full responsibility for the task of escorting prisoners of war this time.”
Lu Jin heard me say this, and quickly stood up and maintained an upright posture. With his hands drooping naturally, his fingertips pressed against the seams of his trousers, he replied with his head held up and his chest tall, “Yes, we promise to complete the task.”
After the three commanders sat down, I gave a light cough, cleared my throat, and solemnly announced: “Comrades, I will announce an important appointment to everyone. Researched, and reported to the Supreme High Command for the approval of the decision to restore Comrade Ponetjelin’s rank of major general and appointed him as the deputy commander of the 18th Guards Corps.”
Poneygelin may have never dreamed that he would hear such good news here, and the whole person was stunned. When the commander next to him stretched out his hand to congratulate him, he still looked blank, but shook hands mechanically with the surrounding commanders.
I waited patiently for the surrounding commanders to shake hands with him, and then said again: “General Bonetelin, I will leave the task of escorting the prisoners of war to you. It is up to you to decide which regiment you lead to **** the prisoners of war. . I only ask for one point. When the prisoners of war arrive at Uman, at least four-fifths of the survivors must be surviving. Can you do it?”
“Don’t worry, Comrade Deputy Commander.” Ponetjelin stood up and replied resolutely, “I will never let down your trust in me.”
…………
We set off in two days. The jeep I was in was behind the team escorting the prisoners of war and drove slowly eastward.
Just as I was sitting in the back seat drowsy, I was suddenly awakened by a clear gunshot, and then there was another burst of submachine gun shooting. But the gunfire stopped for a moment.
I asked the driver to stop the car, and then ordered the staff officer who was sitting in the co-pilot position: “Go ahead and see what happened, why is there a gunshot?”
The staff officer went to the front for a few minutes and then returned to report to me: “Comrade Deputy Commander, some German prisoners of war tried to escape and were killed by the soldiers we escorted.”
After listening to the report, I didn’t say anything, just told the driver to continue driving. The jeep I was in passed the phalanx of prisoners of war and the commanders of our army who escorted them, and drove forward along the uneven dirt road. I quickly saw the corpses of seven or eight German prisoners of war lying on the side of the road. Not only the soldiers in charge of the **** turned a blind eye to these prisoners, but even the marching prisoners had a numb expression, which seemed to have fallen to the ground. , Not like his comrade-in-arms at all.
I thought to myself: In the meeting, Bonjeelin’s words were quite straightforward, but it was very difficult to implement. Because of the regiment responsible for escorting German prisoners of war, almost all the commanders and fighters had been in the German prisoners of war camp, and they had a bitter hatred against the Germans. The hatred of the Germans will never be dropped because of an order from Ponetjelin. Therefore, the execution of German prisoners of war without authorization will certainly happen frequently while the Germans are on their way to Uman.
When I was camping that day, I called Ponnegelin to my tent and asked with a serious expression: “General Ponnegelin, today we escorted prisoners of war for almost forty kilometers, and I found no fewer than ten shootings and killings of prisoners of war. Can you explain to me what is going on?”
Ponetjelin replied with a blushing face, “Comrade Deputy Commander, I don’t want this to happen either. It’s all because the brothers have suffered too much from the Germans, and finally caught this kind of revenge. Naturally, I won’t let them go easily. Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to restrain them.”
I know that these commanders and fighters are holding a anger in their hearts. If they are not allowed to vent, it will even affect their morale. I have to say lightly: “Well, General Bonetjelin, since you said that, this Forget it this time, I don’t want something similar to happen again in the future. You go back to the army first.”
Bonjelin agreed, raised his hand to salute and walked out of my tent.
However, during the march the next day, sitting in the jeep, I could still hear gunshots from time to time. With every gunshot, another German prisoner of war who was displeased by our commanders and fighters was killed. At the beginning, I was quite dissatisfied. I felt that Bonetjelin had violated his orders. But after thinking about it, I felt that Boneteylin could not be blamed for this. After all, the team of prisoners of war was several kilometers long. How can one take care of it alone.
In order not to regain this idleness, I asked the driver to speed up and catch up with Ponetjelin, who was driving ahead, and told him to continue to **** the prisoners of war to Uman, and then I let myself drive the car directly to Kiev.
That evening, I arrived in Kiev smoothly and arrived at Khrushchev’s office in the shortest time.
Khrushchev, who was busy in the office, looked very happy to see me coming. He walked around from behind his desk and shook hands with me, and asked curiously: “Lida, why are you here?”
“Comrade Khrushchev,” I said with a smile looking at him: “Marshal Konev asked me to cooperate with you in the parade of prisoners of war. I will come here soon and wait for your instructions.”
Khrushchev shook hands with me and asked, “Lida, how many prisoners of war did you bring this time?”
“There are seven or eight thousand prisoners of war.” I don’t know how many people will be left after the prisoners of the moral army are escorted to Uman by Ponetjelin and the others. I can only say vaguely: “But before the prisoners of war are escorted to Kiev, They must be detained in Uman for a period of time, and after the prisoners of several other fronts arrive, they will be sent here to participate in the unified POW parade.
“Lida, I have reported to Comrade Stalin about the parade of prisoners of war in Kiev.” Khrushchev greeted me and sat down on the empty chair opposite his desk, and then said: “He said, since it is a few All fronts provide prisoners at the same time, so the number of prisoners of war parading in Kiev should exceed that of Moscow.”
Moscow’s prisoners of war parade, whether in history books or in later film and television works, I have seen them. The prisoners of war in Kiev paraded, but never heard of it. In other words, even if there is such a thing in real history, the scale cannot be compared with the parade of prisoners of war in Moscow. Therefore, I said in an uncertain tone: “Comrade Khrushchev, whether this time the size of the prisoners of war parade can exceed Moscow, it depends on the number of German prisoners of war provided to us by several fronts.”
When I was camping that day, I called Ponnegelin to my tent and asked with a serious expression: “General Ponnegelin, today we escorted prisoners of war for almost forty kilometers, and I found no fewer than ten shootings and killings of prisoners of war. Can you explain to me what is going on?”
Ponetjelin replied with a blushing face, “Comrade Deputy Commander, I don’t want this to happen either. It’s all because the brothers have suffered too much from the Germans, and finally caught this kind of revenge. Naturally, I won’t let them go easily. Don’t worry, I’ll try my best to restrain them.”
I know that these commanders and fighters are holding a anger in their hearts. If they are not allowed to vent, it will even affect their morale. I have to say lightly: “Well, General Bonetjelin, since you said that, this Forget it this time, I don’t want something similar to happen again in the future. You go back to the army first.”
Bonjelin agreed, raised his hand to salute and walked out of my tent.
However, during the march the next day, sitting in the jeep, I could still hear gunshots from time to time. With every gunshot, another German prisoner of war who was displeased by our commanders and fighters was killed. At the beginning, I was quite dissatisfied. I felt that Bonetjelin had violated his orders. But after thinking about it, I felt that Boneteylin could not be blamed for this. After all, the team of prisoners of war was several kilometers long. How can one take care of it alone.
In order not to regain this idleness, I asked the driver to speed up and catch up with Ponetjelin, who was driving ahead, and told him to continue to **** the prisoners of war to Uman, and then I let myself drive the car directly to Kiev.
That evening, I rushed to Kiev and arrived at Khrushchev’s office in the shortest time.
Khrushchev, who was busy in the office, looked very happy to see me coming. He walked around from behind his desk and shook hands with me, and asked curiously: “Lida, why are you here?”
“Comrade Khrushchev,” I said with a smile looking at him: “Marshal Konev asked me to cooperate with you in the parade of prisoners of war. I will come here soon and wait for your instructions.”
Khrushchev shook hands with me and asked, “Lida, how many prisoners of war did you bring this time?”
“There are seven or eight thousand prisoners of war.” I don’t know how many people will be left after the prisoners of the moral army are escorted to Uman by Ponetjelin and the others. I can only say vaguely: “But before the prisoners of war are escorted to Kiev, They must be detained in Uman for a period of time, and after the prisoners of several other fronts arrive, they will be sent here to participate in the unified POW parade.
“Lida, I have reported to Comrade Stalin about the parade of prisoners of war in Kiev.” Khrushchev greeted me and sat down on the empty chair opposite his desk, and then said: “He said, since it is a few All fronts provide prisoners at the same time, so the number of prisoners of war parading in Kiev should exceed that of Moscow.”
Moscow’s prisoners of war parade, whether in history books or in later film and television works, I have seen them. The prisoners of war in Kiev paraded, but never heard of it. In other words, even if there is such a thing in real history, the scale cannot be compared with the parade of prisoners of war in Moscow. Therefore, I said in an uncertain tone: “Comrade Khrushchev, whether this time the size of the prisoners of war parade can exceed Moscow, it depends on the number of German prisoners of war provided to us by several fronts.”