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Nikolai's story silenced everyone who heard it. We have heard some stories of prisoner of war camps, only that most of the prisoners of war were placed in the open air, even in the autumn, without any protection, day and night in the barbed wire fence prisoner of war camp, starving and starving, but we never thought that the Germans would slaughter our commanders and fighters so brazenly.

"And then?" Shederikov asked angrily; "What happened to the bodies of the killed POWs?"

"What else can I do?!" Nikolai shrugged his shoulders and said with some helplessness: "The Germans made us dig two big pits, threw all the corpses into them, and then poured gasoline and set them on fire. When the corpses are half-burned, let's fill the pit with earth. ”

I only heard Shedelikov ask again: "But what I heard is a different matter. It is said that the Germans carried out strict registration and management of our army's prisoners of war, carried out special calculations, and had a clear and specific concept of how many prisoners of war were in which concentration camp, and how much necessary food needed to be prepared and distributed. Each prisoner of war in the camp had a so-called 'identity card', with a number and name on the front and all personal information on the back, such as ethnicity, occupation, rank, unit at the time of capture, place of capture, health status, injuries and illnesses at the time of capture or transportation to the camp, and often a home address. Fingerprints were also left at the time of registration and photographs were taken. After death, it will be added to the card to the burial site. ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel. I don't know where you heard about this. Nikolai's expression suddenly became stern. He unconsciously raised his voice and retorted: "I was in a prisoner of war camp for three months. I've never had enough. Every day at noon or evening, a few German soldiers would carry a bucket of bread and throw it through the barbed wire among the prisoners of war. When they were done, they stood outside the barbed wire fence with cigarettes in their mouths and watched our comrades fight over a few slices of bread.

The vast majority of prisoners of war suffered from edema, scurvy, endless diarrhea, and tuberculosis caused by starvation. Everyone was so hungry that they spent the day looking for anything they could eat: grass, tree roots, insects, leftovers from the cafeteria, etc. Every day people are dying of illness and starvation, and corpses are everywhere. All of them are skinny and skinny. Everyone eats everything they can find, including grass and poisonous mushrooms. ”

At this point, Nikolai's voice became choked, and he wept and said: "If we do not join the German army and wait for our fate, we will either be shot or starved to death." ”

I sighed when I heard this, stopped and waited for Nikolai to come closer, I patted him on the shoulder and comforted: "Comrade Captain, don't be sad. A qiē is over. The suffering you and your comrades-in-arms have suffered, we will make the Germans repay it tenfold and hundredfold in the future. ”

Nikolai touched a handful of tears with his sleeve. Raising his head, he asked rhetorically in a skeptical tone: "Comrade division commander, do you think there will be such a day?" Or do you think we can defeat the Germans, who have already stormed Stalingrad? ”

"That's for sure, Captain Nikola." If anyone had unwavering confidence in the victory of the Soviet army over the German army, it would have been me. Although I cannot disclose the date of the counteroffensive in the Battle of Stalingrad, it does not prevent me from telling the commanders and fighters around me the final results in order to increase their confidence and morale in fighting the enemy. "I don't see the enemy's current offensive is fierce, but their troops are already tired, and the intensity of the attack is getting weaker and weaker, and it won't be long before we can launch a counterattack and completely wipe them out."

"You say it is completely destroyed," Nikolai asked, looking at me with suspicion, cautiously, "and not the defeat of the enemy who will commit the crime?" ”

I know why Nikolai asked this, and seeing that the 62nd Army was beaten by Paulus, and that I am ashamed to say here that our army can completely annihilate the invading enemy, it is tantamount to a fool's dream. If it weren't for my highest rank, someone would have pointed at my nose and scolded me. For everyone's peace of mind, I deliberately diverted the topic: "When Guderian's troops rushed to Moscow this time last year, how many people thought that we could hold Moscow and crush the enemy?" But in the end, we not only succeeded in crushing the enemy's attack, but also took the opportunity to regain a lot of areas.

Don't look at the Germans who temporarily gained the upper hand at Stalingrad, but look at how many troops they have invested in our Mamayev Posts and how many attacks they have launched, but they still have not been able to take their positions from us. "As soon as I said this, Sederikov and Nikolai seemed to be convinced by me, and both kept nodding their heads in agreement with what I said.

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, and then said to Sederikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, from today onwards, Captain Nikolai and his troops will be assigned to your regiment, and the number will be one battalion." Seeing that Sederikov nodded in agreement, I turned my head again and asked Nikolai: "Comrade Captain, do you have no opinion?" ”

Nikolai shook his head vigorously and replied decisively: "Report to Comrade Division Commander, I resolutely obey your orders. ”

We talked as we walked, and before we knew it, we had entered the defense zone of the third regiment. Godunov and several of his men seemed to have waited a long time, and when they saw us in his field of vision, they took the lead and trotted over.

After coming to me and standing up and saluting, he respectfully reported to me: "Report to the division commander, the commanders you asked me to gather have been gathered, and there are 39 people in total. He said, gesturing to a building not far away, "They're all in the conference room in that building, waiting for you." ”

After I shook hands with Godunov, I shook hands with the commanders he had brought with me. When I got to the last person, I was surprised to find that the commander standing in front of me was not wearing an army uniform, but a tank corps. Seeing that this person was familiar, but I couldn't remember the other party's name when I was in a hurry, I had to say apologetically: "Comrade Commander of the Tank Corps, I look at you very familiarly." I just can't remember your name. ”

Didn't wait for the tank commander to answer my question. Godunov, who heard me, had already come over. Preemptively introduced: "Comrade division commander, have you forgotten jì?" This is Vajim, the battalion commissar of the tank battalion, he was brought over from the group army headquarters with you with the political commissar Xia Ping. ”

As soon as Godunov said this, I immediately remembered that I had indeed asked for Political Commissar Xia Ping and a lot of fighters from the tank brigade that was about to retreat, and came back to strengthen the divisional tank battalion. And this Vajim served as the battalion commissar of the tank battalion after he came. After remembering who the other party was, I shook his hand vigorously, apologized to him, and said, "Comrade Wajim, I'm sorry, it was too dark when you came to see your face, and I ask for your forgiveness." ”

With a bright smile on his face, Vajim shook hands with me and said, "Comrade Division Commander, you have not been in the tank battalion for a long time, and it is normal that you don't know me." That's right. When will the battalion commander, Major Persjian, return to the troops? ”

Vajim's words reminded me of the uncertain fate of Persjian, who had heard that he and Pugachev had been hospitalized. My heart is still very steady, but yesterday I saw the wounded people lying on the ground groaning in pain and no one cared about them, and I was inexplicably worried about the fate of the two of them.

While I was wondering how to answer Vajim, I stumbled upon Captain Nikolai standing beside me, and I had a major idea in my heart. So I avoided talking about Pelsjian, and asked Vajim instead: "Comrade Vajim, how many tanks are there in the tank battalion?" ”

Hearing my question, Vajim didn't bother to inquire about Persjian's whereabouts, and hurriedly reported to me: "Report to the division commander, the tank battalion has five tanks, and the ammunition is sufficient but there is no fuel, so all of them can only be left here for fixed fire points." As for the tankmen, since we have recruited some more during this time, there are currently more than eighty people. ”

As soon as he finished his report, I immediately pulled Captain Nikolai in front of him and introduced him: "Comrade Vajim, let me introduce you, this is Captain Nikolai, and he has a tank company with three tanks. Then I instructed Nikolai: "Captain, in order to strengthen the tank battalion, I have decided to replenish the tank company of your battalion to Comrade Vajim, do you have no objection?" ”

"No, I obey orders."

I followed Godunov into the building he was talking about, carefully up the crumbling staircase to the second floor, and down the rubble-strewn corridor to the conference room. When he was still four or five meters away from the doorway, Godunov suddenly raised his voice and shouted in a cordial voice inside: "Comrades, our division commander has come to see everyone, come out!" ”

With his shout, a group of people poured out of the conference room, and the corridor, which was not spacious, was suddenly packed. Basmanov hurriedly shouted, crossed over with a few guards, and stepped forward to stop those who wanted to rush over.

I looked at these ragged and filthy commanders, flattered by the joy of hearing my arrival. I hurriedly walked behind Basmanov and raised my hand through the guards to greet the commanders inside: "Hello, comrades commanders! ”

"Hello Commander!"

"Hello Commander!"

The commanders, who were on the other side of the guards, shouted in a rambling voice.

When it was a little quieter, Godunov also walked up to me and shouted at the men: "Okay, everyone go in, don't block the door, otherwise we won't be able to get in." ”

When everyone had retreated into the conference city, I entered the conference room under the protection of Basmanov. When I entered the room, there was a rectangular table in the middle of the room, but it was no longer usable, and it was full of stones that had fallen from the ceiling, not to mention a broken leg. And the commanders stood on either side of the broken table, saluting me intently.

I swept over the bodies of every commander in the room with a smile on my face, and saw that although their uniforms were tattered and tattered, and their hair and beards looked like they had not been trimmed for a long time, they all looked energetic at the moment.

I coughed, and then said loudly: "Comrades, you have suffered. I declare to you that you are all free. I am the commander of the independent division, Major General Oshanina, and our men instigated the officers and men of the Eastern Battalion guarding you to liberate you all anyway. From today onwards, you are a member of the glorious independent division, and on behalf of the commanders and fighters of the whole division, I welcome you to join. As I spoke, I put my feet together and raised my hand to salute the commanders present.

A commander came out of the crowd not far from me, came up to me, and asked solemnly: "Comrade General, when we were in the prisoner of war camp, we heard that all captured personnel, regardless of whether they had resisted beforehand or not, and how they escaped later, were subject to the examination of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and sent to Siberia, is it true?" ”

I looked at the sallow middle-aged man in front of me, and glanced at his collar badge again, the rank mark on it was long gone, but from the faint traces, I judged that he was a captain. So I replied earnestly: "Comrade Captain, I do not deny what you are worried about, but there must be something in other units. But I can responsibly tell you that in my independent division, there will not be any wronged comrades of our own at all. (The novel "Burning Moscow" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone!) Open WeChat now, click on the "+" sign in the upper right corner to "add friends", search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up! (To be continued......)