After receiving this order from Xi Duolin, the commanders of each division had different reactions. Many people felt that the ice and snow had melted, and the road to the forest area was rugged and difficult, and it might be a waste of time. Therefore, they were not satisfied with the execution of the order.
This order does not seem positive.
The only person who cared about this matter was Major General Kirillov, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. He knew very well that he was able to live well now and even become a division commander because of Sokov. Since the other party
After giving such an order, you must execute it unconditionally.
However, he did not blindly send out reconnaissance troops to search the forest near Lezen. Such a blind search would not only waste a lot of manpower and time, but would not lead to any search. He thought of Klein who led his troops to surrender not long ago.
, quickly ordered Chief of Staff Miyakov: "Chief of Staff, go and invite Colonel Klein over."
Miyakov was stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, why did you invite him here?"
Kirillov explained to Miyakov: "Chief of Staff, you should know the order given to us by Comrade Commander, asking us to send people into the nearby forest to search to see if there is a prisoner of war camp established by the German army. We
We had just occupied Lezen and were not familiar with the surrounding environment. If we rashly sent people to search the forest, it would be difficult to achieve any results. As the garrison commander of Lezen, Colonel Klein must have a better understanding of the surrounding environment than we do.
He is familiar with it, so asking him to understand the situation can avoid taking some detours."
After listening to Kirillov's explanation, Miyakov nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, you are right, I will personally bring Colonel Klein here."
Since Klein led his troops to surrender, he was not detained in the military camp with his soldiers, but was placed under house arrest in his original room. He watched the Soviet army entertain him with good food and wine every day, and no one came to interrogate him.
For himself, his originally hanging heart returned to his stomach, and he understood that as long as he continued to stay here, at least his life safety could be guaranteed.
When he saw Lieutenant Colonel Miyakov of the Soviet Army coming to his room, Klein couldn't help but feel a little in his heart. He thought to himself that the other party felt that he had no use value and was planning to shoot him? He asked tremblingly.
: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, what can I do for you?"
When the translator following Miyakov translated Klein's words, Miyakov smiled and said: "Colonel Klein, don't be afraid. I came here to see you today to invite you.
Our division headquarters, our division commander wants to talk to you."
Although Miyakov behaved politely, Klein became uneasy again. He remembered that when he caught the Soviet commander and wanted to take him to be shot, he would reassure him in advance, saying that he was just asking him to
Let’s go talk. Now that the same thing has happened to him, Klein’s legs couldn’t help but feel weak. He was deeply afraid that as soon as he left the room, he would be dragged directly to the execution ground and shot, so he hurriedly said incoherently: "
Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I am not feeling well and cannot go to the place you mentioned for the time being. I’d better wait for another day.”
After listening to the translation, Miyakov stared at Klein in surprise, wondering what happened to this German guy. I just asked him to go to the division headquarters for a chat. How could he look so flustered, as if he wanted to kill him immediately?
Did he pull him out and shoot him? But he was eager to invite Klein to the division headquarters, so he didn't pay attention to his details. Instead, he took a step back, turned his body to the side, and made an invitation gesture: "Klein
Colonel, please."
Seeing this situation, Klein became more determined that the other party wanted to shoot him. But at this moment, he had already thought about it. Since he had taken the initiative to order the troops to put down their weapons, he should be responsible for all the consequences that happened next.
The person who was the group leader was responsible for it. Thinking of this, he raised his head and walked towards the door with solid steps.
When he arrived at the division headquarters and met General Kirillov, his behavior surprised Klein. Not only did he ask Klein to sit down, he even poured a cup of hot tea himself and put it on the table.
In front of Klein.
Looking at the steaming tea in front of him, Klein began to wonder again: "Could it be that they called him here not to shoot him, but for something else?" With this question, he
He asked tentatively: "Your Majesty General, I wonder if you asked me to come here. What's the matter?"
"Colonel Klein," Kirillov did not answer Klein's question immediately, but asked politely: "I wonder how long your troops have been stationed here in Lezen?"
"We have been stationed here since October 1944." Although he didn't understand why the other party asked about this, Klein still answered truthfully: "Mr. General, why are you asking this?"
"That's right, we received intelligence that there seems to be a prisoner-of-war camp set up by you in the forest near Lezen, where a large number of our army's commanders and fighters are detained." Kirillov looked at Klein and asked.
: "Colonel Klein, can you tell me the specific location of this prisoner of war camp?"
Hearing Kirillov's question, Klein hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Your Majesty General, I'm not sure about what you're talking about. I'm in charge of city defense, and the matter regarding prisoners of war is
If it is handled by other departments, there is no need for them to communicate with me."
Kirillov thought he could get useful information from Klein, but after hearing what the other party said, he immediately realized that he had thought the problem too simply. At first, he was worried that Klein was lying to him, so he couldn't take his eyes away.
He stared at the other person for a while and found that the expression on Klein's face had not changed at all. He probably wasn't lying to him.
But in any case, Klein was definitely more familiar with the environment near Lezen than he, a newcomer. He was unwilling to give up easily, so he took a chance and asked: "Colonel Klein, what do you think?
Who would know about this?"
Klein frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Mr. General, if you want to know the situation, I suggest you ask the Gestapo leader in the city. He should know more about this kind of thing than me."
Kirillov didn't have much hope at first, but when he heard Klein talking about the Gestapo, he couldn't help but feel ecstatic: "Yeah, how could I forget them? Mustache used these damn Gestapo to rule Germany and
They must know better than anyone else what prison camps and concentration camps there are in the country they occupied." Thinking of this, he turned to ask Miyakov, "Chief of Staff, where is the leader of the Gestapo being held?"
"In prison." Miyakov asked: "Should we bring him here?"
Soon, the Gestapo leader was brought. This once arrogant SS officer had become extremely haggard after staying in prison for a few days. At this moment, after he was taken to the division headquarters, he looked at the room.
The place was full of people, and I suddenly thought that I might be pulled out and shot. I was so frightened that I peed, and the room was filled with a disgusting stench.
Kirillov slapped his nose with his hand, and then asked displeasedly: "Are you the leader of the Gestapo in Letzen?"
"Yes, Your Excellency General." The officer's legs were shaking like chaff, and he said tremblingly: "Although I am the leader of the Gestapo in the city, I have never done anything bad, nor have I killed any good people.
…”
"Okay, stop talking." Kirillov was not interested in hearing him defend himself, but asked straight to the point: "Let me ask you, are there any concentration camps or prisoner-of-war camps near the city of Letzen?
"
Hearing Kirillov's question, the officer hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said: "I don't know, I don't know."
But the expression on his face had long been seen by Kirillov. Kirillov knew that he was lying, so he slapped his face hard on the table, and then said sternly: "If you don't tell the truth, I will
Have someone drag you out immediately and shoot you."
"Mr. General," the officer said with a frown, "I'm not lying. I really don't know."
At this time, Miyakov came close to Kirillov's ear and whispered a few words. Kirillov smiled slightly after hearing this, and then said: "Since he is unwilling to confess, then drag him out."
Miyakov called two soldiers and asked them to drag the officer out. Kirillov said to Klein: "Colonel Klein, are you interested in coming with us to see who this officer is?"
How did you confess?"
Klein thought to himself, the leader of the Gestapo seemed quite stubborn, how could he possibly confess? But since the other party asked him to go with him, this was not an invitation, but an order. If he disobeyed, he would probably end up with something bad.
Very tragic.
After following Kirillov and others outside, he saw the officer tied to a tree. Klein couldn't help but shuddered when he saw this. Should he be shot like this?
But what Kirillov and others did next surprised him. He saw a soldier carrying a bag of potatoes to the bound officer, pouring the potatoes on the ground, and then stuffed them into the pile of potatoes.
A small explosive bag passed by. After doing all this, the soldier turned to look at Kirillov and Miyakov. When Miyakov nodded, he took out the match in his pocket and lit the small explosive bag.
The fuse of the explosive pack then ran aside.
Klein looked at the burning fuse in surprise and thought to himself: What are the Russians trying to do, actually stuffing explosives into the pile of potatoes?
After a loud "boom", the pile of potatoes was blown to pieces. The fried potatoes flew in all directions, some fell around Kirillov and others, but more fell on the officers.
.
Immediately, Miyakov ordered the soldiers to tie another small explosive bag around the officer's waist. However, the fuse of this explosive bag was very long and was dragged directly to the ground. However, this time the soldiers were not asked to light the fuse immediately.
Yakov stepped forward and asked the officer: "Are you willing to tell the information you know?"
Unexpectedly, the officer, who was covered in cold sweat, still insisted on persisting: "I don't know, I don't know anything. No matter how many times you ask me, this is my answer."
After Kirillov heard the officer's reply, he waved his hand at Miyakov and said: "Since he is so stubborn, let's send him on his way. Light a fire!"
When the soldier lit the fuse, he followed Miyakov and ran back to Kirillov, staring intently at the sparking fuse.
Klein on the side had his heart in his throat. He had seen the power of the small explosive pack just now. If it really exploded at the officer's waist, it would be enough to blow the officer into two pieces. He looked nervously at
Kirillov came to Kirillov, hoping that he could order to stop this dangerous action, but found that the other party was looking at the spark-emitting fuse with great interest at the moment. Klein was desperate. He couldn't bear to watch the officer being blown into two.
Duan, he closed his eyes tightly.
After waiting for an unknown period of time, he opened his eyes and found that the fuse had been extinguished at some point. While he was wondering, he heard the soldier who had just ran over shouting, but he could not understand it and could only remain silent.
I had the nerve to ask the translator next to me for advice.
The translator smiled and explained to him: "Mr. Colonel, our soldiers said that the Gestapo leader was so frightened that he even extinguished the fuse. But don't worry, our soldiers will relight the fuse soon."
"
When the soldier tried to light the fuse again with a match, the officer tied to the tree suddenly shouted loudly. The translator quickly said to Kirillov: "Comrade division commander, the Germans said he is willing to tell everything he knows."
Kirillov sneered after hearing this, and then ordered: "Untie him and bring him to the division headquarters."
The officer was carried in by two soldiers. As soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to say: "Mr. General, if you want to know anything, just ask, and I will answer truthfully."
Seeing that the Gestapo leader was so frightened, he suddenly became honest. Kirillov continued to ask: "Tell me, are there any concentration camps or prisoner-of-war camps you built near the city of Letzen? What is the current situation in these places?"
Already?"
"There is a concentration camp about fifteen kilometers northwest of Lezen." The officer said with a sad face: "Three thousand Jews are detained in it all year round. But last week, we received an order from Himmler
, executed all these Jews.”
"What about the prisoner-of-war camp?" Kirillov frowned: "Is there a prisoner-of-war camp nearby?"
"Yes." The officer continued to reply: "In the forest directly north of the city, there is a prisoner of war camp, which houses thousands of your officers and soldiers..."
Knowing that there was indeed a prisoner of war camp nearby, Kirillov couldn't help but become a little nervous: "Have they been massacred by you?"
"No, no." The officer shook his head and said, "Your Excellency General, it is close to the seaside. These prisoners of war are used to build coastal defenses for the navy, so they have not been dealt with yet."
"How many guards were there in the prisoner of war camp and what kind of equipment did they have?"
"There are more than a hundred guards, of whom only one-third are Germans, and the rest are Poles." The officer continued: "As for weapons, the Poles are equipped with rifles, while the Germans use
The ones are submachine guns and machine guns.”
"Chief of Staff," Kirillov asked the officer to mark the location of the prisoner of war camp on the map, and then ordered Miyakov: "immediately mobilize a regiment of troops and rush to this area to find the prisoner of war camp. After eliminating all the guards
, rescue all our commanders and fighters."
This chapter has been completed!