Uzhakov saw that after his order was issued, the second battalion commander was still standing there without moving, so he asked with some confusion: "Comrade Major, if you don't carry out my order, what are you doing standing here?"
"Comrade Brigadier," the second battalion commander replied with some embarrassment, "no one in my battalion understands Italian."
The words of the second battalion commander reminded Uzakov that not even in the second battalion, even in the whole brigade, there would be no one who could understand Italian. After all, Italian was a relatively unknown language to the Soviets.
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," seeing Uzakov encountering a difficult problem, Sergeant Lakuri took the initiative to ask him: "Although I don't understand Italian, I do understand German. Please ask someone, these Italian prisoners of war
Is there anyone here who speaks German?”
"This is a good idea." Since no one understands Italian, the prisoners can only be interrogated in German. This proposal was immediately approved by Uzakov. He ordered the second battalion commander: "Comrade Major, send someone to
Ask the prisoner who knows German and bring him here."
Ten minutes later, the second battalion commander and two soldiers escorted an Italian captain into the tent and reported to Uzakov: "Comrade Brigadier, this is the commander of the Italian army. He can hear
Understand German.”
"Let this gentleman sit down." Uzakov glanced at the Italian captain and said to Lacuri: "This will make our interrogation smoother."
After everyone was seated, Uzakov asked: "Mr. Captain, your name and rank."
After listening to Lacuri's translation, the Italian captain immediately stood up, put his hands close to the seam of his trousers, held his head high and replied: "Captain Comolli!"
"Very good." Seeing the Italian captain's cooperation, Uzakov nodded with a smile and said, "This is a good start." After a brief pause, he continued to ask, "Captain, what is your unit number?
?”
"Third Company, 11th Battalion, 6th Infantry Regiment, 35th Italian Army Sverzeska Division." Captain Comolli clearly stated the number of his unit.
Uzakov knew nothing about the troop numbers Comolli mentioned. He waited for the staff member responsible for recording next to him to finish writing, and then asked: "Where has your troop participated in the battle?"
"Our division once participated in the Battle of Stalingrad." Comolli replied: "But it has always been stationed near the Don River."
"Stationed near the Don River." Uzakov said with some contempt after hearing what Comolli said: "The comprehensive counterattack launched by our army in Stalingrad first achieved a breakthrough in the Don River Basin. Captain
, it seems that the combat effectiveness of your troops is not very good."
Uzhakov's words immediately caused a burst of laughter in the tent.
"Mr. Lieutenant Colonel!" Unexpectedly, Comolli, who was originally sitting, stood up suddenly after hearing what Uzakov said and said with a serious expression: "Although we and our German allies suffered a defeat in Stalingrad,
, but you cannot insult the honor of our Italian army."
Before Uzakov came to the prisoner of war camp, he had heard the report from the second battalion commander. After learning that his troops had rushed into the prisoner of war camp, the Italian troops who stayed in the prisoner of war camp only put up symbolic resistance before laying down their weapons and surrendering.
, so he looked down on this unit in his heart. At this moment, hearing Comolli's rebuttal, he asked in a joking tone: "What, Mr. Captain, is there anything wrong with what I said?"
"Of course that's not true." It was about the honor of the army. Captain Comolli began to retort with a solemn expression: "The tasks undertaken by our army are mainly to maintain the logistics supply lines of German allies and defend secondary flank positions. Since it takes time to go to the battlefield,
There are few, so the results are definitely not as good as those of the German allies who are the main force in the attack."
Comolli's words aroused Uzakov's curiosity, and he asked with a smile: "Mr. Captain, according to you, if your troops are allowed to hold on to the Don River defense line, will it be difficult for our army to achieve a breakthrough?"
?”
"That's for sure, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel." Comolli said proudly with his head raised: "When your army attacked the Don River Basin, my 35th Army, the Romanian Third Army, and two German divisions,
They are all surrounded by you, and their destruction is imminent.
At the critical moment of life and death, it was we who bravely launched an attack on you and even engaged in hand-to-hand combat. After fierce hand-to-hand combat, more than 4,000 of the entire army successfully broke through. And the huge Romanian Army was completely destroyed. Even you thought
Even though the Germans were very powerful, only 2,000 of them broke through the encirclement."
Due to certain needs, the Soviet army would definitely not report the battle examples that Comolli mentioned. Therefore, let alone Uzakov, even Sokov did not know about it.
Uzhakov laughed dryly and changed the topic to what he urgently needed to know: "Mr. Captain, I would like to ask, there are more than two thousand prisoners of war in the prison camp, why are there so few wounded?"
When Comolli heard this question, he hesitated for a moment, and then replied hesitantly: "The seriously injured were shot to prevent them from wasting our precious medicines."
Uzhakov's eyebrows knitted into a knot. He gritted his back molars and asked, "Did you order the shooting?" When he said this, his hand reached to his waist and rested on the holster of his gun.
Once Comolli gave a positive answer, he would not hesitate to draw his pistol and shoot at the opponent.
"No, no, it's not my order!" Comolli shouted in panic when he saw Uzakov's hand on the holster, fearing that the other party would pull out a pistol and shoot him.
"Who is that?... What I'm asking is, who gave the order?" Uzakov asked, raising his voice.
"The Germans are Germans." Comolli argued: "My company just entered the prisoner of war camp three days ago. When we took over the defense of the Germans, I discovered in the forest outside the prisoner of war camp.
There are at least four hundred corpses, all of them wounded shot by the Germans."
"Damn Germans." Uzhakov was so angry that he punched the table, startling the staff officer who was responsible for recording the interrogation: "If I see those Germans, I will never spare them. Where are they?
Part of it?" The next sentence was asked to Comolli.
"It's a grenadier company of the Flag Guard Division." Comolli knew very well that if he explained the matter clearly, he might lose his life here, so he quickly replied honestly: "The SS has always done things.
They are so cruel that all the wounded they catch will be executed as long as they feel they have no therapeutic value."
"Take him down." Uzakov already knew what he wanted to know, and there was no point in further interrogation. He asked the second battalion commander to take him down, and then called a staff officer and ordered him:
"Immediately send a report to the group army headquarters, saying that we have successfully captured the prisoner of war camp, and requesting instructions from our superiors on the next step."
