Since the counterattack was launched on June 1, the British Expeditionary Force took in approximately 120,000 German prisoners of war within a week, and they were evenly placed in 12 prisoner of war camps between Arras and Reims.
Initially, the Indian Legion was responsible for managing these prisoners of war, but soon great conflicts broke out between the prisoners and the Indian guards, and the Southern African Expeditionary Force was forced to take over.
Major Shen Shenxing, who was in charge of the 13th Division of the Southern African Expeditionary Force in charge of Camp No. 9, still remembers the scene on the first day he arrived at the prisoner of war camp.
It was the afternoon of June 11th. According to the regulations of the expeditionary force, these prisoners of war had to work in exchange for food and maintain the most basic life. The intensity of "labor" here was not very high. Prisoners of war would not be allowed to brave artillery fire to repair trenches. Basically, They are all basic work such as repairing roads or repairing bridges. There are no rigid requirements for prisoner-of-war camps. The main purpose is to find something to do for these prisoners of war and get them busy so that they have no energy to think about strange things.
That afternoon, Major Shen Shenxing led a platoon and escorted about 1,000 prisoners of war to the Scheldt River near Cambrai to repair the Scheldt River embankment.
There has been a lot of rain recently. In order to prevent rivers from flooding, the Expeditionary Force Headquarters has made maintenance of dikes the most important task for prisoners of war. This task is normal in Southern Africa. The conscripts in Southern Africa have to perform maintenance of rivers every year. , repair dams in the rainy season and dredge rivers in the dry season.
Not long after leaving the camp, drizzle began to fall in the sky. The expeditionary force soldiers brought raincoats. In order to prevent the American influenza pandemic, many of them also wore masks. They were walking on both sides of the road, and there was a queue of four people in the middle of the road. Of the prisoners, a team of 1,000 people was actually not that long. It was more than 200 meters long, and a platoon of soldiers could complete the task.
"Major, it's raining. We probably won't be able to complete the mission today. If not, let's go back and come back to work tomorrow." Platoon leader Houston is half British and half French. He is proficient in English, French and German. Before the outbreak of the world war, he was a member of the Rand Bank. A salesman, he was drafted into the army only three years after the outbreak of the world war. Otherwise, he would not be a second lieutenant and platoon leader now.
"Okay, let's go back the way we came. Damn the weather. I just changed my shoes yesterday -" Shen Shenxing was not happy. The expeditionary army was only issued four pairs of shoes a year, two pairs of single leather shoes and two pairs of leather and cotton shoes. Shen Shenxing would only wear one pair, and then send the other pair home for his younger brother to wear.
Shen Shenxing has three younger brothers. Last year's single leather shoes were given to the second, and this year's single leather shoes were given to the third. The fourth did not have any objections. He was still too young and had no feeling for shoes. He was only interested in Shen Shenxing's hat. .
Compared with military boots, curved-brimmed hats are much cheaper, so Shen Shenxing sent two hats back to the fourth child so that the fourth child could wear them interchangeably.
"Stand at attention - turn right -" Houston began to form a team, preparing to turn around and return to the camp. Even if these prisoners returned to the camp, they would not even think about resting, cleaning up and concentrating on studying. Anyway, the administrators of the prisoner of war camp could always find out Lots of work to come.
At this time, the rain was getting heavier and heavier, and the trees and buildings in the distance began to be unclear. A layer of water mist appeared on the ground. The soldiers of the expeditionary force were better off wearing raincoats, but the prisoners with thin clothes felt very uncomfortable.
In addition, when Houston was forming his team, the surrounding expeditionary force soldiers began to subconsciously be on guard, which gave the prisoners a very bad feeling.
"What are you going to do?" one of the prisoners bravely asked.
"Shut up! Don't talk!" Houston's voice was stern. Although the rifle was still on his shoulder, one hand was already holding the pistol holster on his waist.
"Are you going to kill us? We didn't do anything wrong -" A German prisoner's body was trembling and his voice was trembling. He didn't know why these expeditionary soldiers took them to the wilderness, especially in the wilderness.
In such bad weather, there seems to be a conspiracy no matter what.
"What? You want to kill us?"
"Why is this? Please don't do this-"
"Oh my god, please let us go, I want to go home-"
The German prisoners of war who did not know what was going on immediately became commotion, and the neat team began to become chaotic. Many prisoners of war were excited and the danger was imminent.
"Shut up!"
"Quiet!"
"Stop talking and go back to your place!"
The surrounding expeditionary force soldiers also realized that the situation was urgent. Someone pulled the bolt when picking up a rifle, which made the German prisoners of war even more nervous.
"Shut up!" Shen Shenxing shouted in a loud voice, and at the same time he took out his pistol and fired a warning shot.
Boom!
For a moment, the soldiers and prisoners of war were a little stunned.
"No one wants to kill you. Today's labor mission is cancelled. Go back and clean up the house -" Shen Shenxing reassured them in time. If more than a thousand prisoners of war started to riot, it would be difficult for a platoon of soldiers to control them.
Of course, even if these prisoners of war took advantage of the chaos to escape, they would not be able to escape very far. Tens of thousands of expeditionary troops who took turns to rest were stationed around the prisoner of war camp. As long as an investigation report was issued, the escaped prisoners of war would be captured in minutes.
With Shen Shenxing's promise, the prisoners of war finally calmed down. If there was to be a shooting, the expeditionary force would not only send out such a small number of people, nor would the soldiers only carry rifles and automatic rifles. At the very least, they would have to have a heavy machine gun or something like that.
.
There were no dangers along the way. After returning to the prison camp, Shen Shenxing felt that his shirt was soaked through.
"Wow, what's wrong with you? Didn't you bring a raincoat when you went out?" Shen Shenxing's colleague noticed Shen Shenxing's shirt.
"No, today is really dangerous. The prisoners thought we were going to shoot them, so they almost didn't riot. We were only about forty people at the time, facing a thousand German troops -" Shen Shenxing was terrified.
Shen Shenxing's colleagues said nothing and looked at Shen Shenxing with a strange expression.
"What's wrong?" Shen Shenxing still didn't know what happened.
Shen Shenxing's colleague handed Shen Shenxing the newspaper that had just been issued. The front page headline of the newspaper was very eye-catching - a riot broke out in a German prisoner of war camp in Verdun. French troops were dispatched urgently. Nearly 4,000 German prisoners of war were killed!
"How could this happen?" Shen Shenxing was surprised.
"Who knows, maybe there is a real riot, maybe the French are deliberately retaliating, everything is possible." This kind of thing is not surprising on the Western Front. Putting down arms does not mean writing it off.
Shen Shenxing was in a heavy heart. During dinner in the evening, Shen Shenxing came to a large warehouse where prisoners of war lived.
This kind of temporary warehouse is very simple, with walls made of wooden boards, a roof made of thin canvas, and two rows of wooden boards when you enter the door. A hundred people can live in such a warehouse.
The prisoners of war who had just returned to the warehouse were cleaning up the house. Many of them did not have a change of clothes. After their clothes were soaked by the rain, they had to take off their clothes to dry.
Fortunately, the warehouse was full of men, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about. Some even got a basin of water and took a bath in the corner of the warehouse. When the duty officer shouted "Stand at attention", the man taking a bath was extremely embarrassed. He He held the basin directly in front of him, looking so embarrassed that he almost cried.
"Okay, relax, don't be so nervous-" Shen Shenxing tried to ease the atmosphere, but it was of no use. The German prisoners all looked at Shen Shenxing with vigilant eyes. Some people's eyes were fearful, and some people's eyes were fearful. Their eyes are calm, and some people's eyes are full of provocation.
"I hope you can understand one thing. No one here will hurt you without any reason. As long as you cooperate with our work, you should know that the gentlemen above are negotiating. Maybe soon, you You can go home, I hope you won’t miss the coffee in the prisoner of war camp then -" Shen Shenxing didn't say nonsense, the British Empire was indeed rich, and the prisoners could also drink coffee.
Of course, there must be more water mixed in. The concentration of the coffee is incomparable to that of the coffee drunk by expeditionary force soldiers, and there is no sugar or milk.
Even so, the coffee was enough to surprise the prisoners of war.
In addition to coffee, prisoners of war could also eat a piece of bacon, an apple or two bananas every day, and each person had five cigarettes a day. It can be said that the treatment of prisoners of war was better than that of the German troops on the Western Front.
"Sorry sir, we misunderstood you this afternoon." A German prisoner of war apologized to Shen Shenxing.
"It doesn't matter. I didn't think it through well. I didn't expect it to rain today. You can rest today and the food will be provided according to the highest standards." Shen Shenxing didn't take it to heart and chose others by himself. If Shen Shenxing was replaced by a German prisoner, Then maybe Shen Shenxing's reaction would be more intense than those of these German prisoners of war.
The highest standard of food is nutritious meals prepared for wounded soldiers.
Since the British government wanted to help the Germans get back on their feet after the war, Rock simply improved the treatment for these German prisoners of war. The wounded German soldiers also received milk and eggs to supplement their nutrition every day. The doctors of the expeditionary force were also trying their best to provide medical care to the injured German prisoners of war. Providing medical services and medicines are still a big problem, and the expeditionary force's own medicines are also insufficient.
Later, another group of German prisoners of war were sent to the prison camp.
It was dinner time at this time, and the German prisoners of war lined up neatly to receive the food, holding the tableware distributed by the expeditionary force.
These tableware are all stainless steel tableware produced by Fawalt Steel Company, including a cup for drinking soup and a stainless steel dinner plate divided into four compartments. For safety reasons, the tableware does not include a knife. There is only a fork on one end and a fork on the other. Eating with spoons and tableware seems common in southern Africa, but in the eyes of the Germans who lack steel, being able to distribute high-priced tableware that can be called "luxury" to prisoners really proves the generosity and humanity of southern Africa. doctrine.
Just when those newly assigned prisoners of war walked into the prison camp with anxiety.
The German prisoners of war who were queuing up to receive food suddenly burst into loud cheers and applause.
This is to welcome these new prisoners of war.
: A new round of crackdown has begun. The editor reminded me that Fu Jia Tian Xia may also be blocked. I have been busy revising these two days, hoping to escape. Please forgive me for the lack of communication with my brothers - more than 3 million words.
I have to read it from the beginning. I hate why I had to write so much in the first place——