Khrushchev walked up to Shulka and stared at Shulka up and down with an expressionless expression, as if what was standing in front of him was a piece of wood that he could do with at his disposal.
Shulka didn't like this feeling very much. It felt like someone was fighting for his own good.
But Shulka was helpless because he knew that Khrushchev, as a political commissar, had this power.
At the same time, Shulka also knew that if Khrushchev wanted to harm him, let alone Akimovich and Golikov, even Zhukov would be helpless here.
Just when everyone and even Shulka himself thought that this time was a disaster, Khrushchev did not expect that Khrushchev nodded, patted Shulka on the shoulder, and said: "Very good, your tactics are based on me."
Frontline check for the few things that are right!”
Shulka was so surprised that he couldn't even believe what he heard.
"But!" Khrushchev then paced in front of everyone and continued: "Our soldiers are looking for all kinds of excuses to retreat. The brave people are dealing with the enemy on the front line, but the timid cowards are enjoying themselves in the rear, and even
There are also many people who stay at the command post under various excuses..."
As Khrushchev waved his hand, the guards pushed in several disarmed officers.
"I think you must know them!" Khrushchev asked Golikov.
"No, I don't know them!" Golikov replied.
"But they said they were waiting for your order!" Khrushchev said: "Just outside your headquarters, there is a captain, three captains, and more than a dozen officers and soldiers!"
As he spoke, Khrushchev grabbed one of the captains and said: "This, he told me that he just sent you a report! And this, he said that the communication was cut off and asked you for the next order. And this
,this……"
Khrushchev angrily picked them out one by one, and sometimes even couldn't control himself and beat and kicked them.
Then Shulka understood.
There was a group of "quasi-deserters" in Stalingrad.
The so-called "quasi-deserters" refer to those who did not flee the battlefield but avoided fighting or fled the most dangerous front lines.
This was a smart move, because being a deserter was too risky. Once discovered, there was only one way to die, especially in Stalingrad, where there was no way to escape.
Of course, they are not willing to surrender to the enemy.
They actually have a better choice and find an excuse to hide in the second line.
Or, just like these captured officers, they deceived their superiors and found an excuse to hide near the headquarters... The headquarters should be said to be the safest place on the battlefield. In addition, they can also claim to their subordinates that they have received instructions from their superiors.
He went to the headquarters only after receiving orders, and Golikov and even the guards at the headquarters did not know the existence of these officers.
Then, all these officers had to do was wait.
If they are lucky enough, they can even become heroes by the end of the war, heroes who survived the fierce battle.
Therefore, this kind of people are the most hateful, even more hateful than deserters... Deserters just run away, but these people are still lurking in the dark while running away, and whenever they have the opportunity, they will take away the credit of those subordinates and comrades who died on the front line.
Golikov, Akimovich and others were busy directing operations and had no time to pay attention to these problems and did not discover these problems. However, when Khrushchev came here to inspect, he immediately arrested a lot of them.
"There are two hundred and seventy-two of them in total!" Khrushchev said: "This is only a small part. The other part of them ran back and infiltrated into the frontline troops after hearing the news! If possible,
I should catch them one by one!"
"Can you imagine? In Stalingrad, the city named after Comrade Stalin, it only took me more than half an hour to catch more than two hundred such cowards!" Khrushchev was angry.
He grabbed Golikov's collar and said fiercely to Golikov: "And you don't know anything about this, even though they are staying right next to you!"
"Comrade Political Commissar!" Shulka explained: "Perhaps you don't know that one troop after another has entered Stalingrad as reinforcements. Most of them have been maimed and scattered. It is difficult for us to find them completely...
…”
"These are not reasons!" Khrushchev interrupted Shulka: "At any time, we need to remain vigilant and not give these cowards a chance. This will cause serious damage to the morale of the entire army!"
Shulka had to admit that Khrushchev was right.
Brave soldiers sacrificed heroically on the front lines but gained nothing, while those who were greedy for life and feared death hid in the second line and survived and pretended to be military leaders... It only takes a few examples and spreading them out, which will soon bring fatal consequences to morale.
A blow, because everyone will hope to be the person who survives and leads the army.
"Comrade Political Commissar!" Golikov swallowed and replied: "I, I will immediately organize these bastards into a 'punishment camp' and send them to the battlefield..."
"No!" Khrushchev interrupted Golikov: "They are not worthy of entering the 'punishment camp'!"
Then everyone understood that these people did not even have a chance to go to the battlefield and die under the enemy's gun.
Then, Khrushchev delivered a speech to various places through the radio... Although the Soviet army's communication equipment was very backward, it attached great importance to propaganda, so the battlefield loudspeakers could cover one-third of the area even when the battle was very difficult.
Although it is only one third, the soldiers on the front line will spread the word by word of mouth, so it will soon spread throughout the army.
Khrushchev wanted to use this to shock the army.
"Comrades fighting bravely on the front line!" Khrushchev said impassionedly on the radio: "First of all, please allow me to pay tribute to your achievements and unyielding spirit. Your courage will eventually defeat the enemy and achieve final victory.
!However, there will always be some cowards among us who dare not face all this, or they were once one of us, once our comrades..."
This was Khrushchev's clever point. Those "quasi-deserters" had been classified outside the Soviet army and became class enemies. Therefore, the existence of these people was cut off, and their impact on morale was also reduced.
controlled to a minimum.
Needless to say what the final result was, more than two hundred people, including officers and soldiers, from all branches of arms, and even artillery and tank soldiers who were in short supply, knelt in a row in front of the loudspeaker and were executed one after another at the execution ground.
Shooting.
The execution was very slow, and even the name, serial number and other information of each person being executed were broadcast on the radio, and then a gunshot sounded...
There were also cries and begging for mercy from "quasi-deserters", but this obviously had no effect. (To be continued)