Red Moscow - #2400 - Chapter 2399:

Next, someone asked Zakharov: “Comrade Chief of Staff, we have ten or twenty thousand Kwantung Army prisoners in our hands. I don’t know what to do with them?”

“What I want to talk about next is related to this matter.” Zaharov said: “According to the order of the Far East General Command, all the Kwantung Army captured by our army will be sent to Siberia to perform hard labor and be responsible for felling trees and mining. Mineral deposits to solve the problem of labor shortage in the Far East.”

“Then when can we send them away?” The man asked again: “You know, we have to deploy a certain amount of troops to take care of these prisoners of war and prevent them from suddenly causing rebellion and causing huge losses to our army.”

“You are right. There must be restless people among so many Kwantung Army prisoners of war. Once they find an opportunity, they may riot.” After hearing this, Sokov couldn’t help but interjected: “Our army On the day they captured Solon, there was a riot by prisoners of war and expatriates.”

Because Sokov handled the riots between prisoners of war and foreigners neatly, except for the troops stationed in Solon City and a few commanders at the front army headquarters, the rest of the people did not hear any news about the matter at all. When they heard Sokov mention this matter, everyone suddenly became interested and asked Sokov to explain what was going on.

Now that the Kwantung Army has laid down its weapons and the war is over, Sokov feels that there is no need to keep this matter secret, so he casually recounted what happened that day in detail to the commanders present. Finally, he specifically emphasized the reason why he adopted the “Eleven Killing Rule”: “The little devil’s character is to bully the weak and fear the strong. If you are stronger than him, if you act stronger, they will obey you. If you blindly accommodate, If you indulge them, they will intensify their efforts. If harsh measures had not been used to suppress them, I estimate that several similar incidents would have occurred during this period.”

The reason why Sokov wanted to explain to everyone his original intention of doing this was that he was worried that if someone among them had a heart attack, he would condemn his execution of rebellious prisoners of war and expatriates as a violation of the Geneva Convention. But when he finished speaking, he realized that he had been overly worried. No one present stood up to accuse him, and even expressed approval for his approach.

“Nowadays, each army has a large number of prisoners of war. If these people are left idle all day, someone will definitely make trouble.” After Zakharov waited for Sokov to finish, he continued: “So after they were transported to Before Siberia, we have to find them something to do to consume their excess energy.”

“General Zakharov,” Lyudnikov asked curiously, “I wonder what work you plan to do for them?”

Zakharov picked up a stack of paper in his hand and said to everyone: “This is the work manual issued by the Far East Command to the troops. It details the disassembly work you will do in the near future. Disassembling machines is dangerous and time-consuming. I think the physical work can be done by the prisoners of war in your hands.” After speaking, he put the paper in his hand on the table, “Commanders of each group army will come to receive your work manual.”

Lyudnikov was close to the pile of papers, grabbed a few of them, and looked at them carefully: “This is from the 17th Army, this is from the 36th Army, this is from our Army…Misha, this is for you Yes.” He handed over a few pieces of paper.

Sokov took the pieces of paper and began to browse the contents quickly.

Written on the paper is a list of dismantled equipment at the Tiexi District factory: “Manchuria Mitsubishi Machinery Co., Ltd., Manchuria Sumitomo Metal Fengtian Works, Riman Forging Co., Ltd., Manchu Calendar Manufacturing Co., Ltd., Tokyo Shibaura Fengten Works, Manchu Fuji Electric, Manchu Electric Wire Co., Ltd., Manchu Masushima Works…”

Looking at the names of factories one after another, Sokov’s heart bleeds: The ones to be demolished are the latest factories and mechanical equipment, power generation and transmission equipment, electric motors, experimental equipment, etc. in the Northeast. The removal of these equipment set back the development of heavy industry in Northeast China by at least thirty years.

Sokov had an impulse and wanted to tear all the papers into pieces, and then told Zakharov righteously: “As long as I am still the commander of the 53rd Army, I will not even think about a screw in the Tiexi District.” Take it apart.”

But in the end, reason defeated impulse. He knew very well that now that the war was over, he, the commander of the army group, had become dispensable. If he really breaks out in such a meeting, I’m afraid he will be dismissed from his post and imprisoned immediately. Not only will it not help the matter, but it will make the matter worse.

“Dismantling factory equipment is a big project. It is not only hard work, but also involves certain dangers.” Zakharov continued: “You have to use prisoners of war to complete this work. As for whether there will be any dangers during the disassembly work?” The casualties are not within our scope of consideration. They are all our prisoners of war anyway, and we are extremely gracious to be able to spare their lives.”

Sokov was not dissatisfied with using the little devils as livestock. He even thought about it. After returning to Fengtian, he would carefully think about whether there were any jobs that required a large number of manpower and could let the little devils do these heavy tasks. work. As for dismantling the factory equipment, we can do it later. If his superiors push him too hard, he will ask the little Japanese prisoners of war to work overtime to make progress. If there are casualties at work, it will naturally be what he wants. In Sokov’s mind, the more little Japanese prisoners of war die, the better.

 After the meeting, Sokov got up and walked out of the conference room, joining Yakov, Lukin and others outside.

“Misha,” Lukin secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sokov standing in front of him intact. He said to Yakov: “Just now at the meeting, I was worried that you were dismantling the factory equipment. There was a dispute with the Chief of Staff of the Front Army and the others.”

After hearing this, Sokov couldn’t help but smile bitterly, and then said: “Comrade Deputy Commander, I did have such an idea just now. But then I thought about it, this is something that has been decided by the superiors, and I am a small group army commander. As a member of the Communist Party of China, it is simply impossible to change the decision of your superiors.”

Sokov came to the parking spot and asked the guard company commander who came up to him: “Comrade Captain, are there any telegrams during our meeting?”

When he came to Xinjing for a meeting this time, Sokov didn’t know how long the meeting would last, so he brought a radio with him to keep in touch with the staff staying behind at the headquarters.

“Yes, Comrade Commander.” The guard company commander replied, “It’s a very long telegram.”

“A very long telegram?” Sokov’s heart skipped a beat when he heard what the guard company commander said. He quickly reached out to the other party and said, “Show me the telegram.”

 After receiving the telegram from the guard company commander, Sokov began to browse it.

The telegram was sent by Chumakov, commander of the 57th Army. The telegram said that Colonel Fatyushin, commander of the 232nd Division, encountered a strange unit on the way as an artillery unit continued to advance south. Some of the troops were wearing gray military uniforms, while others were wearing Kwantung Army uniforms, and they carried a wide variety of weapons. When Colonel Faqiushen discovered this unit of unknown origin, he immediately ordered the artillery unit to stop advancing and prepare for battle. And sent people to negotiate with the other party to find out what kind of army they were.

When Sokov saw this, a thought suddenly came to his mind. Could it be that the Eighth Route Army in the Pass had escaped? I quickly continued reading to see what was going on. It is said later: Although the liaison officer sent by Colonel Faqiushen knew Chinese, he knew nothing about the unit number the other party mentioned, and he could not figure out whether the other party was a friendly force or an enemy. Just as the two sides were at war with each other, someone in the opposite team actually sang “The Internationale” in Chinese. This time the misunderstanding was resolved, and it turned out that the other party was a friendly force from within the pass. Their missions are twofold: first, to conquer Shanhaiguan and open the way for follow-up troops to march into the Northeast; second, to successfully complete the strategic reconnaissance mission and provide decision-making basis for the rear troops to march into the Northeast.

 After the two sides joined forces, they launched an attack on Shanhaiguan. Although the Kwantung Army that defended Shanhaiguan put up tenacious resistance, it was quickly wiped out under the fierce offensive of the coalition forces. Now a part of the force, about 2,000 strong, is heading towards Fengtian after crossing Shanhaiguan.

After reading the telegram, Sokov knew that the troops coming were commanded by General Zeng. In addition to the two points mentioned in the telegram, their goal was to take over a large area of ​​land in the Northeast in a short period of time and fight for the Northeast for the main force. Seize the opportunity.

Sokov handed the finished telegram to Lukin, Yakov and others for circulation.

After Yakov saw the contents of the telegram, he couldn’t help frowning. He looked at Sokov and asked: “Misha, isn’t this army here to fight us?”

“Yasha, you are worrying too much. Didn’t you see in General Chumakov’s telegram that the way for them to resolve misunderstandings with the vanguard of our army is to sing the Internationale? This shows that they are our friendly forces.” Sokov was worried that Yakov would not understand what he meant, and specifically added, “They are one family with the comrades of the 88th International Brigade.”

“Oh, that’s it.” If Sokov wanted to explain to Yakov according to normal thinking, I don’t know how much effort it would take, but once he said it, the troops and the 88th International Brigade were one family, Yakov Suddenly he understood: “Should we send someone to pick them up?”

“Let Captain Feng and Lieutenant Chen go.” Sokov said with a smile: “After all, they are the same family as the troops coming, so they are undoubtedly the best candidates to handle them.”

“It’s getting late, let’s set off.” Lu Jin said from the side, “If the driver drives faster, we may be able to return to Fengtian before dark.”

The convoy set off and drove along the highway towards the outskirts of Xinjing.

Seeing that he was about to leave the city, Sokov suddenly heard a cry outside the window and quickly raised his head and looked outside.

I saw a military camp not far ahead. There was barbed wire on the high wall. There was a wooden guard tower inside the wall. There was a fully armed Japanese soldier on it. He was holding on to the railing and looking towards the door. go.

Looking in the direction of his gaze, Sokov saw a group of people surrounding the door, mostly ordinary people, and the cry came from among them. They seemed to want to enter the military camp, but four soldiers on duty at the door blocked their way.

Sokov couldn’t help being angry when he saw this. The Kwantung Army had laid down their weapons and surrendered. Why are there still domineering little devils in the military camp here? He quickly told the driver: “Stop at the gate of the military camp in front!”

“Misha,” Lukin heard Sokov say this and asked in surprise: “What are you going to do?”

 “Let me go and see what’s going on there?”

As the jeep Sokov was riding in stopped, several trucks behind also stopped. The jeep and two other trucks that Yakov was riding in also reversed back to understand the situation after seeing the vehicle behind them suddenly stop.

As soon as Sokov got off the car, Yakov hurried back from the front and asked urgently: “Misha, why did you stop the car?”

Sokov pointed at the group of common people who were stopped by the Japs and said, “I saw these people being stopped by the Japs and wanted to see what was going on.”

“I’m talking to Misha, this is not our defense area. What’s going on if you stop the car to meddle in other people’s business?” Yakov persuaded him nicely: “Why don’t you call General Lyudnikov and ask him to Just send someone to deal with it, let’s continue on our way.”

“Yasha, the convoy has stopped anyway. I’ll go over and ask what’s going on.” Sokov said to Yakov: “If there’s nothing major, we’ll continue on our way. If I can’t handle it, give it to Lyud It won’t be too late for General Nikov to call.”

“Okay.” Yakov nodded helplessly, called a staff officer who knew Chinese, and told him: “Go and ask what happened there.”

With the help of his staff, Lukin got out of the car and sat in his wheelchair. Said to Yakov: “Comrade Chief of Staff, I think General Lyudnikov seems to be too lenient towards the prisoners of war in Xinjing. Look, although they have become prisoners of war, they still hold weapons that can kill people.” . It is simply unimaginable what serious consequences it will bring if these armed prisoners of war riot.”

“Yes, this is indeed a problem.” Yakov scratched the back of his head and said: “When the Kwantung officers and soldiers who helped us maintain security in Fengtian City patrolled with wooden sticks in their hands, I was worried that they might cause us trouble. . I didn’t expect that this place would be so tolerant to prisoners of war and allow them to continue to carry weapons.”

Sokov said nothing, but quietly looked at the staff officer who went to inquire about the news. After he squeezed into the crowd, he greeted an older man and seemed to ask the other person what happened here. The old man seemed very excited, as if something great had happened.

 (End of this chapter)