After listening to Sokov's explanation, Ponedelin stepped forward, held Sokov's hand, and said with tears of gratitude: "General Sokov, thank you, thank you so much! With your words, I feel relieved." . To be honest, I and most of the soldiers have no chance of returning to their hometown alive."
"General Ponedelin, don't be so polite." Sokov knew that his future would never stop at being a group army commander. If he wanted to hold a higher position, he must have a group of capable subordinates, and Bo Niederin is undoubtedly one of the qualified candidates.
After he asked Ponedelin to sit down, he personally poured him a cup of hot tea, and then asked curiously: "General Ponedelin, can you tell me how you were captured in the first place?"
After hearing Sokov's question, Ponedelin took a sip of tea from the teapot and began to tell his story: "One month after the war broke out, my 12th Army, General Muzychenko's The 6th Army and General Tyulenev's 18th Army from the Southern Front, a total of 18 infantry divisions and two mechanized corps, set up defenses in the direction of Uman to block German troops trying to rush towards Kiev.
Due to the successful breakthrough of the German army in the Zhitomir area, our three armies were surrounded by the German army. Although our troops did not receive aviation support, facing the German army that had air superiority and equipment superiority, the commanders and fighters still carried out tenacious defense, causing the enemy to pay a huge price.
My troops stood firm in the village of Podvisoko and fought tenaciously until August 15th. As the enemy rushed near my headquarters, I led the members of the headquarters to fight with the enemy. After I ran out of bullets, I used my bayonet and shovel to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. I was unfortunately captured after being seriously wounded. "
Having said this, Ponejelin stood up holding on to the table, untied his tattered military uniform, and said to Sokov and others: "Look, this is the wound left by the Germans on me."
Seeing the shocking wounds on Ponedelin's chest and abdomen, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little scared. Sameko and Lunev also came closer to take a look. Samyko even pointed to the wound and said to Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, you see, this wound was made by a 98K rifle, and the wound on the abdomen was made by a bayonet. .”
After seeing Ponedelin's wounds, Sokov couldn't help but said with emotion: "General Ponedelin, you are really lucky. You survived more than a dozen wounds on your body."
"Yes, there are a total of fifteen wounds on my body, some caused by German bullets and some stabbed by bayonets." Ponejelin said to everyone while buttoning his clothes: "After I was injured and captured, I was in the hospital. It took a full two months of treatment before he was completely saved."
After Sokov learned about Ponedelin's capture, he felt that the chance of him becoming a traitor was almost zero, so he promptly changed the subject: "General Ponedelin, as far as I know, during the Battle of Uman, Our army has more than 100,000 captured commanders and fighters, do you know where they are now?"
After listening to Sokov's question, Ponedelin showed a painful expression on his face: "General Sokov, according to what I learned when I was treating injuries in the German military hospital, our army numbered 100,000 in the Battle of Uman. Many commanders were captured and imprisoned by the Germans in a huge mine.
After they were imprisoned in the mines by the enemy, the Germans not only failed to give them food, but also did not even provide them with drinking water. I heard that in the end the prisoners were so hungry that they began to eat dirt. But after the dirt is eaten into the stomach, it cannot be digested at all. It will form a ball in the stomach and cannot be excreted at all. People will die from severe pain due to gastric distension. …”
"Eat dirt, hum!" Lunev heard this, sneered twice and said disdainfully: "This is the first time I heard someone say that dirt can be eaten. This is simply a fantasy."
"Comrade Military Commissar." Ponedelin knew that Lunev had a special status. If he wanted to prove his innocence, he had to convince him first. He quickly defended: "I didn't lie. This is all true."
"Comrade Lunev, I believe General Ponedelin." Ponedelin's words reminded Sokov of the victims who ate Guanyin soil, so he decisively supported his statement, and then raised his chin at him. , urged: "General Ponejelin, please continue."
"The prisoners of war had no choice but to try to break out of the crater, but the German machine guns drove back those who tried to escape. Ponejelin continued: "As time goes by, people continue to die. , and was so tortured that I had no idea of escape, and just waited quietly for death to come...
With our army's successive victories, the German army planned to build the Dnieper River defense line, so it transferred prisoners of war from various places to build fortifications. It was under such circumstances that we were brought to Kremenchug by the Germans to build a defensive line. At the time of departure, there were more than 4,000 prisoners. On the way to Kremenchug, many prisoners of war fell to the ground while walking due to lack of physical strength. The Germans would not hesitate to shoot prisoners of war who fell on the ground, lest these people become a source of soldiers for the guerrillas in the future.
In this way, after the team of more than 4,000 people arrived in Kremenchug, only more than 3,000 people remained. When building fortifications on the right bank, many people were shot dead by the Germans every day because of their inactivity. If you hadn't rescued us in time and waited for the defense project to be completed, I'm afraid there wouldn't be many people left. "
"Lieutenant Samoylov," Sokov and Ponedelin chatted for a while, and suddenly found that the other two generals did not appear with Ponedelin, so he frowned and asked Samoylov, who was standing aside. Ilov: "Where are Lieutenant General Muzichenko and Major General Kirillov, and why didn't they come in with you?"
"General Sokov," after hearing Sokov scolding Samoylov, Ponedelin quickly helped him to relieve the siege and said: "You know, there are more than 2,000 commanders and soldiers who rushed to Merefa Fortress. Everyone is worried. They will be sent to Siberia, their mood is somewhat depressed, and they need a few people with high prestige to comfort them. Lieutenant General Muzichenko and Major General Kirillov will stay behind to do the comfort work."
When Sokov heard what Ponedelin said, he asked with some surprise: "General Ponedelin, didn't they come back in the same car as you?"
"Yes," Ponejelin nodded and said: "General Fomenko left a jeep for us, and we were supposed to ride here together. But Lieutenant General Muzichenko said that my Since he is the weakest, I was asked to drive here alone, while he, Major General Kirillov and the commanders and combatants passed by, and he was also responsible for calming everyone's emotions on the way."
After figuring out what was going on, Sokov waved to Samoilov and asked him to leave the headquarters, and then asked Ponedelin: "General Ponedelin, I have one more question to ask you. "
"Excuse me, General Sokov."
"I heard that on the leaflets that the Germans airdropped to our army, there were photos of you and German officers. There was even a photo of you and a German general. You even talked and laughed with each other." Sokov asked: "What the hell is going on?" After listening to Sokov's explanation, Ponedelin stepped forward and held Sokov's hand, and said with tears of gratitude: "General Sokov, thank you, thank you so much! Yes! Your words put me at ease. To be honest, I and most of the other soldiers have no chance of returning to their hometown alive."
"General Ponedelin, don't be so polite." Sokov knew that his future would never stop at being a group army commander. If he wanted to hold a higher position, he must have a group of capable subordinates, and Bo Niederin is undoubtedly one of the qualified candidates.
After he asked Ponedelin to sit down, he personally poured him a cup of hot tea, and then asked curiously: "General Ponedelin, can you tell me how you were captured in the first place?"
After hearing Sokov's question, Ponedelin took a sip of tea from the teapot and began to tell his story: "One month after the war broke out, my 12th Army, General Muzychenko's The 6th Army and General Tyulenev's 18th Army from the Southern Front, a total of 18 infantry divisions and two mechanized corps, set up defenses in the direction of Uman to block German troops trying to rush towards Kiev.
Due to the successful breakthrough of the German army in the Zhytomyr area, our three armies were surrounded by the German army. Although our troops did not receive aviation support, facing the German army that had air superiority and equipment superiority, the commanders and fighters still carried out tenacious defense, causing the enemy to pay a huge price.
My troops stood firm in the village of Podvisoko and fought tenaciously until August 15th. As the enemy rushed near my headquarters, I led the members of the headquarters to fight with the enemy. After I ran out of bullets, I used my bayonet and shovel to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy. I was unfortunately captured after being seriously wounded. "
Having said this, Ponejelin stood up holding on to the table, untied his tattered military uniform, and said to Sokov and others: "Look, this is the wound left by the Germans on me."
Seeing the shocking wounds on Ponedelin's chest and abdomen, Sokov couldn't help but feel a little scared. Sameko and Lunev also came closer to take a look. Samyko even pointed to the wound and said to Lunev: "Comrade Military Commissar, you see, this wound was made by a 98K rifle, and the wound on the abdomen was made by a bayonet. .”
After seeing Ponedelin's wounds, Sokov couldn't help but said with emotion: "General Ponedelin, you are really lucky. You survived more than a dozen wounds on your body."
"Yes, there are a total of fifteen wounds on my body, some caused by German bullets and some stabbed by bayonets." Ponejelin said to everyone while buttoning his clothes: "After I was injured and captured, I was in the hospital. It took a full two months of treatment before he was completely saved."
After Sokov learned about Ponedelin's capture, he felt that the chance of him becoming a traitor was almost zero, so he promptly changed the topic: "General Ponedelin, as far as I know, during the Battle of Uman, Our army has more than 100,000 captured commanders and fighters, do you know where they are now?"
After listening to Sokov's question, Ponedelin showed a painful expression on his face: "General Sokov, according to what I learned when I was treating injuries in the German military hospital, our army numbered 100,000 in the Battle of Uman. Many of the commanders were captured and imprisoned by the Germans in a huge mine.
After they were imprisoned in the mines by the enemy, the Germans not only failed to give them food, but also did not even provide them with drinking water. I heard that in the end the prisoners were so hungry that they began to eat dirt. But after the dirt is eaten into the stomach, it cannot be digested at all. It will form a ball in the stomach and cannot be excreted at all. People will die from severe pain due to gastric distension. …”
"Eat dirt, hum!" Lunev heard this, sneered twice and said disdainfully: "This is the first time I heard someone say that dirt can be eaten. This is simply a fantasy."
"Comrade Lunev, I believe General Ponedelin." Ponedelin's words reminded Sokov of the victims who ate Guanyin soil, so he decisively supported his statement, and then raised his chin at him. , urged: "General Ponejelin, please continue."
"The prisoners of war had no choice but to try to break out of the crater, but the German machine guns drove back those who tried to escape. Ponejelin continued: "As time goes by, people continue to die. , and was so tortured that I had no idea of escape, and just waited quietly for death to come...
With our army's successive victories, the German army planned to build the Dnieper River defense line, so it transferred prisoners of war from various places to build fortifications. It was under these circumstances that we were brought to Kremenchug by the Germans to build a defensive line. At the time of departure, there were more than 4,000 prisoners. On the way to Kremenchug, many prisoners of war fell to the ground while walking due to lack of physical strength. The Germans would not hesitate to shoot prisoners of war who fell on the ground, lest these people become a source of soldiers for the guerrillas in the future.
In this way, after the team of more than 4,000 people arrived in Kremenchug, only more than 3,000 people remained. When building the right bank fortifications, many people were shot dead by the Germans every day because of their inactivity. If you hadn't rescued us in time and waited for the defense project to be completed, I'm afraid there wouldn't be many people left. "
"Lieutenant Samoylov," Sokov and Ponedelin chatted for a while, and suddenly found that the other two generals did not appear with Ponedelin, so he frowned and asked Samoylov, who was standing aside. Ilov: "Where are Lieutenant General Muzichenko and Major General Kirillov, and why didn't they come in with you?"
"General Sokov," after hearing Sokov scolding Samoylov, Ponedelin quickly helped him to relieve the siege and said: "You know, there are more than 2,000 commanders and soldiers who rushed to Merefa Fortress. Everyone is worried. They will be sent to Siberia, their mood is somewhat depressed, and they need a few people with high prestige to comfort them. Lieutenant General Muzichenko and Major General Kirillov will stay behind to do the comfort work."
