After receiving this order from Xi Duolin, the commanders of each division had different reactions. Many people felt that the ice and snow had melted, making the road to the forest area rugged and difficult, and that it might be a waste of time, so they felt that it was a waste of time. The execution of this order appears to be inactive.
The only person who cared about this matter was Major General Kirillov, the commander of the 3rd Infantry Division. He knew very well that he was able to live well now and even become a division commander because of Sokov. Since the other party Having given such an order, I must execute it unconditionally.
However, he did not blindly send out reconnaissance troops to search the forest near Lezen. Such a blind search would not only waste a lot of manpower and time, but would not result in any search. He remembered Klein, who had led his troops to surrender not long ago, and quickly told Chief of Staff Myakov: "Chief of Staff, go and invite Colonel Klein."
Miyakov was stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, why did you invite him here?"
Kirillov explained to Miyakov: "Chief of Staff, you should know the order given to us by Comrade Commander, asking us to send people into the nearby forest to search to see if there is a prisoner of war camp established by the German army. We We had just occupied Lötzen and were not familiar with the surrounding environment. If we rashly sent people to search in the forest, it would be difficult to achieve any results. As the garrison commander of Lötzen, Colonel Klein must have a better understanding of the surrounding environment than we do. He is familiar with it, so asking him to understand the situation can avoid making some detours."
After listening to Kirillov's explanation, Miyakov nodded and said, "Comrade Commander, you are right, I will personally bring Colonel Klein here."
Since Klein led his troops to surrender, he was not detained in the military camp with his soldiers, but was placed under house arrest in his original room. Seeing that Su Jun entertained him with good wine and food every day, and no one came to interrogate him, his originally worried heart returned to his stomach, and he understood that as long as he continued to stay here, at least his life safety could be guaranteed.
When he saw Lieutenant Colonel Miyakov of the Soviet Army coming to his room, Klein couldn't help but feel a little in his heart. He thought to himself that the other party felt that he had no use value and was planning to shoot him, right? He asked tremblingly: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, what can I do for you?"
When the translator following Miyakov translated Klein's words, Miyakov smiled and said: "Colonel Klein, don't be afraid. I came here to see you today to invite you to go." Our division headquarters, our division commander wants to talk to you."
Although Miyakov behaved politely, Klein became uneasy again. He remembered that when he caught the Soviet commander and wanted to take him to be shot, he would reassure him in advance, saying that he was just asking him to Go have a chat. Now that the same thing happened to him, Klein couldn't help but feel weak in his legs. He was deeply afraid that as soon as he left the room, he would be dragged directly to the execution ground and shot. He quickly said incoherently: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I'm not feeling well and I can't go to the place you mentioned for the time being. I'd better wait for another day."
After listening to the translation, Miyakov stared at Klein with a surprised look on his face, thinking to himself: What's going on with this old German? I just asked him to go to the division headquarters for a chat. How could he look so flustered, as if he was going to kill him right away? Like he was dragged out and shot? However, he was eager to invite Klein to the division headquarters, so he did not pay attention to his details. Instead, he took a step back, turned his body to the side, and made a gesture of invitation: "Colonel Klein, please."
Seeing this situation, Klein became more determined that the other party wanted to shoot him. But at this moment, he had already thought about it. Since he had taken the initiative to order the troops to lay down their weapons, all the consequences of what happened next should be borne by him as the regiment leader. Thinking of this, he raised his head and walked toward the door with solid steps.
When he arrived at the division headquarters and met General Kirillov, Klein was surprised by his performance. Not only did he invite Klein to sit down, he even poured a cup of hot tea himself and placed it in front of Klein.
Looking at the steaming tea in front of him, Klein began to wonder again: "Could it be that they called him here not to shoot him, but for something else?" With this question, he He asked tentatively: "Your Majesty General, I wonder if you asked me to come here. What's the matter?"
"Colonel Klein," Kirillov
He did not immediately answer Klein's question, but asked politely: "I wonder how long your troops have been stationed here in Lezen?"
"We have been stationed here since October 1944." Although he didn't understand why the other party asked about this, Klein still answered truthfully: "Mr. General, why are you asking this?"
"That's right, we received intelligence that there seems to be a prisoner-of-war camp established by you in the forest near Lezen, which houses a large number of our commanders and fighters." Kirillov looked at Klein and asked: "Colonel Klein, can you tell me the exact location of this prisoner of war camp?"
Hearing Kirillov's question, Klein hesitated for a moment, and then said: "Your Majesty General, I'm not sure about what you're talking about. I'm in charge of city defense, and the matter regarding prisoners of war is It's handled by other departments, and they don't need to communicate with me at all."
Kirillov thought he could get useful information from Klein, but when he heard what the other person said, he immediately realized that he had thought the problem too simply. At first he was worried that Klein was lying to him, so he stared at him intently for a while and found that the expression on Klein's face had not changed at all, so he probably wasn't lying to him.
But no matter what, Klein is definitely more familiar with the environment near Lezen than he, a newcomer, is. He was unwilling to give up easily, so he took a chance and asked, "Colonel Klein, who do you think will know about this?"
Klein frowned and thought for a while, then said: "Mr. General, if you want to know the situation, I suggest you ask the Gestapo leader in the city. He should know more about this kind of thing than me."
Kirillov didn't have much hope at first, but when he heard Klein talking about the Gestapo, he couldn't help but feel ecstatic: "Yeah, how could I forget them? Mustache uses these damn Gestapo to rule Germany and The country they occupied. They must know better than anyone else what prison camps and concentration camps there are near the city." Thinking of this, he turned to ask Miyakov, "Chief of Staff, where is the leader of the Gestapo?"
"In prison," Miyakov asked. "Should we bring him here?"
Soon, the Gestapo leader was brought. This once arrogant SS officer had become extremely haggard after spending several days in prison. At this moment, after he was taken to the division headquarters, he saw that the room was full of people, and he suddenly thought that he might be pulled out and shot. He was so frightened that he peed, and the room was filled with a disgusting stench. .
Kirillov slapped his nose with his hand, and then asked displeasedly: "Are you the leader of the Gestapo in Letzen?"
"Yes, General." The officer's legs were shaking like chaff, and he said tremblingly: "Although I am the leader of the Gestapo in the city, I have never done anything bad, nor have I killed any good people. ..."
"Okay, stop talking." Kirillov was not interested in hearing him defend himself, but asked straight to the point: "Let me ask you, are there any concentration camps or prisoner-of-war camps near the city of Letzen? "
Hearing Kirillov's question, the officer hesitated for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know, I don't know."
But the expression on his face had long been seen by Kirillov. Kirillov knew that he was lying, so he slapped the table hard, and then said sternly: "If you don't tell the truth, I will Have someone drag you out immediately and shoot you."
"Mr. General," the officer said, frowning, "I'm not lying, I really don't know."
At this time Miyakov came close to Kirillov's ear and whispered a few words. Kirillov smiled slightly after hearing this, and then said: "Since he is unwilling to confess, then drag him out."
Miyakov called two soldiers and asked them to drag the officer out. And Kirillov said to Klein: "Colonel Klein, are you interested in coming with us to see how this officer confessed?"
Klein thought to himself, the Gestapo leader seemed quite stubborn, how could he possibly confess? But since the other party asked him to go with him, this is not an invitation, but an order. If he doesn't obey, I'm afraid he will
I'm afraid the end will be very tragic.
After following Kirillov and others outside, he saw the officer tied to a tree. Klein couldn't help but trembled when he saw it. Should he be shot like this?
But what Kirillov and others did next surprised him. I saw a soldier carrying a bag of potatoes to the bound officer, pouring the potatoes on the ground, and then stuffed a small explosive bag into the pile of potatoes. After doing all this, the soldier turned to look at Kirillov and Miyakov. When Miyakov nodded, he took out the match in his pocket, lit the fuse of the small explosive bag, and then Ran to the side.
Klein looked at the burning fuse in surprise and thought to himself: What are the Russians doing, actually stuffing explosives into the pile of potatoes?
[In view of the general environment,
After a loud "boom", the pile of potatoes was blown to pieces. The fried potatoes flew in all directions. Some fell around Kirillov and others, but more fell on the officers. .
Immediately, Miyakov ordered the soldiers to wrap another small explosive bag around the officer's waist. But the fuse of this explosive bag was very long and was dragged directly to the ground. However, this time the soldiers were not asked to light the fuse immediately. Instead, Miyakov stepped forward and asked the officer: "Are you willing to tell the information you know?"
Unexpectedly, the officer, who was covered in cold sweat, still persisted in persisting: "I don't know, I don't know anything. No matter how many times you ask me, this is my answer."
After Kirillov heard the officer's reply, he waved his hand at Miyakov and said: "Since he is so stubborn, let's send him on his way. Light the fire!"
When the soldier lit the fuse, he followed Miyakov and ran back to Kirillov, staring intently at the sparking fuse.
Klein, on the other hand, had his heart in his throat. He had seen the power of the small explosive bag just now. If it really exploded at the officer's waist, it would be enough to blow the opponent into two pieces. He looked at Kirillov nervously, hoping that he would order to stop this dangerous action, but found that the other party was looking at the spark-emitting fuse with interest. Klein was desperate. He couldn't bear to watch the officer being blown into two pieces, so he closed his eyes tightly.
After waiting for an unknown period of time, he opened his eyes and found that the lead had gone out at some point. When he was wondering, he heard the soldier who had just ran over shout something, but he couldn't understand it, so he could only shamelessly ask the interpreter next to him for help.
The translator smiled and explained to him: "Mr. Colonel, our soldiers said that the Gestapo leader was scared to death again and even doused the fuse. But don't worry, our soldiers will relight the fuse soon." "
When the soldier tried to light the fuse again with a match, the officer tied to the tree suddenly shouted loudly. The translator quickly said to Kirillov: "Comrade Commander, the Germans say that he is willing to tell everything he knows."
Kirillov sneered after hearing this, and then ordered: "Untie him and bring him to the division headquarters."
The officer was carried in by two soldiers. As soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to say: "Mr. General, if you want to know anything, just ask, and I will answer truthfully."
Seeing that the Gestapo leader was so frightened, he immediately became honest. Kirillov continued to ask: "Tell me, are there any concentration camps or prisoner-of-war camps you built near the city of Letzen? What is the current situation in these places?" Already?"
"There is a concentration camp about fifteen kilometers northwest of Lezen." The officer said with a sad face: "Three thousand Jews are detained in it all year round. But last week, we received an order from Shim. , executed all these Jews."
"What about the prisoner-of-war camp?" Kirillov frowned: "Is there a prisoner-of-war camp nearby?"
"Yes." The officer continued to reply: "In the forest directly north of the city, there is a prisoner of war camp, where thousands of your officers and soldiers are detained..."
Knowing that there was indeed a prisoner of war camp nearby, Kirillov couldn't help but become a little nervous: "Have they been massacred by you?"
"No
No. The officer shook his head and said, "Your Excellency General, it is close to the seaside. These prisoners of war are used to build shore defenses for the navy, so they have not been dealt with yet."
"How many guards are there in the prisoner of war camp and what kind of equipment are they equipped with?"
"There are more than a hundred guards, of whom only one-third are Germans, and the rest are Poles." The officer continued: "As for weapons, the Poles are equipped with rifles, while the Germans use The ones are submachine guns and machine guns.”
"Chief of Staff," Kirillov asked the officer to mark the location of the prisoner of war camp on the map, and then ordered Miyakov: "immediately dispatch a regiment of troops and rush to this area to find the prisoner of war camp. After eliminating all the guards, , rescue all our commanders and fighters."
