Chapter 2275

Hearing what the major said, the sergeant looked across the river again, and found that the troops on the other side were dressed like Germans, so he reported to the major: "Major, the people who are talking to us on the other side of the river don't look like Germans." He's German, kind of like a Russian."

  After hearing this, the British major couldn't help frowning. He ordered someone to call for a German translator, and said to the other party, "Ask the other party, which part of the German army are they from?"

Although the German translator had never fought against the Germans, he judged from the clothes of the troops on the other side that they were definitely not Germans, so he carefully said to the major: "Major, the troops on the other side of the river don't look like Germans. I think The sergeant was right, maybe it was really Russian."

   "No one here understands Russian, how can we communicate with them?" The major ordered the interpreter impatiently, "You first shout to them in German, and ask them which part they belong to and what they are doing here."

"But what if they don't understand German?" The interpreter reminded the major: "Our soldiers call the Russians all gray animals, which shows that their cultural level is not very high. We want to single out one of them who understands German. It's probably not going to be easy."

  The translation's words made the major shaken a little, and he began to think, is it appropriate for him to ask the translator to speak to the army on the other side in German? But after a while, he made a decision, and said firmly to the translator: "I still carry out my order and speak to them in German. As for whether they can understand it, it is not within our consideration."

Hearing the major's order, the interpreter nodded helplessly, then came to the river with a trumpet made of tin, and shouted in German to the Soviet commanders on the other side: "We are the British Royal Airborne Division, you are Which part?"

   After shouting, there was silence on the other side, and no one spoke at all. The translator thought that the other party didn't hear what he was saying, so he repeated what he had just said.

  The Soviet commanders and fighters on the east bank of the Elbe River, when they heard the British army shouting to themselves in German on the other bank, they couldn't help but looked at each other, not knowing what to do for a while.

   Fortunately, the leading battalion commander was more clever. He saw the British army on the other side yelling in German that he could not understand, and quickly reported to the brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Victor, by phone.

  After listening to Victor, he also showed a embarrassed expression on his face: "What, the British actually shouted at you in German?"

   "Yes, Comrade Brigadier Commander." The Battalion Commander replied, "As you know, there is no one in our battalion who understands German, so I can't understand what he is saying."

  Victor has no German or English-speaking people around him, so he can only ask Sokov for help. He quickly connected the phone of the Group Army Command: "Comrade Commander, I am Lieutenant Colonel Victor, Commander of the 122nd Infantry Brigade. We have encountered a trouble now." He reported to Sokov in detail about greeting his troops in German, and finally asked, "Comrade Commander, what should we do next?"

  After listening to the other party's report, Sokov thought to himself: Although he can understand English, it is obviously inappropriate to appear on stage at this time. He turned his head and asked Sidolin: "Chief of Staff, is there anyone in our army who understands English?"

   "No, Comrade Commander." Sidolin replied very simply, "There are quite a few translators who understand German, but none who understand English. Comrade Commander, why are you asking this?"

"Didn't I send Lieutenant Colonel Victor's 122nd Infantry Brigade to join forces with the British army on the other side of the Elbe River?" Sokov explained: "Now they are talking to the British army across the river, but the other side has sent a German translate…"

   "German translation?!" Hearing what Sokov said, Sidolin couldn't help being taken aback, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, what do you call a German translation when the British deal with us?"

"I think there may not be anyone who understands Russian in their troops." Sokov said bitterly: "So they can only use one who understands German to deal with it, but that's okay, they don't have a translator who understands Russian. , We don’t have an English-speaking translator, and there may be problems in direct communication. But both sides send a German translator, and through these two people, what they want to say can be translated into Russian and English respectively.”

Hearing Sokov's explanation, Sidolin immediately understood what was going on, nodded quickly and said: "I understand, Comrade Commander, I will immediately send a German translator to the Elbe River to communicate with the people on the other side." The British negotiate."

  When the German interpreter sent by the headquarters arrived at the Elbe River, Lieutenant Colonel Victor personally arranged a wooden boat, and together with the German interpreter, crossed the river to the British defense area on the opposite bank.

  Although Victor does not understand English, and the British major does not understand Russian, there are two German translators, but they can translate the content of the two parties into a language that the other party can understand.

  Two hours later, the two parties who reached an agreement erected a pontoon bridge on the Elbe River so that the two parties can communicate more conveniently. Victor returned to the headquarters and reported the meeting to Sokov.

  If the troops commanded by General Patton were on the other side of the Elbe River, maybe Sokov would find ways to meet with Patton. Now that the other side is only the British Royal Airborne Division, and the commander of the division, General Paulson, is not well-known in history, Sokov is naturally not interested.

When Sidolin learned that a bridge had been built on the Elbe River, he immediately became interested and proposed to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, when the pontoon bridge is built, we can go to the other side to have a look. Shall we meet?"

"I don't think it's necessary." Sokov said lightly: "It's enough to ask some division commander to represent us to meet with that General Wilson. If we really want to cross the river, we can't wait until Comrade Marshal is going to see Montgomery." .”

"Yes, what Misha said is correct." As soon as Sokov finished speaking, Lunev echoed: "The other party is just a division commander, and he is not well-known, how can a commander of the group army go to see him?" Where is a division commander? I think we should wait until Field Marshal Rokossovsky goes to see Field Marshal Montgomery before we cross the Elbe."

The pontoon bridge on the Elbe River was erected soon. Except for Victor's 122nd Infantry Brigade who crossed the river, the rest of the 48th Army stayed on the east bank and continued to collect the weapons of the surrendered German army and temporarily detain them in suitable places. s position. Not to mention that Sokov didn't give the order to cross the river. Even if he gave such an order, I'm afraid not many people would be willing to cross the river. Okay?

  The second day after the pontoon bridge was erected, Sokov received a call from Rokossovsky from the headquarters: "Misha, do you have time now?"

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Sokov thought that the other party was going to inspect his troops, and quickly replied: "Comrade Marshal, are you coming to inspect my troops? I can temporarily give up other work. Accompany you to inspect."

"You misunderstood, I'm not going to inspect your troops." Unexpectedly, Rokossovsky said: "I received a call from Marshal Montgomery, inviting me to meet with him in Wismar. You go together."

   Knowing that he was going to see Montgomery instead of the unknown General Wilson, Sokov suddenly became interested: "Comrade Marshal, I don't know when you plan to go to Wismar. I would like to follow you to see Marshal Montgomery."

   "I will pass through your defense zone at around two noon, and cross the Elbe River from the pontoon bridge built by you and your friendly forces, and go to Wismar to meet Marshal Montgomery."

   At two o'clock in the afternoon, Sokov took Military Commissar Lunev and Chief of Staff Sidolin to the east of the pontoon bridge on the Elbe River, quietly waiting for Rokossovsky's arrival.

   At this time, Rokossovsky's jeep was passing through a forest. Rokossovsky, who was sitting in the back row, suddenly saw the road ahead full of soldiers. Looking at their uniforms, his heart skipped a beat. They were Germans! So the hand instinctively stretched to the waist, ready to draw the gun and fight the opponent. But the next moment, he realized that the war was over, and the German officers and soldiers he saw were just a group of prisoners of war escorted by his subordinates.

   Fortunately, he was sitting alone in the back row, and no one noticed his panic. But in order to cover up his gaffe, he stretched his hand to his waist, directly into his trouser pocket, took out a pack of cigarettes from it, took one out and put it in his mouth, but didn't light it immediately.

  The soldiers escorting the prisoners in front saw a long line of jeeps approaching, and immediately realized that a big man was coming, and hurriedly drove the German prisoners walking in the middle of the road to both sides, making way for the approaching convoy.

The German prisoners who were driven to both sides of the road looked at Rokossovsky sitting in the jeep, and many of them had expressions of surprise on their faces. To the Marshal of the Soviet Army. And more people, after just a glance, looked away, and continued to maintain a numb expression on their faces.

  Due to the large number of German prisoners, Rokossovsky's convoy was stopped even though the escorted soldiers kept driving away.

   Seeing the convoy stop, a major officer trotted to Rokossovsky's car, raised his hand and saluted, and said, "Hello, Comrade Marshal of the Soviet Union!"

   After Rokossovsky raised his hand to return the salute, he asked, "Which part do you belong to?"

   "Report to Comrade Marshal, we are from the 339th Regiment of the 120th Guards Infantry Division." The major replied: "We are being ordered to send these surrendered Germans to a prisoner-of-war camp a few kilometers away."

   "The 120th Guards Division, so to speak, is a unit of the 48th Army."

   "Yes, Comrade Marshal." The major replied: "We are indeed a unit of the 48th Army."

   "How many captives are there in total?"

   "There are more than five thousand people."

   "More than 5,000 people, that's a lot of people." Rokossovsky continued to ask: "Did they surrender voluntarily, or did they put down their weapons and surrender to you after fighting?"

"It was surrendered voluntarily, Comrade Marshal." The major replied: "Since yesterday, the Germans who were fighting with us have stopped resisting, laid down their weapons in an organized way, and surrendered to us. Our battalion was ordered to surrender these enemies to us." , sent to the newly built prisoner-of-war camp a few kilometers away."

   "Are they honest?" Rokossovsky looked at the passing German officers and soldiers, and asked with a straight face, "Did anyone resist or try to escape?"

"No, Comrade Marshal, they are very honest." The major explained to Rokossovsky: "Our battalion now has only more than 300 people, but we have to **** more than 5,000 prisoners of war, with an average of 20 prisoners per person. But they are very honest, no one wants to run away, we let them go, they go; tell them to stop, they stop, very obedient."

Rokossovsky nodded after hearing this, and said: "If they are really honest, that's all. If you meet someone who wants to escape or incite a rebellion, don't be polite. Kill as many as you want, as a warning." Xiaoyou. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." The major suddenly said unexpectedly: "To tell you the truth, I was also a prisoner of the Germans. We were escorted by them on the way to the prisoner-of-war camp. Trying to leave the team will be exchanged for a bullet from the Germans, and many of my comrades died in the hands of the Germans in this way."

Rokossovsky knew that quite a few of Sokov's subordinates were from prisoner-of-war camps. These commanders and fighters who had been captured by the Germans had a deep-rooted hatred for the Germans and entrusted them with the task of escorting the prisoners. Undoubtedly the most suitable. He nodded slightly and said: "Major, I know that you have a deep hatred with the Germans, but now the war is over and the Germans have announced their unconditional surrender. These German prisoners of war may be held for a few months before they will be released one after another. If they There is nothing excessive, so don't take too drastic measures."

Hearing what Rokossovsky said, the major had a bitter expression on his face: "Comrade Marshal, I was only ordered to send the prisoners to the prisoner-of-war camp, unless they themselves died during the **** process, wanted to escape or rebelled, otherwise We're not going to do anything to them."

   "What about the commander in charge of the prisoner-of-war camp?" Rokossovsky remembered something Sokov once mentioned to himself: "Who is in charge of the prisoner-of-war camp you are going to?"

"It's Major Gavrilov." The major replied without hesitation: "He was originally the commander of the 44th Infantry Regiment in the Brest Fortress. Later, after the fortress fell, he fought a battle with the Germans in the fortress." months until wounded and taken prisoner. After several years in a German prisoner-of-war camp, he remained disabled, and after being rescued from the prisoner-of-war camp by the commander comrade, he was appointed head of the prisoner-of-war camp. However, according to my As far as I know, he basically followed the rules and rarely killed the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camps. That is to say, in the prisoner-of-war camps under his jurisdiction, German prisoners of war can enjoy the treatment they deserve. "

"Oh, Major Gavrilov." After repeating the name, Rokossovsky said, "I seem to have heard Misha mention this, saying that he is a great hero. The more troops there are, the more weapons, ammunition, and various supplies are, the more likely they can hold out in the Brest Fortress for a longer period of time."

   "Comrade Marshal," the adjutant who lived in the co-pilot's seat turned his head and said to Rokossovsky: "The road has been cleared, and we can move on."

  (end of this chapter)