At about 8:30 p.m. on May 7, 1943, Comrade Solzhenitsyn, commander of the artillery reconnaissance company of the 4th Infantry Corps of the Soviet Red Army, was vomiting I vomited so much that I was about to vomit bile.
The reason for his vomiting, of course, was not because he had eaten a bad stomach, but because he saw something he shouldn't have seen and smelled something he shouldn't.
It turned out that his unit had withdrawn to the Katyn Forest, on the north bank of the Dnieper, about 20 kilometers west of Smolensk, on the evening of May 6.
This is the gateway to the west of Smolensk, and if it is occupied by the Germans, then the next battlefield will be the city of Smolensk.
Because there was a large wheat field between the Katyn Forest and the city of Smolensk, which the German tanks could run over directly, the 4th Army of the Red Army received an order from the commander of the Smolensk cluster, Colonel-General Yevremov, to hold the Katyn Forest at all costs.
A German panzer group, consisting of the 3rd Panzergrenadier Division and the 3rd Panzer Division, pursued the retreating Soviets all the way to the Katyn Forest on the night of May 6.
So the two sides started a fierce battle on the western edge of the Katyn Forest, and the battlefield soon shifted from the western part of the Katyn Forest to the middle of the forest, because the terrain of the Katyn Forest was not conducive to the German armored forces to exert their might, so the two sides fought in the middle of the forest, and both began to dig trenches to build fortifications.
Solzhenitsyn's unit was divided into an open area with a strange stench, and after some excavation, the corpses of severely decomposed people were dug up, and not one or two, but many, many people "Comrade company commander, they seem to be Poles," a platoon commander who participated in the Soviet-Polish War in 1939 said to Solzhenitsyn, who had just vomited and had a blue face, "These dead people are wearing the uniforms of the Polish White Army, they must be Polish prisoners of war, we captured a lot of Polish prisoners of war that time, there are hundreds of thousands."
"You're talking nonsense" Solzhenitsyn has been serving as the deputy political company commander these days, and he realizes that it is a gradual upward movement, of course he knows what to say, and if he says something, he will go to the punishment camp.
The big-mouthed platoon commander was stunned for a moment when he saw Solzhenitsyn's reaction, and then began to say nonsense, "Comrade company commander, what I said is true, these people are Polish prisoners of war, they are wearing Polish army clothes, and" "Don't say it, you must be drunk" Solzhenitsyn resisted the feeling of vomiting and shouted loudly, "These people can't be prisoners of war, they must be Polish White soldiers who were killed on the front line, and they were transported here to be buried, because our Red Army never mistreats prisoners, let alone kills them, this kind of thing can only be done by Nazis and Polish White Army" When Solzhenitsyn said this, the platoon commander who was talking nonsense suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
His remarks just now are indeed out of line, he is talking about the massacre of prisoners of war by the great Soviet Red Army, how can such a thing happen except for anti-gimmicks, who would say such a thing "Oh my God, are we fighting in hell, how can there be such a terrible thing, how can the Soviets be like this" On the German forward position, about 3,000 meters away from Comrade Solzhenitsyn, the peace-loving socialist Brandt was also covering his nose and talking nonsense.
His unit also dug up bodies in the Katyn Forest, and some veterans immediately recognized the Polish soldiers from the tattered uniforms worn by some of them, though unlike what Solnichen had seen, not all of them were wearing uniforms.
Some of the bodies were also dressed in civilian clothes, apparently not soldiers, but probably taken along with the Polish White Army, and Polish civilians were supposed to be various Polish reactionaries in the land of West Belarus.
Like the captured Polish soldiers, they were subjected to "maximum security measures" by the Soviet authorities.
"Herbert, don't make a fuss, it's just some Poles."
Brandt's superior, Sergeant Schmidt, was born in West Prussia and was expelled by the Poles with his family when he was an infant.
He said: "I think the Russians have finally done something right this time, which has saved us a lot of trouble, if only our big men had such determination."
Because of the more moderate means of annexing Poland by the republican alliance, the Poles were really a problem for Germany at present.
It can only be dealt with by means of dispersion, resettlement, softness and slow assimilation in the European Community countries in the name of war, and there are still many Polish nationalists among the nearly 20 million Poles "How can you say that, these are people," Brandt shouted.
"It's all dead Poles," Sergeant Schmidt glared at Brandt, "if you are caught by the Soviets, you will be the same as them, if you don't want to be like them, then quickly find a suitable ambush position and kill a few more Bolsheviks" Brandt nodded, this time he actually felt that it was very necessary to kill the Bolsheviks, and he thought: "It must not fall into the hands of the Bolsheviks, it is too terrible, it is more terrible than dying on the battlefield" "It can't fall into the hands of the Bolsheviks, absolutely not" While eating a hot dinner, Sergeant Emeritus Pavlyuchenko secretly made up his mind in his heart.
She was not alone in thinking the same way, all the ethnic Ukrainian officers and soldiers in the 17th Ukrainian Cavalry Division of the SS had the same determination to die rather than be captured by the Soviet Union.
Because all of them know that being captured is tantamount to death, and that they will die a terrible death In this time and space, the Soviets and Germans on the Soviet-German battlefield also adhered to some principles of "gentlemen's war".
But there was a bloody feud between the Ukrainians, Western Ukraine and the Right-Bank Ukrainians and the Soviets.
The Ukrainians in the Wehrmacht will never take prisoners of the Red Army, they all see one and kill the other, even if the other side is a wounded soldier Officers and soldiers of the Ukrainian Wehrmacht and the Western Ukrainian Defense Forces, who were captured by the Red Army, were not treated as prisoners of war, they were treated as traitors to the Soviet Union, and Article 58 of the Criminal Code applied.
As for the Ukrainians in the SS, they must have died ugly when caught So the officers and men of the 17th SS Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion, who knew that they would not be spared, all prepared cyanide for themselves.
But most of them didn't need the poison, because General Lukin of the Soviet Red Army had prepared enough artillery and tanks for them.
In addition to the tank and mechanized units that were ambushed on the evening of May 7, the Soviets seemed to be moving troops in a steady stream during the night At least as Pavlyuchenko and her comrades "heard" for the whole night, the Soviet troops surrounding the 13th collective farm in the city of Klimovich did not attack, but continued to gather forces, and the roar of tanks and car motors continued to come from the nearby road Obviously, the Soviets did not know where to bring in a large group of tanks and cars, and this time the 17th SS Reconnaissance Cavalry Battalion appeared to be a fairly large Soviet tank group.
"Commander, it looks like the Soviets' tank cluster is just north of us" Lieutenant General Hubey, chief of staff of the 1st Panzer Army of the Wehrmacht, arrived at the office of General Mackensen early in the morning with an urgent telegram from the 17th Ukrainian Cavalry Division of the SS.
"Are you sure?"
Mackensen was reading the report from the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division, and the Viking Division stationed around Gomel had also discovered that a large number of Soviet troops had arrived east of Gomel, and it seemed that there were also tank units among them.
"It's pretty much certain."
Lieutenant General Hube said, "Soviet tanks passed outside the farmstead where the 17th SS Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion was stationed, and there was the roar of motors all night, deliberately thousands of vehicles of all kinds." ” "Thousands," General Mackensen frowned, "could it be a Soviet tank army that they didn't attack that collective farm." ” "Nope."
Lieutenant General Hube replied.
"And what do they want to do," General Mackensen wondered.
"Perhaps they want to attract reinforcements by besieging our troops," Lieutenant General Hube thought for a moment, and then added, "perhaps the Soviets deliberately showed some strength in order to attract our armored forces to the north for a decisive battle." ” "What about east of Gomel," Markenson asked, "the Viking division has also reported the discovery of Soviet tank units, is it possible that the Soviets are trying to flank us?"
"Unlikely," Hube shook his head, "the two places are more than a hundred kilometers apart, and the Soviets are not afraid of being defeated by us, their tank army is not our armored army, and its actual combat effectiveness is equivalent to one armored army at most, even if 34 tank armies are concentrated, they can't defeat us, so it is unlikely that they can divide their forces." ” Senior General Mackensen nodded and asked, "How is Lieutenant General Narentsky preparing?"
Lieutenant General Lendsky was the division commander of the 1st Cavalry Division of the Wehrmacht, whose full name was Arnold von Lendsky.
At present, the three cavalry divisions that are moving north to the eastern part of the Mogilev region are all under the command of Lentsky, and the 17th Ukrainian cavalry division of the SS is also reported.
After learning that the Soviet tank units had surrounded the 17th SS Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion, Lieutenant General Lentsky immediately began to mobilize troops to rescue the trapped troops.
"A divisional cluster has been concentrated, consisting of 2 cavalry regiments, a regimental cluster consisting of wheeled assault guns and wheeled tank destroyers, and a regimental battle group sent by the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division."
"In addition, the Air Force is also ready to support, and there will be more than 100 fighters and the same number of Breguet attack aircraft to support Lieutenant General Lendsky's troops," Lieutenant General Hube said.
He paused, "Commander, do you want to cancel the rescue plan?"
General Mackensen shook his head, "It's okay, let Lentsky go, with the support of the Air Force, our people won't suffer a big loss." ” t1706231537: