If Wittmann hadn't brought it up at the right time, Enschel would have forgotten about it.
After all, more than a thousand prisoners are not a small number. Taking so many prisoners on the march will definitely cause trouble for yourself.
Not to mention anything else, those Allied planes in the sky can definitely be seen as long as the pilots are not blind. After seeing so many of our own people being captured, it would be a bit unreasonable to remain indifferent.
By then, both Enschel and Wittmann could guess what would happen.
Those Allied fighter planes buzzing everywhere will definitely drop dense machine gun barrages, air-launched rockets, and aerial bombs all on their heads.
There may be Yankee prisoners of war accidentally injured, but our own losses will definitely be greater. Such highly targeted air strikes can easily end up with heavy casualties and corpses everywhere. What's even worse is that these Allied forces
The plane will definitely call in more companions to carry out air strikes. If this happens, everything will be over and there will be no place to buy regret medicine.
Thinking of these horrific funeral events, Enschel realized that he could not just take these American dragsters on the road casually, and suddenly a fierce look appeared on his face. After a brief hesitation, he turned to a determined look towards Weiter.
Man said.
"No one knows anyway, so why not deal with all these Americans on the spot!"
"The fighting will of these bastards is quite good. You must know that they are a force that has just entered the battlefield. If they fight a few more battles and temper themselves, we don't know what kind of terrifying combat effectiveness they will have."
"The prisoners' confessions have already mentioned that they are the aces of the US Army. What is the name of the Big Red Division? Whatever, releasing them on the spot is definitely the worst option. Sooner or later these people will run back and join us on the battlefield again.
When we meet, the outcome is hard to say."
Mass killing of prisoners was nothing new for the German army, especially the SS.
On the battlefield on the Eastern Front, the Germans, who shot political commissars upon catching them, had already executed countless prisoners. And for those Red Army troops who had a tenacious will to fight and resisted desperately, large-scale killings of prisoners after victory were even more common. Only the SS
Hundreds of cases have been discovered in the army, but both the chicken farmer and the mustache have taken an indifferent attitude towards it.
You can kill as many as you want, or not. The power of life and death is entirely decided by the front-line SS troops.
This was true for the captured regular field troops of the Red Army, not to mention the guerrillas caught by the SS. Hanging on electric poles and hanging in public were the final fate of most of them, and they even had to be buried in their necks.
A wooden sign with harsh words was hung and the body was not allowed to be collected until it decomposed.
Wittmann and Enschel had already heard about such actions and deeds, but neither Enschel nor Wittmann had ever personally issued such an order to their troops as commanders before.
Order to slaughter prisoners.
So even though Enschel looked fierce and tried to appear more determined, Wittmann could already detect the wavering in his good brother's eyes. He still did not dare to make a decisive decision and order the immediate slaughter of the prisoners. In his heart
There is still the last trace of hesitation.
"You know this is wrong, Enschel. We are soldiers fighting for the Führer, not butchers who slaughter prisoners like pigs in a slaughterhouse."
Enschel did not refute Wittmann's words on the spot, which can be regarded as a considerable degree of recognition.
But Enschel had his own reasons in his heart. He wanted to do this out of sheer desperation, unlike those perverted second-line security SS troops who were addicted to murder.
"Then tell me, what should we do if we don't get rid of these Americans? We can't take them away, and letting them go will cause trouble for ourselves. What else can we do?"
"...."
Enschel's words stopped Wittmann. As he said, this is indeed a dead end that cannot be solved at all.
"Is...do we really want to do this? They have surrendered as a soldier, which is more than a thousand lives! Just imagine if we were captured, how could we survive in such a desperate situation?
What is it like to know that you are about to be killed? I don’t sympathize with our enemies, but it is morally untenable for us to do so from the beginning, and this should not be a reason.”
"Morality? When has this happened, do you still believe in these fallacies? If we were moral, we shouldn't even launch a war to invade Russia. We are just a bunch of criminal invaders who have nothing to do with morality! Don't kill all these Americans.
Man, how can we..."
Without being interrupted by Wittmann, Enschel, who had reached the climax of his speech, suddenly stopped on his own and stopped speaking.
Wittmann certainly knew the reason for this. If Enschel really didn't have any struggle in his heart, he wouldn't be struggling with such trivial matters like he is now. This was not his past behavior style.
"Let me think about it again, just for a minute or two, let me think about it carefully..."
Why--
Wittmann sighed softly and was unable to say anything more. He then took out the cigarette case from his pocket, took out one of the cigarettes, lit it, and started smoking on his own. He also needed some time to think carefully.
Countermeasures.
It was at this moment that a figure who had approached Enschel and Wittmann suddenly appeared in front of Enschel and Wittmann. Without them noticing, they both looked aside and began to report.
"The troops have been assembled and my men are on standby. When will we set off?"
Wittmann followed the other side where the sound came from and turned his head to see that the person coming was the infantry company commander who had accompanied him in the battle just now.
"We still need some time to discuss the details of the retreat, which will be done soon. You go down first, Hank. I will contact you when we set off, so that your people will be ready at all times. This will not take long.
"
Before Wittmann could say anything, Enschel, who also had a cigarette in his hand, took the lead and gave the order to the SS infantry company commander named Hank.
As for Hank, there was no too complicated response. After a simple salute, he turned around and left with a gun in hand. Two large 45-size military boots under his feet made a heavy sound on the floor.
Without any confusion.
The brief arrival of the SS company commander was just a brief interlude. Enschel and Wittmann's main energy was still focused on thinking hard about the troublesome matter at hand.
It's just that neither Wittmann nor Enschel noticed a detail that is extremely easy to ignore: Hank's footsteps were so loud when he left, but why didn't he make any sound when he came? Who was he?