The German army occupied Kremenchug for two years. The first thing they did after occupying the city was to issue a proclamation, ordering all Jews to bring their documents, money and valuables, and prepare warm clothing.
All Jews who failed to report on time when gathering on Dniprosky Street would be shot. In order to confuse the Jews, they also specifically emphasized in the announcement that citizens who stole while Jews were out would be shot.
After this proclamation was issued, the vast majority of the Jews in the city thought that the Germans were preparing to resettle them, so they took all their belongings and their families to the place designated by the Germans.
Kremenchug was only a small city, with a total number of Jews in the city of no more than 3,000. After arriving at the designated location, they were escorted by the SS and headed toward the south of the city.
When they came to the bank of the Dnieper River, the SS asked the Jews to pile their luggage at a designated place, and in groups of twenty, they took off their clothes and stood by the river. When the Jews were standing, they had already prepared
The SS soldiers shot right behind them. Most of the Jews who were shot fell directly into the river and were washed away by the fast water. The few corpses left on the shore were also thrown into the river after being shot again.
washed away in the river.
When the gunfire rang out, some Jews realized something was wrong and tried to bribe the SS around them with watches, rings, earrings and diamonds, hoping they would let them go; some tried to escape. But all the Jews
All efforts were in vain. Whether they took out valuables to bribe the SS or escaped, they were all shot dead by the inhumane SS.
When groups of Jews were stripped naked and driven to the river by the SS to be shot, some clever Jews got down before the sound of gunshots and jumped directly into the cold river water, escaping the fate of death.
Among these survivors, two Jews escaped and returned to the city after going through all kinds of hardships. They hid in the shelter provided for them by Eulis for two years.
Under the rule of the Germans, the residents of the city had to choose to work for the Germans in order to survive. Most of them were like the bakery owner Ulis. They were in the Cao camp and their hearts were in the Han Dynasty, hoping every day that the Soviet army would
Fight back as soon as possible and drive away all the damn Germans.
But there are also many weaklings in the city. They quickly defected to the Germans and worked wholeheartedly to help them and harm their own compatriots. For example, the spies who were caught this time were a group of scum among them.
Sokov was chatting with Managarov when he suddenly heard Samyko asking Samoilov to send the captured spies to the hospital for treatment. He stopped talking, turned around and looked at Samyko and said
: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what order did you just give to Lieutenant Samoilov?"
Samyko was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "Lieutenant Samoilov and the others caught two other spies who slipped through the net, but during the arrest process, two people were arrested, so that our soldiers had to shoot.
Now one is dead and the other is wounded. In order to get more information from the spies, I ordered Comrade Lieutenant to send the wounded to the hospital for rescue."
"There is no need to resuscitate him, just kill him." Sokov said coldly and without expression: "Don't waste our precious medicines on this scum."
"But, Comrade Commander." After hearing Sokov's cold order, Samyko said hesitantly: "I think we can get some information we need from this spy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, please don't forget that the reason these two spies slipped through the crackdown during the daytime arrest was because they were sent to collect food rations." Sokov thought of the losses that these two spies had caused to the city.
At that time, I was filled with hatred and would not let them go so easily: "According to my experience, these guys who are sent to run errands are the most insignificant people in the entire organization. Even if they are willing to confess, they can't be asked."
Anything of value."
Samyko pondered Sokov's words carefully and felt that what he said was very reasonable. If the injured spy was really an important figure in the organization, he would not be sent to perform tasks such as receiving food. He nodded and said:
When he was about to convey Sokov's order to Samoylov, he heard Sokov say: "Comrade Chief of Staff, please wait a moment."
"I remember that the time when the third fire broke out and the time when the second fire broke out were no more than five minutes apart." Sokov frowned and said, "The distance between the two places is probably one or two kilometers. How can a spy reach out in such a short time?"
The fact that they set fire within a certain period of time means they used transportation. Ask the lieutenant what kind of transportation the spies used?"
Samek agreed and asked into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant, the commander asked me to ask you, did the two captured spies use any means of transportation?"
"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff," Samoylov quickly replied: "The spies used two bicycles. Fortunately, they were not damaged during the shooting and can continue to be used."
When Sokov learned that Samoilov had seized two bicycles during the arrest of the spies, he couldn't help but secretly rejoiced. Then he ordered Samyko: "Chief of Staff, tell the lieutenant and ask him to send someone to take the bicycles immediately."
send over."
Samoilov learned that Sokov wanted to see the seized bicycles, and he dared not neglect them, so he quickly ordered two bicycles to be sent to the headquarters.
When Sokov heard that the bicycle had arrived outside the door, he stood up and said to Samyko: "Chief of Staff, I will go out to take a look at the seized bicycle. If anything happens, send someone to the door to call me." After that, he raised his leg.
Just walk outside.
Managarov felt strange when he saw Sokov couldn't wait to walk outside when he heard that the bicycle had arrived. In order to find out what was going on, he also walked out of the headquarters.
When he came to the door, he happened to see Sokov taking the bicycle from the hands of a soldier, holding the bicycle faucet with both hands, stepping on the left pedal with his left foot, and after sliding forward for a few steps, he turned his right leg over.
I just sat on the bicycle seat and rode steadily in circles in the square in front of the church.
At this moment, Lunev also came to the door of the church, looking at Sokov who was riding a bicycle in the square with some surprise. Managarov approached him and asked curiously: "General Lunev, look, Sokov
The general is so good at riding a bicycle. He was not a cyclist before, was he?"
"General Managarov," Lunev replied seriously after hearing this: "I can responsibly tell you that although Comrade Commander rides a bicycle very well, he has never been a cyclist before."
Managarov looked at Sokov who was still circling, and said in surprise: "General Lunev, can you tell me why General Sokov thought of riding a bicycle?"
"I don't know." Lunev answered simply: "To be honest, General Managarov, I only found out today that Comrade Commander can ride a bicycle and ride it so well."
Sokov rode several times around the square in front of the church. After he was a little sweaty from riding, he stopped at the door of the church and handed the bike to a soldier who came over.
He quickly came to Lunev and Managarov and said to them: "I have a bold idea and want to talk to you."
As soon as he returned to the headquarters, Lunev asked anxiously: "Comrade Commander, if you have any bold ideas, you might as well tell them."
"The terrain on the right wing of the landing site on the right bank is complex, with forests, lakes and swamps everywhere, which is not conducive to the deployment of mechanized troops." Sokov said to the two men: "In other words, if we want to launch an attack in this area, we will have to invest a lot of resources.
Except for a few who can ride on tanks or other combat vehicles, the rest of the troops have to choose to walk. As a result, once the tanks opening the way in front are separated from the infantry behind, there is a possibility of being annihilated by the German army. Therefore, I have
A bold idea that enables our reference infantry to keep up with the speed of tanks."
"A bold idea?!" After Managarov repeated these words, he suddenly remembered the bicycle Sokov was riding outside just now. Suddenly an idea flashed and he asked tentatively: "General Sokov, are you planning to
Let all our combat troops ride bicycles?"
"That's right, General Managarov." Seeing that Managarov guessed his intention, Sokov said with a smile: "That's what I thought about it, let the soldiers ride bicycles and follow the armored troops.
Break through the enemy's defense in the shortest possible time."
Lunev was opposed to Sokov's statement: "Comrade Commander, is this possible?"
Thinking that Bicycle Tactics was used to beat John Bull to pieces in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Sokov said confidently: "In jungle areas, where tanks, armored vehicles and other combat vehicles are inconvenient to travel, lightweight and lightweight
But bicycles can pass easily. Even over mountains and ridges, our soldiers can resist and walk away, which is much faster than infantry on foot. Also, I see that the vehicles are equipped with 20 to 30 kilograms of grain and ammunition.
There shouldn't be much of a problem, and this can solve the supply problem for the soldiers."
Lunev was a political cadre. Hearing what Sokov said, he didn't feel anything. But after hearing this, Managarov's eyes shone and he asked quickly: "General Sokov, don't you know Klemenchu?"
Is there a ready-made bicycle factory in Gecheng?" His idea is simple. If there is a bicycle factory, he only needs to let the workers work overtime for a few days to provide a sufficient number of bicycles for the army.
But Lunev knew nothing about whether there was a bicycle factory in the city. He turned to look at Samyko and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, is there a bicycle factory in the city?"
Hearing Lunev's question, Samyko couldn't help crying or laughing. He said to himself that even the people in charge of internal affairs don't know. How could I, the chief of staff in charge of military affairs, know?
Just when the two looked at each other, Gorokhov interrupted and said: "I know there is a bicycle factory in the city."
"Oh, is there a bicycle factory in the city?" Hearing Gorokhov say this, everyone's eyes lit up, and then asked: "I wonder where the bicycle factory is?"
"Here." Gorokhov pointed to a point on the map and said to everyone: "But the scale of that factory is not large. I don't think it can produce many bicycles every day even if it operates at full capacity."
Gorokhov's words immediately cooled down everyone's enthusiasm. If the production of bicycles is not good, then there will be no way to provide many bicycles to the troops. Imagine if there are only one or two hundred bicycle infantry following the tanks on the battlefield.
What role can it play?
"Otherwise, we let the bicycle factory in Moscow help us produce it." Tsarev interjected: "I think in that case, we can get enough bicycles in a short time."
"General Tsarev," Sokov waited for the other party to finish, then shook his head and said: "Not to mention whether there are enough raw materials in the Moscow bicycle factory. Even if they are produced, how will they be transported to us?
With the current transportation capabilities of the logistics department, it is very difficult to transport the materials needed by the frontline troops, let alone bicycles that are not yet known to be useful on the battlefield."
After a long silence, Lunev felt that as Sokov's deputy, he should help him solve this problem, so he took the initiative and said: "Comrade Commander, after daybreak, I will personally go to the bicycle factory and have a good chat with the director.
Let’s talk to the locals to see if they can increase the production of bicycles.”
Sokov knew that the production of bicycles was not an easy task and involved too many aspects. But in the current situation, it was a dead horse that could only be treated as a living horse, so he nodded and said to Lunev:
"Comrade Military Commissar, then this matter will trouble you. If the bicycle factory can provide us with a sufficient number of bicycles, this is naturally a good thing; if it cannot, there is no need to embarrass them."
"Comrade Commander, I thought of a question." Sameko suddenly said: "Since the two spies have bicycles, there should be a lot of residents in the city who own bicycles, right? If you really need a bicycle, you can do it.
Collect it from residents and return it after completing the task."
"What if these requisitioned bicycles are lost in the battle?" Derevyanko raised his own doubts. "How will we return them to the residents then? If we cannot return them as agreed, it will definitely affect the credibility of our army."
Sokov had already considered Derevyanko's concerns. He said calmly: "General Derevyanko, you can rest assured on this. If the collected bicycles are lost in the battle,
We will provide necessary compensation to the residents, and we will even wait for the bicycle factory to produce new bicycles before compensating the residents who have suffered losses."
When Derevyanko thought about it, it seemed that this was really the case, and he obediently shut his mouth.
"Comrade Military Commissar," Sokov didn't know how many people in his army could ride bicycles, so he specifically told Lunev: "Please help us collect a group of bicycles as soon as possible, so that the soldiers can ride before the offensive begins.
Let’s learn how to ride a bicycle.”
"Yes, yes, Comrade Commander, you are very thoughtful." Lunev nodded vigorously and said: "It is absolutely necessary to use this time to let the soldiers learn to ride bicycles. Otherwise, when a sufficient number of bicycles are collected, we will not be able to ride them."
If there are not the same number of soldiers who know how to ride a bicycle, it would be a joke."
"Collect a hundred bicycles first." Sokov knew that haste makes waste in everything, so he told Lunev: "Let the troops directly under the headquarters learn to ride bicycles first. When they learn how to do it, let other troops