Red Moscow

Neither Sokov nor Konev knew what the scouts saw. It was the officers and soldiers of the 8th Army's law enforcement team who were executing Wyler's order to execute all officers above the battalion level of the 282nd Infantry Division.

When the last batch of officers to be executed was escorted up, everyone clearly saw that these officers were basically all wounded, and even a lieutenant colonel was carried up by two strong soldiers on a stretcher .

Some officers and soldiers of the law enforcement team stepped forward and tied the wounded officers to the execution posts one by one. Even the seriously injured lieutenant colonel was dragged from the stretcher by several officers and soldiers When they arrived at a pillar for execution, they tied him up with all hands and feet.

After doing all this, the officers and soldiers returned to their positions, and according to the order of the executioner, they raised the guns in their hands, pointed the black muzzles at the officers tied to the posts, and waited for their superiors to speak. With a wave of his hand, he fired without hesitation.

Before the executioner could wave his hand, a barrel cart and four trucks full of soldiers drove up from a distance. After the small convoy stopped thirty meters away from the execution ground, the soldiers in the truck jumped out one after another and lined up beside the truck.

Seeing this, the executioner knew that the big man was coming, so he temporarily stopped the execution. He shouted at his subordinates: "Put down the gun!" Following the order, the soldiers immediately retracted their weapons.

The executioner slowly put down his raised right hand, trotted to the barrel cart that had just stopped, and waited quietly for the big man inside to come out.

The person who came out was the commander of the 11th Army, William Sturmerman. After he got out of the car, he asked the executioner who was standing straight beside the car: "Captain, I am William Sturmerman, the commander of the 11th Army. General Hermann, I would like to ask whether the death sentence for Lieutenant Colonel von Lefferholz has been carried out?"

When the executioner heard William Stemmelmann's question, he immediately turned around and called his clerk, and asked, "Quickly check whether the death sentence for Lieutenant Colonel von Leferholz has been executed. ?”

The clerk quickly flipped through the documents in his hand, then shook his head and said: "Mr. Captain, since Lieutenant Colonel Leferholtz was seriously injured, and according to your order, the wounded officer was the last to be executed, so his The death sentence has not yet been carried out."

William Stemmelmann breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that the death sentence had not been carried out, and then ordered the executioner: "Captain, bring him to me immediately!"

Unexpectedly, the executioner stood still after listening to William Stemmelman's order, but said plausibly, "Your Excellency, General, do you have a warrant from Commander Wheeler?"

"No."

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency General." The executioner said confidently: "In the 8th Army, only the commander has the right to change the judgment of the military court. Before I get the commander's warrant, I don't have the right to order the person who is about to execute the death sentence. The officer will leave it to you."

Facing the executioner's difficulty, William Stemmelman frowned, and then said: "Captain, Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz is not a coward who is greedy for life and fear of death. On the contrary, he is still trying his best to stop the troops on the battlefield." the rout of...

After the 848th Grenadier Regiment under the 282nd Infantry Division was dispersed by the Russian armored forces, it was Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz who desperately stopped the fleeing troops. Without any effect, he carried a pistol, Standing bravely in front of a Russian tank charging towards him until it knocked him down.

Fortunately, he did not die after being knocked down by the tank, but was rescued from the battlefield by several loyal soldiers and returned to our defense zone. Such a brave officer did not die at the hands of the Russians, so naturally he cannot be allowed to die at the hands of our own people."

The executioner patiently listened to William Stemmelman's narration, and said with a blank face: "Your Excellency, I still say the same thing. Without the warrant of Commander Wheeler, no one has the right to change the court-martial. judgment."

Seeing that the executioner was so stubborn, William Stemmelman became a little angry, and he raised his hand and waved forward. Seeing his gesture, the officers and soldiers rushed over with a huff and surrounded the firing squad with weapons in their hands.

"Your Excellency, General," the executioner saw at least ten guns pointed at him, his expression changed drastically, but he still said bravely, "Although you have a large number of people, you can shoot us to death. However, Have you thought about the consequences of doing so?"

"Of course I have thought about it," William Stemmelmann said without changing his expression, "I will tell you well, if you insist on talking to me in an official tone, what do you want from the commander's warrant? If you are too soft, then I will Only hard ones."

One side wanted to rob people, but the other side was determined not to give them back. Just when the two sides were at war and the friction was on the verge of breaking out, another barrel cart and two trucks full of soldiers drove over.

Both William Stemmer and the executioner turned their heads to look in the direction of the car, wondering who it was.

The answer was soon revealed, and it was Lieutenant General von Spennecker, commander of the 42nd Infantry Corps.

He brought an officer and two soldiers to William Sturmer, raised his hand to salute each other, and said with a smile: "Hello, General William Sturmer, I am glad to be here See you."

"Hello, General von Spenneck." Wilhelm Stemmer extended his hand to the other party and said friendlyly: "I am also very glad to see you here."

After the two shook hands, Spenneck asked, "General William Stemmer, why did you appear here?"

"It's like this, General Spenneck." William Sturmer explained to Spenneck: "I learned from some routs who fled into my defense area that Lieutenant Colonel Leferholtz was Heroic performance on the battlefield, and learned that he was sentenced to death by a military court. I think such a brave officer should not die on the execution ground, so I brought people to rescue him."

"Your Excellency," the executioner asked Spenneck for help as soon as William Sturmer finished speaking: "After General William was rejected by me, he actually ordered his subordinates to prepare to rob the officer who was sentenced to death, please You must be the master for me."

After hearing this, Spenneck asked the executioner blankly: "Captain, I want to ask you, how can we take Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz away?"

The executioner was stunned. He didn't expect Spenneck to come for the seriously injured lieutenant colonel. He hesitated for a long time, and finally said hesitantly: "Your Excellency, if you want to take the lieutenant colonel away , must have a warrant from Commander Wheeler."

"Commander Wheeler's warrant, right?" Spenneck turned to the officer behind him and said, "Lieutenant, show him the things."

The officer hastily pulled out the briefcase under his arm, opened it, took out a document from it, and handed it to the executioner.

The executioner took the official document from the officer's hand, and after seeing the contents clearly, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Captain," Spenneck said, "this is Commander Wheeler's warrant. Now can you hand over Lieutenant Colonel Leferholtz to me?"

Seeing that Spenneck actually took out Weller's warrant, William Stemmer said in surprise: "General Spenneck, I really didn't expect that you also came for Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz."

"General William," Spenneck said with a smile on his face, "you are right. Such a brave officer cannot be allowed to die on the execution ground. We should keep him alive. Maybe we can send even bigger officers in the future." use."

After saying these few words, Spenneck turned to face the executioner again, his face changed from a spring breeze to a cold one: "Captain, I have shown you the commander's warrant, why don't you let him go?"

"Your Excellency, I...I..." The executioner wanted to release him immediately after seeing the warrant, but there were still countless gunpoints pointing at him, so he could only pout at the surrounding gunpoints to show his embarrassment place.

Now that the executioner agreed to let him go, William Stemmer stopped embarrassing him and quickly waved his hands. The soldiers who pointed their guns at the firing squad immediately retreated and made way for the executioner.

Several officers and soldiers of the firing squad came in front of Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz, untied him from the post, put him on a stretcher aside, and carried him to the front of the two army commanders.

Before William Stemmer came here, he knew that Leferholz was seriously injured, so he specially brought a military doctor. Seeing Leferholz being carried over at this moment, he quickly ordered the military doctor: "Hurry up and check him to see if the injury has deteriorated."

The military doctor put the small suitcase in his hand on the ground, squatted down in front of the stretcher, and began to examine Leferholtz's body. After some inspections, he raised his head and said to William Stemmer: "Your Excellency, his injury is very serious. The tossing just now caused the wound on his body to open again, and it needs to be re-sewed and repaired as soon as possible." Blood transfusion, otherwise it will be life-threatening."

Knowing that Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz's life was in danger, William Stemmer hurriedly ordered the military doctor: "Then what are you dawdling about, why don't you take him back quickly."

Just as the military doctor agreed and was about to stand up, Spenneck stopped him. He said to William Stemmer: "General William, Commander Wheeler has agreed to hand over Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz to our army. I think you don't have to worry about this matter." After finishing speaking, He raised his hand and waved to his subordinates not far away, motioning for them to come over and take over.

Seeing Spenneck's men approaching, although William Sturmer's mouth was bitter, he had nothing to say. After all, someone else got the warrant of Commander Wheeler, and he could justifiably arrest Lefer Lieutenant Colonel Holtz brought back his defense zone.

As soon as General Spenneck's men lifted the stretcher, Leferholz, who was lying on it, began to speak. Spenneck put his ear close to his mouth, and heard him say in a weak voice: "My lord, I beg you, save my comrades, they are brave officers..."

"Don't worry, Lieutenant Colonel." Spenneck said to Leferholz with confidence: "I will save all your companions, and you can rest in peace." Said, rushed to the soldiers He waved his hand, motioning for them to take the stretcher away.

After the stretcher was gone, Spenneck said to the executioner: "Captain, please give me all the remaining officers."

But what he didn't expect was that just after he finished speaking, the executioner rejected him: "I'm sorry, General Spenneck, in the warrant of Commander Wheeler, only The death sentence of one of the school, but no others. Therefore, I cannot hand over the others to you, and their death sentences must be carried out."

The executioner's refusal was well grounded, and neither William Sturmer nor Spenneck could refute it. The two looked at each other, and both saw a trace of helplessness in the other's eyes. They shook their heads with wry smiles, stepped forward to shake hands, and then separated to return to their convoy.

Not long after the two convoys left one after another, a row of crisp gunshots came from the execution ground. It was the executioner commanding his subordinates to faithfully execute the judgment of the military court and execute the officers who had been sentenced to death.

Hearing the gunshots coming from behind, William Stemmer felt as if his heart had been severely pulled. Although the defeat of the 282nd Division on the battlefield caused the line of defense between the 6th Armored Division and the 42nd Infantry Corps to be split by the Russians, there was a reason for this.

The 282nd Division was formed in France. Most of the officers and soldiers in the division not only lack the experience of fighting on the Eastern Front, but also have very backward weapons and equipment. When ordered to disengage from Russian forces, the retreating troops were suddenly attacked by a powerful Russian armored force.

On the way to retreat, encountering enemy tank attacks, let alone a unit with little experience in combat operations, even an experienced and tenacious unit would be a disaster. It is inevitable that they will fail under such circumstances. It would be a little too inappropriate to execute all officers above the battalion level for this reason. You know, it will take at least two or three years to train a qualified battalion commander.

"Your Excellency, Commander," the adjutant sitting in the co-pilot's seat asked tentatively when he saw William Stemmer's sullen look, "we just watched the 42nd Infantry Corps helplessly, and took Leferhol Lieutenant Colonel Ci picked him up?"

"Then what else can we do?" William Stemmer said angrily, "Others came with Commander Wheeler's warrant, and Lieutenant Colonel Leferholtz is bound to win it."

"It's a pity." The adjutant heard what William Stemmer said, and sighed, "Even if we don't get Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz, it would be good if we could save those wounded officers." It’s a pity that the executioner was so stubborn that he still shot them all.”

"Adjutant, that captain did the right thing." Don't look at the executioner who offended William Sturmer just now, but William Sturmer knew very well in his heart that what the other party did was right. responsibilities. What's even more rare is that he can still stick to his principles when facing himself, who has a much higher military rank than him, and countless guns pointed at him. This is very rare. "If it were me, no matter who came forward before seeing Commander Wheeler's warrant, I would not let Lieutenant Colonel Leferholz go easily."