One hundred kilometers due east of Leningrad, on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, in the city of Volkhov on the Volkhov River. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the headquarters of the Volkhov Front, the commander of the Volkhov Front, General Kirill Afanasyevich Meretskov, welcomed an uninvited guest.

His adjutant removed the strip of black cloth that was covering the eyes of the uninvited guest, and the uninvited guest's gaze quickly focused on General Meretskov.

"Mr. General, I am Major General Morse, Chief of Staff of Army Group North of Germany, and I have come by order of Field Marshal Loeb to inform you of an important news."

General Meretskov raised his hand to return the salute to Major General Morse, and then asked: "General Morse, I think you should know that you are not welcome here. If it's persuasion or something like that, there's no need to say it. ”

"I'm not here to persuade you to surrender, I'm just here to inform you and prepare you to receive tens of thousands of refugees."

"What refugees?" General Meretskov asked.

Major General Morse said: "Of course, the war refugees in the city of Leningrad, the siege of Leningrad has begun, and in order to avoid innocent casualties among the citizens, Marshal Loeb has decided to hand over to you all the citizens in the city under our control. Starting at two o'clock this afternoon, the first batch of refugees will arrive at the front line, get off at the junction between Putilovo and the towns on the Lyuban line, and then walk through the middle of the battlefield to the positions of your army, and ask you to be ready to receive and resettle the refugees. ”

Hearing Major General Morse's explanation, General Meretskov's first instinct told him that there was a conspiracy here, when did the German fascists become so kind? Do you want to infiltrate the refugees with spies? Or use the refugees to take the lead as a meat shield, so that your troops do not dare to shoot, and then take the opportunity to attack?

A series of conspiracy theories flashed through the mind of General Meretskov, who asked suspiciously: "What if I refuse to accept these refugees?" ”

"Mr. General, I'm sorry, I don't think I made it clear before. Whether you agree to accept these refugees or not, they will show up on time at the locations I mentioned, walk through the middle of the battlefield, reach your positions, and if you don't like them, you can have your men shoot and drive them back to our positions. Please rest assured, Mr. General, Marshal Loeb said, you don't have to worry that we will use these refugees as shields to take advantage of the situation to attack, the German Army will not do such an immoral thing. ”

General Meretskov hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "I need to ask my superiors. ”

While waiting for Moscow to call back, General Meretskov seemed to say casually: "I heard that your Führer has cracked a treasonous organization, and the commander-in-chief and chief of the general staff of the German Army are suspected of treason and have been arrested?" ”

Major General Morse said: "Yes, the official document has been sent to the headquarters of the army group, and in this small purge incident, the Führer purged a group of officers, purified our officer ranks, and is conducive to the better performance of the combat effectiveness of the troops." ”

"A small purge? That's what you call it? Meretskov asked.

"Yes, the document says that this purge, both in scale and in length, is not comparable to the purge launched by General Secretary Stalin of your country, so it is named the small purge." Major General Morse said.

Listening to Major General Morse mention the Great Purge, the muscles on General Meretskov's face throbbed uncontrollably a few times, trying to control himself from thinking about the comrades-in-arms and old superiors who mysteriously disappeared in the Great Purge.

"How many refugees are you going to hand over to us?" General Meretskov changed the subject in time.

"Every time we occupy a part of Leningrad, we will take all the citizens out of the city and hand them over to you, and I don't know the exact number." Major General Morse said.

The two men relied on small talk to pass the time until General Meretskov received a call back from Moscow.

"We received the refugees on time at two o'clock in the afternoon." General Meretskov said.

"We Germans have always been punctual, goodbye, Mr. General." Major General Morse said.

Major General Morse then refused General Meretskov's invitation to lunch, put on an eye patch, and left the city of Volkhov.

Major General Morse returned to the headquarters of Army Group North in Luga, and the first thing he saw was Chen Dao standing beside Marshal Loeb.

"Welcome back, General Morse, and you must have brought us good news." Chen Dao said with a smile.

Major General Morse first saluted Marshal Loeb, and then said to Chen Dao: "The Russians have agreed to our request, and the handover will be made at two o'clock in the afternoon." ”

"Very well, you guys will do what you planned." Marshal Loeb said.

The officers of Army Group North, including Marshal Loeb, looked at Chen Dao at this time, and like Major General Morse, they inevitably felt a little more fear in their hearts.

At the beginning, Chen Dao vowed to persuade the Führer to change his mind, stop the plan to attack Moscow, and continue the operation Sledgehammer against Leningrad.

After making the promise, Chen Dao took the expectations of Army Group North and flew back to Berlin on a plane.

In less than a week, a series of earth-shattering news came one after another, the former chief of the army general staff, General Beck, was arrested for treason, the commander-in-chief of the German army, Brauchitsch, and the chief of the general staff, Halder, were imprisoned, and then the Gestapo accompanied the gendarmes to the Northern Army Group and took away a group of officers including General Hepner, commander of the Fourth Panzer Army・・・・・・

The Polish governor-general, General Rosen, faithfully fulfilled his promise to persuade the Führer to change his plan to attack Moscow, but the method of persuasion was so tragic that it was completely beyond the imagination of Marshal Loeb and others.

When the document on the liquidation of traitors was sent to the headquarters of Army Group North, Marshal Loeb and others saw the extremely connotative term "small purge", and the first thing that came to mind was the "great purge" experienced by the "Russian friends".

During the Great Purge in Russia, three of the five marshals were executed.

Three field marshals Witzleben, Brauchitsch and Kruger have been arrested in the German purge, and it is not yet known what the outcome of their trial will be.

What frightened Marshal Loeb even more was that there was a poisoner like Colonel Stauffenberg under his command.

If the assassination was really successful, I am afraid that I will now have to be the companion of Brauchitsch and others in the prison in Berlin.

In just a few days, the command of the Northern Army Group has gained a new understanding of Chen Dao.

It was with a new understanding that Major General Morse met Chen Dao again.

Marshal Loeb turned to Chen Dao and said: "The troops have entered the city of Leningrad, and according to the predetermined plan, the convoy of trucks for transporting refugees has been prepared outside the city, just waiting for those refugees to leave the city." ”

"The operation of screening refugees is a trivial task, and the Führer's statement that Leningrad will be erased from the map is a simple task, and I must personally preside over it, thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Marshal, I will take my leave."

Chen Dao thanked Marshal Loeb, then turned around and left the headquarters of Army Group North.

Chen Dao arrived in the southern suburbs of Leningrad and found a middle-aged man with a bulging forehead, nearly sixty years old, and looking very wise.

"Long time no see, Mr. Gurion, the war against Russia is now over, and it's time for us to make good on our promises."

The chairman of the Zionist Executive Committee, David Ben Gurion, smiled and warmly shook hands with Chen Dao.

"General Rosen, you are really an honest and trustworthy person."

"The screening work is about to begin, let's go and take a look and remember our agreement." Chen Dao said.

"Don't worry, I will transfer the money on time." Gurion said.

Driven by German soldiers, the citizens of the German-controlled zone in Leningrad fled the city in droves with the old and the young, arriving at the designated assembly sites on the outskirts for screening.

In the first round of screening, all Jewish families were separated and turned southwest to the city of Luga to continue their march.

In the second round of screening, the non-Jewish families were asked whether their hearts were towards Germany or Russia.

After two rounds of screening, the citizens who were expelled from the city were divided into three groups, the first group of Jews, whose future was to be sent to the port of Riga on the Baltic coast, and then by boat to the Jewish ghetto in Palestine.

The second group were Russians with a heart for Germany.

Leningrad was the second largest city in the Soviet Union and an extremely important industrial city, with a large number of industrial workers and engineers, which were the human resources urgently needed for the war effort.

These people were screened, and their future was to be put on a train and then transported to Poland, where they would become subjects under the Polish Governorate.

The third, and the largest group, was taken to the convoy assembly area, loaded onto trucks, and then handed over to the Volkhov Front.

Gurion looked at the heads of people surging in the distance and asked puzzledly, "General Rosen, is it too troublesome for you to do this?" Is it necessary for those people to be handed over to the Russians? Wouldn't it be easier to drive them back to the city? ”

"Who knows if there is a militia mixed here, if they are allowed to return to the city, our soldiers in the city will be in danger of being shot in the back, although it is troublesome, but it can completely avoid the incident of soldiers being shot in the back. In addition, there is an advantage to this, these people are handed over to the Volkhov Front, which is also a problem for them, and the reception of these refugees will disrupt their movement and allow them to devote their energies to receiving and resettling the refugees, lest they attack and harass our siege warfare and distract us. ”

"So that's the case, it's a little trouble, a little trouble, to solve some big trouble." Gurion said.