Episode 2 The rain is coming

Now, Soviet cavalry, tanks, automobiles, and infantry are pouring in.

Among these Soviet soldiers, many of them have black hair, thick eyebrows, not deep eyes, small noses, and the characteristics of Russians are not obvious. In order to carry out the operation in southern Xinjiang smoothly, Stalin specially increased the proportion of Central Asian soldiers.

The Soviets have now completely occupied Kashgar, and it is not "two hours ago" that the telegram says. It has been six hours since the armored and cavalry units of the Soviet army crossed the state border. It's just that when crossing the border checkpoint of the Alai Pass, there was no Qing soldier guarding the checkpoint. There were not many regular troops in the local Qing army in southern Xinjiang, and everyone from the officers to the soldiers was worried about their fate. Now after surrendering, the Ming army has not come, and it is in a period of power vacuum, and no one cares about their duties at all.

Six hours earlier, the Soviets had not fired a single shot, and the army had successfully crossed the border. There was no telegram in the outpost, let alone a telephone, and the only three Qing soldiers in it were dumbfounded, watching a large number of strange tanks and cavalry rumble in front of them, and they didn't know what to do.

Just as the three Qing soldiers were hesitating whether to flee or welcome, a Soviet instructor brought people over and arrested them.

Within 180 kilometers of the Soviet army from the Alai Pass to the city of Kashgar, many people saw this unit. Herdsmen, peasants, idle Qing troops, militia groups...... But not a single person went to report. - Even if they report, they don't know where to report it. The Qing court died, and the officials above were unwilling to take care of things. Moreover, it is difficult to find a place within a hundred miles to make a phone call or send a telegram. Of course, if you ride a horse, you can also get ahead of the Soviet army to Kashgar City, where you can send a report. However, this is obviously not their own business, and who would be willing to spend their own horsepower?

Therefore, it was not until two hours after the Soviet army occupied the city of Kashgar, when they had already planted the red flag on the dome of the Great Mosque of Ati Kah and gathered the respected elders to propagate "revolutionary atheism", that an imam felt that it was not good, and he secretly ran to find someone to send a report to Beijing.

……

Within a few hours, more Soviet troops crossed the city of Kashgar and continued to march eastward. The Soviet troops entering southern Xinjiang this time were either cavalry or motorized troops. Countless cars, tanks, horses, and fuel were unloaded from the Trans-Siberian Railway, and almost on their feet they entered southern Xinjiang.

Kashgar has now become the first forward headquarters and supply depot of the Soviet army. When the army left Kashgar to the east, it turned northeast and marched eastward along the southern foot of the Tianshan Mountains and the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert. The plan of the march was to pass through the Kashgar region, the Aksu region, the Bayingolin region, the Turpan region, and the Hami region along the oasis, and finally reach the border of Gansu. In the whole of southern Xinjiang, there are more people in such a string of oases. Occupying this string of oases is equivalent to occupying the entire southern Xinjiang. At most, if you control the Hotan region in the southwest of the Taklamakan Desert, the entire southern Xinjiang will be completely controlled.

Now, the city of Kashgar is full of Soviet soldiers. They put up pre-printed notices in Chinese and Uyghur all over the city. On every slightly taller building in the city, a sickle and hammer flag fluttered. The political commissars preached loudly to the crowd in the streets and alleys and in some religious shrines in Kashgar, such as the Ati Kah Grand Mosque, the Mausoleum of Amanisha Khan, and the Tomb of Xiangfei.

These political commissars were also specially arranged by the Soviet military, and they were all natives of the Central Asian member states and could speak several languages in Central Asia and southern Xinjiang. The content of the preaching is nothing more than two categories: the first is the purpose for which you have come - not to invade you, but to protect and liberate you. The second is the propagation of Marxist-Leninist atheism.

To tell the truth, when the Soviet army entered southern Xinjiang, most of the local people were not too disgusted. On the contrary, there were many people cheering, and girls and boys danced, played tambourines, and sang songs on the side of the road to welcome the Soviet GIs in. The Manchu officials were not of their own nationality - but that's okay, the main reason is that it is not only a Han regime, but also dark and **, which is really unpopular. And these Soviet GIs looked much cuter, they looked similar to themselves, and many of them were people of their own nationality, but on the other side of the border.

But many older people are looking at each other coldly. They all came from the end of the 19th century, and they were very impressed by those things in the 20s of this century. - Thousands of peasants and herders were taken away from everything, even to the last grain of rations. The "above" even organized the workers in the cities, put on the name of "grain conscription teams", and went to the countryside to rob the peasants: grain, livestock, tools, everything. Anyone who dares to hide food or slaughter his own livestock to satisfy his hunger will be shot if he is found.

People dying of starvation came running from the other side of the border...... As soon as many people arrived, the child in their arms died. Many of the people over there and the people here are relatives, if not Muslims. And the Muslims of the world are one family, and even if they do not know passers-by walk into the house, as long as they are all followers of Allah, the Muslims will give food and treat them without charging a penny. However, those who fled from the Soviet Union were already hungry and their stomachs could no longer withstand a normal diet. Many people die just after their first full meal.

The people here don't know what freedom is or not, but the old people are deeply impressed by the great famine there. Now, unlike the young people who sang and danced, the old people looked at the Soviet GIs with suspicion.

……

However, those Soviet boys looked cute. Dressed in cotton coats and fur hats with red stars pinned to them and shiny boots, they sat on tanks smiling and waving to the people on the roadside. Some soldiers stood on the tank, holding the turret handrail in one hand and waving a large red flag in the other, shouting:

"Ulla—Ulla—"

The young men of the cavalry unit rode tall horses, wore gray leather jackets, large black cloaks, shiny riding boots, and sabers at their waists. These Cossack cavalrymen wore all kinds of beards, mustaches, beards, and two mustaches, skillfully rode their horses, trotted neatly, their eyes were sharp, and from time to time they would scream "oh-ho-ho", giving full vent to their pride and bravery as a Cossack.

Like the armored and infantry, they have a red star pinned to their fur hats.

Not only are there young men, but you can also see girls every once in a while. The female soldiers were all sitting in a military vehicle, carrying medical kits, and looked around excitedly. The Russian girls are generally very thin, but the Central Asian girls are thicker, blushing, and they look like they have eaten enough grains from their children. The Russian girls, on the other hand, were very pale, with deep sunken cheeks, indicating that the food shortage in Europe was even worse.

When the local boys on the side of the road saw these girls, they all shouted happily, sang songs, whistled, and played tambourine with the truck. And the girls in the car also shyly avoided their eyes and smiled at each other.

The female soldiers on a military vehicle discussed for a while, and a girl began to sing:

"How vast and vast our country is, with its innumerable fields and forests...... We've never seen any other country where we can breathe freely like this......"

Then, the female soldiers in the whole car all sang happily along with the rhythm.

After a while, everyone, whether tankmen, artillerymen, infantrymen, or cavalry, joined in a chorus, singing the song that had just become popular in the Soviet Union last year:

"How vast and vast our Motherland is, with its innumerable fields and forests! We have never seen any other country where we can breathe freely like this!

"From Moscow to the distant frontiers, from South Russia to the Arctic Ocean, people can walk around freely, they are the masters of their own homeland!

"Everywhere life is wide and free, like the Volga flowing straight down! Young people here have great promises, and old people here are respected everywhere!

……

"You can't recognize our fields anymore, and you can't remember our cities anymore! We proudly call it comrade, it is more glorious than all honorific titles!

"There is this title, there are families everywhere, regardless of race, black, white, brown, yellow, red! This title is familiar to everyone, and by virtue of it, we are closer to each other!

"The spring breeze ripples on the vast ground, and life is faster day by day! There is no other people in the world who can laugh more than we do!

"If the enemy is coming to destroy us, we must rise up and resist! We love the motherland like lovers, and we are filial to the motherland like a mother! ”

……

After the song was sung, a political commissar took the lead and sang the "Internationale". As a result, the melody of "there has never been a savior, and there is no immortal emperor" resounded in this ancient Islamic city.

Although not a single battle was fought and not a single shot was fired, the morale of the Soviet troops was high.

These young officers and men have every reason to rejoice. The lofty ideal of "liberating all mankind" has now taken its first steps. For the first time, the Great Revolution stepped out of the borders of the Soviet Union. And I am one of the glorious ones.

Every girl and boy firmly believed that the people of this land would soon be as happy as they were. Those who have been blinded by the exploiting class and who have to prostrate themselves at the feet of the "true God" several times a day will soon recognize the true face of the so-called "true God" under the guidance of the political commissars......

At present, the Great Purge is mainly aimed at the top of Moscow, and the widespread purge against the army has not yet begun. In addition, the Soviet Union has just been established for more than ten years, and now everyone is full of ideals and hopes, and is full of beautiful hopes for the future. Everyone was convinced that all the previous difficulties – hunger, poverty, death – were caused by the white bandits and imperialism and had to be paid for victory. And in the future, Comrade Stalin will lead the people of the whole country from victory to victory, and a happy, prosperous, and happy life is coming.

The current Soviet Red Army is far from the Soviet army that burned and plundered Germany and northeast China in 1945. The current Soviet army is still just an ignorant teenager, simple, upright, full of ideals, strong in blood, and takes it for granted that only he is right, and everyone else is wrong and needs to be corrected by himself.

……

The next morning, when the Grand Mosque summoned upstairs, the long, city-wide prayers of the Grand Mullah (presiding officer of the mosque) were not heard, as usual. Instead, a majestic song was played over the loudspeaker.

As the Soviet national anthem "The Internationale" reverberated over the ancient city of Kashgar, a bright red Soviet flag rose on the dome of the Grand Mosque.

At the same time, in the mosque's chapel, the sacrilies were removed. Two large portraits appear on the walls:

One is Lenin, the other is Stalin.