Volume 4, Chapter 5
MD: Sorry for the delay. This chapter is not proofread yet. Will do so in 3-4 hours. But I was in a rush to get this chapter out so I don’t have the time at the moment.
What appeared in front of Xu Jun and his officers was an abattoir. One that slaughtered human beings.
“Oh, G.o.d…..”
The officers stared blankly in front of the horrifying scene. They could only give a slight lament in their minds.
This place was more h.e.l.lish than h.e.l.l itself. The degree of butchery exceeded the cognition of the battle-hardened officers.
Before the group, was a large open s.p.a.ce. It may have once been a market or square. But now, Xu Jun had no idea what it was. Because the ground was completely covered with blood and bodies.
Some were stacked into piles, looking like a dense entanglement of limbs. Under the heaps of bodies came a scarlet stream of blood. Flowing down the street as a strange reek filled the air.
The bodies were dressed in a variety of costumes, some gorgeous and some plain. But all had the same logo on their clothes, a white armband with the Star of David sewn on them. The ages of the bodies varied. Ranging from eighty, ninety year-olds to able-bodied youth. From young children to infants. The expressions on their faces were as varies as their ages. Puzzlement, shock anger, and sadness. However, they all shared a common trait. Their eyes were open, looking towards the sky with a piercing and blinding sight.
Xu Jun and his officers were completely frightened by the scene. Even on the battlefield, and the mangled bodies, such carnage was rarely seen. Although the officers had been accustomed to seeing blood and corpses, it was not a outright slaughter. Some turned their heads and vomited.
“It is just too cruel. Although they are all inferior Jews, they are also the lives that G.o.d has created. They cannot be treated in this way."
“This is not a battlefield. Nor was it a open rebellion. How could this happen?"
“It’s the shame of Germany.”
“What German could commit such atrocities? No matter who, he does not deserve to be a human."
Those officers were provoked by the crimes they saw, fuming in anger and disgust. In their minds, how could civilized German stoop to primal beasts?
Muller looked at the piles in front of him, his body trembling constantly. This cruel brutality, it was unheard of. This would mean the complete ruin of Germany’s reputation if this was known to the rest of the world. It would be the shame of all Germany. How could they ever raise their heads proudly again in front of other nations? The world will place Germany as nothing more than a land of brutal beasts and murderers. Those d.a.m.n killers must be stopped. No punishment is enough for the damage that they have done.
“Sir! The ma.s.sacre here just ended. It seems that they had just left, and judging from the gunshots still being heard, there must be another ma.s.sacre ahead. I think we should immediately go and stop them." Muller said loudly toward Xu Jun.
“Yes, sir, we must stop those beasts!”
“Even though the Jews are so lowly, they"ve already been deprived of their citizenship and brought under centralized control. They pose no detriment to us. Why kill them?"
"Yes, this is outrageous! This is the most miserable sight I"ve ever seen. These are humans, how can they be slaughtered like animals."
The officers angrily scolded.
Xu Jun was unable to hear the officers, staring blankly at the square of death. Although he knew everything about the n.a.z.i genocide, he even poured over countless images of such ma.s.sacres. But when he saw this scene with his own eyes, he realized that words could not describe the cruelty of the situation at all. The horrors of death were too terrible to be formed into words. This deep and stirring b.l.o.o.d.y terror. The barbaric and brutal atmosphere clashes with the viewer’s physiology. Something no one could understand without experiencing it.
Xu Jun had thought that after the battle at Arras, seeing countless b.l.o.o.d.y brawls, he should be able to withstand seeing this. But now he knew he was mistaken. When he saw infants run-through by a bayonet within the pile of bodies, the final defensive line of Xu Jun finally collapsed. He fiercely held onto Hans’s shoulder and began to vomit profusely.
“Sir! Are you alright?" The officers quickly gathered around.
“Everyone move back! The commander needs some fresh air."
After a while, Xu Jun finally stopped vomiting. Soon, Xu Jun felt a sluggishness in his body. Taking handkerchief from Hans, he wiped his mouth. Then he slowly walked over to the corner of the square and sat down on the steps of an apartment.
“Sir, are you okay?”
Hans gave an anxious look towards Xu Jun. Xu Jun’s condition made him very worried. Xu Jun’s face was now pale, his forehead sweating, a look of tiredness on his face.
“Sir, drink some water.”
Dorgen handed over a canteen of water. Xu Jun only nodded and poured it into his mouth.
“Um, I"m much better now.”
Xu Jun put down the canteen and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.
“Sir, what should we do next?”
Muller squatted in front of Xu Jun. “If do not move on, this disgusting slaughter would continue. We should go stop them."
Xu Jun stood up and looked at the other officers. "Do you all agree with the viewpoint of 2nd Lieutenant Muller?"
“Yes, sir. This is indeed the shame of German. We"ve finally grasped your meaning when you talked to us about the need for discipline. Such a crime will bring incalculable damage to the reputation of our great Germany. As Germany’s defender and as a glorious German Army officer, we must not neglect this evil.” A junior officer stood up and replied. All of the other officers nodded their approval.
“Well then, you did not disappoint me, I am very satisfied with your performance. We"ll go and see exactly what types of troops can be worse than beasts. However, I urge you. Be patient and refrain from doing anything to stop them."
Xu Jun words left the officers taken back.
“Sir, is that alright?”
“Sir, why should we refrain from doing anything?"
“Sir, you’ve seen what they’ve done!”
“Sir, didn"t you say that German officers should not be blind to injustice? Why…"
The officers shouted out.
“Everyone be quiet! Is this your att.i.tude when speaking to your Commander? What he said will be done! You should know that our Commander will not allow such barbarous acts before him!" Muller yelled over the officers.
Xu Jun looking at those excited officers and slowly said: “I am pleased with your response. This is the moral character a n.o.ble German officer should have. If I could, I would have rushed to the scene of the ma.s.sacre and stopped these crimes.
But when I saw these innocent civilians killed here today, I understood something. Even when we get there, what can we do? Do we use force to threaten them to lay down their weapons? It can be seen from these bodies that those who carried out the ma.s.sacre have completely lost their reason and humanity. Also, their numbers are very large. Otherwise, it would be impossible to kill so many people so quickly. We are only thirty-eight people. If we use force, we will surely lose if these people are frenzied to resist. It would not be tolerable for me to lose one of my good officers for one thousand of these beasts.
Of course, I can use my ident.i.ty to order them to stop this ma.s.sacre, but I think it is better to hide myself for now. Because only in this way will they continue to carry out their unscrupulous crimes. Allowed us to find the commanders and organizers behind this. Finally, I can enact punishment for that this thing does not happen again. Otherwise, we"ll only capture the lowest shrimp. The big fish will go into hiding and remain unpunished. After we leave, this kind of thing may happen again.
Of course, my decision is indeed unfair to those Jews who are being ma.s.sacred now. But their sacrifice will not longer be for nothing. I hope now everyone understands my painstaking efforts
After we left there safely, we will immediately return to the hotel to restore our true ident.i.ty. My vacation was ruined by these guys. And for that, I must enact my wrath onto the culprits."
“Yes, sir.”
The officers realized that the Commander wanted to seize the masterminds. If they stopped the ma.s.sacre now, they would indeed arouse their suspicions. Although the soldiers and officers could be caught, the ones behind it would go into hiding.
“Well, now that everyone understands what I mean, let’s go ahead.Remember that no matter what you see, no matter how ugly things are, how angry you are, you cannot act. Collect as much information as possible on the slaughter and gather evidence. Identify the faces of those commanders. Remember, as long as these things are remembered, we can take action on them tomorrow. Do you understand? ”
"Yes, Commander!"
The team began to move again. Xu Jun and his officers walked far beyond the square toward the whereabouts of gunshots that continued to ring about.
After bypa.s.sing two blocks, a torturing ground appeared in their vision.
These . . . brutes!”Hans cursed fiercely
The anger of everyone present was aroused. It was also an open s.p.a.ce, about the same size as the one before it.
It seems that the ma.s.sacre at the square also came to an end. As they saw earlier, innumerable bodies were piled up. Those soldiers had rushed into the streets, herding the Jews back into the square. Before mowing them down with gunfire.
A large number of Jews were constantly being forced onto the square from the surrounding streets. Various kinds of screams would be heard. Some of the young men tried to resist but were beaten before executed. The whole area was of screams and gunfire.
Xu Jun and the group stood on the brink of this abattoir. Suppressed their anger and disgust that reached towards the sky. Silently watching the murderers and their joyful expressions.as they committed their crimes.
The officers were carefully checking the soldier"s ranks and unit. Remembering each commander"s face. Most of them were dressed in the black uniform of the SS. While there was also a large number of Gestapo.
With the absence of Wehrmacht soldier, the officers let out a breath of relief. Previously, they were really concerned that the soldiers of the Army would partic.i.p.ate in this ma.s.sacre. If so, the glory of the Army would indeed be tarnished.
The two SS aides, were thrown into a shock. Falling out of their stupor, they realized that the SS were the main perpetrators of this incident. If word of this got out, the reputation of the SS would fall to savage infamy. Gritting their teeth, their gazes fixated on the laughing gunmen in the distance. Determined to punish them for their crimes of defiling the reputation of the SS.
An unexpected event was born when a small Jewish girl suddenly escaped from the ranks and onto the open square. Crying could be heard along with the roar of SS soldiers running to catch up.
The little girl was quite small, at most only six or seven years old. Wearing a beautiful and elegant pink children’s clothes. Some a.s.sortments of gold jewelry. It seems she was the child of a wealthy family. But now she was running across the square, dodging the piles of bodies and debris.
After stumbling and climbing over a few corpses, she turned and ran towards the direction of Xu Jun"s group.
The SS soldiers who were in pursuit, finally made their way around the disgusting corpses. Then they say Xu Jun"s group standing at the edge of the square, they quickly lowered their rifles.
Why are there Army officers here? The SS soldiers all felt strange that such a group would appear here. But now that the Jewish girl was running in the direction of the Army officers, they dared not shot haphazardly. They were not stupid, if they hit an officer, their days would be over.
With their rifles lowered, they slowly walked towards the group.
When Muller caught the girl as soon as she hit him. It turned out that the little girl was blindfolded. Probably as a measure to shield her from seeing the carnage. No wonder why she would decide to run towards a group of German officers. Opening her eyes and seeing her grabbed by a German officer, she immediately gave out a shrill shriek. Trying to escape Muller"s grasp. Xu Jun and the other officers looked at the girl with pitiful gazes. It seems she was still terrified.
By then the SS soldiers arrived in front of them. A sergeant saluted Xu Jun and said: "Captain, thank you very much for helping up catch this d.a.m.n Jewish devil. Please have the 2nd Lieutenant return that kid to us."
Xu Jun"s expression quickly turned grim, with a gaze of loathing, coldly replied. "What would happen when she is returned to you?"
"Oh, of course, like the other Jewish devils, did not you see it? Haha." The SS Sergeant have a short chuckle.
"Is that so? I’m sorry, I cannot give her to you. I declare this Jewish girl to be taken under the administration of the German Army. It will be so unless an order otherwise is given from the Army command. Do you understand?"