Chapter 112: A Christmas Story During World War III (8)
At the same time, in a wooden hut inside the Petropavlovsk prisoner-of-war camp, a group of former American soldiers wrapped in coats were also warming themselves by a brick fireplace, throwing pieces of firewood in from time to time, or using long sticks to Use long pokers to pull out the charcoal and share your special Christmas ration. At the same time, I was also reading the local newspaper in Petropavlovsk Port... Well, to be precise, it was a group of American prisoners of war who did not understand Russian. They listened to Sergeant Major Cecil, the only one among them who knew some Russian, kowtow. Stumbling to read the newspaper - after all, how is it possible to find Russian newspapers in English in a place like Kamchatka?
At this time, none of them were wearing military uniforms. Instead, they were wearing a variety of civilian clothes or the zebra-print prison uniforms issued by prisoner of war camps, with a Soviet army coat on top. At first glance, they looked just like ordinary people and could not be recognized at all. This is a group of soldiers - although the United States has participated in this world war for five years, there is no trace of the toughness of hard-blooded men in these American soldiers in the Petropavlovsk prisoner-of-war camp. color.
On the contrary, they all looked so listless and languid, as if they were hopeless and sluggish.
——If the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is remote among the ice and snow fields, is the pure land farthest from the war on the Eurasian continent; then, these guys who are currently in the Petropavlovsk prisoner of war camp, They are the group of people furthest away from the war in the entire US military.
Because, throughout the war years of World War II, they spent their time in different prisoner of war camps from beginning to end...
——They are the U.S. Marines stationed in China in the Ping-Tianjin area before the war in accordance with the "Xinchou Treaty".
(Since the Boxer Rebellion broke out and the Eight-Power Allied Forces entered Beijing, the great powers obtained the right to garrison troops in Beijing and Tianjin from the Qing court. Later, as the years changed, the troops of the defeated countries in World War I withdrew from China, and the Russian troops stationed in China It also collapsed after the October Revolution, but Britain, France, the United States, and Japan still maintained the power to garrison troops in North China, but the other three countries did not station many troops. Only Japan actually stationed large troops)
It is conceivable that when the United States and Japan declared war, these unprepared American Marines stationed in China suddenly found themselves surrounded by the enemy almost overnight, with a huge disparity in power. The level of people's despair - at that time, the number of U.S. Marines stranded in North China, including handymen, was only 262, and they were scattered in Beijing, Tianjin and Qinhuangdao.
What is even more desperate is that Japan started this war with a sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, so the Americans had no time to evacuate their citizens and troops (before the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese government very calmly evacuated all its citizens from Lushun and Liaodong) ). As a result, these U.S. Marines stationed in China were invaded by heavily armed and vicious Japanese military police early in the morning without taking any precautions in advance and without even having time to grab their guns... Sergeant Major Seale was wearing only a pair of underpants, and he was hugging an equally naked White Russian Oriole next to him...
So, without any mental preparation, they naturally raised their hands and became the first batch of American prisoners of war after the outbreak of the Pacific War.
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Initially, these U.S. Marines who were captured on the second day of the war were imprisoned by the Japanese army in their own old U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Tianjin - a typical American-style building with three floors. Very good bathroom facilities and kitchen, as well as ample supplies. The Marines continued to eat the food that had been stored in the barracks before the war, and had enough medicine, clothing, and blankets that they did not need anything from the Japanese.
Since the relationship between the US military stationed in China and the Japanese army stationed in China had been good before the war, the local Japanese army treated them very politely. Even after becoming prisoners of war, these former U.S. Marines could continue to send and receive letters freely in Tianjin. They were also allowed to receive visits from visitors twice a week, and were not required to do forced labor by the Japanese. Apart from not being allowed to go out, at first glance there seems to be little difference from life before the war.
During this period, the Japanese even continued to pay them military pay: the salary of officers was the same as that of Japanese officers of the same level: 70.83 yen per month for second lieutenants, 85 yen per month for lieutenants, 122.5 yen per month for captains, and 170 yen per month for majors. Japanese yen, 230 yen per month for lieutenant colonel and 312.5 yen per month for colonel. However, you need to deduct 60 yen per person for living costs, including 42 yen for food, 15 yen for clothing, and 3 yen for equipment and electricity. Ordinary soldiers received 5 cents of pocket money every day. Since they could only eat during this period and were too lazy to train, almost everyone gained weight compared to before the war.
——Look at the treatment these Americans enjoy as prisoners of war. Those Chinese prisoners who were buried in mass graves by the Japanese army should probably burst into tears...
A year later, the stockpiles of supplies in the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Tianjin were basically exhausted, and the barracks buildings themselves were reserved for other uses by the Japanese. As a result, more than two hundred U.S. Marines were arranged by the Japanese army to take a train and be transferred to a special prisoner of war camp on the outskirts of Shenyang. The conditions there are naturally not as good as those at the Marine Corps Barracks in Tianjin, but overall they are pretty good and the living environment is pretty good in comparison. Japanese and Manchukuo newspapers called it a model prisoner of war camp, and representatives of the Red Cross sometimes came to visit and express condolences.
The American prisoner of war camp itself on the outskirts of Shenyang was converted from a small abandoned factory. The prisoners of war were arranged to live in three two-story buildings. Each floor of the building was divided into six dormitories. The dormitories had bunk beds. It looks a lot like an ordinary student dormitory. Officers and soldiers among prisoners of war were housed separately. All buildings have electric lights, but the bulbs only have 10 watts, making them difficult to read. Heating was provided by a Russian stove, each of which heated two rooms. It's not very warm in the camp in winter, and fuel is rationed, so you can only use a certain amount of coal every day.
In addition to living quarters, the prisoner-of-war camp also had a hospital, dining room, bathroom, water room and workshop. Each soldier can take a shower every two days, and officers can take a shower every day. The prisoner of war camp's sewers were connected to the city's sewer system. The prisoners' daily water was initially provided by a well in the camp. The water quality was not very good and needed to be boiled before drinking. However, a water tower was soon built after the prisoners of war lived for a period of time, allowing the prisoner of war camp to use running water. The entire prisoner of war camp was surrounded by brick walls and electric grid. There are watchtowers at the four corners of the wall, and Japanese guards are on duty 24 hours a day.
The canteen of the Shenyang prisoner-of-war camp is in a separate building. It only has a kitchen and a bakery, but no dining seats. The food was prepared by the prisoners themselves in turn, supervised by the Japanese. The head of each dormitory, as a representative, collected food in wooden buckets and took it back to the dormitory to share. American prisoners of war could eat three meals a day here, but the dishes were the same every day. Breakfast was cereal porridge, and lunch and dinner were soybean, corn and vegetable soup, plus a small amount of pastries made from flour and soybeans. There was basically no rice or bread, and meat was only provided once every two months. Vegetables mainly came from the gardens cultivated by the prisoners of war themselves, mainly onions, potatoes, cabbage, radishes and Chinese cabbage. Based on this calculation, the daily nutritional intake of each prisoner of war was between 2,000 and 2,400 calories. If you are a prisoner of war working outside, you can also get some extra food from the company you serve. In addition, the Shenyang prisoner-of-war camp also received food parcels from the International Red Cross every two days, which contained soap, canned food, candies and biscuits. However, before the cans in the package were distributed to the prisoners of war, they were pierced by the Japanese guards to prevent them from hoarding them as dry food for escapes, so they had to be eaten quickly.
——Although this standard of food is definitely not comparable to the living standards of American prisoners of war in China. But in East Asia during World War II, it could definitely be called preferential treatment! You know, even in Japan at that time, the daily staple food ration for each Japanese was only 330 grams of rice, and the supply of non-staple food was even more shabby, only enough for two meals a day, and each person's daily nutritional intake The average diet was only 1,800 calories, and the supply of cooking oil and sugar on the market was almost zero. It was much worse than the food of the US Marines in the Shenyang prisoner of war camp. As for those native Northeasterners who were ordered by the Japanese and puppet authorities to eat only "mixed noodles" and acorn noodles, and who secretly ate a few mouthfuls of rice were considered "economic criminals", let alone...
During the winter, the POW camp distributed an ample supply of blankets and jackets, which were collected in the spring. In summer, mats and mosquito nets will be distributed. In general, in terms of clothing and housing, American prisoners of war at least enjoyed the treatment of ordinary soldiers in Japan's miscellaneous troops.
In terms of medical and health care, these American prisoners of war enjoyed treatment that even Japanese soldiers would envy - there was a special hospital in the Shenyang prisoner of war camp that could accommodate 150 patients for medical treatment at the same time. The hospital has independent wards and rehabilitation and entertainment rooms, as well as X-ray rooms, consultation rooms, pharmacies and morgues. All medical equipment is similar to that of the Japanese Army Hospital, but additional supplies of medicine and equipment can be obtained from the Red Cross. Every prisoner of war was collectively injected with smallpox, dysentery, cholera and typhoid vaccines as soon as they moved in. There was also a comprehensive regular physical examination system.
Therefore, this group of U.S. Marines basically maintained their health during their captivity, and the number of people who died of malnutrition and infectious diseases was only in single digits. However, the most serious casualties during their captivity actually came from their own people - because they did not expect The U.S. Air Force would bomb the prisoner-of-war camp. The Japanese authorities initially did not take any precautions against the air attack. However, they were attacked by a formation of U.S. bombers that had traveled a long distance to aid China. All the Japanese guards in the Shenyang prisoner-of-war camp were safe, but the American prisoners of war were killed and injured on the spot. Fifty people. Afterwards, the Japanese allowed the prisoners to dig air-raid shelters in the vegetable garden.
Next, unlike the leisurely days in Tianjin, the prisoners of war were finally sent to work in various factories in Shenyang. Work includes making parts, tools, dyes, etc. The work is not hard and the working environment is good. 8 hours every working day, closed on Sundays. They were given one hour to eat lunch, which was delivered in wooden barrels from the prisoner of war camp. Officers did not have to work, but were responsible for the supervision and management of the prison camp.
Ordinary soldiers who participate in the work can receive 20 days of salary per day, non-commissioned officers 25 days per day, technical non-commissioned officers 60 days per day, and technical soldiers 55 days per day. Officers have additional allowances. Salaries are paid on the 15th of each month and are deposited directly. You were allowed to receive up to fifty yen at a time into your postal savings account, which could be used to buy things at the canteen in the prisoner of war camp, but there was almost nothing there except cigarettes, tooth powder, and fried beans. So when the Shenyang POW camp closed and its accounts were settled, many U.S. Marines found themselves with a small fortune saved.
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Then, these U.S. Marines were allowed to communicate with their relatives in the United States on a restricted basis in the Shenyang prisoner of war camp. Soldiers were allowed to write three postcards per year and occasionally send a telegram. Officers can write three letters and three postcards per year. These mails rely on the International Red Cross for transit and must pass numerous checks, usually taking three to six months to reach their destination. But despite this, for U.S. Marines in prisoner of war camps, receiving packages from their parents or wives is still the happiest thing.
However, the reason why the Japanese so "mercifully" allowed American prisoners of war to communicate with their families was not out of humanitarian considerations, but an attempt to collect intelligence. After the outbreak of World War II, Japan and the United States completely cut off personnel exchanges. , and after the war, the United States imprisoned Japanese expatriates living in the United States into concentration camps. It is almost impossible for the Japanese authorities to learn about the military trends and military production status of the United States from the United States. Therefore, Japan's intelligence collection on the U.S. military during World War II, in addition to monitoring domestic broadcasts in the United States, mainly relied on Japanese strategic intelligence personnel scattered in neutral countries and other places to indirectly obtain military intelligence.
But the problem is that the wartime propaganda content of any country cannot be taken completely seriously. Most of the second-hand information obtained through neutral countries is not very reliable, and the timeliness is also very problematic - during the war, all kinds of strange rumors always emerge in endlessly.
As a result, the Japanese army, who were hungry for information, were forced to panic, and actually came up with the idea of sending home letters from the families of prisoners of war. After each batch of mail from the families of prisoners of war arrived at the Shenyang prisoner of war camp, the Japanese army would organize a mail inspection team for the families of prisoners of war, and check the mails from the families of American prisoners of war. The packaging instructions in emails, newspapers, and packages were analyzed and studied, and compiled into written materials and submitted to the Kwantung Army Military Police Headquarters, Shenyang Secret Service and other departments for their reference.
Of course, before being sent out, the mails of the families of prisoners of war have been reviewed in advance by the security intelligence department in the United States, and some illegal content has been smeared and covered. But despite this, the Japanese still struggled to restore some of the obliterated words, and collected a lot of comprehensive military strategic intelligence of the United States through other words, pictures, and instructions for various items in the mail package. For example, the attitude of the American people towards the war, whether the American people actively join the army and fight in the war, and the prices and economic living conditions of the American people...
In this way, letters and parcels exchanged between prisoners of war, which should have been normal, were regarded as the battlefield of a "secret war" by the US and Japanese camps. The U.S. military tried its best to avoid leaking military secrets in letters and packages sent to prisoner-of-war camps; the Japanese military took a serious approach to "dissecting a sparrow" and did not let go of everything they passed. They tried to see the big from the small. A vast amount of intelligence is analyzed from the humble items of mail and parcels.
Of course, the battle of wits and courage between the intelligence agencies of the United States and Japan in mail delivery is a bit too far away from the former Marines in the Shenyang prisoner of war camp who never fired a shot on the battlefield. For them, they just feel that their life as a prisoner of war is quite manageable.
Although in the prisoner-of-war camp, they were often slapped and locked up by the Japanese, but no matter how tired these American cowboys were, they were not the weird Taiwanese strawberry soldiers who could do push-ups to death. The affordability is not so fragile that it would have been impossible to survive the previous Great Depression. After giving in to the Japanese, I got through the hard days in the prisoner-of-war camps in the past few years.
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After finally waiting until the autumn of 1945, the US military bombed Tokyo and the old Japanese imperial government was destroyed. The remaining Japanese troops were forced to abandon the occupied areas of North China and Manchuria and withdraw to the Japanese archipelago to defend the homeland. And these former Marine Corps soldiers in the Shenyang prisoner-of-war camp were handed over to the Chinese Red Army when the Japanese army retreated and the prisoner-of-war camp was closed, and then were sent to the Soviet Union... These soldiers who survived in the prisoner-of-war camp After four years of living together, the Americans escaped from the clutches of the Japanese and came to Siberia with longing, thinking that they could finally go home. In the next few months, because the United States and the Soviet Union had not yet completely broken up, many American prisoners of war were repatriated in batches by the Soviets via the North Pacific route.
But the problem is, as the saying goes, unforeseen circumstances can happen. Before the repatriation of this batch of American prisoners of war was completed, the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union further deteriorated sharply, and the repatriation of American prisoners of war was stopped midway and came to an abrupt end. Sergeant Major Cecil and his more than 100 companions, who were originally scheduled to return to the country as the second batch and were waiting for the return ship on the Kamchatka Peninsula, were stranded in the Petropavlovsk detention center. It was really Calls to the sky do not respond, calls to the earth and the earth do not work... After the outbreak of World War III, the Soviets directly changed the name of the Petropavlovsk detention center and turned it into a prisoner of war camp.
Sergeant Cecil, who had been a prisoner of war for five years, and his more than a hundred U.S. Marine Corps colleagues in China who had not been repatriated in time, had no choice but to admit the reality dejectedly: they just changed places. Then he has to continue his career as a prisoner of war... What can he do if he doesn't accept the reality? After spending so many years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, wouldn't it be possible to survive in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp?
Compared with the previous Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, the Soviet prisoner-of-war camps on the Kamchatka Peninsula were naturally much colder. It had just entered October, and light snow was already falling in the sky. Fortunately, each prisoner of war was given a thick fur coat, and there was plenty of firewood for heating, so there was no risk of freezing. The firewood was cut by Soviet soldiers who supervised the American prisoners of war in the suburbs before the snowfall. Kamchatka Although there are few people on the peninsula, there are many trees.
Then, in the Soviet prisoner of war camp on the Kamchatka Peninsula, Sergeant Major Cecil finally ate bread that he had not seen for a long time - although it was Russian black bread with an obvious sour taste; the supply of meat in the diet was also better than that in Japan. It's much more plentiful over there - although there's often some horse meat sausage Such strange things; and the Kamchatka Peninsula also produces a variety of rare high-end aquatic products - Alaskan king crab, fresh sea urchin, salmon and salmon that are often priceless in American cities. The market nearby is full of exquisite things and they are sold extremely cheaply. Although the Soviet guards would not be so kind as to provide such delicacies to the prisoners of war, Sergeant Major Cecil could still use his personal belongings to buy some to satisfy his craving. In addition, the management system of the prisoner-of-war camp here is also relatively loose. After winter, prisoners of war are sometimes even allowed to leave the camp and go to the city for a stroll. Anyway, as long as the port is frozen, even the Soviets themselves will be severely punished. Nature is trapped in this place. Where can these American prisoners of war go?
Moreover, these days, the whole world is burning in the overwhelming flames of war, and those outside are living with bombings, gun battles, forced labor, hunger, epidemics, escapes and even nuclear pollution all day long. After today, you don’t know if there will be a tomorrow. Compared with other people, they had food, drink and shelter in the prisoner-of-war camp, and they didn't have to do much work. It could be said that they were enjoying a long vacation. What else could they feel wronged about?
As long as you think about it, relax your mind, and stop blaming others, life in the prisoner of war camp will feel much better. After all, as defeated generals, they should not have had too many illusions about life in a prisoner of war camp from the beginning. They should thank God if they were not tortured.
The only regret for these former U.S. Marines stationed in China is that since the outbreak of World War III, they can no longer receive letters and parcels from home - when they were in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps, they You can also use the Red Cross channel and pass through Switzerland to barely maintain communication with your family back home in the United States. However, with the outbreak of World War III, Switzerland, a theoretically permanently neutral country, was also hit by a nuclear bomb and was immediately destroyed by the Soviet Union. The Red Cross Then he fell into paralysis. As a result, all the countries in the world have been divided into two camps by the fire curtain of war. There is no longer a neutral country in the true sense. The warring parties have since cut off communication channels, leaving these prisoners of war eager to get news from their hometowns. Feeling frustrated.
Today is Christmas for the Russians, and even the prisoners of war received a special Christmas ration. Each American soldier was given a bottle of wine and a box of pastries. As for the officers... those officers had already boarded the cruise ship back home before the United States and the Soviet Union had completely broken up. Among the unlucky ones who were not left behind, Sergeant Major Cecil already had the highest rank and seniority.
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In this way, on January 7th, the Orthodox Christmas, the former U.S. Marines stationed in China in the Petropavlovsk prisoner-of-war camp, these "model prisoners of war" who had been in the prison camp for five years, "We were warming ourselves by the fire in the wooden house, drinking wine, eating cakes, looking at the falling snow outside the window, listening to Sergeant Major Cecil's stuttering translation of the war news in the Russian newspaper, and for a while it felt like watching the fire from the other side. .
"...The main force of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet broke through the Turkish Strait, entered the Mediterranean Sea in a large scale, and bombarded the ports of Haifa and Beirut. The Syrian rebel army invaded Palmyra, and the U.S. military in the Middle East was fleeing to Iraq...Stalin gave a public speech and called on the Arabs People and black Africans cooperated with the Red Army to launch an anti-colonial uprising... What follows is full of clichés, empty words and official articles, as well as a lot of awkward professional vocabulary, so I will not translate it..."
"...The ruins after the nuclear explosion in Paris have been initially cleared, and the French government is preparing to hold a national public memorial to commemorate the millions of victims..."
"... According to expert assessment, the Dutch sea wall destroyed by the atomic bomb will be difficult to repair in a short period of time, and the reconstruction project in Amsterdam has been forced to be postponed."
"...the Irish Republican Army and the US military fought fiercely in Galway City, and the Soviets provided emergency assistance of 50,000 rifles to Ireland."
"...Istanbul in Türkiye was directly included in the Soviet Union and restored its old name of Constantinople in the Eastern Roman Empire..."
"...After the surrender, the British mainland fell into anarchy and massive famine broke out. The Scottish government in Edinburgh sent a delegation to Moscow to plead with the Soviet Union to send troops. At the same time, Queen Elizabeth II also met with Stalin and publicly begged the Red Army to cross the sea and enter Britain, help restore domestic order in the UK and provide a batch of humanitarian aid supplies...Stalin said this issue needs to be studied..."
"...A US fleet appeared in the waters of the Faroe Islands, suspected of trying to attack Murmansk. It has been driven back by the Red Navy..."
"...the Soviet State Planning Commission issued a public statement refuting rumors in society that wartime food rationing standards would be lowered, declaring that even when World War III broke out and drought prevailed in Eastern Europe, the Soviet government was able to provide every hard-working person Citizens provide enough food..."
"...The Chinese Red Army announced that it has liberated the entire province of Fujian and is actively preparing to cross the sea to attack Taiwan..."
"...The Second Battle of Saigon launched by the Viet Cong was frustrated. The South Vietnamese authorities, with the support of Thai reinforcements, once again defended the temporary capital Saigon."
"...the Communist Party of the Philippines announced a great victory in Baguio in northern Luzon Island and prepared to launch a counterattack on Manila, the capital of the Philippines."
"... After the nuclear explosion in Jakarta, the former Dutch Indonesian colony continues to be in chaos, and has so far failed to form a widely recognized new government. Armed conflicts have frequently broken out in various cities. The Indonesian region is likely to be divided into many small countries in the future. Maybe..."
"...On the Indian battlefield, the three-month Battle of Bangalore came to an end. Chandra Bose's Indian National Army achieved a tragic victory, but its own losses were also very heavy. Gandhi, the leader of the Indian reactionaries, was assassinated in Calcutta. The specific injuries Unknown at the moment..."
"...The Soviets dropped atomic bombs on an Allied fortress in Tokyo Bay, Japan, wiping out the Australian troops stationed there. At this point, the last Allied force on the Japanese battlefield was also annihilated. The Japanese base camp issued a victory report and declared the territory The recovery operation ended successfully..."
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Listening to the news of victory in the Russian newspapers, the mood of the American prisoners of war became more and more depressed. Especially after learning that the Allied forces on the Japanese archipelago had been completely annihilated, everyone couldn't help but lament - it seemed there was no hope for their motherland to avenge themselves.
Seeing that everyone was in such a low mood, Sergeant Major Cecil could only laugh a few times and folded the newspaper, "...Don't be so depressed! From the day of surrender, our war has ended. Articles How our compatriots on the front line are doing is not something we can decide. ...Anyway, from a good point of view, with the end of the Japanese battlefield, the war is getting further and further away from us after all - at least we no longer have to worry about being bombed by our own planes in the prisoner of war camp, and we can go home alive. The probability will probably increase somewhat..."
The American prisoners of war felt relieved when they thought about this - since they entered the prisoner of war camp, this war has little to do with them. The only thought in their hearts is how to survive in the prisoner of war camp. There is still time. I just look forward to one day being able to go home. As for the glory of being a soldier, the dream of being rewarded for meritorious service... Ever since the day they became prisoners of war, they no longer dare to daydream like this.
The United States of America was beaten so badly in three wars, losing one battle after another. It is certainly frustrating, but looking at it from another perspective, doesn't it mean that the war will soon end with the United States suing for peace? , they don’t have to stay in Kamchatka Peninsula for too long anymore?
So, after a moment of silence, the prisoners of war became active again and began to change cups and have fun again.
However, just when these "model prisoners of war" of the U.S. Marine Corps were enjoying themselves and forcing smiles on their faces, thinking that they could wait quietly for the end of troubled times in this wild land on the edge of the world, they represented the haze of war and destruction. , is actually approaching them quietly... - In the flames of the Third World War, no real peaceful and pure land can be found in the entire Eurasian continent.