Chapter 840 The Rights of the Labor Camp Inmates!

There are already 40,000 to 50,000 Russian prisoners of war gathered at Lake Balkhash and Lake Zaysan, and the number of Russian civilians and Cossacks, Tatars and other ethnic groups who were circled by the Wehrmacht during the war and forcibly moved here has exceeded 100,000.

Of course, it is impossible for all of these hundreds of thousands of people to live here now. When one group arrives, another group arrives, the third group, the fourth group arrives, but not the fifth group, a large part of the previously gathered Russian prisoners of war and civilians will be moved to other places.

During the war, many places in Western Siberia and the Kazakh steppe have been built into cities and cultivated into farmland.

The workers are of course the captured Russian soldiers and Russian civilians.

This is very inhumane, and I don’t know how many depressions were filled with dead bodies, but it is of great help to Chen Han’s immigration and the development of Western Siberia.

…

After checking the number of people, the thousand people were brought into the camp. The prisoner-of-war camp was still empty. Except for a wooden fence around it, nothing else was built. There were only many square marks drawn on the ground with lime lines, and many building materials such as wood, reeds, and dead grass were piled in the corners.

This is not to say that the prisoners who were rounded up here before did not build houses, but because after they left, the houses they built were occupied by the surrounding army, vassal cavalry, and tribes.

The prisoners looked at each other, and their eyes showed a look of relief - it was just as the Kazakh noble said, the camp had to be built by themselves! Fortunately, they did not slack off on the road, and they arrived at the camp in the afternoon. It was still early and there was a period of daylight available, otherwise it would be miserable to work in the dark.

However, many people touched their empty stomachs. They had eaten almost nothing all day. During the migration, the prisoners only had a dry meal of decent quality in the morning, a sip of watery soup at noon, and the rice grains in the soup could be counted clearly. At night, they didn't even have this sip of watery soup. They had traveled thousands of miles like this, and their body functions were extremely weak. After walking for such a long time, their physical strength had long been exhausted. Now they were barely able to stand steadily. If they had to do heavy work again... it was really difficult.

Several people looked at the Kazakh nobleman, hoping that he could at least help say a few words, but the nobleman seemed to know what they were thinking, and just waved his hand nonchalantly:

"Don't worry, we have arrived at the end of the land, and the upper country will definitely not let you starve to death." Otherwise, they would not have sent people here from thousands of miles away. Wouldn't it be the same to just chop off their heads? "From now on, your meals will be provided by the labor camp. You will eat much better than when you worked hard for St. Petersburg."

As he was talking, he saw a row of carts pushed in front of him, with baskets of multi-grain steamed buns piled on them. There were also many large wooden barrels. After opening the lids, you could see steam coming out. Obviously, there was hot soup with meat bones inside. The prisoners were all excited at once - food, that was all food.

Although they had hardly eaten the multi-grain steamed buns piled in those baskets, or even heard of them, they could smell the aroma of the steamed buns. And the broth made from meat bones and potatoes in the soup barrel was also fragrant. You only need to smell it to know that it was good stuff. Although they didn't know what was inside, at least they could be sure: this meal would definitely be the best meal they had ever had since they were captured!

They were given so little to eat before, which was obviously intentional by the Chinese. It was to make them so hungry that they had no strength to escape, let alone dare to escape.

Who can guarantee that they can find food immediately after escaping? If they can't find food, they will starve to death first.

The staff of the labor camp are obviously very skilled in doing this kind of thing. They call the prisoners to line up according to the previous grouping order. One group is a team. At the same time, they divide the teams in advance according to the division of ten people into a group, and randomly assign a team leader, and then ask them to line up to get food in groups-teams. And tell them that they can go to work after eating, including all future affairs must be carried out as a whole in groups, and they cannot run around the camp alone. The organization of the group is temporarily based on today's demarcation. Everyone needs to get an identity card before working.

You need to carry this card when doing anything, otherwise, you will die if you are caught.

One group has a house, and you can sleep after the house is built.

Because only after a team of people is arranged can you go to get food. A team is composed of ten groups. In this case, slow movements or disrupting discipline will only waste your time. Under the temptation of steamed buns and meat soup, the Russian prisoners of war were extremely cooperative. Soon, all the 1,000 people were distributed. After each group was divided, they hurried to the food distribution vehicle to line up, fearing that they would be preempted by other teams if they were a little slower.

After a long time of tossing and turning, these hungry prisoners of war finally received two grain steamed buns and a bowl of fragrant hot soup. The wooden lunch box and spoon for eating were distributed to each person, and they were told to keep them carefully. If they were lost or damaged, they would not be able to use them next time.

Many people were attracted by the aroma of the hot soup. They took a big sip before finding a place to sit, and then they often shouted "ah" - so cool and comfortable.

The cook in the labor camp put a lot of salt and pepper in the soup. Although it smelled fragrant, it was spicy and made people sweat. The taste was very strong, which was in line with the eating habits of the lower class in Russia. The upper class in Russia admired France very much. The nobles were not only proud of speaking French, but also learned the diet and cooking techniques mainly from France. But after years of evolution, especially the lower class people in Russia, they paid more attention to high-calorie varieties when making food, and gradually formed their own cooking characteristics. Russians like to eat hot food, with a heavier taste, like to use oil, and the cooking method is relatively simple. The taste is mainly sour, sweet, spicy and salty. Pickles and pickled cabbage are often must-have foods on the tables of restaurants or families.

Today, the daytime temperature in Kazakhstan is below zero degrees, and the night is close to minus ten degrees. In this kind of cold weather, a bowl of hot and spicy potato stew is the best to stimulate the appetite and sweat. The salty taste also helps to replenish the large amount of salt they consume along the way.

In order to make the Russian prisoners of war behave themselves, the food they were given on the way was not only controlled in quantity, but also had less salt content and a sweet and sour taste.

Now all these prisoners had a big appetite, and they ate steamed buns with hot soup and were very happy. After eating, everyone was sweating. Many people looked at the carts not far away that were still piled with steamed buns and wooden barrels of broth, and they wished that two invisible hands would come out to grab them. But the surrounding Wehrmacht soldiers with live ammunition and the vassal cavalry riding horses and carrying swords made them dare not make any big moves.

After the meal, they sat down and rested for a while, and the fatigue and exhaustion accumulated from the previous continuous journey were immediately reduced. The physical strength was also restored, so that they could bear the heavy work next time, both mentally and physically.

……

In the process of sorting out the prisoners of war in the labor camp, the escorts did not leave or stand idly by, but actively stepped forward to help - they were all people of color, and knew what to do when. Sure enough, after all the prisoners were arranged, a battalion commander of the labor camp said that since no one had eaten yet, they should stay and have a simple meal together.

The escort team here was waiting for this sentence. All the soldiers and officers did not play false politeness. They smiled and said "thank you" one by one, and then followed into the camp - everyone knew that the food of the Wehrmacht was good, and the food in the labor camp was better than that of the Wehrmacht. It would be stupid not to take this opportunity to stay and have a meal.

More importantly, many people have already had this meal here. If they didn't get it, how embarrassing would it be?

The class division in the labor camp has always been very strict. If it is not strict, it will blur the hierarchy of the upper and lower classes, which is very unfavorable to the stability and labor reform of the labor camp. The food these soldiers eat is much better than that of the prisoners of war - although it is also multi-grain steamed buns and hot and spicy potato soup, not only is there no limit on the number, but the meat in the hot soup is also much more than the potato and meat soup of the Russian prisoners.

All the meat shaved off the bones must have come here.

There was also milk tea and pickled cabbage, and canned fruit after the meal.

Of course, the Kazakh nobles and officers who escorted the team did not eat such meals. The officers' meals were still potato soup and steamed buns, but the steamed buns were replaced with white flour buns, and the broth was no longer horse meat, but beef.

In addition to milk tea, pickled cabbage and canned fruit after the meal, there was also cheese and an egg, and a pack of cigarettes per person after the meal. This is the level of the captain.

There are battalion commanders at a higher level, such as the invited Kazakh nobles, who enjoy the battalion-level treatment of the labor camp.

After being invited to sit down at the table together, I saw the chefs of the labor camp opposite brought a large silver plate. I don’t know where it came from, but it looks obviously European style.

When I opened the lid on the silver plate, it was full of greasy barbecue.

The eating habits of Kazakhs and Mongolians are very similar. The main meal is hand-pulled mutton, and barbecue is just that. There are many kinds of dairy products, including milk lumps, milk skin, milk tofu, cheese, ghee, etc. Ghee is mostly made from cow's milk or goat's milk, and is stored in the stomach of the sheep after slaughter.

They also like to drink milk tea, and the method is not much different from that of Mongolians.

The only difference is the pasta, here there are naan and baowuersak. Baowuersak, fermented dough is made with milk or salt water, then twisted into strips, cut into diamonds with a knife, put into a boiling butter or sheep oil pot, fried until yellow and taken out. Baowuersak is mostly made for festivals or entertaining guests. Naan is exactly the same as similar food in Xinjiang.

Now the plate is a large piece of barbecue, with fresh meat and smoked meat.

The side dishes are spicy cabbage, pickled cucumbers and shrimp winter melon, fish ball tofu soup, and delicious seaweed soup.

Milk tea is not accepted by most inland people, but rice tea is. Rice tea is made by frying millet and drinking it with water. It is called tea, but it is actually a thin soup. It will feel particularly comfortable to drink after eating meat.

These Kazakh nobles often enjoy such dinners, but now they are being treated like this by Chen Han's officials, which makes the Kazakh nobles present very moved.

Even though there are a few Chinese dishes in this dinner, the main course is completely Kazakh style, which is a great respect for them.

The tender roasted lamb is an ordinary dish, but in their mouths, it has become extremely delicious at this moment.

…

After eating and drinking, it was time to work. The labor camp paid a lot to feed the prisoners, not to let them lie comfortably on the ground and chat after eating.

Groups of prisoners who came to get their ID cards were gathered again and again, and then they were asked to watch the demonstration of building a campsite: first dig a pit on the ground, use the excavated soil to build a not very high earth wall around it, and then cover the roof with wood and straw mats made of yellow dead grass and reeds. Overall, it is a bit like the dugouts in the northeast, but because it is close to the water, it cannot be dug too deep, otherwise it will seep water.

Ten people live in a dugout, and when building it, ten people are also in a group, just a small team.

The National Defense Army soldiers who were demonstrating built the shacks in a short time, and then the translator loudly promoted to the prisoners:

"Have you seen it clearly? You will live in it for a period of time in the future, so pay attention to it when building it, especially waterproofing! The price of laziness is your own bad luck. In addition, you must hurry up. If you can't finish it before dark, then do it in the dark!"

These houses will soon be sold to the Kazakhs, Mongolians, and Yan'an people who gathered around Suiye City at a very low price by the labor camp. In exchange for fresh livestock. This is a "small profit but quick turnover" business.

After receiving the tools and materials, the prisoners began to work. The guards of the labor camp patrolled around, and if they encountered someone who didn't know how to do it or had the wrong method, they would come forward to help guide them. This surprised the prisoners of war. Compared with the horrible impression they had left on the battlefield before, these Chinese seemed to have changed.

Seeing that these soldiers were relatively kind, some people asked the question they were most concerned about - how would the Chinese deal with them? The guards did not answer immediately, but only said that they should settle down quickly tonight and that a meeting would be held, and these questions would be explained at that time.

At most, they said that those who were honest and obedient would be rewarded.

The prisoners of war were half-believing and half-doubting, but they were also quieter. Since the other side gave them such good food and gave them materials to build a camp, they would not easily take their lives again, right?

- Compared to nice words, actual actions are always more convincing.

Early the next morning, all the prisoners of war were gathered together and divided into five labor camps in the form of "teams". An officer of the labor camp came over to announce to them the discipline, precautions, and rights they could enjoy in the labor camp - the last one made the prisoners feel very fresh.

As prisoners, they actually had such benefits? This was definitely something they had never imagined before.

——The labor camp will clearly tell them the level of their treatment. If the treatment they receive is different from the regulations and they are obviously dissatisfied, they can report it to the military judge in the camp.

Once the report is formalized, they will have merits - they have dug out the termites for the National Defense Army. Then the whistleblower will not only receive material rewards, but also be promoted.

From ordinary labor camp prisoners to small leaders at the bottom, or simply supervisors on the front line.