Chapter 107 Church Trip

When the 29th Motorized Infantry Division of the German Wehrmacht stationed at the artillery position on Highland 142 encountered a powerful Soviet offensive force several times larger than our own, it was repelled. General Guderian, the commander of the German 2nd Armored Group, the superior unit of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division, who knew nothing about this situation, was inspecting the old city of Smolensk, which had just returned to calm after being captured by the Germans.

Thanks to the smooth progress of the frontline war, Guderian, who has been in a good mood recently, after inspecting the German troops stationed in the city, passed by a cathedral in the old city of Smolensk, Guderian suddenly had the idea Interested in going in to find out.

"Harrion, has this cathedral been cleared by our troops? Can it be confirmed that it is safe?"

Facing Guderian beside him and asking, the young adjutant who was also in the back seat of the car responded immediately after recalling for a moment.

"The 29th Motorized Infantry Division mentioned this cathedral when they captured the old city last week. The report said that the Soviets seemed to have abandoned this place long ago and did not place any garrison in it. After the search, a squad of search troops No suspicious signs were found.”

Hearing his adjutant's answer, Guderian, who was more determined in his inner thoughts, then opened the car door on his own.

"Come on, Harion, aren't you curious about what the Orthodox church was like under the Bolsheviks? There must be something interesting."

When Guderian entered the historic Orthodox cathedral with his adjutants and accompanying guards, this classical wood-and-stone structure that had survived the war was standing still intact. The form appeared in front of everyone present.

"It's unbelievable, sir. I thought those Bolsheviks had demolished all the churches in Russia. People said that God had abandoned this land that had deviated from the faith of God, but now it seems that is not entirely true."

Without commenting on his adjutant's praise, Guderian, who gently took off his leather gloves, saw something that the young adjutant had not noticed.

"It's not entirely true, Harion. For example, the Bolsheviks transformed the place where God and his believers met into an atheist museum."

It's exactly what Guderian said at this moment.

This Orthodox cathedral in Tsarist Russia not only was not demolished after the establishment of the Soviet regime, but was instead transformed by the ingenious local Soviet government in Smolensk into a church used to promote the positive image of the Soviet Union and at the same time "use it to rule". The museum of atheism that tramples the "corrupt tools of the people" underfoot to show that the people have been liberated.

As far as the eye can see at the entrance to the church door, there is a wax statue of a beggar begging for food. Inside, there stood a life-size wax figure of a commoner. The exaggerated image could not help but surprise the German soldiers who saw it for the first time. A sign on the side read how the proletariat was discriminated against and exploited. words.

After seeing the two statues in front of him, which in his eyes were shoddy and without any sense of beauty, Guderian shook his head slowly with a bad expression and then blurted out to the adjutant beside him.

"Look at these things, Harion. They have no artistic value or beauty at all."

After looking at the two exaggerated statues at the entrance of the church that left him speechless, Guderian, leading the people behind him, immediately turned around and walked deeper into the church.

Maybe they wanted to preserve part of the decayed dregs for people to see and compare, or maybe they just didn't have enough funds when they were renovated.

All in all, when the advancing Guderian came deeper into the church, he was quite surprised to find that the right half of the cathedral remained intact.

At this moment, a German captain who hurried in from the entrance of the church suddenly came to Guderian's adjutant, and immediately blurted out a whisper into the latter's ear with one hand covering his ear. .

"Okay, I understand, thank you for the information, Captain."

Watching the captain who had come to report hurriedly away, the young adjutant who had just received an important piece of information turned to Guderian who was visiting the decoration of the right half of the cathedral and spoke quietly.

"Sir, a captain from the garrison in the city just came to inform me. He said that there is still a large backlog of sacrificial objects and valuable cultural relics in the cathedral. They were all piled up by the Russians before they had time to evacuate them when we attacked. Over there in the prayer hall.”

Hearing the adjutant next to him speak like this, Guderian's eyes rolled and he suddenly became interested. He then led a large group of his men to walk quickly towards the prayer hall that the adjutant mentioned.

When Guderian and his party arrived at the prayer hall where a large number of precious church items were piled up, these museum exhibits that had not been evacuated in time were now piled up like street stalls and groceries in the center of the prayer hall. Silver sacrificial objects and golden lamps are scattered everywhere, reflecting the sun's rays and shining brightly.

Realizing the preciousness of the items in front of him, Guderian did not hesitate. He immediately asked his adjutant to find a local Russian who understood these things so that he could instruct the German army on how to preserve these historic cultural relics intact. Keep it properly.

After a while, the hurried young adjutant followed Guderian's order and brought back an old man with a big white beard who looked like Santa Claus.

"Sir, this is the sexton who was in charge of this cathedral before. After the Bolsheviks transformed this place into a museum, they forced him to be the commentator here and talk nonsense. He expressed his willingness to cooperate with us to protect this history. A long-standing cultural relic.”

Looking at Guderian in front of him who smiled back at him after hearing the words, this devout Orthodox believer with most of his body buried in the soil immediately stretched out his right hand towards Guderian in front of him.

"The Bolsheviks took away our faith and prohibited us believers from talking to God. It is good to see that after so many years there are still people who can help us restore our former faith. May the glory of God be with you, noble German General ”

Seeing the white-haired old man in front of him, whose eyes were filled with extremely pious attitude towards his former faith, he extended his right hand to symbolize friendship. Guderian, still smiling, raised the same gesture in the same way. Reciprocate.

"The unwavering faith in your heart is worthy of respect, old verger. Now, I would like to hand over a small group of German soldiers to you, and let you guide them on how to protect these ancient cultural relics intact, and at the same time remove them as soon as possible. How do you feel about moving here to a safer place to avoid destruction?”