Chapter 729: Expulsion of Refugees
Chapter 712 Expelling Refugees
Receiving the order from the headquarters, Obodo was still confused, but after wandering around the streets and looking at the beggars everywhere, he understood what was going on.
Most of the main forces of the Russian army will be gathered in the Polish region, under normal circumstances to go out to fight bandits, absolutely not the turn of the metamorphosis of the Fourth Army.
Now let them take this heavy responsibility, absolutely will not be trust. With his relationship with Marshal Ivanov, he would definitely not have a part in a mission that was easy to accomplish.
After carefully studying the information sent from headquarters, Obodo had mixed feelings. Accepting this mission meant that the matter in front of him was uncovered, and there was no need to worry about being held accountable by a court-martial.
Unfortunately, the task of purging Poland was not a good one, and even though Ivanov had ordered other units to cooperate with the Fourth Army, Obodo was equally unsure of completing the mission within the time limit.
Putting down the document in his hand, Obodo instructed a young officer, “Invite the representatives of the Third, Sixth, Seventh, and Fifth Armies to come over to discuss the eradication of the bandits.”
“Wait!”
The one who called for a halt was the Chief of Staff of the Fourth Army, Contreras, a middle-aged man with a long beard.
“Army Commander, things aren’t that simple. As far as I know, the Third Army and the Sixth Army have already sent out troops several times, killing off more than 100,000 of the rebels, and still have no effect.
If we can’t solve the problem at the source, even if we kill off more rebels, the Polish region won’t be stabilized.”
This problem was known to everyone, only that everyone was unwilling to take the blame and no one poked through the windowpaper.
Obodo likewise took a chance, if he could solve the problem by forceful deterrence, he wouldn’t have to take the blame.
Unlike Obodo, who was a military commander, Contreras had much less pressure on his heart.
Under normal circumstances, people remember only the commander-in-chief, in addition to things to be scolded is also Obodo, as the chief of staff as long as a little low-key, no one knows him.
Standing in the position of Contreras, it is imperative to complete the task as soon as possible to make up for the faults of the last unauthorized action.
People are realistic, Lieutenant General Obodo has a high prestige in the Fourth Army, but it’s all in the past, since the last operation failed, his prestige has hit rock bottom.
No one would trust a general who lost a battle, even though technically Obodo hadn’t lost a battle.
The Fourth Army, despite its heavy losses, had bought enough time for the main force to play an important strategic role.
Obodo helplessly waved his hand, ”Theoretically that’s true, it’s just that my chief of staff, are you sure you want to solve the problem at the source?
This is millions of Polish refugees, do you have any other solution than making an example of them and deterring them by force?”
No one wants to bear the name of “butcher”, it will be stigmatized for years to come. Obodo still want to struggle a little, until the last resort, he will not be willing.
Contreras tried: “Maybe we can consider sending them away, the Austrians are not in need of immigrants, sell them a favor, send them the refugees.”
Obodo shook his head, “If the Austrians were willing to take them in, the honorable Marshal Ivanov would have done it long ago, this task is not even our turn.
It’s not just Austria, I’ve sent people to ask all the colonial countries. None of them are willing to accept the refugees unless we can send them there.”
It wasn’t that people didn’t want it, it was entirely that they couldn’t afford it. Taking in millions of refugees at once, not to mention now, even in the 21st century would be very difficult.
The high shipping costs aside, the key was a few million people, how could they be transported in a short period of time?
If they can’t be shipped out immediately, then the refugees must be given supplies to feed these people.
This is not all, transporting people to the colonies is only the beginning, but also must do a good job of resettlement, just a language barrier, can make the colonial government collapse.
At a rough estimate, under the most ideal conditions, it would take two to three years to resettle so many refugees, and it would be impossible to do so without hundreds of millions of divine guilders.
If you want people to become hardworking for three years, you may not be able to do it, but it only takes three days for people to become lazy, and during such a long period of time, who can guarantee that these refugees will still be able to work with peace of mind.
If not handled well, a good thing will become a bad thing. Not only does it not create wealth, but it increases the burden on the colonial government.
Such a huge amount of expenses, but also to bear such a big risk, pay and benefit is not proportional. It is not surprising that the major colonial empires are not willing to accept this group of refugees.
From the major colonial empire’s immigration policy can be seen, everyone is decentralized to receive immigrants in batches, rarely one-time absorption of a large number of immigrants.
Including Austria is also the same, in addition to the organization of immigrants from the country has no restrictions, the absorption of foreign immigrants have to be screened.
Moreover, the hearts of people are unpredictable. Who can guarantee that these refugees will continue to emigrate after they have received the supplies, or that they will return directly to their homes?
Any country would be uneasy about having so many people under the supervision of the Russians.
The spirit of contract is useless to the refugees, and it is precisely because there is no such thing that people advocate the spirit of contract.
If we really rely on the contract to force immigrants, I guess no one would dare to accept them even if they were sent to the place. Many of the people here have a lot of guerrilla experience.
Contreras wondered: “I passed by the Austrian Embassy yesterday, I also saw many people applying for immigration, even beggars inside, did not say refused to accept refugees ah?”
Obodo shook his head, “Most of those people are Germans, the Vienna government has a rule that they can avoid that series of restrictive conditions as long as they present themselves as subjects of the Holy Roman Empire.
Even then, you have to know German if you want to muddle through. How many of these refugees do you think are fluent in German?”
The long lines outside the Austrian embassy were also made possible by the Berlin government’s efforts to promote the German language in the Polish region.
Unfortunately, the time was still too short, and with the resistance of the Poles, not many people were able to use German proficiently, and a large portion of them were still immigrants from the Rhineland region.
Of course, this not many was also for all refugees. In fact there were hundreds of thousands of them.
After contemplating the effort for a while, Contreras said fiercely, “In that case, why don’t we just deport the refugees to the Kingdom of Prussia and let the enemy have a headache?”
Obodo sighed, “That’s hard to do. The refugees are so large in number that they won’t listen to our command, and once the news spreads, the biggest possibility is to scatter in all directions.
Besides, it won’t be long before we launch another attack on the enemy, and these refugees will still have to be dealt with by us in the end.”
Contreras shook his head, “Obodo you’ve changed, the original you wouldn’t be so indecisive.
The refugees will definitely not be expelled, and we don’t need to expel all of them, as long as we expel half of them, the rest won’t be able to make any big waves.
As for the future, we can wait until then, what we need to do now is to complete the mission. After the war is over, we’ll have plenty of time to deal with the refugees.”
Obodo nodded, “Perhaps, people always have to grow. The last time was a big enough lesson, now things have to be done with more consideration, maybe that’s the real me.
Still, deporting the refugees is a good proposal, at least it’s more acceptable than massacring them, and perhaps that’s what St. Petersburg wants to see.”
……
With Obodo’s order, the Polish region was in complete chaos.
Starting first with the cities, the Russians didn’t have time to separate that much, and many citizens in ragged clothes suffered unmercifully.
It made people panic, and ordinary people did not dare to go out easily, for fear of being treated as refugees.
Where there is oppression, there is resistance.
However, how can the ordinary people be the army’s opponent, the Russian army is also known for its ruthlessness, the way to deal with only one word – kill!
If one person resisted, kill one person; if a thousand people resisted, kill a thousand.
In short, the Russians firmly believe that there is nothing that can not be solved by the butcher’s knife, and if there is, then it must be not enough to kill.
The bloody storm started by Obodo proved to be so effective that there was no need to line up an army to expel them, and the refugees spontaneously ran away when they saw the shadow of the Russian army.
For a time the mountain bandits all disappeared, either running away or hiding, leaving only the guerrillas to fight alone.
……
Austrian Embassy in Warsaw, Minister Andrew’s mood is very bad, since the Russian army expelled the refugees, the number of people applying for immigration instantly became less.
It’s not that the Russians prevented Austria from receiving immigrants, but mainly that the expulsion of the refugees incidentally also expelled those who would have been able to immigrate.
It was not that the Russians were deliberately messing things up, it was that they were all mixed in with the refugees, and unless they took the initiative to identify themselves, there was no way for the Russian soldiers to distinguish between them.
Looking at the murderous Russian soldiers, too few people dared to take the initiative to go forward to the surface identity, most of the people went with the flow, followed the army to run away.
When Minister Andrew reacted and protested to the Russians, it was already too late. People have already left, can’t let the Russians drive back again?
Without the refugees as the main force, the number of people applying for immigration instantly dropped drastically, and unless the vetting criteria were relaxed, the immigration work could not be completed.
The official in charge of immigration, Bo Duojia, asked, “Your Excellency, what did the Russians say?”
Andrew replied with a bitter smile, “Regretful, sorry, no way!”
This answer was just too breathless, but it happened to speak the truth. The Russians really had no way out now, and it was impossible for Austria to dwell on this question.
“What about our emigration efforts, bearing in mind that not so long ago we assured the country that we would get at least three hundred thousand emigrants in the Polish area.
Judging by the current situation, I’m afraid we’re at most halfway there. Damn Slavic barbarians, don’t know how to use their brains when doing things ……” Bordeaux complained in a bad mood
Minister Andrews understands Bordeaux’s feelings, the cooked duck suddenly flew away, whoever puts it in his heart will not be happy. Only the matter has come to this point, and then scolding will not help.
“Mr. Borduga, now is not the time to complain. Still as soon as possible to report things to the domestic, the next thing is not we can deal with.
However, judging from the current situation, there is nothing the country can do. After the Russians deport the refugees to Prussia, I’m afraid these people will be ruined.”
Bodo Duo Jia nodded, understanding what Minister Andrews meant. “Wasted” did not mean physically wasted, but mainly mentally.
When the Prussian army was in control of the Warsaw area, relief food was distributed once a week, and the refugees were still able to observe basic social order.
When the Russians came and stopped the relief rations, the social order naturally broke down. Those who had reserves were still struggling to make ends meet, and those who did not were already out looking for a living.
Digging up wild vegetables, gnawing on tree bark, or falling into the grass. The Russians had just arrived not long ago, and the outbreak of the famine was still short enough that everyone was still barely alive, and most people still had their sanity.
With the expulsion of the Russians, this crisis was magnified, and there was not so much food on the road. Once people are hungry, they will do anything.
The “food for the hungry” is not just a historical allusion, it’s about to start happening.
Even if a person survives such an event, he is no longer a real human being, but only an upright walking animal, spiritually ruined.
……
(End of chapter)