Chapter 58: A Man Must Protect Himself

“The High Command has decided that after the New Year we will cross the Vistula River and launch an offensive into the German homeland. The time for revenge and justice has come.”

After sitting down, Beria issued orders without preamble. “The industrial production tasks in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Magnitogorsk must be completed on schedule to ensure the smooth progress of the campaign. Riasnoy, your mission is of utmost importance.”

Beria looked at Riasnoy, who was the top official overseeing the Soviet Gulag system, currently responsible for a significant portion of production tasks, including industrial work performed by German prisoners of war.

“We will absolutely fulfill the mission, Commissar General,” Riasnoy replied briskly. “We will never allow the front-line troops to suffer from ammunition shortages. The old days of the Tsarist regime will not be repeated.”

Beria nodded solemnly, adjusted his glasses, and inquired, “What were you discussing just now? There’s no discipline at all.”

When Beria spoke this way, he was not really asking a question but prompting his subordinates to reveal the issue themselves.

“There’s a French soldier in Moscow, quite an interesting fellow,” Beria’s assistant, Merkulov, explained directly. “He wants to inspect the German POW camps. I was questioning this fellow’s background when the Commissar General came in.”

“Just about that?” Beria felt at a loss for words and turned to Koblov in a soliciting tone. “Did you get the information?”

“Yes, I did.” Koblov, feeling finally entrusted with the matter, responded while holding the investigation report. “This French soldier who remained in Moscow is young, but his family background is notable. His father was an officer in the former French Mandate of Syria. During the Syria-Lebanon campaign, he led a military coup that overthrew the Vichy French command and joined the Free French movement. He currently commands the French First Army Group.”

“Oh, quite a significant figure,” Beria remarked with little concern. “Since you’ve been discussing him, it must have some value.”

“After this young man stayed in Moscow...” Merkulov elaborated on Coman’s comments about the heavy Soviet losses and the state of basic education, concluding, “He now wants to inspect the German POW camps with the intention of applying a labor reform system to German prisoners within France. We were debating whether to refuse him.”

Beria finally understood what his key aides had been discussing and made a direct decision. “A flat refusal is impossible. Refusing outright would imply problems within the Gulag. Since it’s merely an inspection of the POW camps, there’s no need to hide anything. Western European countries do not necessarily hate the Germans any less than we do.”

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“Then I will make the arrangements.” Riasnoy promptly aligned himself with his superior’s conclusion. Since France and the Soviet Union had just signed a mutual trade assistance treaty, refusal would be difficult. “Many German POWs are employed in industrial production in Sverdlovsk, where the conditions are relatively decent, not overly harsh.”

There are harsher environments than Sverdlovsk—places in Siberia like Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, and Novosibirsk Oblast where German POWs suffer terribly under the brutal weather, resulting in higher mortality rates.

But that’s not all. Siberia ranks second in harshness; first place goes to German POWs assigned to mining operations within the Arctic Circle—iron mines on the Kola Peninsula and the polar railway projects—where death rates far exceed those in Siberia.

“This French soldier is quite young. Can we capture his interest and win him over?” Beria considered that Coman’s father was a French military general and turned to Merkulov.

“The young man is very cautious, suspicious even of the female translators assigned to him,” Merkulov replied. “His mindset is quite imperialistic. Though young men can often be swayed by beauty, his vigilance is difficult to overcome.”

Koblov, the serious head of intelligence, gave his opinion: “I don’t think it’s suitable to try that here. He will only lower his guard once he returns to France proper. Of course, it’s worth a try. If it fails, we can activate the intelligence network we have among overseas expatriates.”

Meanwhile, Pavlov kept a close eye on Coman, who was showing great interest in the Moscow metro. Why was this French soldier riding the subway and even covering the whole line? Was imperialism trying to steal secrets of the Soviet capital’s metro network?

Coman ignored the Ministry of Internal Affairs officer’s class-conscious glare, simply feeling there were many attractive women on the metro and letting out a rare honest remark: “There sure are a lot of beautiful women.”

Pavlov’s fists clenched at that but he chose to pretend not to hear. “The Western Front is still at war; you seem rather leisurely here in Moscow.”

“That’s beyond my control. The Germans have concentrated eighty percent of their forces on the Eastern Front to resist the Soviet advance. The Western Front has only 700,000 troops. The Allied command’s plan is clear: wait until Germany collapses, then pour forces across the line to take the German prisoners,” Coman explained cheerfully, outlining the tactical situation before Germany’s downfall in the first half of 1945. If there were a video record, one would see the entire Western Front largely inactive until February 1945, when the Allies suddenly broke through along the Western Front and the Alpine line, prompting the mass surrender of German forces.

After surrender, the task of distributing prisoners and rebuilding began. Coman was not idle; he even followed Georgi Pidul’s visit to the Soviet Union.

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He knew that three to four million German prisoners would soon appear. The United States, unaffected by the war, did not need reconstruction.

These prisoners would surely be allocated to countries needing rebuilding. Of the three to four million German POWs on the Western Front, France would receive at least one million.

Managing this vast number required a dedicated department. This was the reason Coman sought to study the Gulag system—the only one with such management experience.

During the few days waiting for a response from Lubyanka, Coman roamed around Moscow and was approached twice by women. This indicated how rare a normal man was within the Soviet Union. Yet he declined both, fearing the Soviets might assign him a few “Mao sisters.”

The promising Second Lieutenant Coman was unwilling to hand over any leverage. Though the “Mao sisters” were beautiful, they were not enough to dampen his career ambitions.

Koblov, head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs intelligence, grumbled upon hearing the report, “I told you, it’s impossible to succeed. The young man’s vigilance is extremely high.”

Before the Russian New Year, Lubyanka finally responded, permitting Coman to inspect the German POW camp in Sverdlovsk—Yekaterinburg—where German prisoners worked in factories and were relatively presentable.

Coman, who had been eyeing beautiful women, eagerly awaited this approval and immediately requested departure. This time, two Ministry of Internal Affairs officers accompanied him—Pavlov and a female officer, as the saying goes, “a man and woman working together is less tiring,” something Coman could understand.

However, when the female officer stretched, revealing a well-endowed figure hidden beneath her uniform, Coman, a rustic Frenchman, was visibly intimidated.

“Not afraid your buttons might pop?” Coman remarked through the window, gazing at the bleak snowy landscape. Were it not for restrictions, he would have brought several embassy personnel to ensure his safety. The Soviet Union was too dangerous; a man must protect himself when abroad.