Chapter 78 The Joint Parade

At midnight on June 23rd, the Austrian border, long silent, boiled like a volcano, the soldiers of the Yugoslav Fatherland Army, and their families, in the darkness of the night, ran to freedom.

Uncertainty about the future of the heart is not inevitable, in the men’s yell, women and children on board the wagon, or directly on foot to the north, such a big movement of the British do not know, but the proximity of the Serbian camp of the Croats, the Slovenes can not be unaware of it.

Soon the news spread, and the Croats and Slovenes caught wind of it, and although they did not know exactly what was going on, their instincts drove them, to follow the actions of the Serbs.

This brings us to the history of Yugoslavia, whose recent history can be summarized as the history of Serbia’s creation of Greater Yugoslavia trying to annex and integrate other peoples but failing.

In Yugoslavia, the Serbian population was only a majority among the separate nationalities, but far from half. The name of the first Yugoslavia, “Kingdom of Serbs-Croats-Slovaks”, indicates the nature of the country, which was formed by the union of different Yugoslav nationalities, and the Serbs were only the majority of the population, but outside of the Serbs the other regional nationalities were much more numerous than the Serbian population. Serbian population.

Though not the dominant ethnic group, Serbs did dominate the Kingdom of Yugoslavia during its short history, possessing the ability to influence other ethnic groups in a subtle way.

Both Croats and Slovaks, despite their hostility toward the Serbs, subconsciously acted in accordance with the Serbs’ standards, and at midnight on this day, this mentality was on full display.

When there was so much commotion in the Serbian camp, it was made known to the neighboring Croats, and although they did not know exactly what purpose the Serbs had in mind, under Tito’s high pressure, the Croats and the predominantly Serbian Fatherland Army were in the midst of an environment where they reported on the Serbs for warmth.

As for this mentality, see the Serbs to the north, the Croats instinctively follow, and then the Slovenes, domino effect appeared.

The Austrian border at midnight was bustling, as noisy as a downtown, with torches and people intertwined, moving toward the north.

If someone was able to turn on God’s view and notice the details of this movement, they would be very surprised to find that a movement involving 200,000 people had perfectly avoided the camps where the occupying forces were located.

Of course this made sense, after all, the situation in Austria was now unique, the British army only had two battalions in the British-occupied part of Austria, and the American and French occupations were similar, Austria was effectively under the control of the Soviet army, it was only for the greater good that the Soviet Red Army was all over the Soviet-occupied part of the country, and gave courtesy to the Americans, the British and the French.

This one loophole, which even those involved would not have noticed, became a fatal oversight at this point, and became a footnote in the world-shaking exodus.

The fugitives moving northward, their bodies filled with strength, the way of life was ahead, all the fatigue and anxiety disappeared. Northward and northward and northward again was their only purpose now.

At this time there were no Serbs, no Croats, no Slovenes, they were all one kind of people, people avoiding repatriation and waiting for Tito to liquidate them.

At night, a long human army of torches roused Austria from its calm, but for Europe, which had been at war for years, this little murmur was really nothing.

Hundreds of kilometers away in Berlin, but is holding a victory celebration, and history is different, this time the victory parade three months early, just united victory over Germany’s comradeship is still there, and the expected Potsdam conference will be held in a few days, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France are doing their best to create an atmosphere of unity.

Everyone knew that the war was not yet over, Japan was still struggling to survive, and the British and American forces in the Pacific were still fighting the Japanese, so it was very important to persuade the Soviet Union to join the war against Japan.

The meeting has not yet begun, in fact, all things can only be regarded as unknown, as far as Alan Wilson’s understanding, Japan’s defeat on the eve of the war has been some signs of desperation, and even put the hope on the Soviet Union.

Counting on the Soviet Union to mediate after all step by step the United States, conditional withdrawal from the war. This is not incomprehensible, in fact, and the Germans hope to surrender to the Western Front, the Germans understand very well in their hearts, what they did in the East Front lack of virtue, so avoid falling into the hands of the Soviet Union.

The Japanese had the opposite mentality, choosing between the Soviet Union and the Americans, it was quite normal that the Japanese would appear to be placing their hopes on the Soviet Union to avoid being cleaned up by the Americans.

At eight o’clock in the morning, at the Berlin parade ground, the soldiers of the four countries participating in the parade, the United States, the Soviet Union, Britain and France, were ready, and at the same time in Moscow’s Red Square, the Soviet Victory Parade followed the same steps. Marshal Rokossovsky was the commander-in-chief of the Red Square parade, while the commander-in-chief of the joint parade in Berlin was Marshal Zhukov.

Rokossovsky appeared on Red Square with the bells of the Kremlin Clock Tower, and after the command “Attention, the parade begins”, the autoharp rang ten times, the military band played Glinka’s famous song “Glory to the Russian People”, and Marshal Rokossovsky rode through the Spassky Gate on a white horse. Entering Red Square, Marshal Rokossovsky, the chief commander of the parade, reported to Stalin: “Comrade Stalin, the ranks of the active troops, naval units and the Moscow Garrison for the parade have been assembled, please review!”

“Ulla ……” Naturally, Allen Wilson was deaf to Moscow’s airy cheers, but the Soviet soldiers chanting Ulla to Marshal Zhukov at the joint parade in Berlin was equally side-splitting to participants from other countries.

Even Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery recognized the spirit displayed by the Soviet soldiers on parade.

“What I see are the battle-hardened and resolute faces of the soldiers and the eyes that exude a joyful mood; it is the newly made uniforms that the soldiers wear, with medals and decorations shining on them.” Marshal Zhukov addressed the soldiers on parade, “People all over the world who cherish peace are grateful in their hearts for the contribution made by the brave soldiers, and this gratitude includes the Soviet Union, as well as the great allies, the United States of America, Great Britain, France, and so on and so forth among the other allied nations. Today, on this day of great rejoicing, we would like to pay great and noble tribute to them, and glory belongs to all the heroes who have sacrificed their lives for this war.”

“Ulla!” Zhukov’s speech finished, the Soviet soldiers in the joint parade chanted again.

General Eisenhower gave Field Marshal Montgomery a meaningful look, and thought he should talk to the British.