Perhaps no one could have thought that a small sentry could be closely linked to the fate of all mankind. When mentioning the incident where China, the United States and the Soviet Union may have fired fire during the Cold War, many people will always think of the first thing to do is to Cuban missile crisis. , the confrontation between the two sides of submarine . However, in fact, as early as the year before the Cuban crisis, at the Charlie checkpoint on the East Berlin and West Berlin , the Soviet tanks confronted the US tanks, and the two sides almost blew away. The war was almost about to break out, and the whole world was suffocated.
Checkpoint Charlie is located in an ordinary guardhouse in the center of Berlin. Today, it is a famous tourist attraction. Many people will come here to commemorate the past. However, decades ago, when Germans talked about this checkpoint, they were always secretive, because this checkpoint is closely related to the fate of the entire Germany and even mankind.
After World War II , Germany was occupied by the Allies in the subdistrict. Soon, the western region occupied by Western countries led by the United States established a federal Germany, also called West Germany . The eastern region controlled by the Soviet Union established a democratic Germany, called East Germany. Germany fell into a long-term era of division, and Berlin, as the capital of Germany, was divided into two parts, becoming East Berlin and West Berlin. If the personnel of both sides want to hand over, they have to pass through several checkpoints. The names of these checkpoints are actually very simple. Checkpoint Charlie actually means Checkpoint No. 3, and it is nothing special. It is one of the important imports and exports between East Germany and West Germany. However, compared with other checkpoints, this checkpoint still has a certain speciality, that is, the users of this checkpoint are generally military personnel and diplomatic personnel from both sides. This is the only checkpoint that allows armed personnel from both sides to cross-border. This checkpoint is actually just a beige wooden shed similar to the scenic spot convenience store or newspaper booth. The Berlin Wall in Germany was not as high as today, and in most places, you can actually step over with just a lift of your legs. However, the continuous heightening and reinforcement of Berlin Wall later was closely related to this checkpoint.
In the winter of 1961, American diplomat Alan Letterner took his wife to East Germany to watch an opera. This was originally understandable because diplomatic personnel exchanged very frequently between the two sides, but just as the official returned to Checkpoint Charlie, he was suddenly detained by the stationed personnel on the East German side. They asked U.S. prosecutors to show their documents or they would not have been let go. The American was angry at the time and was unwilling to show it. But unexpectedly, the East German police refused to give in, and the two sides quarreled fiercely. In the end, Letterner decided not to pay attention to these East German police officers, but instead kicked the accelerator and tried to pass the barrier by force. When East German police saw that the American officials wanted to break through, they immediately mobilized the military vehicle , surrounded the US ambassador's car, and caught him in the guard room and imprisoned him. In fact, this incident was instructed by the Soviet Union from beginning to end, because at that time, many people defected, reunited with their relatives on the other side of the barbed wire.
At the beginning, the Soviet Union was still very law-abiding and extraditioned all the stowaways they found, but Western countries led by the United States adopted another method to disgust the Soviet Union. The conflict between the two sides occurred in September 1961, when a photographer named Horst stood in a car and took photos of the barbed wire of the checkpoint Charlie. However, he suddenly jumped, jumped over the barbed wire, and fled to West Germany. The Americans on the other side not only did not stop him, but helped him up and sent him to the city of West Germany. This made the Soviets very angry, so the Soviet Union has always wanted to find an opportunity to retaliate against the United States. The reason why the Soviet Union wanted to seize American officials was actually just to give the United States a warning to tell Americans not to provoke the Soviet Union's bottom line next time, and also to see what the Americans will react to this incident.
But unexpectedly, this Soviet operation hit the iron plate. At that time, the highest commander of the United States stationed in Berlin was named Lucius Klay, who was the most typical hardliner against the Soviet Union. After hearing that American officials were detained by the Soviet Union, he immediately ordered a team of armed American soldiers to rush into the East Germany guard room and snatch the American officials' family out. All this happened within three hours, and he also told the Soviet Union that if American officials enter East Germany again and are required to show their documents, the United States will use weapons to forcibly pass the barrier. The statement struck the Soviets, who did not expect the Americans to be even tougher than they did. At this time, when Khrushchev heard about the US's statement, he said that this was a shameless provocation of Western imperialism and the Soviet Union would not have any compromise. As a result, the smell of gunpowder on the border between the two sides became stronger and stronger.
After just two days, the tension escalated again. An American official wanted to enter East Berlin through Checkpoint Charlie. When the East Berlin police asked him to show his ID, he claimed that he did not bring it. The East German police naturally would not allow this American official to enter the East German community. At this time, General Clay suddenly ordered ten m48 tanks to drive to the Charlie Checkpoint and armed escort the diplomats to pass through. At this time, ten tanks were parked less than 10 meters away from the checkpoint, and several tanks were equipped with bulldozers specially used to knock down buildings. At this time, the shells were loaded in the American tanks, and all the tanks were aimed at the East Germany side. As long as you give the order, you will forcibly pass the level.
After learning about the situation on the front line, Khrushchev immediately asked Minister of Defense Marshal Malinovsky to respond with force. The highest Soviet commander stationed in East Germany at that time was one of the three troikas of the Soviet Union, Konev, who immediately ordered the t55 tank cluster to head to the Charlie Checkpoint. At 6 o'clock in the evening, the American soldiers who were waiting for orders on the front line suddenly heard a deafening roar from East Germany. More than a dozen Soviet T55 tanks had already arrived opposite the American tanks, and all the muzzles were aimed at the American tanks, and they were about to be launched at a command.
As time gradually passed, the Soviets had more and more tanks, and they began to encircle and detour the American tanks from two aspects. Once a conflict occurs, all American tanks will become live targets at that time. The American commander was sweating all over. Now the commander of the entire army was just a major named Tom Terry. He did not have the power to kill and kill. He quickly asked all infantry bazooka to open the insurance, and also asked everyone to collect bottles, gasoline and alcohol in the houses, and began to urgently manufacture local mobilization bottles. The situation has now developed to an uncontrollable point. It is not just a matter of concern for the face of both countries. Both sides are already in a difficult situation. As long as anyone takes a step back, all his prestige will be lost. Under tremendous pressure, the two superpowers chose to continue to confront each other, and every second of the confrontation, the danger increased by one point.
At night, both sides turned on the searchlight on the positions, illuminating each other, and the soldiers on both sides could not open their eyes. At this moment, the Soviet Union began to play "1812 overture ", a music compiled by Soviet musician Tchaikovsky. It was often used as the background music for war mobilization during World War II. As the exciting music sounded, the situation between the two sides became more subtle. At that time, the Soviet Union had considerable advantages in ground equipment. Soviet tanks were one generation ahead of the American tanks, and at that time, the Soviet Union also had the largest number of armored forces in the world. Under this situation, the United States began to enter a first-level combat readiness state. The American nuclear submarine in the Bering Strait all floated up, and dozens of nuclear warheads locked on major cities in the Soviet Union. They wanted to threaten the Soviet Union with the outbreak of nuclear war . Under such pressure, Khrushchev decided to compromise and he called Kennedy .On the phone, Kennedy made a statement that the United States had no intention of East Berlin. If possible, he hoped that the Soviet tanks could retreat a little, and the American tanks would also retreat a little. In this way, neither side would lose face. So the tanks of both sides retreated back by about ten meters at almost the same time. In a sense, the great crisis in human history ended like this.
1989, with the demolition of the Berlin Wall, Charlie's checkpoint stood his last shift. East Germany and West Germany had merged, and there was no need for these checkpoints to exist. But on the original site of the checkpoint, a checkpoint exactly the same as that of the past was rebuilt, allowing people to recall the turbulent past.
