According to the Soviet time zone division of the country, Minsk time is one hour later than Moscow time. When Ponomarenko himself received the telegram from the Partisan Republic, it was already 9:30 pm in Moscow.
It was a bit late, but most of the Moscow residents were still in good spirits. On the eve of the war, Moscow's population exceeded five million, making it the largest city in the Soviet Union. During the defense battle, Moscow evacuated one person at a time.
Population of over one million.
There were also more than one million citizens who either urgently joined the Red Army or picked up shovels and hammers to dig trenches and build fortifications.
The urban area of Moscow was very large. Even though it once had a population of five million, the entire city still seemed sparse. After the defense war, a large number of people were evacuated, and they returned to the factories in the city and started working hard on production.
After the German offensive failed, its air force also made several retaliatory actions by bombing Moscow. However, this bombing was purely thankless. The Soviet army deployed a large number of anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns in the capital, and the number of anti-aircraft balloons increased to 6,000 at night.
Meters high in the sky!
The German Henschel bomber was their best, but the performance of this aircraft was still too bad! Gradually, this kind of retaliatory bombing gradually turned into a "protest demonstration", and their harassment of Moscow could be ignored.
As excited as the majority of workers is Ponomarenko himself. He estimates that he may not be able to sleep all night today!
Because the new battle will break out on May 19, at two o'clock in the morning Kiev time! After the artillery preparations were completed, half a million soldiers launched an attack. At four thirty in the morning, the sun rose, and they and the rising sun
, launched a huge general attack on the German positions.
This battle, the Kharkov Offensive, was the largest strategic counteroffensive planned by the Soviet army in 1942.
The focus of this counterattack is to capture Kharkov, a transportation hub and an important industrial and manufacturing center. According to the plan of the Soviet Army Staff Headquarters, this operation is a joint effort of the Southwest Front Army, the Southern Front Army and the Crimean Front Army.
action.
Although the core of the battle is to capture Kharkov, with hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops in Crimea participating in the offensive linkage, the core purpose of the Soviet army in the entire strategic situation has completely become to pass the nearly 400 kilometers of
A large-scale attack, attacking from two directions, planned to surround the German troops in the Donbas Basin and eat them in one go.
This is a very bold strategy. As long as Kharkov is captured and the front is stabilized, half of the strategy is completed.
At present, no one at the top of the Soviet Union is pessimistic. Throughout the first half of the year, the Soviet army's counteroffensive across the board has made a series of significant progress. It is obvious that the Soviet army is advancing with great success, but the German army is retreating steadily. Most generals and marshals
They all believed that as long as the Red Army continued its offensive, the Germans would definitely be driven out of the border on the Russian Christmas Day in 1943!
Ponomarenko was full of confidence in the future. He expected Timoshenko and his hundreds of thousands of troops from the Southwest Front to achieve victory quickly. For this reason, did he still have a reason to sleep soundly?
Moreover, he has another reason not to sleep soundly. That is, the 17th Guerrilla Brigade's attack on the Ukrainian city of Gorodniya failed. He knows that it is useless to be upset. Fortunately, the essence of this unit still exists.
, let them rest in the Pripet Swamp and receive supplies from the Guerrilla Republic, and they will surely be able to quickly regain their strength. Moreover, as long as that Belekov teaches them some advanced guerrilla warfare tactics, the combat effectiveness of the guerrilla brigade will be greatly improved.
!
According to the order given to the Guerrilla Republic, the elite troops they sent across the Dnieper River should end up in the forest city of Slavdich! Just capture this place, hold it, and then guide the guerrilla brigade to the city.
At four o'clock in the afternoon on May 18, Ponomarenko received a telegram from the guerrilla brigade. The brigade commander reported two things. One was that they were approaching the forest, and the other was the fact that the Romanian army was pursuing them.
This moment made people a little nervous, and Ponomarenko thought for a while. He personally looked down on these Nazi slave countries, and was full of confidence in the 63rd Army in the swamp. He immediately ordered to the brigade commander Miroshniko: "
You should arrive in the forest as soon as possible and do not take the initiative to provoke those Romanian pursuers. After you enter the forest, rest for now. Tomorrow, the 63rd Army in the swamp will capture Slavtich. After the battle starts, you can join them immediately."
Ponomarenko's wishful thinking worked out, and as a result, a telegram from the Guerrilla Republic suddenly arrived.
He enthusiastically took the telegraph operator's manuscript, and was so surprised that the iron teapot in his hand fell directly to the ground.
In the office, a loud shout came: "Is the speed of this group of people thunder and lightning? They are too fast! They actually liberated Slavdzic six hours ago?! Why didn't they report it earlier! It also makes me happy earlier.
!”
Now Ponomarenko is excited, but also a little regretful. In his opinion, if Berekov had reported three hours in the morning, he would not have issued such an order to Miroshniko. Instead, he would have ordered the man and him
The exhausted guerrilla brigade soldiers gritted their teeth and ran desperately towards Slavdzic. If that were the case, the two armies would have fought as soon as it got dark!
To this end, he immediately sent multiple telegrams back to the Guerrilla Republic, the core of which was this.
"The telegram ordered the frontline troops of the 63rd Group Army to station in Slavdich City and send a reconnaissance unit to advance to the eastern edge of the forest to search for the 17th Guerrilla Brigade that entered the forest."
This telegram came very quickly, Yevlov was ecstatic, and the order was quickly passed to Yang Mingzhi in Slavdich.
It was not yet ten o'clock in the evening. Even though Yang Mingzhi was full of energy, his physical fatigue still drove him to sleep. He lay down on the wooden table to take a nap, and soon he heard the sound of snoring.
Diana and several other telegraph operators accompanying the army were stationed at the frontline headquarters, and they agreed to take turns on duty to ensure that no telegrams would be missed at any time.
Today, she had experienced a siege battle, and her mental exhaustion made her drowsy. As long as she persisted until eleven o'clock in the evening, she could change her shift!
She just sat quietly, thinking of interesting things in her mind to dispel boredom.
Suddenly, the telegraph machine beeped, which not only shocked her, but also alerted Yang Mingzhi from his nap.
The telegram from the army headquarters was quickly translated, and the content was shocking!
"It's unbelievable. The co-author's superiors hope that the guerrilla brigade will capture this city, and then we, who have arrived belatedly, will join forces with them and lead the people across the river?! Does this Ponomarenko think too highly of them? Or does he hope that these
Can the guerrilla brigade fighters finally win the battle so that they don’t look ugly?”
After talking to himself, Yang Mingzhi immediately issued an order to the guards: "Abram, take people to each army camp and call all the officers to the headquarters! I want to convene an emergency military order!"
Abram left with a group of guards, and Yang Mingzhi also changed his embarrassed look. He asked Diana to put the telegraph machine aside, and he laid the folded map again on the table.
Soon, the regiment and battalion-level commanders who were already sleeping hurried over. As soon as they sat down, Yang Mingzhi announced loudly: "Comrades! We have just received the order from our superiors! The superiors have liberated Slavdich for us in advance.
He sent a congratulatory message to us for their heroic feat and informed us that the comrades of the 17th Guerrilla Brigade had arrived at the edge of the forest before dark! Our superiors ordered us to find them immediately and bring them into the city!"
Suddenly, the officers had different opinions.
"They came so fast! I thought we wouldn't find them until tomorrow."
"Tomorrow? Lavrenti, I thought they would arrive the day after tomorrow."
…
Yang Mingzhi knocked on the table: "Everyone, please be quiet! In any case, we can confirm that the guerrilla brigade is very close to us. Our superiors have given us a very urgent order. We must find them tonight!"
However, we will not blindly search in the forest. The superiors also gave them orders to order the guerrilla brigade to move west along the road. We also sent troops to go east along the road!
Now let’s discuss, whose troops are willing to take on the job of searching and welcoming?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Balzen raised his hands and stood up without thinking: "Let me do it! We are professionals in search work!"
"However, the soldiers of the reconnaissance camp have spent a lot of energy in today's battle. Your soldiers are too tired!"
"No! If we say we are tired, all the comrades sitting here, and even all the comrades participating in this battle, are tired!" Balzen patted his chest and said: "Commander, leave this glorious mission to us! I
We will bring back the comrades of the guerrilla brigade intact!"