Ponomarenko, who was far away in Moscow, received puzzling news on the afternoon of May 22.
He took this message and walked around in circles in the large office of his guerrilla movement headquarters, while all his subordinates could only watch their superiors walking around in circles.
It was the content of the message that made him so confused. He frowned for a while, then finally looked at all the staff and asked suspiciously: "Does everyone believe them? They invented a new rocket and bombed it directly.
Chernigov! The chaos it created is huge!”
This was an emergency meeting held by Ponomarenko. The attendees included a large number of guerrilla zone liaison officers, staff officers, and several officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. They had all read the telegram, and no one was not shocked by the document.
Moreover, there are many intelligence facts, and there was indeed a major chaos in Chernihiv, so much so that the entire city was under martial law.
A staff officer raised his hand and stood up: "Comrade Commander-in-Chief! I think there is something fishy about this matter! According to other information we have, chaos did occur in Chernigov. Is it really the 63rd Army that caused all this? We
According to the intelligence obtained from the German army, the enemy claimed that the guerrillas had planted a large number of bombs and detonated them in a surprise attack when executing the captured guerrillas, thus causing chaos."
"Yes! Sergeysky! I also know the information you mentioned. However, our comrades in Chernihiv claimed that they did see something like a meteor hitting the city, and triggered a fire
Violent explosion. Maybe this is a new invention of the guerrilla republic!"
"Maybe?" Another staff officer stood up, "With all due respect, Comrade Commander-in-Chief, they claim that this is a new rocket they invented, nicknamed Flying Fish, but let's do some calculations on the map! The rocket must fly
It has to go 40 kilometers before landing in Chernihiv. Is this possible? I don’t know much about weapons production, but I at least know that our Katyusha rocket launcher can only fly up to ten kilometers. I really can’t imagine it.
They in the swamp can actually produce more advanced weapons than our Kirov factory!"
All the participants had great doubts about Salynchkin's past telegrams. No one recklessly asserted that Salynchkin was bragging, and no one was sure that the chaos in Chernihiv was caused by local guerrillas.
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The city has entered a state of martial law, and the local guerrilla organization has also suffered heavy losses. However, radio contact still exists, but their activities will be more covert.
Ponomarenko could confirm that the German puppet troops stationed here killed a large number of civilians, and the German military camps and the granaries they controlled also suffered serious damage.
From Ponomarenko's point of view, he is of course very willing to believe that Salinchkin's telegrams are true, because he was the First Secretary of Belarus, and if it had not been for the war, he would still be the leader of the union republic.
Nowadays, there is only swampland left in the whole of Belarus, a large piece of land that has never been eaten by the enemy. Belekov and Salinchkin have launched many large-scale battles here, and the results achieved are not insignificant!
When they expanded the guerrilla zone around the swamp, there was no doubt that as the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla movement, Ponomarenko had something to brag about in front of Stalin.
Only this time, a report based on this cable was written and submitted to the Kremlin. Wouldn’t the leader think that the guerrilla republic was bragging this time? Who would believe that there really is a rocket launcher with a range of 40 kilometers?
Only a traitor would hope that the Soviet army would fail. Everyone present at the meeting hoped from the bottom of their hearts that the contents of the telegram were true. However, everyone also knew Stalin's temper, and most people were afraid of him.
Whoever reports the document must be responsible for its content. If he has lied about military information, the Ministry of Internal Affairs will act in accordance with the regulations without mercy, that is, he will be shot!
There was a lot of discussion in the office, like swarms of flies buzzing together, which made Ponomarenko very upset.
He yelled: "Stop arguing! As for whether the Guerrilla Republic really bombarded Chernihiv with rocket launchers, let's put this matter aside for the time being!"
The office fell silent. After a moment of silence, a staff officer raised his hand again: "So, how should we report to the leader? After all, even if it was an attack launched by guerrillas in the city, as the German army claimed, those sitting here
As you all know, the guerrilla republic is so special that they can launch large-scale offensives without listening to our restraints! Did we let them attack Chernihiv? No!
The order we gave them was just to rescue the 17th Guerrilla Brigade in distress, and they completed the task very well. Don't you know what they did after that?
Yes! They carried out large-scale mobilization and fought a decisive battle with the invading Romanian Sixth Division! Although they won the battle, their move was already disobedience!
They decided to fight the enemy without authorization. At least they won, and the leader would not blame them, and would even reward them. However, we cannot give them all the credit. The other guerrilla forces are still watching! I think this time
The credit for the attack on Chernihiv belongs to the local guerrillas. After all, the enemy thinks so too, so why don’t we publicize it so objectively that we can also encourage the guerrillas in other cities in occupied areas?!”
Hearing these words, Ponomarenko felt quite unhappy. He rolled his eyes at the man and saw that he was wearing a blue hat. As a senior political worker, it was not surprising that he gave such a mechanical answer.
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In the guerrilla movement headquarters, and even in most Soviet agencies, senior officers and officials are very disgusted with their subordinates not doing things according to the plan. Even if the subordinates change the plan in order to complete the task well, as the boss, the first thing that comes to mind is to follow the plan.
Regulations impose penalties.
The reason for this is that Stalin was a person who paid attention to order. Besides, in today's guerrilla movement headquarters, except for the supreme commander Ponomarenko, their understanding of guerrilla warfare still lies in the book written by Lenin.
Compared with the flexible fighting of local guerrillas, they are more concerned about whether these troops are absolutely loyal to the Soviet Union and can obey absolute commands and execute orders. Isn't this proof of loyalty?
Ponomarenko is not the kind of rigid person. Compared with the real power he held in Belarus before the war, now he is just commanding guerrillas in various places through a radio remote control in a house in Moscow! Not to mention the Belarusian ministers in the Council of Ministers
The seat was temporarily revoked and replaced by the guerrilla republic, of which Ponomarenko was the first secretary.
Doesn't this mean that Belarus has not perished, but continues to exist in a new attitude?
Considering that several senior personnel from the Ministry of Internal Affairs were present, it was difficult for Ponomarenko to refute anything. He rolled his eyes at his subordinate, a staff officer and pig teammate, and then reluctantly said: "What you said makes some sense.
, we should encourage the guerrillas fighting on other battlefields."
Then, he changed the topic: "However, the guerrillas in Chernihiv refuse to admit that all sabotage actions are their fault. Even so, we have to impose credit on them? This is wrong! Today, we just lack evidence.
, we cannot prove that the guerrilla republic really has rockets with a range of 40 kilometers, nor can we prove that the chaos in Chernigov was also caused by them. Until the matter is completely resolved, the matter will not be reported! But the Romanian one
The infantry division was severely disabled, which can be reported! The Soviet Union needs to win!
For us, the military operation planned by us that started on May 5 finally came to an end with victory. The 17th Guerrilla Brigade suffered huge casualties, and the enemy's casualties were not also very huge? Regardless of whether the Guerrilla Republic was in the decisive battle with the Romanian Army or not.
If they behave disobediently, they will bring us a great victory, and those of us in charge of the guerrilla movement can also report to the leaders."