A full-scale war will break out in the entire Gomel Region, and it is no longer appropriate to call it the Svetlogorsk Offensive.
On the evening of the 25th, Yang Mingzhi sent the preliminary plan for defending the city drawn up by the Guerrilla Republic to the guerrilla movement headquarters in Moscow, and Ponomarenko also quickly convened an emergency meeting.
"Berekov sent an urgent telegram. They are not afraid of the aggressive enemy, and they will defend Lechica tenaciously. This battle means that the entire Gomel Region is in flames of war, and even affects the neighboring Mogilio.
The more intense the fighting between Husband and Bryansk and Gomel, the more favorable conditions we strive for for our army’s upcoming counterattack.”
The people present at the meeting, especially the representatives of the National Defense Committee, all had a natural favorable impression of Belekov. There was an optimistic atmosphere permeating the headquarters, and everyone even believed that Belekov could create another military miracle.
The chief of staff held a baton and pointed at the map of Gomel hanging on the wall. The map was rushed and based on telegram information, the map marked the combat situation of both the enemy and ourselves. The German army used blue and the Soviet army used red.
The situation is clear at a glance.
"Currently, the Red October Brigade is fighting with the German 805th Division, 700th Division, 734th Division and the 1st Division of the 715th Division. The Gypsy Brigade is fighting with the German 715th Division, the 1st Division, the 722nd Division, and the remnants of the 707th Division and the 634th Division around Yulechica
.
The 63rd Army is guarding Lechica. According to the latest telegram sent by Berekov, they have collected a total of about 25,000 war refugees and have all left Lechica.
The Kovpak Corps contacted the headquarters and the 63rd Army. They supported Berekov's decision to cross the river from Loyev to Homnich and attack the German flank at any time.
In this battle, the biggest enemy of our army is the 100th Army, which was suddenly attacked by the German army. We learned that this army will reinforce the German Ninth Army. They plan to capture Lechica and dredge the railway to Gomel, allowing other German troops to
Troops can reach Bryansk quickly.
The German 100th Army has three divisions, namely the 370th Division, the 371st Division and the 771st Division, with a total strength of no less than 40,000 people and a number of heavy weapons. Its combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated.
Therefore, in the battle of Svetlogorsk, the German army had ten divisions, and the actual total strength was about 110,000, while our army had only 50,000. It is very difficult to win. However,
It is impossible for the battle to end with a complete defeat of our army.
After all, we are fighting guerrillas, and according to my opinion, the defense of Lechica does not need to be based on the street fighting style of other cities, where we fight until the last person."
The chief of staff's words are really thought-provoking, and the optimistic atmosphere within the headquarters has also weakened a lot.
The words of the chief of staff made Ponomarenko think. Judging from Berekov's telegram, he was indeed ready to use the more than 20,000 men he could control to fight against the 50,000 elite German troops. Before, he could
Achieving all kinds of great victories, firstly, the troops maintained strong strength and combat effectiveness, and secondly, they did have impressive weapon advantages.
They no longer had rocket launchers, and were severely lacking other heavy weapons. They suddenly defeated the German infiltration forces, and half of the credit for the victory must be attributed to the surprise attack of the 21st Guerrilla Brigade.
The chief of staff particularly emphasized the serious disparity in the strength of the enemy and our own, and then the serious disparity in heavy weapons.
Even though that man had a fearless attitude, if the 63rd Army suffered heavy losses in Lechica, the guerrilla movement would undoubtedly be in trouble.
After all, Ponomarenko was not a military strategist. The only battle he personally directed ended in a military disaster. If the tragedy of Gorodnia and the 17th Guerrilla Brigade happened again in Lechica, then how could he have the face to face it?
To the suffering people of Belarus?
He asked the chief of staff and other comrades: "What if! I mean what if. The 63rd Army was repulsed by the strong firepower of the German army the moment it came into contact with the German army. What would happen? Will they continue to hold on to the city, or should they continue to hold on to the city?"
Take the initiative to retreat.”
When it comes to the issue of retreat, no one dares to be the first to stand up and express their support for retreat. They are in safe Moscow. They have a serious lack of understanding of the battle situation on the front line and the personal experiences of soldiers, and it is difficult to sympathize with the soldiers and front-line commanders.
They still repeated the leader's order as always, the so-called "Don't take a step back."
Yes, Stalin himself had issued the famous order. Due to the interference of the "chaos effect", the order number was not 227, and the release time was also on July 24. The German army was about to break through the Don River defense line.
Entering Stalingrad is already a matter of time.
Under the order, the Ministry of Internal Affairs began to set up a punishment camp, and the troops directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs searched for deserters on a large scale, discouraged deserters from returning to the army, and sent those who refused to punishment camps. This is the plan, and they have just begun to implement it. "Not a step back."
Stalin himself can only estimate what effect his order will have.
Ponomarenko's chief of staff stood up and said: "Don't take a step back, that's for the regular troops. The troops currently fighting in Lechica are all guerrillas. Even if they are given the designation of a group army, it is really encouraging.
morale and the means to recruit new guerrillas. There is really no need for them to live and die with Lechica, after all, the strategic value of that city is no longer obvious. According to my idea, if Belekov can hold the city for two or three days, it will be enough.
it is ready."
After that, the chief of staff took out another telegram: "This is a copy of the telegram sent to us by Berekov. You can circulate it. Berekov has his own tactical plan!"
No matter how the fight is fought, Ponomarenko is the final decision-maker and the final person in charge.
He even had a long talk with Stalin and learned that the leader had a strong interest in the Chinese. Obviously Berekov was facing a major crisis in his life. The German army was twice as many as him. In case of heavy losses,
It is undoubtedly a major stain in his life. What the leader needs is a heroic Belekov, and it is best not to have a stain.
Ponomarenko also realized that when it came to ideological propaganda among many people in his command, one of them, five to six, first quoted Stalin and then Lenin in three sentences, saying "Study, study, and then again" every day.
"Study" is always on his lips. If he wants to command the guerrillas to launch a large-scale campaign, the chief of staff can be considered a strong man.
In this situation, Ponomarenko did not want to take any risks.
The tactics Berekov proposed in the telegram were highly praised by the Chief of Staff. Ponomarenko was a little confused at first, until he was reminded of the "Bialystok Pocket".
In this battle, the 50,000-strong Soviet army was indeed in a "dilemma in the Bialystok Pocket." The worst result of the battle was not only the heavy losses of the 63rd Army, but also the Red October and the gypsy people.
The guerrillas with a strength of 25,000 people will also be wiped out. The result will be catastrophic, that is, there will no longer be large-scale guerrillas in Mogilev, Smolensk and Bryansk.
The guerrilla movement in the region will enter a trough.
"I support Belekov's decision. It's just two days. When the battle starts, it will be enough for the 63rd Army to hold Lechica for two days. The next tactics will be according to his wishes. Now, Belekov
My husband will accept the leadership of the two armies of Red October and Gypsy."
In the early morning of July 26, Ponomarenko made a solemn decision. Yang Mingzhi will have the right to directly lead the Red October, Gypsy and Kovpak Corps. He will command 50,000 people in this battle.
The latest order from his superiors came too suddenly. Yang Mingzhi's bleary-eyed telegram and documents made him wake up instantly.
Just like yesterday, at the same three o'clock in the morning, an emergency meeting was held.
Yang Mingzhi obtained the authority to lead an army of nearly 50,000 people. Everyone congratulated him, and Yevlov even joked that the 63rd Group Army had become a veritable group army.
But Yang Mingzhi was not happy at all. The burden on his shoulders was astonishingly huge. The Soviet army used 50,000 soldiers to fight against the German army of 110,000 people, fighting in an area that may exceed 30,000 square kilometers. No matter how you think about it, the Soviet army had little chance of winning.
vague.
The only thing that made him happy was that the guerrilla movement headquarters made it clear that the troops did not have to defend Lechica. As long as the city could be defended for forty-eight hours and the gypsy and Red October soldiers could withdraw from the "pocket" into the swamp, that was
A huge success.
What will happen to the city defense battle? Orders have been issued. All frontline troops have begun to build defense fortifications from the afternoon of the 25th. Reinforcements are also lining up and striding towards the north. Yang Mingzhi can only pray that his men will move quickly.
.
…
"That's it, I became an infantryman."
After finishing the day's work, Doronin and Rosakov mingled together. Doronin was quite tired, he smoked a cigarette and expressed some complaints.
Roshakov did not build fortifications with the soldiers just because he was the top commander on the front line. His hands were blistered with blood. Listening to Doronin's complaints, he thought of something and couldn't help laughing.
"Hey! Why are you giggling? Do you have any good tactics?"
"No. I heard that smart people serve as artillery, noble people serve as cavalry, drunkards serve as navy, and fools serve as infantry."
"Huh? Are you mocking me?!" Doronin then hit Roshakov with a half-drunk bottle of red wine.
"I didn't say you were a fool. We are all infantry now, and we are all fools. There is no way. Infantry is the most basic force in the army, and it is also the branch with the highest casualty rate. As an artilleryman, you are responsible for long-range attacks with heavy artillery.
Basically, there is no chance of fighting the Germans with bayonets. Now that you are an infantryman, I hope you will not be scared."
Doronin smiled bitterly: "I joined the army in 1940 and was incorporated into the 284th Infantry Division. I am a veteran. Although I have not personally experienced bayonet battles with the German army. You and I both survived German bombings.
, now my eardrum is still perforated, and I have been enduring pain, but I have never been afraid of it."
Roshakov admired this guy Doronin very much. At that time, the remnants of the 284th Division protected the military flag, and they retreated in an organized manner. They gave the nirvana 63rd Army a new military soul.
Rosakov and Doronin, they are responsible for the defense of the northern part of the city.
After the Soviet army liberated the city, they captured the German anti-tank guns. Doronin knew the models of these anti-tank guns, and his men knew how to operate them. In this way, some soldiers of the artillery regiment with only 700 people returned to their jobs.
.
Soldiers built simple machine gun forts at all intersections in the city, used shovels to dig foxholes in the city, and used cellars as shell holes. Everyone believed that if the Germans attacked, they would first bombard them with heavy artillery.
Will heavy artillery flatten the city? Most soldiers did not believe it. They also launched artillery bombardment when they attacked the city. 70mm artillery shells collapsed the walls, but most of the buildings did not collapse. To blow up concrete buildings, soldiers
I believe their Catfish Rocket Launcher is even better.
But before engaging in street fighting with the Germans, the defenders were bound to suffer losses from artillery fire.
The vast majority of soldiers have long been indifferent to life and death. Why do people live, to live until they are seventy or eighty years old? Of course everyone likes to live to a very old age in peaceful times, guard their children and grandchildren, and die peacefully. They do not want war.
, but war came to the door.
"If you are going to die in battle tomorrow, cherish the time you have now." Many soldiers have this attitude. Therefore, once military discipline loses the control of grassroots political commissars and officers, it will quickly become chaotic.
Roshakov and Doronin's men received more than just a large amount of ammunition. During the large-scale search after liberating the city, the soldiers found a huge amount of clothes, which greatly reduced the number of soldiers who only had one set of clothes.
For shock.
Many soldiers found precious men's underwear and wore it immediately. They even found a lot of women's clothes. Some sensationalists even wore these women's clothes and showed off in front of their comrades, which annoyed their comrades.
The whole room burst into laughter.
Many soldiers wore new clothes that they found under their uniforms. This failure to hand over the spoils of war did not dissatisfy Rosakov and others. The brothers faced the attack of three elite infantry divisions.
, that group of enemies came all the way from France, and many people would die in the battle.
Wearing new clothes on the battlefield is a tradition of the Soviet army.
Instead of changing into new clothes, almost all of the seized red wine, vodka, and even a small amount of brandy went into the stomachs of the soldiers. Since the wine was not enough, the soldiers could only satisfy their greed, that is, the senior officers
, such as Doronin, you can enjoy it alone with a whole bottle of red wine.
Generally speaking, the soldiers of the two regiments guarding the city looked a little decadent after entering the night.
They were indeed too tired. Many soldiers were digging foxholes and their arm muscles were very sore. They even worried that in future battles, their sore arms would make it difficult to hold a gun and shoot.
The 26th was probably the last peaceful day before the war started, and the troops had to continue to strengthen the city defense construction. There were snoring sounds in the city, and the soldiers who had eaten "pot helmets" and canned meat were at their respective machine gun positions.
Everyone was sleeping soundly, and some people were snoring so loudly that it felt like the whole city was in a fierce battle.
Doronin and Roshakov continued chatting for a while, talking about the peaceful years before the war and the several major battles after the war broke out. The 284th Division entered the swamp and pulled up its troops to upgrade to a group army. The troops really had no
Having clearly failed and won the battle has become an important topic of discussion for the two of them. They really hope that the troops in this battle can also win smoothly.
After all, Ponomarenko personally ordered the battle to be carried out according to Commander Berekov's plan. As for the defense of Lechicha, the troops will not fight to the last man. These situations will interfere with the morale of the troops. The specific situation
Only the regimental commander knows.
So on the surface, the troops still looked like they were fighting a last-ditch battle. During the day, Roshakov personally shouted to his men: "Behind us is the broad Dnieper River. We have no way to retreat. We must defend the city."
, killing the important railway transportation lines of the German army."
He was exaggerating a tragic atmosphere, which made the crowd excited and blood boiling for a while. What kind of effect this pair of warriors can achieve in the end can only be seen when they fight.
Most of the Soviet soldiers had already become mentally numb. The battle had lasted for more than a month, and only victory could make people excited again. Fortunately, the troops had won many battles, and the officers had appropriately relaxed military discipline, and morale was well maintained.
What was frightening were the detained militiamen, who were in their forties and fifties. They fled all the way to the swamps because they did not want to die. In fact, even if they could escape to the rear, it would be the summer of 1942.
, the Soviet army has begun to recruit people over the age of forty into its ranks. Anyone who refuses to be drafted will be immediately sent to prison to do hard labor.