In the large-scale search, almost every soldier received rich loot.
To be honest, most of these soldiers of the Kovpak Corps have not received any real military training. Their military appearance is generally not mentioned, and their behavior after the city was defeated was extremely reckless.
The invaders had all injured or killed their relatives and friends, and it was natural for them to vent their revenge on the wounded German soldiers they found. Especially the order given by Kovpak to everyone, which was to completely eliminate the enemy and leave no survivors.
The army does not accept prisoners of war, so shouldn’t the enemy’s wounded soldiers be ravaged before they die?
A considerable number of soldiers used the most cruel methods they could think of to beat and kick the wounded German soldiers, so much so that some even urinated on the corpses. This kind of behavior occurred in regular troops and was discovered by the political commissar.
Three days of confinement. But in Mozyr, Kovpak deliberately indulged his men.
From this point of view, if Igor really handed over the captured German man to Kovpak, it would be better to shoot him directly to show mercy.
Because in the Kovpak Corps, if anyone said that the captured prisoners of war should be treated better, the statement itself would be suspected, and even interrogated as a potential traitor. The combat and life of the troops have always been in crisis, and the political commissar of the Corps
Rudnev also had to use strong means to maintain the morale of his troops. Therefore, maintaining the hatred of soldiers towards the enemy is a very practical means of building morale.
However, this method, after Mozyr broke the city, showed Rudnev a murderous spree among his subordinates. However, he did not stop the actions of the troops. He only sent people down and ordered the troops to shoot the enemy's wounded soldiers directly when they found them.
He went out of his way to vent his emotions.
The construction of spiritual civilization of army soldiers is Rudnev's job, so Kovpak does not care about the actions of his subordinates.
The battle was basically over. A wall of fire and the Pripet River separated the enemy and us. The scouts reported that the Germans continued to pour gasoline into the river, forcing the wall of fire to continue to be maintained.
"The Germans don't plan to cross the river, and they are afraid that our troops will cross the river!" Kovpak said to Balzen. "The soldiers are already searching for loot, and the preliminary casualty statistics of our army have also come down. Our army's casualties are not serious.
It’s time to report the battle situation to our superiors.”
Balzen responded: "After the report, our troops should withdraw from the city. Besides, your troops really opened my eyes. They are like a group of bandits."
"It's because I don't manage the army strictly. I will retreat immediately, but if possible, I plan to stay a little longer, at least to further search for loot."
…
An inspiring telegram was sent to the guerrilla republic a hundred kilometers away.
It was sent at half past ten in the morning. Before that, the army headquarters in Blacksmith Village received both the good news and the warning.
At this moment in the command post, Yang Mingzhi was yawning. He did not dare to show any signs of neglect. Because the end of the battle would certainly not end with the Soviet army voluntarily withdrawing from Lechica. The German 100th Army was coming with a menacing force. If they
Everyone goes south and fights to the end. The Guerrilla Republic is afraid of taking the worst possible action - an entire retreat.
The so-called retreat means crossing the Dnieper River and retreating into the vast forests on the left bank of the Dnieper River in Chernihiv Oblast.
Of course, this is the worst-case scenario. Yang Mingzhi believes that there is only a 1% chance of happening.
Yang Mingzhi only knew about the battle in Mozyri that the battle started in the morning. Almost at the same time, the retreating troops from Lechica reported that the German army had begun a full-scale attack on the city, and the last defenders were providing cover and resistance.
"Now, the main forces of the two brigades, the Red Octobers and the Gypsymen, have completely escaped from the minefields. They can reach the Denipula swamp as soon as the afternoon. They will then pass through the fords of the Sori River. We withdraw from the column
Chicha's army is following closely behind, and I am afraid that more than 20,000 people will spend the night in that swamp tonight." Yevlov briefly summarized the current situation.
On July 30, all Soviet troops successfully broke away from the battle, but only in the Mozyr area, the Soviet and German sides were still fighting fiercely.
Yang Mingzhi made it clear: "We must do a good job in receiving the army. It's really bad. The other side of the Dnipra swamp is the bombed-out city of Loev. Because of the German 71st Division, our engineering troops have already gone south.
We have withdrawn to Misi Ferry. If there is no obstacle from the German 71st Division, our army can cross the river directly from Loev."
"I can hear that you seem a little helpless?" Fuming said consolingly, "The main force of the German 71st Division has moved north, and all that is left is the ability to defend. No matter what the enemy does, we don't have to worry about them in the next two or three days.
We will attack southward."
"Indeed! Lechica was captured by the German army. For this city, we permanently lost 6,000 people! They are all elite soldiers of our 6th Army, and we are at our weakest period!" Yang Mingzhi has already obtained the troops.
Preliminary statistics on the number of casualties, behind the cold figures, is a bloody war. "Can we not hesitate to praise our heroes who sacrificed for the cause of mankind's anti-Japanese war?
I originally planned to attack Loev and use military means to seize a large amount of metal weapons. Now the battle will continue until August. In the forty days of fighting, nearly 20,000 people have paid their lives. And this is just us
Losses of the 6th Army."
"Yes!" Fuming could see the commander's gloomy attitude. He knew that the commander was actually very opposed to this kind of militaristic behavior. He sighed and said, "Don't blame yourself. We are soldiers, and soldiers must obey orders. Guerrilla warfare.
The movement command ordered the execution of a campaign covering most of Gomel. So far, we have completed the task. You also saw the telegram sent by Comrade Ponomarenko. The higher-ups meant that we would not be held accountable for voluntarily abandoning Lechica.
Why do you lament the responsibility of the German army? Is it because there are too many victims? Oh, my friend, do you want to ignore the casualties of the German army?"
Fomin continued: "We must look at this battle from a dialectical perspective. Our army suffered permanent losses of 20,000 people, thousands of wounded, and some civilian casualties.
I have preliminary statistics here on the comprehensive losses of the German army. For example, we basically completed the annihilation of the German 64th Division and 707th Division, and completely annihilated the 59th SS Regiment. The total strength of these three units alone reached 30,000.
.Based on current statistics alone, the total number of enemies we have annihilated and killed should be around 50,000! This is the answer we have delivered to the motherland in forty days."
"There are so many?!" Yevlov, who couldn't say anything for a moment, jumped up in shock.
"Yes. There are more detailed statistics from Salynchkin. So please be confident, our casualties are as high as 30,000, aren't there Kovpark, Red October and Gypsy people coming again? Our strength has indeed weakened.
Well, the situation is not too pessimistic.”
"This..." Yang Mingzhi smiled bitterly and said silently: "After all, they are not troops of our 6th Group Army."
"So what? You are a lieutenant general, how can they refuse to obey your orders?"
At this moment, Yang Mingzhi did feel a little unconfident. From the day he saw Kovpak and ordered the man to carry out the order to attack the city, he could clearly realize his inner conflict. Kovpak was like this, and other
Are the commanders of two large armies just letting themselves go?
The answer is definitely no!
Yang Mingzhi is quite clear about his own situation. The soldiers lost by the 6th Group Army were all recruited and gathered by themselves, and they were even rescued from prisoner of war camps. There is a deep relationship between the armies. For the three large units, they also recruited their own troops, at the grassroots level.
The soldier probably only heard the name of Lieutenant General Berekov, but had no idea about his appearance or basic personal situation.
I am afraid that many people firmly believe that Berekov must look like an old Slavic man with a big beard. It turns out that he is indeed a young man from China in his thirties. At least in the Soviet Union, thirty-year-olds are classified as young people.
category.
Yang Mingzhi paused for breath: "They just came to us to take refuge, and Kovpak was ordered to provide reinforcements. Once the situation stabilizes, they will return to the forests of Bryansk, Shostka and Sumy, and stay in their respective
Fight the enemy in the controlled area. And what about us? We can only forcefully and quickly train the 6,000 young women counted by Salinchkin into female soldiers. I am sorry to have to implement this helpless decision."
Just when the three senior officers in the headquarters were worried about the future of the guerrilla republic and discussing a way out, a telegram from the Homnich garrison was sent.
The correspondent brought the telegram, but Yevlov took the paper away first.
This old guy with brown stubble said jokingly: "My dear general, I think those six thousand female soldiers will definitely be trained into elite soldiers. This is the telegram sent by Joshua and Sashanova. They reported
A piece of great good news! The German 71st Division began to withdraw from their defense line and headed northwest."
"Is the news reliable?!" Yang Mingzhi stood up in shock.
"Of course they are reliable, don't you trust them?!"
"I..." After hearing the news, Yang Mingzhi's inner displeasure suddenly disappeared. Why? He had been worried that the German army would end the battle in Lechica and continue to fight south. Would the German army do this?
?He believed that if the 71st Division continued to maintain its defensive line, it would prove that the German army was more likely to have such an intention.
Now the 71st Division began to abandon its position, and its retreat direction was none other than Mozyri.
Yang Mingzhi's face suddenly lost its gloom, which surprised Fuming: "General, I'm very happy to see you have a relaxed expression."
"Really? I'm really relaxed now. Signal Corps!"
After the people arrived, Yang Mingzhi said directly: "Send a report to the female corps and order them to conduct further investigations and pay close attention to the movements of the German troops!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, he thought that the correspondent had arrived with a telegram. This telegram came from Womansky. It turned out that he and a German army who were retreating into the forest had a brief capture of a group of German troops who were planning to pass through the gap in the forest. The strange thing is,
The German army showed no interest in fighting and focused on moving northwest.
"Great, with these two telegrams, I can tell you that my strategy of surrounding Mozyr and rescuing Lechica has been initially successful!"
"Um... But haven't we already given up on Lechitsa?" Yevlov's question suddenly made the atmosphere awkward.
Fomin quickly said: "We have given up on Lechica, and the German army has completed the occupation. But now the enemy has fallen into Comrade Berekov's plan, and a large number of German main forces are rushing towards Mozyr frantically. Even the remaining 71st Division
The troops with only defensive capabilities had to abandon their positions and return to defense. What do you think this means?"
Yevlov himself is not a fool, he just did not receive a systematic school education when he was young. Because he was lucky enough to survive and had a lot of military exploits, he, a man in his thirties, had the rank of major general.
He needed more time to understand the complex tactics, but he knew that if the main force of the German 100th Army attacked Mozyr on a large scale, what it would give to the Guerrilla Republic was that the retreating troops would have no worries at all, and they would be able to fight for a long time.
The German army will not use force against the South again.
Yang Mingzhi did not stop doing anything. He did not know what kind of fighting happened in Mozyr, but actually forced the German army to invade the Homnich area. When they gave up Homnich, they gave up their oppressive posture against the guerrilla republic. The German army
It must have suffered some kind of unbearable blow, especially the 100th Army, which was not allowed to order all troops to withdraw.
"Did Kovpak, this old guy who was resistant to siege warfare, really capture Mozyr?" Yang Mingzhi thought. Just as he was drafting the telegram in his own hand, a telegram he had dreamed of was sent.
"Haha! Kofpak won! I can't believe that the Germans actually blew up the bridge and used gasoline to create a wall of fire. How afraid are they of our army?" Yang Mingzhi was so excited that he actually muttered Chinese.
Who can understand the Chinese he speaks? Yevlov and Fomin directly reviewed the telegram and learned about a series of major events that occurred in the southern part of the Mozyr River.
"Yevlov, I remember it was the 74th Division guarding Mozyr." Fomin asked.
"It's them, a bunch of rabble. Just in May, we openly rescued eight thousand people right under their noses."
"Ah! It seems like a long time ago. Then we had a big fight with the Romanians."
"That's true. The 74th Division's combat effectiveness was very weak in May. More than two months have passed and it is difficult to improve their combat effectiveness."
"So, the fact that Kovpak succeeded in breaking through the city was largely due to the weakness of the German army?"
"Of course, I really hope that all German troops are so weak. But their actions opened my eyes. Our troops have to cross the river and pass through the wall of fire before they can reach the other side and continue fighting. Unfortunately, we do not have this ability."
Yang Mingzhi did not intervene in the conversation between the two men. He came over and said concisely: "The results of Kovpak's operation exceeded my expectations. At the cost of more than 400 casualties, half of Mozyr was directly captured. If they
If they have the ability, I really hope they can cross the river and continue to expand their results, but it seems impossible at the moment."
Yevlov said along the way: "I think our tactical goal of creating trouble to induce the main force of the 100th Army to return to defense has been achieved. Our army does not need to fight to the death with the elite German troops. Our army should retreat immediately."
Yang Mingzhi nodded: "I was about to give them a retreat order. But I must modify the order slightly now. In order to avoid colliding with the main force of the German army, the Kovpak Corps must follow our combat trajectory in late April and early May to complete this victory.
retreat."
"The battle at the end of April?" Yevlov was a little confused: "I remember that our army spared a large circle. I know that it is not appropriate for our army to fight with the enemy again, but we took a long way, I think..."
"Something is wrong?" Yang Mingzhi smiled and shook his head. "A southbound railway line in Mozyr was built close to the swamp. The Germans took the initiative to blow up the road bridge in Mozyri, but they did not blow up the railway bridge in the west of the city.
Of course, I don’t think our army still has enough explosives to blow up the railway bridge over the Pripet River under the heavy defense of the German army. But our army can follow the railway and destroy it on a large scale. As for the bombing
Take the rails into pieces and recycle them into weapons! After all, we must seize the time to produce ammunition to make up for the huge war consumption." (To be continued)