Fatigue plagued every soldier, the campfire was still burning, and the Soviet camp was filled with snoring.
However, at midnight, a devastating thunder woke up everyone who was sleeping. Even ordinary people are very afraid of thunderstorms, not to mention these soldiers who frequently go to and from the battlefield. It was like the soldiers who woke up when the camp was attacked by the German army.
They picked up their firearms, quickly opened the safety and looked around. It was only then that they noticed that the lightning in the sky was like an expanding spider web, and the roar was not only deafening, it seemed as if the entire earth was shaking.
Strong convective weather broke out over the Mozyr area. Although there were warnings, no one paid attention to it. So when the heavy rain suddenly hit, the soldiers had nothing to do. They could only sit under the big tree to take shelter from the rain and pray for themselves.
Not the unlucky guy who got struck by lightning.
Because the rain came very suddenly, Balzen, who was woken up by the rain, realized what happened. The first thing he hit was the propellant packs of the recoilless rifles.
"If the medicine bag is soaked in water, the artillery will be temporarily useless!"
All the recoilless rifle groups under Kovpak were temporarily under his management. Worried about rain, he explained the rain protection work to these groups. However, when he saw the medicine pack, he realized that it was too late.
These teams did not do a good job in waterproofing, or the rain came too suddenly.
The medical packs are usually packed in iron barrels of captured German gas masks. Because the new weapons are delivered too urgently, the medical packs are completely placed in wooden boxes. It is difficult to waterproof the wooden boxes, so currently they have to be covered with blankets.
.No one expected that there was still a certain amount of such consumables that had not been exhausted. Now that they were soaked in water, they were considered consumed.
Balzen held the wet medicine bag and squeezed it gently. The wet rough paper cracked and the almost paste-like black powder inside fell out.
"What the hell! What's the matter with you being such idiots?"
"The rain... the rain came too suddenly! We..." an artilleryman defended tremblingly.
"I won't listen to your excuses! Now hurry up and protect the remaining medicine packs!"
If these people were unable to hold the rest, how should they be punished, or what should the troops do? Balzen's mind was very confused for a moment.
It is now the last day of July. On a clear day, the temperature during the day is at most 25 degrees, and at night the temperature drops to 15 degrees. Because of the rain, the temperature at night suddenly plummeted. Poor soldiers, their clothes are warm
, after being exposed to water, quite a few soldiers were chilled, and the sticky feeling made them even more uncomfortable.
Everyone was suffering in the rain, because they were afraid of being struck by lightning, so they just sat quietly, huddled together and waited for the rain to stop.
There was no shelter from the rain, and the raindrops as big as soybeans made a crackling sound against the helmets. From time to time, complaints about the rain could be heard in the camp, as well as wailings about being wet.
"Natasha, put on your cloak. Is it really waterproof?" Igor asked.
"Well. I feel okay, but I'm a little cold! It's really bad, my clothes are still wet. This rain came at the wrong time."
Natasha knew very well that to be an excellent sniper, she had to resist various difficult situations. For example, encountering rain in the wild was the most common trouble. She was exposed tonight and was confused. After all, she
is prepared.
The girl huddled up, her oiled cloak perfectly shielding her from the rain. She also felt that there seemed to be countless streams above the cloak, and she could clearly feel the flow of water through her body.
"Hey. Uncle Igor, the other soldiers. They... they should have rain gear."
"Them?" Igor shook his head, "They are not like us. My dear, you and I got our cloaks from the paratroopers. Our Comrade Kovpak's troops cannot get such equipment."
"Oops!" The girl was startled, "I feel that the temperature is already very low. If they don't have rain gear yet, many people will get sick after this."
"Mass sickness? I really hope this doesn't happen."
Hearing this, Natasha suddenly felt that Igor was a little indifferent to his new comrades. She turned her face sideways and found that Igor suddenly shrank into his cloak, as if he was stirring something.
After a while, Igor took out a small glass bottle and quickly pulled out the cork.
"My dear, instead of worrying about others, you should worry about yourself. This is a sulfa tablet. Take one first."
"Take medicine? I'm not sick at all!"
"Silly boy, what should you do if you get sick in such a cold weather? How should I report to the commander? Besides, if you are a sick man, how can you achieve your long-cherished wish of killing 400 enemies?"
After all, Igor didn't know much about medicine. According to his logic, since he had brought the medicine, it would be more appropriate to take it now than to take it after Natasha became ill.
"Okay! I'll eat it!"
Natasha didn't talk nonsense. She took the medicine, thinking that the disease would not bother her. But she also knew that many comrades would definitely get sick.
Everyone was suffering in the rain, and the non-stop lightning activity made the world seem like daylight. Seeing the painful bodies of her comrades, the girl couldn't help but wonder whether this operation was a huge mistake.
She thought of the retreat in early May. During the march, the troops were also hit by heavy rains, and quite a few people fell ill. Thanks to the fact that the troops were not far from Catfish Village, the patients were properly treated.
The current army is more than a hundred kilometers away from the guerrilla republic, and medicines and other supplies are scarce. Once many soldiers are attrited for non-combat purposes, the entire army will not only lose its combat effectiveness, but also have to divide its troops to take care of the patients. Suddenly, a sense of responsibility came to her mind, and she finally accepted
She has medical training, but unfortunately all she can do now is silently pray that the situation will not be too bad.
So, is the situation in the army bad?
Just too bad!
Kovpak himself did not have rain gear, so he broke off some branches and propped up the blanket. As a result, the water-soaked blanket broke the branches and stuck directly on his body.
"Damn it! If I had known this, I would have retreated!" He complained a few times and put up the blanket again.
The worried Balzen finally found the wet regiment commander. Both of them had water on their faces. Under the blue light of lightning, they looked at each other's old faces and couldn't help but smile bitterly.
"Comrade Kovpak, I have to tell you a terrible situation."
"Speaking."
"The propellant of our recoilless rifles has been flooded and dampened on a large scale. Please be prepared for the worst. We will not be able to use these artillery pieces in future battles."
"This... is really a bad situation." Kovpak sighed and said, "I'm sorry that you gave such a warning during the day, but my people! They must have been negligent, and besides this,
The rain comes suddenly and the force becomes even more sudden."
"Indeed, the summer rain comes suddenly and ends suddenly. I hope the rain will not interfere too much with our future operations."
Kovpak pursed his lips: "Continuing to operate in the rain is really not a wise choice. Now I feel that our westward march is not timely at all. In this rain meeting, I am afraid that many soldiers will get sick, and it will be difficult for the sick to participate in the battle.
, forcing them to fight will only increase casualties needlessly. Now I have an idea, we should retreat."
"Retreat?" Balzen was surprised, "Have you already made up your mind?"
"No... I personally explained this operation to the general and got his strong support. If I took it directly after dawn, I might cause the troops to encounter many unpredictable troubles, but I would also lose their honor."
Balzen could tell that this person wanted to hear his opinion. He leaned over with his old face and said solemnly: "We must not withdraw!"
The troops continued to attack according to the established plan, and even heavy rain could not change this goal. Seeing that Kovpak was a little shaken, Balzen's sense of responsibility as an "advisor" drove him to persuade him.
Balzen had enough reasons. His education level was not high, but he had received some ideological and cultural education. He was a rough guy, and as a commander, he had to go to Yelentina to learn "Ma Zhe" and the dialectics in it.
It benefited him a lot.
"We must look at this heavy rain dialectically. This rain came very suddenly. I am afraid that the entire Mozyr area was plunged into heavy rain. I even believe that the guerrilla republic also suffered from heavy rain. Such heavy rain made the entire land become muddy.
Then whether we attack or retreat, we will face mud. No matter whether our army attacks or retreats, the difficulties we face are exactly the same.
However, this rain was a disaster for both the enemy and us. The main force of the German army should have withdrawn to Mozyr yesterday. They had been fighting outside for many days and were hit by heavy rain, so they naturally took rest and recuperation. In this way, the German army would never be trapped in the mud.
Attacking south, they will not even launch a new large-scale military operation.
Because our army is fighting westward along the river, our army's strength is equivalent to two infantry regiments, but the enemy we face is a sporadic small force. Now our army is facing a golden opportunity, isn't it?"
"What a good opportunity? What a good opportunity?!" Kovpak asked excitedly.
"This rain has made the roads muddy, making it difficult for the German army's heavy weapons and even the relatively flexible half-track armored vehicles to operate. We are wreaking havoc in the German-occupied areas, using more to defeat fewer, but the Germans can only use light infantry to reinforce them. We will
We have a great opportunity to further annihilate the enemy's effective strength! How can you be discouraged when you get this opportunity?"
"I...I have decided now! Continue the attack!" Excited, Kovpa patted Balzen's shoulder hard several times, "Comrade, I thought you were just an ordinary scout, but I didn't expect that you really have
Qualifications of a staff officer. I think you should stop working for Comrade Berekov and become chief of staff for me!"
"What?" Balzen shook his head, "No! No! I have my own position, and I am more willing to follow my general."
"Okay! Everyone has his own ambitions. Comrade Berekov is very good at commanding operations. When this battle is completely over, I will send some comrades to study in the Guerrilla Republic. I hope you can teach us better tactics."
…
The heavy rain continued until two o'clock in the morning. After that, the rain gradually weakened and the thunderstorm almost stopped. In the morning, the world in haze was still dominated by the drizzle of light rain.
The soldiers who had endured a night of rain had no choice but to endure the dampness of their clothes. The military rations carried by the soldiers mainly consisted of a large amount of potatoes and some roughly processed fried flour.
The blacksmith village did an excellent job of frying the airdropped and captured flour with salt. It was just such emergency dry food. However, regardless of whether the soldiers were male or female, the military rations were still mainly potatoes.
Nowadays, there is no dry firewood left, and the bonfires are easily extinguished by heavy rains. Making a fire to roast potatoes is really an insurmountable task!
Some of the soldiers in Kovpak seized some German bread cubes in Mozyr, while more people could only eat fried noodles soaked in rain, and even risked diarrhea by eating fried noodles contaminated by rain.
dry flour.
The temperature in the morning was only ten degrees, thousands of people's clothes were wet, and the rain continued, so the body temperature was actually much lower. After eating a terrible breakfast, Kovpak ordered the troops to continue marching.
"Comrades, take action immediately. Once your body warms up, you won't feel uncomfortable anymore!"
At least you won't feel cold when you exercise, and it can also reduce the possibility of getting sick to a certain extent.
As expected, the ammunition bags of those recoilless rifles were all damp. They were no longer of use, but the artillery and warheads were still important. In desperation, Balzen could only order the artillerymen to continue marching with the guns.
The troops have now lost an important weapon to defend against enemies two kilometers away, and they have to use mortars as their most powerful weapon for attacking fortresses. Fortunately, the number of shells captured by the German-made mortars is just enough.
The troops were arranged in columns, and there were some scouts on the periphery of the columns. Keeping a distance of two kilometers from the main force was the reconnaissance team of the corps.
After resuming their march, the regiment contacted the headquarters of Blacksmith Village. In addition to reporting that they had successfully endured the heavy rain, they also inquired about the situation in the hinterland of the swamp. As expected, the rain that had been held in for a long time finally fell violently.
The entire Guerrilla Republic seemed to have been hit by a heavy rainstorm, and even higher-lying places like Blacksmith Village were actually flooded.
The worst thing was Catfish Village. The rapidly rising Pripet River suddenly doubled its surface, burying a large area of riverside wetland. There were originally a large number of ponds in Catfish Village, but after one night, many ponds were connected to each other.
He said that many sections of roads in the village were submerged by shallow water. Villagers who were swimming in the water even caught a lot of scurrying catfish and loaches with their bare hands. This is also a gratifying thing in a natural disaster.
The Guerrilla Republic has experienced too many troubles, and Kovpak believes that they can safely solve the difficulties after these natural disasters. His troops are too far away from the swamps, and he estimates that the morale of the soldiers and civilians of the Guerrilla Republic will be hit by the heavy rain, so
Let's make great progress here to boost the morale of the army and the people.
Kovpak targeted the town called Petrikov as his first target.
The town is the closest to the army, except that the main part of the town is on the left bank of the Pripet River. The regional map does not describe this town in more detail, but only uses a symbol to indicate the existence of a stone bridge in the city to connect the two sides of the river.
Now that the first attack target has been set, Kovpak hopes that this battle can boost morale through victory. Besides, the troops also need a supply, and looting the supplies of the Reed Army in the town can also further boost morale.
How to attack? Kovpak didn't plan to use any complicated tactics. He just summed it up in one word - surprise attack.
After all, there are more than 4,000 troops, so it will be easy to capture the bridge by force.
But before launching the attack, the vanguard was surprised to find an abnormal area in the forest! (To be continued)