Compared with Petrikov, the town of Turov is smaller. Before the war, the town had only more than a thousand residents. It was more of a large rural area than a town.
There are two wood processing factories in the town, and there are a small number of full-time lumberjacks. The rest of the people basically work in farming, and also fish in their spare time.
Different from Petrikov's geographical location, Turov is located on the right bank of the Pripet River, that is, the south of the river. A simple stone bridge connects the two banks.
The residents of the city are entirely Belarusian, and no Jews have settled here. However, after the German army occupied the city, half of the citizens fled, and some even fled to the swamps more than 100 kilometers away, becoming part of the guerrilla republic.
More than 400 people stayed in the town. After witnessing the Germans hanging several "partisans", they had no choice but to cooperate.
Under the rule of the German army, residents were still engaged in logging work, and huge red pine trees were processed and handed over to the German army. However, the residents received only subsistence food. If the occupying army asked the women in the town to provide special services, no woman would dare to refuse.
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They were frantically squeezing the labor force of peaceful residents and insulting their character. However, no one stood up to resist. They could only hope in their hearts that these tiger and wolf-like *** villains would be struck to death by lightning.
Similar situations occur widely in most areas of Belarus, and this is the root cause of the vigorous development of the guerrilla movement in Belarus.
However, for the civilians in Turov Town, their suffering finally ended suddenly in a special way - death.
After receiving the telegram from the division headquarters, the German troops stationed here decisively gathered all the civilians, and then shot them all simply and brutally. The bodies were not buried, but were directly dumped in the wheat fields near the south of the town.
The German army only left a few young women alive. Why? Simply because they had been treated as playthings by the occupying forces. But the atrocities committed by the occupying forces just in the morning made these few surviving women clearly aware of their own
destiny.
They didn't know why the German army wanted to kill everyone so early in the morning. Could it be because of what happened in Mozyri a day ago? Could it be that they thought the civilians were potential guerrillas?
They didn't expect so many of them. Each one of them knew their fate. Although they were still alive, weren't they already corpses?
If they knew that this group of murderers was about to be attacked by a large number of guerrillas coming like a flood, would they feel a sense of revenge?
No one knows their thoughts. Even the German army had no time to care about the last five women whose lives were spared.
After tying them up to make sure they would not escape, the Germans and puppet troops began to set up city fortifications. As for whether they could repel future enemies, the defenders were uneasy. However, they must obey all orders from their superiors, which drove their weak bodies
, just to hold on to the historic Turov with such a small force.
Let’s talk about the town of Turov. At least a thousand years ago, this was the core of Duke Turov of Kievan Rus. Later, the land was seized by the Grand Duke of Lithuania. This town was established at the confluence of the Pripet River and its tributary Goron River.
, she has experienced too many bloody storms since the city was founded. The ancient city has long been destroyed in the war, but the place name Turov has been preserved to this day and will continue to be so.
The Soviet troops who captured Petrikov searched the town and made arrangements for all the civilians they rescued.
In a short period of time, Kovpak could not tell who among these civilians was a good citizen and who was a hawk of the German army. Rudnev, the political commissar of the corps, ordered civilians to report each other, so three women serving the German army were reported.
No matter how they pleaded for mercy, Rudnev, who claimed that he was forced to have no choice but to observe Stalin's policies, was mercilessly convicted of treason.
By killing people to establish authority, the rest of the people were intimidated. Next, these people will be transferred to the guerrilla republic more than a hundred kilometers away.
In the battle to attack the town, the guerrillas also suffered 22 wounded soldiers (another 21 were killed), and as many as 50 people had colds and fevers. They could not participate in subsequent battles, and they could not be abandoned.
Fu Pak separated two platoons of soldiers to escort the wounded and civilians, and used the five trolleys and two bicycles he found to carry some of the loot (mainly clothes and daily necessities), and began to break away from the large army and go south alone.
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The troop strength was reduced by more than 100 men as a result of the war, and the total strength dropped to just 4,000 men. The overall combat effectiveness has declined.
However, the morale of the grassroots soldiers is very good, the light rain continues to pour, and they are full of confidence in the next battle to attack Turov.
"Comrade Balzen, do you think the German army is pursuing a large force at this time?" When the troops were withdrawing, Kovpak, who was all wet, asked Balzen.
"Are you asking about the enemy's reinforcements? Maybe they are on the road, but they are different from us. Our army can endure mud, and the soldiers are all light infantry. For the German army, rain and mud have seriously depleted their morale. My commander Belet
Comrade Kove once taught me that the key to the outcome of a war is people. The German army is engaged in a war of aggression, but our army is defending the country, so we can endure all kinds of difficulties. Even if the German army has reinforcements, they are slow and slow.
snails."
"Okay! Your words remind me of my Rudnev. Maybe you can also serve as political commissar."
Balzen shook his head: "I am just a reckless man, and the commander of our army is a philosopher. Don't talk about other things now. After the troops pass the bridge, our troops will blow up the bridge."
After all the Soviet troops withdrew from Petrikov, Balzen used four 80mm mortars as "explosives", placed them on a key bridge pier, and then used the explosive pressure of canned grenades to trigger the collision fuse. For concrete buildings, these materials
The power was limited, and at least one bridge pier was blown down, leaving a large hole in the bridge.
That's enough! If the German reinforcements come in the rain, at least their heavy weapons will have trouble crossing the bridge, and the broken bridge will only allow their light infantry to barely cross.
If they had to fight German reinforcements and block the German light infantry, the guerrillas would even feel that they had the upper hand!
But Balzen and Kovpak never expected that because of the internal strife in the German army, not only did the 74th Division not get any reinforcements, but the division commander basically gave up on Turov after some consideration.
The guerrillas were completely unaware of this situation. Based on past experience, Kovpak believed that the German army would definitely hold on to Turov.
The enemy's fighting spirit of fighting to the end is indeed admirable. But its combat effectiveness makes Kovpak unable to think highly of it. After all, Turov is smaller than Petrikov. Attack this town and send a squadron to charge with shouts of "Ula".
The battle will be resolved in an hour.
The guerrillas were so high-spirited that getting their clothes wet was no longer a problem. Soldiers at the grassroots level could not help but sing military songs and rush to the battlefield happily.
From Petrikov to Turov, the straight-line distance is fifty kilometers!
The soldiers at the grassroots level were not afraid of any danger. As the commander, Kovpak was more worried about the possible pursuers. Braving the light rain, they marched on the meadows by the river for five hours and ended up walking twenty-three miles.
kilometer!
No matter how happy the soldiers are, their bodies will eventually have their limits. Due to thunder and rain last night, no one slept well, and the fighting during the day also consumed a lot of energy. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the troops began to set up camp.
It rained lightly all day and finally stopped in the evening, leaving only tiny droplets of water rippling in the air.
Kovpak was physically exhausted and his warriors were in even worse condition.
He saw that after the troops set up camp, many soldiers actually took off their coats, exposing their white backs. He wanted to stop this very vulgar behavior, but he saw that the camp in the woods actually had several people jumping up.
A bonfire?
"Huh? How can we make a fire in such a humid environment?"
He quickly figured out the reason. The soldiers used the captured gasoline to light a fire, and the high temperature dried the broken red pine branches rich in rosin, and the fire became stronger. A large number of bare-backed soldiers rushed to bake their clothes. There were also
People throw potatoes under the fire, intending to dig them out and eat them later.
As an old guerrilla, Kovpak and his troops have a lot of experience sleeping in the open, especially on rainy days. They are rich in experience.
So when Balzen complained to him, Kovpak, who had an old face with a goatee and a thin face and firm eyes, immediately made his attitude clear: "Don't complain. If the rain can paralyze the enemy, then we can take it by surprise."
Fight against the enemy. Now is the time to test who is more patient, us or the enemy."
That being said, Balzen really felt uncomfortable all over!
He sneezed hard again and lamented: "I think I've caught a cold! It's my first time to go on a raid mission while being sick. It's such a bad experience. I really hope this is the only time in my life."
"Then take some medicine, and then you can dry your clothes. Now that the rain has stopped, more and more bonfires will be lit. I feel that it may not rain tomorrow, and you will definitely feel comfortable tomorrow."
"I hope so!" As he said this, Balzen took off his military uniform and took off his military uniform, revealing his upper body covered with small scars and thick chest hair, and squatted down next to Kovpak in a vulgar manner.
"Oh! You are so vulgar!"
"Let's talk more seriously! Tomorrow we attack Turov, and our army must win with one blow. Now, we must formulate a combat plan. We also need to report our battle status and our current situation to the headquarters. As a commander
, we are very busy.”
Kovpak nodded, and he ordered the captain of the brigade to report, and immediately began the military meeting.
On this last day of July, the former main battlefield was completely quiet.
Heavy rains affected a very large area, and a heavy rain also fell in Kiev, one hundred kilometers south of the Partisan Republic.
Belarus has not yet entered the rainy season in September. The rain at the end of July is summer rain after all. The rain is fierce and generally does not last long. The heavy rain has turned quite a lot of areas in the Guerrilla Republic into mud ponds, and a large number of potatoes that have not been harvested have simply been wiped out.
Soaked in mud.
Kovpak and Balzen launched an expedition more than a hundred kilometers northwest, and all current residents of the Guerrilla Republic are also going all out to fight against natural disasters.
The heavy rain in the early morning of the 31st disrupted various plans of Yang Mingzhi and Salinchkin.
On the military front, the vast majority of the Soviet troops that had successfully withdrawn to the Dnipra swamp encountered huge interference in their river-crossing operations. The water flow of the Dnieper River increased sharply, the flow speed increased, and the cable of a ferry line set up by surprise broke.
, together with more than twenty soldiers above, were swallowed up by the flood.
This happened in the morning. After the tragedy was reported unexpectedly, Yang Mingzhi ordered the troops to stop crossing the river from the marsh to the Loev ruins on the other side. Tens of thousands of people were hit by the heavy rain, and they began to swim.
After passing through the waist-deep Sori River, by noon, hundreds of people had already developed cold symptoms. Sickness, exhaustion, and hunger were tormenting the retreating army, especially the guerrillas who had just formed a group, the Red Octobers and the Gypsymen.
They had already entered the Pripet Swamp. The troops had to follow the deployment of the officers and soldiers of the withdrawn 6th Group, and walked through twists and turns in the swamp full of mud ponds and reeds. They walked along the left bank of the Dnieper River, aiming to
The land returns to Missi Ferry.
Fortunately, reliable roads gradually became available, but soon they were shocked by the massive battlefield ruins. After learning that this was the place where the main force of the German 64th Division was destroyed, they were indescribably shocked.
As of the evening of the 31st, the evacuation work was going very poorly. Their actions were too slow. Yang Mingzhi had to lament that God had no eyes to see the reason!
"This damn rain! If we have a famine, it's because of this damn rain!"
Yang Mingzhi not only cursed, but also smashed the tea cup.
The commander's angry appearance was rare, and Yevlov, who was also upset, was shocked by the old man's performance.
Yevlov did not offer any consolation. After all, the reason for the commander's anger was the many consequences of the heavy rain.
The crazy fighting is basically over, and the strategic center of the guerrilla republic must return to production and construction. The tens of thousands of newly arrived refugees have begun to become a labor force to dig potatoes! However, there are almost no refugees who have just escaped from danger.
In order to cultivate themselves, they went directly to work. Their work efficiency made Salinchkin and Lyudbalev, who were in charge of this aspect, both dissatisfied and helpless.
Potatoes still had to be dug, and even the two hundred German prisoners of war were all dragged to the fields to dig potatoes.
The guerrilla republic obtained some flour through seizures and airdrops of supplies, which were military rations. The civilians mainly ate potatoes.
The empty granary has made enough space for new potatoes. The sudden heavy rain made harvesting after the 31st very difficult and more urgent.
Even some workers in the arsenal were mobilized to participate in the excavation. Even the top commander Yang Mingzhi led more than ten people, including guard Abram, to a flooded farmland to look at it. After starting to dig for a while, he realized
to the seriousness of the problem.
Rather than digging potatoes, it was more like groping in the mud, and a large number of swollen tubers were dug out.
He did not stay long and gave Abram and others a fatal order: "You must find all the potatoes in this field, and you are not allowed to eat before that. Remember, if the potatoes have been flooded for more than two days, there is no need to dig them again."
Because they are all rotten!"
Because of this rain, the army's retreat was greatly hindered by the flooded Dnieper River. Even if they all arrived at Misi Ferry, crossing the river would be very difficult and slow. The second issue of potato harvesting was like the whole village rushing to harvest before the heavy rain.
Wheat, that's because wheat kernels that lie down and are flooded will sprout quickly. Potatoes also face a similar problem, that is, they rot after being flooded. Unlike wheat, potatoes can tolerate being soaked in mud soup for a certain period of time before they are suffocated to death.
, must be rescued and excavated.
In this way, Yang Mingzhi learned that the Kovpak Corps was progressing smoothly, especially that Natasha was one step away from the four hundred enemy kill record. This was the only thing that made him slightly happy. However, in the face of the withdrawal of the army and the
Food production, these two major issues related to the future of the guerrilla republic, are facing major difficulties. For him, he will definitely spend another sleepless night anxious until dawn! (To be continued)