The German army did not set up any large-scale concentration camps or prisoner-of-war camps in Belarus. Most of the captured Jews and Soviet prisoners of war would be transported to Ukraine and Poland.
The German army built a giant concentration camp, the so-called killing factory, in Lublin, a city in eastern Poland.
Before the outbreak of the war, there were hundreds of thousands of Jews living in Belarus, especially those in its southern cities, most of whom were transported to Lublin by the German army.
The captured German soldier described exactly this fact.
"We captured many Jews in Petrikov, some of whom were shot on the spot. There were also some strong ones who were taken away and sent to the forests in the south. In the south of Turov there was a man named Bu
The village of Keca was where the surviving Jews were imprisoned.”
This prisoner of war knew very little about the village named Bukca. He only knew that he could eventually find the village by following the dirt road leading south from Turov.
It is inevitable that people cannot fully believe the confession of just one prisoner of war.
Fortunately, the guerrillas found two surviving women. In addition to confessing the atrocities the enemy had inflicted on themselves, they also expressed that they had a good understanding of the environment in this area.
Because there is a large area of uninhabited forest in the south of Belarus, human settlements in it are rare and precious, and the residents living here are very sensitive to the surrounding environment.
The confessions of these two women greatly surprised Balzen and Kovpak, because before the war, they were not only familiar with the place, but there was even a woman who was actually Ukrainian. She was married to Turov from Ukraine in early 1941.
We passed Bukca, a village in the forest.
She even claimed that although the village is in Belarus, its residents are basically Ukrainians.
Judging from the suffixes of the village and town names, Kovpak also felt that there were mostly Ukrainians there. After all, it was a region name ending in "Cha".
Bukca was selected as the next attack location, and the troops would no longer be able to move lightly in future operations.
A large amount of captured supplies had to be brought with them, and the wounded and sick became a real burden. For emotional reasons, they must not leave them behind. Of course, it is not a bad thing for the troops to move slower. Soldiers who have been fighting for a long time can take a break to prepare for the future.
A longer armed assault.
They withdrew from Turov at four o'clock in the afternoon, when the rain had stopped.
After passing through the abandoned wheat fields in the south of the town, the army marched four kilometers before entering the forest area.
"If there's another heavy rain at night, we won't be able to bear it." Kovpak said worriedly to consultant Balzen.
"So, you plan to camp on the spot?"
"What do you think? We can light a fire immediately. No matter whether it rains at night or not, we can at least dry our clothes and feel comfortable for a while."
Balzen nodded. Based on his own experience, he estimated that since there had been a heavy rain before, there would be little chance of another heavy rain in the future. The sparse light rain was bearable, but the wet clothes made the whole body uncomfortable.
He struggled to lift his pants and joked: "Wet clothes are more harmful to me than my enemies! If I suffer from crotch rot, I won't even think about having a son."
"Haha!" Kovpak laughed indulgently: "You should keep your clothes on! You are an officer after all. If the soldiers follow your example, the forest will not be full of white monkeys? Besides, there are still a few in our team.
Women, especially the hero Speroskina.”
Balzen shrugged helplessly: "Well, we need that young female warrior. In the Turov battle, her total combat record exceeded 400 people. Next, you should send a telegram to your superiors. I think Comrade Commander is already waiting.
I'm impatient, it's time to reassure the officers at the headquarters." After that, he patted himself and went to reorganize his reconnaissance camp.
Kovpak hesitated to speak. Natasha's total number of victories exceeded 400 people. This number could no longer express surprise on his face.
"This matter! I must report it to Comrade Berekov! And Comrade Salinchkin! Correspondent!"
The entire army camped in the forest. In order to worry about the rain, many soldiers not only cut down the red pine trees that could be seen everywhere as fuel for the campfire, but also used branches to build their own shacks to block some rain.
Although Kovpak was not happy for his men to take off their clothes, a large number of soldiers stripped down to their underwear. They hooked their damp clothes with branches and baked them in front of the crackling and steaming bonfire.
There were also some soldiers who took this opportunity to quickly put on the captured clothes. Some even threw away their boots and put on the ones ripped from the corpses of the German soldiers. The guerrilla fighters who had almost nothing had no regard for clothes.
Taboo. Many people changed their outfits, which made the guerrillas even more nondescript.
Some people were baking clothes, others were baking preserved potatoes, and Natasha was holding a German bayonet and roasting it on the fire.
In special times, it is completely impractical to thread needles and threads to sew the wound of the wounded. Currently, the fastest way to stop bleeding is to directly brand the wound.
She saw with her own eyes that Yang Tao had done this, and even the reliability of the methods, so she imitated the same and forced it.
Natasha, her behavior was shocking. The wounded man was still crying and howling while biting the stick, but she remained unmoved.
Most guerrilla fighters know this treatment method. Although it is extremely painful, it is the best if it can save your life.
The wailing of the wounded did not surprise the ordinary soldiers. They were so tired that many of them fell asleep while baking their clothes. After the troops rested for two hours, the sky was still bright, but the camp was enveloped by endless low snoring.
If there was anyone who was frightened, it was the two rescued women. They were given rifles and more than ten bullets, and the team leader responsible for guarding them issued an order: "We don't need cowards, even your women.
Don't think about getting special love and care. The only thing that can protect you now is these two guns. Remember! If you find the enemy, shoot at them. Think about your hatred and kill them without mercy. It's that simple."
Do they really want to fight? No! They just want to live, just like the Jews who were forcibly taken away by the Germans in Petrikov, and the ordinary residents who were taken away in Turov.
They had no choice, because the team leader had bad words again: "If you are holding back, we will abandon you without mercy. As for the retaliation you will face if you are caught by the German army, you can imagine." There is a straightforwardness in these words.
The threat, if you think about it for a moment, can be regarded as a spur.
After all, they were women, and they were sent directly to take care of the sick and wounded after firing their guns. Therefore, they saw a teenage girl. Not only were they surprised that there was a child in this huge guerrilla force, they were even more shocked.
Yu girl used a hot dagger to remove the wounded man's wounds.
This group of guerrillas is no more crazy than the Germans, and most of them are Ukrainians. This makes the Ukrainian woman happy, but also full of questions. After all, they are our own people, and you can escape from the devil's cave if you join them. So, guerrillas
What kind of existence is the Republic and Novgomel? Is it really the only peaceful place under the iron heel of the Communist Party?!
Taking advantage of the fact that it was still dark, Kovpak unexpectedly wrote a telegram and gave it to the correspondent to send to the Guerrilla Republic.
At 5:30 in the afternoon, the Blacksmith Village Headquarters, a direct distance of 140 kilometers away, received this relatively long message.
The cable records all the actions of the Kovpak Corps on August 1. In addition to recording their battlefield encounters in detail, it also emphasizes the information about the mysterious concentration camp obtained from the prisoners of war. Of course, about Natasha's killing of the 400th enemy
The facts have also become an item to focus on reporting.
Now, it's Yang Mingzhi's turn to think about how to recover the Kovpak army that is isolated in Gomelxitri. (To be continued)