Kovpak received a response from his superiors. Now, the southward attack on Bukca Village received the support of the commander, and he no longer had any worries.
"Comrade Balzen! The commander ordered us to start returning after we deal with the enemies in the Bukca village. I have no objection, and it is indeed time for us to end this operation."
"Yes! Many comrades are troubled by diseases. The bad thing is that we never thought that this would happen. Ending the operation as early as possible and reducing the non-combat attrition of the troops is the right way."
With Balzen's approval, Kovpak felt more at ease about the future.
He handed the telegram documents to Balzen and couldn't help but stretch.
"The soldiers are very tired, and my personal situation is also a bit bad! I really hope it won't rain again, and I hope we can all see the sun tomorrow morning."
"I hope so!"
Everyone needed to rest. If Balzen hadn't been waiting for the commander's reply, he would have fallen asleep around the campfire wrapped in a blanket.
After receiving the telegram, which contained the commander's instructions to Natasha, he naturally had to inform the girl. Balzen carried the telegram and walked to the reconnaissance camp...
He glanced around and saw the sleeping girl curled up in a ball.
"Haha, it seems that your mission as a military doctor has been completed?"
Balzen and Igor talked for a while. Their voices were at least lower than the snoring in the camp and did not disturb the girl's sleep.
"Comrade Igor, although the commander's instructions are only a few words, I hope you can understand what he thinks." As he said, he continued to glance at the sleeping girl uncontrollably, "As her observer,
You must protect her! You must protect her at all times! Now, her life is more important than ours. One day she will go to Moscow to accept the leader's summons! Before that, you must protect her!"
"I will."
Although what Balzen said was nonsense, he had to ask himself, this girl did act irrationally during the day's battle. He also made up his mind that in the foreseeable future, he would be more cautious when taking her with him.
Next, the troops will continue to walk south for a long distance, passing through long virgin forests and even lying on many creeks and shoals. In terms of geographical conditions, the situation south of Turov is quite complicated.
When the war ends, Belarus will inevitably carry out large-scale agricultural reclamation. Even so, the country's forest coverage is shocking!
The "Land of Thousand Lakes" nourishes large areas of birch, beech and red pine trees, each of which grows to an unusually tall height. Especially in inaccessible forests where there are more deer than people, large trees with a diameter of one meter abound!
There is such a forest to the south of Turov Town, and this forest not only contains the wood resources that Germany needs!
All kinds of resources in the occupied areas are the industrial materials that Germany desires!
In the years before the German invasion of Poland, Germany was in a state of "thriving", but this "thriving" was entirely based on the "guided inflation" of Hitler's administration.
A large number of unemployed people became soldiers or entered the work of newly established state-owned companies. Soldiers need to receive military pay, and working requires wages. Therefore, the government has to over-issue currency and maintain a high level of inflation to maintain the country.
The huge expenditure required to run the machine.
Since Hitler came to power, Germany has used overdraft credit and inflation to stimulate its economy to take off. However, the industrial production stimulated by the state is actually the military industry.
By early 1999, German financial groups realized that Germany was bound to face a massive economic crisis.
The pain of the global economic crisis in 199 stimulated Germany, and the Third Reich decided to launch a war in order to delay the arrival of the economic crisis!
Through war and plunder, Germany's own economic situation has greatly improved. However, as the war continues, the authorities' dream of postponing the economic crisis through war is being shattered bit by bit.
When the German army fully invaded the Soviet Union, it immediately began a larger-scale currency issuance in the country. Compared with the exchange certificate PPK promoted in the occupied territories, the Reichsmark itself began to hyperinflation.
When Hitler came to power, there were only 900 million Reichsmarks circulating in Germany, but by the current summer of 1944, the number had reached 1 billion!
The five-fold increase in circulating currency does not mean that supplies have also been greatly enriched due to war plunder. After all, the war itself is also very expensive. It does not consume Reich Mark notes, but real money and silver.
And countless steel and oil!
The German army searched for industrial raw materials on a large scale in the occupied areas. The forest between Belarus was mainly composed of red pine, and rosin, an important industrial flux, became an important target of plunder.
The reason why the German army did not kill all the Jews in Petrikov and established a concentration camp in the village of Bukca in the forest south of Turov was to use local human resources, cut down trees, and collect rosin.
Kovpak's army will go straight to Bukca, and the local defenders have no idea about the coming danger.
They did not know that the Soviet army was coming, and the Soviet army also did not know the details of the enemies in Bukeca Village.
At least the Soviet army had reason to believe that they would never encounter any strong opponents. After all, it was a small village. How many troops could there be?
Kraft Parker estimated that the enemy would be able to stand up to the sky with a hundred men, and future battles would end quickly. The only trouble was how to find the concentration camp hidden in the forest? Unless he could capture a few insiders when occupying the village.
On the morning of August 2nd, the world fell into a thick fog. In the foggy world, no one could clearly see the figures ten meters away.
"What the hell! This damn fog!"
"Commander of the Corps, you should be happy!" Political Commissar Rudnev was in a good mood. He pointed out: "With this fog, it means it will not rain again."
"Really? But what's the difference between this fog and rain? When I woke up, my clothes were soaked by the fog!"
"Maybe if we wait a few more hours, the sun will come out. Listen, at least we can't move the whole army until the fog clears!"
"No! We must take action!" Kovpak did not intend to delay. In the previous combat life, didn't the troops also encounter heavy fog? Was the team hindered by this? "
"We don't want to continue walking through the forest. Let's just find the forest road and walk in the designated direction. Are we afraid that we won't find Bukcha?"
"But you have to find a way first!"
Kovpak is anxious to complete the operation. After all, the current troops are no better than before, because hundreds of sick and wounded have become a huge burden. Not to mention the reduction in the combat effectiveness of the troops, if they continue to dilly-dally, more people are bound to get sick!
He wiped the dew from his goatee and ordered his reconnaissance team to brave the heavy fog to find the way.
However, Versigola did find a road in the forest. Sadly, they could not find their way back to report the news!
The entire regiment had no choice but to wait until eight o'clock in the morning before they finally found the road and the troops resumed their march.
With a team of nearly four thousand people, most of the soldiers lined up in two columns and walked on the winding forest road. As for the marching formation, Balzen, the consultant, made some plans.
All the sick and wounded and stretcher bearers, as well as the regiment's command center, medical soldiers, prisoners of war and rescued civilians, are at the core of the team. On both sides and the end of the team, there are two companies of soldiers guarding them.
As a security force.
Balzen temporarily assigned more than 20 elite veterans under the command of his capable general Tokov to Versigola's Chacha team. They separated from the main force for more than two kilometers and explored the road ahead.
He was well aware of the commander's intentions, so he did not incorporate Natasha and Igor into the vanguard. He estimated that Tokov alone would be enough, and besides, the old Cossack Versigola was also an elite man.
A group of vulgar men were galloping through the forest carrying various small weapons. Behind them was a large army that was moving slowly because of the large number of sick and wounded.
According to the confessions of the captured German soldiers and the rescued woman, the distance from Turov to Bukca Village was nearly 40 kilometers.
Considering that the troops passed through the Goron River when they withdrew on August 1, and the Soviet troops had walked for two hours, Kovpak therefore believed that since the troops set off again on August 2, they were only thirty kilometers away from the target.
In the past, if we rushed away in one day, the journey of thirty kilometers would not be a problem at all.
Or because of the problem of sick and wounded, the troops had to slow down. It was impossible for the large troops to reach the target in one day, but the vanguard troops could try to attack directly.
At twelve o'clock at noon, both the vanguard and the main force stopped to rest.
The soldiers ate the potatoes that had been baked in advance in the morning, and some also ate the captured bread. The officers headed by Kovpak gathered together, and he himself explained his tactical ideas.
"The troops of Versigola and the 84th Division combined have nearly 400 people! Why don't we just let them capture the village of Bukca directly? I don't believe that the German army can still deploy heavy troops for defense?"
His bold plan was recognized by everyone, and Balzen also supported the bold action, but had some disagreements on the details.
"The words of the German prisoner of war must not be disbelieved or completely new, as well as the words of the woman. After all, the woman had not passed through Bukca after the war broke out. We don't know what the village looked like. We still need to be cautious, we must do
Come up with a set of alternatives.”
"Alternative? Are you worried about the enemy's strength?" Rudnev asked.
"No! Direct attack is plan No. 1, and we also need to design plan No. 2. Lieutenant General Berekov, he has a fine tradition of commanding operations, that is, making multiple plans. At the same time, he also imagines the enemy as a strong enemy.
Deal with all kinds of enemies with the same attitude as dealing with strong enemies, so soldiers will never become complacent."
Kovpak nodded: "The general actually has such commanding art?"
"General Chinese, I heard that Chinese people are generally humble. This kind of character is worth learning."
"Okay! So what's the second plan?"
"Organize a tactical reserve team to follow up with the vanguard. If the vanguard encounters a strong enemy, the reserve team will directly follow up to assist. If the vanguard's attack goes smoothly, the reserve team will directly outflank the fleeing enemy. I believe that the sick and wounded in the large army and the non-combatants
The personnel do not need the protection of more than 2,000 people. I think it is better for me to serve as the captain of the tactical reserve team and lead at least 500 tactics to stick behind the vanguard."
"Five hundred people? Haha, this is equivalent to an infantry battalion."
Balzen looked up at the gray sky and sighed: "I was originally a battalion commander! I am also comfortable commanding a battalion. You give me four hundred men, and I will lead my remaining soldiers to form a reserve team. You
What do you think?"
After all, this person represents the general. Furthermore, this person is indeed a fierce man who understands tactics and is brave.
Kovpak did not want to wait any longer. If he sent troops to quickly liberate the village and rescue the oppressed people and prisoners in the concentration camps, if all this could be achieved on August 2nd, then on the 3rd, the troops could directly turn eastward.
Got it!
"Okay! I agree with your decision. So, Comrade Rudnev, what do you think about the four hundred people from our first brigade?"
"I totally support it!"
In this way, after lunch, Balzen was in high spirits again. He knew that the first group of Kovpak was its elite, and the 400 people who were separated must also be elite. And his own number of more than 60 people were among the elite.
Elite, every soldier is a precision shooter!
The reconnaissance battalion directly under the headquarters of the 6th Army was suddenly captured in this way. Balzen also brought Natasha's sniper team with him, further strengthening the overall strength.
"Brothers, remember! You are temporarily classified as the 84th Guards Infantry Division. Legally, you are still under the Ministry of the Interior and are the Internal Guards! At least in the next few days, you will all enjoy this designation! Follow me now,
Forward!" Balzen hoped that this self-announcement would give the new unit a sense of honor.
This move worked very well. He believed that the 400 people assigned to him had received a strong sense of honor BUFF. Although there was no time to practice the proper team tactics, in terms of bravery alone, they were all elites!
When the troops moved out again, Versigola at the front had already learned that there was a tactical reserve team behind him. At the same time, the regiment commander decided to attack boldly and asked the troops to capture Bukca before dark!
In terms of age, Versigola is more than ten years older than Balzen, but in terms of combat experience, he has to say that it is God's blessing that the Belarusian in his thirties can survive until now!
When he was a cavalryman, Versigola's favorite thing was naturally to march forward with his saber high. As an infantryman, his style remained the same.
"Brothers, we have the support of our comrades! In this way, the total strength of the vanguard force will exceed 800 people! And the enemy's strength is at most one company! Not only do we have an advantage in strength, but our weapons and equipment are also superior. The corps commander also ordered
, we must capture the village as quickly as possible. Now listen to my order and run forward!"
In terms of running, Versigola's Corps Reconnaissance Team is definitely the best among the Corps. Each of their soldiers can run a half marathon, which is ten kilometers, and still maintain combat effectiveness.
The vanguard was running, and Balzen's reserve team was also running. After all, the soldiers from the First Battalion were not a reconnaissance team. After an hour of rapid march, Balzen had no choice but to find that his new subordinates were slowing down one after another.
"This is not good. This group of people will have to strengthen their physical training in the future."
Balzen had to accommodate the physical strength of his men, so that when the reconnaissance team discovered that a large number of cut wood piles began to appear on the roadside, the distance between the two teams was already as long as four kilometers.
Versigola believed that he had reached the target and the battle was imminent. He first ordered everyone to hide, and then contacted the main force and Balzen's headquarters via radio.
He obtained Kovpak's authorization to attack, and then discussed it with Balzen.
"Everything will be executed as planned!" Versigola let out a long breath. After he stabilized his mentality, he immediately began to assign tasks.
He decided to use a pincer offensive to move over and surround the enemy from three directions. Tokov's twenty elites followed the left wing of the army. Once the encirclement was formed, they would act as surprise troops to block the enemy's escape.
route.
Without any hesitation, the action started at four o'clock in the afternoon! (To be continued)