After Yang Mingzhi's operation of "encircling Wei and rescuing Zhao" in Mozyri ended, he did not object to the westward advance of the Kovpak Corps, but he did not strongly support it. The actions of the Corps were the icing on the cake. It would be better if it could attract the main force of the German army to move westward.
.
Their actions had a certain effect. At least after July 30, the German army did not send troops south to stir up trouble. Of course, this can also be attributed to the sudden heavy rain.
After all, the German army did not move south. Taking advantage of this gap, the Guerrilla Republic mobilized unprecedented manpower and material resources to seize all the food.
Yang Mingzhi in the headquarters, drinking spicy vegetable soup, received the latest telegram from the Corps.
The corps captured the village at lightning speed. Among the preliminary statistics of seizures, rosin was specifically mentioned.
"Ah! They actually found six hundred kilograms of rosin? It's incredible. How could they find this?"
Yang Mingzhi's startled look made Yevlov very impatient.
"My old friend, please calm down. Don't yell while eating."
"Oh I'm sorry, but they actually seized rosin. It's a wonderful thing."
"wonderful?"
"Yes! Rosin is a good thing. In this way, our arsenal's welding operations will get an important batch of flux! I think our chemistry laboratory can also separate some aromatic oils, which can be used as medicine."
Originally, there were large pine forests in the area around the Guerrilla Republic, and there was a lot of rosin there. But I didn't pay much attention to collecting it. Although I don't know why the Germans insisted on collecting rosin frantically in that village. Since there are 600 kilograms of this stuff, transporting it
It is very urgent and necessary to return to industrial production.
The order to retreat back to the swamp has been issued. Yang Mingzhi studied the map at night. He was surprised to find that what awaited Kofpak would be a 190-kilometer expedition. This was still a straight-line distance, and the actual distance was longer.
Furthermore, this journey has to pass through many streams, wetlands and forests. There are more than 4,000 of them. The huge team is very obvious. How can we not encounter enemies along the way?
A town named "Lierchuqi" marked on the map caught Yang Mingzhi's attention.
"Hey! Comrades, come here."
Yang Mingzhi called more than a dozen staff officers to his side and pointed to a point on the map on the desk: "This is it. Do any of you know anything about this town?"
No one responded.
At this time, curiosity drove the sleepy Yevlov to come over: "What? What's bothering you?"
"Here! This town. Cove Park's retreat to the east is likely to pass through this town. I estimate that the man got the benefit of the assault and probably liberated this town for the sake of honor."
"This is a good thing! If we move the people in the towns to the swamps, won't our strength be further strengthened?"
"How strong is the enemy? How many troops are there in the enemy? How many people will be lost to capture it? Kovpak is already exhausted, will he really take the risk?" Yang Mingzhi asked a bunch of questions, which made Yevlov not sure how to answer.
But Yevlov did not leave in despair. The "Lilchuch Town" marked on the regional map is there, and it is under the jurisdiction of Gomel Oblast.
He had a flash of inspiration: "Ah! Lyudbarev is the mayor of Gomel. He should also know something about the cities in the entire state. Can't you just ask him?"
"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi stood up suddenly. After sending away the staff officers, he directly called a guard: "You run to the office and invite Comrade Lyudebalev to the headquarters!"
Not long after, Lyudbalev, who had wanted to go to bed, was ordered to come.
He asked straight to the point: "Is there something big going on? Comrade General?!" After saying that, he couldn't help but yawned.
"Yes! I'm sorry to have you come so late."
"It's about food! I think you have received the good news. Now the Communist Youth League members are busy calculating how much food we have collected and how long we can feed and feed 100,000 people. These data will not be compiled until tomorrow.
.Could it be..."
"Listen to me first." Yang Mingzhi asked anxiously: "How much do you know about Lilchuch Town? After all, it is under the jurisdiction of Gomel Oblast."
"What? Which town."
It wasn't until Lyudebalev stood in front of the map that he understood which town Yang Mingzhi was referring to.
Belarus has a small population and there are not many cities, especially in Gomel Oblast. Since most of the area is covered by forests and lakes, the population has been sparse since ancient times. The larger settlements in this region are Lyudbaryo
Husband knows something about it.
This Lirchuk is a relatively large town in the Belarusian sense.
"I know this town. Before the war broke out, there should be 10,000 people living here. As for how many people there are now, a year later, I don't know. I never expect the enemy to be merciful, and we have not received any
Any information about guerrilla activities in that town. Maybe the enemy is killing people in the town, and there aren’t many people left alive now.”
"Is this true?" Yang Mingzhi took a breath, "The town is far away from us, but Cove Park is very close to it."
Lyudbarev understood the commander's intention and quickly followed suit: "We cannot let the enemy continue to be rampant! Since we have the strength, we will liberate the towns. Rescue all living citizens from the iron heel of the enemy and send them all to the guerrilla republic.
.We have also lost a lot of human resources, and it is very urgent for us to gain new forces."
Yang Mingzhi nodded: "I want to fight, but I don't know the details of the German army there. Besides, the Kovpak Corps division is tired of veterans. They still have the ability to attack the city? I want to hear your opinion."
"My opinion? I thought you asked me to come here just to introduce this town. I don't understand military affairs, I only understand politics. If Kovpak sweeps through Lilchuch again, we will have eliminated the German army.
a stronghold.”
"According to the intelligence we have, I estimate that the town is not under the control of the German 74th Division, and even the village of Buksa is not under the control of the 74th Division. I am a little worried that we will provoke enemies from Kiev to come north to attack us."
"It depends on your attitude."
After seizing the town, looting and moving all the people, Yang Mingzhi hoped that his side would sweep through Lierchuqi with minimal losses.
Is this possible? The biggest reason why guerrillas are guerrillas is their crude weapons and equipment.
To attack a city, you need heavy weapons, such as rocket launchers and other heavy weapons!
Although the production of Catfish rocket launchers has resumed, only four of them have rolled off the production line. Besides, the straight-line distance from the Guerrilla Republic to that town is more than one hundred meters.
On the contrary, Kovpak, who was setting off tomorrow, bravely marched towards the town and could arrive in the evening.
Because of this problem, the anxious Yang Mingzhi could not sleep peacefully. He scratched his scalp crazily and had a fierce ideological struggle between attacking or avoiding.
Although the people of Kovpak eventually returned to the forests of Bryansk and Sumy after their return, they were not directly under the Guerrilla Republic. These people suffered heavy casualties and had little impact on the Guerrilla Republic itself.
"No! I have to think more about my friendly forces!"
However, if he insists on attacking, the probability of Kovpak suffering heavy losses is very high. After all, this army carries a large amount of captured supplies and hundreds of people. The soldiers are either marching or fighting, and they are soaked in heavy rain. The retreating soldiers
The order has been issued, wouldn't they be eager to withdraw and rest?
If the troops have this mentality, even if they are ordered to attack the city, the soldiers will just want to end the battle quickly. The soldiers will become anxious and unnecessary losses will occur.
But it was only a day's journey for the troops to reach that town. If the German defenders were weak, wouldn't it be a good time to attack the city?!
If the troops pass quietly through the forest area south of the town, they will basically not encounter the enemy.
Is it a fight or a detour? Yang Mingzhi thought about it at one o'clock in the morning, but still didn't understand.
"Alas! It seems that we should let Kovpak choose!"
Yang Mingzhi sighed deeply, asked the guard to wake him up at five o'clock, and then went to the lounge to sleep...
In the early morning, the sky is still hazy, and the whole world is very cool.
"It looks like there won't be any damn rain today!" Yang Mingzhi yawned. He looked at his watch and saw that it was already half past five in the morning.
Although he only slept for four hours, it definitely felt like a long time had passed.
There are so many complicated things every day, and he is busy from morning to night every day. Yang Mingzhi thought of his school life back then. Unfortunately, that kind of life and that kind of world are gone forever.
"Ah! It's time to contact Kovpak!"
He threw the cigarette butt and stamped it out, then walked directly to the communications room and woke up all the sleepy correspondents.
Before six o'clock in the morning, the headquarters of the Guerrilla Republic established contact with the main force of the Kovpak Corps, which was nearly 200 kilometers away.
A sharp choice was placed in front of Kofpak.
"I give you two hours to choose. Report your decision to me before eight o'clock in the morning!"
This was Yang Mingzhi's final message. It was their choice whether to fight or not to fight Lierchuqi.
…
"It's really bad. There is such a large town on our retreat route?!" Kovpak was groggy early in the morning. After learning about this situation, he also made a difficult choice.
Several important commanders of the corps gathered at the temporary command post. Everyone squatted around the map. Kovpak held a thin wooden stick and punched the point "Lilchuch" on the regional map.
"Comrades! I thought that as long as we walked eastward, there would be no difficulties. Now the commander has reminded us! This is it! This is a town that lies across our journey back east. The commander told me that the headquarters has no plans for this.
The town is undecided, so the choice is ours to bypass or attack. We must make a decision!"
After receiving important information early in the morning, the political commissar of the corps, the captain of the second brigade, and the investigation captain, Balcha, were all in high spirits.
In the past few days of operations, the troops have been winning battles. After learning that there is a town occupied by the German army on the way back east, what else is there to discuss?
"Just fight directly! We can rescue more Soviet citizens, punish more traitors, and eliminate more invaders!" The investigation captain Versigola looked filled with indignation, which was praised by others.
Kovpak looked at the others again, and everyone's expressions were determined.
"It seems that none of you have any objections! We will attack Lierchuch directly and capture the city directly. But before attacking, we have to count the troops that can be put into battle."
The commanders of each ministry knew how many troops they still had. They reported the data to each other and found that there were still 3,100 so-called men who dared to fight.
Currently, there are 4,300 people of various types led by Kovpak. Excluding non-combatants and the sick and wounded, there are only just over 3,000 troops left to fight, which really worries him.
Because the commander mentioned several points in the telegram, namely, the city of Lilchuch was about half the size of Liechica and there were no guerrilla activities in the city, which made the Soviet army completely ignorant of the situation of the garrison in the city.
"Comrades, the fundamental factor behind the headquarters' hesitation is the lack of understanding of the enemy. The commander is worried that if we attack rashly, we will suffer huge casualties after the first round of offensive. He doesn't want this to happen. So can we consider it?
…”
"No!" The captain of the second brigade flatly objected.
"Comrade Popdrinko, we should also consider the casualties of our troops!"
"Are we afraid of our own casualties, so we allow the enemy to continue to harm the people? We are very close to this small city, and we are the only one who can save the civilians at the moment. My attitude will never change, I support attacking the city!"
"I support it too!" Versigola raised his hand in agreement.
"I..." Rudnev hesitated: "My old friend, you are the commander of the corps. You have the right to decide this matter."
Kovpak's eyes immediately fell on Balzen: "Comrade, what's your attitude?"
"Me? If you decide to attack, I will support it unconditionally. If you are willing to bypass the city, I have nothing to say. I am a soldier, and you are now my immediate boss. Of course I will listen to my boss."
Undoubtedly, Balzen threw the blame to Kovpak again. He knew that the Ukrainian was hesitant, and he even knew that Commander Belekov was also hesitant.
"Oh! It's really troubling! The commander is still waiting for my call back, but... it's too risky to attack an unknown city with only three thousand men."
"At this time, we should take risks!" Popdrinko's attitude was firm. "In order to save the people, it is natural for us to take risks. This is our obligation!"
"Then let's fight!" Kovpak finally made up his mind.
Here, no one objects to fighting. Since the top commander is determined to fight, the next step is to discuss the tactical details of the siege.
Regarding how to attack the city, Kovpak has not been even 30% confident until now.
In the Battle of Turov, two hundred of his brothers died in a trap set by the German army.
Who can guarantee that Lierchuch's enemies will not set traps.
Who is the master of siege here, of course it is Balzen!
Kovpak immediately asked Balzen for his tactical opinion. He never expected that the tactics Balzen devised for the assault were really incredible.
"Comrades! You hope that I have a good strategy to break the city, and I also have a question to ask you. What is our tactical goal?" Balzen's words are thought-provoking.
"Of course it's to rescue the people, annihilate the enemy, and punish the traitors." Kovpak asked urgently: "That's the three. Do you have any other ideas?"
"Yes! Considering our current weapons and equipment, our army really lacks engineering weapons. At the same time, our pistol ammunition is relatively scarce. If our submachine guns have no ammunition, we will also suffer in street battles. Besides, your troops have suffered in previous street battles.
The tactical level shown in the attack was really poor. Therefore, we should find ways to lure the enemy out, preferably by luring them into the forest to give full play to the guerrillas' tactical advantages."
"But, is this still considered a siege?" Kovpak's question also represented everyone.
"If the general is here, he will definitely support this tactic. Our General Berekov once warned me that when the manpower is lost, the control area will also be lost. If we annihilate the defenders in the wild, the city will be equivalent to being undefended.
, the street fighting where we are disadvantaged will not happen."
"Ah! How wonderful!" Kovpak, who was still hesitant, became determined from the bottom of his heart after listening to Balzen's explanation.
"Not only that!" Balzen said confidently, "If there are many civilians in the city, wouldn't they flee once the war breaks out? We will deploy scouts around the city, take away all the refugees we find, gather them, and eventually send them all to
To the guerrilla republic. I think rescuing the people is our biggest task."
"Then there is nothing more to say! Comrade Balzen! I really hope that you can always serve as my military adviser. At least for now, I will completely follow your military advice! You are our chief of staff!"
Kovpak was actually sincere. Balzen was a strange man, and he really dreamed of taking him under his command. In reality, this Belarusian must follow his general, Belekov.
"Okay! When I get to the swamp, I will definitely have to keep some students of Belekov's advanced tactics." Naturally, these thoughts were expressed to the general in person after the entire army was safe.
At present, the soldiers unanimously support the attack on Lierchuch, and Balzen has thought of a clever plan.
At eight o'clock in the morning, a telegram from the Corps was sent to the headquarters. The content of the telegram was very concise: "Our army has decided to attack the city. Our army has formulated reasonable tactics. This battle will be won." (To be continued)