Lyudbarev's statement is accurate. Before the war, the town of Lirchuch did have 10,000 inhabitants.
The population distribution of Belarus is like this. When the Soviet Union regained Western Belarus, which was occupied by Poland twenty years ago, in 1999, the country had a population of nearly nine million, most of which were distributed in Minsk, Mogilev and Polotsk.
Such a northern city.
The southern part of Belarus, especially the southern part of the railway from Pinsk to Gomel, is even sparsely populated.
A large town named Lilchuch appeared in the forest. The residents of this town are naturally mainly Belarusian and Ukrainian.
Because of the historical persecution of the Jewish people throughout Europe, it is reasonable for some Jews to settle in the forests at the border of Belarus and Ukraine.
The German army finally occupied this place without any effort!
In 1941, thousands of Soviet troops retreated into towns, and the town Soviets also mobilized some militias. However, how could they withstand the torrent of armor attacking the German army with only crude weapons?
What's more, the SS's "Imperial Division" was chasing the Soviet troops escaping from the Vitebsk pocket, and they passed by this town.
A partial division of the "Imperial Division" and two regiments of Wehrmacht troops captured the entire town in just five hours.
The "Imperial Division" later annihilated a group of Soviet soldiers in a small plain in the northern forest. These Soviet soldiers were members of the 1st Army Group that broke away from the retreating Kuznetsov Sixth Mechanized Army a year ago.
The remnants. There are even thousands of officers and soldiers of the 84th Division who do not want to continue running for their lives like lost dogs.
Therefore, in a sense, there is a certain relationship between Yang Mingzhi and this Lierchuchi. If the defenders of this town could better resist the attacking enemies last year, then they would eventually retreat to the swamp.
The Soviet army is likely to increase by five to six thousand people.
The past cannot be assumed!
The Kovpak Corps set off after eight o'clock in the morning. Because there were a large number of non-combatants, the entire team did not rush straight towards the target.
The troops were divided, with Versigola's reconnaissance team advancing in a straight line, while the large army advanced southward toward the dense forest, and finally detoured back to the forest south of Lilchuch.
According to estimates, the high-speed and lightly-armed reconnaissance team will arrive at the outskirts of the town in the evening of that day. If full concealment is not done, a firefight with the defenders is inevitable. Therefore, Versigola was ordered to do so unless he was attacked.
, before a counterattack can be carried out. And the strength of the counterattack is only until the enemy is driven back. The reconnaissance team has only one mission, which is to try not to expose itself and strive to obtain reconnaissance intelligence.
As for the large army, Kovpak did not think that it would be able to reach the target before evening. Look at the current situation of the army. Hundreds of sick and wounded were lying on a large number of makeshift stretchers. Hundreds of civilians were carrying baskets and carrying
Carrying bags, pulling small carts, and even a small number of cattle and sheep, they slowly followed the army.
The wounded and civilians, even if they are a burden on the march, cannot be abandoned alone.
During the meeting, he was moved by the unity of his subordinates. Now Kovpak is gradually worried about the future.
On the other hand, for the soldiers at the grassroots level, everyone's mental condition is just fine.
Political Commissar Rudnev took the lead in singing the "Internationale" in order to boost morale.
This song can be sung by almost all Soviet citizens. It calls on the poor people to carry out class revolution and also symbolizes the goal of the Soviet Union. However, the current war is completely a war between races. The Slavic nation is fighting back in desperate situations.
.
Almost all the officers and soldiers in the regiment were Ukrainians, including old Cossacks. The soldiers then sang "Steppe, Steppe, Steppe" and "Tachanka", more passionate war songs with such tunes.
The song invigorated the soldiers, but Balzen was a little worried.
He asked: "Comrade, I'm worried that there are a few enemies in this forest. If you allow the soldiers to sing, won't the singing cause the enemy to notice?"
Kovpak was completely unimpressed: "This forest is the dividing line between Belarus and Ukraine. Instead of thinking about the Germans, we should think about how many bears or deer we will encounter."
"But do you know this forest in detail? Or do you just rely on the rough map of the area in our hands? What if there are scattered villages in the forest, and there are enemies in the villages?"
"Village? Enemy? I'm not worried at all. If we send some soldiers to annihilate the enemies in the village and take away all the villagers, won't our team become stronger? One of our current tasks is to rescue as many people as possible."
Balzen nodded: "That's true. It's just that I'm worried that there will be enemy communications soldiers hiding in the village. Once..."
"You are unfounded!"
Kovpak interrupted Balzen, but he thought for a moment and felt that the consultant's words did make some sense.
The two men discussed the prospects again.
"Since you are a direct scout of the 6th Group Army, and since you are very worried, why don't you take some soldiers to break away from the large army for reconnaissance?"
"That's what I meant. Now that your reconnaissance team is operating in a distance, I have people acting as the reconnaissance team of the regiment. I have done my job."
As a result, Balzen took more than sixty soldiers under his command, including Natasha's sniper team, to break away from the main force, and followed past practice to conduct reconnaissance one kilometer away from the front of the team.
So, is there really no village in this long forest that runs east to west?
The answer is of course no.
Even if this place is extremely undeveloped, it does not mean that there are no human beings involved.
Balzen led the people for two hours, and at eleven o'clock in the morning, he suddenly discovered someone moving in the woods.
Observation through the telescope proved that it was definitely a rural woman collecting mushrooms. The appearance of her wearing a headscarf and carrying a basket said it all.
The five scouts effortlessly controlled the three peasant women and calmed their spirits. Unexpectedly, the peasant women burst into tears. They were all over fifty years old. When they saw the guerrillas, they immediately confessed what they knew.
everything.
Now, a village named Prebalawicz appeared in front of Balzen.
So what's there to hesitate about? Take it down immediately.
Under the leadership of the peasant woman, Balzen successfully found this small village and immediately launched a military attack.
The battle came without any warning. The villagers were still working on their daily tasks. The puppet soldiers wearing yellow and blue armbands were smoking cigarettes while the merciless bullets began to fly.
It is unknown who fired the first bullet, but Natasha received two shots, both of which were headshots.
The fact that the traitor was killed did not make her happy. Instead, she felt an unspeakable displeasure. However, the puppet army was also an enemy, so Igor faithfully recorded that Natasha's combat record increased to 40.
The battle ended in only four minutes. A total of 8 of the 15 puppet soldiers died, and the rest all surrendered.
The Soviet army rescued more than 60 villagers in one fell swoop. Balzen also conducted surprise interrogations of surrendered puppet troops in an attempt to obtain important intelligence.
The puppet army reported their origins, including the dead people, they all came from the south, and they were all Ukrainians!
The situation in the village of Prebalavitch was very similar to that of the previous village of Bukca. The German army needed someone to manage the village on their behalf, so they ordered a small group of puppet troops from Ukraine to station here. The German army did not expect these people to do anything.
This village has no strategic value at all. The existence of the puppet army is to act as an eyeliner for the German army to target the guerrillas in the surrounding forests.
Are there really guerrillas in this forest?
Before the Kovpak Corps moved here, there were indeed guerrillas in the forest.
Not all villagers were willing to serve the Germans! Through the confessions of the puppet soldiers, Balzen learned that in addition to this village, there were at least two villages in the forest, both along the Ubolt River, an important tributary of the Pripet River.
arrangement.
The puppet soldier's confession was quite satisfactory.
Balzen continued to ask an insider: "Tell me about the situation in Lilchuch, the largest town nearby. Are there Germans there? How many defenders are there?"
The puppet army was stunned when they heard this. They only had fifteen people, and they were defeated by dozens of guerrillas. It was a reasonable defeat. Do the guerrillas still expect this small number of people to attack that town?!
"Haha, you are really crazy! Don't you know anything?!"
The prisoner's arrogance made Balzen very angry. He guessed that maybe the prisoner knew that he would inevitably die and deliberately angered him like this?
"It's because I don't know that I'm asking you! Tell me quickly!"
"You...you are really a bunch of lunatics. Do you expect to attack that town with only a hundred people? Don't you know that there are more than two thousand Germans in Lierchuch?"
This situation surprised Balzen.
"Two thousand people? Why did the Germans guard that town heavily?"
"Why? The guerrillas are making big moves in the north. Will the Germans in Ukraine stand by and watch? That Lirchuch is managed by the Germans in the south, and we also obey the orders of the Ukrainian National Council. Now, the land you set foot on is already
territory of Ukraine.”
Balzen nodded. It was obvious that this Ukrainian puppet soldier actually knew a lot of things. Except for this person, he ordered the execution of the remaining six people for treason.
When he saw the tragic death of his comrade, the puppet soldier who looked disdainful just now was instantly frightened and immediately said that he would sincerely explain everything he knew and just wanted to give him a way to survive.
Whether this man can survive, of course he will die.
The large army finally arrived at this village at 12 noon and used it as a resting place.
The traitor who prayed for his life was eventually shot, and before he died, he had already provided a large amount of information. For a traitor who had no use value, this was the fate of the traitor.
The Corps has actually learned the number of the German troops responsible for the defense of this area.
The 60th Division, part of Army Group South, has the same mission as the 707th Division and the 74th Division, and is responsible for the defense of the rear.
This 60th Division also has its own uniqueness! Because the German army established a puppet regime in Ukraine, in many areas, the German army allowed local people to exercise limited national autonomy. Only in 194, the overall situation of the German army's rule in the Ukrainian occupied areas was worse than
Belarus is much better.
Especially in western Ukraine, a large number of puppet troops came out of here, and most of them served as logistics personnel for the German army. As for the puppet regime called the "Ukrainian National Council", the German army prohibited it from establishing an army, but allowed it to establish a large number of pseudo police forces.
Let's talk about these Ukrainian pseudo-police, according to the normal historical context. In the late war, the German army changed its conscription policy. This group of pseudo-police actually put on German uniforms and served as "Wehrmacht" soldiers. Many people who were die-hard opponents of Stalin joined the SS.
!
The German army took advantage of the hatred of Stalin's regime among a considerable number of Ukrainians, and the pseudo-police they formed became a weapon against Soviet guerrillas.
The pseudo-police also became the hawks of the German army when searching for Jews, and became one of the executioners of the Holocaust.
However, these pseudo-policemen have no intention of harming Ukrainian civilians. After all, everyone is at least not opposed to the establishment of a Ukrainian national government and the restoration of Ukraine to the way it was before Tsarist Russia (opponents are either arrested and sentenced or become guerrillas).
Let’s talk about the 60th Division.
The division's command center is located in a small Ukrainian city called Ovruch, which is close to the forest area and fully 60 kilometers away from the town of Lilchuch where Kovpak is about to attack.
Ofruch is only thirty kilometers away from the edge of the vast Pripet Swamp.
The division has been paying attention to the fighting situation in Lechicha and its surrounding areas, fearing that the guerrillas entrenched in the swamps will move south to attack Kiev.
The division's biggest task is to guard Kiev, the southern transportation hub! Just around Kiev, the German army has deployed seven divisions of troops. They lined up in a long snake formation along the southern edge of the swamp and established a line of defense.
system.
These troops had no intention of going north to fight in the swamps and mud, even though the Kiev authorities had learned that the friendly forces more than 200 kilometers away had been defeated. When the battle heated up, it was this group of German soldiers stationed in Kiev that kept the friendly forces in trouble.
It can be said that the 64th Division's move north to assist in suppressing the bandits was the best effort of the southern German army under the condition of tight troop strength.
The 64th Division suffered a huge defeat and continued the war involving the swamp. Wouldn't it be a trap for the guerrillas?
So until the end of the war, what the German troops around Kiev are doing is to strengthen the defense line to protect the railway hub - Kiev.
The 60th Division sent an infantry regiment north to Lirchuch. This was Kiev's only "offensive defense" operation.
It was not just the infantry regiment of the division that went north, more than a thousand pseudo-policemen were also stationed. Adding in the original pseudo-police and German garrison in Lierchuch, the total number of armed personnel was actually as high as 4,000!
Excluding armed personnel, there are still 6,000 peaceful residents living in the town. Most of them are Ukrainians, with only a small number of Belarusians. The Jews have completely disappeared.
Urban residents still grow wheat, rye, and potatoes in the farmland near towns. Because the original collective farm system was disbanded, farmers returned to the status of homesteaders. The landlords who were once eliminated and exiled by the Soviet Union not only came back, but also after getting the land
He became a supporter of the German army again.
As for a considerable number of landless peasants, they have to work for these landlords, or for Germany, and some urban women even sell themselves to obtain food for survival...
During the war, at least there was no famine. The urban residents had to bow their heads under the German rule. Although it was humiliating to survive, living was the most important thing.
Residents sow wheat seeds in the spring and wait until the end of August to harvest. As for potatoes, residents have harvested twice this year. However, most of the potatoes were requisitioned by the German army, leaving the majority of residents with barely enough food to make ends meet.
Therefore, the residents have no hope for the wheat harvest at the end of the month. By then, all the wheat kernels will be requisitioned by the German army, and the people can only pray that the German army will be kind enough to leave some wheat ears in the fields and allow them to be picked or harvested.
The occupying army can give more rewards during the wheat season.
Most of the three kilometers surrounding Lierchuch Town are wheat fields. The wheat has already headed and is only three weeks away from maturity.
However, the situation in the north has become increasingly sensitive, especially a few days ago, when a large number of German Wehrmacht troops drove trucks and armored vehicles into the town, as if this place had become a war front. Suddenly, the whole city was in turmoil, and people were panicked. Residents spread rumors about Prippe.
The main force of Teswamp's guerrillas is about to come over.
Many residents are worried that the town will turn into a battlefield and have the idea of escape.
But the pseudo-police announced to the residents: "The German army completely defeated the bandits on the battlefield in Belarus. The German army entered the town with the intention of attacking the bandits who fled south. Everyone does not have to worry at all and continue to prepare for the wheat harvest." (To be continued)