The Germans did not know the location of the guerrillas at all, and they did not send scouts to search far away. Instead, they placed some observers high in the town, holding telescopes at all times.
If nothing else happens, the German army will not be able to find the guerrillas at all!
Because an unprovoked incident broke out while accepting civilians, the dense gunfire of the chaotic battle was heard by the Germans as the muffled sound of the south.
The whole town became tense. German Army Commander Fuller finally figured out the location of the guerrillas in the afternoon.
"They actually shot, who were they shooting?"
The regiment staff member responded speculatively: "Maybe they are those civilians? I have long heard that the guerrillas are not friendly to Ukrainians. My God, they may be massacring civilians."
"Why? Why do they do this?!"
"Because they were neither willing to fight for Stalin nor to escape, but as our obedient people. The guerrillas thought these people were traitors, so they killed them all."
"Ouch! That's so crazy. If they attack us, wouldn't it be..." Fuller felt a greater threat, and he immediately ordered to further strengthen the city defense construction of the troops.
The sound of gunfire exposed the location of the guerrillas, and Fuller had a backbone. He quickly sent a telegram to the division headquarters and continued to request reinforcements from the division commander.
He did not receive many new reinforcements. The so-called reinforcements were the five hundred Ukrainian pseudo-policemen who were already walking on the road through the forest.
On the contrary, Fuller's telegram shocked these reinforcements. The reinforcements he longed for were indeed advancing. Fearing that they would be ambushed by the guerrillas, their actions suddenly became slow. The original plan was that the reinforcements would arrive the next morning.
The current speed can be delayed until the day after tomorrow.
In this case, it is very correct for Kovpak not to attack the town of Lilchurch.
The German army dug a large number of foxholes around the city and dug zigzag trenches. The German officers and soldiers built their trenches with the mentality of building semi-permanent field fortifications. They even made camouflage nets out of found hemp ropes.
They were destined not to wait until the Soviet army charged!
On the evening of August 4th, the Kovpak Corps, with more than 5,000 civilians, waded through the Ubolt River, a tributary of the Pripet River, and successfully reached the other side.
The Pripet water system is vast, and most of its tributaries are less than two meters deep.
If the Corps successfully captures the town of Lilchuch, it will not only be able to plunder some supplies, but also be able to quickly cross the river through the bridge. During the war, the battle for certain cities is often the battle for their associated transportation lines. The Soviet army is impossible in any case.
Taking Lierchuch in a few hours will result in serious losses of troops.
So even if crossing the river makes you feel uncomfortable, you must endure any difficulties in order to get home early.
Everyone, regardless of whether they wanted to or not, had to jump into the one-meter-deep river. Everyone stepped on the sandy river bed and trudged toward the other side to enter the winter.
The temperature of the river water was not high, which made it more difficult to cross the river. Fortunately, the survival instinct drove everyone to go ashore one after another. Even though everyone had to swim through the water for more than fifty meters, most of them were so cold that their lips turned purple.
Compared with this, wet clothes have become a huge burden. Especially the female refugees in the team, they wear traditional robes, which are now too heavy. The condition of the children is also very bad, many of them are simply wet.
As soon as they landed, some people sat down with their backs against the big trees and huddled up, shivering. It seemed that they just wanted to sit and feel better.
Natasha also experienced all this. She was so strong that she stepped ashore and didn't stop.
"My dear, how do you feel? Do you want to take a rest? I see many people are sitting down!" Igor asked with concern.
"It's okay, I have to keep walking so that my body can stay warm. Besides, it's not absolutely safe here!"
Natasha tried her best to twist her clothes a few times, trying to drain away the river water. She felt really bad, and as she moved around, drops of water were already falling on her clothes.
Compared to the rain a few days ago, this little water was nothing. They had not received any orders for the troops to camp. Without orders, they were ordered to continue marching.
Indeed, Kovpak had no intention of stopping at the shore with eight thousand people.
He urgently ordered his subordinates: "I don't care what methods you use, no one is allowed to stop by the river. Immediately urge the civilians who stop to continue walking!"
Their wet clothes were like lead weights, and the whole team walked slowly for more than an hour and a half, finally stopping at eight o'clock in the evening, when the sky was about to get dark.
Looking around, there are tree trunks all around. This is already the depths of the forest.
Kovpak nodded with satisfaction and gave the order to set up camp.
No one knows his exact location, and old guerrillas like Kovpak can only estimate the distance of his movement. He estimated that the straight-line distance between the camp and Lilchuch is at least ten kilometers away.
The actual distance is twelve kilometers in a straight line. If they continue running in a straight line toward the east, they will still have a difficult journey of one hundred and forty kilometers!
The troops set up camp, and a large number of bonfires were lit deep in the dense forest. Many soldiers did not care too much and took off their wet clothes and placed them in front of the bonfire to bake.
Even women had to dry their clothes in this way. Fortunately, Rudnev emphasized military discipline, and no soldiers risked punishment for provoking those women.
People who had been tortured by the war all day, after eating simple and small amounts of food, huddled up next to the campfire and fell asleep. The refugees had no idea of their own about what the future would be like, and until now, they could only
Follow the guerrillas towards the east. No one knows how long it will take.
In front of a bonfire with dancing flames, Kovpak briefly wrote down today's battle log in his notebook.
"On August 4th, it was cloudy. Our army completed a sneak attack and accepted 5,000 refugees. It did not attack the town of Lierchuch. Our army marched eastward and crossed a river. The road ahead is still long."
The last sentence in the diary reflects his mentality. He was very dissatisfied with the troops' dilatory actions, but he was also extremely helpless.
Rudnev and Popdrinko were already snoring around the campfire.
Kovpak felt sleepy after writing the diary. He glanced at Balzen and found that this guy was actually smoking quietly. The Belarusian had a deep face, his brows were furrowed, and the dancing flames were reflected in his eyes.
The light makes the whole person thoughtful. What a hesitant man!
"Hey! Comrade Balzen, are you thinking about something?"
"Me? I just want to be alone quietly."
"Okay. I apologize for interrupting."
"It's okay." Balzen pointed out a bunch of smoke rings out of boredom and cheered up: "Speaking of which, I am indeed thinking about something."
"What's up?"
"Of course it is our future. Comrade Kovpak, even if we don't attack Lirchuch, we still have a long road ahead. We still have to walk more than a hundred kilometers, and I now seriously doubt that we have enough food at all.
"
"Indeed, food is a big problem. The general has promised us that a regiment of soldiers will start reinforcements with a large amount of food per pound. As long as we follow the path in May, we can meet them smoothly."
"Yes! We have to continue eastward, and when we find the railway, it will be the real 'May Road'. Before that, we have to walk another sixty kilometers! This is no problem for soldiers, but those
Civilians!" Balzen shrugged helplessly, "Thank God they can walk twenty kilometers a day!"
The biggest obstacle that plagues civilians' movements is the lack of food. After all, civilians are not soldiers. They seriously lack endurance training and their bodies seriously lack necessary muscles. Especially the children in the team. Even if summer camps are organized in peacetime, the children
Marching 60 kilometers in three days is also a feat!
Kovpak shrugged: "Let's be optimistic! If we continue to move eastward, we may encounter some villages. We can't capture Lirchuch, so we can still capture small villages quickly. Hopefully we can capture a lot of food.
"
"Yes! I hope so."
The two of them stopped chatting. Everyone was very tired. Balzen spread a blanket for himself, curled up and fell asleep quickly.
Balzen was the one who slept the latest. Like Natasha, she ate three potatoes and then fell asleep with her rifle in her arms, not even caring about the dampness of her clothes. By now, the girl who loves beauty can no longer estimate her own image.
, she did not complain at all. "My record has reached 40. I am suffering today. It is also a kind of trial. Just like Paul Korchagin..."
On the other hand, the food aid that Yang Mingzhi promised to Kovpak began to be implemented after the telegram was issued.
Just by looking at the map, he realized the necessity and difficulty of the aid work.
Due to the influx of a large number of refugees into the guerrilla republic, all the canteens have been in constant operation for a week. A large amount of bread is baked in the canteen, which is higher than the daily consumption of the soldiers.
Yang Mingzhi did not hesitate to take out the bread in stock and provide four tons of bread and twenty tons of fresh potatoes. The grain will be transported westward by horses and will be found along the "May Road" to Kovpak
.
To perform this work, the soldiers participating in the operation must have participated in the military operations in early May. The Guerrilla Republic also has many veterans, who are all troops of the 84th Division.
It stands to reason that the hard-working soldiers should take a good rest. Under the pressure of reality, Yang Mingzhi had to select some smart and capable veterans from among the veterans to serve as guides.
As for who could become the core of the transport team, Yang Mingzhi decisively thought of the 1st Guerrilla Brigade.
He asked the brigade commander Fyodorov to report at night, and immediately issued an order to send food.
Fyodorov didn't have the slightest concern, and he explained emphatically: "I discovered that our teams are all combat troops. And a qualified army should have professional logistics troops. It happened that when we were there, we were
The Germans tend to serve as logistics troops. Please rest assured that we will do our job well."
By now, Yang Mingzhi was completely relieved about Fyodorov and his brothers.
Everything is just as Fyodorov said. The most energetic young men in the entire guerrilla republic are none other than the nearly two thousand people under his command.
When it comes to logistics personnel, the Romanians also performed very well.
Brimayo and his Romanians were incapable of fighting and easily fled, but they worked hard transporting supplies. With this mentality, Yang Mingzhi simply temporarily incorporated the surrendered Romanian army into the 1st Guerrilla Brigade.
Conducted by Fyodorov.
The special transport team assembled at Catfish Village overnight, and at six o'clock in the morning on August 5th, they set off westward.
On August 5th, the sun seemed to break much earlier than before, which was very abnormal.
At five o'clock in the morning, the morning bugle woke up everyone who was still drowsy. Natasha rubbed her eyes and stood up in a daze. She stretched hard and felt bad back pain again.
As a woman, she feels uncomfortable for a few days every month. What's worse, her uncomfortable days are at the beginning of every month. She can fight more bravely than men, but she can't be brave in this matter. She uses her strong will
Be patient and welcome the new journey.
"My dear, you don't look good. Did you catch a cold after crossing the river?"
Igor's kind question made Natasha agitated.
"Oh, I'm fine. Don't ask anymore! I'm very hungry now. Open a can for me."
"All right!"
The canned beef they seized in Mozyr became personal property, and Natasha wore a gold star, which forced no one to snatch it from her.
The dinner for ordinary soldiers and refugees was still the same potatoes. Everyone ate in a hurry, and then started to move forward slowly at the call of Kovpak.
Only this time, after discussions at the morning meeting, the regiment determined a marching route that seemed very reliable.
It turns out that there are some natural geographical boundaries between Belarus and Ukraine.
The Slovechna River is a wide tributary of the Pripet River, which is also used as part of the border between Ukraine and Belarus.
At the morning meeting, the food issue of the Corps was still a hot topic.
The Corps suddenly received a telegram from the headquarters at four o'clock in the morning. The telegram claimed that a comprehensive transportation team with more than 400 horses would set off from Catfish Village at six o'clock in the morning. The headquarters was optimistic that the transportation team would arrive at
On the afternoon of August 6, we arrived at the Western Railway Line.
The destination of the transport team was the town of Slovechna, a ferry town named after the river. Because of its remote location, the German defenders in this town must be very few. Yang Mingzhi then gave the paratrooper brigade Tepunov the task.
That is to say, a reorganized battalion was removed, joined the transportation team, and became the backbone of the battle. Therefore, the battalion commander Rechev was ordered to do so in the face of danger.
As a result, the total strength of the transport team reached 2,500 people, and its combat effectiveness was also quite strong.
Kovpak and others were overjoyed at the careful operation of their superiors. Next, they could not be too lazy. Unfortunately, neither he nor Balzen knew the exact location of the troops. Look at this vast forest, only the compass pointed out the basic direction.
.If you simply follow the compass to guide you, you will probably take a long detour.
After weighing the matter, Kofpak decided to take a slightly further detour.
The so-called troops do not know their position. As long as they go south, the nearest river they find must be the Slovechna River. As long as they follow the river downstream, they will definitely find the ferry town where they will meet their target.
This path is by no means that simple. It has another advantage. There are likely to be villages on both sides of the so-called river. The troops occupying the villages will definitely get food supplies. Even if the supplies are only a little bit, it can stimulate the morale of the entire team!
After the entire corps sent a telegram to the headquarters to explain its decision, it began to move south... (To be continued)