Throughout August 5th, the Kovpak Corps and the transport team marched for a whole day with the ferry town of Slovechna as their goal!
So, what is the situation in this town?
This town has great value, and the basis of its value is the railway that runs here, which is the railway branch line from Mozyr to Kiev. Because the guerrilla activities in the Pripet Swamp are so rampant that it cannot be described in words, the German army has
The railway line is increasingly losing patience.
In early May, the Soviet army focused on attacking this railway. After that, it suffered frequent explosions. The railway was intermittent. All train drivers deliberately slowed down their trains, and two flat cars were connected in series in front of the train to prevent
Mine attacks and shelling.
When a new battle broke out in late June, the battle intensified. With the collapse of the Dnieper River railway bridge in Lechica, the German army's main railway line in southern Belarus was basically interrupted.
No military train has passed through the railway line in the town of Slovechna.
Before the war, this place was both a small town and a small train station. The peaceful residents of the town were less than 2,000. With the German occupation, the residents were moved to the south en masse, and the town was only two companies in size.
German troops were stationed there. Later, some Ukrainian railway workers who served the German troops moved here with their families, and the town gradually became stable.
As the north became a mess, by the end of July, all non-combatants in the towns were sent to the south. The strength of the German troops guarding the towns did not change at all. Together with the Ukrainian puppet troops, there were only more than 300 people in total.
They have only one mission, to guard the town and train station, guard the railway bridge, and wait for the complete restoration of the northern railway line.
"No matter how much trouble the guerrillas in the swamp make, they will never make it here."
Most of the German officers and soldiers had this optimistic attitude, and so did their commanders, but they kept asking the soldiers to be more vigilant and not to neglect their duties.
Unfortunately, the officers and soldiers have had a long and peaceful life. They all belong to the 611th Infantry Division, and their basic mission is to guard the areas around Kiev and are also responsible for clearing the guerrillas in the area under their jurisdiction.
The guerrilla activities in the areas controlled by the 611th Division are sparse. The biggest reason is that after the puppet regime was established, the majority of Ukrainians believed their rhetoric and believed that the Great Famine in the 1930s was deliberately caused by Stalin. And for a Ukrainian national regime, many people
There is no objection. Although there are vast forests here, there is no mass base for the development of guerrillas.
Overall, if the 707th Division in the north lives in hell, the 611th Division is in heaven!
The town garrison learned the news of the attack on Mozyr, but the propaganda was really a bit of a good news but not a bad news. Belarus’s top military commander, William Kube, was not stupid enough to directly publicize the heavy losses of the German army, but
He claimed that the defenders of Mozyr defeated the guerrillas. Regarding the development of Lechica and Gomel, he also instructed the propaganda department to announce that the army had recaptured Lechica and drove the defeated guerrillas back to the swamp.
.
If the defenders don’t trust their own people, who can they trust?
They had no idea that a hungry army was rushing towards them from the west along the river. The situation in the east was even worse, as a surprise Soviet army also marched towards them with great momentum.
There was no warning, and the defenders naively believed that the war was still dozens of kilometers away! Their boring life continued, because all the businessmen and dancers evacuated to the south. They had no entertainment, and they could only spend their boring time playing poker.
Card pastime.
There are many machine gun fortresses built with sandbags, and several defenders gather together to play cards. Many people are sitting in their positions, taking a sip of vodka from time to time. Smoking is everyone's favorite thing, and they compete to see who spits it out.
Smoke rings are the funniest thing, and they have become a wonderful pastime.
There was peace in the town, as if the war had left the place alone.
The German army is by no means a simple passive defense. They dispatched four infantry squads to patrol outside the town. These patrols did not go very far and basically guaranteed that there would be no enemy within a radius of four kilometers from the center of the town. The commander then
Satisfied.
There are some woods near the ferry town, as well as a large area of swamp and wasteland. The densest forest is about three kilometers north of the town, and the forest extends northward to Mozyri!
The defenders all knew that there were several concentration camps in the forest. Because of the events in May, some of the prisoners in the concentration camps were transferred and some were directly executed. After the concentration camps were abandoned, the troops built new ones along the railway lines.
It is feasible to use captured Jews as free labor, but they will eventually be executed. The future cheap labor will mainly be Ukrainians from the south.
The defenders firmly believe that when everything returns to normal, the urban residents who went south will come back, and even more of them will come back! The Ukrainians will use the towns as settlements, and enter the forests to cut trees on a large scale, collect rosin, and so on.
Their mentality is quite optimistic, but the days of defense are really boring.
In boredom, the German troops in the town spent an unusually peaceful August 5th. They all saw the sunset in the west, which indicated that tomorrow would be a sunny day.
Time came unstoppably on August 6th, and two Soviet armies coming from the east and west were one step closer to the town of Slovechna. The German army knew nothing about the potential danger, but the battle would definitely break out on this day!
…
Compared with the lagging situation of the Kovpak Corps, the Soviet transport team moved very quickly. On August 5, they passed through fifteen kilometers of dirt road in the west of the swamp, and then marched for more than ten kilometers.
kilometers. So when it started traveling again after daylight, the straight-line distance to the ferry town was still more than thirty kilometers!
For the regular army, there is no problem in walking thirty kilometers in one day.
However, based on yesterday's march, 1st Guerrilla Brigade Commander Fedorov was not optimistic.
During the morning break, he suggested to Reichev of the Parachute Brigade: "We are still moving slowly now. I want your battalion to go first. It is best to capture the town today, so that when we arrive we can
Just rest."
"Sounds like a good idea. But we are a whole. Even if the movement of the large force takes a while, we'd better not separate."
Reichev's words have two meanings. The army is indeed a whole, and his paratrooper battalion is the main combat force of the transport team. Secondly, the 1st Guerrilla Brigade is a transformed puppet army. I completely trust them. Reichev can't do it.
arrive.
"Well, if you are so determined, I don't think we can reach our goal today."
"No! Our plan is to reach the edge of the town before nightfall today. Whether we fight or not, we have to see the town!"
Reichev's attitude was very resolute: "Comrade! You are Red Army soldiers, you must not be afraid of difficulties."
"but we……"
"Don't look for excuses. We are going to fight, not on vacation! Since it belongs to the battle order of the 6th Army, your 1st Guerrilla Brigade must inherit the glorious tradition of the Army, which is long-distance raids! If we cannot reach the town today, you will
Be responsible. Do you want to erode the general's trust in you?"
Fyodorov shrugged: "Okay! Since you insist, we will continue until exhaustion!"
Indeed, how could they, who were still puppet troops three weeks ago, turn into elite soldiers of the guerrilla republic in an instant? Especially in terms of physical training, the 1st Guerrilla Brigade had nothing to show for itself.
Fyodorov complained in this regard, but the Romanians were like hard-working mules. Brimayo did not want to cause trouble for himself, and he became a strong supporter of Reichev.
The transport team has fully entered the forest. As long as it passes through this forest area, it can reach the target quickly. They have to walk some distance in the forest and try their best to move forward as fast as possible.
Finally, when the time reached five o'clock in the afternoon, the reconnaissance camp finally stood outside the forest and saw a large area of grassland!
Although Fyodorov was the commander in this operation, he often had to accommodate the opinions of the paratrooper Rychev. At present, the direction of action of the troops is south of the "May Road". From now on, the guide has completely lost its role.
Because the troops walked out of the forest, the entire army had to take a short rest.
Fyodorov spread out the map of the area. He could not determine his exact location on the rough map.
He asked Reichev: "Comrade, can you guess how far we are from our goal? I think we should not continue to move forward hastily. Besides, it is getting late. Look at the sun in the west, it is about to set."
"Yes! I saw it. We still have to complete the mission, at least we can see that damn town with our naked eyes!"
Saying that, Reichev couldn't help complaining to Fyodorov again: "You are so slow. You can say that you have to take care of hundreds of horses, and your actions are also slow. I also saw that your soldiers
One by one, how can such warriors fight, panting. Alas! I only hope that there is only a weak garrison in that town."
Fyodorov had no words to refute, and continued to ask: "What do you think should be done? Let's move on?"
"Yes! It's just that now we have to form a battle formation. There is no change in our plan. In any case, I must be able to see the town in the telescope before the sun sets! If I think it is possible, I will directly lead my troops to attack!"
"I sincerely wish you victory."
In this way, the transport team was arranged in a triangular formation. Fyodorov's people were obviously Handan toddlers. They simply put all the baggage in the middle, and the combat troops were distributed in a zigzag shape. As for the benefits of this formation, most soldiers did not
You know, everyone is just following orders.
The transport team moved forward at an extremely slow speed of three kilometers per hour, while Reichev's paratrooper battalion served as the vanguard, running wildly on the soft grass with individual weapons of all sizes.
Reichev had a premonition that there would be a battle today!
"Brothers! Keep your eyes open and don't worry about being exposed! Find that damn town and let us capture it in one fell swoop!"
Reichev's order inspired everyone's fighting enthusiasm. Most of the paratroopers wore medals on their chests. Their sense of honor and mission drove them to rush to the battlefield without hesitation.
They didn't have the slightest disguise, and Reichev didn't bother to put on any disguise.
Finally, in an abandoned potato field, they encountered a cold shot from the German army.
Two sporadic gunshots were like a bolt from the blue, and all the fast-moving troops fell to the ground.
"Who is it? Whose gun went off?" Reichev asked nervously.
"No! It's not our gunshots, that's the sound of Mauser rifles! It's the Germans!"
The situation suddenly became tense.
At this moment, Reichev realized that his actions were very reckless and that his troops had been exposed. But then he thought about it, the presence of German sentries here meant that the destination was not far away? His marching direction was miraculously perfect.
correct.
Reichev calmed down. This old guy who had experienced many bloody battles bravely stood up and waved his right fist fiercely: "Comrades! The enemy is in front, for the motherland! Ula!"
As the saying goes, soldiers are expensive and quick, Reichev realized that he had to launch a fierce attack before the defenders were fully prepared, and he must not give them any chance.
The strength of his reorganized battalion is close to 600, and the weapons and equipment are quite amazing.
The most basic soldiers are equipped with semi-automatic SVT40 rifles. Only the most skilled shooters use the Mosin-Nagant sniper type. The automatic firepower of the troops is also very fierce. Each infantry squad must have a machine gun, or a captured and modified one.
MG4, and Soviet-made DPM light machine gun. The whole battalion also has a Deshka heavy machine gun. This big thing is carried by four people.
Because he had obtained the latest weapons from the arsenal, Reichev was equipped with a batch of RPG warheads that had just come off the production line.
And because at the military meeting, Yevlov mentioned the rocket launcher, this gave Yang Mingzhi some ideas. A launcher and three catfish rockets were transported by a jeep and caught up with the enemy who had just crossed Puri.
Convoy on the Pet River.
The paratroopers are light infantry in name, but their firepower is very fierce. The enemy has a large number of armored vehicles and even Panzer IV tanks, and the troops are also capable of fighting!
The strong combat effectiveness of the troops is largely based on machine guns and RPGs. Reichev has already thought of how to attack the town after discovering it.
He didn't have time to think of any complicated tactics, there was only one strategy - a reckless move!
At six o'clock in the afternoon, the fast-moving soldiers finally arrived at a town not far away. Driven by excitement, everyone shouted "Ula", inserted thorns into their rifles, and began to run resolutely.
The Soviet army underestimated the German defense!
Suddenly, a whistling sound came from the sky, which was the sound of falling mortar shells! The charging soldiers couldn't help but feel nervous. They had no way to turn back, so they had to scream "Ula" heartbreakingly to embolden themselves.
Thanks to their formation's team coordination with the three-by-three system, and the relatively low density of German artillery fire, the Soviet formation took more than ten artillery shells before ten soldiers fell.
It was nothing to suffer this loss, but it was a pity that they had already entered the range of the German machine guns.
Reichev gritted his teeth. A huge red sun was slowly setting in the west. The German troops in the target town, with the setting sun behind them, unleashed powerful blocking firepower.
"Oops!"
He was stunned for a moment, then a grenade hit his helmet and spread out, and the powerful kinetic energy overturned the whole person.
He staggered up, holding the submachine gun and firing at the enemy in short bursts.
Is the sunset infinitely better? Bah! The town of Slovechna under the sunset has become a bloody battlefield! (To be continued)