The large number of bonfires gave the German army a huge scare. Seeing this situation, the soldiers lost the joy of repelling the enemy. They were all worried about their future. Many people talked about how they would not survive the next dark night.
The German commander compiled the existing intelligence and sent a telegram directly to the division headquarters.
Originally, the commander of the 611th Division had gone to bed, and the guards had to wake him up to inform the defenders of the distant town of the important discovery.
The teacher answered the call in his pajamas. As soon as he put the phone to his ear, he heard the other party's frightened roar.
"Division Commander! There are guerrillas everywhere in the east of the town! Their strength is amazing, and the bonfires they light are like stars in the sky! They are likely to launch a night attack, or..."
"What? You said the enemy's campfire is like stars?"
"It's absolutely true! We have lost a quarter of our combat effectiveness after the battle, but the enemy's strength is very large! I request reinforcements, please be sure to send troops for reinforcements!"
This alarm really woke up the drowsy teacher.
The situation has completely changed! He knew that his subordinates had no reason to lie. It was an indisputable fact that the guerrillas were approaching the city.
The 611th Division held an emergency military meeting at 10:30 in the evening, and the focus of the study was the predicament in the town of Slovechna.
For the officers and soldiers of the division, they are really fed up with the stable life, and they really want to kill the enemy and perform meritorious service, even if it means killing the real guerrillas!
This division has long been responsible for the defense work in the northwest of Kiev. The officers and soldiers are more or less aware that the SS executed at least 100,000 Jews in the northwest of Kiev city. Many Wehrmacht soldiers were not ashamed of this indiscriminate killing of civilians, but when guerrillas began to become more frequent,
They also retaliated on a large scale during the settlement.
Many civilians were hanged, accused of financing the guerrillas, even though these were fabricated reasons and the sole purpose of killing was to scare the guerrillas.
After a year of hard work, the guerrillas in its defense area have disappeared, so when new guerrillas come, annihilating them will be a great achievement.
"The enemy must come from Pripet Swamp, which is a cancer! Unfortunately, our army does not have the authority to attack its core. We can only defend our defense zone. They intend to break through our northernmost town, and we must reinforce it.
!”
The division commander's attitude was resolute, and no one among the others objected. There were only some objections on the details of how to provide reinforcements.
To this day, the Germans still misunderstand the identity of the Soviet troops attacking the town.
The battles in the towns of Lirchuch and Slovechna on August 6 were reported to the German Army Group stationed in Kiev. At this juncture, the actions of the guerrillas seemed to threaten the safety of Kiev's communication lines.
The six divisions guarding the north of Kiev have entered full first-level combat readiness, as if a huge Soviet army is about to move south.
The German army still decided to defend passively, and they also thought about taking the initiative to gain the initiative. Considering the battle in Belarus that lasted for more than a month and the heavy losses of friendly forces in the north, the German army in Ukraine, especially the garrison near Kiev, reasonably continued to strengthen its defenses.
fortifications.
The German army does not want to lose any strongholds under its control. Firstly, it is a matter of attitude. If the towns are allowed to be occupied by the guerrillas, it will obviously encourage the "arrogance" of the guerrillas. Secondly, the troops control several strongholds in Belarus. Now,
The strategic value is already very important.
These strongholds have actually become protrusions due to the heavy losses of the Belarusian garrison in the Gomel region. The swamp water network in the south of Belarus has been supplemented, and the forests are connected. There is no environment more suitable for the development of guerrillas than this.
What?
Therefore, the 611th Division's request for reinforcements was quickly approved by its superiors, and miraculously there was no delay.
"Based on the experience of Lirchuch Town, the garrison of an infantry regiment can force the bandits not to attack. You can also add an infantry regiment to resolutely guard the town of Slovechna and ensure that the town and its affiliated railway lines are safe and secure.
Safety on all bridges.”
It was already 11:30 pm when the telegram from Kiev reached the 611th Division headquarters. The division commander who was personally waiting for the telegram immediately dispatched troops and generals overnight.
Like many German defenders in the rear, the 611th Division has more than 10,000 people and is responsible for the defense of a large area. Among the officers and soldiers of this division, the only ones who can actually fight are four infantry regiments, and half of the rest are composed of recruited Ukrainians.
of volunteers.
After all, this is Ukraine, and the situation in Belarus is somewhat different.
In the first year of the war, the German army recruited many local people in Ukraine, and most of them actually had the attitude of just living for a living and became the German army's logistics personnel. At first, the top brass of the German army were disgusted with the grassroots troops recruiting local people without authorization, as "
Mentors such as shell carriers and stretcher bearers. As the war progressed, the German army gradually discovered that without these volunteers, its logistics would rapidly deteriorate.
Therefore, in the sequence of the 611th Division, more than 4,000 volunteers were organized into logistics troops. In this way, the real logistics troops of the division, after a short period of intensive training, have been used as regular combat troops.
The division's troops are scattered in various towns in the defense area. The large strongholds are stationed with a battalion, and the smaller ones are stationed with a company. In some villages, only one platoon is stationed. The German army does not completely believe in the policemen with armbands of the "Ukrainian National Council". This group of
The people miraculously worked very hard in the operation to capture the Jews. When the guerrillas were finally captured, their inferior combat effectiveness was immediately exposed.
In order to station the scattered troops in the town of Slovechna, they must first be quickly assembled in Ovrich, the division headquarters.
On the map, the straight-line distance from Ovrich to the town of Slovechna is 41 kilometers, but the actual distance is as long as 50 kilometers. Even for motorized troops, it is not a big problem to advance fifty kilometers in one day. For
The 611th Division traveled fifty kilometers in one day to reach its destination, which was really an arduous task.
The trouble doesn't end there! The troops that were called up were all drawn from various places. In order to avoid emptying the garrison strongholds, one battalion was drawn from each regiment under the division, and finally it was organized into a temporary reinforcement infantry regiment. This operation was a bit complicated.
, it will also take some time, not to mention the time when the order is issued is still early in the morning.
The staff of the 611th Division made an analysis and found that the troops' trucks had long been removed from the front line, and all they could use were a small number of horse-drawn carriages. For troop reinforcements, only heavy equipment could be transported by a small number of horse-drawn carriages, and the rest of the personnel could only be transported by carriages.
Legs.
This further limits the speed of reinforcements. The staff pessimistically believes that the reinforcements can be assembled in Ofrich City on August 7th, and can reach the town of Slovechna before nightfall on August 8th at the earliest.
Who is completely ignorant of the principle of rapidity of troops? The German army wished to fly over in an instant, but it was a pity that the troops could only bite the bullet and rush on their way.
The two days and one night of rushing for reinforcements undoubtedly gave the Soviet army time. In the next forty hours, the defenders can really only rely on themselves?!
The division commander also weighed the idea and thought of requesting the 60th Division to garrison in the town of Lierchuch to divide the troops for reinforcements. After a short discussion, the staff decided that this was not feasible. The biggest reason was that the guerrillas would have another time lag to divert and attack Lierchuch.
.
Finally, the order for reinforcements to move north was given, and the reinforcements would move after dawn.
The division commander had no choice but to take the initiative to contact the Slovechna garrison: "The Army Group has issued permission for additional troops, and I have sent an infantry regiment for reinforcements. Your department must maintain its defense. On the evening of August 8, reinforcements can enter the city."
This phone call clearly stated that it was impossible for the 611th Division to send a single soldier for reinforcements in the next two days. It also gave the defenders a death order, that is, to stay alive until the reinforcements arrived.
Is it possible to continue to hold on until the evening of August 8? Wouldn't the guerrillas attack again on August 7?
The garrison commander has no choice. He and his subordinates are all soldiers and must resolutely carry out their superior tasks! Even if the final result is that everyone is killed!
No one wants to take the initiative to be a coward who fears the enemy like a rat!
In two full days, the Kovpak Corps moved fifty kilometers. In the process, they occupied three more micro-villages, and together with the hermits found in the forest, they gathered more than a hundred civilians.
The size of the team became larger, the composition of the personnel became more complex, and the soldiers' feet and knees were sore after long marches. The situation of the civilians was even worse.
Kovpak was very dissatisfied with the performance of his troops, but he had no solution at all.
"Perhaps, tonight, friendly forces have captured that town?" Kovpak imagined, and finally received information that the attack had been frustrated.
Good news can cheer people up, but now, the situation is really disgusting!
It was another silent night, and the soldiers and civilians lit a large number of bonfires in the forest. They poured water into pottery basins from the streams that could be seen everywhere, and cooked vegetable soup composed of potatoes, mushrooms, and wild vegetables. Most of the civilians used this to satisfy their hunger.
Some soldiers have better food. On average, ten people have one can.
At the temporary headquarters, Kovpak gathered around a campfire and complained pessimistically: "The food will be exhausted soon. If our friendly forces cannot capture that town, we will not be able to make peace. In fact, without food for a day, the situation will not be too bad."
Oops. Once we are without food for two days, we will be in danger."
"You are right!" said Rudnev, political commissar of the Corps: "We need to take some measures."
"Measures? What measures?"
Rudnev had been thinking about it for a long time, and he answered Kovpak bluntly: "Thousands of civilians have seriously hindered our march. Furthermore, if we walk along the river, we will definitely reach our destination. It's just a process."
It will take longer. The crisis we are facing now is a lack of food. Since the friendly forces have failed to attack the city, we cannot rely solely on them for victory. I think our army should send reinforcements."
With that said, he heard about Balzen's attitude again.
Where is the exact location of the regiment? No one knows. The officers believed that the troops were getting closer to the target town based on their own feelings.
Balzen showed an analytical attitude, frowning and narrating: "In my analysis, if we continue to follow the established route, we will reach the target in another thirty kilometers at most. In reality, it may only take more than twenty kilometers to arrive.
Comrade Political Commissar believes that we should send troops for reinforcements, and I think this is feasible."
Kovpak really hopes that friendly forces can successfully capture the target and that his own large forces can arrive instantly.
He only had some hesitation, but when he saw that the attitudes of his comrades were becoming unified, he quickly made a decisive decision.
The next step is who to send reinforcements.
In response to this, Balzen introduced himself as always: "Let me do it! My people are all elites in hundreds of battles and have experience in siege."
"However, your troops are too small. Let's do this. My reconnaissance team is back. I think Versigola is also very good. Let them move forward with you."
Balzen nodded: "They are indeed very good. In addition to the troops, I also want all the heavy weapons under your command. The propellant of the recoilless rifles was destroyed, and they are temporarily unusable. You still have a few mortars.
, we seized more than 30 rounds of artillery shells along the way. These heavy weapons must be brought along."
"Absolutely. When do you decide to leave?"
"Let's do it at dawn tomorrow. I also have to make a selection among the soldiers for the operation. Those who are very tired, have minor injuries or have sore knees and calves are not suitable for participating in this operation."
"Your requirements are quite high." Kovpak said with a smile.
"Of course! This operation is quite risky. In order to ensure nothing goes wrong, we must twist the elite troops into a fist and kill the enemy with one punch!"
Balzen selected 300 capable men from Versigola's team, and another 200 from the first and second corps. In this way, including his own troops, the total was 560
people.
They are the soldiers who are best at mobile combat. They have a tenacious will to fight and excellent physical fitness. They are also tireless.
Kovpak handed over the best equipment to this task force in order to win with one blow. But he obviously overestimated the capabilities of the German forces in the town.
For the German army, it was a crazy task to hold on until the sunset on August 8. The guerrilla army was approaching the city, but due to transportation obstacles, it could not get any reinforcements.
The German soldiers spent the early morning of August 7th in anxiety, and the morning was filled with fog.
The strong water vapor transpiration here caused thick fog to rise in the early morning, and the visibility was actually only ten meters.
The dense fog was completely beyond the expectations of the Soviet and German armies. This weapon undoubtedly put great psychological pressure on the German army. As the defenders, they had reason to believe that the guerrillas would decisively use the cover of the fog to launch a fierce attack on the town.
"Brothers! Listen to all sounds. If you sense an enemy approaching, fire immediately!"
The German commander himself was also nervous. He mainly wanted to defend the bridgehead in the north of the city and the small train station in the city. As long as these two areas were safe, there would be no need to worry if some buildings were damaged on the edge of the town.
Therefore, the German drama adopted focused defensive tactics. They stared with wide eyes and looked at each other with guns.
They are too nervous!
Because this weapon really caused serious trouble for the Soviet army.
The morning call woke up and said that some soldiers and all the soldiers in the transport team were ready for battle. However, facing the weapons, everyone was asking: "Where am I? Where is the enemy? Where is the north?"
Yes! Because the Soviet camp is more than three kilometers away from the German army, unless the German army has a 75mm howitzer or higher artillery, the camp will not encounter any attack. At such a long distance, due to the problem of thick fog, the Soviet army’s early morning
The offensive also had to be dragged back.
Reichev complained helplessly: "Damn nature! Damn the fog! We lost a good opportunity."
"You'd better worry less! This time our army is fully mobilized, and the town will definitely be captured." Fyodorov comforted.
"There is no other way, we can only wait for the fog to dissipate."
Rechev and Fyodorov had already learned that Kovpak would send a task force to reinforce the friendly forces attacking the city. However, they both agreed that the town would already have red flags waving when the task force arrived.
Reichev was worried about casualties during the siege, but Fyodorov didn't care.
"Wars always kill people. We have brought shame to the country, so we have no excuse to retreat. We will attack all the way."
"Forget it!" Rychev grinned, "Your heavy casualties are a heavy loss to the guerrilla republic. Now that human resources are so important, how can the lives of soldiers be wasted in vain? I have decided now that rocket launchers will participate in the siege.
.Just use this as artillery preparation!” (To be continued)