The discussion between Yang Mingzhi and Yevlov came to a conclusion, and a telegram was sent to Kovpak, who had stopped.
The telegram ordered them to look for a bridge when walking along the river. Once they found it, they should rest where they were and wait for a large number of empty carriages from behind.
On the way home, a considerable number of people no longer have to rely on two legs.
Holding the latest telegram, he was already drinking hot kofpak around the campfire. He threw down the water glass and jumped up excitedly.
"What's going on? Are you so excited?" the exhausted Rudnev asked disdainfully, "We will arrive at our destination soon. Could it be that the telegram said something good?"
"It's a good thing!"
"Could it be that the general sent a car to pick us up? There are more than 10,000 of us here."
"They did send a carriage, a very large number of carriages. At the same time, they also pointed out a more reasonable route for us." After saying that, Kovpak handed it over, "You can see for yourself."
The telegrams sent by the headquarters can be obtained by all troops with telegraph machines through the special band. After the communication soldiers' skillful detection, the good news began to spread throughout the troops.
At this time, the sun was setting, and the entire group, including the children, formed a two-kilometer line. They actually walked twenty-five kilometers in one day.
They did not know the exact current location. The troops kept walking along the river and actually traveled another twelve kilometers to reach the mouth of the river.
Kovpak's original plan was to arrive at the mouth of the river before the sun set on August 9. He hoped that his superiors would sympathize with the troops' difficulties, have a large number of friendly troops waiting on the other side of the river, and even build a pontoon bridge on the Pripet River. Because of the bombing
After crossing the bridge, most of the soldiers believed that there were absolutely no enemies behind them. However, civilians were far less resistant to pressure than soldiers. Along the way, they were feeling panic-stricken. Coupled with physical fatigue, their operational efficiency was gradually declining.
The superior's new plan was beyond Kovpak's imagination. He even wished that he could rush his troops to get back on the road and make a final effort on August 8 to find the legendary bridge.
Taking advantage of the excitement, he summoned all senior officers to the temporary headquarters.
Several officers of the corps, including the commander of the 1st Guerrilla Brigade, the commander of the paratrooper battalion Reichev, and the commander of the reconnaissance battalion directly under the 6th Army, Balzen, have been informed of the telegram and have read the contents in full. They were sitting around the campfire, with expressions on their faces.
He was filled with a happy smile, as if all the fatigue in his body and spirit had disappeared.
Kovpak coughed twice: "Now, let's have a surprise meeting. The general is aware of our difficulties, and the headquarters is already trying every means to bring us all back. Have you all read the telegram?
"
Everyone expressed their affirmation.
"Very good! The telegram is very concise. Now we don't have to keep walking eastward, or even think about how to cross the Pripet River. It is said that we can find a bridge. As long as we find it, we will wait at the bridge.
Friendly troops driving carriages are enough. We just need to do what our superiors say. Now I have summoned you all here to ask you to tell everyone the contents of the telegram. Whether they are soldiers, civilians, or even children,
Everyone must know."
"This is my main job!" Rudnev stood up, "I am the political commissar of the corps, and I have a large number of grassroots political commissars under me. I immediately gave them orders to seize the time to publicize."
"It's all your fault."
In peacetime, Rudnev had a lot of experience in propaganda work. Because of this advantage, he assumed the general command of the civilians being escorted. Civilians are no more fragile than soldiers, and their hearts are more fragile, especially in the civilian ranks, so
A large number of women lost their husbands and sons during the war. How to stabilize their emotions was Rudnev's major task.
Along the way, the civilian group had no trouble, which proved the reliability of its work.
No one had any objections. Besides, except for Rudnev, the military commanders restrained their troops and completed their duties.
"Very good, we have completed the first task. Next is our task tomorrow. To be honest, I really can't wait to get everyone to take action again now. I estimate that as long as we work harder, our army can reach that point.
The legendary bridge.”
"Forget it!" Fyodorov, commander of the guerrilla brigade, shook his head, "Don't overestimate our team. Combined, there are nearly 6,000 civilians and sick and wounded people! We marched quickly all the way, only
Today, more than 60 people have sprained feet, some of which are very serious. If you are too harsh on everyone, it will only further cause attrition."
Kovpak nodded: "Yes! I have been given the status of Operation Commander, and I have to take responsibility. Forget about my unrealistic ideas just now, we all need to be pragmatic. However, if we can find that bridge earlier,
Tomorrow's operation will be smoother for our army."
"I support his idea!" Balzen raised his head and said.
"I'm glad you agree with me."
Balzen smiled and said, "What you mean is nothing more than sending out scouts to find the bridge. After finding the bridge, won't the entire team have a backbone? If you agree, I will be happy to take on this job."
"That's great! I totally agree with you!"
"Then there's no need to delay, I'll leave immediately!" After saying that, Balzen stood up and turned to leave.
"Hey, you don't have to be so anxious. Please listen to me and explain other things."
…
Kovpak only held a short meeting. Based on the requirements in the telegram, he basically planned clearly the actions for August 9.
As soon as the meeting ended, Balzen, who thought he had a heavy responsibility, ran to his camp.
He shouted wildly: "All reconnaissance battalions, urgent assembly! Emergency assembly!"
Natasha rubbed her eyes. Since the team set up camp, she quickly ate a can of canned food and gnawed two cold baked potatoes. Today, she walked more than 20 kilometers on two legs!
After eating and drinking, the girl took off her muddy leggings, loosened her trouser legs and scratched her itch again.
As Yang Mingzhi worried, soldiers often walk in muddy swamps, and the probability of suffering from skin diseases is very high. This is why a year ago, when he accompanied the remnants of the retreating Sixth Mechanized Army through the swamp area, he insisted on carrying his wife on his back to wet the mud.
Lu. This is not just a sign of loving your wife, but also a worry that your wife will get sick.
She scratched frantically for a while, and the annoying itching was finally relieved, but her slightly hairy calves were covered in red spots! In any case, the slight pain was bearable, but the itching was really terrible!
The order to assemble urgently scared her awake suddenly, and her warrior soul even grabbed the rifle beside her and immediately went into battle.
"Hey! Silly girl, there are no enemies here." Igor pressed her neck and forcibly relieved the girl's nervousness.
Then, Igor brought two more strips of dry white linen: "We have to carry out an emergency mission soon, so quickly tie up your leggings. Don't delay, we will set off immediately."
Natasha nodded her head hard. She was indeed tired. Since there was an urgent task, no situation was an excuse for laziness. She yawned several times in succession and quickly tied her calves tightly.
The rifle continued to be slung on the shoulder, and the blanket was rolled up again and tied to both sides of the backpack. The golden braid was tied behind the head, and finally the helmet was placed on top.
Currently, there are only 61 of Balzen's men who are fully healthy, and there are also two people, Natasha and Igor, who have specially joined. The total of 64 people, including Balzen, took five minutes to assemble.
"Comrades! We all know the latest telegram from the commander. We are the reconnaissance battalion directly under the group army headquarters. We are the sharp knives in the hands of the command. At this special moment, we must exert our strong combat effectiveness.
In the meeting just now, it was determined that we must camp on a bridge. In order to avoid mistakes in our operations tomorrow, our reconnaissance battalion must make a glorious sacrifice. We must find the bridge today and camp at the head of the bridge. Do you all complain?
"
"Нет!" Everyone shouted in unison, even Natasha shouted at the top of her voice.
"Very good! Comrades, follow me forward!"
Thousands of people, because they learned the details in the telegram, had a backbone, and their random thoughts about the unknown future disappeared along the way, and the restlessness disappeared. Many people were already fast asleep, and they were suddenly awakened
, I saw a small force suddenly continuing to advance eastward.
Who are they? They are scouts looking for bridges!
After learning about this situation, people felt more at ease and waited until they woke up to learn that the bridge had been found. They also hoped that when they arrived at the bridge, the other side of the bridge would be the carriage convoy from the Guerrilla Republic that had been waiting for a long time.
Balzen led his men, the light was getting darker and darker, but their pace still did not slow down.
Natasha followed closely in the footsteps of the troops, and some of the equipment was making constant clanging noises due to the movement.
"Comrades, hurry up and don't delay! Be careful of stepping into the mud!"
Balzen hoped that everyone could hurry up at the pace of a forced march, but the road was too bad and they couldn't move quickly. Fortunately, the weather was sunny today, and Balzen knew that he still had at least two hours.
If they still couldn't find the bridge after two hours, the troops would light the oil lamps and continue searching under the moonlight.
It is really an operation that must succeed. No matter how exhausted they are, the soldiers must grit their teeth and persevere.
Their efforts were not in vain. The troops finally found a bridge at 7:30 pm.
The scout who first discovered it reported a terrible situation: "Battalion Commander! We found a bridge. But the bridge collapsed. We suspect it was the Germans!"
Balzen's expression was first one of surprise and then suspicion. He insisted on going to find out, and finally confirmed that the discovered wooden plank bridge across the Slovechna River had indeed collapsed.
"Damn! Damn it! We..." Suddenly, after stamping his feet a few times, he suddenly realized that there was something wrong here, "No! The enemy came with an assault gun. Do you see the deep ruts here?
Bah! There are no ruts at all! The assault gun is so heavy that a mere plank bridge can carry it. This is definitely not the bridge we are looking for."
Balzen's judgment was correct: the bridge was not the target.
Specifically, the defeated German army did cross the river and demolish the bridge. They did not retreat along the original route. After finding this small bridge, they were worried that the Soviet army would pursue them behind them, so they decisively blew up the bridge after crossing the river.
Balzen insisted on continuing to walk east, and the troops arrived at almost 8:30 in the evening. The sun almost sank below the horizon, and a stone bridge appeared in front of everyone, even though the light was already very blurry.
The soldiers roared with explosive excitement, and a group of sparrows flew away with the sound of hurrah.
When Balzen stood at the end of the bridge and saw the deep special ruts on the ground, he immediately realized that this was his destination.
A soldier asked: "Batalion Commander! Shall we set up camp?"
"Set up camp immediately and let's light some more bonfires. Just like in a normal battle, the troops move into defense."
Balzen is not worried about enemies here at all, but he has to be wary of brown bears and wolves.
Soldiers used engineer shovels to cut down pine branches everywhere, and even dug out some pine resin to fuel combustion. Bonfires were quickly lit, and the soldiers sat in a circle and couldn't help but look up at the brilliant stars.
Misha, the experienced full-time correspondent of the reconnaissance battalion, sent the good news of the discovery of the solid stone bridge to the outside world, so much so that the headquarters of the Blacksmith Village also received this important telegram.
Correspondent Misha, when he sends a telegram, he will always leave a word at the end of the message. This is his mark.
The female correspondents in the communications room of the command headquarters looked through their notebooks and learned that the telegram came from Balzen's headquarters. Unlike Kovpak's telegram, Balzen sent the telegram himself, which obviously made the commander even more excited.
Correspondent Sorkina excitedly read out the latest telegram in public, and its content shocked Yang Mingzhi.
"Balzen, this guy really found the bridge?! He always surprises me." Yang Mingzhi suppressed the excitement in his heart and pretended to be calm. Looking at the happy faces of Yevlov and Fumin, he couldn't bear it after all.
Live and be happy.
"Haha! My general, I think you should urge Catfish Village. The carriages should be prepared quickly, and the soldiers in the settlements on the right bank, I think they can also go north overnight?" Fomin's words directly aroused Yevlov's attention.
recognition.
"The political commissar is right! The actions of falling into Kofpak exceeded our expectations, and we should respond accordingly!"
"Alas! It's wrong to rush for success!" Yang Mingzhi smiled and shook his head, "There are engines under Balzen's feet, Kovpark and thousands of civilians, and their actions are still slow. So we can't be anxious. I think our army
It’s better to act according to the established plan. I can immediately urge Catfish Village to transport the carriage to the settlement on the right bank. As for when to go north, we still have to wait until dawn. Comrades, the road to the north is not easy, let’s take it easy!”
In fact, there are thousands of people in Kovpak's team who know the location of the stone bridge. The current 1st Guerrilla Brigade, who were puppet soldiers three weeks ago, has specific details about how the German army penetrated into the swamp.
No one knows the marching route better than them.
Fyodorov looked like he didn't know anything about it. He had a small calculation in his heart. He was afraid that Kovpak would criticize him, so he deliberately pretended to be transparent. He knew the existence of the stone bridge. As long as Bal
Cen will definitely find it if he continues eastward along the river.
Let the honor go to Balzen. It would be better if he manages the guerrilla brigade well.
The good news of the discovery of the stone bridge began to spread in the huge camp of Cove Park. Perhaps the soldiers who received the good news could not help but wake up their comrades and tell them the great news. The camp became more and more restless, and gradually, more and more civilians also
understood.
This night, the people in the entire camp experienced the most sound sleep they had had in many days. Especially the people from Lierchuch Town, who believed that their future was full of dangers. At this moment, everyone can be sure that
Stepping across the bridge tomorrow means welcoming your own happy life.
Common people's requirements for happiness are extremely low. As long as they can make ends meet and their lives are safe, this is great happiness. (To be continued)