"Mom, how much longer do we have to go?" A boy asked his mother. ( ?［{[{ )
"If we work harder, we'll be there soon. We'll have plenty of bread to eat when we get to a safe place."
The little boy's heart suddenly felt courageous. He didn't know that if he hadn't fled with his mother, a tragic fate would have been waiting for him. Now he only knew that if he followed the large army, he would be able to eat, not to mention having to fight in the heavy snow.
overnight.
He was one of the thousands of troops, which were mainly composed of Jews. More than 200 missing Soviet troops were responsible for armed protection.
The Soviet battalion commander Alexander Bogdanov, whose unit participated in the Ukrainian campaign, lost more than half of his battalion during the war. When isolated and helpless, he did not choose to surrender, but instead fought with hundreds of thousands of friends.
Neighboring troops retreated eastward together. Everyone tried to break through the German blocking force of Guderian, but the plan failed completely. Because the retreating crowd abandoned almost all heavy weapons and had low morale, they were unable to compete with the German blocking troops.
Therefore, Alexander did not continue to march eastward and die. He led the last 200 or so people to simply retreat north, trying to retreat into Belarus, or Bryansk Oblast. As long as they entered the forest area, even fighting guerrillas was better than foolish surrender.
On the way back, this armed force encountered a German transit camp, where they found a large number of ordinary Soviet citizens.
A raid ensued! A company of German troops guarded a large number of Jews, of all ages, waiting to be loaded onto trucks and transported to distant places.
These Jewish civilians were intimidated by the German army's intimidation and were unable to resist, but the sudden arrival of the Soviet army completely saved them.
Alexander rescued more than a thousand people, including teenagers and old men with white beards, and there were more than 400 people who could hold guns.
Alexander ordered all usable things to be taken away, and the soldiers ransacked the transfer station. Here he discovered the German radio station, which was adjusted to the band used by the Soviet army, and immediately transmitted signals to the surrounding area.
When the cold current raged, this ragged team relied on limited food and the cover of the forest to move forward.
They tried to go to Gomel and then headed east along the side of the road.
Alexander thought that when he went to Gomel, the unyielding local people would definitely send some food to solve their urgent needs, but he did not expect that they directly refused.
But things took a major turn.
The underground mayor of Gomel ordered: "All of you will immediately advance to the southwest, along the west bank of the frozen Dnieper River, and enter the Pripet Swamp, where the 284th Guards Division is stationed."
Knowing that the actual leader of this unit belonged to the Southwest Front Army, the commander immediately emphasized: "The 284th Division also belongs to the Southwest Front Army. They hope that you will change the path immediately and join forces. What is waiting for you is bread and salt!"
The temptation of food is irresistible, not to mention that it is a real friend.
Alexander immediately launched an action mobilization, hoping that everyone would continue to be patient and help the old and young to divert the entire army to the southwest.
This ragged and hungry army advanced in the extreme cold, and every night some people could not sleep.
Early in the morning, Alexander inspected the camp. During this time, the soldiers had begun to put the frozen corpses together for statistics.
An old couple froze to death while hugging each other, and a woman died holding her child who was waiting to be fed. The bodies were frozen like solid ice, and the soldiers carried them away quickly.
"It's so miserable! If this continues, people will freeze to death every night. Sir, how long will it take for us to arrive?" A soldier asked anxiously.
"Come on! We will soon pass the frozen Dnieper River. When we reach the other side of the river, we will go directly south."
The soldier let out a long sigh. There was a vast expanse of white all around, with only the forest showing black. Where is the future path? Maybe the information about continuing to go south is completely correct, because this is the only hope for everyone.
The soldiers were still carrying the corpses, and an elderly man squatted next to the pile of corpses and began to work as a rabbi. There were no candlesticks and no religious instruments. The elderly man recited Jewish scriptures and prayed for the dead.
The Soviet Union's crazy persecution of theists also came to an abrupt end after the end of the Suppression. Alexander saw many Jews half-kneeling, but he did not stop them.
"For us, the camp of the 284th Division is like Canaan, a land flowing with wine and honey. And you are like Moses, guiding everyone through suffering and finally reaching their destination. This is the only one we can trust, so we
We are all still trying to stay alive," a Jewish militiaman said to Alexander.
"Okay! It's best for people to have faith at this time. I believe in ** and believe that human thoughts can defeat extreme weather. You Jewish believers believe in the blessing of your Lord. So we can only leave these dead people behind and continue.
go ahead."
The elderly are the most likely to freeze to death, but children are the future of everything. The only food available must ensure the rations of the children, and the majority of soldiers have to go hungry.
The cold wind blows on the frozen Dnieper River. The cold current has been coming for many days, and the river is frozen enough for people and animals to move forward.
Groups of black shadows advanced across the ice, like penguins.
On the other hand, now that intelligence about the existence of such a unit has been received, the perimeter sentries of the 284th Division acting as vigilance were ordered to keep their eyes open.
Alexander led his troops across the Dnieper River, where he immediately ordered the soldiers in charge of the radio to send a signal immediately.
In the telegraph room located at the 284th Division Headquarters, the red light of the radio suddenly sounded.
The radio operator who was dozing off immediately woke up, and this was the first time the 284th Division contacted this predominantly Jewish unit.
Yang Mingzhi and Yevlov immediately broke into the telegraph room. "Have them report the approximate location of crossing the river immediately! Tell them that we will dispatch a response force quickly!"
Alexander received such a response, but he didn't know his specific location. He reported that his crossing point was a series of S-bends.
Based on this alone, Yang Mingzhi and others immediately learned their location.
"It's noon now, and they are still thirty kilometers away from us. It's not too late for us to dispatch our troops to meet them," Yevlov said.
"But we arrived there as quickly as possible and the sun had set. What should we do next?" Yang Mingzhi also realized the horror of the night. They lacked food and cold clothes, and some people froze to death every night. Now that they were about to arrive at the base area, how could they
Can people freeze to death again?!
Yang Mingzhi thought for a while, "This time we sent out more horse-drawn sleighs and prepared a lot of stalls and food. We brought some cans in stock and milk powder produced in Heitu Village."
"Okay, this is a very good thing. I now order them to continue walking south. The pilot Podovich will immediately take off with the radio and let him tell us their position and give them a strong shot in the arm.
"Yevlov has full authority to handle this matter, so that Yang Mingzhi does not have to worry. "You don't have to worry about receiving these refugees and defeated troops in the afternoon, just let Fuming, who is also a Jew, handle it. You can continue to guide the training of those militiamen.