Yang Mingzhi led the guard company and rushed towards the crash site. The downed German plane was emitting billowing black smoke, so everyone found it easily.
"What a pity. This aircraft has been completely scrapped. It seems to have no use value." Yang Mingzhi shook his head. He also wanted to get some information from the German pilot. Now, the pilot himself has been burned beyond recognition.
A dark thing protruded from the cab, and Yang Mingzhi knew clearly that it was the man's arm.
"It's too tragic. Comrades, put out the fire quickly. I don't want to cause any forest fires."
Not getting any information from the German pilots, Yang Mingzhi went back a little frustrated. He saw a brand new plane parked at the airport. It was a Soviet fighter jet.
Apparently the Soviet pilot had landed. Yang Mingzhi ran over in a hurry. He was told that the pilot had been invited to the division headquarters.
So Yang Mingzhi met this man. He was very young and looked like he was just twenty years old. Judging from his self-introduction, this man's name was Ivan Hilgenovich Podovich, who was only nineteen years old, which was even more exaggerated.
Yes, his flight time is just over fifty hours, he is a new recruit!
Podovich revealed that he belonged to the aviation unit of the Southwest Front and was scattered by German planes during an air battle. He drank water and looked extremely annoyed: "Originally, I could have shot that guy down, but he was shooting
My hands always shake at times and I can't aim well at all."
Yang Mingzhi smiled regretfully and cursed, if this guy was a veteran, he would not be chased and beaten by the enemy. Of course, he must give this person face, and Yang Mingzhi and Yevlov need to get important information from him.
.
Yevlov asked: "Comrade, you flew here from the direction of Kiev. How is the war situation there?"
Podovich seemed very casual. He said directly: "Oops, very bad. Our airport has been captured by the Germans. This is my last mission. When we moved to the airport, we encountered a group of German fighter jets. Many comrades were captured.
Shot down. As you can see, I would be doomed without your help."
"That is indeed the case, but we want to know the situation in Kiev. We have not been in contact with them for many days."
Yevlov's words surprised this man. He had no idea that there was still a large Soviet army stationed in the swamp. "I only know that you are the 284th Guards Division. Comrade Commander, you just told me
, you are the Northwest Front Army and my friendly forces. As for the situation in Kiev, I am just an ordinary soldier and I have no idea at all."
Yevlov shook his head and looked at Yang Mingzhi: "Berekov, why don't you come and ask him."
"Okay, let me ask." Yang Mingzhi scratched his head. This person obviously did not know the inside story of Kiev. Of course, Yang Mingzhi naturally knew the direction of the entire war. The Soviet Union would definitely lose this battle.
He asked in a soothing mood: "Comrade, which airport did you take off from, and why did you fly over the swamp."
Podovich looked at this man. He was obviously an officer, but he had an obviously oriental face. This was very surprising. Could he be a Tatar? He still answered Yang Mingzhi's question, "I came from Nezhka"
Departing from Lanska Airport.”
"Nezhkalanska Airport? Where is that?"
"It's just a small frontline airport, sir. It's near Gorodnia. Sorry, I was transferred to this place a few months ago."
Yang Mingzhi shook his head. He didn't know where this place was. He kept asking questions. As a division commander and deputy division commander who were not Ukrainians at all, it was miraculous that he could ask for valuable information.
After a while, the two political commissars who had inspected the field hospital returned, Yelentina and Fuming. Their arrival was Yang Mingzhi's savior, and they were responsible for obtaining intelligence.
"Is this the pilot we rescued?" Yelentina asked gently.
"Yes! Comrade Political Commissar!" Podovich stood up suddenly as if he had been electrocuted. He immediately saw the woman's epaulettes and hat clearly and realized that this woman was a big shot.
"Sit down, comrade." Yelentina waved her hand, then turned to Yang Mingzhi and said, "Berekov, that German killed seven of us and injured five more. It's really tragic."
Yang Mingzhi nodded: "After all, our rear area is not safe, and it is inevitable that soldiers will die. The comrades who died have been properly buried. Also, please come and ask about our new friend, the pilot Comrade Podovich."
Yang Mingzhi stood up, and Elena smiled at him and took her position.
In this way, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became a little delicate. After all, this Yelentina was from the NKVD. Questioning the pilot was like interrogating a traitor. She almost wanted to find out this person's family background.
But no matter what, Yang Mingzhi listened on his own, and it turned out that Podovich was a student. Before the war started, he was a student at the Zhitomyr Flight Academy. After the war started, he enlisted in the army and became an air force soldier. He had little flying experience and had to
Taking to the skies for combat, new pilots must make up for the heavy losses suffered by the air force at the beginning of the war.
Now, Podovich once again emphasized the airport from which he took off, and stressed to all of them, more than fifty planes were ordered to scramble into the air, and soon the airport was occupied by the Germans, and the coordinates were exactly Gorodnia.
Fomin, who was at the division headquarters, was very surprised. He immediately stopped Yelentina's inquiry. He supported the table and said coldly: "I know Gorodnia, which is very close to Gomel. This distance
Just like the last time our military operations came and went."
"So the Germans have occupied that small city, Gorodnia?" Yang Mingzhi asked.
"Definitely, it is very obvious. The Germans moved south from Gomel. They will soon attack Chernihiv. If so, the Germans can go all the way south to the Black Sea!"
Yang Mingzhi and Yevlov immediately ran to the map hanging on the wall. The geographical locations marked on the map were very general. Gomel and Chernihiv were both larger cities, and they found them quickly.
Fomin is a Ukrainian, and he roughly marked the geographical location of Gorodnia.
"It's really too bad. Since the German army is attacking like this, it must mean that Army Group Center's large-scale southward movement has begun." Yang Mingzhi said worriedly.
"What will be the result?" Yevlov asked.
"What will be the result?" Yang Mingzhi turned to look at Elena, "Oh, I've said too much, I'm afraid this is another failed statement."
"No! Just keep talking."
Seeing Yelentina's attitude, Yang Mingzhi boldly "estimated" the German army's movements, which was actually a historical fact of the German army. He waved his big hand on the map and said, "It is difficult for a German army group to break through our northern defense line.
Heading straight to the capital, they have occupied most of Smolensk, and Mogilev and Gomel have been completely occupied. So the German army can cut off the connection between Ukraine and Russia as long as it continues to move south. If I were Hitler, I would
He will do this. The siege of the entire Ukraine has definitely begun."
No one wanted to believe this, and Yevlov even laughed. "The Germans are so arrogant. The elites of the Red Army are all in Ukraine. Do they want to repeat the Battle of Minsk?"
"Yes, it is precisely because the elites are in Ukraine. These troops must be eliminated, otherwise the German strategy will not be realized at all." Yang Mingzhi emphasized again that the enemy's ultimate goal is Moscow, but before that, all the elites of the Soviet Union must be eliminated.
"Guderian's troops are definitely going south, and they are already going south. We have obtained the exact information, haven't we? You and I already knew the purpose of the German army before we lost contact with Kiev. We have been at the forefront and understand it.
The military situation is even clearer than the top brass in Moscow."
Yevlov nodded, but pointed out that the Soviet troops in Bryansk would stop Guderian's troops.
"Stop? It can't be stopped. If our friends stop Guderian, then Gomel's German army will not move south in large numbers. It is very obvious that the German army is attacking across the board in northeastern Ukraine. What they will definitely get is the devil.
With the death order, they must succeed."
"So we failed like this?" Yevlov asked.
"Maybe... maybe it's impossible... who knows." Yang Mingzhi looked at everyone with a keen eye: "If the Germans win this battle, the entire Ukraine will be occupied by the Germans, which will be a disaster for us.
, the swamp will turn into an isolated island. Although I don’t hope that these are true, everyone can vaguely understand the situation. The German army is going to engulf the entire Ukraine.
This is the worst outcome, but as I said two months ago, retreat to the forest, retreat to the swamps, and we will continue to fight. None of us are deserters, nor are the soldiers who retreated into the swamps from the south.
Deserters. We responded to the leader's call to launch guerrilla warfare and launched a series of sabotage activities behind enemy lines, just like our last military operation. In the end, we will definitely win the war, and Hitler's ending can only be worse than Napoleon."
After Yang Mingzhi was filled with indignation for a while, everyone calmed down. In any case, the war situation was indeed developing in a bad direction, which was beyond the control of everyone in the swamp.
Yevlov called to the soldiers to take the pilot away and put him on the spot.
Podovich was very resistant to this order. "I am a pilot. I should continue to fly into the air and fight! Even if I die in battle, it is worth it."
Yevlov's answer was very realistic: "Your plane doesn't have much fuel left, and we don't have more fuel. Just follow the order of the commander of the front army, Kirponos, and all the soldiers who have withdrawn into the swamp will join us."
The local anti-German armed forces are us."
Therefore, Podovich could only accept his fate. He checked his plane and found that this "comrade" had some scars and had no fuel, so he had to lie down. He also looked at the two transport planes at the airport. They had been beaten to pieces.
It's full of holes, it's the same tragedy.
Yang Mingzhi had to accept the worst reality. He and the 284th Guards Division would soon be completely surrounded by the Germans. All directions of the Pripet Swamp were occupied by the enemy, and he estimated that the Germans would not
Go crazy and enter the swamp. There is no strategic value here, and there are just a bunch of guerrillas.
But the Germans were very cruel against the guerrillas. They would also carry out raids again and again. That was the real danger that everyone had to face. Obviously in 1941, the German army went crazy and wanted to fight the main force of the Soviet army.
There is really no time left to fight with the guerrillas.