Yevlov returned in the dust, and he was quite satisfied with the situation in the soldiers' quarters. Seeing that Berekov himself was here at the division headquarters, as soon as he was excited, he began to talk endlessly about the barracks.

Yang Mingzhi listened for a while and quickly stopped. "Comrade Yevlov, we are all very busy right now. The troops are now gathering strength, and according to my direct troops, they have been recuperating for a long time, and they really want to get out of the swamp and fight a battle. ”

"That's what you're here for?" Yevlov asked in surprise, "Since you are here, Yerentina should have told you just now." We are already planning to unite with two nearby collective farms, the guys are a rabble, and we have to train them. ”

"It's out of the way." Yang Mingzhi explained, "We have been dormant for too long, and we must give the Germans a dismount and tell them about the existence of the guerrillas." ”

Yevlov waved his hand, "You, you still like war so much. I don't know what you're thinking now, your decisions have always been unpredictable to me. But now, we have to take care of those two villages. You, Berekov, your special anti-tank battalion is not yet insufficient, maybe it would be better to add a little militia strength. ”

"Me?" Yang Mingzhi pointed to himself, "Come on, that group of militiamen has to go to the battlefield at least once." This is my purpose, ordinary militia and child soldiers, they have to go through the baptism of artillery fire to quickly grow into qualified soldiers. ”

Yevlov naturally didn't want to quarrel with this Chinese, and Yang Mingzhi didn't want to quarrel.

The village chief brought the teapot, "Drink some water, don't quarrel and hurt the friendship." ”

The two looked at each other and smiled, he was the division commander, Yang Mingzhi should still listen to him.

After greeting for a while, it was said that the representatives of the village chiefs would come to Catfish Village tomorrow, and Yang Mingzhi had to be prepared to greet them. Things always move so fast, for a long time, he felt that this swamp was uninhabited, and the existence of Catfish Village was a wonder. As a result, the village chief Pobowsky said that there were at least ten collective farms in this vast marshland.

After the outbreak of the war, many villagers were evacuated, just as many ordinary people were evacuated from the east side of the swamp. Most of the young people were drafted by the army, and the old and weak women and children gathered up their belongings and retreated inland.

Not many people are willing to stay.

Tomorrow at noon, those people will arrive at Catfish Village. Yevlov may have promised: "I know the serious harm of the troops not fighting for a long time, so after solving this matter, we must go out and fight the enemy." The first is to thwart the enemy's spirit, and the second is to train the team. ”

Yang Mingzhi was very satisfied, reflecting the moonlight, he walked on the way home. Along the way, some soldiers lit bonfires, grilled fish was their favorite snack, and others played cards for entertainment. The barracks are a little chaotic but there is also a hint of warmth, where the war has not yet burned, and everyone is enjoying the time of peace.

When I got home, my wife was already asleep. Lighting the oil lamp, I saw that next to the lamp, this girl wrote a line of small words on this piece.

"My dear husband, I have prepared a little vegetable soup for you, and a little bread, and you should rest early after eating."

It was written in Russian, which she mastered better than the complex Chinese. It's ironic, looking at the little man wrapped in a blanket and gasping quietly. This kid doesn't look like a child, that is, she, and when the troops really come out of the swamp to fight, she will have to fight as well.

The next day, Yang Mingzhi got up early in the morning. Carambola washed his clothes very cleanly, put on a neat military uniform, military boots on the bed, and a strong armed belt, and then hung up all his stubble, and finally put on a military hat, he was really a handsome officer. At least in the eyes of his wife, he is extremely powerful.

The couple went out at the same time, Yang Mingzhi went to the division headquarters to wait for those people to come, and star fruit continued to go to the youth camp to receive the morning's physical training.

The location of the catfish village, which is closer to the Pripet River, and the other two villages are in a relatively inland area. Translated, these two villages, one is called Black Earth Village and the other is called Blacksmith Village.

As the name suggests, the area where the village is located is closer to the swamp, where there is more peaty soil, and the villagers also farm the land, and the inferior soil results in a low yield of potatoes. Therefore, the collective farm of Heitu Village raises a lot of cattle and sheep.

While the inhabitants fled, many people passed by their collective farms. These people are reluctant to abandon their livestock and take up arms to defend collective property, so that those who flee do not have the courage to steal. So in order to avoid being invaded by the Germans, they thought of a good solution, which was to find the army as protection, and even let the residents of the village join the army.

As for the blacksmith village, there are slightly more people here who are engaged in smelting metal. It has a very big advantage that a lot of tools can be made here. Even more exaggerated, here are some very backward machine tools, if we talk about making weapons, they are enough.

Yang Mingzhi didn't know what these two villages could bring after trying to join the 284th Division, and for now, it seemed that it would be okay to add at least a few hundred more troops.

At noon, the waiting people arrived smoothly, they came from two directions, a total of more than 20 people.

These people, dressed in civilian clothes, inquired, and the two village chiefs actually came.

"We knew you were entering the swamp, and we thought you were planning to retreat. A few days ago, we saw the plane dropping something, and we thought you didn't leave. The head of Heitu Village said affectionately holding Yevlov's hand.

When they came, they were to be entertained, and there was no good wine or meat waiting for them, only bread and a plate of salt. This is the traditional greeting of the Slavs, salt and bread indicate a rich life, and it is also the best hospitality of the host.

Everyone entered the division headquarters office one after another, and the village chiefs of the three villages and the senior officers of the 284th Division gathered together. After a brief self-introduction, Yang Mingzhi knew that the head of this black soil village was called Volmansky, and the head of the blacksmith village was called Rygushkov. Especially the latter's surname, which literally translates to frog, is such a strange guy.

When it comes to names, their old Maozi always comes up with all sorts of names, and Yang Mingzhi knows that he is also an outlier in front of them. Of course, he did not pat his chest and claim that he was Chinese, but he was afraid that these guys did not even know the geographical location of China. simply call themselves Tatars, so that they can understand better.

Divisional commissar Fomin, a Jew, deputy division commander Berekov, a Tatar. The 284th Guards Division is already a national melting pot, but everyone is indeed a serious regular army. The walls of the office still have military flags, although they are somewhat damaged. It was like a monument that announced the legitimacy of the troops to these people.

This time, Heitu Village has already made a difficult decision. The head of the village, Volmansky, prepared a document and handed it to Yevlov with his own hands.

"This was signed by the remaining residents of our collective farm. Some of the young people in the village were drafted into the army, and they did not return, perhaps having died. The rest, we are also willing to surround the country, so let those who can take up arms join you, and it is good to be a militia. ”

Yevlov nodded, and accepted the meaningful document.

"If that's the case, I'll promise you everything."

The village chief, Volmansky, smiled, and the blacksmith village immediately questioned it.

"If the Black Soil Village is willing to join you, our Blacksmith Village naturally can't be left behind. There are still more than 500 people in our village, which is a large enough village. Many men also went to war and did not come back. There are a lot of women in the village, and there are a lot of teenagers, maybe they should be armed. However, we lack weapons. I'm responsible to the villagers as the village chief, and it's certainly fitting to join you, but I don't want my friends to fight the invaders with knives and spears. ”

Yevlov thought for a moment and asked, "Is this what you are asking for?" ”

"Right?" "We need real weapons so that we can defend our homeland." ”

Yang Mingzhi knocked on the table, this person still has a bargain. He knew that in China, it was impossible to promise a gun to everyone in the Eighth Route Recruitment, and many new recruits often had only one gun for more than 10 people. Later, the armed forces became stronger, and they were basically captured.

"Guns and ammunition, this is very valuable, comrade. You should know that our people fought and retreated all the way, and in the end there were more than 1,000 of us left, and there were not many weapons and ammunition. ”

"This?" Rygushkov was a little hesitant, he originally intended to take people to change into new weapons, so that at least he would not defend his land with his bare hands. But it's definitely not because he doesn't have guns that he refuses to defend his home and country.

He saw people here, there were high-ranking political commissars, epaulettes and very special dresses. If you annoy these people, it would be terrible if someone like the National Anti-Rebellion Team would know about it.

So he never expected that a girl here would actually be from the National People's Internal Affairs Committee. Yelenkina made this guy obedient with a word, and Yang Mingzhi scratched his head and looked at this girl who pretended to be angry. It's still the Cheka's words. "You must join us, or I have the right to arrest you directly."

Yerentina's papers were carried with her, and the chiefs of the two villages were aware of the seriousness and that they had to show their loyalty.

The atmosphere was a little delicate, and Yang Mingzhi immediately waved his hand. "Listen to me, the Tatar, we still have a lot of weapons, and of course most of the excess are captured Germans, enough to arm a thousand people. We are also relatively rich in terms of ammunition. ”

Yang Mingzhi decided to arm the newly arrived militia, and Yevlov fully agreed with this correct decision. The two immediately asked how many people could be armed in the Black Earth Village and the Blacksmith Village.

"Our village has a small population, plus women and not too old, and some children who are about the same age, there is no problem with arming the militia of 200 people." Womanski said.

Yang Mingzhi nodded, two hundred people are two companies, and it is also effective to train well. He looked at the blacksmith village: "Comrade, how many people can your village arm?" ”

Rygushkov thought for a moment, "About a hundred people." ”

"So little?" Yang Mingzhi was a little surprised.

"Yes, because I'm afraid that our people can't just be front-line fighters, we have a very special advantage. If your weapon is broken, we can fix it. And even make some ammunition, after all, we are a bunch of blacksmiths. ”