The forests of Belarus are so dense and unusually dense that it is impossible for a whole army to run all the way through the forests.

Yang Mingzhi was very concerned about the troops' war horses, and the last 20 horses were carrying heavy supplies. The warriors who were in charge of taking care of the animals had been complaining worriedly: "The horses are carrying a lot of loads, and they need more food." Grass can only be used as a snack, and they need a lot of food to fill their stomachs. ”

These tall horses loaded ammunition boxes, as well as some supplies captured from the Germans, and even a few packs of shells. Many of the dozen or so children who were evacuated with the team were also on horseback.

Star fruit is also a child, she is not yet eighteen years old, Yang Mingzhi thought about it, this girl is tired of carrying it for a while.

The long march was very worn-out to the feet, and many soldiers had blisters on the soles of their feet, and some had leg pain, but even then everyone had to keep going.

"Husband, you put me down, I can still walk by myself."

"Really. Actually, it's not very tiring to carry you on your back. ”

"I'm still worried about you. Husband. Star fruit gently reassured.

To be honest, Yang Mingzhi's heart is very comfortable at the moment, and his wife hurts herself. It takes more to be a lolita, not to mention that this is the tragic World War II, and this girl is still a very important hygienist in the team. In the end, he couldn't stand the grinding, so he still let go of the girl. "Xiao Tao, you always call me husband, I can't stand it. In the future, you can still call me by my name, or just call my brother. ”

Carambola Nunu mouthed and called brother gently.

"Yo. Aren't you husband and wife, and you are still called brother and sister? Yerenkina smiled as she walked past the two of them.

"I don't want you to care!" Star fruit shouted shyly at the man. The little episode gave the marching team a little fun, and many of them forced a wry smile, and their actual situation was very sufficient.

In Yang Mingzhi's view, Kuznetsov's army was similar in size to the "Red Front Army", but he certainly did not have the command talent of those people.

The current situation is somewhat similar to the Long March of the Chinese Red Army, and the star fruit listened to many things from those old party members when she was in the Anti-Japanese Union. What are the eighteen warriors who crossed the Chishui River four times, forcibly crossed the Jinsha River, and crossed the Dadu River, the girl knew these things before, and it gave her young heart a great shock at that time.

Finally, the supplies of a war horse were emptied, the troops replenished the ammunition, the wooden box containing the bullets was immediately abandoned, and the star fruit sat on the horse, and Yang Mingzhi was even more interested in holding the bridle.

"Brother! Our next step is not to go to the swamp. The girl said in the local dialect of the Northeast.

"Yes, it's like crossing the meadow during the Long March."

As soon as she heard that it was the Long March, the girl immediately came to her senses. "We are still being intercepted by the German devils, and behind us are their pursuers, we must pass through the grass, and then there is a safe zone? Is there enough food? Will we starve? Are we going to get stuck in the mud? ”

Yang Mingzhi subconsciously buttoned his ears, this girl's mouth is quite neat.

"Little Peach, you're talking too much." Yang Mingzhi patted the food bag he was carrying on his shoulder, "It's not a problem for us to eat food for half a month, and besides, the swamp is very safe, and it is a Soviet-controlled area." None of the living facilities there have been destroyed by the war, and we will have good food when we get there. And you, you can even take a hot bath. ”

When the star fruit heard this, she immediately laughed.

"Great, I haven't bathed with you since the war began, so I really miss life in the barracks."

Yang Mingzhi turned his head to look at her, and said that girls in this era are conservative, she is good, it doesn't matter if she marries, and there is also the side of this Northeast woman tiger. She was still a child at all, and when she thought about what she had done to her, a sense of guilt arose. "Little Peach, you better stop talking about this."

"Why. Anyway, they don't understand Chinese. ”

Yang Mingzhi frowned, "Even if your comrades-in-arms don't understand, you shouldn't shout loudly." ”

Carambola looked around, and indeed saw a lot of soldiers talking to each other, and she understood what they said, probably talking about husband and wife flirting or something.

It is also because of this that many soldiers begin to miss their hometowns and their loved ones in their hometowns. Some of the fighters here came from the original infantry regiment and had a friendship with Yang Mingzhi. Characteristic anti-tank battalion, more than forty fighters who originally participated in the creation of RPGs have survived, and the friendship of these people is even deeper.

Many of them have their homes in the Far East, and many of the other fighters come from all over the country, among which there are many more Belarusians. At the time of the build-up, a considerable number of soldiers were reservists from the periphery of Minsk.

The Belarusian republic is being trampled by the Nazis, countless ordinary people are being shot, finances are being robbed, women are being humiliated, and children are being killed indiscriminately. To make matters worse, the campaign was a complete failure, and the defeated army was almost completely annihilated.

Many soldiers are glad that they are still alive, but the safety of their hometowns and relatives is simply unimaginable.

Suddenly, a soldier complained: "We are now running for our lives, we might as well go out of the forest and fight the Germans." Even if you're dead, it's worth it. ”

When Yang Mingzhi heard this, he walked up to this person: "Soldier, what did you just say?" What is your name. ”

The soldier had anger in his heart, and he did not hide it even in front of the commander. "I'm Mikhail Flyady."

"Okay, Comrade Mikhail, if you have any complaints about the troops, it's better to say them out loud."

The soldiers stopped, and many people gathered around and did not know what was happening.

Soldier Folyat shouted: "I think we are completely running away. Walking through the forest and blindly running for their lives, is this the behavior of the Red Army? I'd rather die in the way of the charge than break my leg in this mountain. ”

Yang Mingzhi looked at this person, his shoes were indeed worn out. By the time he took off his shoes, the blisters on the soles of the man's feet were worn out, and blood was already oozing. Yang Mingzhi was taken aback, and many people complained afterwards that the so-called war after the war was a march in addition to war, and even wavered about the destination.

Suddenly, someone asked Yang Mingzhi: "Deputy division commander, are we sure we want to cross the swamp?" What exactly are we going there for? I heard that you are going to lead us all into guerrilla warfare. ”

Yang Mingzhi didn't refute, he hesitated for a while and nodded in acknowledgement.

Yevlov, who came from behind, saw that there were a lot of people gathered here, and immediately thought that something was wrong, and he hurried over, only to find out that there was a disagreement between the soldiers and the commander on the road map.

These people are not Yang Mingzhi's direct subordinates, most of them are Belarusians, and it is psychologically difficult to accept the decision to flee the area. Yevlov tried to persuade everyone to hold their grievances in their hearts for the time being, and when it was time for the team to rest, he hurried to the headquarters of the army group.

Here, Yevlov and Yang Mingzhi also wanted to hear about the next move of the large army, but the same question was raised in the military headquarters.

The crowd was divided into three groups, one group believed that they would retreat from the plains, come out of the forest and crush a German army, and go south into Ukraine to round out the large Soviet forces that were still fighting the Germans, so as to continue to join the battle.

Second, they still feel that organizing guerrilla warfare is the most suitable for the current situation of the troops.

As for the third faction, which Kuznetsov supported, of course, continued to walk the forest, breaking through from the swamp and advancing inland.

The fierce quarrel between the three parties also stemmed from the fact that the troops were mixed, and the routs of various units gathered together, and Kuznetsov was only the commander of the first section of the Soviet army, and he was very careful to lead such a force so far.

"Comrades, be quiet!" Kuznetsov almost pulled out his pistol and fired a warning shot into the sky. "Comrades! As for your claim that our retreat is an escape, this is not true. Some people say that we should break through from the plains, which is also wrong. We should still ......"

"Against! We, the 32nd Army, were against. We are fighting positional warfare, and we are Belarusians! You and your men retreat on our own, and we'd rather get out of the forest and fight than run away in the mud of the swamp. ”

The 32nd Army, they also suffered heavy losses, and there were very few people left in the military headquarters, and there were more than 5,000 soldiers under their command. It is considered a very important force in this joint force, and now they are questioning Kuznetsov, which directly raises questions about the entire retreat of the Soviet army.

"You must know that there are still troops entering the forest one after another, and there may be tens of thousands of troops behind us who are scattered and breaking through. They either form squads or break out at the battalion level. ”

The words of the 32nd Group Army attracted the attention of the guerrilla warfare faction, to which Yang Mingzhi himself belonged. These people did not support the 32nd Army to go out of the forest and fight the Germans, Yang Mingzhi immediately said: "As far as I know, our 284th Division has just encountered the Führer Regiment of the German Imperial Division, and the enemy's most elite SS troops are outside the forest. ”

"Phew, what does a Tatar know? The great Red Army fighters would have been afraid of the Germans. ”

Yang Mingzhi is accustomed to ridicule, this group of old Maozi claims to be the Great Soviet Union, and many people discriminate against foreigners. Yang Mingzhi's subordinates did not have this mentality, and their commander's performance in the war had already conquered the hearts of the soldiers. Therefore, Yang Mingzhi didn't bother to argue with this person, and handed over the matter to Yevlov.

Right in front of Kuznetsov, the team began to take sides. Nearly 10,000 troops chose to rush out of the forest and go directly south, trying to break out and enter Ukraine to make peace with the main force.

However, this was a military adventure at all, and it was all based on defeating the Germans who were waiting for the rabbits in the southern part of the forest, and it was not easy to defeat them with a mere light infantry.

Kuznetsov really didn't want to say anything more to these people, because for the time being, he couldn't get in touch with friendly forces, and now he was even running out of batteries.

"You guys are desperate! Are you going to die? Kuznetsov's rhetorical questions were pointless.

"No, sir. It is better for us Belarusians to die on our own soil than your escapism. ”

So Kuznetsov didn't say much, and that night the whole army was enveloped by a huge anger, and quite a few Belarusian fighters followed the main battle faction. The same is true of the 284th Division, the commander of the division has been killed, and Yevlov is really unable to control the troops. He could only let the soldiers leave, and the last remaining people were really pitiful, and the 284th Division was only a little more than a thousand people willing to continue to advance.

Yevlov stomped his feet angrily, and Yang Mingzhi patted his shoulder and comforted him helplessly. "Comrade, everyone has their own aspirations, let them go. Of course, they are going to die, and letting them die at the feet of their hometown is also a good destination. ”

The two big men are best friends, and their friendship is even deeper after the brutal war. Yevlov asked rhetorically: "Should we really use the swamps as a base and use the forests of Belarus for guerrilla warfare?" ”

"Yes. This is ideal, otherwise we are likely to die in a positional battle in the back. You Soviets do not hesitate to die, and I am a foreigner, and I cherish the lives of me and my wife, as well as the lives of the remaining soldiers of our 284th Division. I don't know what kind of war there will be in the future, but if I were a commander, I would certainly do well in guerrilla warfare. Then Yang Mingzhi sighed meaningfully: "I am afraid that soon Comrade Supreme Leader will make a speech to the whole country, that is, to encourage us, the defeated soldiers deep behind enemy lines, to organize guerrilla warfare, and the war will become an all-out war." We will always be on the front line here. ”

Yevlov nodded: "I hope so." We now march long distances every day, and in a day and a half at most we will reach the next city, after which we will reach the swamp. “