Due to the defeat in the war, the command of the Southwestern Front was forced to continue its retreat to the east. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoBryansk was already occupied by the Germans, and the distance was so far that Timoshenko's promise to the Soviet troops in the swampy area was forced to fail.

However, the underground city committee of Gomel received a direct message from the 284th Division, and the underground organizations of the occupied cities immediately transmitted the information to the east, and finally a document was placed on Timoshenko's desk.

"Even with the cold snaps, they survived intact. It was not enough for me to give them only one aid, because they were able to survive on their own. "Timoshenko had a great interest in those officers, Yevlov and Berekov, and the promotion of soldiers in the war was very fast, as long as they survived for a long time and made meritorious achievements, their ranks and military power were promoted very quickly.

As soon as he received the information, Timoshenko called the chief of staff to his office.

"Guards 284 Division, this unit is intact. I can't believe it, they claim to have harvested enough potatoes to eat until spring! There is no shortage of weapons and ammunition either! He handed the document to Chief of Staff Tupikov.

As a very senior staff officer, he had more to do with that unit.

He carefully looked at the contents of the document, which was a summary of the situation of this unit in the past month. Tupikov's eyes lit up, and he saw a large number of words about access to food. In addition to digging up previously sown potatoes, fishing is even undertaken. "A soldier can only fight if he has a full stomach, and in extremely cold weather, surviving is a great victory."

Tupikov sat face to face in front of Timoshenko and said slowly: "It seems to me that the German attempt to attack Moscow will soon be ruined!" ”

"Oh? What about that? ”

Tupikov smiled and pointed to some words in the document. "You see, they claim that clothing and food from cotton are the key to a successful winter, and this is thanks to the presence of a wise staff officer, the deputy division commander Berekov. They had been thinking of the cold winter months before, so compared to the Germans and other partisan detachments, this huge force still had a large number of refugees attached to them, and there was no pressure to survive at all. ”

This is simply to say that the partisans in the swamp area had no worries about food and clothing, while the corresponding German troops were under great logistical pressure. Tupikov said meaningfully: "Our winter is very cold, the weather station updates the temperature information every day, and the night temperature in the Smolensk region hovers at minus 15 degrees Celsius these days. And the Germans, most of whom are still thinly clothed, are robbing our villages, but how many warm clothes can meet the needs of millions of troops? ”

During this time, Timoshenko has been anxious about defense. The troops were fully defending themselves against the continued German advance, strategically advancing all the way from Ukraine to the Caucasus, and capturing the Baku oil fields would be a catastrophic blow to the Soviet economy.

Suddenly, Timoshenko thought about the war energy of the 284th Division again, he slowly raised his head and asked, "You were the one who led the aid to them last time. Can we try again this time and resupply them in the air? ”

His question, Tupikov, was immediately denied. "Now our chances are very small, first, not to mention the number of our transport aircraft, the capacity is worrying. Second, you also know the German offensive against us, they have more than 2,000 fighters, although it is impossible for these planes to be put into the first line of battle. But we formed a group of transport planes deep into the occupied area, and it was too easy to be besieged. ”

"But we can't do nothing. At the very least, I have to draft a letter of appreciation to encourage them. ”

Seeing that Timoshenko's expression was a little strange, Tupikov gritted his teeth and said slowly: "Actually, it's okay to have another tactical adventure. ”

"Tactical adventure?"

Timoshenko learned that the so-called tactical adventure was nothing more than the forcible transportation of transport planes. Since they are not short of food, they must still be short of weapons and ammunition. Their combat strength was at least 5,000 men, and it was difficult to cope with the attrition of the war by relying only on capture. Besides, they are located in enemy-occupied areas, and if the enemy encircles and suppresses them, at least the ammunition consumption will be astronomical.

"We promised to continue to supply them by air. I don't think we should give up on helping them because of the dangers of the roads. ”

Tupikov planned to operate at night, and the TB3 bomber carried a large amount of fuel for long flights. But because of the short legs of the fighters, the escort had to stop before it reached the skies over Chernihiv.

"Okay, you can do it! My Chief of Staff, I hope we will still succeed in this operation! ”

Tupikov had a lot to deal with, and the reinforcement of the 284th Division was just one of a large number of military plans. He appointed a staff officer to take full responsibility, and with the success of the last airdrop, the selected crew members remained unchanged.

Pilot Ivanov, the last time he led his subordinates to carry out a forced airdrop, there were even tanks in the cargo.

He received a new order, and he couldn't help but worry about his future. "Now fighter pilots, fighting in the air for two weeks will die, and only a few will become trump cards!" He had lived for a very long time, but this time he ventured into enemy-occupied territory again, as if this was a time when there was no return, and he was destined to die in the sky.

But an order is an order, and the planned flight mission was in the early hours of November 9.

On the other hand, Timoshenko personally wrote the letters, the contents of which were transmitted by Morse code to the underground organization in Bryansk. The underground party in each city was like a post station, and this letter was passed on to the Gomel underground city committee.

The mayor of Gomel, Nikita Ivanovich Lyudbayov, went underground and suddenly disappeared when the Germans occupied the city. Some say that the mayor has been killed by the invaders, but in fact, the mayor and the rebel group are hiding in the basement of a barn in the suburbs. The communication wire is embedded with a long wooden pole as a camouflage, as if it were just an ordinary drying rack.

"Now we have received two pieces of information, one is a letter from the commander of the Southwestern Front to the 284th Division, and their latest supply plan is about to start again. Secondly, we have received communications from a rebel army that is not far to our south, and we have no ability to settle them, so there is only one way to direct them to the swamps, where they will be absorbed by the 284th Division. ”

What the mayor said to the leaders of the rebels present, the letter from the commander of the front, was relayed to the swamp in code.

On the second side, a rebel army of more than 1,000 people, carrying many women and children, was shuttling through the forest. The weather was very cold, their food was terrible, and the fighters were varied, and some even had daggers as weapons.

"The refugee-like armed crowd was mainly made up of Jews, all of whom had fled from the south. They tried to move north first, and then move eastward, back to the controlled areas of the motherland. But their food is too scarce to support their actions. A rebel leader said.

"So they came to us? It's crazy! Where do we have so much food to give them. Now, the warehouses in the city have long been occupied by the Germans, wheat flour and potatoes have been plundered, including a few people sitting here, and our food is not well guaranteed. ”

Everyone's words were very reasonable, and the mayor thought for a while, "Since I don't have food, I'll guide them to the west, as long as they enter the swamp and meet the 284th Division, won't their problems be solved?" ”

The tricky matter was so solved, and everyone agreed.

Thus, the 284th Division received two messages, one good and one troublesome.

Based on this situation, Yevlov urgently ordered the heads of the three collective farms, including all battalion officers and commissars, to meet collectively in the village of blacksmiths on November 5.

At the meeting, Yevlov explained two new problems that are now being encountered by the troops.

"We have made contact with the front command, and the continuous assistance plan promised by the chief of staff is still effective, and the new airdrop will be carried out in the early morning of November 9, and we will see flowers blooming in the sky as soon as the sun rises."

The participants were ecstatic, because the last airdrop really solved the imminent survival problem of the residents, and Yevlov stressed that the new airdrop will be mainly weapons and ammunition. This is also very important for the troops, after all, the reloaded bullets are not as good as the original. When the ammunition is abundant, you can better flex your muscles.

Another thing, Yevlov put on an embarrassed face.

"This information was sent by the Gomel underground city committee, and the mayor of the city, Lyudbayov, begged us to take in the refugee groups that had been armed and transferred. They consisted mainly of Jews who had just escaped from the clutches of the Germans. This group of more than 1,000 people was poorly armed and poorly fed. The Gomel city committee wants us to take them over and reorganize them into a new fighting force. After reading the manuscript, Yevlov looked up at everyone. Comrades, we are going to have another group of new forces. ”

The more soldiers, the better, and as a Jew, Femin very much wanted his people to be stationed in the swamps.

"Do you have any questions about this situation?" Yevlov asked.

"Yes!" The battalion commander of the 1st regiment, Roshakov, stood up and asked: "I think that even if these people come, it will be difficult to form a combat force." They were very tired, and they were Jews. These people can be businessmen, but as a military man, I want to ......"

Fomin immediately coughed twice, and Roshakovki immediately realized that he had said the wrong thing.

Yang Mingzhi immediately sensed the subtlety of the venue, this Roshakov turned out to be a Ukrainian unit, and most of the others were Belarusian troops. Fomin is both Jewish and Ukrainian, and for historical reasons, the Ukrainian nation is more anti-Russian and anti-Semitic, and in the Soviet Russian civil war, they firmly sided with Denikin's White Army.

Now that the Soviet Union was established, these Ukrainian nationalists were dormant, and when World War II broke out, they made a comeback.

Even though Roshakov was an officer in the Soviet Army, the circumstances in which he lived led him to be prejudiced against Jews. What started as religious discrimination gradually evolved into inherent prejudice, and Fuming was all too familiar with it.

Fomin knocked on the table and said, "Whether they are Jews or Gypsies, they are all our compatriots, they are all citizens of the Soviet Union. They're fighting the enemy, and I have to help them. If there is an inherent prejudice because of the ethnic question, then what about Berekov? Fuming pulled the topic to Yang Mingzhi, who didn't speak for a long time. This man is Chinese, what do you think of him? Is he a coward? Is he stupid? No! He is smarter than most of you, and most of them would have died in battle if it weren't for him, and if it weren't for him, the troops would have starved to death in this swamp. ”

Roshakov bowed his head at these words, because these are facts. Without the 284th Division's acceptance, the remnants of their own defeated soldiers would have fled all the way, and they would have been annihilated by the Germans long ago.

Yang Mingzhi immediately stood up, and for the sake of modesty, he bowed deeply to everyone.

"Comrade Fuming's words just now are serious. I hope that there will be no ethnic discrimination here in us, and the current 284th Guards Division, composed of Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians, Jews, Tatars (black hairs) and Chinese like me, is ethnically different, but we all stand under the same red flag and fight the enemy. So that huge force we must receive them! The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, we are probably the largest anti-German force behind enemy lines in Belarus at present, we just lack fighters. I don't care what ethnicity they are, as long as they are brave and obey orders, they are good soldiers. ”

As soon as he said this, everyone present applauded. The attitude of everyone was completely unified, and even Roshakov stood up and apologized.

Russia is jokingly called a fighting nation, and the Jews are also a fighting nation, because they are too belligerent to get the retribution of being attacked by the army, the nation has sunk for 3,000 years, and their blood is still in their bones. Yang Mingzhi didn't think that this group of people would be some kind of "profiteers who can only do business", their arrival could completely organize a Jewish battalion, and their combat effectiveness when they took up arms to take revenge was probably only strong but not weak.

The information has been delivered, and Yang Mingzhi and the others are waiting quietly, waiting for the airdrop and the arrival of those people. (To be continued.) )