There was a one-day time difference for those who retreated first, and this day was enough for the army to march far.

In fact, Mozyri's location is already in the Pripet's swamp. Belarus is known as the land of ten thousand lakes, especially in the south, where there are many waterways and lakes, and the roads that run through them ensure smooth traffic.

Because the destination of the troops is the core of the swamp, the "city of Pripyat" will be established in this area in the future. In the original plane, the Chernobyl incident took place here, and Pripyat became a ruined city.

The troops who withdrew first carried a large amount of baggage, and they numbered tens of thousands of people. The appearance of such a large crowd on the outskirts of the swamp immediately attracted the attention of the Soviet troops in the swamp.

It was already July 17, the Germans had completed the battle of Minsk, the entire purpose of the campaign had been achieved, and almost all of Belarus was occupied. That is, some areas in the east, because of geographical factors, the German attacking forces did not have the effort at all, and there was no plan to occupy them.

So in the Pripyat swamps, the Soviet Union still ruled here. The defenders here were very scarce, and after the start of the war, a large number of villagers from the collective farms in the west withdrew to the area, hoping to retreat inland on the lines of communication.

Now, the Germans have occupied Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev and Gomel, and on Belarusian soil, the German offensive front is more or less the same. The Germans were still attacking in the direction of Moscow, until Guderian's large army met stubborn Soviet resistance at Smolensk.

And in Ukraine, the Soviet Southwestern Front was considered the most elite unit of the Soviet army. They succeeded in delaying the German offensive on Kyiv, so that the remnants of Kuznetsov, who had just broken out of the encirclement, had a chance to escape from the sea of suffering.

"As soon as the troops enter the swampy area, we can go south along the Dnieper, and as soon as we get to Kyiv, we will succeed!" Kuznetsov encouraged his subordinates so much that it has been nearly four weeks since the beginning of the war, and the troops who have survived have been lucky.

The army was retreating, and Yang Mingzhi was in a good mood. The Romanians and Germans paid a heavy price and still pounced, and the 284th Guards Division suffered heavy losses, but fortunately, the military flag and the division headquarters still existed, and even the commissars did.

Yerentina, this woman is not simple, it seems that people who can be Cheka are not simple.

To be honest, this hairy woman does have the charm of a woman, she is mature enough, and she is as wild as her male compatriots in terms of fighting. This guy is certainly not a fuel-efficient lamp, and perhaps a terrible character in bed war.

Yang Mingzhi watched as the woman fell into a brief period of lust, until his wife's carambola's yawning pulled him back to reality.

"Hey! You're awake. Yang Mingzhi gently looked at his wife who was sleeping soundly on the carriage.

"Well, husband, didn't you sleep all night?"

"Not really. When the troops were temporarily resting, I took the opportunity to sleep for a while. ”

After all, she was still young, so she slept soundly wrapped in a blanket on a pile of ammunition boxes, even as the carriage was still advancing. Yang Mingzhi boasted that he was much stronger than women, and on the way to retreat, the large army hardly rested. The fighters knew that only when they entered the swamp was they really safe.

By daybreak, their destination had finally arrived.

The confluence of the Pripet and Dnieper rivers is an excellent wetland with a network of waters. The vegetation is very dense, and the whole landscape is a combination of lakes and forests, and small waterholes are dotted.

Yang Mingzhi followed a large army, and he estimated that he had run for at least another thirty kilometers, which was nothing for a soldier.

When the army finally stopped, it was not that they had reached their destination, but that the ranks were blocked. Kuznetsov immediately joined the obstructed crowd, who had withdrawn the day earlier.

Seeing that the corps commander was coming, the officers who were ahead of them quickly went to report the situation. For the sake of convenience, an urgent military meeting was immediately convened, and Yang Mingzhi was ordered to go as a senior officer.

As soon as the meeting began, Kuznetsov reported on the war. "A Romanian army has been completely wiped out by our army, and now we have very little to worry about." He said something briefly, and suddenly in the crowd, he saw characters he had never seen before.

"You guys in civilian clothes, who are you? I don't remember an officer like you. ”

The few people present introduced themselves. Alexander Aleksandevich Pobosky, a partisan leader. He patted his chest and said of his identity: "Before the war began, I was an old Bolshevik, and now that the war has begun, I have responded to the call of the leader to call up the militia and form partisan units. I have a hundred men under me, and you were the first to find out. ”

On the march, Yang Mingzhi was not clear about the various orders of the Moscow authorities.

At the beginning of the war, Stalin was dismissive of the waging of guerrilla warfare, until the rapid defeat of the North-Western Front and the rapid rise of the common people in the occupied areas, he realized that it was necessary to organize a guerrilla war at once, to organize the soldiers who had been separated from the large army, the patriotic citizens, the villagers of the collective farms, and to fight the invaders to the death at all costs.

According to Pobosky, their militia units are all from the village of Catfish, which translates to Kamaskaya in Russian. It is a collective farm and a fishing village, where the villagers grow potatoes on the ridge and fish in the river.

Kuznetsov was grateful for the help of these people, and now it was his turn to introduce himself. In this way, the militia of Catfish Village never expected that these tens of thousands of people would actually escape from Minsk, more than 200 kilometers away.

The Sixth Army and the 284th Guards Division remained relatively intact, and the rest of the troops had been completely scattered and crippled, and the remnants of the soldiers from all walks of life were huddled together to keep warm, as well as patriotic citizens, militiamen, and villagers who had escaped the massacre. This mighty force was going to return to the Soviet Union through the swamps, and now they had very serious problems.

In addition to reporting on the situation, the meeting was to discuss how to pass through the swamp area.

"I see that you have a very large number of trucks, and these equipment are too heavy for the path between the swamps to carry it. So I advise your people to use human or animal power to carry supplies as much as possible. Pobosky initially suggested this, and the actual vanguard did the same.

However, there are a lot of materials in the troops, and it is time-consuming and laborious to transport all kinds of things.

"There is not a single road to the swamp Forte, there are only paths. Only Mozyr has a road from Kiev to us, and we have to turn back now. An officer said.

"No, you can't turn back. The enemy is behind us. ”

In this case, Kuznetsov looked at Yang Mingzhi: "Berekov, do you have any way. I hope we can get through the hood quickly. ”

Yang Mingzhi looked at him. You yourself are the commander of the corps, what can I do as a small officer in this kind of thing, and besides, there is really no way at all. Yang Mingzhi had no choice but to say: "I really have no choice, it's better to listen to what the locals say." ”

Pobosky noticed that this officer, who did not have a Slavic face, was probably a Mongol. After a little inquiry, Yang Mingzhi did not hide it, "I am a dignified Chinese." ”

Where is China? Pobosky doesn't know, anyway, that Khitan is very east. Why does Kuznetsov pay special attention to this guy? Until Yang Mingzhi's current identity is revealed, this is a "Hero of the Soviet Union", who miraculously killed the commander of the German armored division in China during the war. Immediately Pobosky was in awe.

Kuznetsov felt that the Chinese were very reasonable, and everyone came from afar to be more familiar with the terrain than the locals. Comrade Pobosky, we are the only troops that have escaped from the encirclement, and I must return to the rear to think about the Supreme Leader. As long as we get to Kiev through the swamp, you also have a chance to become a Hero of the Soviet Union. ”

Honor, of course, is very important, but the realities of the battlefield must be taken into account. Still, Pobosky said that there was no such thing as a route for trucks.

Yang Mingzhi listened to their chatter, and couldn't help but say meaningfully: "Our trucks can't go, the enemy's trucks are the same, and as for the tanks, they can't go." It will be very safe and suitable as a base for future guerrilla warfare. ”

Kuznetsov looked at him, and it was not that the army did not want to abandon the truck. He made a difficult decision: "The trucks were all abandoned, and the soldiers carried the supplies on their shoulders. Ammunition and the like were transported by horse-drawn carts, and wounded soldiers were carried by manpower. ”

The troops quickly began to move, and the fighters did not forget to open the fuel tanks after throwing away the trucks, and the precious gasoline was used for other purposes.

The warriors of Catfish Village acted as guides, and the soldiers lined up in long lines to follow them. As soon as you pass through the swamp network in front of you, the closer you get to the Dnieper, the more small plains there are, and when you get there, you will be completely safe.