Gurov and the "targeted elimination group" led by Konstantin Sergeyevich Zaslonov have been fighting in the area of Lake Vigonoshchenskoye for more than a month, and this time they have received orders from the partisan corps to make contact with the Red Army units in the northeast as much as possible. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Knowing from the field radio that the Germans in the encirclement had surrendered, the partisan corps hoped that the small detachment closest to their own army would be in direct contact with the troops - the radio would be able to get in touch, but General Kondrat-Semenovich-Melnik hoped to find a ground passage that was least dangerous.

This morning the partisan detachment of 20 people set out without any livestock: the week before they were in the Lake District during their campaign they came across a refugee settlement, where about 100 Belarusians who had escaped the German genocide spontaneously gathered - there were nearly 500 of them, but only 100 skinned and bony "skeletons" survived due to the severe winter cold and the shortage of food and clothing!

The partisan detachment was also left without grass and food to feed the mules, and Gurov and Zaslonov together slaughtered all the cattle and used this settlement as a camp for the detachment.

With the mule meat and the stock of the squad, the refugees, who were already skinny and skinny, were able to survive a difficult time. After this period of time, the refugees will be transferred to the south, and only by arriving at the guerrilla headquarters can the refugees completely escape the fate of freezing and starvation.

The temperature is minus 30 degrees Celsius, and the snow on the ground has exceeded half a meter. The comrades were all dressed in makeshift snowshoes, divided into two teams, and opened the way 50 meters before the test with a five-person team, and Gurov was the top soldier.

The forest was not suitable for skiing, and the ski equipment was all on his back, and the bloated clothes made the lieutenant feel a little twisted. The German MP40 submachine gun in his hand was straddled to his chest, and his own sniper rifle was carried by the members of the rear team.

Everyone traveled lightly, and even the radio was handed over to the electronics technician in the camp. All of them were given only three days' provisions, a small bag on their backs except for the necessary equipment, and everything else was left for the refugees.

For three days, it was necessary to cross the blockade to reach the east.

"Lieutenant, a little further on the woods, a field of wheat from a collective farm." A member of the team in his 30s leaned over and said that this man had led a team to try to cross the blockade line last month, and it turned out to be a railway worker, so he was relatively familiar with the area.

"How wide is it, can you go around it?"

Gurov took off the mask made of a large towel covering his face, and a cold air came to his face, and he spoke with a puff of white smoke. The right hand, with thick gloves, was raised upwards and motioned for everyone to stop. The two partisans on the flanks immediately stood on the flanks, and the men behind gathered behind.

"You can go around, but it's three or four kilometers away." The partisan, Pavel, simply gestured in the snow with a cane made of a twig.

The journey of three or four kilometers takes more than an hour and requires a lot of physical energy, so it is not worth it, it is better to wait for dark at the edge of the wooded area.

"It's about 500 meters wide, and on the opposite side of the river is a small river, and there is a mechanized road that runs along the west side of the river, next to the river, probably for wheat harvesting and irrigation. The wheat fields stretched all the way to the south, and to the north were the settlements of the farmsteads, where the Germans were supposed to be attached to the road to Milaverd, and they would not miss it. ”

"On the other side of the river is a gentle hill, uncultivated for wheat fields, all woodland, which runs to the vicinity of Nesvizh, about 20 kilometers in length. The terrain is very undulating, just a butt high, with several paths in between, which can only cross livestock. ”

There is a large collective farm, mechanized production in the 30s, continuous plains with good irrigation conditions, and many such farms using mechanized labor have appeared in Belarus. Although it is not as endless as the wheat fields on the great plains of Ukraine, this will also become an "open field" in front of the team.

However, it is clear that this large area of farmland in front of him is not the product of the "early Soviet collective farming", which, according to Pavel, was formed after the liberation of Western Belarus in 39 years and the expansion and reform of the original rural base in 40 years.

Zaslonov had already reached the edge and said to the spot in the snow that had been marked out as Nesvizh: "I was there last spring, and the Germans must have made it a very strong defensive fortress." We've just crossed the open field in front of us, and we'll have to be careful outside Nesvizh. ”

"That place is special?"

Gurov asked.

"There was a complex built by the Radzivius family in the sixteenth century, which lasted until the thirty-ninth century. The entire complex includes the castle, the Eucharist Mausoleum and the church, as well as a large number of surrounding buildings. The castle is a complex of ten interconnected buildings, and it is said that the palace and the Church of the Blessed Sacrament are important archetypes for the development of architecture in Central Europe and in us. Magnificent and exquisite; Of course, it's also very sturdy. If there is a battalion of infantry troops stationed at the castle without heavy artillery, it is estimated that it will be difficult for both regiments to capture in a short time. ”

The Germans would obviously make good use of such a historical, cultural and architectural location, not to mention the city on the side - if the Red Army wanted to recapture it, it was unlikely that the whole complex would simply be bombarded with heavy artillery, which means that the Germans would deploy heavy troops near that point!

Gurov vaguely remembered reading in his childhood textbooks about the Radzivian family, a family of high status in architecture and art, but in this moment, all the glory of the old system was lost like a cloud of smoke, leaving only the complex that would cause trouble for him.

Looking at the time, it was still an hour before it was dark, and the time was just after 2 p.m. It is suitable for concealment after dark, but the temperature drops sharply, and the trouble is even greater.

"It's best to pass through the open field in front of you before nightfall, otherwise you won't have time to set up camp deep in the woods." Gurov and Zaslonov made a decision after discussing it, and the lieutenant first led people to the front to observe.

Just over 100 meters to the edge of the forest, the snow in the wheat field is very thick, flat and white. Through the binoculars, there was no sign of German activity around, and the woods on the opposite side were also quiet—this ghost weather, and when you went out, you were looking for your own guilt.

He observed for 10 minutes and showed no abnormality.

"Fast passage in 5 minutes, so everyone is ready."

500 meters in 5 minutes, high difficulty! After enough rest, everyone checked their equipment again to make sure that nothing was loose and that there was no problem with the snowshoes. Gurov retrieved his sniper rifle and handed the submachine gun to the partisan. The submachine gun is in such an open area, in case there is a situation, it is a piece of scrap iron, and the sniper rifle in hand, even if there are ten or twenty people who find themselves, they can also make them honest!

Seeing that everyone is ready, "Two columns, let's go." ”

Even with the help of snowshoes, it takes effort to walk fast in the snow. If the slope is right, it is still convenient to use skis, but the open field in front of you is too flat and the snow is too thick, and the poles will not make it hard, and the march is not as fast as snowshoes.

Pavel took the lead, and Gurov followed, quickly and carefully moving eastward, leaving two irregular marks on the white snow. Only the low whistle of the cold wind and the rustle of snowshoes, all tense and highly focused.

There is snow 50 centimeters deep underfoot, and if you sow the land moistened with snow water this year, you will definitely get a good harvest, but after the beginning of spring, it will only become a battlefield, and it is a pity that such a good land is cultivated.

"Don't be left behind, keep up!"

The partisans marched forward with all their might, and the trees on the opposite side were getting closer and closer, and victory was at hand.

Approaching the woods for about 100 meters, Gurov stopped to observe for a few seconds, and the sniper's instincts told him that everything was in order, and he waved his hand and hurried forward. Finally, Pavel was the first to jump onto the machine-ploughed road, and the snow on the road was run over by the tracked vehicles, which should have been traces of yesterday.

Looking at the analysis of the width and imprints of the tracks, it is a half-track vehicle. Even the Germans' half-track armored vehicles must have been extremely difficult to pass on such a thick snow-covered road, but Gurov and the others did not have the time to spend more time on the imprint. Crossing the frozen creek, everyone quickly entered the woods, leaving a very conspicuous trail in their wake.

Just 500 meters away, a group of people have entered the woods and their lungs seem to be burning! Fortunately, the Germans did not collide with the armored car, otherwise there would have been casualties along the way.

Gurov asked the man next to him for two German grenades, and quickly set up two traps in the snow that had just entered the woods. For just a few minutes, it appeared that only a group of snowshoes had entered the wooded area from here, and there were no other anomalies. But if anyone passes through here again, they'll have to taste the bombing!

If the Germans had passed through that mechanized road today, the traces left by the Gurovs would have been so obvious that they would have been attracted by the traces - only the partisans would have left such traces. The sound of grenade explosions, which can be heard for kilometers in the night, is the best warning for the partisans who spend the night in the camp.

As for the question of whether the two grenades would hurt others, there was no need to think so much about it in the war, and German-made grenades would fail as long as they passed the snowmelt season, and would not be a hidden danger for too long like landmines.

Half an hour later, it was already dark, and Gurov's group moved forward in the dark for almost an hour. It is very difficult to walk through the snowy forest at night, and the guidance of the compass is not lost, and the speed is as slow as a snail.

According to Gurov's calculations, the straight-line distance into the woods is up to 3 km.

Stopping, in a relatively high forest, Gurov pulled down his mask and said to the people around him: "Let's camp here today, everyone hurry up and build two shacks." ”

The partisans gathered their backpacks together, took out the machetes and large daggers they carried with them, and prepared them separately.

For camping, the guerrillas were already familiar with the road, cutting trees for those who cut down trees, and collecting dead branches for collectors. The hut should be large enough, with two conifers close to it, leaning diagonally against two small trees that had been cut down, and a small trunk resting on it, and tying it tightly with bark. The snow underneath was cleared, and other small trunks and branches were piled up at an angle, and soon two large simple huts for everyone were completed, somewhat resembling American Indian tents.

Spread a tarpaulin on the ground, set up a rack for boiling water with branches on the muddy floor reserved in the middle, and hang a stainless steel pot to boil water.

The temperature in the wild is constantly dropping, and if you don't have enough protection from the cold, it's tantamount to suicide! Gurov did not send sentinels, there was no need, only unnecessary frostbite: he had already deployed a ring of grenade traps with his people, which could give himself the best warning.

According to past experience, the Germans generally did not go into the forest to pursue the encirclement and suppression of the guerrillas after such a severe cold at night, and it was very likely that they would be sent to hell! Moreover, the Germans must not be in the mood to encircle and suppress the partisans, and the layout of the front is enough for them to be stretched.

The most important job for everyone now is to burn the bonfire, rest well, and recover their strength, and survive this damn night. The smoke from the campfire can drift through the gaps between the branches above, and the heat won't run out quickly. As soon as the fire was lit, Gurov looked at the map again: tomorrow, if everything goes well, he should be able to approach the vicinity of the first line of German positions by nightfall, and see where the junction of the German lines can pass.

The Germans could not have built a position like the "Stalin Line" on a temporary basis, and the average deployment of troops in front of a tank cluster was as fragile as a letter in the face of a sharp knife, and there must be a place where they could pass.

Camping involves eating, boiling water with snow, and constantly putting snow in the pot. When the water boiled, several people first scooped some boiling water with their cups to warm their stomachs, and some people cut a piece of frozen mule meat into pieces with a knife and put it in the pot. And Pavel on the side took out a bunch of things from his backpack, some good things he carried.

First of all, it was a tin can, and Gurov, who knew a little German, knew that it was a German cooked frozen pork can, and the frozen pork in it was definitely called "frozen"! It's like a solid lump of iron, don't want to gnaw on it without heating!

There was no special tool to open the can, so he directly chiseled the dagger and poured all the tempting frozen meat inside into the pot. Scooped some of the hot soup from the pot and poured it into the almost empty can, turned around and poured it back into the pot, and the food was not wasted at all.

A flat tin box of German military lard was also opened, and all the snow-white lard inside was put into the soup pot. The last thing that came out was a cardboard box, from which Pavel pulled out several large pieces of dehydrated vegetables, put them in a pot, and finally sprinkled some salt.

The same thing was being done in the other shack, and everyone was already starving! Only this one meal a day is hot food, and the rest can only eat dry food heated by your own body temperature during a short break on the way. In such temperatures, not only will you be hungry very quickly, but you will also feel colder and colder, because the calories provided by the last meal have already been consumed, and even the march will get colder and colder, instead of sweating profusely.

The aroma of the soup in the hut was overflowing, and each man took out the rye bread from his backpack: like the contents of a pot, all but the little mule meat was captured German rations. The rye bread in my hand is as hard as a brick, and I have to cut it with all my strength, and it feels a little like cutting leather.

However, the Germans' military bread is really very practical, the skin is slightly burnt, and it will not go bad for several months in winter. The Germans generally stuffed two in their backpacks or ammunition racks when they went out on missions, each weighing about 700 grams, one was enough for a day's staple food, which became the most captured German military ration by the partisans.

Although it didn't taste very good, the partisans who were accustomed to eating the Russian big leba preferred this German bread to be softer than Russian brown bread than the German military biscuits with a little sweetness and carton packaging.

Gurov was roasting a slice of bread that was as cold as ice cubes by the fire, and Zaslonov was already serving up the hot soup. Half a lunch box per person, eating rye bread slices with hot soup, everyone will have the illusion that there is nothing more comfortable in the world!

It's a big pot of smorgasbord, in fact, I can't say how good it tastes, but it's really enjoyable to be able to eat such a hot food with enough calories and plenty of fat!

When everyone had finished eating, a few of them took off their boots and let their feet be roasted, and by the way, they also baked their boots to drive away the moisture inside. There is no such thing as a big stinky foot, and everyone knows how important it is to keep their feet dry and clean in the cold conditions! Two of them simply took off their socks and wiped their feet with the snow outside, and then dried them, and then put on thoroughly dried woolen socks, so that their feet would not be uncomfortable tonight.

It is almost impossible to lie down and sleep, you can only lean together, and you have long practiced the ability to sleep by leaning around. The pot has been replaced with new snow cubes, and the water will always be burned over a low fire, who wants to have a little casual, but don't forget to add some snow cubes after drinking water, and don't forget to add firewood.

Whether you can sleep or not, find yourself the most comfortable position, pay attention to wrap yourself tightly, and try to keep warm, this is the best way to maintain your strength, because tomorrow three hours before dawn will be the departure.

After five o'clock the next day, Gurov, who had slept three times in a daze (from 5 p.m. to this meeting for twelve hours, served as a pillow twice for the other two players who wanted to lie down and rest, but there was no way, there was not enough space, and he himself enjoyed that treatment for a while. Get out of the shack, solve everyone's hygiene problems, and call everyone up.

The iron pot over the campfire was once again hot, and the morning staple was brown bread, but the soup was replaced by canned German military beef with mule meat. Pavel was a little reluctant to put the last bit of dehydrated vegetables into the pot. Fortunately, I can see my own people the day after tomorrow at the latest, otherwise it will be uncomfortable to not be able to eat vegetables for a long time.

The same goes for others, many partisans have tasted boiled pine needles, which is the ultimate solution to the absence of vegetables and vitamins, and the taste is unforgettable!

Half an hour later, the team members carefully dismantled the bomb traps that had been deployed around the camp last night and recovered the precious grenades. (To be continued.) )