The participants soon arrived, Salinchkin did not say anything, and when the time came, he stood straight on the small podium as the host.

He gave a brief account of the battle that had just ended, and the results of the battle.

Because it was a victory, the atmosphere in the hall quickly became lively, and he began to open the prepared documents and, after the order was quiet, read them out loud.

"Comrades! The "Proposal on the Establishment of a Partisan Soviet Socialist Republic," which we had studied and adopted at the last meeting, had been submitted to Moscow, and now the official reply had arrived.

The Supreme Soviet fully approved the creation of this new state and supported all our initiatives. Legally, the guerrilla republic was formally established on 1 May, and the commander-in-chief of the guerrilla movement, Comrade Ponomarenko, concurrently held the seat of the guerrilla republic in the Council of Ministers.

In addition to this, the guerrilla republics have the legitimate power of all union republics......"

It was a not-so-lengthy document, and Salinchkin kept his composure and read it to the end.

It wasn't until he finished his words that the audience gradually became lively. The people attending the meeting will no longer be as crazy as the congress of nearly twenty days ago, for example, this guerrilla republic, even if the reaction of the higher authorities is vague, is not the guerrilla zone in this swamp already running everything like a country?

Now that the guerrilla republic is legal, so are all actions.

Lyudbalev, who was present at the meeting, nodded with satisfaction, and after he received this decree as soon as possible, the "large radio station" managed by the Novgomel City Party Committee directly changed its name and broadcast in all directions in the name of a "partisan republic."

"Everyone, be quiet for now!" Salinchkin clapped his hands, "Comrades, please pay special attention, this is only one of the two important orders to be announced!"

The guerrilla republic has declared that what we are doing is legally recognized, and as a result, our responsibilities are all the greater, and we have more responsibilities to fulfill.

Next, the commander of our army group, Berekov, came to the stage to announce the command of the Southwestern Front, against our orders. ”

In the applause of the people, Yang Mingzhi stood up with a wooden face and stood on this podium with a sonorous voice.

Salinchkin's document was summed up in yesterday's military discussions. Yang Mingzhi was fully aware of the content, and most of the people in the audience didn't know anything about it.

"......, based on the strength of the 63rd Army, which is the strongest partisan force in Belarus and in the entire USSR, you must fulfill your accusations. Soon, a new counteroffensive will be launched on the Barvenkovo front, and the spearhead of the Soviet offensive is Kharkov.

It is incumbent upon the 63rd Army to come to its aid in the new campaign, and your troops should immediately prepare for the war, and when the exact battle order is delivered, they will immediately go into battle! ”

Yang Mingzhi finished reading the document, and the audience was quiet.

War, war! Those sitting here are not afraid of war, and even desire revenge on their enemies. People are also wise, the elite of the 63rd Army has just completed a high-intensity operation, and even if those fighters resume training, their training volume is not high.

Moreover, the various losses of this war will take some time to repair. The more than 6,000 people who can join the army brought back are generally weak, and if they want to become good soldiers who can adapt to the special combat methods of the troops, they need more time to recuperate and train!

Now that the superiors have made a notice that a large-scale battle will be carried out, are the troops really ready?

The order is like this, and while people are thinking about it, they are also realizing that the commander of the army group, Berekov, who was standing on the podium, said more than a month ago that "a huge military operation in the future" is this?

The audience gradually became commotion, and Yang Mingzhi stretched out his arms and made a posture of pressing down.

"Comrades, this is an important reminder from the superiors, and we must conscientiously implement it. In fact, by studying the map and the current situation between friend and foe, I had a hunch that there would be a big battle here.

Since the end of February, when the counteroffensive of our Front on the Severodonetsk River was successful, the troops took advantage of the victory, our troops occupied the line of the Barvenko River in one fell swoop, and together with the liberation of Belgorod by our troops, an offensive posture against Kharkov has emerged.

This dynamics began to take shape at the end of March, and throughout April, I believe that the commanders of our front have been building up until now. Maybe it's a leader's order, maybe he thinks the time is ripe.

This will be a local strategic showdown!

I remind you that less than twenty kilometers to the east of our blacksmith village is the Dnieper, on the other side of the river is the Chernikov region, to the south of it is the Sumy region, and to the south of the Sumy region is the Kharkiv region!

So, how should we interpret the meaning of the Front Command? They will give us a new military mission, we will never be able to go long distances to engage the most elite troops of the German army, and our duty will still be to destroy the enemy's logistics.

Personally, I think that the higher authorities will most likely order us to march on the Kyiv side, so we must make the necessary preparations! ”

At this time, Pobosky raised his right hand. He stood up and asked, "So what should we do to prepare?" I was in the south of Novgomel, very close to the river. ”

"As for how to prepare? This is where we need to discuss, and that is one of the many purposes of this meeting. Yang Mingzhi looked at this familiar guy and said casually: "Perhaps, you should prepare a large number of rafts and boats." Since we are going to use troops against Kyiv, we will have to go by water. ”

Novgomel's position is located north of the confluence of the Pripet and Dnieper rivers, and to the south of it, the channel widens rapidly after the confluence of the two rivers. Now it is the spring and summer season, and the thawing of the permafrost at the source of the Dnieper, coupled with precipitation, has greatly increased the water level!

In fact, Yang Mingzhi was also a little puzzled when he first looked at the map, the Dnieper River directly north of the city of Kyiv should have a large reservoir, but now there is only a wide river. If you think about it, maybe it's because the reservoir hasn't been built yet.

On the Dnieper River south of Novgomel, there are a number of small cities. These cities are close to rivers and railways, close to Kiev, and had a small population just before the outbreak of the war.

Yang Mingzhi's proposal resonated with the people, and the troops had already done it last year on the use of troops in the south.

Chernoby, that is, Chernobyl. The small city is run through by railroads, and last year's attacks focused on the train station and the bridge across the river. It is located north of Kyiv, and since the bridge was blown up, everyone thinks that the city is not as strategic as it once was.

But the order from the higher authorities was to march on the Kyiv side, then the city had to be taken.

As soon as people started thinking about it, doubts followed. Even Berekov, who has always supported Yang Mingzhi, had to stand up and voice his concerns.

"Berekov, the Germans are well aware of the importance of Kyiv, they defend the city with heavy forces! We attacked the Chernoby, and they must have strengthened their defenses here, and there must be troops stationed here at this moment. I'm worried! ”

Yang Mingzhi looked at him, and then looked at the dozens of guys in the audience who were staring at them with big eyes and concentrated, and couldn't help sighing.

"Our deputy commander asked a good question! Do we really have what it takes to fight an enemy that is many times our size? I'll tell you the truth, no! ”