Struggle in Soviet Russia

Chapter 8: Bandit

In front of the large map, Victor made two crosses at the position marked with the swamp, and said to the two ensigns standing beside him: "According to the information we have, it is here, um, this swamp is called Shjepo. Fka, in this place, there is a guerrilla camp hidden. The information we can get is very limited. We only know that this guerrilla is probably stationed in this place, with about 20 people."

"My thoughts are," Victor continued with a deep tone, "Regardless of whether this information is accurate or not, we have to carry out a cleanup of the outskirts of the Shtepovka swamp."

With that said, he took a few photos stuck in the lower right corner of the map and handed them to the ensign next to him, and said: "Look, this is the photo I applied for the assistance of the aviation unit to obtain, centered on the Shtepovka swamp. A small area of ​​farmland has appeared in several areas of China. Obviously, this is one of the ways the guerrillas solve logistical supplies."

The two second lieutenants looked at a few photos and nodded from time to time.

"Now, what the two commanders need to do is to formulate a complete combat plan and launch an encirclement and suppression of several key areas on the periphery of the swamp," Victor took out a pack of cigarettes and gave each one one, and said "Our purpose is twofold, one is to destroy the farmland of the guerrillas, and the other is to kill their viable force to the greatest extent. In terms of commanding operations, the two commanders have rich experience, and this operation is left to you. Come to command, I still have a cavalry company in my hand, which can also be handed over to you."

Victor knew very well what his shortcomings were. Regardless of what he had been a cavalry platoon leader for a while, it was a cavalry platoon of civilian police. Commanding such troops is different from commanding a real army. Therefore, he handed over the real command to the two second lieutenants of the border guards, and they were professionals.

After hearing Victor’s words, the two ensigns were not welcome. They looked at the map carefully, and then they negotiated for a while. Finally, the bearded ensign said, "Comrade Viktor Viktorovich, this map is too rough. We don’t know the situation in the forest or the situation of the swamp zone. Our opinion is that we should first investigate the surrounding area of ​​the swamp and determine the situation there before we take action.”

"How long will it take?" Victor asked, raising his hand to stroke his chin.

"Two days should be enough," said Beard, "we immediately arrange for the scouts to take action."

Victor nodded, agreeing with the ensign's suggestion.

After sending the two ensigns away, Victor secretly relieved. At present, he is under a lot of pressure and urgently needs to make some achievements to prove his ability. Under political pressure, officials generally have this kind of psychology. .

Footsteps sounded again outside the door. After a while, Varenka walked in with a thick stack of documents: "Comrade Chief, the information gathered by the collective farms has been sent, where is it?"

Victor pointed to his desk and said, "Did the requested supplies arrive?"

"Not yet," Varenka replied casually, placing the file on the desk, "but it should be coming soon."

Nodding, Victor walked behind the desk, pulled the chair away and sat on it, reaching for a document and flipping through it.

Although Shepchenkovo’s National Security Agency has been established, so far, this department has not even built up a basic framework. In addition to Victor and Varenka, the entire agency has two other things to deal with. Clerk.

It is a cumbersome task to set up a complete National Security Agency. The corresponding personnel should be allocated by a higher-level organization. However, the People’s Committee of the Interior in the entire Eastern Ukraine region is currently in a mess, and the Supervision Bureau is still correcting Responsible persons at all levels are screened. Who can care for a small place like Shepchenkovo?

However, this is a good thing for Victor, because in this window of time, he can absorb a group of people in according to his own ideas and fill in the posts at the grassroots level, and the target he chooses is the collective The police in the farm.

The thick stack of documents sent by Varenka is the police files of 13 collective farms in the Shepchenkovo ​​area. Of course, there are also some cases investigated by various farms in the past two years. By looking through these files, Victor can understand the situation of the farm’s grassroots police on the one hand, and on the other hand, he can also screen certain past cases-in addition to strengthening public order and suppressing bandits, he has been dedicated to some unjust, false and wrong cases in the past two years. Re-screening is also Victor's task.

From the perspective of the entire Soviet Union, the entire system of the People’s Committee of the Interior is busy breaking up the old set of things and rebuilding a new situation that echoes Comrade Beria’s ideas. If this new situation is regarded as one According to Zhang Dawang, Shepchenkovo ​​is just a button on this website, small and insignificant.

With the order of Mehlis, a large number of military school graduates, party workers, and grassroots military personnel in the entire Soviet Union were flooded into the personnel sequence of the People’s Committee of the Interior. Only in the Eastern Ukraine region, they were There are nearly 4,000 "laymen" assigned to the posts.

These people are really laymen. They don’t have any work experience in anti-espionage, anti-secretism and anti-secession forces. They do not understand their own work or their enemies. In Moscow, the real intention of the People’s Committee of the Interior is to let They adapt to their new identities in their work. At the same time, they are choosing the best and the fittest in their work. In the end, the talented will remain, and the untalented will be eliminated.

Compared to these rookies, Victor has at least one advantage, that is, he knows what he should do and what kind of person his opponent is.

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In the early morning, the fog that permeated the jungle has not yet dissipated. Under the thick birch trees, the light green mimosa is hung with crystal clear dewdrops.

Hiding under a dead cedar, Victor tightened the brown-green canvas cloak he was wearing, then raised the telescope hung on his chest and looked into the depths of the jungle.

In the telescope's viewing distance, there is an open area between woods and swamps. There is a triangle-shaped wooden house simply built with logs. For concealment, the roofs of these wooden houses are dotted with lush foliage. The branches of the tree are also turf.

At this moment, the entire camp was filled with smoke, and people in the camp could be seen swaying in the binoculars. At first glance, everything seemed so peaceful and peaceful.

Yes, this is a guerrilla camp. According to the previous investigations by the border guards, the number of the guerrillas is about 30, which is considered to be a relatively large guerrilla. They used the cover of the swamp and jungle to establish a camp here. Once attacked, they can move to the depths of the swamp.

The topography of the Shepchenkovo ​​Forest is very complicated. The most complicated part is that during the dry season, the swamps in the jungle are patchy and inconsistent, but once it enters the wet season, the swamps in the jungle will be connected. One area, its scope spread westward, all the way to Warren, where is the control area of ​​the Poles.

For the first time fighting under the command of Victor, the two lieutenants of the border guards also wanted to make things as good as possible. Therefore, they formulated a detailed combat plan to wipe out the guerrillas. In order to achieve this goal, in the preliminary investigation process, they arranged for scouts to explore the swamp area. For this reason, one person was lost. Last night, the troops under their command had already encircled the camp. Two machine gun platoons were arranged in the swamp passage that was detected.

The two lieutenants' combat intention was to attack from the shore, drive the enemy into the swamp, and then use the openness and difficulty of the swamp zone to wipe them all out.

Time passed by one minute and one second. In the distant camp, men and women began to enjoy breakfast. They hid in the jungle and heard the laughter and joy from the camp.

The Bearded Lieutenant stood by Victor's side, his eyes fixed on his wrist watch, and when the agreed attack time came, he looked at Victor.

Victor understood what he meant, and did not speak, but just nodded vigorously.

The Bearded Lieutenant put the whistle hung on his chest into his mouth, and blew the offensive signal vigorously.

In an instant, a short whistle sounded in the jungle. Before the whistle disappeared, a bang was heard. Inside the telescope, a triangular-shaped wooden hut in the camp was blown up into the air. Mud and broken wood were everywhere. shoot.

The people who were having breakfast in the open area of ​​the camp were instantly stunned and fled, some holding their heads, others rushing to get weapons, and others fleeing in the direction of the swamp without thinking.

Soon, intensive noises reverberated in the jungle. Border soldiers wearing big hats and brown-green military uniforms began to charge towards the camp. The sound of grenade explosions and the screaming of machine guns brought the tranquility of the jungle. Torn it to pieces.

The guerrillas are called guerrillas because they are not regular troops. Of course, the guerrillas at this time should not be compared with the guerrillas in World War II. The combat effectiveness of the two sides is not at the same level. To describe it more appropriately, these so-called guerrillas are actually armed refugees and gunmen hiding in the jungle, nothing more.

The battle went very smoothly, giving Victor the feeling that it was like a cannon hitting mosquitoes, but within ten minutes, the soldiers of the border guard occupied the entire camp, but the dull sound of machine guns could be heard in the swamp. The guerrilla members who fled into the swamp were blocked by the border guards, and what awaited them was an inhumane massacre.