Struggle in Russia

All in all, even though Nakhimov and Anton had arrived in Kiev and initially controlled the situation, Dmitri did not feel that he could sit back and relax at all. On the contrary, he was nervous for fear that something would happen to Kiev if he was not careful. .

So when Li Xiao specifically mentioned the problem in Kiev, he had to temporarily put aside his obsession with the rebels and prioritize relieving Kiev.

But this is not easy. Even if Chernihiv is recaptured, it is still not close to Kiev, and there is an Ostyer River that needs to be crossed on the way. According to early investigations, at least three troops are stationed in Kozelets on the north bank of the river. Thousands of rebels.

These rebels are unified under the control of a butcher named Orginio, which is completely different from the situation in Chernihiv where the mountains are everywhere.

And it is said that this Orginio is still a ruthless character. After the uprising, he continued to grow and attacked and occupied an arsenal. The rebels under his command were not just a ragtag group of people burning fire sticks.

What's worse is that Orginio has close ties with the rebels around Kiev and has maintained a good cooperative relationship with each other. Once the attack is frustrated, it is very likely that surrounding rebels will swarm in and besiege.

"This is a tough guy and you must be prepared to fight a tough battle!"

Dmitry held a military meeting in the headquarters to remind his men to be mentally prepared for the next step.

"My request is to break through Kozelets and cross the Oster River as quickly as possible and establish a strong forward stronghold to facilitate the next stage of our relief operation!"

Li Xiao looked at the map quietly. If you just looked at the map, you wouldn't find it difficult. It's not that far from Chernihiv to Kiev. More than a hundred years later, Lao Maozi's special military operation passed through Chernihiv. Nisev fought towards Kiev.

However, this short 120-kilometer journey caused the Russian army to suffer heavy losses and finally had to retreat sadly.

The current situation is very similar to what the Russian army faced more than 100 years later. Ukrainian rebels have occupied major transportation arteries and built several lines of defense.

Even if their defense seems thin, you have to see that Dmitri has limited troops. The number of troops he can use to attack Kozelets definitely does not exceed 20,000. This number of troops is really not enough!

Therefore, according to Dmitry's plan, he will deploy 20,000 Russian troops plus 20,000 trained surrender troops, a total of 40,000 people, to attack Kozelets. He will first use the surrender troops to consume the Kozelets rebels and then use the surrender troops at a critical moment. Always invest the main force of the Russian army to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop.

However, Li Xiao was not particularly optimistic about this plan. He bluntly reminded: "The surrendering army has big problems in terms of morale, training, and loyalty. It is not the best choice to put them into the battlefield now. Once they fail to do their job or make a mistake, it will affect the overall situation, so I think it’s best not to use them in this battle!”

Dmitry was surprised because he made the battle plan according to Li Xiao's strategy. Didn’t someone keep saying let the rebels fight the rebels? Didn't they spend so much effort and pay such a heavy price just for this day?

Why is it that someone is the first to object when you really want to take action?

This made Dmitri somewhat unhappy, and he immediately questioned him.

Li Xiao explained patiently: "The overall strategy is of course to use the rebels to destroy the rebels, but now the time is tight, the tasks are heavy, and the rebels are not reliable, so using them will only have the opposite effect... I think they should be given a little more time." , strengthen their rectification, let them initially become obedient, and then let them go to the battlefield... Look at what is happening now. These guys who have surrendered are all suspicious of us and have not even done the most basic training. No, they won’t be obedient if they actually go to the battlefield. Letting them fight Kozelets at this time will only make them feel that this is killing them with a borrowed knife and deliberately consuming them, and they will strongly resist!”

Li Xiao sighed and continued: "And Kozelets is too important. It is about 60 kilometers away from Kiev. As long as it is captured, it will almost open the door to Kiev. However, once the attack is frustrated, the surrounding rebels will swarm. Come up, let alone relieve Kiev at that time, we may not even be able to stand firm and we will be driven back!"

Dmitri remained silent, frowning and staring at the map. He understood everything Li Xiao said. It was precisely because Kozelets was so important that he wanted to concentrate as much power as possible. If there is no need to surrender to the surrender army, can only 20,000 Russian troops defeat this hard nut?

Li Xiao replied: "The enemy troops in Kozelets are probably between 30,000 and 40,000, and their weapons and equipment are relatively good. The rebel leader Orginio also has a high personal reputation, so it is indeed difficult to deal with them. But I don’t think it’s appropriate to exaggerate their combat effectiveness. We’ve all seen the state of the rebels who surrendered. Most of them are strong and powerful. Even some of them who have weapons cannot use rifles skillfully. Even the last They can’t do basic loading and aiming well! This shows how poor their quality is!”

After a pause, Li Xiao continued: "Even if the rebels in Kozelets are more powerful, how powerful can they be? A rabble without a long period of training is still a rabble, even if they have guns and cannons in their hands, they are nothing more than a rabble. A group of rabbits armed to the teeth are still no match for a real army!"

Li Xiao clicked on Kozelets on the map and then clicked on the city of Nezhin, fifty or sixty kilometers east of Kozelets, and said loudly: "If you want to capture Kozelets, I think the best way is to make a sneak attack. ! Use a small number of elite cavalry to rush in quickly and arrive directly at the city in one day to catch them off guard..."

Dmitri frowned tightly. He felt that Li Xiao's plan was too risky. It was not a big problem for a small number of elite cavalry to rush fifty or sixty kilometers a day, but he only had five or six thousand cavalry on hand. These people rushed over. It’s not necessarily possible to win Kozelets, right?

"It's too risky!" Dmitri shook his head and said: "Orginio is not an idiot. According to intelligence, this person is very cautious. He has been building colleagues to guard against us since we captured Chernihiv. I’m afraid it’s unlikely that a sneak attack will succeed!”

Li Xiao replied: "So Nirvana is very important here. My opinion is to gather more than 10,000 infantrymen and 20,000 surrender troops to march towards Nirvana with great fanfare, and to create a big fanfare to tell everyone about our next stage. Target Konotop! If we can get our troops from Glukhov and Vorozhba to cooperate in besieging Konotop, I think Orginio is likely to relax his vigilance. , such a small number of cavalry can achieve a very good sneak attack effect..."