Struggle in Russia

Dnipropetrovsk.

This is the 37th day that the defenders have been surrounded. For more than a month, the defenders have been besieged by enemies ten times their own size, causing heavy casualties.

The 23rd Infantry Division guarding here has declined from more than 11,000 people at its peak to only more than 5,700 people. If we remove the soldiers who are seriously injured and unable to fight, the division actually has less than four troops that can be used for combat. Thousands of people.

Not only were there heavy casualties, but about one-third of the city had also fallen to the enemy. If nothing else goes wrong, I'm afraid it will be difficult for them to hold on. It is a miracle that they can survive this week.

The situation was very bad, and the morale of the defenders was extremely low. However, at this moment, none of them thought about surrendering. They refused to retreat in the face of the rebel siege, and they were really holding on with their lives.

Why is the 23rd Infantry Division so tenacious?

It's not that this unit has a particularly high combat effectiveness. In fact, it is one of the dozens of ordinary infantry divisions in Russia. Their previous performance in the Crimean War was very average, and they often collapsed when encountering the British and French coalition forces.

Could it be that this army is a layman in foreign war but an expert in civil war?

In fact, no, their fighting will was not so strong at the beginning. When the rebels approached, they thought of surrendering, but soon the friendly troops who retreated from Petrikovka brought them a shocking news - the rebels The army's words don't mean anything, even if they surrender, there is no way to survive.

What happened is probably like this. After the troops of the 2nd Regiment of the 17th Russian Infantry Division stationed in Petrikovka were surrounded by the rebels, they resisted fiercely at first. After fighting for three to five days, they could no longer hold out because they ran out of ammunition and food. , can only negotiate with the rebels.

The rebels initially agreed well, agreeing to let them leave as long as they gave up resistance and vacated the city.

As a result, after they really gave up resistance, the rebels regretted it, suddenly besieged them, and almost killed all their remaining troops. Only a lucky few managed to survive by hiding under the corpses.

These people told Neuschau, the commander of the 23rd Infantry Division, that they must not believe the rebels' lies and that surrender would be the only way to death.

Of course Neushao believed in the words of the friendly forces and the rebels, so they resolutely resisted even if they were heavily surrounded.

It can only be said that the rebels shot themselves in the foot. If they could fulfill their promise, I am afraid that Dnepropetrovsk would have obtained it without firing a shot. As a result, we paid a heavy price for acting on emotions, so we must not be willful when talking about national affairs. Acting on emotions can kill people!

Under the tenacious resistance of the 23rd Infantry Division, the rebels paid a heavy price of tens of thousands of casualties. More importantly, the persistence of the 23rd Infantry Division bought them precious time, and finally they waited until Kornilov moved north.

Kornilov did not just wait in Zaporozhye. After discovering that the waterway was impassable and receiving a letter from Neuschau asking for help, he immediately ordered 5,000 soldiers to go north by land. While the sailors were dredging the river, they repelled several groups of rebels all the way north and arrived at a position more than 20 kilometers south of Dnipropetrovsk.

This position is neither close nor far. It's not that the sailors don't want to continue advancing, but that there are more and more enemies in front of them, and it is dangerous to continue to advance with their strength.

Therefore, they could only temporarily stop and ask for help from Kornilov on the one hand and clarify the situation on the battlefield, and on the other hand, they immediately moved to defensive and consolidated positions.

The latter point is very critical, because the rebels outside the city began to surround them after discovering the presence of the sailors. For them, the 23rd Infantry Division, which was unable to attack the strong fortifications, could not eat the sailors in the field?

For a time, the main force of the rebels completely leaned towards the sailors, and they had the idea of ​​​​eating them in one bite. If the sailors did not have a solid position to back them up, they would not be able to withstand the waves of violent rebel attacks.

At this time, Kornilov also took immediate action and immediately sent five thousand sailors north to rescue friendly forces.

Someone may want to ask Kornilov why you are so stingy and always use five thousand or five thousand to engage in fuel tactics. Can't you send more people?

It’s not that Kornilov is stingy and likes to use refueling tactics, but Zaporozhye is not at peace either. There are rebel activities all around. He can only send troops to sweep and disperse the rebels to ensure the safety of Zaporozhye.

It was not easy to mobilize half of the troops to go north. The five thousand sailors who were reinforced immediately ran into the crazy rebels. After a fierce battle, although they could not completely relieve the friendly forces in the north, it could be regarded as reducing the pressure on the friendly forces.

The situation was not very friendly to the rebels. They originally planned to eat the five thousand sailors who were holding on in one go. However, the sailors who had been trained during the siege of Sevastopol built the position so that it was watertight.

The rebels fought hard for two days and suffered thousands of casualties, but could not make any progress. This made them very angry. They were holding their breath and were about to continue to fight for their lives. When another sailor came from the south, they were caught off guard. , if it weren’t for the overwhelming number of people, it would really be possible to penetrate them.

Now the rebels were in a dilemma. They had two hard bones that they couldn't chew, but a third one got out. Wouldn't this cost them their lives?

What to fight next?

At this time, the rebels also felt that they were out of strength. They couldn't even chew the three lumps of Russian troops on the battlefield, but could they still eat the fat in their mouths?

The rebels quarreled internally all day long, and finally decided that in addition to a small number of troops to contain the newly arrived sailors, the main force should be used to besiege the entrenched sailors. As for the Russian army in Dnepropetrovsk, they would leave it alone for the time being. In their opinion, this Russian soldier is just meat on the chopping board and cannot escape at all.

According to their wishful thinking, after eating the entrenched Russian army, they would then deal with the 23rd Infantry Division. However, just as they were preparing to start a new round of onslaught, new changes occurred on the battlefield.

A fleet suddenly came over the Dnieper River. Without saying a word, it bombarded them with artillery fire, and then put down two thousand sailors to land.

As a result, not only were the besieged sailors not eaten, but they became stronger. With the cooperation of the ship's artillery, they began to counterattack, but they were beaten until they were in a state of panic.

Naturally, this landing force was brought by Kornilov after the Dnieper River was dredged. It must be said that he arrived just in time. Not only did he thwart the rebels' general offensive and rescue the trapped troops, but he even brought a wave of troops with him to completely defeat them. The rebels were forced to give up the attack and retreat toward Dnepropetrovsk in embarrassment.

Kornilov did not pursue blindly. After fighting for a while, he immediately gathered his troops and joined forces...