Struggle in Russia

When Kornilov tried every means to make an emergency landing on the rebels, Li Xiao and Dmitri also encountered a new situation.

The rebel leaders headed by Maganov finally got together for a meeting to discuss how to deal with Li Xiao and Dmitry's attack.

After some fierce bargaining, the three parties finally reached an agreement to form a coalition. After capturing Kiev, Kiev would be divided according to the proportion of Maganov Station 40%, Hobnin and Manokovich 30% each.

Of course, it is too early for them to talk about dividing the spoils, because the first thing they have to solve is the confidants of Li Xiao and Dmitry.

"The strength of Black Gouzi's troops is not clear, but according to my estimate, it will be no less than 100,000. If we add in those surrendering losers, the strength will probably be around 130,000 to 40,000!"

Hobnin and Manokovich are a bit numb. Their combined strength is only 200,000. Based on their previous experience, if they want to destroy 100,000 Russian troops, they will need at least three to four times the strength. Advantage.

But even if Maganov is included, they only have 350,000 troops. These troops still have to besiege Kiev, and it is impossible for all of them to be used to attack Li Xiao and Dmitry.

Doesn't it mean that there is no chance of winning at all?

Maganov did not think so. He analyzed: "The total number of Black Gouzi troops is indeed that large, but they are not gathered together, but scattered and occupied Kozelets, Nezhin, Priluki, Several cities including Ichnia and Chernihiv.”

He analyzed confidently: "If you calculate it like this, how many people can they have in each city? As long as we join forces and concentrate a superior force of about 100,000 people to attack a city, we will be able to eat them away bit by bit. Enough!"

Maganov is quite knowledgeable, so no wonder he can become the most powerful boss among the rebels. According to his analysis, it is really possible that Li Xiao and Dmitri would be overwhelmed by defeating them one by one.

But is it really as simple as he thought?

In fact, both Li Xiao and Dmitry realized the necessity of concentrating their forces for combat. Even for key transportation hubs, such as Chernihiv and Kozelets, the garrison strength they deployed was only about 5,000 people.

The reason why five thousand people were released was based on their experience. The careful fortifications built by five thousand regular troops were enough to withstand ten times the number of rebel attacks. In other words, if the rebels want to capture cities like Kozelets and Chernihiv, they must invest at least 50,000 people.

It’s not even enough. For example, the terrain of Kozelets is special, and a defense line can be built along the river. As long as the bridge is controlled, even a hundred thousand troops with the firepower level of the rebels will not be easy to attack!

So while Maganov and others were having a small meeting, the defenders of Kozelets and Chernihiv were desperately building fortifications. They were simply three steps, one sentry, five steps and one post, and endless trenches. The entire city was surrounded by water, and a large number of barricades and bunkers were built on the streets at key nodes in the city.

So when Li Xiao and Dmitri received an urgent report from Kozelets that tens of thousands of rebels were approaching, they were not particularly anxious.

Although the fortifications in Kozelets have not been completely completed, it is not a big problem to withstand them for a week or two at their level, so there is no need to rescue them for the time being.

At this moment, their attention is still on Piliatin, preparing to concentrate 20,000 Russian troops and 10,000 surrender troops to capture the city.

They were really worried about this. The reason was very simple. Both Li Xiao and Dmitri believed that since the attention of the rebels around Kiev was drawn to Kozelets, they didn't have to worry about them stabbing them out. Preventing his side from seizing Priyagin.

So they hurriedly set off from Priluki and went straight to Piliatin, and then a fierce battle began.

There are about 10,000 rebels around Piyagin. Logically speaking, they are definitely no match for Li Xiao and Dmitri. The initial situation was also like this. In the encounter outside the city, they were beaten after just one encounter. It collapsed and they could only flee back to the city in embarrassment.

According to Li Xiao and Dmitri's judgment, the next step is to close the door and use the firepower advantage to eat away the rebels in the city bit by bit.

This is what they thought and what they did, but just as they were steadily wiping out the rebels in the city, an accident happened!

On the third day of the battle, 30,000 rebels suddenly ran over from the direction of Mirgorod. This disrupted the rhythm of Li Xiao and Dmitry, and they could only draw troops from the siege troops to stop the attack.

Forget it if it was just here, just when the situation on the battlefield was finally stabilized, a new situation appeared on the rebel side. Another rebel suddenly appeared in Lochvita, which is also the east of Piyagin. military.

This rebel army of about 10,000 people rushed towards Piyagin, leaving both Li Xiao and Dmitri in a hurry.

They couldn't figure out what was going on with Piliatin. How could he be so attractive to people like a magnet?

It can only be said that they still underestimated the overall situation changes on the battlefield. After a period of expansion, the rebels in the direction of Poltava, Sumy, and even the rebels in Kharkov have exhausted their food reserves. After winter, they will either freeze to death or starve to death. Find ways to survive.

Among them, the rebels in the directions of Sumy and Kharkov tried to develop northward, but their progress was not smooth due to the tenacious resistance of the Russian army in the north. Moreover, the weather became worse the further north they went. After fighting for a while, they found that this was not worthwhile at all. , so he gave up the idea of ​​going north and turned south, trying to kill friendly troops and find a way to survive.

In the next period of time, the main rebel forces in the direction of Sumy and Poltava will continue to move south and west. Li Xiao and Dmitri will face huge military pressure!

Why don't Li Xiao and Dmitri know such important information?

The reason is very simple. The Russian army is on the defensive on all fronts and is severely suppressed. With the arrival of cold winter, the traffic situation has further deteriorated. This has caused the Russian army to almost fight independently and it is difficult to make contact.

Fortunately, Li Xiao and Dmitry did a very good job in battlefield reconnaissance, and could always detect the changes in the surrounding rebels in time. Soon they found that there were more and more rebels in this area, and it was almost impossible to figure it out. There are as many as 70,000 to 80,000 people.

If you include the rebels who are constantly moving from the direction of Sumy and Poltava, the number will be even greater!

There are so many rebels who will definitely not be able to defeat them with their current strength, but Pilia Kyoto has captured more than half of it. It would be a pity to give up like this.

For a moment, Dmitri was very confused, not knowing whether to continue fighting to the end or retreat in time...