Struggle in Russia

As Dmitry firmed up the combat policy of annihilating the effective strength of the rebel army, the next thing became simple. The main force of the Russian army that had just recovered Sumei immediately pursued the victory and launched a fierce attack on the rebels in the Kursk area.

At this time, there were almost 70,000 to 80,000 rebels gathered in the area. The Russian defenders in Kursk were under great pressure. However, Dmitry had given them strict orders before. If Kursk failed, what would happen? Everyone from the mayor to the military commander was shot.

In Dmitry's words: "Either you stick to Kursk and become a hero, or you lose your reputation and become a dead dog."

This will be a tragedy for the Russian troops and officials in Kursk. If they want to escape, they will be beheaded, but if they don't escape, the rebels are not easy to deal with.

In the end, they could only grit their teeth and endure. After all, Dmitri's reputation for being harsh was already well known to everyone. He said that if you take your life, no one can save you.

Facts have proved that nobles willing to risk their lives are quite powerful. The few defenders in Kursk were able to withstand the fierce attack of 70,000 to 80,000 rebels. After Dmitri took care of Priton and sent his troops northward, their urgent need was solved.

With the Kursk rebels being eliminated by Dmitry, the situation in northern Ukraine has basically become clear. The rebels only have a single seedling left in Krevikin, and all cities except Kharkov have been recovered.

Next, we only need to eliminate Krevykin, which basically means that northern Ukraine will be stable.

It's just that Krevykin is also a thousand-year-old fox, and he can run faster than a rabbit. When Dmitri annihilated the Kursk rebels, he led his troops to Belgorod.

It’s just that the Kursk garrison stood firm in the face of 70,000 to 80,000 rebels, not to mention the Belgorod garrison. Due to their tenacious resistance, Krevykin could only give up on capturing Belgorod. With the idea of ​​​​turning east across the Oskol River and occupying Luwaiki, he was ready to flee eastward.

In this regard, Li Xiao's advice to Dmitri was to leave him alone. The reason was very simple. Alexander II dispatched the 1st and 3rd Cossack Cavalry Divisions from the direction of Saratoga and were marching westward day and night, with the target in mind. It's Kharkiv.

If nothing else goes wrong, these two cavalry divisions, together with other Russian garrison troops in the direction of Voronezh, will soon block Krevikin's way. With Krevikin's logistics situation and the power of the Russian winter, his small number of troops It will be over soon and there is no need to worry about it.

On the contrary, Ukraine is the focus that needs attention. There are still many rebels in Poltava. If you go after Krevikin foolishly, you will probably be taken advantage of by the rebels here.

Once Dmitri's main force leaves Ukraine, the rebels in Poltava and the Kiev region are likely to resume aggressive attacks on the newly recaptured cities, which means that Dmitri has been busy for two months. .

Therefore, the top priority is to eliminate the rebels in the Poltava area, and then try to get in touch with Kornilov and the Russian army in southern Ukraine to coordinate operations to form a joint force.

This idea coincided with Kornilov. After retaking Cherkasy, he carefully observed the surrounding situation and found that the rebels had a big problem with their food supply. It’s a great opportunity to suppress them and make them more chaotic.

So he immediately crossed the Dnieper River and headed towards Zogtonosa. The reason why he chose to attack here was that on the one hand, Li Xiao had planned for him to capture it before, and on the other hand, he found that the rebels here were not strong. , the troops are sparse and morale is extremely low. He is quite good at picking off weaklings.

Soon, Kornilov, who came from the sky, wiped out more than 4,000 rebels in Zogtonosa and easily recovered the city.

After entering the city, he received another good news from the rebel prisoners. The rebel prisoners told him that Dmitry had recaptured Konotop!

Kornilov knew very well what it meant to recapture Konotop. Previously, Dmitri's troops relied entirely on the Chernihiv line for supplies. With Konotop, not only did it add another supply line, but it also The important thing is that this means that the northeastern part of Ukraine has been completely recovered. If we can strike while the iron is hot and recover the plum blossoms, then northern Ukraine will be stable!

At this time, Kornilov did not know that Dmitry had recaptured Sumy, let alone that the rebels in the Sumy and Kharkiv areas had been severely defeated, and that the entire northern Ukraine had been stabilized.

He could only conclude from the existing intelligence analysis that Dmitri should pursue the victory to regain Sumei and Kharkov. At this time, he should help share some of the pressure and create a more ideal combat environment for Dmitri. .

Kornilov knows very well that there are still a lot of rebels on the battlefield, especially those in the Piliatin and Poltava areas. It is very likely that they will recover Sumei or Kharko in Dmitry. When she was married, she ran out to cause trouble.

With Dmitri's current strength, it would be quite difficult for him to be attacked from both sides, so he had to take the initiative to hold back at least one of the rebels so that they could not harass Dmitri!

It has to be said that a famous general is a famous general. Even without contacting Dmitri, Kornilov can analyze the opponent's most likely actions and then actively cooperate.

So he immediately led his troops to the north with great fanfare and penetrated directly into Glibyanka, pretending to take the city.

This move is really effective. It’s not that the rebels of Glebunka dare to touch Dmitri’s tiger butt. To be honest, Dmitri’s recent performance has frightened the rebels. They don’t want to fight with the Germans even if they are beaten to death. Mitri came face to face.

But this does not mean that the rebels cannot cause trouble for Dmitri without making any moves. Quite simply, these rebels did not dare to confront Dmitry's main force, but they had no pressure to fight against Dmitri's other troops, especially those that seemed weaker.

And these troops refer to the territory guarded by the long-legged Sergei Yiqian.

The rebels of Grebyonka and Priyagin were ready to attack Priluki. But before they could set off, Kornilov came over with his army and killed them. Naturally, the original plan had to be abandoned.

It was Kornilov's proactive attack that saved the lives of Long-legged Sergei and others, because their troops were indeed very weak at this time. Although Dmitry did not take away their main force, as the Konotop and Sumy were recaptured, and Dmitry's supply line was stretched very long.

Such a long logistics supply line and two or three large cities require the army to maintain order. Dmitry can only hand over the task to these surrendering troops...