Chapter 25 Pathfinder
Lutsk is a small city, so small that there is only one collective farm in the whole city and the population is no more than 10,000. In fact, it seems more appropriate to call it a small town. In the Soviet Union, there are countless small cities like this.
The headquarters of the 209th Battalion is located on the shore of Lake Bavos in the southwest of the town. It is close to the lake and has a great view. Because it is close to the border, the Soviet Army set up a radar station here last year. Don’t think that only the British used radar during World War II. In fact, the Soviet Union has used radar since 1934. However, the radar station on the shore of Lake Bavos was only established at the end of last year. It is a 4m wavelength, model RUS-1 radar. The task assigned to the 209th Battalion by the Army Group Command is actually to guard this radar.
The radar station was run by a communications company, which was not responsible for combat missions and was not under the command of the 209th Battalion. Their superior unit was the Kiev Special Military District Command. Even the soldiers of the 209th Battalion, including the battalion commander Yuri, were not allowed to enter the radar station without permission.
Of course, Yuri was not interested in this so-called radar station. He had plenty of his own things to do.
It is called a camp, but in fact it is just a bare slope outside the forest. After all the soldiers in the battalion move in, they have to cut down trees, build houses, and build the entire camp from scratch. The army group’s logistics supply department will send a batch of supplies to the camp every week, mainly rations and the like.
The rainy season in western Ukraine is short but rainy, with heavy rain coming every two or three days and light rain occurring almost every day.
It was almost noon, and along the eastward-flowing Vistula River, a team of seven or eight cavalrymen were marching in the rain on a muddy and difficult road.
"Comrade Captain Yuri," said a middle-aged man wearing a raincoat, who rode in front of the team. His face was full of wrinkles, so he was obviously not a soldier. "Go north from here and you will reach the Bolkarki Swamp. This swamp is very dangerous, with mud pits everywhere. Once you fall into it, there is no chance of escape."
The middle-aged man who was speaking was an accountant at the Lutsk collective farm. Everyone called him Uncle Peter. He was a native of Lutsk and was very familiar with the terrain in this area. As he had been a hunter, he was even very familiar with the nearby jungles and swamps.
Yuri was riding on his horse, he pushed aside the raincoat hood on his head and looked in the direction Uncle Peter pointed. He saw a foggy area in the distance and vaguely a field of waist-high weeds.
"During the rainy season every year, this swamp is even more dangerous," Uncle Peter continued as he looked out at the swamp. "Do you see the fog over the swamp? That fog is poisonous. It rises every night and gradually dissipates until the next afternoon."
Yuri nodded. It was unknown how many years this swamp had existed on this land. The dead grass and leaves and animal carcasses in the swamp had rotted and deposited, forming a gas similar to biogas, which must be poisonous.
"Uncle Peter," Yuri put his hands on the awning and looked towards the west of the swamp. His sight was blocked by the fog and he couldn't see far. He had to put down his hands and asked, "Where is the westernmost point of this swamp?"
"West?" Uncle Peter squinted his eyes, wiped the rain off his face with his hand, and said, "Well, that's hard to say. Comrade Captain Yuri, you are not from Western Ukraine, so you don't know much about the situation here. As for the Borkalki Swamp, it actually does not exist independently. It is part of the river network swamp belt in the northern part of Western Ukraine."
At this point, Uncle Peter paused, as if he was organizing his thoughts. After a pause of about ten seconds, he continued, "Like this Borkalki Swamp, it is the swamp belt in the Vistula River Basin. From here to the west, there are the swamp areas of the Goron River, the swamp areas of the Uboldi River, and the swamp areas of the Propyat River and the Dnieper River. These swamp areas are intermittently connected together. In the past, they have always been the natural barrier for Ukrainians to resist Russian invasion. As for how big its area is, I can't say for sure, but it seems that in 1938, the government organized the construction of a large railway from Modiri to Zhitomir... You know, that railway needs to pass through the swamp area. The geological exploration team at that time asked me to be the guide. We spent a full two months to travel around the swamps in the nearby area. I remember that the Borkalki Swamp only had a relatively easy road until Modiri. Yes, that's it."
"Mojiri?" Yuri looked back at the map in his mind and said in surprise, "Isn't the east-west span nearly 200 kilometers?"
Modiri is actually no longer in western Ukraine, but in Belarus. If that is the case, the swamp is really huge.
"Who said it wasn't," Uncle Peter nodded and said, "If it weren't for this, the government would have cleaned up this area a few years ago. The reason they didn't do it is because it's too big."
Yuri frowned. This swamp was very large. It had both advantages and disadvantages for him, or more precisely, for him a year later. The disadvantages were obvious. The swamp was too large, and it would be much more difficult to find a path to cross. In addition, the future march would obviously not be easy. As for the advantages, they were also obvious. The larger the swamp, the more likely he would be able to lead the team to escape behind the German offensive line when the Germans attacked in the future.
As to whether the favorable side or the unfavorable side will prevail in the future, it depends on the work situation in the next few months.
Yuri got off his horse and walked a few steps towards the swamp until he came to the edge of a pond. It was still raining, and ripples were rippling on the surface of the pond. He bent down to look at the water, which was very turbid and he couldn't see the bottom of the pond at all.
Yuri looked down at his boots, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately did not go into the water. He looked around, found a bush, broke off a dead branch from it, went back to the pond and poked at the bottom.
Unexpectedly, the water in the pond was not very deep, less than half a meter, but there was silt underneath, sticky and muddy. The dead branch was poked more than half a meter deep, and when it was pulled out, there were traces of sludge nearly half a foot.
"Uncle Peter," Yuri threw away the dead branch in his hand, squatted by the pond, and asked without turning his head, "Tell me, if necessary, can we find a way out of this swamp?"
"That's not easy, Comrade Captain Yuri," Uncle Peter also jumped off his horse, walked to Yuri and said, "Don't be fooled by the fact that there are no mud pits here. That's because we haven't entered the swamp yet. If we go deeper, there will be mud pits everywhere that will submerge us."
As he spoke, Peter turned his head to look at Yuri and asked hesitantly: "Besides, there is nothing in this swamp. No one will go in."
"This is a military necessity," Yuri made up an excuse, which was actually a lie. "Well, as for what kind of need it is, I can't tell you because it's confidential."
"Oh," Uncle Peter nodded in understanding. He did not doubt Yuri's words. After all, the troop movements in the Lutsk area had been very frequent during this period of time, and it was obvious that something was about to happen.
"If that's the case, then we can give it a try," Uncle Peter thought for a moment and said, "When I was a hunter, I once went deep into the swamps in this area. But it's been so long that I can't remember the exact route. It should be west of here, near the ferry, there is a road that leads into the swamp, but it doesn't go very far, probably about three or four kilometers."
As if recalling something, Uncle Peter paused for a moment, then confirmed, "Yes, follow that road and you will find a patch of woodland. It's not very large, but it's the habitat of gannets, so it's very easy to catch them."
The gannet is a pelican, a large bird that is abundant in the swamps of western Ukraine.
"Can this road be found?" Yuri was overjoyed. If he could find this road, although it was far from enough, it could be regarded as a good start.
"If someone helps, it should be possible," said Uncle Peter. "You know, the swamp is very dangerous. It is impossible for a person to walk through it without help."
Yuri nodded. He knew this, of course. The swamp was full of hidden mud pits, and it was bottomless. If there was no one to help, there was no chance of escape if one fell in. However, if there were companions, they could help at critical moments, and the danger would be much lower.
"No problem, Uncle Peter, I will arrange for soldiers to go with you," Yuri stood up and said with a smile, "In the future, I will make arrangements with the farm, and you don't have to participate in the labor over there, just come to help me do this. Of course, this job is paid. If you can help the camp find this road, I will approve double rations for you. Yes, double rations per day."
"Is this possible?" Uncle Peter said with a look of surprise. You know, the situation in Western Ukraine is different from that in Russia. It is an important grain-producing area of the Soviet Union and also the main area of Bandera activities. Therefore, the Soviet Union's ethnic policy in this area is relatively cruel. For example, the collective farm where Uncle Peter is located has to hand over most of its harvest every year, but the corresponding subsidies are pitifully small.
Uncle Peter used to be a hunter. Because of his good skills, his family lived a relatively wealthy life. Therefore, when class classification was first made, his family was classified as a rich peasant. Over the years, rich peasant families like his have been subjected to harsher policies in all aspects. If he, a laborer, could get double rations every day, it would undoubtedly relieve a lot of life pressure.
Yuri didn't say anything, but just nodded, confirming his promise.
"Then I'll do it, Comrade Captain Yuri," Uncle Peter said without hesitation, "You can rest assured that there will be no one in Lutsk who is more suitable for this job than me."
