Struggle in Russia

Maganov waited and waited but failed to receive a new batch of food, which undoubtedly disappointed him. What made him even more distressed was that when he contacted the Austrians to ask for an explanation, the Austrians who had previously vowed to do their best to help him disappeared without a trace!

Naturally, he was taken aback. Only then did he realize that something was wrong and quickly stopped selling food. However, this was a bit late. His existing food reserves only lasted ten days at most. It will take half a month to run out of food!

After discovering that something was wrong, he immediately panicked and ordered his subordinates to quickly find the Austrians. If they couldn't find them, they would go to the British and French. Anyway, he must find a foreign godfather who was willing to provide money or food.

Of course, his main purpose was not only to ask for money or food, but more importantly, to try to open up a passage to escape. Now that he had almost made enough money, it was time to think about his options.

What is more interesting is that there are not a few rebel leaders like Maganov. Except for a few who are ready to fight to the death with the Russian army, the rest are trying every means to make money and find connections to escape.

For example, Maganov's old friends Hobnin and Manokovich also sharpened their heads and dug out.

In this case, after a month and a half of preparation, Dmitry Milyutin's counterattack against Kiev finally began.

He led the main force of 80,000 Russian troops and 60,000 surrender troops all the way west to Kiev, and defeated Maganov's garrison under Berezan and New Bekov, opening the door to Kiev.

After Maganov discovered that the door was open, he ordered the troops to move towards Berezan and Novobekov, but on the other hand, he secretly led more than 50,000 people in his main force and began to escape in the direction of Korosten.

Yes, he didn't think he could block the oncoming Dmitri at all, let alone foolishly block the knives for Hobnin and Maganov.

So he threw a bunch of cannon fodder to delay Dmitry, and then quickly moved northwest to prepare to escape to Poland through the Volyn area.

According to his idea, he prepared a large circle to go to Czechoslovakia in the future, and obtain Austrian support from there. If he could continue to persist, he would persist. If not, he would flee to Austria and become a rich man.

What's more interesting is that Hobnin and Maganov had very different ideas from him. At this time, they were also prepared for the worst, planning to capture Khmelnytsky and then move to Ternopil. To put it bluntly, I also went to Uzhhorod.

It's just that the route of Hobnin and Maganov is not that easy. They need to capture several large cities where the Russian army is garrisoned, such as Khmelnytsky, Ternopil, and Stre.

Although the absolute number of Russian troops in this area is not too large, each city has thousands or even tens of thousands of garrison troops. These Russian troops have been strengthening their vigilance and building fortifications, which are an out-and-out backbone for the insurgents who lack the ability to attack fortresses.

To put it bluntly, Hobnin and Manokovich may have to peel off their skin if they want to go over!

So they only had ideas in this regard and made some preparations, but did not take immediate action. They are also waiting to see how Maganov and foreign aid perform.

If Maganov can hold off the Russian army, and if foreign aid is sufficient, then they will not be in a hurry to leave.

It's just that what happened next took them by surprise and caught them off guard. Maganov and the rebels around Kiev collapsed too quickly.

After Dmitry opened the door to Kiev, it took only three days to clean up the rebels in this area. The local rebels either scattered or fled, which was hardly a combination of the Russian army. enemy.

By the time Hobnin and Manokovich reacted, Dmitri had completely relieved Kiev and began to pursue the fleeing rebels westward.

At this time, they were still in Zhytomir, and to be honest, they were not far from Kiev. If the Russian army was fast enough, they would be able to reach the city in less than two days!

At this time, they were really anxious. On the one hand, they were hurriedly counting the supplies and preparing to escape. On the other hand, they assembled a hundred thousand men and started construction. Their colleagues threatened to beat the Russian army in Zhitomir to show Dmitri how powerful they were.

Of course, only they themselves know that this is actually a fart. With just their few people and weapons and equipment, it is impossible to defend Zhitomir. These words are nothing more than fooling the fools under his command into holding on to buy time to escape.

It's just that Dmitri's movements were really fast. On the third day after clearing Kiev, his forward troops reached Zhitomir with more than two divisions. Although they did not launch an attack immediately, they still shocked Hobnin and Manokovich who were still entrenched in the city.

They could only bite the bullet and continue to boost morale, and had to reluctantly spend a large sum of money for this purpose, but the effect was not particularly significant. After all, few people were fools in this situation.

On the same night, Hobnin and Manokovich sneaked away with the main force to the west~www.readwn.com~ However, they did not go to Khmelnytsky as originally planned, but went straight to Shepetovka.

The reason is very simple. They no longer have the confidence or time to capture a big city like Khmelnytsky. If the siege does not go smoothly and there are interceptions before and pursuits, wouldn't it be over in minutes?

So don’t feel uncomfortable, just avoid the big cities where the Russian army is garrisoned and take a small road!

They ran in a hurry along the way, traveling day and night. When they arrived at Shepetovka, only more than 80,000 of the original army of more than 100,000 were left.

More than 10,000 people either fell behind or fled in half. Fortunately, the defenders of Shepetovka were very small in number and escaped long before they arrived. This allowed them to capture the city without any blood.

However, Hobnin and Manokovich were not happy at all, and did not even stay here. On the day they arrived in the city, they ate a hasty meal and continued to escape westward in a panic. Goliath went.

At the same time, the battle in Zhitomir also came to an end. The nearly 100,000 troops left by Hobnin and Manokovich held on for no more than 24 hours before being destroyed. Most of the defenders laid down their weapons without firing a shot, and a small number of diehards immediately fled without a trace after being hit hard by the Russian army.

After recapturing Zhitomir, the Russian vanguard cavalry immediately continued to pursue westward according to Dmitri's order, intending to eliminate Hobnin and Manokovich in one fell swoop while the iron was hot.

At the same time, Maganov also arrived at Korosten. After learning the news of the fall of Zhitomir, he was shocked and immediately ordered his troops to go into battle lightly and move westward as quickly as possible...