African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1483: Chapter 31: Situation in Chaos

After Malele, the highest military commander of Xiqueslav, opted to surrender, the city of Xiqueslav was virtually declared ”liberated,” and the enemy could hardly organize any effective resistance.

Thus, after experiencing about four hours of battle, the Labor Party completely took control of Xiqueslav. Naturally, with the Labor Party coming to power, the name of the pseudo-government in Xiqueslav was automatically abolished, and the Labor Party restored the old name of the city, Yekaterinoslav.

However, the name of the city Yekaterinoslav carries a strong flavor of the Tsar Era, so merely a few years later, it was renamed Dnepropetrovsk by the Soviet government.

...

Without the command of Malele and other high-ranking officials of the Thirty-Seventh Division, the remaining troops of the Thirty-Seventh Division promptly plunged into a leaderless state.

At the same time, the Labor Party began to reorganize the remaining troops of the Thirty-Seventh Division using Malele’s name.

”Colonel, the division headquarters sent an urgent telegram, ordering our regiment to immediately cease current military operations, return to the station, and then wait for further orders,” the signalman delivered a telegram to Colonel Renlovsky.

”What?” Renlovsky exclaimed in disbelief, snatching the telegram from the signalman while saying, ”We just got halfway, and now they want us to turn back. What is the division headquarters doing?”

No wonder Colonel Renlovsky reacted so strongly; anyone suddenly awakened at dawn with their dreams disturbed would naturally feel uncomfortable.

Moreover, the troop assembly was the division headquarters’ order. Now that they had painstakingly gathered the troops, and were finally halfway, only to be told to return by a telegram from the division headquarters, this made the already irritated Renlovsky feel bewildered.

Isn’t this just creating trouble? Renlovsky thought to himself, feeling as if he was being toyed with.

Yet Renlovsky still frowned and carefully read through the telegram content, and after confirming that the division headquarters did indeed require such, he cursed: ”Bastards, those scoundrels at headquarters are just causing trouble for no reason.”

”Waking us up before dawn, ordering us to gather at headquarters, and after all the fuss, they suddenly demand us to return. It’s completely unreasonable!”

His adjutant, Chasokov, also said with grievance, ”It’s indeed absurd. Initially, I thought something major had occurred within Xiqueslav City, which is why the higher-ups gathered the troops so ostentatiously. But now, it seems that the situation might have already been resolved, hence the contradictory orders from the division headquarters.”

Renlovsky shared the same sentiment, saying, ”Inside Xiqueslav City, what could possibly occur that would require military intervention?”

”Unless the Russian Red Army is advancing, but Xiqueslav isn’t the front line, so I suspect it’s the local government causing some significant trouble, thus military intervention is imperative. But before the army could mobilize, things were pacified.”

Chasokov speculated, ”Perhaps the Labor Party incited a rebellion inside the city, leading to a misjudgment by the officials. After all, in the dead of night, it’s quite normal not to ascertain the enemy’s status.”

”Those government officials fear for their lives, hence sought our division’s assistance. Commander Malele assumed something major occurred, thus assembling the troops.”

Chasokov’s implication was that some circumstances indeed took place, resulting in Xiqueslav City officials exaggerating the situation, ultimately alarming the high command of the Thirty-Seventh Division.

Renlovsky followed his adjutant’s speculation and said, ”Earlier, there were indeed small gunshots from the direction of Xiqueslav City, likely an attempt by the Labor Party or some organization to initiate a rebellion, but it was extinguished by the Xiqueslav City Police Department.”

In Renlovsky and Chasokov’s opinion, the Labor Party in Ukraine is itself a minor organization, especially since Xiqueslav City has conducted multiple rounds of ”quite effective” suppression against the Labor Party previously.

”Forget it, whatever the case, following the orders issued by headquarters surely won’t be wrong. If there are any issues, that’s for the commander and brigade leader to consider, we’ll continue and go back to sleep.” Renlovsky decided not to entangle himself with these matters, as obeying the orders of superiors is paramount.

Amongst those like Renlovsky, who are ”honest” and follow orders without vigilance, and those who discern something amiss and prepare to probe the truth.

As Renlovsky’s regiment received the new orders from headquarters, other units of the Thirty-Seventh Division naturally also received related messages, such as the two battalions just approaching the city, ready to combat.

At this moment, Battalion Commander Cherkassk and Battalion Commander Viazov were gathered together discussing the matter.

”Viazov, I suspect there’s a major issue within headquarters,” Cherkassk said, frowning tightly. ”Now the momentum of the Labor Party inside the city is quite significant, earlier we followed the commander’s orders, entering the city to quell chaos, yet now the division headquarters revokes the mandate, I’m having a bad premonition.”

In response, Viazov, with a sullen expression, said, ”Indeed, I have a bold idea, perhaps the Labor Party infiltrated the troop, resulting in significant issues at headquarters, it’s a possibility.”

Viazov and Cherkassk are unlike Renlovsky, blindly oblivious to the happenings within Xiqueslav City.