the soviet partisan movement 1941-1944 by edgar m. howell

THE DECISIVE MONTHS: JANUARY-JUNE 1944 199
had been strengthening the bands in this area for some months, probably
to the exclusion of all others, and had kept them well supplied by
air. This, combined with frequent attacks on garrisons and the increasingly
stubborn resistance offered patrols and probing actions on the
fringes of the region, convinced them that this was the most formidable
block in their rear and that it was manned by units whose training and
leadership had brought them almost to the level of regular Soviet troops,
with a high morale and an excellent will to fight. In view of all this,
the area had to be broken or at least neutralized. Consequently, late
in March the army group command projected a series of major antipartisan
sweeps through the entire area in a final attempt at a solution.
This series of clearing actions began on 11 April and continued almost
uninterruptedly until the opening of the Soviet general offensive on
23 June. The Ushachi region, considered the strongest of the concentrations
because of its tight-knit command structure, was attacked first.
As the opening move, elements of the Third Panzer Army attacked westward
down the left bank of the Dvina River, where bands disposed as
the left wing of the blocking-canalizing force had built up a formidable
defense line, cleared it, and drove on into the lake region just south of
Polotsk. Contrary to expectations, the partisans there, caught by surprise
and mistakenly believing that the Germans would withdraw after
the operation, pulled back across the lake line and into the depths of the
Ushachi area with hardly a fight, despite orders to the contrary. The
attacking force consolidated its gains and dug in. This was Operation
REGENSCHAUER.
In Operation FRUEHLINGSFEST, which followed almost immediately,
the units which had executed REGENSCHAUER remained in
place along the lakes as a blocking force, joined on the north and west
by elements of the Sixteenth Army. Attacking in close order from the
south and southeast and supported by three Stuka squadrons, additional
elements of the Third Panzer Army and a large force of police and SS
units drove into the area as the hammer against the anvil of the blocking
line.
From the start of this second attack, the partisans resisted stubbornly
all along the line, fighting doggedly from positions prepared in depth
and protected by abatis and extensive mine fields. Aided by close-in
tactical support from the Red Air Force as well as reinforcements brought
in by glider, the bands forced the Germans to advance slowly from position
to position, giving ground grudgingly and frequently counterattacking.
Attesting to the importance Moscow accorded the area, the Red
Army went so far as to launch a limited offensive against the right wing
of Army Group North in an attempt to pull some of the weight off the
beleaguered bands. When the attack groups were joined by elements