Chapter 1515 - 44: Sudden Downturn

Chapter 1515: Chapter 44: Sudden Downturn

"Today’s meal is stew with potato pancakes again, life here is really not as good as enjoying the city with its spices and drinks."

Time swiftly moves to mealtime, and by this hour the sun has been hanging in the sky for a long time, only then do the members of the grain requisition team get out of bed.

This group’s schedule is very irregular, clearly lacking the discipline of a formal army, extremely lax, with some people still looking sleepy, yawning, even with clothes improperly dressed.

Of course, the reason for their laxity is the long-term comfort and ease they’ve had, supported by the Polish government and Germany, with hardly any organization except the Labor Party that poses any sufficient threat to them.

However, the Labor Party entered the Belarus area relatively late; unlike Eastern Ukraine, where industrial development meant that even during the Tsarist Era, Labor Party organizations were already quite active.

In contrast, the Belarus area has always been a backward agricultural region with hardly any sizable industrial presence, thus the Labor Party’s penetration here is relatively slow.

Generally speaking, the Russian Labor Party prefers to seize industrialized cities first and then use these cities, concentrated with major resources, as a base to control and occupy other areas.

This led to the Russian Labor Party’s armed forces carrying weapons to the countryside for grain requisition activities during the Russian civil war, a highly controversial practice known as the "surplus grain collection system."

No wonder, the subsequent agricultural issues in the Soviet Union, with an ongoing neglect of agriculture, easily resulted in such outcomes.

When it comes to Belarus, where industry is weak and an agricultural society from the Tsarist Era is still retained, previous Russian city "encircle" methods for rural areas had difficulty playing a role.

During the Tsarist Era, Russia was at least strong enough within the industrial zones to have a dominating advantage over agricultural zones, which is why traditional methods of the Russian Labor Party could succeed rapidly.

This point was effectively proven in Eastern Ukraine last year, where after capturing large cities, other areas basically surrendered without a fight.

However, in the Belarus region, not only is there no significant worker group responding to Labor Party organization’s actions, even the few industrial cities present can’t enact successful "seizure" operations, because in the few cities in Belarus, Polish and German troops are usually present, and Poles and Germans clearly wouldn’t sympathize with the Labor Party organization since their presence in Belarus is considered an elite existence.

These factors result in a scenario where the Russian Labor Party makes great headway in the Ukrainian war but faces considerable challenges within Belarus, now part of Poland’s borders.

This indeed confirms a point that the growth of the working class and the expansion of the capital class are positively correlated, while the Belarus region is evidently not favored by capital.

The setback in Belarus prompted Russian leader Vladimir to realize that the Russian Labor Party’s activities in Belarus can’t mimic past agendas in Ukraine and Russia but should instead motivate local farmers effectively.

Hence, from the beginning of this year, the activities of the Russian Labor Party in Belarus started to incline towards attracting local farmers, which to a degree also proved Vladimir’s flexibility.

Yet after policy adjustments, time is required for reshuffling, with the Russian Labor Party’s infiltration into Belarus’s rural areas only taking place in less than half a year, explaining why the White Bandits’ grain requisition team appeared to be so complacent.

"Karamazov, it’s nice to have something to eat, the focus of this countryside grain requisition isn’t really feasting, since the countryside is inherently short on supplies, so getting some tribute from landlords and gentry is the key, once our wallets are filled, back to the city we can do as we please," said Mofuskis, a member of the White Bandits’ grain requisition team.

Their conversation happened to be overheard by Chelvrad, the head of the grain requisition team, who appreciatively said to Mofuskis, "That’s right, you’re the clever one, Mofuskis. It’s indeed tough running to the countryside, but it’s not without benefits."

"The wallets of the noble lords down here are quite fat, now we’re fighting for them on the frontline, they should give us some gesture, after finishing the grain requisition task, I’ll take you to the nearby renowned Radovich estate, surely Sir Radovich will give us some face."

"Plus the scraps we manage to pull from the mud-legged folks, this trip won’t be in vain."

Chelvrad clearly played both sides, though he didn’t dare offend the rural noble gentry too much, overall still gauging on individuals, such as the few not-classy wealthy in Luni Nici Village who were just "explored over."

Chelvrad continued, "Let’s not worry about these issues for now, what’s crucial is to fill our stomachs then we move to Liuban Village today, once the grain requisition is entirely finished then borrow some money for spending from Sir Radovich."

Although Chelvrad speaks easily, some still moved hesitantly, asking, "Boss, Sir Radovich’s status isn’t simple, if we behave badly, that old chap might complain about us."

To his subordinate’s worry, Chelvrad was dismissive, "What are you scared of? Do you still think it’s under Tsar’s rule? Nicholas II is heard to have been shot by the Russians, Radovich is merely a remnant of the old Era."