Actually, having JUST finished Defiance about the Bielski Partisans, history does have a guide. I believe Belorussia has been contested territory for two World Wars in the 20th century alone. I am not familiar with the details but there were likely several older wars as Russia and Poland had a penchant for invading each other every few years during the 18th and 19th centuries.

In partisan brigades involved in combat (against each other, Polish Government-in-exile in London, USSR, Germans) fatalities ranged between 30-50%

In the Bielski otriad, in which there was as little combat as would be tolerated by the Soviets, there was an estimated 5% fatality rate and this was in a rural area (not desolate: farmland) in which two MAJOR armies and three governments contested the real estate.

It would appear that the Bielski defense plan would be to have sentries fire upon incoming enemy from a position several kilometers from the main camp. The sound of the weapons would allow the otriad to fade into the forest in guerrilla fashion rather than direct combat. The sentries lives would be sacrificed to give time for the otriad to escape. For a determined push, Bielski led his people deep into the swamp where Germans would likely go and hid on an island. How this would play out with modern imaging and satellites, I'm not sure.

The issue is how to FEED the up to 1200 people of the Bielski otriad. They did it by raiding neighboring peasants and retributions to those that betrayed Jews to the Germans. The apparent main purpose of firearms in the Bielski otriad was not for combating Germans but for raiding neighboring peasants for food. I suggest that this is NOT the "hearts and minds" treatment that Mao suggested earlier in this thread. I am not sure how Bielski pulled this one off. Perhaps the peasants had MULTIPLE forces, German and Soviet, to contend with that Bielski was able to feed his people without being betrayed to the Germans. Certainly what happened is not the typical imagined TEOTWAWKI scenario.

It would appear that larger groups such as the Bielski partisans fared better than smaller family sized groups. How many is required for a sufficiently large group, Tec's book does not explore.

BTW, the older book by Tec appears to be a better researched book than Duffy with a far superior bibliography with research using extensive primary sources (interviews, many of which were conducted by Tec herself).

What this has to do with a similar scenario in the USA is anyone's guess but as always, the winners and survivors will tell the tale. I suggest that LUCK has a lot to do with it but luck tends to favor the prepared.