Chapter 1154 The end of the Imperial Division (Part 2)
The company sent by the 122nd Regiment to deliver rockets was Captain Paulkoski's company. The order he received was to immediately send all the remaining rockets in the regiment to the headquarters of the 124th Regiment. Who knew
Almost there, he received another order to redirect the rockets to the location of the leading battalion of the 124th Regiment.
After receiving the order, Paulkoski had no choice but to order the company to change direction and move towards the newly provided position by his superiors. Because of this, precious time was wasted unknowingly. Paulkoski
It took the company nearly another hour to join up with Golia's vanguard battalion.
Seeing the belated arrival of Paulkoski and his company, Golya looked very unhappy. He immediately asked the other party: "Comrade Captain, why are you here so late? If it is because of your company, it will affect your company."
Considering the operational intentions of your superiors, can you afford this responsibility?"
Paulkoski did not refute, but ordered his subordinates to hand over the rockets they brought to the soldiers of Golia Battalion. When Captain Narva, the platoon leader, saw that his company commander had been wronged, he defended him.
"Comrade Major, the reason why we are late is because our superiors temporarily changed our delivery location when we were about to arrive at our destination, thus delaying our arrival here."
Goria glanced at Narva's rank and asked casually: "Comrade Captain, what is your position?"
"Reporting to Comrade Major." Hearing Golia ask about his position, Narva quickly straightened his body and replied: "I am Captain Narva, commander of the 1st company and 1st platoon."
"Captain and platoon leader, your military rank is not low." Golia looked at Narva and continued to ask: "Are you an old man from the Guards Division?"
"Yes, Comrade Major." Narva understood the purpose of Golia's question and quickly answered truthfully: "The 73rd Infantry Brigade has just been formed, and I am in this unit."
From Narva's words, Golya heard that the other party was also Sokov's old subordinate, and the expression on his face suddenly softened: "So, we are all old comrades."
"Yes, Comrade Major." Narva quickly replied: "I stayed in your camp for a while when the troops were transferred to Stalingrad."
Since the other party was his old subordinate, Golia didn't want to get angry again. Instead, he put on a reasonable look and said: "Forget it this time. If a similar situation happens next time, I will never let it happen easily."
Forgive you."
Seeing that the matter had ceased, Zheliya quickly asked: "Comrade Battalion Commander, since all the rockets have been sent over, can we attack the enemy?"
"How many rockets are there now?" Before issuing the shooting order, Golia decided to find out the specific number of rockets so that he could decide what method to use to attack the German troops a few kilometers away.
"There are a total of two hundred and forty-seven rockets." After Zhelia reported the specific number, he asked: "Comrade Battalion Commander, can you please give instructions on how to carry out the attack?"
"First two groups of 12 rounds will attack the forest behind the enemy. We must first cut off their retreat, and then use more intensive firepower to eliminate all the enemies gathered together."
However, before the Goliya battalion could fire the rockets, the enemy had already launched another attack on the town of Dobropiliya.
Seeing the German officers and soldiers pouring into the position outside the town, Zhelia asked Golia for instructions: "Comrade Battalion Commander, the enemy has launched an attack on the friendly positions. What should we do?"
"Still according to the original plan, attack the forest first, wait for the forest to burst into flames, and then use dense rockets to attack the enemies exposed in the open ground."
"Comrade Battalion Commander, if the enemy and friendly forces get involved, and we fire rockets again, we may accidentally injure our own people."
After listening to Zhelia's reminder, Golia explained to him: "If we bombard the enemies who are attacking the town first, they will see that the situation is not going well and they will flee into the forest in the shortest possible time. But if we
By first bombarding the forest and turning it into a sea of fire, and then bombarding the enemies attacking friendly positions, we can eliminate as many of the enemy's effective forces as possible."
After the order to fire rockets was given, two twelve-barreled rocket launchers fired at the forest behind the enemy. After a series of explosions, the edge of the forest turned into a sea of fire, and countless trees began to burn.
The German officers and soldiers who were attacking the Soviet positions suddenly heard the roar of an explosion behind them. They couldn't help but stop and turned around to look. They saw that the forest had turned into a sea of fire. Before they could make a move,
Without any reaction, countless objects dragging long white smoke appeared in the air again, flying towards their location.
Countless rockets dropped from the sky and exploded in the chaotic and crowded ranks! Every rocket splashed out with dazzling blood. Thousands of German officers and soldiers were as if they were sitting in the crater of an erupting volcano, being evacuated.
The black smoke was tightly wrapped, and the black smoke exploded one after another, one after another. There were explosions and fire everywhere, leaving people with nowhere to escape and nowhere to hide!
Although the Soviet rocket attack lasted only a few minutes, to the German officers and soldiers who were bombed, it seemed like a century. The officers and soldiers who had been stunned by the bombing were like headless flies.
, running around in the smoke, running towards wherever there are many people, as if only places with many people are the safest places for them.
The 199th Regiment, which was holding on to the town, saw that the enemy had suffered heavy losses from the sudden artillery fire. He quickly ordered two companies to stay and hold on to the town. The remaining troops attacked at the same time and launched a counterattack against the retreating German army.
Seeing the Soviet troops rushing out of the town, the German officers and soldiers who had been surrounded by bombs were even more confused. The officers lost their ability to judge and did not know how to direct their men to respond; while the soldiers were scared away and they
I just want to escape from this land of death as soon as possible, but I still have the courage to continue fighting.
After Golia and other troops fired the rockets, he immediately ordered the entire battalion to launch an attack. As for the two companies that came to deliver ammunition, he also forcibly incorporated them into the second battalion to participate in the counterattack against the Imperial Division.
Neither of the two company commanders raised any objections to the move to forcibly organize their companies into the second battalion. They both had eyes and saw the enemies in the distance being decimated by dense rockets.
There was no way to fight back. Since there was such a good opportunity to defeat the Germans, who would give up such a good opportunity? Therefore, the two company commanders readily accepted Golia's command and led the
His own company participated in the counterattack.
The counterattack launched by the commanders and fighters of the 199th Regiment and the Golia Battalion made the German army, which suffered heavy casualties, even more panic. Facing the Soviet commanders and fighters rushing from all directions, the resistance organized by the Germans would soon be overwhelmed by the counterattack troops.
submerged.
At the same time, the 196th and 201st Guards Regiment of the 67th Guards Division, and the 122nd Regiment of the 41st Guards Division also appeared nearby. Several troops formed a huge encirclement, surrounding the Imperial Division.
The remaining troops were surrounded.
If it were another German army, encountering such a situation, I am afraid that many officers and soldiers would have begun to lay down their weapons and surrender. But the Imperial Division is not an ordinary German army, but a so-called elite SS division. The officers and soldiers in the division are all fanatical
The NC elements knew that if they continued to fight, they would have little chance of escaping, but they still continued to resist, preparing to fight to the last man and to shoot the last bullet.
After an hour of fierce fighting, the remaining more than a thousand Imperial Division officers and soldiers were surrounded in the forest, occupying a narrow area of less than 500 meters long and 300 meters wide.
When he learned that the remnants of the Imperial Division had been surrounded by his own troops, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. In today's battle, Colonel Shimon, the acting division commander of the Skeleton Division, had been captured. If he could capture Major General Val, the commander of the Imperial Division, alive, then he would
His name will definitely go down in history.
It was General Merkulov who commanded the troops to besiege the remnants of the Imperial Division. He reported to Sokov on the phone: "Comrade Commander, the headquarters and remaining troops of the Imperial Division are trapped in the forest by us.
.What do we do next?”
"It's very simple. First send people to persuade them to surrender. If the enemy doesn't surrender, then resolutely destroy them."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Merkulov replied: "I will immediately send people to the forest to persuade him to surrender."
"Wait a minute, Comrade General." Just as Merkulov was about to hang up the phone, Sokov stopped him: "I will handle the matter of persuading surrender myself. Send someone to shout into the forest immediately.
, just ask them to send people out to negotiate, otherwise they will face the fate of being annihilated by us. If the enemy sends out negotiators, just ask them to wait, I will rush over immediately. "
Lunev heard the content of the call between Sokov and Merkulov, and quickly reminded him: "Comrade Commander, you must know that the members of the Imperial Division are all fanatical NC elements. Even if they know they are in a desperate situation,
They will never lay down their weapons and surrender to us."
"Comrade Military Commissar, according to the report, there are still quite a few enemies in the forest. If we want to eliminate them all, we will probably pay a lot of casualties." Sokov said to Lunev: "If we can pass negotiations, let us
If the remaining enemies lay down their weapons and surrender, we will reduce unnecessary sacrifices."
"Comrade Commander," seeing that Sokov had made up his mind, Runev did not persuade him any more, but instead volunteered: "Since you want to negotiate with the enemy in person, I will go with you."
…
At the same time, deep in the forest, the once arrogant officers and soldiers of the Imperial Division were now slumped on the ground in groups, covered in mud, and extremely embarrassed. And Major General Val was staying in a rough place with several officers.
In the wooden shed where the fire was being fought, Hauser was constantly called over the radio, begging him to send troops for reinforcements.
Facing Major General Wahl's call for help, Hausser was in trouble. The Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division were defeated by the Soviet army in such a short period of time, and even faced the end of the entire army being destroyed. Several German soldiers staying in Barvinkovo
The division commander knew very well that even if he pulled out his own troops, it would be an impossible task to rescue the remnants of the Imperial Division.
Therefore, in the face of the order issued by Hausser, the commanders of each division tried every possible means and found various reasons to refuse to send troops. Hausser, in desperation, had no choice but to call Manstein and inform him of the situation here.
He made a report, hoping that he could find a way to rescue the remnants of the Imperial Division.
When the Air Force was seriously short of fuel and ammunition, Manstein sent a large number of aircraft to rescue the Imperial Division. However, they were attacked head-on by the Soviet Air Force and a lot of aircraft were lost. Now there is not enough fuel and ammunition.
Being able to support the air force's dispatch, he could only say to Housel: "General Housel, our air force has exhausted ammunition and fuel and can no longer take to the air for combat. I think you should dispatch ground troops for reinforcements."
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Hausser said with a bitter look on his face: "Because our enemy is Sokov, and the Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division were destroyed too quickly, the remaining division commanders were frightened and faced with
They were trying every possible means to refute the order I gave to attack, but they just didn't want to send troops and were deeply afraid that they would suffer the same fate."
"Since it is impossible to send troops for reinforcements." After hearing Hauser's words, Manstein could only say helplessly: "Then you immediately give an order to Major General Val so that he no longer has to stand and wait for reinforcements, but instead
We must find a way to break out of the encirclement as soon as possible. Due to the Russian air blockade, they have received almost no support since they entered the forward position. I am worried that they will not be able to support the Russian encirclement for two days."
"Breakout?" Hausser couldn't help but smile bitterly when he heard what Manstein said: "Your Majesty Marshal, if the Imperial Division is surrounded by other Russian troops, even if they are surrounded by an infantry corps, I firmly believe that Major General Val and the others can hold on until
Reinforcements are coming. But now, they are facing Sokov's troops. Whether they are waiting for reinforcements or concentrating their forces to break out, I am not optimistic about them."
"To hold on is to die, and to break through is also to die." Manstein said: "Anyway, they are all dead. There is still a glimmer of hope for a breakout, so why not let them try to break out."
The order to break out was quickly conveyed to Major General Val via telegram. After reading Hauser's telegram, he couldn't help but sigh. Judging from the battle situation just now, he knew that it would be impossible for his troops to break out.
But if we continue to hold on, the ammunition of the officers and soldiers has been basically exhausted, and there is not much food left. Even if the Soviet army does not attack, as long as they surround it for a few days, many soldiers may not even be able to hold weapons.
Just when he felt desperate, an officer came over and reported to him: "Your Excellency, division commander, the Russians just shouted from the other side, asking us to send people over to negotiate. If our negotiators don't show up within half an hour, they will
Launch the final general attack."
As soon as he heard the word "general offensive", Major General Val couldn't help but shudder. An hour or two ago, the overwhelming rocket bombs turned the position of the attacking troops into a sea of fire. The scene frightened him.
. He was worried that the Soviet army would fire rockets again before the general offensive, and thousands of his people would be wiped out in the explosion.
