Konev fed back Sokov's plan to the General Staff as quickly as possible. However, whether this plan is feasible must be discussed by all members of the Supreme Command Headquarters. After reaching a consensus, it will be fed back to the following.
troops. In this way, precious time of the day was wasted.
Since Sokov came up with this idea, he has been in a state of anxiety. He doesn't know whether his plan will be adopted by his superiors. And even if it is adopted, it cannot be implemented immediately. After all, such an action involves too many troops.
If you can put it into practice within two days, it is considered fast.
Seeing Sokov looking uneasy, Samyko quickly comforted him and said: "Comrade Commander, you have done what you should do. Whether Kharkov can be saved depends on how our friendly forces respond.
. Although the enemy’s imperial division has already rushed into the city, our army is still resisting tenaciously. It is not easy for the enemy to occupy the city.”
Seeing that Samyko was full of confidence in the Soviet army's ability to defend Kharkov, Sokov did not want to pour cold water on the opponent. Moreover, he had already used various positive actions to gain a month and a half for the Soviet army holding on to the city.
Time. If the defenders in the city can make full use of this time to consolidate their defenses, it is not impossible to defend the city. "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. After occupying Kharkov, the friendly forces gained almost two
After months of rest, they must have built complete defenses that are enough to resist the German attack."
When he said this, Sokov thought silently in his heart: "If we want to fight a defensive war, no army has as much experience as the 62nd Army. If the base camp deploys Chuikov's troops in Kharkov, it may not be possible to fight a defensive war."
It is really possible to defend the city. But nowadays, almost all the troops defending the city are new troops that have been formed for several months. It is okay to have smooth sailing during the attack, but now facing the strong attack of the German army, there is not much chance of winning."
Sokov's worries soon became a reality.
The 25th Guards Division, which was stationed in the south of the city, stubbornly resisted the attacks of the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division. The 53rd Guards Artillery Regiment deployed in the city was simply bad news for the German army. There were many tanks covering the infantry charge.
The German infantry, which was destroyed by artillery fire during the attack and lost the cover of tanks, was knocked down in pieces by machine gun fire in front of the Soviet defensive positions.
Seeing that the attack south of Kharkov was not going well, SS Commander Hausser personally called Tansen: "Mr. Flag Captain, this is Hausser."
Hearing that it was the military commander who called him personally, Tansen quickly said respectfully: "Hello, military commander, do you have any instructions?"
"The German attacks launched by the Totenkopf and the SS Division against the Russian positions south of the city ended in failure due to the stubborn resistance of the other side." Hausser said to Tansen: "I now order you to immediately mobilize a regiment of troops.
Launch an attack to the south of the city to force the Russian forces and cooperate with the other two divisions to capture the positions south of the city."
"Your Excellency, Army Commander," Tansen was a little anxious after hearing Hauser's order: "The Russians in the city are under the cover of tanks, carrying out continuous counterattacks towards the area we occupied. If I allocate troops now to
I am worried that my troops will be driven out of the city by the Russians."
"Mr. Flag Captain," Hausser looked very unhappy when he saw that Tansen was resisting his order. He said with a straight face: "Have you ever thought about it, if the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division are unable to attack the city?
Then the Russian defenders in the city can concentrate their forces to counterattack your division. But as long as you can assist the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division to break through the Russian positions south of the city, even if you are temporarily driven out of the city, sooner or later you will be able to fight again
Came back."
After hearing what Hauser said, Tansen thought for a long time and felt that Hauser's words were very reasonable. It had been a day since his troops invaded the city, but due to the Russians' tenacious resistance and uninterrupted attacks,
It is very difficult to counterattack and continue to expand the results. But if the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division are also allowed to enter the city, the resistance they face will be greatly weakened.
After thinking about this, he quickly said into the microphone: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, I understand. I will immediately order the Heads of State Regiment to launch an attack to the south of Kharkov and coordinate the friendly forces' attack on the Russian military positions south of the city."
An hour later, the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division launched another attack on the Soviet positions south of the city. Just as the artillery of the 53rd Guards Artillery Regiment was bombarding the German tanks and infantry attacking the positions south of the city, several German tanks
Driven along the street from the west.
Upon seeing this, the artillery regiment commander who was directing the artillery firing quickly ordered the artillerymen to turn their muzzles and fire at the approaching German tanks. Upon hearing the regiment commander's order, the artillery troops immediately stopped shooting outside the city and aimed their muzzles at
In the streets of the city, they bombarded the German tanks that were approaching quickly.
The artillery responded very quickly, but it was still a step late. The enemy tanks quickly rushed along the street to the artillery position, used machine guns to straf the artillerymen using artillery on the position, and used tank guns to bombard the infantry covering the artillery, setting them up.
The machine gun fire points were destroyed one after another.
In less than ten minutes, the artillery position with 24 76mm cannons was destroyed by German tanks. The artillery that was firing shells not long ago was crushed into piles of scrap metal. The artillery and artillery positions on the position were destroyed.
The infantry covering the artillery suffered heavy casualties.
How could the infantry, which had lost the cover of artillery fire, be able to resist the rumbling German tanks. Soon, the first line of defense held by the 73rd Guards Regiment was broken through by the tanks of the Skeleton Division. Following closely behind
The infantry flooded the Soviet first line of defense like a tide.
After breaking through the first line of defense of the Soviet army, the officers and soldiers of the Skeleton Division did not stop and continued to launch a new attack towards the second line of defense held by the 81st Guards Regiment.
The headquarters of General Sarkozyko, commander of the Guards Division, was located on the second line of defense. Seeing that the German army broke through his first line of defense and launched an attack on the second line of defense, he quickly called his superiors -
-Major General Kryuchinkin, commander of the 69th Group Army, called him and asked for help: "Comrade Commander, I am General Sakoko, commander of the 25th Guards Division. The enemy has broken through the first line of defense in the south of the city.
We are launching an attack on the second line of defense, I ask for support, I ask for support!"
At this time, Kryuchinkin's situation was not much better. He was organizing all the troops he could mobilize to launch a counterattack against the Imperial Division in the west of the city regardless of casualties. At this moment, when he heard Sarkozyko's plea for help, he felt a little unhappy.
He said patiently: "Comrade General, I am ordering you now to resolutely hold your position. You are not allowed to retreat even a step, and you are absolutely not allowed to hand over the position to the enemy."
In the order issued by Kryuchinkin, he only ordered Sako to hold the position. As for how to hold it and whether reinforcements would be sent for reinforcements, he did not mention a word. Regarding Kryuchinkin's confused order, Sako
The ** Section could only bite the bullet and ask: "Comrade Commander, isn't the Third Tank Army still in the city? With their assistance, we believe we can completely crush the German attack."
"General Sako," Kryuchenkin said impatiently: "Due to lack of fuel and ammunition, most of the tanks of the Third Tank Army are unable to move. The only tanks are covering our infantry.
Launch a continuous counterattack against the German troops in the west of the city, trying to drive the enemy out of the city."
Seeing that Kryuchinkin could not get the assistance he wanted, Sakoko put down the phone in disappointment and said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately bring up the 78th Guards Regiment. It seems that we
It’s time to counterattack the enemy.”
"What, a counterattack against the enemy?" The chief of staff passed through the lookout and looked at the German officers and soldiers rushing towards the position like a tide. He couldn't help but said worriedly: "Comrade division commander, you see there are no less than twenty people in the enemy's attacking troops."
There are only one tank, but we are all infantry. If we launch a rash counterattack, I am afraid that the entire army will be destroyed."
Although he knew that using infantry to counterattack the enemy's tanks would cause huge casualties, Savenko still gritted his teeth and said: "Currently the city cannot provide us with any assistance. We can only rely on our own strength to hold our position."
Already. Chief of Staff, execute the order and immediately transfer the 78th Guards Regiment over and let them launch a counterattack against the enemy."
Many of the German tanks that broke into the second line of defense were blown up with grenades by the soldiers hiding in the craters. Seeing that the situation was not good, the remaining tanks turned around and fled. It happened that at this moment, the Guardsmen
The troops of the 78th Regiment arrived and took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, charging behind the enemy in an attempt to recapture the first line of defense occupied by the enemy.
The enemies who were staying in the position saw their troops retreating like a tide. For fear of accidentally injuring their own people, they did not dare to shoot easily. Some Soviet commanders and fighters took the opportunity to jump into the trenches and engage in close combat and hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.
.
Just when the two sides were in a stalemate, the German army's long-range artillery fire started. The dense artillery shells fell between the first and second lines of defense, like a wall of fire, cutting off the retreat of the counterattack troops. At the same time, the flag
The troops of the Guards Division began a large-scale offensive. As the enemy entered the battlefield, the 78th Guards Regiment, which was responsible for the counterattack, immediately fell into the encirclement of the German army.
Seeing that his troops were surrounded by the Germans, Sakoko, who was staying at the headquarters, stamped his feet anxiously. He was about to order the 81st Guards Regiment to attack to rescue the 78th Regiment, but he was stopped by the Chief of Staff.
: "Comrade Division Commander, the enemy is stronger than us and has tanks. We cannot take risks with the remaining troops. Once all the troops are wiped out, if the enemy attacks again, what kind of force will we use to stop them?
?”
After hearing the persuasion of the chief of staff, Sarkozy only hesitated for a moment, but still made his decision: "Leave one battalion on the second line of defense, and the remaining troops will attack immediately. Be sure to remove the trapped first battalion."
The 81st Regiment was rescued, we cannot just watch our soldiers being wiped out by the enemy."
After Sarkozyko's order was issued, the 78th Regiment, which was standing on the second line of defense, left one battalion to hold its position, and the commanders and fighters of the other two battalions decisively launched a charge. They wanted to attack the 81st Regiment and the 73rd Regiment.
The remnants of the regiment were rescued from the enemy's siege.
However, when passing through the area blocked by enemy artillery fire, one-third of the officers and soldiers fell in the artillery fire. The remaining troops rushed into the first line of defense, fought with the enemy here, and worked hard to move closer to the friendly forces.
The remnants of the 81st and 73rd regiments that joined them tried to take back their own positions from the Germans. However, after half an hour of fierce fighting, they had to retreat due to the disparity in strength and inferior equipment.
However, during their retreat, they were bombarded by enemy artillery and machine gunfire, and many soldiers fell on the retreating road.
Seeing the troops withdrawing from the second line of defense, plus the defenders on the position, with a total strength of no more than 1,000 people, Sa**ko couldn't help but feel heartbroken. After the early battle, only less than 1,000 troops were left.
Five thousand people. Unexpectedly, they suffered huge casualties today, leaving less than a thousand people. It is very difficult to hold the position with the existing strength alone.
With no choice but to ask for help from Kryuchinkin again: "Comrade Commander, after the fierce battle between our division and the German army, the total strength of our division is less than a thousand people. If you don't send reinforcements, I'm worried that the position will be defended."
Can’t live.”
It stands to reason that since the 25th Guards Division suffered such heavy casualties, Klyuchinkin should send reinforcements. However, after listening to the report, he thought that Sakoko was falsely reporting the battle situation to him in order to obtain reinforcements, so he said impatiently:
"Comrade Division Commander, I still say what I said. Without my order, you are not allowed to retreat even one step, and you absolutely cannot hand over your position to the enemy."
Seeing that Kryuchinkin still refused to send reinforcements to him, Sakoko could only smile bitterly and said to his chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the commander still refuses to send reinforcements to us. Go and tell the commanders and soldiers that you must
Do your best to hold your position until the last bullet is used, and fight to the last person."
In the evening, the command post where Sako was located was destroyed by German artillery fire. Most of the people in the command post died on the spot. Fortunately, several commanders and fighters saw that the command post was hit by enemy artillery fire, so they ran over to rescue and rescued the wounded soldiers.
The seriously injured 25th Guards Division of Sakoko was at the end of its strength in the face of the fierce German offensive. Now it lost its unified command and could not stop the enemy's attack.
Ten minutes later, the troops of the Flag Guard Division crossed the defense line of the 25th Guards Division and rushed into Kharkov from the south of the city. They quickly joined the Führer Regiment of the Imperial Division and continued to control the city.
The attack was launched in the area.
Seeing the German army approaching his headquarters step by step, Kryuchenkin became a little panicked. He quickly called General Golikov and said in a tearful voice: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the enemy's three
An SS division has already rushed into the city, and our army has suffered huge casualties. Please send troops to support immediately."
This chapter has been completed!