Regardless of the honor of capturing Paulus, the base camp was given to the 64th Army. However, the inside story of Paulus's capture was known in detail within the German army.
Although the Imperial Division is now the trump card of the German army, the division commander Major General Herbert Wahl, who has just taken office less than a month ago, has repeatedly warned his troops not to act rashly if they encounter troops from the 41st Guards Division. After all,
A force that can face a strong offensive and still hold on to Mamayev Heights cannot be underestimated.
When the current battalion commander confirmed that the troops on the opposite position were Sokov's 41st Guards Division, he canceled the planned attack and instead ordered the radio operator: "Send a report to the division commander saying that we are east of the Red Army Village.
On the high ground, we encountered the troops of the Russian 41st Guards Division, and their attack was repulsed."
Herbert Wahl received a telegram from Paul Hausser and learned that Donetsk had been lost and that the Red Army Village might also be attacked by the Russians. After receiving the telegram ordering him to send troops for reinforcements, he did not take it seriously. After all, this week
Most of the time, they suppressed the Russians. According to his thinking, the reason why Donetsk fell so quickly was entirely because there were too few defenders in the city. He only needed to send one battalion of troops to defeat them.
This desperate Russian force was defeated.
However, what happened next was different from his imagination. He received a telegram from his battalion commander and learned that the Russian troops appearing near the Red Army Village were actually Sokov's 41st Guards Division.
Unable to help but panic, he quickly gave orders to several regimental commanders, asking them to stop attacking the Russians in front of them, turn around and capture them, and rush to the direction of the Red Army Village to attack the 41st Guards Division that appeared there.
Of course, he did not dare to conceal such an important situation, and quickly ordered someone to send a telegram to Paul Hausser, reporting the matter to him in detail.
After reading Major General Wahl's telegram, Paul Hausser was silent for a long time, and then asked his Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, tell me, isn't the Russian 41st Guards Division stationed in Lugansk? Why is that so?
The Red Army suddenly appeared in the village, and even before that, they captured our Donetsk. Could it be that other troops were pretending to be it?"
"Your Excellency, General." The chief of staff waited for Manstein to finish speaking, and said respectfully: "The number of the unit can be faked, but the combat style and combat effectiveness of a unit cannot be faked. Since this information belongs to the Imperial Division,
It was reported by a low-level military officer, so I think the credibility is very high."
"Then what should we do?" Paul Hausser looked at his chief of staff and asked: "Do we need to order the Flag Guard Division and the Totenkopf Division to stop attacking and transfer them to the Red Army Village to eliminate the Russians there?
"
"Your Excellency, General, I think it is completely unnecessary." The Chief of Staff refuted Paul Hausser's statement: "I think the combat effectiveness of the 41st Guards Division within our army has been greatly exaggerated.
Many Russian elite troops encountered the same fate when they encountered our Imperial Division, that is, they were crushed or defeated. I believe that after Major General Val's main force arrives at the Red Army Village, it will be enough to destroy the army that made us
Cowardly Russian troops.”
After listening to the analysis of the chief of staff, Paul Hausser thought about it carefully and felt that what the other party said was very reasonable. A few days ago, the Russian assault group composed of two tank corps and three infantry divisions was
Three of his own divisions were almost destroyed. Now using the Imperial Division to deal with one of their divisions was already a compliment to them, and there was no need to use other forces at all.
The Imperial Division, which originally launched an attack south of Kharkov, immediately withdrew from the battle after receiving Major General Val's order, took various transport vehicles, and headed towards the Red Army Village.
Remaining in this area were Rybalko's remnants. Seeing the enemy retreating, the forward commander immediately reported the situation to Rybalko. Rybalko's first reaction when he heard the news was that it must be Germany.
Otherwise, how could they suddenly stop attacking their defense zone and withdraw from the battle when they had the upper hand?
Rybalko personally went to the front line and carefully observed the area where the German troops were originally located before confirming that the enemy had indeed withdrawn from the battle. Although he did not know the reason for the enemy's withdrawal, he still called the front commander Golikov to report.
"General Rybalko, what did you say?" When Golikov heard Rybalko's report, he couldn't help being surprised: "The enemy retreated? How is this possible? The enemy is not a fool. How could they have the advantage?"
Under such circumstances, what about taking the initiative to withdraw from the battle?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Seeing that Golikov didn't believe it, Rybalko emphasized again: "I personally went to the front to see it. In addition to the areas controlled by the Flag Guard Division and the Skeleton Division, there are still continuous attacks on the area.
Apart from our attack, the Imperial Division that was responsible for the frontal attack has already withdrawn from the battlefield."
"Do you know where they went?"
"I don't know." Rybalko muttered: "Anyway, it's either to the south or to the east. Anyway, they have withdrawn from the battle."
"Okay, General Rybalko. Now that the Imperial Division has retreated, regardless of whether they have a conspiracy, you should transfer the troops defending this area to the other two more dangerous areas as soon as possible. You must not let the enemy get close to Halko
husband."
After Golikov put down the phone, he asked the chief of staff, Major General Korzhenevich: "Comrade chief of staff, tell me why the Germans asked the Imperial Division to withdraw from the battle at this time. Is there anything wrong with it?
conspiracy?"
"Comrade Commander, I also feel very confused." This Chief of Staff of the Front Army, who has just taken office less than three days ago, has not even memorized the names of the division commanders under the Front Army, and is still confused about the entire situation.
What constructive comments could I make? I could only say vaguely: "I think it may be that our army launched an attack in the enemy's rear. The enemy was worried that their retreat would be cut off, so they had to order the Imperial Division to withdraw."
Go out to fight and protect the safety of their rear."
"Philip Ivanovich, I have a hunch." Seeing the vagueness of the chief of staff's statement, the military commissar Khrushchev sitting next to him said: "The enemy's rear must be under a huge threat, otherwise they would never be able to
When we gain the upper hand, we will order the troops to withdraw from the battle and move them away from the battlefield."
"Comrade Military Commissar," Golikov said with a wry smile: "Now that General Vatutin's Southwest Front has been defeated by the Germans, where are our organized troops left behind them? If so,
We wouldn’t be in such a mess now.”
"Aren't there still troops from the Don Front?"
"The 21st Army of the Don Front is commanded by General Krylov, but they are too far away from the enemy." Golikov said with a wry smile: "They cannot threaten the enemy's rear at all."
"Besides them, don't we have other troops?"
"In addition, there is a combat group of Colonel Sokov, but Luhansk where they are located is hundreds of kilometers away from us." Golikov still shook his head and said: "Even if they attack the enemy, I'm afraid
It doesn't pose any threat."
"You can't say that. That little guy is a genius in fighting. Maybe he made some noise again, forcing the enemy to send troops to the rear to put out the fire." Khrushchev said with a smile: "I'll give it to you.
Give the General Staff a call and ask what happened."
Khrushchev quickly contacted Antonov using the high-frequency phone of the headquarters. He smiled and asked: "Comrade Antonov, this is Khrushchev. Do you have any good news?"
Tell me?"
"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Since it was Khrushchev who made the call, Antonov naturally would not hide it: "Before dawn today, the 41st Guards Division commanded by Major General Sokov unexpectedly captured
Donetsk."
"What, Donetsk was taken?" Khrushchev, who originally just wanted to know the trends on various battlefields, couldn't help but be shocked after hearing the news from Antonov. He quickly found it on the map
After finding out the location of Donetsk, he said into the microphone: "No wonder the German Imperial Division suddenly stopped attacking and withdrew from the battlefield. It turned out that Colonel Sokov's troops captured Donetsk..."
"Comrade Khrushchev, I want to correct you." Although the situation in the direction of Kharkov is still tense, some troops have won the battle and even effectively contained the elite German troops. This is something to be happy about.
Thing: "Not long ago, Sokov was promoted to Major General. Now he should be called Major General Sokov."
The telephones used in this era had very serious sound leakage. The conversation between Khrushchev and Antonov was clearly heard by several people around. Everyone learned that Sokov's troops had recaptured Donetsk.
, couldn’t help but feel happy, and they all came over to hear more exciting good news.
"I really didn't expect that this little guy is now a general. If his father knew something secretly, he would definitely be happy for him." When Khrushchev talked about his long-dead old comrades, he couldn't help but sigh, "I hope
When faced with an attack from the Imperial Division, his troops can withstand it."
At this moment, Antonov on the other end of the phone suddenly said: "Comrade Khrushchev, please wait a moment. I have just received a battle report. I will take a look at the content first to decide whether to report it to the Supreme Commander himself.
Report."
While Antonov was checking the battle report, Khrushchev covered the microphone and said to several colleagues around him: "Comrades, let me tell you some good news. Before dawn today, the troops commanded by Major General Sokov had already
Successfully captured Donetsk. I guess the reason why the Germans moved the Imperial Division away was to deal with Sokov."
Hearing what Khrushchev said, everyone couldn't help but worry about Sokov's fate. Major General Korzhenevich said with some hesitation: "Two days ago, the Imperial Division and the Skeleton Division severely damaged the Lei
General Balko’s troops, it can be seen from this that their combat effectiveness is not weak at all. Can Sokov’s troops you mentioned be able to withstand the German attack?”
Before anyone could speak, a voice suddenly came from the microphone held by Khrushchev: "Hello, Comrade Khrushchev, are you still there?"
"I'm here, Comrade Antonov." Khrushchev quickly put the microphone close to his ear and asked: "Can you tell me the contents of the battle report just now?"
"Of course it's good news." Antonov said excitedly on the phone: "It's a battle report sent by Rokossovsky. It said that Major General Sokov's troops had successfully occupied the Red Army not long ago.
village and annihilated all the enemies in the city."
"What, Sokov's troops occupied the Red Army Village?" Khrushchev stared at the map, measured the distance between Donetsk and the Red Army Village with his hand, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Antonov,
His troops had not just captured Donetsk before dawn, how could they have captured the Red Army Village in such a short period of time? Could it be a mistake?"
"That's right, Comrade Khrushchev." Antonov said with a smile on the phone: "I just read Rokossovsky's detailed report. It turns out that when Major General Sokov captured Donetsk
, only the 124th Guards Regiment was used. After occupying Donetsk, he ordered the marching troops to turn to the Red Army Village, and before the enemy had completed their deployment, he used the 125th Guards Regiment to decisively launch an attack. After
After three hours of fierce fighting, all the defenders in the city were wiped out and the Red Army village was captured."
"This is really great." Even though Khrushchev was an outsider in the military, he knew very well what the liberation of Donetsk and the Red Army Village meant. Not long after he was happy, he was worried about Solvay.
Kokov became worried about his fate: "Comrade Antonov, does Misha have enough troops? I'm worried that he won't be able to stop the Imperial Division's crazy offensive."
"Comrade Khrushchev, you don't have to worry about this. He has four infantry divisions, plus tank brigades and artillery divisions, let alone an imperial division. Even with the addition of the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard, he may be able to
Cope with it." When Antonov said this, he suddenly accelerated his tone: "I want to report this good news to Comrade Stalin immediately. Comrade Khrushchev, we will talk next time." After saying this, he did not wait for Khrushchev.
Xiaofu said nothing and hung up the phone directly.
"Comrades, you all heard it." When Khrushchev put down the phone, he excitedly said to the people around him: "Sokov's troops not only captured Donetsk, they also liberated the Red Army Village not long ago.
.Now you should understand why the Imperial Division suddenly withdrew from the battlefield when it had an advantage, right? The enemy was worried that their retreat would be cut off, so they had to mobilize elite troops to consolidate their rear."
"We currently have no way of knowing how long Sokov's troops can pin down the enemy." Golikov looked at the map in front of him and said thoughtfully: "We must seize the time to adjust our defenses and strive to crush the German army and seize the enemy."
