Sokov received the telegram from Rokossovsky and was stunned: "What, my troops killed the Skeleton Division Commander Ike during the battle? But why didn't Papchenko report this to him?
Where’s the important news?”
In order to find out what was going on, he personally called the headquarters of the 122nd Regiment and asked Papuchenko: "Comrade Colonel, did you kill any senior enemy commanders during the battle?"
"Senior commander?" Papuchenko shook his head and replied: "Comrade division commander, you also know that the enemy's commanders are all cowards. Even their regiment-level headquarters are usually located more than ten kilometers away from the front line.
position, let alone their senior commander."
"Are you really sure that you didn't kill any senior German generals during the battle?"
When he heard Sokov actually say the word "general", Papuchenko immediately realized that the other party might know something that he did not know, and quickly asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, what is going on? Can you tell me?"
Any more clarity?”
"That's it, Comrade Colonel," Sokov said into the microphone: "According to the superior's report, there seems to be some confusion in the command system of the Skeleton Division. The superior analyzed that something might have happened to the division commander Ike. Therefore.
, I will ask you whether you killed any important figures in the German army during the battle."
"Comrade Division Commander, except for one major, the enemy commanders who were killed by us were all lieutenant-level officers. There were no general-level commanders at all."
Sokov thought for a while and felt that since Papchenko and the others did not kill Ike, the only possible way for Ike to die was to be killed by a rocket, so he ordered Papchenko: "Comrade Colonel, please order someone here."
Search the ruins in the area you occupied to see if there are any dead commanders inside."
"Understood, Comrade Commander."
When Sokov put down the phone, Sidorin asked tentatively: "Comrade division commander, do you think your superiors made a mistake?"
"No." Sokov immediately denied Sidorin's question, "I think the superior's analysis is reasonable. If nothing had happened to Ike, the Germans would not have
The division commander was replaced. I think it is very likely that Ike is dead, but we have not found his body yet."
"If Ike dies, it is a good thing for us." Sidorin said: "It will take a while for a division commander to get familiar with the troops. In other words, the Skeleton Division will be in the army for a long time.
Within, they cannot give full play to their original combat effectiveness."
Rokossovsky sent a phone call to Sokov, asking about Ike's life and death. Not long after, Zhukov also sent the same telegram, also asking about Ike's life and death. Sokov received this
After receiving the telegram, I learned that Zhukov was now concurrently serving as the commander of the Southwest Front.
After learning the news, Sokov couldn't help but be overjoyed. He knew very well that if someone else served as the commander of the Southwest Front Army, he would definitely not pay attention to his plan. But Zhukov was different. Once he understood his intentions,
There will definitely be enough movement in the northeast direction of Ijumu to attract more German troops there and reduce the pressure on myself, who is dealing with heavy enemy groups.
Taking advantage of Papuchenko's opportunity to verify Ike's life and death, Sokov turned his attention to the southwest, because the German flag guard division was heading towards Barvinkovo. Moreover, their leading troops had already joined forces with
The 125th Regiment took over the fire.
The bomber formation sent by Rokossovsky carried out air strikes against the German troops heading towards Barvinkovo, destroying a considerable number of tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, and causing considerable casualties to the German troops.
It was due to the Soviet air attack that the rapidly advancing Flag Guard Division had to stop in place to avoid the air attack, leaving the battalion that advanced to Barvinkovo as a lone force.
Knowing that there was only one battalion of German troops fighting with him, Yershakov immediately ordered three battalions to detour from the flanks and launched a surprise attack from the side of the German army. As the German tanks, armored vehicles and trucks were attacked one by one with rocket launchers,
The ground was destroyed and the German army fell into chaos.
Seeing that the enemy on the front began to retreat, Yershakov promptly issued the order to attack, and the entire regiment launched a comprehensive counterattack. The battle only lasted half an hour. Except for more than 40 soldiers who escaped, the leader of the Flag Guard Division
The entire army was destroyed.
At the same time, Papuchenko was organizing people to search the ruins while the enemy was not attacking to see if he could find what Sokov wanted.
During the search, the soldiers gained a lot. Some found ammunition, food, and medicines hoarded by the Germans, while others found the bodies of some German officers killed by rockets.
But what is regrettable is that after searching for a long time, among the hundreds of corpses found, Ike's body was not found. After Papuchenko learned the report from his subordinates, he secretly wondered: "Is it really the division commander who did this?"
Wrong, Ike actually didn’t die at all, but continued to stay in his command headquarters?”
Just when he was about to give up, Major Vasily, commander of the first battalion, called: "Comrade commander, we found a collapsed house in the defense area, and it seemed that a crushed barrel truck was buried inside."
When he heard that the barrel truck had been discovered, Papuchenko's eyes suddenly lit up. He knew very well that those who were qualified to ride on the barrel truck in the German army would definitely not be some low-level officers. He quickly ordered Vasily: "Comrade Major, you immediately
Stop people from digging out the car to see who is inside."
"Comrade leader, I have organized manpower to carry out excavation." Vasily replied: "I estimate that it will take at least twenty minutes to find out who is in the barrel truck."
"Major, order the soldiers to speed up." According to Sokov's instructions, no news should be leaked before Ike's body was found. He could only urge the other party: "We must find out the barrel truck in the shortest possible time.
Who is sitting?"
More than twenty minutes later, he received a call from Vasily again. The major said excitedly on the phone: "Comrade leader, you may not think of it, what did we find in the barrel truck?"
"Major, stop beating around the bush and tell me quickly what you found."
"Although the head of the corpse was smashed by bricks and stones, it was impossible to distinguish his appearance." Vasily reported: "But the military uniform on the officer had the rank of SS general."
"What is the rank of SS General?" When Papuchenko heard this, he felt his breathing quicken and his heartbeat accelerated unsatisfactorily. He quickly asked: "Are you sure?"
"Absolutely certain."
"Comrade Major, I am ordering you to immediately find something suitable to collect the body and send him to the division commander's headquarters. Do you understand?"
"I understand, comrade leader, I will carry out your order immediately."
After finishing the call with Vasily, Papuchenko felt that he should report such important news to Sokov as soon as possible, so he ordered the communications soldier to answer the division headquarters phone call: "Hello, Comrade Division Commander.
, I am Colonel Papuchenko."
"Comrade Colonel," there was no sound of gunfire from the direction of the city. Sokov knew that there was no fighting there. If there was anything worthy of Papuchenko calling him, it must be related to Ike, so he said bluntly
Question: "Has Ike's body been found?"
"Comrade Division Commander, I'm not sure yet whether the corpse we found is that of the Skeleton Division Commander Ike." Colonel Papuchenko said, "But Major Vasily reported to me that the uniform worn by the corpse was
, the military rank worn on it is the rank of SS-General."
"Ike's military rank is SS General." From Papuchenko's report, Sokov basically determined that the corpse was Ike. He quickly ordered the other party: "Arrange people immediately to send his body to
come over."
"I have ordered Major Vasily to collect the body and send it to your headquarters."
"Well done, Comrade Colonel." Sokov said happily: "I believe that just by killing Ike, it is enough to award you a medal."
"Comrade Commander, you've thanked me." When he learned that he might win the medal, Papuchenko felt ecstatic, but he still said in a calm tone: "This is what I should do."
Not long after, Major Vasily personally took a truck and escorted the coffin containing Ike's body to Sokov's headquarters. After everyone's inspection, it was determined that the deceased was Ike. Sokov quickly ordered Sido to
Lin sent a telegram to Rokossovsky and Zhukov, notifying them of the confirmed news of Ike's death.
Rokossovsky couldn't help but be overjoyed when he learned that Ike was really dead. He quickly said to Malinin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, immediately report this important result to the General Staff. They need a battle at the moment."
Such a victory.”
Malinin did not dare to neglect Rokossovsky's instructions. He immediately connected the General Staff with a high-frequency phone and reported to the Minister of Operations Shtemenko who answered the phone: "Comrade Minister of Operations, this is Malinin.
I have good news for you."
Shtemenko has been tortured by a series of bad news recently. When he heard Malinin say this, his eyes suddenly lit up: "Comrade Malinin, what's the good news?"
"Major General Sokov's 41st Guards Division just recently killed the commander of the German Totenkopf Division, SS General Theodore Eicke."
"What, Ike was shot?" Shtemenko felt a little unbelievable about the news Malinin said, "Is this true?"
"Of course it's true, Comrade Minister of War." Malinin said confidently: "This is the telegram that Major General Sokov just sent us. He himself saw Ike's body with his own eyes, so it can't be wrong."
"That is really an amazing victory, Comrade Malinin." Shtemenko said excitedly: "If I report this good news to the Supreme Commander himself, he will definitely be very happy."
"Comrade Minister of War, please immediately report this good news to the Supreme Commander himself." Malinen also said with a smile: "I think he is very happy to hear such good news."
Yeremenko said that he wanted to report to Stalin in person, but according to the procedure, he had to report to Antonov, who would then report to Stalin. He picked up the internal phone, dialed a number, and spoke to
The microphone said: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, can you come to the Operations Department immediately? I have important matters and need to report to you in person."
Antonov soon came to the Operations Department, looked at Yeremenko and asked: "Comrade Minister of Operations, is there anything important?"
"That's right, Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff." Yeremenko said with a smile: "I received a call from General Malinin not long ago. He said that Major General Sokov's 41st Guards Division not long ago,
Successfully killed Ike, the commander of the German Skeleton Division."
"Oh, Ike was shot dead." When Antonov heard this, he also showed a surprised expression on his face: "This is really exciting news. I wonder if it has been verified?"
"It has been verified." Yeremenko nodded and said: "Major General Sokov saw Ike's body with his own eyes. There is no doubt about it."
Antonov knew very well that as long as Sokov was involved, such a result would be absolutely correct. He said to Yeremenko: "That's great. Such good news needs to be reported to Stalin immediately.
Comrade reports. Comrade Minister of Operations, please come with me."
…………
After taking over Ike's command, Colonel Shimon made some adjustments to the deployment of the troops, and then ordered the troops again to launch an attack on the Soviet troops controlling the south of the city.
Fortunately, Sokov had already guessed that the enemy had the intention to counterattack, so he ordered the anti-tank soldiers to carry rocket launchers and hide in the buildings on both sides of the street. Once the enemy tanks entered the range, they would immediately use the rocket launchers to destroy them. Then use
Machine guns fired at the soldiers who were following the tanks, beating the enemy until they howled like ghosts.
In this way, Sokov relied on such tactics to crush several German counterattacks. Burning German tanks could be seen everywhere on the streets, as well as dead German corpses lying on the ground in various postures.
The battle continued until dark. The counterattack carried out by the Skeleton Division in the city did not make any progress, but suffered heavy losses. However, the Flag Guard Division in the southwest and the Imperial Division in the south had woken up from the Soviet surprise attack, and they resumed their battle.
After adjusting their deployment, they rushed towards Barvinkovo aggressively, trying to cooperate with the Skeleton Division in the city to complete the encirclement of the 41st Guards Division.
After learning the news, Sokov ordered unusually calmly: "The 124th and 125th regiments each left one battalion to block the German Imperial Division and the Flag Guard Division, while the rest of the troops moved to the outskirts of the city."
"Comrade division commander," Sidorin reminded Sokov: "If we gather all the troops together, it will be easy for us to fall into the enemy's encirclement. You should think again."
