Chapter 1124 Annihilation of the enemy during the movement (Seven)
"Gentlemen," Joseph Dietrich, the commander of the Flag Guard Division, was a ruthless character. It was under his leadership that the Flag Guard Division changed from a vase unit to a brave and fierce brigade in the German army. After suffering such a big loss this time, he felt a little angry. After he was silent for a moment, he said: "Before reporting this to General Hauser, we must first figure out where the Russians went? After figuring out where they were going, we immediately chased and defeated them and avenged us, the soldiers who died."
"Based on their early activities, I judged that they must have gone to Ijium." Major General Val, the Imperial Commander, said: "If we push north, we will definitely find their whereabouts."
Colonel Ximeng, the lowest rank among the three, waited for the two to finish speaking, before he said cautiously: "The two generals, as far as I know, the Russian commander Sokov, whom we faced, are the ones that Marshal Manstein repeatedly reminded us to be careful. Therefore, I think the direction of his retreat may not be heading north."
"If it's not going north, will it go east?" Ditrich said angrily.
"God of General, I think this may be completely there." Colonel Ximon explained to Dietrich: "They only need to move more than thirty kilometers northeast to join their Southwest Front. If they really achieve the convergence, the difficulty we have to deal with them will increase exponentially."
"No matter how many Russians are, what's the use?" Ditrich said disdainfully: "Don't forget, in the past half month, our three divisions have wiped out how many Russian troops have been destroyed. I don't believe that any other Russian troops in the world can block the joint attack of our three divisions?"
Regarding Ditrich's arrogant statement, whether it was Colonel Shimeng or Major General Val, there was a disdainful expression on his face. Not to mention it, Sokov relied on a 41st Guard Division and tricked his three divisions into a circle. If he had more troops in his hands, then he might be the one who suffered a loss.
Although Ximon and Val both had their thoughts in their hearts, they were all in the same group now, so they naturally could not express their feelings that hurt each other. Major General Val said carefully: "General Ditrich, should we send search troops eastward to find the whereabouts of the Russians?" After he finished speaking, he stared at Ditrich intently to see what his reaction was.
Dietrich also knew in his heart that if it were other Russian troops, after he had put himself together, he would definitely continue to move towards Ijium according to the original plan. But the enemy he was facing at this moment was Sokov, who had a headache for Manstein. The tactics he used would definitely be unexpected.
Thinking of this, he nodded and said to Major General Val, "Major General Val, please send scouts immediately and take a motorcycle to move eastward to find the whereabouts of the Russians. Once you have grasped the whereabouts of the Russians, our three divisions will rush over and destroy them together."
Not long after Major General Val's scouts were sent, Hauser arrived at Balvinkovo in an armored vehicle. Looking at the corpses all over the ground, he asked his three division commanders with some anger: "Gentlemen, I want to hear your explanation, why did our army suffer such heavy casualties here?"
"God of General," said Ditrich and others, and quickly defended themselves: "Our troops and Sokov's elite troops have encountered each other. They have many new weapons that can not only kill our soldiers in large quantities, but also easily destroy our tanks. We were caught off guard by him, which caused such heavy casualties."
After listening to Ditrich's defense, Haussel stopped talking. He had long heard that in the Battle of Stalingrad, the troops defending Mamayevgang had a new weapon with extremely strong lethality that could attack important targets on their side from anywhere. Yesterday, the German regiment headquarters was destroyed, and it was said that they were attacked by such weapons.
Thinking of this, Hauser couldn't help but look up at the sky, worried that similar rockets would fly towards him at this moment, and then blow up his position into a sea of fire. Fortunately, the surroundings were quiet, and there was no weapon that he was worried about appeared. After feeling a little relieved, he said to everyone: "Do you know where Sokov's troops went?"
"Report to the General," Major General Val stepped forward and reported: "I have drawn the scouts from the armored reconnaissance battalion, took a motorcycle, searched the north and east, and figured out where the Russians were going."
Seeing that his subordinates had not even figured out the whereabouts of the Russians at this moment, Haussel was very angry. However, considering that his subordinates had just lost the battle, if they scolded them in public, it would definitely have an adverse impact on the morale of the troops. Therefore, the words changed again when they spoke: "When can we get an accurate reply?"
"God of General, I send out the most elite scouts." Major General Val replied: "I believe they will provide us with accurate information in the shortest time."
"The shortest time?" Haussel repeated Major General Val's words and asked: "Major General Val, I hope you can give me an accurate time. Is it an hour or two hours, or even longer?"
Major General Val asked the words of Hauser. He said that his scouts would soon send back the reconnaissance information, but it was just a common saying. He didn't know that Hauser would take it seriously and asked the exact time seriously, which seemed a little embarrassed for a moment.
At this moment, an officer under his command came out of an armored vehicle not far away and reported to him: "Sir, the guards have any situation to report to you."
"Defense Force?" Major General Val couldn't help but be full of doubt when he heard the officer say this. What would happen to the guards look for him at this time? He came to the armored vehicle, took the headphones and the sender handed to him by the correspondent, and said loudly: "I am Major General Val, what happened to your guards?"
"Grand Commander," the person who called Major General Val was a deputy commander of the German regiment. Due to the heavy losses of the regiment, Major General Val let them serve as defenders. At this moment, the deputy commander said anxiously: "We were attacked, repeated, and attacked by the Russians. I ask for support, request support."
"Lieutenant Colonel," Major General Val interrupted the other party and asked back, "Tell me, how many Russians are attacking you?"
"Sir, the number of people is large." The deputy commander of the lieutenant colonel replied in a panic: "According to my estimate, they have at least five or six thousand."
"What, there are five or six thousand people?" After hearing the deputy commander's report, Major General Val's first reaction was that the other party made a mistake: "You must have made a mistake. How could so many Russians appear near you? I think you must have made a mistake."
"Yes, your lord." The deputy commander reported in a crying voice: "I have observed through the telescope that the Russians launched an attack on our regiment from several directions at the same time. We cannot stop them at all. If you do not reinforce, we will be in danger of the destruction of the entire army."
"What, thousands of Russians emerged from your guard?" When Haussel came over, he happened to hear the conversation between Major General Val and the deputy commander. He said in surprise: "Where did they emerge from? Why did our scouts not notice it at all. Did they fall from the sky?"
"General Haussel," Dietrichello thought about it and immediately thought of a possibility, and said to Haussel: "The 41st Guard Division, which was attacked by us, disappeared with the help of the night cover. I think it might have touched the rear of the Imperial Division."
"How is this possible?" Major General Val questioned Dietrich's statement: "There is a total of twenty kilometers from here to the defender of our division. How did the Russians pass? Did they fly over?"
"I think now that the Russians may have started to advance to the rear of your division after dark." Ditrich analyzed to Major General Val, "Until now, we are just about to arrive at the location of the rear guard of your division."
"I agree with General Dietrich." Colonel Ximeng also echoed: "I think the main force of the Russians should have advanced towards the rear of the Imperial Master after dark."
"But our troops have been fighting against the Russians all the time?" Major General Val said unwillingly: "How could they immediately advance to the rear of our division after dark?"
"Major General Val, do you still don't understand?" Ditrich reminded him: "The Russian troops that exchanged fire with our two divisions are actually just small troops left behind by Sokov. He took advantage of the attention of our three divisions and was attracted by him to Balvinkovo, secretly leading the main force of the division, going around to the rear of your division, and launching a sudden attack on the rear guard."
"What should we do?"
"What else can I do?" Ditrich said angrily when he saw Major General Val's look in a daze: "Of course, we should send troops back to rescue immediately. You can't watch the defender's troops being destroyed by Sokov."
"Yes, I want to rush back to rescue immediately." Major General Val said, and without waiting for Haussel to speak, he began to issue orders to his troops: "The regiments immediately turn around and rush to rescue our rear guards."
"General Ditrich," while Major General Val was deploying troops, Haussel said to Ditrich: "You immediately send a regiment of heads of state and take it down with the imperial division to eliminate the Russian troops that were sneak attacking the rear guard."
"God General," Dietrich did not immediately agree to the order Haussel assigned to him, but said cautiously: "Do you really think it is still time for us to turn around and rescue the Imperial Division's rear guard?"
"Anyway, the Imperial Division is also one of the most elite troops in our army." Faced with Dietrich's doubts, Haussel said confidently: "Not to mention thousands of Russians, even tens of thousands of Russians, I believe they are fully capable of holding on until our reinforcements arrive."
"Okay, General." Although Dietrich felt that even if he sent troops to rescue at this moment, he might not be able to make it happen, since it was the order issued by Hauser, he could not violate it. He could only say helplessly: "I will go back and arrange it immediately and let the head regiment follow the Imperial Division to rescue their rear guards."
Colonel Ximeng, who left with Ditrich, whispered while Haussel and Val were not on this side, asked in a low voice: "God General, do you think you are really able to rescue the Imperial Division's guards at this moment when you go south?"
"If the other Russian troops attacked the Imperial Division's guards, then it would be enough to set out now, even a few hours later. After all, you and I have fought with the Russians, and they know that their tactics are dull. In order to win a target, they can launch attacks again and again without getting tired of it." Ditrich sighed and said, "It's a pity that the troops attacking them are now commanded by Sokov. When he found that the attack in one place was not smooth, he would change to a new place to continue attacking. His tactics made us unable to defend."
Half an hour later, the imperial division that had completed the assembly turned around and headed south to rescue the attacked defenders. And along with them were the head of state, the head of state belonging to the flag guard division. Before the head of state, Ditrich called the regiment aside and told him: "Col. Sokov is full of tricks. You should go to rescue the defenders this time and beware of being ambushed by them halfway."
"Your Excellency," said the head of the head of the regiment in surprise: "Does the Russians also know how to ambush our army halfway?"
"Col. I can only tell you that most Russian commanders have not learned the tactic of ambush until now. They can only fight positions with our army in a dull manner. But the opponent you face this time is Sokov, the most troublesome thing in the Russian army, so it is completely necessary to keep your vigilance."
"I understand, Master of the Division." Those who can become the leader of the head of the regiment will naturally not be a fool. When he heard Ditrich say this, he immediately realized that his troops might encounter Russians during the march. He quickly assured Ditrich: "I will send the vanguard troops to explore the way forward, and the large troops will follow behind slowly. Since the avant-garde was ambushed by the Russians, we can also rush over and support them as soon as possible."
"Col. You can think so." Ditrich nodded slightly and said to the regiment commander: "Your regiment is the most elite regiment of my division. I don't want you to suffer any losses."
"Don't worry, your lord." Seeing Ditrich reminding him repeatedly, the regiment commander realized the seriousness of the problem and replied with a serious expression: "I will definitely bring the entire regiment back safely, so don't worry." After that, he raised his hand to salute Ditrich, opened the car door and got on the bucket car to chase the troops marching ahead.