Chapter 1126 Annihilation of the enemy during the movement (9)
Due to Ditrich's caution, he sent the head of state to operate with the Imperial Division and did not suffer any losses. Just when he thought he had escaped, he received a report from his rear guard, saying that he had been attacked by the Soviet army.
The leader of the 3rd Grenadier Regiment reported to him was the leader of the 3rd Grenadier Regiment. The leader reported to Ditrich in panic through the wireless phone: "Sir, the Russians are bombarding the defense zone of our regiment with rockets, asking for support, requesting support!"
The report of the regiment commander reminded Dietrich of the German regiment, which was the defender of the Imperial Division, sent a distress signal to the division headquarters after being attacked by the Soviet army. As a result, the troops who rushed to reinforce were nearby the Russians. Not only did they suffer huge casualties, but even the division commander Major General Val was injured.
In order to avoid repeating the same mistake, he quickly ordered his regiment commander: "Col. Immediately order your subordinates to transfer and quickly move towards the division headquarters."
"Grand Commander," the commander was a little anxious when he heard Ditrich's order. "If we retreat now, the Russians would probably take the opportunity to launch a ground attack, and then our casualties would be even more severe."
Hearing the regiment commander say this, Ditrich murmured in his heart that the commander of the Skeleton Division, Ike, was killed in Balvinkovo yesterday; today, Major General Val, the commander of the Imperial Division, was ambushed by the Soviet army on the way to reinforcements. Fortunately, he was lucky and was only slightly injured. If he led his troops to reinforcements, he might have taken his life.
Thinking of this, Dietrich did not dare to lead the troops to reinforce. He could only repeat his orders again and again: "Col. Retreat, I order you to retreat immediately. Not only the casualties are too great, but you must immediately withdraw the existing area and move closer to the division headquarters."
"Sir, the commander," the commander did not understand why Ditrich ordered himself to retreat so hard, and quickly said tactfully: "Can you send a group of heads of state to support? With their help, we are fully confident that we will defeat the Russian attack."
"College, stop illusioning like this unrealistic fantasy." Dietrich said mercilessly: "A few hours ago, Major General Val received a report from the deputy commander of the defender German regiment, saying that they were attacked by the Russians, so he personally brought people to reinforcements, and I also sent a regiment of heads of state to act with them. Unexpectedly, on the way, they were near the Russians, and the Imperial Division suffered heavy casualties, and even Major General Val was injured. If I also sent troops to reinforce at this moment, I might encounter the same problem on the road. If you are not rescued by then, the main force of the division will also suffer heavy casualties."
When the commander heard Ditrich say, he was frightened and let out a cold sweat. He asked quickly: "Sir, what should we do now?"
"What else can I do?" Ditrich said impatiently: "Didn't I tell you just now? Retreat, retreat immediately, throw away the things that I can't take away, quickly get out of contact with the Russians, and quickly move towards the division headquarters, so that you can have a glimmer of life. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Master of the Division." The German commander realized the seriousness of the problem at this moment and quickly expressed his opinion: "I will order the troops to throw away the baggage that they cannot take away and quickly move closer to the division."
"That's right, Colonel." Dietrich said to the regiment commander: "I guess the Russians who attacked you came from the position of the Imperial Division's guard regiment. They were not many people and they would not carry too many rockets. If you quickly break off contact with them, you will have the possibility of escape. Once the time is delayed and when their main force arrives, you will not be able to leave."
It was precisely because of Ditrich's determination to cut off his arm's arm that the 3rd Regiment, who served as the defender, immediately threw away all the supplies he carried, quickly evacuated the area attacked by the Soviet army, and moved towards Balvinkovo.
Seeing that the enemy began to retreat in large numbers, Yershakov quickly sent a telegram to Sokov and reported the situation here in detail to him.
"Chief of staff, the enemy is very cunning." Sokov said to Cydolin after reading Yershakov's telegram: "This Ditrich found that his guard was attacked. He was worried that he would encounter the same fate as the Imperial Division, so he ordered the guards to throw away their baggage and retreat lightly towards Balvinkovo."
"Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked Sokov for advice: "Look, do we need to order the 125th Regiment to pursue the enemy?"
"There is no need for this." Sokov shook his head and said to Sidolin's proposal: "There are less than three thousand people in the 125th Regiment. If they are ordered to pursue, once the German troops of Balvinkovo go south and entangle them, it will not be so easy to withdraw from the battle."
"What should we do?" Cidolin asked for advice.
"Send telegrams to the commanders of each regiment," Sokov thought for a while, feeling that the German army would shrink the three divisions together next, and it would be difficult for him to find any fighter jets. Since there were no fighter jets, it would be meaningless to stay here. So he ordered: "Let them move towards the Red Army Village after they repel the enemy they faced. Also, the telegram to Vanya is the same."
Although he has achieved considerable results in the enemy's back in the past few days, the soldiers have been hiking in the snow for a long time and their physical strength has been severely overdrawn. If they continue to fight, the combat effectiveness of several regiments will decline to varying degrees. Therefore, after hearing Sokov's order, Sidolin immediately agreed readily: "Okay, comrade of the division command, I will convey your instructions immediately."
The three SS divisions, who were hit by the Guards Division, contracted in the direction of Balvinkovo. In a radius of nearly 100 kilometers, even a German soldier could not see any German soldiers. Vanya, who was about to lead his troops to fight guerrillas in the forest, received a retreat telegram from Cidolin, and immediately retreated in the direction of the Red Army Village with his commanders and soldiers from the two battalions.
There were five kilometers away from the Red Army Village. Sokov ordered the division headquarters to stop, and while telegramming the regiments to move closer to him, he also sent people to the Red Army Village to contact him, so as not to have misunderstandings with the defenders in the city during the retreat. At that time, it would be troublesome if the troops fought with their own people.
After a night of tossing, Sokov's 41st Guard Division finally returned to the position west of the Red Army village before dawn, and built a defense line here to deal with the possible retaliation actions launched by the German army.
Seeing Sokov return safely, Vitkov was overjoyed. Although Sokov was very good at commanding wars in everyone's minds, he brought a division this time to deal with three elite German divisions. Moreover, not long ago, there were countless Soviet troops defeated by these three German divisions. Vitkov was worried that maybe Sokov would not be able to come back this time.
At that time, Sokov not only came back, but also achieved great results. Not only did he kill Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division, but he also severely injured the Imperial Division and injured the commander of the division. He also fought the No. 1 Flag Guard Division so that he did not dare to fight.
After embraced by Vitkov and Sokov, they asked in surprise: "Comrade Commander, I really want to figure out one thing: why did the three SS soldiers who defeated our army become sheep in front of you who were slaughtered?"
"It's nothing," Sokov said modestly: "I just used a little trick to make the enemy go around, and when they were not careful, they rushed up and bite them hard."
"Comrade Commander," Vetkov took Sokov to the map, pointing to the enemy and me signs on it, and said: "Because the 41st Guards Division actively attacked, the enemy had to retreat. Now they are forty kilometers away from us, and there are ice and snow along the way. If they want to attack us, it may not be possible in a short time."
"It would be better if the enemy did not come to attack." Sokov knew very well that with the fortifications in the Red Army Village today, it would be difficult to block the attacks of the enemy, especially the armored division. If this attack made the Germans afraid and they would not dare to attack for a long time, then their troops would have enough time to strengthen the defense line. With solid fortifications and a complete defense system, there would be no need to worry about the German attack.
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When Manstein learned that the three SS divisions were tricked by one of Sokov's guard divisions, he couldn't help but feel embarrassed. He called Hauser and asked sternly: "General Hauser, what's going on? What I give you are the three most elite SS divisions. But I saw that their performance was not as good as a reserve division, so that they would not have the power to fight back at all."
"Marson," facing Manstein's accusation, Haussel was also a mute manure. He defended himself: "My troops have done their best, but their opponent is the Russian Colonel Sokov, who is known for his cunning..."
"General Haussel, your news is outdated." Manstein interrupted Haussel: "Sokov is no longer a colonel. Not long ago, he was promoted to major general. The reason why he was so young was the result of your idiots who gave him."
Although Manstein's words were very unpleasant, Haussel had no room for refutation. After all, his troops felt helpless when facing Sokov. He paused for a moment and asked Manstein for advice: "Mr. Marshal, what should we do next?"
"What else can I do? At that time, I was to concentrate all my troops in Balvinkovo for rest." Manstein said helplessly: "I will order the 57th and 48th Armored Army to move closer to you, and then concentrate my efforts to attack the Red Army Village and kill this army that has caused our headaches."
"Marson," learned that Manstein was planning to transfer two other armored troops south, Haussel quickly reminded him, "Will this give the Russian troops on the Belgorod line a breather?"
"What can I do if I don't do this?" Manstein had the urge to get rid of the microphone. "What should we do if we continue to attack Kharkov's direction as we planned and Sokov's troops launched a large-scale attack behind us?"
Hauser thought about it and felt that Manstein was justified. If his troops were not attacking head-on and were constantly attacked by large-scale rear areas, it would definitely affect the morale and morale. Instead of risking the destruction of the entire army to seize the front line of Kharkov - Belgorod, it would be better to concentrate troops first, eliminate the Russians gathered in the Red Army village, and then turn north to attack Kharkov, which would be safer.
The news of the German 57th and 48th Armored Armored Army going south soon reached Golikov. His first reaction after hearing this news was that the scouts must have made a mistake. The enemy had advanced to the city of Kharkov. As long as they launched a fierce attack, they could take down the city in at most two or three days. How could they retreat at this time? Maybe this was a false news intentionally released to make the defenders in the city relax their vigilance.
When Golikov reported this situation to the General Staff, Deputy Chief of General Staff Antonov told him happily: "General Golikov, don't worry, this is not fake information, but real. The enemy has really dispatched troops to the south."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, how is this possible?" Golikov asked Antonov in confusion: "As long as the enemy launches one or two more fierce attacks on the city, they can seize Kharkov. How could they withdraw their troops south at this time? Did the base camp mobilize reinforcements from the south and launch an attack on the enemy's rear? Besides, I can't think of any reason that would make the Germans stop attacking us and move south."
"The base camp now has no large-scale troops that can be used in the south." Antonov did not conceal Golikov, but answered truthfully: "Your unfavorable situation is reversed by Sokov alone."
"Is Sokov doing it?" Golikov asked curiously: "Deputy Chief of Staff, what did he do to make the enemy stop the attack on Kharkov and transfer the main forces to the south."
"Sokov personally led the 41st Guard Division deep behind the enemy, upending the enemy's defense zone." Antonov said excitedly: "They made an stance to attack Balvinkovo, attracting all three German SS divisions. Then they killed Ike, commander of the Skeleton Division, injured Major General Val, and lost nearly half of the enemy's troops."
"Is this true?" Golikov couldn't believe it was true when he heard Antonov's words. He had personally experienced the power of the three SSs. If it was one-on-one, then Sokov's guard division still had the possibility of winning. But now it is one-on-three, but it still won, which is simply incredible.
"Of course it's true." Antonov replied affirmatively: "Otherwise, how could the enemy be impatient to transfer the troops to the south when they gained the upper hand?"