The Flag Guard Division soon received Hausser's orders to move east of the city to capture the Soviet troops trying to break out from that direction.
They left, and the German 230th Infantry Division rushed to the hospital. The commander of the leading regiment, seeing the wounded wounded all over the hospital, immediately reported the situation to the division commander.
After learning that a serious massacre of prisoners had occurred in Kharkov, the commander of the 230th Infantry Division felt that the situation was very serious and quickly reported to Hauser: "Your Excellency General, a terrible incident occurred in the hospital in the city.
.”
Hausser, who was being troubled by the breaking out of the Soviet army, heard the division commander's words and said impatiently: "If you have something to say, just say it and don't beat around the bush."
"My troops have just entered a hospital in the city center and found a large number of corpses in the courtyard of the hospital." The infantry division commander reported to Houser: "After inspection, it was found that these corpses were the wounded who had been massacred."
Hearing what the infantry division commander said, Hausser was silent for a moment, and then asked: "Did these wounded people die in the hands of the Russians? You know, it would be difficult for them to break through with the wounded."
"No, Your Excellency General." The infantry division commander quickly replied: "According to reports from my subordinates, troops from the Flag Guard Division have been here before us. And after inspection, these wounded were killed by German-made weapons.
"
Hausser did not refute the infantry division commander's statement. He knew very well that the calibers of bullets used by the Soviet and German armies were different. Since the infantry division commander said that all the wounded died under German-made weapons, then he must
It was true. After a brief shock, he asked: "Mr. Division Commander, which unit do you think was responsible for this?"
"Before us, it was the Flag Guard Division that broke through the Russian defenses first." The infantry division commander said cautiously: "I think this matter has something to do with them."
"I understand," Hausser said in a calm tone: "Mr. Division Commander, I will handle this matter. Your task is to eliminate the remaining Russians in the city."
"Your Excellency, Army Commander," seeing Hauser put down the phone, his chief of staff immediately asked: "It seems that this massacre of prisoners should have been ordered by Joseph Dietrich. You see, we should
What to do with him?"
"Chief of Staff, we have no right to blame a winner. You must know that his troops were the fastest advancing troops after breaking through the Russian defense line in the south of the city." Hauser said helplessly: "As long as they
If we can win the battle, even if we do something excessive, we should pretend not to see it. Do you understand?"
The chief of staff knew very well that the three SS divisions had suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Soviet army some time ago, and they would definitely find ways to take revenge. The massacre of the wounded in the hospital was only the first step, and they might do something else in the future.
Something even more inhumane. But for all this, even as the Army Chief of Staff, he could not accuse the Flag Guard Division. As General Hausser said, the winner does not need to be blamed.
The battle lasted until eight o'clock in the evening. Except for some Soviet troops who successfully broke through, the remaining troops were surrounded by the Germans in the Kharkiv Locomotive Factory. Although this factory was the first to produce T-34 tanks, as early as 1936
In the second half of the year, it was renamed Factory 183, but everyone is still accustomed to using the original name. Since the Soviet army recaptured Kharkov, the remaining workers in the factory were organized and formed a militia. At this moment, they are cooperating with the retreat of the factory.
The remaining Soviet troops relied on sturdy factory buildings to resist tenaciously and successfully repelled two German attacks.
Hausser, who had just entered the city, learned that the remaining Soviet troops were trapped in the Kharkov Locomotive Factory, and quickly asked Tansen, who was in charge of the siege of the factory: "Mr. Flag Captain, tell me how many more troops there are in the factory."
Russian?"
"Your Excellency, Army Commander," Tansen replied respectfully: "Judging from the positions of the firepower points exposed in the factory, there are probably more than two thousand Russians."
"More than two thousand people." After Hausser repeated the number, he nodded, and then asked: "Mr. Flag Captain, I wonder how long it will take you to eliminate this damn group of Russians?"
Tansen thought for a while and replied: "Your Excellency, Commander, my soldiers have become exhausted after two days of fighting. I plan to let them have a good night's rest and wait until tomorrow to launch the attack. I believe them
After a night's rest, we will definitely be able to capture the entire factory before dark tomorrow."
Hausser didn't mean anything to the deadline proposed by Tansen. He just told the other party: "Mr. Flag Captain, remember to tie the hole tightly and don't let the Russians sneak out at night."
"Don't worry, Army Commander." Tansen replied: "I have deployed tanks in every exit direction of the factory. The Russians have no chance of breaking out."
Those currently trapped in the factory are the remnants of the 19th Infantry Brigade and the 179th Tank Brigade. The highest ranking commander is Lieutenant Colonel Bronnikov, Chief of Staff of the Infantry Brigade, followed by Captain Chivin of the Tank Brigade.
After repelling the enemy's attack, Bronnikov summoned all the commanders and said: "Comrades, although the buildings in the factory are strong, we don't have much ammunition and supplies left now.
, it is no longer realistic to continue to hold on, we must find a way to break through."
"Breakout, how to break out?" the militia captain said with a sad face: "The factory is surrounded by Germans, and there are tanks deployed at the main intersections. We are all infantry. If we force a breakout, I'm afraid the entire army will be wiped out.
.”
"Captain Qiwen." After Bronnikov waited for the militia captain to finish speaking, he turned to look at Captain Qiwen and asked: "I remember that your tank company still has four tanks. I wonder if they can cover our breakout."
Hearing what Bronnikov said, Captain Chiwen couldn't help complaining: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, it's not that I don't want to cover the infantry breakout. It's really because the ammunition and fuel of our tanks have been exhausted long ago, otherwise you were there just now
When we repulse the enemy's attack, we won't stand aside and watch the fun."
"Yes, the tank has no ammunition and fuel, and is just a pile of scrap metal." Bronnikov said thoughtfully: "It seems that we need to ask for help from our superiors to see if they can provide us with some help."
"Help, what kind of help?" A second lieutenant of the 17th Infantry Brigade asked: "Now that our main force has broken through, we are the only ones left in the city. Do you think our superiors will still provide us with help?"
"Yes, the main force has broken through, but the superiors don't necessarily want to give up on us." Bronnikov said to the second lieutenant: "Fortunately, we still have a radio station here. We can continue to contact our superiors to see if they can do anything.
Help us." After that, he ordered the radio operator sitting in front of the radio, "Send a report to the front army headquarters immediately. We are now facing a situation where we are running out of ammunition and food. We hope they can provide us with ammunition and supplies."
After hearing Bronnikov ordering himself to send a report to the front army headquarters, the operator hesitated and said: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is this appropriate? You know, if we send a report beyond the level like this, the superiors may think that our radio station has been
If the Germans capture it, they may not even bother with us."
"Under the current circumstances, we can only try our luck." Bronnikov said to the operator: "Send the report immediately."
A few minutes later, the operator received a call back: "Please identify yourself!"
"Call back: I am Lieutenant Colonel Bronnikov, chief of staff of the 19th Infantry Brigade."
Soon, the operator received another message: "Please state your identification number!"
After receiving Bronnikov's identification code, the other party sent another telegram: "How can I help you?"
"More than 2,000 of us are trapped by the Germans in the Kharkov Locomotive Factory. We are facing the situation of running out of ammunition and food. We hope that our superiors can find a way to replenish ammunition and supplies for us so that we can break out."
After a long wait, Bronnikov finally got the telegram he wanted: "The Air Force will airdrop supplies to your area at one o'clock in the morning. At that time, you can light a fire and indicate the airdrop target for the Air Force.
"
At one o'clock in the morning, when the roar of aircraft engines was heard in the night sky, Bronnikov immediately ordered his subordinates: "Immediately light the fire and indicate the empty target for the air force."
As the fire lit, Bronnikov's heart was filled with hope. He thought that as long as the transport plane hovering in the sky could drop a few barrels of fuel and the ammunition needed by the troops, the breakout could be stopped immediately. But what he didn't expect was that
Yes, when the transport plane lowered its altitude to perform airdrops, the place where the airdropped materials landed was not where the fire was lit, but the German defense zone outside the factory.
Seeing this scene, Bronnikov couldn't help being dumbfounded. He looked at the umbrella flowers blooming in the sky, carrying boxes of supplies, falling towards the German position, and murmured: "What the hell, what on earth is this?"
What's going on, why did you throw everything into the German defense zone?"
Captain Qi Wen, standing next to him, was stunned for a while, and then discovered the problem: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our superiors asked us to use fires to guide the air force for airdrops. But we have all forgotten that before dark, we had
There was a firefight with the Germans inside and outside the factory area. There were many burning buildings in the firefight area. Our air force may have regarded those as airdrop sites."
"Then what should we do?" After figuring out what was going on, Bronnikov stamped his feet anxiously, "In this case, wouldn't our supplies be cheaper than the Germans?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we can take advantage of the darkness to rush to the location where the supplies landed and try to grab some of them back." Captain Chiwen suggested to Bronnikov: "With this kind of supplies, we can get one more
It’s been a while.”
"Second Lieutenant," Bronnikov called the second lieutenant of the 17th Brigade and said to him: "I will give you fifty men. You must rush to the landing site of the supplies immediately and seize some of them at all costs."
The second lieutenant understood that this batch of supplies was related to the life and death of the troops in the factory area, so he quickly replied with a solemn expression: "Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I will definitely find a way to get more supplies back."
The Soviet transport planes airdropped supplies, which also alerted the enemies besieging the factory. Seeing the supplies falling from the sky, one after another falling into his defense area, Tansen immediately gave orders to his officers and soldiers, asking them to collect as many Soviet airdrops as possible as soon as possible.
Supplies. While the German officers and soldiers were collecting airdrop supplies, they encountered the Soviet troops who came to snatch the supplies. The two sides immediately started a fierce exchange of fire.
Whether it was Bronnikov or Tansen, when they heard the fierce gunfire and explosions outside, they immediately realized that their troops were exchanging fire with the enemy, and quickly sent reinforcements to reinforce them. As a result, it turned out that
It was a firefight between seventy and eighty people, and soon turned into a battle involving three to four hundred people.
While the fighting was raging outside, the militia captain said to Bronnikov: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, while the Germans' attention is attracted by the Second Lieutenant and the others, why not give me a team of people and I will take them to rob them in other directions.
Airdrop supplies.”
The militia captain's suggestion suddenly made Bronnikov's eyes light up. Yes, there was a fierce fighting outside now, and the attention of both sides was attracted to that direction. If they sent people to snatch supplies in other directions, they might actually succeed.
Thinking of this, he nodded and transferred a company to the militia captain to take him to rob supplies.
A few hours later, after the Soviet army suffered more than 100 casualties, the second lieutenant had to take the remaining people and withdrew to the temporary headquarters. He said to Bronnikov with a look of shame: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I'm sorry.
, I have failed to live up to your expectations. The enemy's defense is too tight, and we cannot get supplies at all."
"Comrade Second Lieutenant, there is no need to feel guilty." Bronnikov raised his hand and patted the other party on the shoulder, comforting him and saying, "Although your operation to snatch supplies failed, we now have sufficient supplies."
Hearing what Bronnikov said, the second lieutenant couldn't help but asked in surprise: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I don't understand what you mean. Didn't I tell you that our operation to seize supplies failed? Where did you get it?"
Have you obtained sufficient supplies?"
"While you were fighting with the enemy, I took advantage of the enemy's attention being drawn to your side, and sent out militiamen to collect airdrop supplies in the opposite direction." Bronnikov looked at the militia captain wearing a peaked cap.
, said with a smile: "They successfully completed the mission and brought us back more than a dozen barrels of fuel and a large amount of ammunition. In this way, whether we continue to stay in the factory or carry out a breakout, we don't have to worry about the emergence of
Insufficient ammunition."
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," just as Bronnikov was feeling complacent, Captain Chivin suddenly said: "There are hundreds of wounded people in the city. I want to ask, what should they do?"
"The lightly wounded who can still fight can break out with us." Bronnikov gritted his back teeth and said after hearing this troublesome question: "As for the wounded who can't move, we can only take them
Stay and hope the Germans can treat their injuries."
