The reinforced Lebato position could not hold for long. After two hours, the commander of the regiment, Zhutorov, who was unable to fight anymore, retreated towards Ukrainka with his few remaining troops.
The 1st Armored Division, which had completed pulling out the surrounding strongholds, was even less likely to give the enemy time to rest and follow up immediately. The battle in Ukraineka started immediately.
However, unlike positional combat, the battle in Ukraine was not that fierce. The main reason was that the morale of the defeated soldiers was not high. Although there was a bonus for street fighting, the strength of the troops and the low morale greatly reduced the effectiveness of street fighting. Moreover, the veterans had previously
The huge loss is also the main reason.
So at four o'clock in the afternoon, the 35th Division was driven out of Ukraine.
When news of the fall of Ukraine's Kabul reached the headquarters in Alexandria, Timoshenko, the commander, slammed the table in anger.
"How did Dobarev become a division commander? He didn't even stop the enemy for a day. Does he know that he is giving the enemy a chance? This is a crime."
Timoshenko couldn't help but get angry. In his plan, he only needed the 35th Division to hold off the enemy for one day, and then reinforcements from Kirovograd would arrive, enough to block the Romanian attack. Then he would launch an attack on New Bug on the left
The pincer offensive restrains the enemy and forces the enemy to confront him head-on. At this time, he will rely on the superiority of troops and artillery to give the Romanians a taste of the iron fist of communism.
Now, with the defeat of the 35th Division, Kirovograd in the rear is exposed to the Romanian troops. More importantly, the reinforcements of the 17th Division and the 51st Division are trapped in a situation where they cannot advance or retreat.
Although he has not personally experienced the power of armored divisions on the battlefield, during the Soviet-Polish War, the First Cavalry Group Army he was in was attacked by an armored brigade, and his power is still fresh in his memory.
The retreat of the 35th Division harmed its own reinforcements.
Timoshenko was not optimistic at all whether the two divisions could block the attack of the enemy's armored division in the wilderness. Although he had a battalion of MS-1 tanks, how could this imitation of the Renault 17 be the enemy's?
Against an opponent with more than ten tons of tanks, anyone can see the difference in fire protection.
"So what should we do now? Moscow is still waiting for good news from us."
The political commissar couldn't help but ask about Timoshenko. This battle had received close attention from above. If the two of them messed up, no one would have the confidence to face Stalin's stern gaze.
"Now we can only find ways to remedy it."
When Timoshenko faced the political commissar, he could only think of remedial measures first. "Send a report to the 17th Division and the 51st Division and tell them to deploy defenses in place to resist the upcoming Romanian offensive."
Hearing Timoshenko's words, the political commissar couldn't bear it. "It's too casual for them to let them deploy their defenses in this way."
"Otherwise? Let them return to Kirovograd. Can they run over the wheels with their two legs? Instead of being attacked by enemy tanks in the wilderness, it is better to let them set up defenses like this. At least it can help Kirovograd first
Block it."
Brother Timoshenko has learned the true meaning of loving without commanding troops, and he immediately makes a choice as soon as he sees something wrong. Although this is not good for the reinforcements of the two divisions, this is the best way at the moment. They are all his own subordinates. If there is no way, whoever wants to
Their sacrifice was in vain.
"In addition, the 29th Division and the 37th Division are ordered to immediately reinforce Kirovograd and must arrive before sunset tomorrow."
Timoshenko is now beginning to consider the defense of Kirovograd. The 29th Division and the 37th Division are the closest units to Kirovograd. He originally planned to use the two divisions as flanking forces. But now
With the fall of Ukraine, Kirovograd was threatened by the enemy, and now he could only devote himself to Kirovograd to defend this strategically important city.
Kirovograd must not be occupied by the enemy, otherwise his headquarters will be under threat from the Romanians. At the same time, the enemy will also cut off the railway line from Kiev to the front line.
Moreover, your troops will also be divided into two non-connected parts. Then this battle will not need to be fought, and there will be no alternative but to retreat.
If he fails to live up to Moscow's expectations, his fate will be unpredictable.
"In addition, we ordered the troops on the Brinetz front line to dispatch the 11th Division back to Alexandria, and ordered the 19th Army and the 23rd Army to dispatch two divisions to form a rapid force, and have them rush to Kilowog on a starry and night journey.
Le.”
Listening to Timoshenko's words, the political commissar on the side couldn't help but said, "Are you afraid that Kirovograd won't be able to hold it?"
Timoshenko, who looked sad, did not deny it. "Yes."
As a qualified commander, Timoshenko naturally knows the principle of calculating defeat before calculating victory. But this time the 35th Division failed to block the enemy for even a day, then how terrible the opponent's attack power will be. Now he is facing Kilo
Vogler lacks confidence in his defensive ability. Although after adding the 29th Division and the 37th Division, there are three divisions defending here, he still has no confidence.
Following Timoshenko's order, the Soviet army also made adjustments following the fall of Ukraine.
As for Lieutenant General Hoffman who was in Ukraine, he was also saddened by the news.
"More than 30 tanks were destroyed in this battle. It seems that the armored division's local attack capabilities are still far behind."
Hoffman held the list of losses and sighed.
"There is nothing we can do about it. In fact, we have done a good job. If it were an infantry division, it would take at least one day of fighting."
Guderian on the side interrupted and said.
At this moment, a staff officer boarded the command vehicle with a note. "Report, the intelligence just obtained. Our plane discovered the Soviet troops 25 kilometers east of Ukraine, with a strength of 20,000."
about."
As soon as he heard about the situation, Hoffman immediately took the note. This was a piece of information discovered by a reconnaissance plane, which showed that a large enemy force of about 20,000 was found between Ukraine's Kasbah and Kirovograd. The enemy was found
The reconnaissance plane circled above it for a while and then flew to Ukraine and dropped the news with a bucket. So the staff officer who got the news quickly informed Lieutenant General Hoffman of the information.
And Hoffman couldn't help but laugh when he saw this intelligence. "This group of enemies should want to reinforce Ukrainian Ka, but we didn't expect that we captured this place so quickly, making these people unable to advance or retreat."
Guderian also asked with a smile on his face. "Do you want to accept this big gift or not?"
"Why don't you accept it? Since Timoshenko is so polite, I can't waste his kindness."
Lieutenant General Hoffman turned around and ordered. "Immediately order everyone to end their rest and march towards Kirovograd. Let's go and eat this enemy. In addition, send a report to the commander of the Fifth Division, Major General Fergus, asking him to
We can send two regiments of troops to follow our division."
"yes."
This time, thanks to Hoffman, the entire fifth division got into cars and followed the armored division, and they contributed a lot in the battle to conquer Ukraine. Naturally, they couldn't forget about the enemy when it came to eating meat this time.
Following Hoffman's order, the Armored Division, which had taken a short break, took part of the 5th Division and rushed towards the Soviet officers and soldiers of the 17th Division and 51st Division. I believe this will be a hearty battle.
