Major Paul commanded a pretty good battle. Although the German army was defeated in the end, it caused a certain amount of losses to the Soviet army and delayed time.
This enabled the German third battalion to successfully escape from the Soviet encirclement... The Soviet army was surrounded by German troops from both sides of the road towards the center of the road. Because they had to move forward while clearing mines, they could only follow behind the T26 mine clearing tank, which was not very fast.
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The reason why they were able to successfully encircle the German army before was mainly because they caught the German army off guard... The German army was advancing north and the Soviet army was encircling it south. Since the two armies were facing each other, it was natural for them to encircle them.
However, the German 2nd Battalion used correct tactics and successfully delayed the Soviet army for a period of time, which gave the German 3rd Battalion time to retreat.
During this period, Major General Andreas retreated 20 kilometers to a small town called Sopakwei, and assembled the infantry regiment and armored battalion in the hope of forming a line of defense to block the Soviet attack. After all, they had broken away from this small town.
Trapped in a minefield.
This can be said to be a kind of arrogance of the German armored divisions. Although they knew that their tanks could not compete with the T34, they fought all the way to Moscow and had almost no generals. They still thought that they could defeat the opponent from the psychological commanding heights.
But when Major General Andreas reported to Guderian, he was criticized unceremoniously by Guderian.
"Who do you think you are?!" Guderian said: "Do you think you can stop the 'T34 Force'? Do you think you can stop those tanks?"
"But General!" Major General Andreas said still unconvinced: "They don't have many tanks. We also have two tank battalions. Our troops and tanks are twice theirs..."
"This is not a matter of troops and tanks, you idiot!" Guderian yelled: "Do you think you can stop their attack with the strength of two tank battalions? You must be guarding the road and railway, right?
"
"Yes, General!" Major General Andreas replied.
"Don't you understand?" Guderian said: "They have mine-clearing tanks, mine-clearing tanks that can clear mines quickly, and the ice and snow also freeze the muddy ground, which means they don't need to rely on roads and railway lines to maneuver.
They will appear in any direction, you know? Any direction, and they will even bypass you and attack you from behind!"
Hearing this, Major General Andreas couldn't help but be speechless. He really didn't expect this, so obviously Guderian was right. The Soviets could attack them from any direction, and the German 3rd Armored Division currently
The strength of the troops is simply not enough to defend every direction...
"Retreat immediately!" Guderian ordered: "Retreat all the way to Tula, relying on the lakes and rivers in Tula to build a defense line!"
"Yes, General!" Major Andreas responded, and then shouted an order to the German soldiers who were building fortifications: "Ignore those fortifications and continue to retreat!"
But at this time it was no longer so easy for them to retreat to Tula.
Of course Shulka took this into consideration... He finally tricked the 3rd Armored Division into entering with a trick of "luring the enemy deep". There was no way to let them out just like that.
Zahakavich arranged an ambush at Pukano, not far south of Sopak.
This ambush is the 7th Civil Defense Division that was defeated when it blocked the German army.
Their main task was actually not to stop the German army from advancing, but to convince the German army that the presence of Soviet civil defense divisions here was normal...an entire civil defense division was defeated by the German army, and of course some troops would disperse nearby.
Of course, most of the officers and soldiers of the Civil Defense Division did not know this, so it was indeed chaotic when they retreated. Just like the German army described, many people broke into the minefield and stepped on their own mines.
But precisely because of this, the German army did not take this unit seriously.
The combat effectiveness of this unit is indeed not strong, and it is indeed not enough if used to intercept the German 3rd Armored Division.
The problem is that they don't need to "intercept", but only "block".
The 7th Civil Defense Division was quickly reorganized. They gathered more than a thousand people, including some newly joined civilians... Originally, the Civil Defense Division was organized by civilians who trained for a few days, so they joined the civilians while training.
There is nothing wrong with fighting.
It didn't take much effort for this team to defeat the German special operations teams that followed and were stationed in villages and towns... The German army usually only deployed one company in a group of villages and towns, and in some places only deployed one platoon.
How could the strength of this company withstand an attack of more than a thousand people, even if these more than a thousand people were poorly trained civil defense divisions or even civilians.
Then, from Pucano southward to Tula, there are seven buried underground warehouses dug and marked along railways and roads.
The task of the Civil Defense Division is to remove large quantities of landmines stored in underground warehouses and bury them on roads and railways.
Of course, Major General Andreas did not know this at this time. They only received reports that the rear was being attacked by enemy guerrillas.
Major General Andreas did not take this seriously at first.
Not to mention guerrillas, even the Russian regular army is nothing. The only thing they are afraid of is the Russian Fourth Tank Brigade, the Fourth Tank Brigade!
When he thought of the Fourth Tank Brigade, Major General Andreas gritted his teeth with hatred. If it hadn't been for them, if it hadn't been for those demining tanks... they would have already entered the Moscow gate by now!
However, now all this can only become a dream.
Major General Andreas knew that this was likely to become a lifelong regret for him!
But Major General Andreas soon realized that things were not that simple, because at this moment there was a "boom" explosion from the front.
Major General Andreas, who was directing the retreat on a Panzer III tank, immediately picked up the walkie-talkie and asked: "What's going on? Why was there an explosion?"
"Mine, General!" one of his subordinates replied: "Anti-tank mine!"
Major General Andreas couldn't help but be surprised and asked: "Is it a landmine or..."
"I don't know, General!"
Major General Andreas gritted his teeth and then ordered: "Keep moving forward!"
There was a "boom", followed by several more explosions.
Then Major General Andreas' heart sank to freezing point, and he knew that his way back had been blocked.
Sure enough, I heard the voice of my subordinates coming from the walkie-talkie: "General, there are mines everywhere, we have no way out!"
At this time, Andreas wished he had a demining tank owned by the Russians, so that they could escape.
But now...he could only look at the snow in front of him and sigh helplessly.