Chapter 1049 Breaking the Bloodline (Part 2)

"Commanders, if we want to defeat the enemy, we can't just rely on frontal combat. We have to send a small team to go deep behind the enemy's rear." Sukov thought of the Brandenburg team that was wiped out that day, and decided to follow suit. Use the same method to deal with the enemy: "The commanders and fighters sent to the enemy's rear must not only have rich combat experience, but also need everyone to understand German, so that they will not be easily seen by the enemy after wearing German uniforms."

   "Comrade Commander," Colonel Gorishny couldn't help asking curiously upon hearing Sokov's strange order, "Why must all the soldiers sent to the enemy's rear know German?"

"A few days ago, the German army sent a Brandenburg squad to try to assassinate me and throw our army into chaos. It's only because we found and eliminated them that we didn't make a big mistake," Sokov said. Not only Gorishne had doubts, but other commanders also had doubts, so he took the opportunity to explain to everyone: "Think about it, if all the soldiers we send can speak German, they can completely pretend to be the enemy's orders. Soldiers, giving the enemy all kinds of wrong orders; or wearing German uniforms and continuing to attack everywhere, making the enemy feel insecure. If the enemy's rear becomes a mess, they can only deploy troops to maintain stability in the rear. When the time comes to attack us, the number of enemies will be greatly reduced."

  After Sokov’s explanation, the division commanders present finally understood why the soldiers sent to the enemy’s rear needed to understand German. It turned out that the commander wanted to turn the enemy’s rear upside down. They stood up one after another to express their views, saying that when they returned to the army, they would immediately select suitable candidates and send them to the enemy's rear to perform tasks.

After listening to the statements of the divisions, Sokov continued: "Comrades, I just want to remind you: now we are competing with the enemy for time, and we will send small units to disrupt the enemy's rear earlier. The younger the threat we receive, the more conducive it is for us to grasp the initiative on the battlefield.”

  ...

  Just as Sokov's subordinates returned to their respective troops and began to select soldiers who went deep behind the enemy's rear, Popov's troops began to break through.

This original group of four tank corps and one infantry corps had only 137 tanks left after repeated fierce battles, only six motorized battalions capable of fighting, and the rest were left empty. serial number. Due to the exhaustion of fuel, many tanks could not be activated. In this case, Popov decisively decided that the infantry would be the vanguard of the breakout, while all the tanks would stay in place to confuse the enemy and prevent them from breaking out. detected prematurely by the enemy.

  The German forces that besieged Popov's fast group were the 7th and 11th Armored Divisions, the Viking Division, and the 333rd Infantry Division that was disabled by Sokov's troops. The enemy believed that Popov and the others would either continue to advance towards Zaporozhye or break out in the direction of Izyum, so they concentrated their main forces in these two directions. On the way to the east, except for the 333rd Infantry Division, which is more than 100 kilometers away, there are only some company-sized troops.

  The commander of the breakout vanguard battalion was Captain Belko. With the help of the cover of night, he led the entire battalion's commanders and fighters, and quietly approached a defensive area of ​​the enemy. Looking at the barbed wire fence stretched on the road in the distance, the sandbag fortifications on the hillside, and the black hole of the machine gun muzzle, he said to several company commanders under his command: "Comrades, in order not to expose the target prematurely, we must adopt the method of sneak attack." , Destroy this enemy blocking our way."

  The German troops stationed here never dreamed that the Soviet army would choose this direction to break through. They just fired flares into the air every quarter of an hour as usual.

  The flares rising into the air, illuminating the surrounding snow as bright as day. The Soviet commanders and fighters who were crawling towards the enemy's position stopped quickly and lay motionless on the snow to avoid being discovered by the enemy. When the light dimmed, they continued to climb forward.

  Everything seemed to be going well, but when the soldiers continued to climb towards the enemy's position along the cut barbed wire, they accidentally triggered a mine in the minefield.

  The explosion in the minefield alarmed the German soldiers who hadn't slept yet. The machine gun deployed on the hillside immediately fired at the position where the flames rose. The newly installed MG42 machine guns of the German army were firing frantically, and the bullets hit the snow powder and mud on the ground flying around.

Belko saw that the enemy's machine gun fire blocked the way forward for the soldiers, and knowing that a sneak attack was no longer realistic, he decisively ordered the nearby light and heavy machine guns to fire, suppressing the enemy's machine gun fire, and covering the troops trapped in the minefield to rush up .

   The troops standing here are officers and soldiers of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion of the 11th Armored Division of the German Army. The German company commander staying in the command post heard the intensive gunfire from the hillside, and immediately realized that he had been attacked by the regular Soviet army. He quickly called the battalion headquarters and reported to the battalion commander everything that happened here.

  After hearing this, the battalion commander immediately shouted at him: "Captain, you must hold your position at all costs. I will send troops to reinforce you immediately."

  After the battalion commander put down the phone, he immediately arranged for the second company to rush to support the first company that was being attacked, and then he called the division headquarters to report what happened here. The division chief of staff, Colonel Wenk, answered the phone. When he learned that the defense area of ​​the 61st Motorcycle Battalion had been attacked by the Soviet army, he couldn't help being surprised, and quickly asked: "Major, how many Russians attacked your defense area? How many of them are there?" Is it a heavy weapon?"

"There are a lot of people." The battalion commander had just asked the company commander about the battle situation in detail, and knew a little about the situation in the firefighting area. Hearing the question from the division chief of staff, he quickly replied: "Except for machine guns, there are no heavy weapons. "

   "So did you take any measures?"

   "I have sent the second company to reinforce the attacked first company." The battalion commander reported: "I believe that the second company will be able to reach the destination in a short time."

   "You keep a close eye on the movement, and report to me at any time if there is any new situation." Colonel Wenk said: "I will report this situation to the teacher immediately."

  After putting down the phone, Wenk quickly came to the house of the division commander, General Balck, and knocked on the door: "Mr. Commander, the information is not good. Our troops are under attack by the Russians."

  Balk, who was just lying on the bed, heard Wenke's voice, and came to the door in his pajamas. After he opened the door, he said with concern: "We were attacked by Russians somewhere."

   "Your Excellency, Commander," Wenk reported, "The defense area of ​​the 61st Motorcycle Battalion has been attacked by the Russians, and their offensive is still extremely fierce."

   "The defense area of ​​the 61st Motorcycle Battalion?" Balk was taken aback for a moment, and then asked, "Aren't they stationed on the east side of the Russians? How could they be attacked by the Russians?"

"I think the Russians may have discovered that we have deployed heavy troops on their retreat route, so they chose the direction of the breakout to the east." Wenk said: "Mr. Commander, I suggest sending troops to reinforce immediately to prevent Russia from People protrude from our encirclement from the east."

"I don't think it will be reported for the time being." Balck waved his hand and said, "At present, we don't know whether the Russians who attacked the 61st Motorcycle Battalion were just a small unit's temptation, or were they really trying to break out? If it was just a sneak attack, we have to report the situation in a hurry, which may affect the correct judgment of Your Excellency the Marshal."

   "Okay, sir." Seeing that Balck was not willing to report the news for the time being, Wenk also felt that there was no need to report it in a hurry without fully understanding what was going on. He hesitated for a moment, and then said: "I will keep in touch with the 61st Motorcycle Battalion, so that I can keep abreast of the battle situation there."

  (end of this chapter)