The commando led by Scott was stopped by the Wehrmacht who had come to their senses. For Herbert, who had already expected that this might happen, it was not a big surprise.
Correspondingly, Herbert's side was of course also prepared. The reinforcements were actually ready when Scott led the team to set off, and they waited for an emergency to come from the front line and rushed to rescue people.
"Move the prepared reinforcements up to support, tell Hermann that his armored forces must fight quickly, and bring Scott's commando team and the fuel back to me intact. Time is running out, and we still have to pick up the pieces.
The next action must be carried out.”
"I understand, let's convey it now."
Looking at the departing back of the communications staff officer as he took the order, Herbert's eyes were a bit indescribably complicated. He didn't know what he was thinking about at the moment. It was obvious that what really worried him was something else.
"It seems that those Russian guys were not fooled. General, what should we do next?"
The person who asked Herbert the question was his adjutant. Basically, everyone who could reach the position of adjutant to the SS general was good at observing people's emotions and could figure out what was going on. Herbert's adjutant was only 32 years old.
He is such a smart person.
"Originally we didn't plan to expect that the Russians would be fooled. This was just an additional goal. Our main goal remains the same, to grab enough fuel and then launch troops to fight out. The few Wehrmacht troops who were unwilling to surrender have already joined us.
Now we have more than 15,000 troops at our disposal, which is enough to open a hole and rush out. The premise is that we must act quickly."
Although it can be seen that he is slightly disappointed, Herbert's overall mental state is still very energetic, and his voice is full of confidence. Now he still has not lost his due part as an SS general.
The ability to take action and absolute confidence are his greatest assets in commanding the troops to continue fighting.
As Vatutin had guessed earlier, the cunning and cunning Herbert was indeed trying to lure the Russians out of their holes with this puzzling sudden exchange of gunfire and gunfire.
A plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
If this plan succeeds, Herbert can immediately command the well-prepared elite SS troops to attack through the gaps and gaps exposed by the Red Army's movement and attack. No matter how powerful the field troops are, in the dark of the night, they can't
There was absolutely no way they could move seamlessly and attack them without exposing any of their weaknesses. Herbert didn't believe those Russians could have such extraordinary abilities.
However, the development of the situation obviously did not go according to Herbert's wishes. The Russians on the opposite side still did not make any movement nearly half an hour after the sound of exchange of fire was heard. They did not even launch an artillery preparation before starting the attack. This clearly shows that
No offensive actions are planned.
In short, Herbert's plan to kill two birds with one stone, that is, to seize the oil and lure the Russians to take the bait, failed. At most, he could only succeed in one of the two: to seize the oil from the Wehrmacht, which had the highest degree of completion.
Just this fifty percent, no more.
It sounded bad, but it also made Herbert admire the commander of the Russians opposite him even more.
If the previous intelligence was correct, and the Russians did not change their commanders before the battle, the commander of the Russian troops who have been fighting fiercely with our side for these days should be Vatutin. The troops under his command were adapted from the Soviet Army Group in the South of Kursk.
The Ukrainian 1st Front Army that came over had quite a lot of combat experience and tenacious combat effectiveness, and was very difficult to deal with.
"Vatutin...Vatutin, I heard that this man's evaluation by Stalin is not even lower than that of Zhukov. He is the most popular senior general in Russia. During the previous battle on the southern front of Kursk, I heard that
It was he who defeated the three elite divisions of the SS and escaped back in embarrassment. The three divisions of the SS, the Skeleton and the Reich combined did not achieve a breakthrough. Now it seems that he is indeed well-deserved and has some abilities."
By this time in 1944, the German army's intelligence system had actually become a sieve. The intelligence and espionage network deployed in Russia was almost uprooted by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and disconnected in various ways. There was even a lack of informants who betrayed their superiors.
The emergence of the situation with the contact point really dealt a fatal blow to the German intelligence network against Russia that was already imperfect and full of loopholes.
One of the consequences of this is that the German generals on the front line have very little intelligence about their opponents, and they are full of jokes. Many times the so-called "latest intelligence" is old sesame seeds and rotten millet from 1943 or even 1942.
, it has not been updated in half a year.
What's even more funny is that for some Red Army commanders who deserve special attention, because the Germans really couldn't collect valuable information and intelligence, they had no choice but to listen to Russian radio broadcasts and try to get Soviet newspapers to understand the situation.
By looking at what the newspapers and radio said about a certain Russian commander, and then piecing together some old information from the past, you can get a rough understanding.
For example, some of Vatutin's latest situations were summarized by the German army in this ridiculous way. Herbert, who felt embarrassed and numb because of this incident, was too lazy to complain anymore, and just spoke from his heart.
In my heart, I am a little more interested and approving of Vatugin, who has not fallen into his trap, and I feel that he is well-deserved, nothing more.
"In fact, General. Compared with this Vatutin, you should pay more attention to Malashenko, the major general commander of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division, nicknamed the "Steel Butcher."
"The negotiating team sent by Stemmermann was scolded by Malashenko on the spot. At Prokhorovka on the southern front of Kursk, it withstood the offensive of three elite SS divisions for a whole day and night.
It’s this guy. If it weren’t for him, the Battle of Prokhorovka would never have ended like that. We could at least seize this theater and try to advance northward.”
"Those losers at the General Staff of the National Defense Forces have a high opinion of Malashenko. They believe that Vatutin can be appreciated by Stalin at least half of the credit of Malashenko. They say that he is Vatutin's "fire captain"
.This bastard Russian guy is now in the encirclement troops. If we encounter him during the breakout operation, the situation will become very difficult."
The adjutant, who had a close personal relationship with Herbert, expressed his true thoughts without any reservations. Herbert, who saw his two sly little eyes rolling under the lenses, quickly thought about it.