The chief of staff reminded Paul Hausser: "Your Excellency General, according to the intelligence I have, there is also the 106th Infantry Division that has retreated from Donetsk in the Imperial Division's defense area. Do you want to ask them to send troops?
What about participating in the search operation?"
"Chief of Staff, what you said makes sense." The words of the Chief of Staff made Paul Hausser realize: "They will suffer defeat at the hands of the Russians at any time, but they still have at least several thousand troops. If they have
With their help, I think our chances of finding the Russians will be greatly improved."
"But we don't have the division's contact code." said the chief of staff: "To get help from this unit, you must first report to Marshal Manstein."
Paul Hausser said: "It's up to me to contact the marshal."
He used the high-frequency phone in the headquarters to dial Manstein's headquarters and said to the person who answered the phone: "I am Paul Hausser, please let Marshal Manstein answer the phone."
If someone else made a call at this time and disturbed the marshal's rest, he would definitely be reprimanded by the person who answered the phone. When Paul Hausser was heard, the person who answered the phone quickly said politely: "Your Excellency, General,
Please wait a moment, I will contact the marshal's adjutant immediately."
"Hello, General Hauser." Another voice soon came from the receiver: "I am Lieutenant Colonel Zepp, the adjutant of the marshal. Is there anything you want to report to the marshal?"
"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Zepp." Paul Hausser said: "I have particularly urgent military information that needs to be reported to the Marshal immediately. This is related to whether our army can capture the Red Army Village and Donetsk."
Lieutenant Colonel Zepp was unwilling to disturb Manstein's sleep at this time, but when he heard Paul Hausser talking about important military information related to the capture of the Red Army Village and Donetsk, he did not dare to neglect and hurriedly came
When he arrived at Manstein's bedroom, he woke him up from his sleep and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, Marshal, General Hauser has important military information to report to you."
Manstein, who had just been woken up from his sleep, was unhappy, but since it was Paul Hausser who had an important military intelligence report, he could only muster the energy to sit up and take the microphone from the adjutant's hand: "I
It's Manstein."
"Your Excellency, Marshal, I am Paul Hausser." Paul Hausser heard Manstein's voice and quickly reported to him: "Not long ago, a heartbreaking thing happened. The Imperial Division's
The German regiment was suddenly attacked by the Russians, and the regiment headquarters and an infantry battalion were almost completely destroyed."
"What, the regiment headquarters and an infantry battalion were completely wiped out?" When Manstein heard the news, he immediately became sober. He said excitedly: "Where were they attacked?" When he said this
, he made a gesture to the adjutant, indicating him to get the map.
After the map was spread out on the quilt, Manstein quickly found the location mentioned by Paul Hausser and said with some confusion: "Strange, this place is more than 20 kilometers away from the Red Army Village, how could it be attacked by the Russians?"
What about the attack?"
"After our analysis, the Russians should have used new rockets to attack the German regiment headquarters." Paul Hausser said: "Now I am preparing to dispatch troops to search that area to eliminate the infiltration of our troops.
Russians on the defensive line.”
"General Hausser, what you did is right. I also think it might be a small group of Russian troops that used that new rocket to attack the headquarters of the German regiment." Manstein stared at the map in front of him.
Said: "You should eliminate this group of Russians as quickly as possible to prevent them from causing more trouble to us."
"But, Your Majesty Marshal, our troops are too far away from the scene of the accident, and we won't be able to get there in a short while." Paul Hausser asked tentatively: "I wonder if you can send troops to help us?"
"None of your troops can rush over in time, and the troops I can command are further apart." Manstein felt a headache for Paul Hausser's request.
"However, there is a force in our defense area." Paul Hausser thought that Manstein was deliberately finding reasons for not wanting to help him, so he reminded him: "You can order them to come and assist us.
search."
"Are there troops operating in your defense area?" Manstein asked with some confusion: "General Hauser, which troops are you talking about? Why don't I have any impression at all?"
"Marshal, have you forgotten?" The more Hausser listened, the more he felt that Manstein was perfunctory. He quickly said: "They are the 106th Infantry Division that retreated from Donetsk. They are now in our
Within the defense zone.”
Manstein said in confusion: "Hell, how did the 106th Infantry Division enter your defense area?"
"Maybe they were worried about being pursued by the Russians, so they chose to move closer to us, but the Russians didn't dare to act rashly." Hauser said smartly: "Now, they can be put to good use."
"General Hausser, I don't know where you heard such wrong news." Manstein stared at the location of the 106th Infantry Division, which was hundreds of kilometers away from the Imperial Division's defense zone. Unless it was
With wings, otherwise it would be absolutely impossible to reach the Imperial Division's defense area in such a short period of time: "The 106th Infantry Division is currently a hundred kilometers to the west of you. You may mistake other troops for them."
"Other troops, where did the other troops come from in our defense area?" Hausser was confused by Manstein's words: "Marshal, are you really sure that the 106th Infantry Division is not within our defense area?"
"
"I'm absolutely sure, General Hausser." Manstein said firmly: "Since their attack on Donetsk failed, I ordered them to retreat towards Zaporozhye. Unless the division commander's nerves appear.
Otherwise, he will never walk hundreds of kilometers north and enter your defense zone."
"Since the 106th Infantry Division is not in our defense zone," Hauser said confusedly, "then where did the unit we saw come from?" After a moment, he thought of something.
A terrible possibility, "No, could it be a Russian impersonation?"
"It is entirely possible." Manstein nodded and said, "You know, the enemy you are facing is Sokov, the most difficult of the Russians. He likes to have his troops disguised as
Our army. He used this shameful little trick and caused us to suffer a lot. General Hauser, I think he used the same method this time to sneak into your defense area. Your original plan may have
To make adjustments, it is best to mobilize both the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division to encircle and suppress him."
Seeing that Manstein attached so much importance to a Russian, Hausser said somewhat casually: "Isn't he just a Russian colonel? If he has any ability, any division under my command can inflict heavy damage on him."
"General Hauser, your information is out of date." Manstein said to Hauser: "Not long ago, he was promoted to major general. And according to the intelligence we intercepted, you were encircling Rebar last time.
The reason why the Science and Technology Department was unexpectedly attacked on the eve of the attack was because of his idea."
Hausser was so angry at the thought of being driven out of the town of Valki by the Soviet army. At this moment, he learned that the action that caused his embarrassment was the damn Russian colonel. No, it was the Russian general who was behind the plan.
Serge couldn't help but blood rushed to his head: "Marshal, please rest assured, no matter how famous this Major General Sokov was before, now that he has entered my defense zone, I will never let him leave easily."
"When you need help, just call me." Before hanging up, Manstein said a final polite word: "I will try my best to provide you with support."
After Hausser put down the phone, he said to the Chief of Staff standing aside: "Chief of Staff, please immediately notify the three division commanders that there may be a Russian unit pretending to be our army and sneaking into our defense area, and ask them to be more vigilant, lest they
The tragedy of the German regiment happened again."
"Understood, General Hausser." The chief of staff replied quickly: "I will call the three division commanders immediately and convey your wishes to them."
Sokov did not know that his identity had been exposed, and he was still ordering the troops to advance to Ijum in the northwest according to the original plan. According to his idea, if possible, he would capture the city and then hand it over to
Golikov's troops, in this way, drove a wedge into the German defense line and fragmented their defense line.
However, at dawn, intensive gunfire suddenly came from the front. Sokov stood up straight on the armored vehicle, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. However, due to the obstruction of the forest, he could only see the billowing fire in front of him.
There was smoke and heavy gunfire.
"Here comes someone!" Sokov put down the telescope and shouted down. Soon a reconnaissance staff officer ran over, straightened up and asked: "Comrade division commander, what are your instructions?"
"Let's find out what's going on with the gunfire ahead, do you understand?"
"Understood, comrade division commander." The reconnaissance staff member agreed, turned around, got on a three-wheeled motorcycle, and rushed towards the direction where the gunfire came from.
But before the reconnaissance staff came back, the telegraph operator had already handed the telegram from Papuchenko into Sokov's hands: "Comrade division commander, this is the telegram from Colonel Papuchenko."
Sokov couldn't help but frown after receiving the telegram and reading the contents clearly: "Strange, Colonel Papuchenko said that when their leading troops were approaching the German position, the enemy suddenly opened fire on them and even interrogated them.
None, what on earth is going on?"
Sidorin took the telegram, read it twice carefully, and said to Sokov: "Comrade Division Commander, do you think the whereabouts of our army have been exposed?"
"Exposed?" Sokov asked in surprise: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why do you think so?"
"Comrade division commander, this is what I think about." Sidorin explained to Sokov: "Our army attacked a German regiment headquarters a few hours ago and caused quite a stir. If I were the enemy
If so, they will definitely send people to search nearby. Once they learn that there is a troop of tens of thousands of people operating in their defense area, they will definitely ask the other party to help search. But if you want to contact them and don’t have the other party’s contact code, what should you do?
What should I do? Naturally, I would report it to my superiors and ask them to let this force in their defense zone assist me in continuing the search for the sabotaging Russians.
But as soon as they contact their superiors, they will find that this army of tens of thousands of people can't find the number. In this way, no matter how stupid the Germans are, they will understand what is going on. They will find that the enemy has infiltrated their ranks.
In the defense zone, the best way is to fire immediately when you see unfamiliar troops appear. If there is a misunderstanding with friendly troops, then friendly troops will naturally find a way to contact you; but if the troops under attack do not respond, you can confirm that it is
If the enemy invades, you can call for more troops to come over to reinforce you."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what you said is very reasonable." After hearing Sidorin's analysis, Sokov felt that what the other party said was very close to the truth. After nodding in affirmation, he then asked: "Then tell me.
, what should we do next?”
"It is obviously unrealistic to continue to capture Izyum." Sidorin said to Sokov: "We might as well just toss around in the defense areas of these three German SS divisions and wait until they consume a lot of their effective strength.
After that, it’s not too late to return to the Red Army Village.”
"Now it seems that this is the only option." Sokov quickly made a decision. He took out the map and asked Sidorin: "Except the Imperial Division, where are the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division now?
Location?"
"The Skeleton Division is here, and the Flag Guard Division is here." After Sidorin easily pointed out the garrison locations of the two German divisions, he asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Division Commander, do you think we are acting in a unified manner?
Or should we disperse as a group?"
"Let's act in unison." Sokov felt that dispersed actions would make the German army focus on one thing and lose another, but at the same time it would weaken the combat effectiveness of the troops. Once they are encircled, even if they want to break out, it may be difficult to succeed. He
Said to Sidorin: "We divided the troops into three echelons. After selecting the target, we launched successive attacks on the German army. Now the enemy's troops are very scattered. I believe that no army can withstand our continuous attacks.
.”
"The 122nd Regiment at the front is exchanging fire with enemies who have discovered their identity," Sidorin reminded Sokov: "Do we need to send troops to support them?"
"We still don't know what kind of troop deployment the enemy has." Sokov said: "If the second echelon is invested too early, there will be a shortage of troops in the later stage. I think it is better to use new rockets.
Let's bring in the attacking troops to provide fire support."