"Gentlemen," the commander of the Flag Guard Division, Joseph Dietrich, is a ruthless character. It was under his leadership that the Flag Guard Division transformed from a vase unit into a fierce and fierce force in the German army.
After suffering such a big loss this time, he felt angry in his heart. After being silent for a moment, he said: "Before reporting this matter to General Hauser, we must first find out where the Russians went.
Where? After figuring out where they were going, we immediately chased them and defeated them, avenging our dead officers and soldiers."
"Based on the characteristics of their early activities, I judge that they must have gone to Ijumu." Imperial Division Commander Major General Val said: "I think we will be able to find their whereabouts as we advance north."
Colonel Shimon, as the lowest-ranking one among the three, waited for the two to finish speaking before he cautiously said: "Two generals, as far as I know, the Russian commander Sokov who is facing us is Manstein."
Because the marshal has repeatedly reminded us of the people we need to be careful about, I feel that the direction of his retreat may not be to the north."
"Instead of going north, how could it be going east?" Dietrich said angrily.
"Your Excellency General, I think this possibility is entirely possible." Colonel Shimon explained to Dietrich: "They only need to move more than thirty kilometers northeast to join their Southwest Front. If they really
They have also achieved a convergence, and the difficulty for us to deal with them will increase exponentially."
"No matter how many Russians there are, what's the use?" Dietrich said disdainfully: "Don't forget, in the past half month, our three divisions destroyed how many Russian troops. I don't know
Do you believe there is any Russian army in the world that can block the joint attack of our three divisions?"
Regarding Dietrich's arrogant statement, both Colonel Shimon and Major General Val showed disdain on their faces. Not to mention, Sokov relied on a 41st Guards Division to defeat him three times.
The division is playing around in circles. If he had more troops, he might be the one who suffers.
Although Shimon and Val both have thoughts in their hearts, they are all in the same group now, so naturally they cannot hurt each other's feelings by speaking out. Major General Val said cautiously: "General Dietrich, do you think we should send troops eastward?"
Search troops to find the whereabouts of the Russians?" After he finished speaking, he stared at Dietrich intently to see his reaction.
Dietrich also knew in his heart that if it were other Russian troops, after arranging him in this way, they would definitely continue to move in the direction of Izyum according to the original plan. But the enemy he faced at this moment was Lingmanstein.
Sokov, who is suffering from headaches, will definitely adopt unexpected tactics.
Thinking of this, he nodded and said to Major General Val: "Major General Val, please immediately send scouts to ride eastward on motorcycles to find the whereabouts of the Russians. Once we have the whereabouts of the Russians, the three of us will
We will rush over together to destroy them."
Not long after Major General Val's scouts were dispatched, Hausser arrived in Barvinkovo in an armored vehicle. Looking at the corpses on the ground, he asked the three division commanders who came to greet him with some annoyance: "Gentlemen, I want to hear
Please explain why our army suffered such heavy casualties here?"
"Your Excellency, General," Dietrich waited for Hauser to finish, and quickly defended: "Our troops encountered Sokov's elite troops. They have many new weapons, which can not only kill and injure our soldiers in large numbers, but also
It can easily destroy our tanks. We were caught off guard by him, which is why we suffered such heavy casualties."
After listening to Dietrich's explanation, Hausser stopped talking. He had long heard that during the Battle of Stalingrad, the troops defending Mamayev Heights had a new type of weapon that was extremely lethal.
It can attack one's own important targets anywhere. Yesterday, the headquarters of the German regiment was destroyed. It is said that it was attacked by this weapon.
Thinking of this, Hausser couldn't help but look up at the sky, worried that a similar rocket would fly towards him at this moment, and then explode his location into a sea of fire. Fortunately, it was quiet all around.
None of the weapons he was worried about appeared. After feeling a little relieved, he said to everyone: "Do you know where Sokov's troops have gone?"
"Report to your Excellency, General," Major General Val stepped forward and reported: "I have deployed scouts from the Armored Reconnaissance Battalion, riding motorcycles, to search north and east to find out where the Russians are going."
Seeing that his men had not even figured out the whereabouts of the Russians until now, Hausser was very angry. However, considering that his men had just lost the battle, if he scolded them in public, it would definitely have an impact on the morale of the troops.
Adverse effects, so the words changed again: "When can I get an accurate answer?"
"Your Excellency, General, I have sent the most elite scouts." Major General Val replied, "I believe they will be able to provide us with accurate intelligence in the shortest possible time."
"The shortest time?" After Hausser repeated Major General Val's words, he asked: "Major General Val, I hope you can give me an accurate time. Is it one hour, two hours, or even longer?"
Hausser's words stopped Major General Wahl. He said that his scouts would soon receive reconnaissance information, but it was just a customary statement. How could he know that Hauser would take it seriously and ask for the exact time seriously?
Seems a little embarrassed.
At this moment, one of his officers came out of an armored vehicle not far away and reported to him: "Your Excellency, division commander, there is a situation in the rear guard that I want to report to you."
"Rear guard?" Hearing what the officer said, Major General Val couldn't help but be filled with doubts. What would happen if the rear guard came to find him at this time? He came to the armored vehicle and took the earphone and microphone handed to him by the communications soldier.
, said loudly: "I am Major General Val, what happened to your rear guard?"
"Your Excellency, division commander," the person who called Major General Val was a deputy commander of the German regiment. Since the regiment suffered heavy losses, Major General Val asked them to serve as rearguard. At this moment, the deputy commander said anxiously: "We have been attacked.
When it comes to attack, I repeat, I'm under attack from the Russians, I'm asking for support, I'm asking for support."
"Lieutenant Colonel," Major General Val interrupted and asked, "Tell me, how many Russians are attacking you?"
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, there are a lot of people." The lieutenant colonel deputy commander replied in a panic: "According to my estimate, there are at least five to six thousand of them."
"What, there are five or six thousand people?" After hearing the deputy commander's report, Major General Val's first reaction was that the other party had made a mistake: "You must have made a mistake. How could there be so many Russians near you?"
Man, I think you must have made a mistake."
"That's right, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The deputy commander reported in a tearful voice: "I have observed through the telescope that the Russians attacked our regiment from several directions at the same time. We can't stop them at all. If
If you don't send reinforcements, we are in danger of being wiped out."
"What, thousands of Russians emerged from your rear guard?" When Hausser came over, he happened to hear the conversation between Major General Val and the deputy commander. He said in surprise: "Where did they come from?"
, why didn’t our scouts notice it at all? Did they fall from the sky?”
"General Hausser," Dietrich thought for a moment, immediately thought of a possibility, and said to Hausser: "The 41st Guards Division that was attacked by us disappeared under the cover of night. I see
Maybe he touched the rear of the Imperial Division."
"How is this possible?" Major General Val questioned Dietrich's statement: "It's a full 20 kilometers from here to the rear guard of our division. How did the Russians get there? Did they fly there?
?”
"Now that I think about it, the Russians may have started to advance towards the rear of your division after dark." Dietrich analyzed to Major General Wahl: "By now, they have just arrived at the rear of your division."
"I agree with General Dietrich." Colonel Shimon also echoed: "I think the main force of the Russians should have advanced towards the rear of the Imperial Division after dark."
"But haven't our troops been fighting against the Russians all the time?" Major General Val said reluctantly: "How could they advance towards the rear of our division immediately after dark?"
"Major General Val, haven't you understood yet?" Dietrich reminded him: "The Russian troops fighting with our two divisions were actually just a small force left behind by Sokov. He took advantage of the three of us.
The attention of every division was drawn to the opportunity of Barvinkovo, and he secretly led the main force of the division to the rear of your division and launched a surprise attack on the rearguard."
"Then what should we do?"
"What else can we do?" Seeing Major General Val's lost look, Dietrich said angrily: "Of course, send troops back immediately for rescue. You can't just watch the rearguard troops be wiped out by Sokov.
"
"Yes, I want to rush back for rescue immediately." Major General Val said, and before Hauser could speak, he began to give orders to his subordinates: "Each regiment immediately turned around and headed south to rescue our rearguard."
"General Dietrich," Hausser said to Dietrich while Major General Wahl was dispatching troops: "Immediately send out the Führer Regiment to take down the Imperial Division to eliminate the Russians who sneaked up on the rearguard.
force."
"Your Excellency General," Dietrich did not immediately agree to the order assigned to him by Hauser, but said cautiously: "Do you really think it is still too late for us to turn around and rescue the rearguard of the Imperial Division?
?”
"In any case, the Imperial Division is also one of the most elite troops in our army." Faced with Dietrich's doubts, Hausser said confidently: "Don't say thousands of Russians, even tens of thousands of Russians,
I believe they are fully capable of holding on until our reinforcements arrive."
"Okay, General." Although Dietrich felt in his heart that even if he sent troops to rescue him at this moment, he might not be able to make it in time, but since it was Hauser's order, he couldn't disobey it, so he could only say helplessly: "
I immediately went back to make arrangements and asked the Führer Regiment to follow the Imperial Division to rescue their rearguard."
Colonel Shimon, who left with Dietrich, asked in a low voice when Hausser and Val were not paying attention: "General, do you think you can really reach the rescue in time to rescue the Imperial Division if you go south now?"
Guard unit?"
"If it were other Russian troops that attacked the rear guard of the Imperial Division, then let alone starting now, even if it were a few hours later, it would still be too late. After all, you and I have fought against the Russians and know that their tactics are rigid. In order to get
We can take the trouble to launch attacks again and again on the next target." Dietrich sighed and said: "Unfortunately, the troops attacking them now are commanded by Sokov. If he finds that the attack in a place is not going well, he will
Continue to attack in a new place, his tactics make it difficult for us to defend against him."
Half an hour later, the Imperial Division, which had regrouped, turned around and headed south to rescue the rearguard troops under attack. Also accompanying them was the Führer Regiment belonging to the Flag Guard Division. Before the Führer Regiment set off, Dieter
Rishi specifically called the regiment commander aside and warned him: "Colonel, Sokov is full of tricks. If you rush to rescue the rearguard this time, be careful of being ambushed by them on the way."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," the head of the Führer Regiment said in surprise, "Do the Russians also know how to ambush our troops halfway?"
"Colonel, I can only tell you that most Russian commanders have not learned the tactic of ambush until now. They will only fight positional warfare with our army. But the opponent you face this time is Russia.
Sokov is the most troublesome person in the army, so it is absolutely necessary to remain vigilant."
"I understand, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The person who can become the leader of the Führer Regiment will naturally not be an idiot. After hearing what Dietrich said, he immediately realized that his troops might be in danger during the march.
When encountering the Russians, he quickly assured Dietrich: "I will send the vanguard to explore the road in front, and the large force will follow slowly behind. Since the vanguard was ambushed by the Russians, we can rush over as soon as possible."
Support them."
"Colonel, you are right if you think so." Dietrich nodded slightly and said to the regiment commander: "Your regiment is the most elite regiment in our division, and I don't want you to suffer any losses."
"Don't worry, Your Excellency, Division Commander." Seeing Dietrich's repeated warnings to him, the regiment leader realized the seriousness of the problem and replied with a serious expression: "I will definitely bring the entire regiment back safely, don't worry."
After saying that, he raised his hand and saluted Dietrich, opened the door and got into the barrel truck to catch up with the troops marching ahead.