The German officers and soldiers who were fleeing south had no idea that their commander Hott had abandoned them and escaped from another place where the Soviet troops were not stationed. They were still retreating south along the road to Bel in accordance with the original order.
Gorod.
Under the cover of artillery fire and tanks, the commanders and fighters of the 27th Army launched an attack on the fleeing enemies.
If the Soviet army sets up blocking positions in the front, more and more enemies will be blocked from retreating. In order to escape, these enemies may jump over the wall in a hurry, causing heavy casualties to the troops tasked with blocking.
But now, Sokov is implementing pursuit tactics and does not set up any blocking positions in front. In this way, the fleeing enemies see a glimmer of hope. They have no intention of stopping and fighting. They just want to run faster.
Escape from this hellish area as soon as possible.
The enemies who were the first to retreat to Yakovlevo originally wanted to establish defensive positions here in accordance with Hott's order. However, as soon as they entered the town, Soviet artillery fire followed, killing the officers and soldiers who were preparing to repair the fortifications.
The bombing made ghosts cry and wolf howl. Seeing that there was no way to set up defenses here, the German officers and soldiers could only continue to flee south.
Although there were still some brave German officers and soldiers who stayed behind to try to pursue the Soviet commanders and soldiers in order to buy time for their own lives to escape. However, the Guards Tank Corps, which was leading the attack from the front, used tank guns to attack the improvised blockade constructed by the Germans.
The position was bombarded.
Often as soon as the bombardment ended, groups of Soviet soldiers rushed forward, and the rising seawater drowned the remaining German officers and soldiers.
Several of the most powerful armored divisions and infantry divisions of the German army were unable to establish defensive positions in the face of this Soviet offensive. The officers and soldiers who had lost their organizational structure could only run backwards, hoping to run faster than others.
, you can escape the fate of being killed or captured.
Sokov, who was staying at the headquarters, knew from the battle reports coming from the battlefield that the fleeing German army consisted of two armored divisions and three infantry divisions, and that the 11th and 17th Armored Divisions were still using alternate cover.
Gradually evacuate the Oboyan area.
After reading the battle report, Samyko asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, the German 11th and 17th Armored Divisions have been separated from their main forces. Do you think we can think of a way to bring these two armored divisions together?"
Will the armored division also stay?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you can eat as much food as your belly has." Unexpectedly, Sokov waved his hands and said, "We have put all our strength into chasing the fleeing enemy, and there is simply no surplus available.
strength. In my opinion, we should leave the task of destroying these two German armored divisions to the friendly forces."
Seeing that Sokov did not intend to allocate troops to deal with the 11th and 17th Armored Divisions, Samyko said nothing more. He knew very well that Sokov's decision was completely correct. If he wanted to allocate troops to block the German attack,
With two armored divisions, the troops that are conducting pursuit operations will be weakened, which may affect the subsequent operations.
"By the way, Comrade Chief of Staff." Sokov suddenly thought of a key question: "Where are Holt and his Chief of Staff Merinjin? Are they with the main force withdrawing south, or are they with the two armored divisions?
?”
"Unclear." Sameko shook his head and replied: "So far, we have not received any news about Huot. I estimate that he may be in the troops on the south side."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Lunev couldn't help but interject after hearing what Samyko said: "If Holt is really among the troops retreating south, after the battle is over, the commanders and soldiers must carefully identify the corpses on the battlefield. Look.
Was he killed by our army during the retreat?"
"Okay, Comrade Military Commissar." Samyko readily agreed to Lunev's proposal: "I will notify all participating troops and ask them to carefully observe the corpses on the battlefield to see if Hott is among them."
Just as several people were discussing whether Hott had escaped or died in the chaos, a combat staff officer came over with a telegram and reported to Sameko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I just received a message from the commander of the 384th Division.
Incoming telegram."
"A telegram from Major General Gritsenko?" Samyko had a surprised expression on his face when he heard what the staff officer said: "Is it because their division is short of troops and they specifically sent a telegram to request us to add troops to them?"
"I don't think so." Sokov, who was looking at the map, raised his head and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, stop guessing. You will know after reading the contents of the telegram."
Sameko agreed, brought the telegram to his eyes, and read it carefully. After he read the contents of the telegram, he couldn't help but be shocked: "Comrade Commander, Holt has run away!"
"Holt ran away?"
"Ran!"
"How did you run away?" Sokov asked a little unhappy.
"After our general attack began, a regiment of the 384th Division suffered heavy casualties in the early blocking battle. The entire regiment had less than 300 people left and was unable to participate in the attack on the enemy." Samyko reported to Sokov.
Said: "Then the regiment leader took his men to search nearby, and found a large number of discarded tanks, armored vehicles and barrel trucks, as well as a group of wounded people in a forest. After interrogation, it was discovered that Huote had brought two hundred
Many officers and soldiers escaped westward through forests and swamps."
"What, Hott escaped?" Lunev suddenly became anxious after hearing what Samyko said, and quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I think we should send troops to pursue him, and we must capture Hott alive."
"Comrade Military Commissar, it's too late to chase now." Sokov shook his head and said: "And the forest is so big, how do we know where Hot is now? There are fewer people going, and we may suffer a loss; if we go,
If there are too many people, it will affect the general attack we are launching at the moment."
"Are we going to let Hott escape like this?" Sammeko asked unwillingly.
"There is no way." Sokov shrugged, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "This can only mean that Huot's life should not be cut off, since he can escape from a direction without our army's defense."
"Then if the superiors ask questions, how should we answer?"
Sometimes the more worried you are about something, the next thing will happen. Samek was worried about his superiors holding him accountable when the phone on the table rang. Sokov picked up the phone and heard Zhukov's voice coming from it: "
Misha, how is your battle going?"
Upon hearing the call from Zhukov, Sokov quickly stood up, straightened his back and replied: "Reporting to Comrade Marshal, our attack has completely disrupted the German retreating troops. Now their three infantry divisions and two
An armored division has fallen into complete chaos and is fleeing southward along the highway in embarrassment, being pursued by our army."
"Well done!" After Zhukov praised Sokov, he asked the question he was most concerned about: "Is there any hope of surviving Hot?"
"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal, we can't." Sokov knew that if he wanted to prevent his superiors from holding him accountable after the battle, he had to tell the truth to Zhukov: "According to the intelligence we just obtained, Hott has already brought a
The small force escaped westward through the forests and swamps."
"Hmm?! Holt escaped?"
"Yes, escaped!"
"How did he escape?" Zhukov asked dissatisfiedly when he learned that the cooked duck flew away.
"According to what we learned from interrogating the prisoners," Sokov knew that if he did not explain clearly to Zhukov, he might cause the other party to become furious, so he quickly explained: "When Holt and the members of the headquarters were retreating, they saw the troops in front.
After being attacked by us, he knew that if he continued to move forward, he would either be captured or die in the chaos, so he abandoned the accompanying tanks, armored vehicles and barrel trucks, as well as a group of wounded people, and took more than 200 officers and soldiers with him.
Fleeed westward through the forest."
"Then did you send anyone to chase him?"
"No." Sokov replied simply: "I don't think it's necessary."
"Why?" Zhukov asked through gritted teeth: "Are you just going to watch him escape back to Belgorod?"
"Comrade Marshal, I have no choice." Sokov said helplessly: "You also know that searching such a large forest and swamp will definitely require a lot of troops. And now all the troops in my hand are
It was thrown into the attack on the German troops fleeing south, but it was really impossible to mobilize any troops."
Although Sokov's explanation still failed to satisfy Zhukov, he knew very well that what Sokov said was true. If the 27th Army had not participated in so many battles and had not lost a large number of soldiers, then at this moment it would be
There is a possibility of deploying troops to search for Hott. But in the current situation, Hott can only be allowed to escape.
Not only Zhukov and others were concerned about Hott's whereabouts, but Manstein was also worried about his safety. When he learned that Hott's armored group was attacked by the Soviet army and defeated during its retreat, he immediately ordered
His subordinates sent a telegram to Holt, wanting to know his latest movements.
But at this moment, Holt was walking through the forest. In order to prevent the target from being exposed, he ordered the radio operator to turn off the radio as soon as the transfer began, lest the Soviet army discovered his traces based on the radio signal.
It was precisely because Holt and others took the initiative to turn off the radio when they were marching in the forest that the radio station at Manstein's headquarters was never able to contact them.
Seeing that the sky was getting dark, but Holt could not be contacted for a long time, Manstein was a little crazy. He did not expect that this fortress operation would end in such a disastrous defeat. If he really caught up with Holt
I don’t know how to explain my life to Xiao Hu.
After Holt led his men into the forest, they relied on the compass to guide them and headed west. After walking for more than an hour, they were blocked by a swamp.
Mei Linjin, who was eager to escape, immediately ordered five soldiers to go ahead to explore the way. Unexpectedly, these soldiers had no experience in crossing the swamp. After walking forward for twenty or thirty meters, they fell into the quagmire. Four soldiers were on the spot. It was swallowed up by the swamp. Fortunately, the last soldier walking was not too far from the shore and was rescued in time by the soldiers on the shore.
After this failed expedition, no matter how Mei Linjin gave the soldiers orders or even threatened them, no one was willing to explore the road again, lest they lose their lives in vain.
Seeing that the soldiers were unwilling to explore the road because they were afraid of death, Holt was also anxious. He asked Mei Linjin: "Chief of Staff, the soldiers are unwilling to explore the road. What should we do?"
"Your Excellency, Commander!" Mei Linjin saw with his own eyes several soldiers being swallowed up by the swamp in an instant. He was frightened by the man-eating swamp in Russia. Not to mention that the road was impassable, even if a soldier reached the other side, he would not dare to go there easily. Adventure. At this moment, when he heard Holt ask himself, he could only say cautiously: "How about we go around the edge of the swamp?"
"Go around?!" Holt glanced at the endless swamp, frowned and said, "If we go around, how many wrong roads will we take?"
After Mei Linjin calculated the road in his mind, he said hesitantly: "It will probably take more than twenty kilometers to walk."
"Walking more than twenty kilometers?" Holt sneered and said: "Chief of Staff, what if we detour more than twenty kilometers and are blocked by new swamps? Is it still a detour? In this case, Even if there were no Russians chasing us, we would probably run out of food and water because of the detour, until we all died in this damn forest."
"However, the few soldiers who just explored the path were swallowed up by the damn swamp." Mei Linjin said in embarrassment: "No one is willing to explore the path now."
"No one is exploring the road, are we just waiting to die here?" Holt said, shouting to the side: "Adjutant!"
Following Holt's shout, a German lieutenant colonel appeared in front of him and asked respectfully: "Your Excellency, Commander, what are your instructions?"
"Adjutant, immediately arrange for manpower to re-explore the road." Holt knew that the soldiers today were frightened and no one would be willing to submit unless some coercive measures were taken, so he ordered his adjutant, "Whoever disobeys Order, I authorize you to shoot him on the spot."
The adjutant who got Shang Fang's sword immediately ran to recruit people and let them explore the road again.
A German corporal whose name was called looked at the swamp in front of him and shook his head like a rattle: "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I haven't lived enough. I don't want to die here."
Seeing that the corporal refused to carry out his order, the adjutant did not talk nonsense to him. He directly took out his pistol, pointed it at the back of his head and shot him. The corporal fell to the ground at the sound, his body fell into the water, and blood flowed from the wound on his head. The blood immediately dyed the water of a large swamp red.
When the surrounding soldiers saw that Holt's adjutant had such a tough attitude, the corporal just said that he was unwilling to die, so they shot him without saying a word.
I have to say that the adjutant's effect of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys was quite good. After killing the corporal's chicken, the rest of the monkeys became old-fashioned. No one of the soldiers whose names were called by the adjutant dared to say a word and stood obediently in the swamp.
The edge of the river, ready to go into the water to explore the way.