The offensive tactics formulated by Sokov were beyond the expectations of the Germans. Even ordinary Soviet commanders and fighters were confused when they heard this style of play. But let’s not talk about the effect of this tactic.
Fortunately, the German 5th Chasseur Division was a relatively strong combat unit, but it was still defeated in a short period of time. In less than an hour, it was forced to abandon its position and retreat south. With their retreat, the weaker unit was defeated.
The 592nd Division became a lone force.
Just when the 3rd Infantry Division occupied the position of the German 5th Jäger Division and prepared to attack the 592nd Division's defense area, the troops of the 120th Guards Division also successfully passed through the town of Puutusk and appeared at the forefront of the German defense line
.
Nikitin, commander of the 120th Guards Division, received a call from the commander of the 339th Regiment: "Comrade Division Commander, friendly troops have been found on our left flank."
"Friendly troops?" Nikitin asked: "Have you figured out which troops they are?" According to his idea, the troops appearing on the flank of the German 592nd Division at this moment may be the 1st or 1st Guards Guards who came out of the town.
A section of the 6th Division specifically asked, "Is it the Guards Division?"
"No, Comrade Division Commander." Unexpectedly, the commander of the 339th Regiment replied: "They are troops of the 3rd Infantry Division."
"The troops of the 3rd Infantry Division?" Nikitin said with some surprise: "Why did they appear in our attack area?"
When Sidorin assigned the task to Nikitin, he only said that his division should pass through the town of Puutusk and attack the German 592nd Division south of the town. He did not say that Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division would also be responsible for the task.
The mission was to attack the German 5th Jäger Division, so Nikitin was so surprised when he heard that the 3rd Infantry Division appeared on the flank of the attack target.
However, Nikitin's mood quickly returned to calm. He ordered his subordinates: "You immediately send someone to contact the friendly forces and find out why they appear nearby."
After finishing the call with his subordinates, Nikitin called the headquarters again, wanting to know some information from Sidorin. Hearing Sidorin's voice coming from the receiver, Nikitin quickly asked: "
Comrade Chief of Staff, there is a situation I need to report to you. Not long ago, one of my regiment commanders reported to me that troops of the 3rd Infantry Division appeared on their flanks. I want to ask, what exactly is this?
what happened?"
"General Nikitin, the situation is like this." Sidorin listened to the other party's question and realized that he had made a mistake in assigning the task. He quickly explained to the other party: "According to the deployment of the headquarters, your division will attack the south of the town.
The 592nd People's Grenadier Division, and General Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division attacked the German 5th Jäger Division. Since your attack times were different, I did not explain this to you when assigning the mission...
"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Nikitin said in a complaining tone after listening to Sidorin's words: "Our divisions are all Guards divisions, and General Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division is just an ordinary infantry division, like
Such an important task as dealing with the German 5th Jäger Division should be left to us. I assure you, it will only take me one day at most to defeat the 5th Jäger Division."
"Haha," Sidorin laughed dryly after hearing this, and then said: "General Nikitin, you may not know that the German 5th Jäger Division has been attacked across the board by the 3rd Infantry Division.
retreat, their positions south of the town of Puutusk have all fallen into the hands of our army. As for why the 3rd Infantry Division appeared on your flank, it should be that General Kirillov wanted to eliminate the 592nd Infantry Division by the way.
Master."
Perhaps worried that Nikitin would be dilly-dallying again, Sidorin urged him: "General Nikitin, I want to remind you that if you keep nagging me on the phone, General Kirillov's troops may
Take the lead in attacking the 592nd Division."
Knowing that Kirillov's troops might attack the enemy before him, Nikitin could not remain calm. After putting down the phone, he directly called the commanders of each regiment and said hurriedly: "Listen,
Now, the friendly forces appearing on the flank of the 339th Regiment are the 3rd Infantry Division that just defeated the German 5th Jäger Division. They will next launch an attack on the German 592nd Division. If you don't move faster, then seize the town.
The honor of the southern position will be taken away by our friendly forces. Do you understand?"
"Understood." The three regiment leaders replied resoundingly: "We will immediately command the troops to launch an attack."
A quarter of an hour later, the troops of the 120th Guards Division took the lead in launching an attack on the German 592nd Volksgrenadier Division. Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division also entered the battle half an hour after the offensive began.
Originally, the 3rd Infantry Division could have launched an attack before the 120th Guards Division, but Kirillov rejected Chief of Staff Miyakov's proposal and said to him seriously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I understand you.
Meaning. The German 592nd Division is nothing more than a semi-military force with poor equipment and poor training. If we launch an attack immediately, we can defeat them in an hour at most. But the superiors have assigned the task of attacking this unit to
, was handed over to General Nikitin's 120th Guards Division. If we attack first, we will be taking credit from the other side, which will cause unnecessary trouble."
"Then we just stand still?"
"No." Kirillov shook his head and said, "We will attack the 592nd Division half an hour after the friendly forces' attack begins. In this way, even if we achieve greater results than the friendly forces, Nikitin
The general also has nothing to say."
The German 592nd People's Grenadier Division was established not long ago. The quality of the soldiers is uneven and the equipment is poor. It is deployed to the south of the town of Puutusk. It is just a fill-in. The real defense tasks are performed by other units.
A division was assigned to take charge. But what they didn't expect was that before the Soviet offensive battle began, the German headquarters fell into Sokov's trap and transferred the main force to the wrong direction to deploy defenses. As a result, the 592nd Division had to take the responsibility.
Independently directed defense tasks.
Facing the attack of two Soviet divisions, the resistance of the 592nd Division seemed insignificant. Those civilians who had just picked up weapons had no fighting capacity. Facing the tide of Soviet commanders and fighters, most of them just put their weapons indiscriminately.
After a few shots, he obediently raised his hands and surrendered.
As the German army south of the town of Puutusk was defeated, the German 129th Division and a regiment of the 5th Chasseur Division in the town fell into an encirclement by the Soviet army. Although they faced attacks from all directions, they still
They were putting up tenacious resistance, but because they were cut off from supplies, once their ammunition was exhausted, their fate was either to be annihilated or to lay down their weapons and surrender.
It was only a matter of time before the German troops in the town were annihilated. Sokov personally called Rokossovsky and reported to him the results of the troops: "Comrade Marshal, my troops have successfully occupied Puutu."
The German positions south of the town of Skok, and part of the German 129th Infantry Division and the 5th Chasseur Division in the town, have been surrounded by our army, and it is only a matter of time before they are eliminated by our army."
"Well done, Misha." Rokossovsky said: "The 3rd Army on your left and the 2nd Assault Army on the right are still fighting fiercely with the enemy. They have encountered tenacious resistance, and I'm afraid it will take a while.
It will take two days to capture the German position."
Sokov knew very well that he was able to capture the German position so smoothly only because the German commander fell into his trap and transferred the main force away from his main attack direction. Otherwise, he might be like the friendly forces.
At this moment, the battle with the German army was in a stalemate. Before the friendly forces achieved a breakthrough, he could not continue to advance, otherwise he might become a lone army. Once cut off from both wings by the German army, he would be surrounded. Therefore, he was cautious.
He asked: "Then do we have any new tasks?"
Rokossovsky heard the implication of Sokov's words, and after a moment of silence he said: "Misha, the task of your group army is to consolidate the existing area and prepare for the German counterattack. Commanders and soldiers will use their blood to
The captured positions must never be returned to the Germans. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied resoundingly: "I will order the troops to move to defense on the spot and prepare for the German counterattack."
When he learned that the positions in the north and south of the town of Puutusk were lost, and that the 129th Infantry Division and part of the 5th Jäger Division trapped in the town were in dire straits, the German commander was so angry that he broke the table with his hands.
After sweeping the things on the ground to the ground, he cursed angrily: "Hell, why is the Russian offensive so fierce? We have lost almost three divisions in just one morning of fighting."
When the German commander got angry, the chief of staff did not dare to talk to him. After he finally calmed down, he said cautiously: "Your Excellency, commander, you must know that the troops attacking the town of Putusk were commanded by the devil Sokov."
The 48th Group Army. This person has always been very cunning, and many of our generals have suffered losses from him."
Hearing what the Chief of Staff said, the German commander thought of his own grievance and spent 10,000 pounds to buy a false intelligence. Based on the content of this intelligence, he transferred the main force to the wrong area for defense, which led to the battle.
As soon as the battle started, his troops fell into a passive position.
Although fake pounds were used to buy the intelligence, the intelligence bought must be false. Thinking of this, the German commander felt as sick as eating a dead fly. He looked at his chief of staff and asked: "Then
Has the intelligence officer returned?"
"Back." The chief of staff replied: "He is right outside the door. Do you want to see him?"
"Bring him in!"
Soon, the intelligence officer appeared in front of the German commander. Before the commander could speak, he took the initiative and said: "Your Excellency, Commander, everything is clear. Now Henrik's family has arrived in the Danzig area."
"What, their whole family has arrived in the Danzig area?" The commander frowned and asked, "What's going on? How come they are in the Danzig area?"
Ever since the intelligence officer knew that he had been deceived, he had been holding back evil spirits and wanted to settle accounts with Henrik, who had provided him with false information. When the commander asked him to continue to pursue the matter, he rushed to Henrik with his people.
Where Sister Ke’s home is located, an investigation was launched among the nearby neighbors.
After some inquiries, a neighbor said that he saw a truck parked in front of Henrik's house early two days ago. Soon after, Henrik's family came out of the house and got into the truck.
.As for where the truck went, he had no idea. Fortunately, he also wrote down the license plate number of the truck.
The intelligence officer wrote down the license plate number of the truck, immediately rushed to the nearby Gestapo office, learned the owner's information from them, and then followed the clues to find the truck in a nearby street and caught the driver.
When the driver was arrested, he thought that his black market business had been discovered. Usually, this kind of situation can be solved by just calling the officials he bribed. But what he never imagined was that he was arrested.
The reason for the arrest was not for doing black market business, but for sending Henrik's family away. The intelligence officer naturally regarded him as an accomplice of Henrik's family. After being arrested and taken to the Gestapo office, he was greeted by
Tortured.
Although the driver was burly, he was a coward. As soon as the torture instruments were placed in front of him, before he was even used for torture, he was so frightened that he confessed all the black market business he had done in the past few years, even himself
All the officials who were bribed were also told one by one.
The intelligence officer who was eager to make meritorious service and atone for his crime heard the driver name so many people. After recording all the names, he handed them over to the Gestapo to arrest them. As for whether he would arrest the wrong person, it was not within his consideration. Anyway, as long as he could get away, he would rather make the mistake.
Even if we capture three thousand, we will never let one go.
In this way, he originally wanted to arrest Henrik's family, but he didn't expect that the driver actually confessed so many people, so he ordered them all to be arrested without ceremony.
After his subordinates reported to him that everyone on the list had been arrested, the intelligence officer nodded and then asked the driver: "I heard that you drove Henrik's family away a few days ago. Is this the case?
"
"Yes, yes." The driver thought about what serious sin it could be if he just sent a few people away, so he agreed without hesitation: "I sent a friend and his family away."
"Sent to where?"
"Getansk." The driver said without hesitation: "I heard they plan to take a boat to London from there."
Hearing that Henrik's family was preparing to take a boat to London, the intelligence officer became even more convinced that Henrik had deliberately provided him with false information, and now that it was about to be exposed, the whole family fled in advance. Thinking of whether they could
Catching Henrik was related to his life and death. He gritted his teeth and asked: "Where are they living in Getansk now?"
The driver did not dare to be negligent and quickly told him where Henrik's family lived now. Finally, he asked the intelligence officer tremblingly: "Sir, I have told everything I know. Can you let me go home?"
"Go home?" The intelligence officer snorted coldly after hearing this and said, "We still need to verify the situation you said to confirm that what you said is true, and we will consider letting you go home."
From the intelligence officer's words, the driver heard that the other party seemed to want to find Henrik's family as soon as possible, so he took the initiative: "Sir, if you want to find that family as soon as possible, I can take you there to ensure that no one can escape."
The intelligence officer was also worried that if he sent someone over at this moment, Henrik's family would run away early again. Since the driver took the initiative to ask for help, he thought for a moment and agreed: "Okay, I want to go and ask for permission. If the superior agrees, I will let him go."