"Comrade commanders, if we want to defeat the enemy, we cannot just rely on frontal combat. We must also send small teams deep into the enemy's rear." Sokov thought of the Brandenburg team that was annihilated that day and decided to follow suit. Use the same method to deal with the enemy: "Commanders and fighters sent behind enemy lines must not only have rich combat experience, but also need everyone to understand German. This way, after they put on German uniforms, they will not be easily spotted by the enemy."
"Comrade Commander," Colonel Gorishny couldn't help but curiously asked after hearing Sokov's strange order: "Why do all the soldiers sent behind enemy lines have to understand German?"
"A few days ago, the German army sent a Brandenburg squad to try to assassinate me and plunge our army into chaos. Even if we discovered and eliminated them, we did not make a big mistake." Sokov saw Not only Gorishny had doubts, but other commanders also had doubts, so he took the opportunity to explain to everyone: "Think about it, if everyone among the soldiers we send can speak German, they can disguise themselves as messengers from the enemy. soldiers, giving various wrong instructions to the enemy; or wearing German uniforms and continuing to attack everywhere, making everyone in the enemy in danger. If the enemy's rear becomes a mess, they can only deploy troops to maintain the stability of the rear. When the time comes to attack us, the number of enemies will be greatly reduced."
After Sokov's explanation, the division commanders present finally understood why soldiers sent to the enemy's rear needed to understand German. It turned out that the commander wanted to turn the enemy's rear upside down. They all stood up and expressed their opinions, saying that as soon as they returned to the army, they would immediately select suitable candidates and send them to perform tasks behind enemy lines.
After listening to the statements of each division, Sokov continued: "Comrade commanders, I only remind you: now we are competing with the enemy for time. We should send out small units behind enemy lines earlier to disrupt the enemy's rear. We will The smaller the threat we face, the better it will be for us to seize the initiative on the battlefield."
…………
Just as Sokov's men returned to their respective units and began to select fighters deep behind enemy lines, Popov's troops began to break through.
This rapid grouping of four original tank corps and one infantry corps, after a series of fierce battles, only 137 tanks were left, only six combatable motorized battalions were left, and the rest were empty. serial number. Due to the depletion of fuel, many tanks were unable to move. In this case, Popov made a decisive decision: the infantry would serve as the vanguard of the breakout, while all the tanks stayed in place to confuse the enemy and avoid his own breakout. Discovered prematurely by the enemy.
The German troops besieging Popov's rapid group were the 7th and 11th Armored Divisions, the Viking Division, and the 333rd Infantry Division that was crippled by Sokov's troops. The enemy believed that Popov and the others would either continue to advance towards Zaporozhye or break out in the direction of Izyum, so they concentrated their main forces in these two directions. On the way east, except for the 333rd Infantry Division, which is more than a hundred kilometers away, there are only some company-sized troops.
The commander of the vanguard battalion of the breakout was Captain Bielko. He led the entire battalion of commanders and fighters, using the cover of night, to quietly approach an enemy defensive area. Looking at the barbed wire fence stretched on the road in the distance, the sandbag fortifications on the hillside, and the dark machine gun muzzles, he said to his several company commanders: "Comrades, in order not to expose the target prematurely, we must use a sneak attack. , destroy this enemy blocking our way."
The German troops stationed here never dreamed that the Soviet army would choose this direction to break out. They just fired flares into the air every quarter of an hour as usual.
The flares rising into the air illuminated the surrounding snow as bright as day. The Soviet commanders and fighters who were crawling towards the enemy's position quickly stopped and lay motionless on the snow to avoid being discovered by the enemy. When the light dimmed, they continued to climb forward.
Everything seemed to be going well, but when the soldiers continued to crawl toward the enemy's position along the cut barbed wire, they accidentally triggered the mines in the minefield.
The explosions in the minefield alerted the German soldiers who had not yet slept. The machine guns deployed on the hillside immediately fired at the location where the flames were rising. The newly installed MG42 machine gun of the German army fired wildly, and the bullets caused snow powder and mud on the ground to fly everywhere.
Seeing the enemy's machine gun fire blocking the way forward for the soldiers, Belko knew that a sneak attack was no longer realistic, so he decisively ordered the nearby light and heavy machine guns to fire, suppressing the enemy's machine gun fire, and covering the troops trapped in the minefield to rush forward. .
The troops staying here are the officers and soldiers of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion of the 11th Armored Division of the German Army. The German company commander who was staying in the command post heard the intensive gunfire ringing down the hillside and immediately realized that he was being attacked by regular Soviet troops. He quickly called the battalion headquarters to report to the battalion commander what happened here.
After hearing this, the battalion commander immediately yelled at him: "Captain, you must hold your position at all costs. I will send troops to reinforce you immediately."
After the battalion commander put down the phone, he immediately arranged for the second company to rush to support the first company that was under attack. Then he called the division headquarters to report what happened here. The person who answered the phone was Colonel Wenke, chief of staff of the division. He learned that the defense area of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion had been attacked by the Soviet army. He was shocked and asked quickly: "Major, how many Russians attacked your defense area? How many Russians did they have?" Heavy weapons?”
"There are a lot of people." The battalion commander had just asked the company commander carefully about the fighting situation, and he had some knowledge of the situation in the firefighting area. When the division chief of staff asked, he quickly replied: "Except for machine guns, there are no heavy weapons. "
"Then what measures did you take?"
"I have dispatched the second company to reinforce the first company that was attacked." The battalion commander reported: "I believe it won't take long for the second company to reach its destination."
"Observe the situation closely and report to me any new situation at any time." Colonel Wenke said, "I will report this situation to the division commander immediately."
After Wenke put down the phone, he quickly went to the house of the division commander, General Balk, and knocked on the door: "Your Excellency, division commander, the intelligence is bad. Our troops were attacked by the Russians."
Balk, who had just been lying on the bed, heard Wenke's voice and came to the door in his pajamas. After he opened the door, he said with concern: "We were attacked by the Russians somewhere."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," Wenke reported: "The defense area of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion was attacked by the Russians, and their offensive was extremely fierce."
"The defense area of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion?" Balk was stunned at first, and then asked: "Aren't they stationed to the east of the Russians? How could they be attacked by the Russians?"
"I think the Russians may have discovered that we deployed heavy troops on their retreat route, so they chose the east direction to break out." Wenke said: "Your Excellency, division commander, I suggest that you send troops to reinforce immediately to prevent the Russians from People protrude from our encirclement from the east.”
"I think it's better not to report it yet." Balk waved his hand and said: "At present, we still don't know whether the Russians who attacked the 61st Motorcycle Battalion were just a test by a small force, or whether they really wanted to break out? If it is just a sneak attack, if we rush to report this situation, I am afraid it will affect the Marshal's correct judgment."
"Okay, Sir." Seeing that Balke was not willing to report the news yet, Wenke also felt that there was no need to report it in a hurry without fully understanding what was going on. He hesitated for a moment and then said: "I will keep in touch with the 61st Motorcycle Battalion to keep abreast of the battle situation there."
