Due to Dietrich's caution, he sent the Führer Regiment to act with the Imperial Division and suffered no losses. Just when he thought he had escaped, he received a report from his rearguard that he had been attacked by the Soviet army.
The person who reported the situation to him was the commander of the 3rd Grenadier Regiment. The commander panicked and reported to Dietrich via wireless phone: "Your Excellency, division commander, the Russians are bombarding our regiment's defense area with rockets, asking for support. ,Request support!"
The regimental commander's report reminded Dietrich that a few hours ago, the German regiment serving as the rearguard of the Imperial Division had sent a distress signal to the division headquarters after being attacked by the Soviet army. As a result, the reinforcements rushed to the division headquarters but failed. Encountered by the Russians, not only suffered huge casualties, but also the division commander, Major General Val, was injured.
In order to avoid repeating the same mistake, he quickly ordered his regiment commander: "Colonel, immediately order your men to move and quickly move towards the division headquarters."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," the regiment commander became a little anxious after hearing Dietrich's order, "If we retreat now, I'm afraid the Russians will take the opportunity to launch a ground attack, and our casualties will be even more severe."
Hearing what the regimental commander said, Dietrich muttered in his heart, the commander of the Skeleton Division, Eike, was killed in Barvinkovo yesterday; today, the commander of the Imperial Division, Major General Val, was ambushed by the Soviet army and was injured on the way to reinforcements. Okay. Luckily for him, he was only slightly injured. If he leads troops to reinforce, he may risk his life.
Thinking about it this way, Dietrich could not dare to bring troops to reinforce. He could only repeat his order again and again: "Colonel, retreat, I order you to retreat immediately. Not only how big the casualties are, all existing troops must be withdrawn immediately." area, move closer to the division headquarters.”
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," the regiment commander didn't understand why Dietrich ordered him to retreat in such a tough manner, so he quickly said tactfully: "Can you send the Führer Regiment to support us? With their help, we are fully confident to defeat the Russians. attack."
"Colonel, don't have such unrealistic illusions anymore." Dietrich said mercilessly: "A few hours ago, Major General Val received a report from the deputy commander of the German rear guard regiment, saying that they were attacked by Russia. When the enemy attacked, I personally led people to reinforce, and I also sent the Führer Regiment to act with them. Unexpectedly, they were attacked by the Russians on the way. The Imperial Division suffered heavy casualties, and even Major General Val was injured. What if I If we send troops to reinforce at this moment, we may encounter the same problem on the road. If you fail to rescue us, the main force of the division will also suffer heavy casualties."
When the regiment leader heard what Dietrich said, he was suddenly frightened into a cold sweat. He quickly asked: "Your Excellency, division commander, what should we do now?"
"What else can we do?" Dietrich said impatiently: "Didn't I just tell you? Retreat, retreat immediately, throw away those things that cannot be taken away, quickly break away from contact with the Russians, and quickly move towards Move the division closer so that you can have a chance of survival. Do you understand?"
"Understood, your Excellency, division commander." The German commander realized the seriousness of the problem at this moment and quickly expressed his position: "I will order the troops to throw away the baggage that cannot be taken away and quickly move closer to the division headquarters."
"That's right, Colonel." Dietrich said to the regiment commander: "I estimate that the Russians who attacked you came from the position of attacking the Imperial Division's rear guard. Their number is not large, and the rockets they carry are The number of bombs will not be too much. If you break away from them quickly, you may be able to escape. Once you delay, and wait for their main force to arrive, you will not be able to leave if you want to."
It was precisely because of Dietrich's determination that the 3rd Regiment, which served as the rear guard, immediately threw away all the baggage it carried, quickly evacuated the area that was attacked by the Soviet army, and moved in the direction of Barvinkovo .
Seeing that the enemy began to retreat in large numbers, Yershakov quickly sent a telegram to Sokov and reported to him in detail the situation here.
"Chief of Staff, the enemy is very cunning." After reading Yershakov's telegram, Sokov said to Sidorin: "This Dietrich found that his rearguard was under attack and was worried that he would bring reinforcements. Encountering the same fate as the Imperial Division, we ordered the rearguard troops to discard their baggage and retreat lightly in the direction of Barvinkovo.”
"Comrade division commander," Sidorin asked Sokov for instructions: "Do you think we need to order the 125th Regiment to pursue the enemy?"
"There is no need." In response to Sidorin's suggestion, Sokov shook his head and said: "The 125th Regiment currently has less than 3,000 men. If they are ordered to pursue them, once Barvinkovo's German troops go south, they will be entangled. , it will not be that easy to withdraw from the battle."
"Then what should we do?" Sidorin asked.
"Send a telegram to the commanders of each regiment," Sokov thought for a while, feeling that the German army would shrink the three divisions together, and it would be difficult for him to find any more fighters. Since there were no fighters, there was no point in staying here any longer, so he ordered: "Let them move towards the Red Army Village after repelling the enemy in person. Also, the telegram to Vanya was the same." Content."
Although they have achieved great results behind enemy lines in the past few days, because the soldiers have been marching on foot in the snow for a long time, their physical strength has been severely exhausted. If they continue to fight, the combat effectiveness of several regiments will decline to varying degrees. . Therefore, after hearing Sokov's order, Sidorin immediately agreed readily: "Okay, comrade division commander, I will convey your instructions immediately."
The three SS divisions, which had been severely beaten by the Guards Division, shrank in the direction of Barvinkovo. In a radius of nearly a hundred kilometers, not a single German soldier could be seen. Vanya, who was preparing to lead his troops to fight guerrillas in the forest, received the retreat telegram from Sidorin and immediately led two battalions. The commanders and soldiers retreated in the direction of the Red Army Village.
There were still five kilometers away from the Red Army Village. Sokov ordered the division headquarters to stop, while telegraphing the regiments to move closer to him. At the same time, he sent people to the Red Army Village to make contact, so as to avoid conflicts between the troops and the defenders in the city during the retreat. If there is a misunderstanding, it will be troublesome when one of you starts fighting with your own people.
After a night of tossing, Sokov's 41st Guards Division finally returned to the position west of the Red Army Village before dawn and built a defense line here to deal with possible retaliatory actions by the Germans.
Witkov couldn't help but be overjoyed to see Sokov return safely. Despite what everyone thought, Sokov was very good at commanding battles, but this time he was leading a division against three elite divisions of the German army. Moreover, not long ago, countless Soviet troops were defeated by these three German divisions. Witkov was worried that maybe Sokov would not be able to come back this time.
At that moment Sokov not only came back, but also achieved great results. Not only did he kill the commander of the Skeleton Division, Ike; he also severely damaged the Imperial Division and injured the commander of the division; he also beat the number one Flag Guard Division to the point where it did not dare to fight.
After Vitkov and Sokov hugged, he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, I really want to find out one thing. Why did those three SS divisions that defeated our army change in front of you?" Have I become a sheep for you to slaughter?"
"Actually, it's nothing," Sokov said modestly: "I just used a little trick to make the enemies spin around, and when they were not paying attention, I rushed up and bit them hard."
"Comrade Commander," Vitkov brought Sokov to the map and pointed to the friendly and enemy signs on it. "Due to the proactive attack of the 41st Guards Division, the enemy had to retreat. Now they are far enough away from us. It’s a full forty kilometers, and there are ice and snow obstacles along the way. If they want to attack us, I’m afraid they won’t be able to do it in a short time.”
"It would be best if the enemy doesn't attack." Sokov knew very well that with the current fortifications of the Red Army Village, it would be difficult to block the enemy, especially the armored division's attack. If this attack scares the Germans so much that they dare not attack for a long time, then their own troops will have enough time to strengthen their defense lines. With solid fortifications and a complete defense system, there is no need to worry about the German attack.
…………
After learning that three SS divisions were being fooled by one of Sokov's Guards divisions, Manstein couldn't help but became angry. He called Hausser and asked sternly: "General Hausser, what on earth is going on here?" What happened? What I gave you were three of the most elite SS divisions. But I saw that their performance was not even as good as a reserve division. In case the Russians attacked, they had no power to fight back."
"Your Excellency, Marshal," faced Manstein's accusations, Hausser was also dumb. He defended himself and said: "My troops have tried their best, but their opponents are known for their cunning. Russian Colonel Sokov..."
"General Hauser, your news is out of date." Manstein interrupted Hauser: "Sokov is no longer a colonel. Not long ago, he was promoted to major general. The reason why he can do this He became a general at a young age because of the results sent to him by your idiots."
Although Manstein's words were unpleasant to hear, Hauser had no room to refute. After all, his troops felt powerless when facing Sokov. After he paused for a moment, he asked Manstein for instructions: "Marshal, what should we do next?"
"What else can be done? The troops were gathered in Barvinkovo for rest and recuperation." Manstein said helplessly: "I will order the 57th and 48th Armored Corps to move closer to you, and then concentrate on attacking the Red Army Village. , kill this troop that is giving us a headache."
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Hausser quickly reminded him when he learned that Manstein planned to mobilize the other two armored corps to go south: "Wouldn't this give Russia the power of the Kharkiv-Belgorod line?" Is there any breathing space for the troops?"
"If I don't do this, what can I do?" Manstein had the urge to throw away the microphone. "If we follow the original plan and continue to attack in the direction of Kharkov, Sokov's troops will be behind us. If a large-scale attack is launched later, what should we do?"
Hausser thought about it and felt that what Manstein said made sense. If one's own troops failed to attack from the front and were constantly attacked on a large scale from the rear, it would definitely affect the morale and morale of the troops. Rather than risking the destruction of the entire army to seize the Kharkov-Belgorod line, it would be better to concentrate our forces first, eliminate the Russians gathered in the Red Army Village, and then turn around and attack Kharkov northward. A little safer.
The news that the German 57th and 48th Armored Corps were moving south quickly reached Golikov's ears. The first reaction after hearing the news was that the scouts must have made a mistake. The enemy had already advanced to the city of Kharkov. As long as they launched a fierce attack, they could capture the city in two or three days at most. How could it be possible at this time? What about retreat? Maybe this was false news deliberately released in order to make the city's defenders relax their vigilance.
When Golikov reported this situation to the General Staff, Deputy Chief of General Staff Antonov happily told him: "General Golikov, don't worry, this is not false information, it is true. The enemy has really moved his troops south."
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, how is this possible?" Golikov asked Antonov in confusion: "The enemy only needs to launch one or two more fierce attacks on the city to seize Kharkov. How could they do it?" What about withdrawing troops south at this time? Could it be that the base camp mobilized reinforcements from the south and launched an attack on the enemy's rear? Other than that, I can't think of any reason that would make the Germans stop attacking us and move troops south. .”
"The base camp currently has no large-scale troops that can be mobilized in the south." Antonov did not hide anything from Golikov, but answered truthfully: "Your unfavorable situation was all reversed by Sokov on his own. of."
"Did Sokov do it?" Golikov asked curiously: "Deputy Chief of General Staff, what did he do to actually make the enemy stop attacking Kharkov and transfer the main force to the south? .”
"Not long ago, Sokov personally led the 41st Guards Division deep into the enemy's rear and turned the enemy's defense zone upside down." Antonov said with some excitement: "They have set up a posture to attack Barvinkovo. They attracted all three German SS divisions. Then they killed Eike, the commander of the Totenkopf division, wounded Major General Wahl, the commander of the Imperial division, and caused the enemy to lose nearly half of its troops."
"Is this true?" Hearing Antonov's words, Golikov couldn't believe it was true. He had personally experienced the power of the three SS divisions. If it was one-on-one, then Sokov's Guards Division still had a chance of victory. But now it was one against three and they still won. This is simply unbelievable.
"Of course it is true." Antonov replied affirmatively: "Otherwise, how could the enemy impatiently move his troops to the south when he had the advantage?"
