When the Skeleton Division just launched an attack on the defense zone of the 305th Division, Sokov learned the news from the observation post. He quickly ordered Koida: "Comrade Colonel, immediately order the 568th Regiment and the Artillery Regiment to prepare for battle."
"Comrade Commander," Koida, who was also familiar with the situation, asked hesitantly after hearing Sokov's order: "The enemy has just launched an attack on the friendly defense area. Why is it that he ordered the troops to prepare for battle so early? Isn’t it a little too early?”
"It's not early at all." Sokov waved his hand at the other party and continued: "Comrade Colonel, you have never fought against the Skeleton Division and do not understand their terror. You know, in the battle in March, one of their divisions They defeated one of our Guards. The troops standing in front of them now are the incompletely organized 305th Infantry Division. To be honest, I have no idea how long they can resist."
"Comrade Commander, can the artillery regiment be used later?" Koida reminded Sokov: "Even if they break through the enemy's friendly positions and carry out an armored assault, the rocket launchers they have can still destroy most German tanks. .”
"The strength of the Skeleton Division has exceeded your imagination." Sokov said to Koida: "Even if I use one of your divisions to attack the Skeleton Division, I'm worried that I won't be able to stop it, let alone there is only one regiment in that direction. .Also, the defeated friendly forces will seriously affect our morale."
Hearing what Sokov said, Koida immediately realized that what the 568th Regiment would face next would be an unprecedented fierce battle, and quickly asked: "Then tell me, how should we use the artillery regiment?"
"When the enemy carried out an armored assault, the artillery regiment stopped and fired at the enemy." Sokov knew that the 188th Division Artillery Regiment only had 24 76.2 mm cannons. It was difficult to destroy the enemy's tanks, but it would take the opponent's armored vehicles with weak armor. Or the infantry following them is still very effective: "You tell them to let go of the tanks in front and deal specifically with the armored vehicles and infantry following. As for the tanks, leave it to soldiers equipped with anti-tank weapons to deal with them." .”
The German troops who broke through the 305th Division's position continued to rush towards the 568th Regiment's position as if they had been given blood. When the German tank soldiers saw the fleeing Soviet commanders and fighters ahead, they did not fire with machine guns as before, but galloped at full speed, preparing to tear a gap in the defense line before the defenders on the second line of defense recovered. .
When they were still five or six hundred meters away from the trench, the scream of artillery shells piercing the air came from the air. But the tank soldiers sitting in the tank were not worried at all. According to their rich experience, these were artillery pieces with a caliber of less than 100 mm. Even if they hit the tank, they would not be able to cause a fatal blow to themselves.
Most of the first round of artillery shells fired by the Soviet army landed around the German tanks and exploded. The mud thrown up covered the tank body. Even if the shells occasionally hit the target, they could not destroy the German tanks and slow down their advance.
The artillery regiment commander who originally questioned Sokov's order saw through the telescope that the fired artillery shells did not pose any threat to the German tank soldiers. He adjusted his tactics in a timely manner. He shouted loudly: "Change to higher explosive shells, change to higher altitudes." Explosive bombs. Target German infantry and armored vehicles and fire."
The armored vehicles and infantry charging behind the tanks did not encounter any decent resistance when they broke through the first line of defense, so they thought that the Soviet troops on the second line of defense were more vulnerable, so the charging infantry stood upright. The waist is stiff, and there is no consciousness to dodge bullets.
The artillery shell landed in the German ranks and exploded, and the soldiers near the explosion point were immediately blown away. If it were an ordinary unit, if they encountered this situation, the surrounding soldiers would definitely lie down on the spot, or use the crater to charge towards the Soviet position bit by bit using short leap forwards.
But now it was the most fanatical SS members who were in charge of the attack. Ignoring those fallen comrades, they stepped over the corpses or wounded of their comrades on the ground, and continued to charge forward, trying to rush into the Soviet army's second line of defense in the shortest possible time, just as they had just broken through the first line of defense. Make another gap.
The tank at the front was looking at being able to rush through the Soviet trenches in another ten or twenty seconds when it suddenly discovered that many Soviet soldiers with rocket launchers on their shoulders had emerged from the crater in front of them, kneeling on one knee. Aiming at himself. The tank soldiers who reacted quickly immediately fired with machine guns and knocked down the Soviet soldiers squatting in the crater. But before more tank crews could recover, they saw one after another warheads trailing long white smoke ribbons flying towards their tanks.
After a series of loud bangs, the five tanks rushing at the front were easily destroyed by the Soviet anti-tank crews. The anti-tank man who finished shooting immediately retracted into the crater and was loaded by the ammunition man. Once reloaded, they reappear, select a new target, and immediately pull the trigger.
"Bazooka, it's a rocket launcher." In a tank behind, sat the German tank battalion commander. He had had the experience of fighting with Sokov's troops. When he first saw that the tank in front was destroyed, he was quite surprised. He thought the Soviet army had deployed some anti-tank guns nearby, and quickly ordered the driver to stop so that he could observe from a distance.
When he saw clearly that the weapon that destroyed his tank was actually the rocket launcher that had once frightened him, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He quickly told all the tanks through the on-board radio: "All tanks listen to my order, stop advancing, stop advancing, retreat five hundred meters away, and then fire at the Russian positions. I repeat, all tanks The tank stopped advancing and immediately retreated to a safe distance 500 meters away..."
After giving the order, the tank he was in reversed first and quickly retreated to a safe distance 500 meters away. Although it will be attacked by Soviet artillery fire there, the opponent's artillery has a small caliber and cannot destroy its own tanks. During the retreat, he reported to the commander of the armored regiment through the vehicle radio: "Mr. Colonel, we were attacked by Russian rocket launchers and had to choose to retreat."
"What, you were attacked by a rocket launcher?" For the officers and soldiers of the Skull Division who had fought against Sokov's troops in March, this kind of rocket launcher that can easily destroy tanks within a hundred meters is a nightmare for all armored soldiers. At this moment, he learned that his troops had been attacked by rocket launchers. The regiment leader was frightened and broke into a cold sweat: "According to the intelligence we have, the defense in front of us is just ordinary Russian troops. How could they have rocket launchers? You There’s no mistake, right?”
The regimental commander's words made the tank battalion commander, who had given orders without permission, hesitate. He was worried that he had misunderstood and mistakenly issued a retreat order. He was about to instruct other tanks that were retreating to carefully observe the direction of the Soviet position to see if there were any anti-tank rocket launchers.
At this moment, the infantry formation, which had lost the cover of the tanks and was still rushing forward with the armored vehicles, was attacked by intensive rockets falling from the sky. Through the lookout hole, the tank battalion commander clearly saw that the front turned into a sea of fire. Countless limbs and broken arms and fragments of various weapons rose up in the sea of fire.
Seeing this situation, if the tank battalion commander is still unclear about their encounter with Sokov's troops, then he, the battalion commander, can be beaten to the end. He shouted loudly: "Mr. Colonel, yes, we encountered Sokov's troops. They were not only equipped with rocket launchers, but also portable rocket launchers. Our infantry was completely destroyed."
"Retreat, retreat immediately." The regiment leader shouted in panic: "We cannot waste our precious tanks in this meaningless battle."
The tank regiment withdrew. Although it was withdrawn in time, it still lost one-third of its tanks. During the attack, many of the armored vehicles were destroyed by Soviet artillery fire, and some were lost during the retreat. Only one-half of the armored vehicles retreated to the newly occupied Soviet front-line positions. The worst thing happened to the German infantry. It was a full battalion of 850 people that attacked the second line of defense. In the end, only more than 30 people were withdrawn. The battalion was reduced to an empty frame.
Max Simon, who learned that his attacking troops had suffered huge losses, couldn't help but become a little angry. After he learned about the situation from several regiment-level officers, and when he learned that the opponent he encountered might be Sokov's troops, he immediately went to the headquarters to find Hauser Xingshi to question him.
He came to Hauser, slammed his military cap on the opponent's table, and asked angrily: "Your Excellency, Army Commander, why didn't you tell me that it was Sokov's troops who were fighting us."
This was the first time that Hausser saw a subordinate dare to question him like this, so he said with a straight face: "General Simon, what are you talking about? What are you talking about? What you are facing is just the incomplete Russian 305th Division, not Sokov at all. troops."
"Yes, the first line of defense that our division broke through was indeed defended by the Russian 305th Division. But their second line of defense was held by Sokov's troops." Max Simon said angrily: "Just because of your wrong intelligence, I lost an entire battalion in less than ten minutes of fighting."
"This is impossible." Hausser learned through his acquaintances at the headquarters that the troops blocking the front of the 6th Armored Division were the 188th Division commanded by Sokov, and in front of him was the 305th Division with weak combat effectiveness. division. Therefore, he said with certainty: "My information comes from the Army Group Headquarters. I don't think Marshal Manstein will use this kind of thing to deceive me."
Hearing that the other party carried out Manstein, Max Simon could not say anything more. He picked up the military cap on the table, put it on his head again, and said to Hauser: "Your Excellency, Commander, I beg you , we must figure out what is going on and why Sokov's troops appeared in front of our division."
"Are you sure that the defenders who repelled your attack were Sokov's troops?"
"My subordinates saw with their own eyes the new rockets used by the Russians and the special anti-tank rocket launchers." Max Simon said emotionally: "As far as I know, the only two new types of equipment used by Sokov Only the troops under command are equipped.”
"I understand, General Simon." When Hausser heard this, he immediately realized that there might be a problem with the intelligence, and quickly said to Max Simon: "I immediately called Marshal Manstein to find out what happened. Who should be responsible for this offensive failure?"
