After learning that the 3rd Armored Division assembled near Kochetovka had been violently bombarded by the Soviet army, Hott had to immediately convene an emergency military meeting to discuss how to rescue General Sturm's troops from danger.
"Gentlemen!" After all the division-level and above officers of the 48th and 57th Armored Corps arrived, Holt said: "A few hours ago, the Russians unexpectedly occupied Kochetovka and seriously threatened them. to our retreat.
In order to relieve this crisis, I ordered General Sturm's 3rd Armored Division to assemble near Kochetovka, preparing to launch a fierce attack on the Russians after daybreak and drive them away from this area.
Unexpectedly, when they were about to launch, the Russian artillery suddenly launched a violent bombardment of the area where they were assembled. Now the 3rd Armored Division suffered heavy losses in the enemy's artillery fire. "
On his way to attend the meeting, Commander Balk of the 11th Armored Division heard the rumble of artillery in the distance. When he heard Holt say this, he immediately connected the two things. He couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, you called us together just to rescue the 3rd Armored Division from the current danger?"
"Yes, General Balke, that's what I mean." Because of Balke's glorious achievements in the past, Holt thought highly of him. Seeing him talking now, he even asked him for advice on how to relieve the 3rd Armored Division: "You Is there any good way to save the current situation?"
"The Russians are shelling the assembly area of the 3rd Armored Division." Balk secretly praised the Soviet artillery for its good timing. At that time, in order to carry out the attack, most of the Sturm troops had left the defenses and stayed behind. An open area vulnerable to attack. The Soviet army can achieve huge results as long as it fires artillery. If we send troops into the shelled area now, I am afraid it will cause greater losses, so he said cautiously: "If we send troops now for reinforcements, I am afraid it will increase unnecessary casualties."
"General Balke," after hearing what Balke said, General Kissina, commander of the 57th Armored Corps, frowned and said, "If there are no reinforcements, once the Russians launch an assault after the shelling ends, do you think the 3rd Armored Corps will suffer heavy losses?" Master, can you stop them?"
"Your Excellency, Army Commander, I am just saying that reinforcements cannot be carried out now, not that reinforcements are not allowed." Balk turned to look at Kissina and said politely: "If the troops are sent to the defense area of the 3rd Armored Division at this moment, they will also They will suffer heavy casualties under Russian artillery fire. So the best thing to do is to wait for the Russian attack to begin before it is too late for us to send reinforcements there."
"General Balke, if according to your statement, it would be too late to wait until the Russian attack begins before sending reinforcements?" Kissina waited for Balke to finish speaking, and then spoke without hesitation. My own opinion: "I recommend immediately placing a force near the area being bombarded so that it can rush to support the 3rd Armored Division as soon as the Russian bombardment is over."
"General Kissina, we currently have no way of knowing how large the Russian artillery fire area will be, nor whether they will carry out extended fire." Balk said in an unassuming way: "If the troops deployed nearby will happen to be in the area where the artillery fire extends, , when the Russians launch an attack, whether they can protect themselves is a question, let alone reinforcements."
Holt stood aside and listened quietly to the debate between the two. At first, he didn't speak, but he noticed that the debate between Kissina and Balk was getting more and more intense. He was afraid that the two would start arguing and affect the progress of the meeting, so he raised his hand to interrupt the two of them, and then looked at them. Balk asked: "General Balk, do you have any good ideas?"
"Your Excellency, Commander, this is what I think about." Balk turned to face Holt and said: "We want to support the 3rd Armored Division. We don't necessarily have to send troops there. We can order artillery to suppress the Russian artillery. At the same time, the air force was dispatched to carry out intensive bombing of Russian artillery positions and ground troop assembly areas."
If Balke had proposed a plan to send the air force to bomb the Soviet artillery positions a few months ago, Holt would have agreed without hesitation. But at this time, he could only sigh and said helplessly: "General Balke , the Russians now have control of the air over the Kursk salient, and our air force cannot compete with them at all. Even if we send out to bomb the Russian artillery positions and assembled infantry, it may be difficult to achieve the goal."
"Chief of Staff," after Hott said this to Balk, he turned around and ordered Chief of Staff Merinzin: "Immediately order the artillery to bombard the Russian artillery positions so that they can no longer bombard the 3rd Armored Division as recklessly as now. "
"Understood, Your Excellency, Commander." Merinjin replied: "I will call the artillery immediately and ask them to use artillery fire to suppress the Russian artillery to reduce the casualties of the 3rd Armored Division."
While Merinjin went to call the artillery, Holt continued: "Gentlemen, you should follow the earlier combat orders. The troops of the 11th and 17th Armored Divisions continue to maintain contact with the Russians in the Oboyan area. Greater Germany The division took the lead in turning towards Yakovlevo and built a defensive line in that area to cover the retreat of the main force..."
"Your Excellency, Commander," before Holt could finish what he said, Merinjin, who had gone to make a phone call, hurried back. He reported to Holt in a panic: "A Russian detachment was discovered in the Yakovlevo area. troops."
"What are the Russian troops doing in Yakovlevo?" Holt asked in confusion.
"According to reports from friendly forces, a Russian unit attacked a prisoner of war camp guarded by Italian troops and rescued all prisoners in the camp."
"Cunning Russians." After hearing what Merinjin said, Hot was so angry that he punched the table hard. "Based on my understanding of Sokov, he will definitely integrate these prisoners of war into his army. "
"Your Excellency, Commander," Etlin, the commander of the 17th Armored Division, asked curiously: "I heard that all Russian officers and soldiers who have been captured by our army, whether they were released by us or escaped on their own, will wait until they return there. After that, everyone will undergo strict scrutiny. Those who are unlucky will be shot directly or sent to a labor camp; those who are lucky will also be incorporated into their so-called punishment camps and take on the most dangerous tasks on the battlefield. How to be asked Can the prisoners of war rescued by Cove's army be directly integrated into the army? I don't understand this."
"General Etlin, you don't know something. If the prisoners of war were rescued by ordinary Russian troops, they might be in the same situation as you. But the troops occupying the prisoner of war camp now are Sokov's men." Merlin Zin explained to Etlin: "Sokov is an outlier among Russian commanders. The troops he commands have never been defeated, so his superiors adopt an attitude of appeasement and connivance towards what he does. The practice of randomly integrating prisoners of war into the army is also turning a blind eye and pretending not to have seen it."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Etlin said with a melancholy look on his face after hearing what Melinjin said: "In the area controlled by our division, there are two prisoner of war camps containing nearly 7,000 prisoners of war. If we want to retreat What should we do with these prisoners of war?"
Holt was silent, frowning and thinking.
Seeing that Holt was silent, Etlin asked tentatively: "Your Majesty Commander, in order to prevent the Russians from using these prisoners of war to enrich their troops, I suggest that all these prisoners of war be killed when we retreat."
"General Etlin!" Before Etlin finished speaking, Kissina interrupted him sharply: "Don't you know that according to the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war cannot be massacred at will?"
Ettling, who was criticized, curled his lips and said unconvinced: "The Russians did not sign the Geneva Convention. We do not need to abide by this convention."
"General Etling, let me remind you, we are the National Defense Forces, not executioners." Holt added: "I will never allow the massacre of prisoners of war to occur in my army."
"Your Excellency, Commander," Etlin became a little anxious when he saw that Holt did not agree to kill the Soviet prisoners of war in the prison camp: "If our army retreats, these prisoner of war camps will fall into the hands of the Russians sooner or later. If They have incorporated so many prisoners of war into the army, which will pose a huge threat to us. For the sake of safety, I think we should kill them all."
Seeing that Ettlin was always struggling with this matter, Holt knew that he might not be kind if he did not express his attitude, so he felt that he would blame the matter on the SS: "General Ettling, let me remind you again, we It’s the Wehrmacht, not the executioners. Let’s leave this kind of dirty work to the SS.”
After speaking, he turned to look at Chief of Staff Mei Linjin who was standing aside and motioned for him to say a few words. Merlinjin, who understood Hotter's intention, quickly said: "Your Excellency, the commander, is right. There is a battalion of the 7th SS Cavalry Division in our defense area. I think we can take care of these two prisoner of war camps." , hand it over to them to take charge.”
Seeing that Mei Linjin accurately understood his intention, Holt nodded with satisfaction and said to the other party: "Chief of Staff, this matter is settled. Now you go to inform the artillery and use artillery fire to suppress the Russian artillery positions; at the same time, , and then arrange for someone to be responsible for the transfer of management rights of the prisoner of war camp."
When Huot's order was conveyed to the artillery commander through Merinjin, the Soviet artillery bombardment of the 3rd Armored Division had been going on for forty minutes. The artillery commander quickly ordered his men to take off the artillery hanging on the back of the tractor truck and find a suitable location to deploy the artillery position.
When the German artillery positions were deployed and ready to suppress the Soviet artillery positions based on the parameters provided by the artillery observers, the Soviet artillery bombardment of the 3rd Armored Division had ended, and the infantry, under the cover of tanks, fired at the bombed Dejin, who was in disarray, launched a charge.
Knowing that the Soviet army had launched an attack, the German artillery commander could only change the shooting target and order the artillery to fire at the attacking Soviet army column, trying to use artillery fire to disrupt the Soviet offensive rhythm.
German artillery shells fell and exploded in the ranks of the Soviet troops. From time to time, soldiers were blown to pieces or overturned by the air waves of the explosion; tanks were hit by artillery fire and stopped burning on the battlefield. But the remaining Soviet tanks and infantry still charged bravely despite the enemy's artillery fire.
They quickly rushed to the location where the 3rd Armored Division was gathering. There were destroyed tanks and trucks everywhere, and incomplete corpses of German officers and soldiers could be seen everywhere in the craters on the ground. Although some German officers and soldiers survived, they immediately shot at the approaching Soviet commanders and soldiers, but the damage caused was indeed minimal.
Facing these German officers and soldiers who were still tenacious, the tank crews would either stop where they were and fire a cannon at their hiding position, blowing them up into the sky with their weapons, or they would drive directly over and quickly spin and crush them all. Into meat sauce.
After speaking, he turned to look at Chief of Staff Mei Linjin who was standing aside and motioned for him to say a few words. Merlinjin, who understood Hotter's intention, quickly said: "Your Excellency, the commander, is right. There is a battalion of the 7th SS Cavalry Division in our defense area. I think we can take care of these two prisoner of war camps." , hand it over to them to take charge.”
Seeing that Mei Linjin accurately understood his intention, Holt nodded with satisfaction and said to the other party: "Chief of Staff, this matter is settled. Now you go to inform the artillery and use artillery fire to suppress the Russian artillery positions; at the same time, , and then arrange for someone to be responsible for the transfer of management rights of the prisoner of war camp."
When Huot's order was conveyed to the artillery commander through Merinjin, the Soviet artillery bombardment of the 3rd Armored Division had been going on for forty minutes. The artillery commander quickly ordered his men to take off the artillery hanging on the back of the tractor truck and find a suitable location to deploy the artillery position.
When the German artillery positions were deployed and ready to suppress the Soviet artillery positions based on the parameters provided by the artillery observers, the Soviet artillery bombardment of the 3rd Armored Division had ended. The infantry, under the cover of tanks, fired at the bombed Dejin, who was in disarray, launched a charge.
Knowing that the Soviet army had launched an attack, the German artillery commander could only change the shooting target and order the artillery to fire at the attacking Soviet army column, trying to use artillery fire to disrupt the rhythm of the Soviet army's attack.
German artillery shells fell and exploded in the ranks of the Soviet troops. From time to time, soldiers were blown to pieces or overturned by the air waves of the explosion; tanks were hit by artillery fire and stopped on the battlefield and burned. But the remaining Soviet tanks and infantry still charged bravely despite the enemy's artillery fire.
They quickly rushed to the location where the 3rd Armored Division was gathering. There were destroyed tanks and trucks everywhere, and incomplete corpses of German officers and soldiers could be seen everywhere in the craters on the ground. Although some German officers and soldiers survived, they immediately opened fire when they saw the rushing Soviet commanders and fighters, but the damage caused was indeed minimal.
Facing these German officers and soldiers who continued to fight tenaciously, the tank crews would either stop where they were and fire a cannon at their hiding position, blowing them up into the sky with their weapons, or they would drive directly over and quickly spin and crush them all. Into meat sauce.
