For Sokov, the capture of Letzen was nothing more than the liberation of an insignificant little city. But he had no idea how much of an uproar it caused after the news of the city's fall came out. Because the significance of this city's existence has long exceeded his imagination.
First, after Rokossovsky received the information, he clapped his hands and celebrated with Subotin, Bogolyubov and others. According to his assumptions, liberating the city would require at least a bloody battle and the casualties of at least one or two divisions. Unexpectedly, the enemy encountered the 3rd Infantry Division of the 48th Group Army, but only made symbolic resistance before laying down their weapons and surrendering.
Rokossovsky reported the news to the General Staff, and Chief of the General Staff Antonov reported the matter to Stalin. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Stalin also clapped his hands and applauded, and said emotionally: "I really didn't expect that the city regarded as a fortress by the Germans was not worth mentioning in front of Xiao Misha, and it was won so easily." Then. He said to Antonov: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, please record my order. In order to commend the 3rd Infantry Division of the 48th Group Army for its bravery and heroism in the battle to liberate the city of Letzen. , the division is specially awarded the Order of the Red Banner."
Even though the 3rd Infantry Division ranks high in rank, it has never accomplished any great feats due to the incompetence of previous division commanders. But now that Kirillov has served as the division commander, he has received a collective Order of the Red Banner for his battle to liberate Letzen.
The Soviet army liberated Lötzen, which was simply bad news for the German high command.
Chief of General Staff Guderian was extremely shocked to learn that Lötzen laid down his arms and surrendered to the Soviet army without making any resistance. He did not expect that in an area where a large-scale defensive battle could have been fought, the defenders surrendered as soon as the gunfire sounded. This was simply incredible.
When Mustache heard about this, he became furious. He pointed his finger at Guderian and asked loudly: "Guderian, what is the name of the commander who defended Lezen?"
"My name is Klein." Fortunately, Guderian had read the information in advance and knew the name of the city defender, so he was not asked by Mustache: "Colonel rank."
"I once specifically issued an order that this city must hold on." Mustache roared hysterically: "Even if it can't hold on, retreat can only be allowed after getting my order. Who knows this damn Clay Because, without even a decent resistance, he ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Russians. Where is his home?"
"His home is in Berlin." Guderian replied: "He has a wife, two sons, and a sister."
Mustache waved his hands as if convulsively: "Catch them all and send them to the concentration camp. I want everyone to know that this is the consequence of betraying me."
Just when Guderian agreed and was about to convey his order, he changed his original order: "No, you can't send them to the concentration camp. That would be too cheap. Hang them and hang them on the road." Hang a sign on the telephone pole next to your chest and write 'The fate of traitors', hurry up and follow our orders."
"Yes, my head of state." Guderian picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and conveyed Mustache's order.
After making the phone call, Guderian continued to report intelligence on the battlefield: "My head of state, General Reinhardt, called and said that the situation there is not ideal. The pressure that Königsberg is currently under, Forcing the 4th Army to continue retreating, I am afraid that the entire East Prussia east of the Aare River will have to be abandoned."
"No, Guderian, such a retreat is absolutely not allowed." Mustache, who had fallen into madness, roared: "The steps of the coward must stop, as long as I personally order no more retreat and correct those coward generals Wrong orders given can re-energize the soldiers' courage. Please put me through Reinhard immediately, I want to speak to him."
When Guderian picked up the phone and dialed, a bitter smile appeared on his face. He knew very well that if the situation had not reached an irreversible point, Reinhard would not take the initiative to propose a retreat.
The call was quickly connected. When Reinhard's voice came from the receiver, Guderian said into the phone: "Reinhard, the head of state wants to talk to you." After saying this, Afterwards, he held the microphone in both hands and handed it to Mustache, "My head of state, Reinhardt is on the line."
"Reinhardt, I am the Führer." Mustache said loudly into the microphone: "I order you to stop the retreat of all troops, turn to defense on the spot, resolutely block the Russian attack, and defend our east. Prussia…”
"My Führer, I do want to continue to hold on." Reinhard complained: "But my troops have been severely weakened, while the Russians opposite us have received a steady supply of soldiers, weapons and ammunition. , making our situation more and more unfavorable. If we continue to hold on to the current position, there is a possibility of being wiped out by the Russians. But if we give up some areas that are not necessary to defend and gather more troops, we can At a temporary advantage in a local area..."
"That's enough, don't explain." Before Reinhard could finish speaking, Mustache interrupted him: "I order you to have all troops stop retreating, stay where they are or return to their original positions, and resolutely ground to block the Russian attack. Do you understand?"
"My head of state, this matter may be difficult to handle." Reinhard said perfunctorily: "Most of the troops are on the move, and it may be very difficult to contact them in such a short period of time. And our Many troops have already withdrawn from their original defense areas. If they are ordered to return now, it may cause unnecessary chaos."
"Reinhardt," Reinhardt's words made Mustache fall into thinking. After a long time, he said hesitantly: "I will give you the final answer at five o'clock in the afternoon. But before that, you The troops must be ordered to stop their meaningless retreat."
Reinhard, who had received Mustache's promise, put down the phone with satisfaction, and waited until five o'clock to call the headquarters in Berlin to ask what Mustache's final decision was.
After Mustache put down the phone, he put his hands on the table and stared at the map spread out fiercely. He began to think about whether he should agree to Reinhardt's request, abandon the current position, and head towards Königsberg. direction to retreat.
He didn't know how long he had been looking at the map, and Guderian, who was standing next to him, almost fell asleep. Just when Guderian was drowsy, he suddenly heard Mustache's voice: "Guderian!"
"My head of state!" Hearing Mustache's voice, Guderian shuddered, straightened up quickly and said, "Do you have any instructions?"
"I got up too early today and am a little tired. I want to go back and rest. I will leave the things here to you." Before leaving, Mustache told Guderian: "While I am sleeping, no one can Don't bother me."
"Okay, my Führer."
After Guderian sent Mustache away, he suddenly remembered that Mustache had told Reinhardt to wait until five o'clock to give him a final reply. But it was almost four o'clock now, and it was obvious that Mustache would not be here when Reinhardt called.
When the hands of the clock on the wall pointed to five o'clock, the phone on the table rang.
Guderian stared at the ringing phone on the table for a while, then turned to ask a general who had just entered the door: "Is the head of state here?"
"No." The general shook his head and said, "I didn't see the Führer on the way here."
Hearing what the general said, Guderian couldn't help complaining in his heart. He didn't expect that Mustache would actually run back to sleep at the critical moment without keeping his words. How could he reply to Reinhard? However, the phone kept ringing, and it was obviously impossible not to answer it, so he had no choice but to pick up the phone.
"Hello, I'm Guderian. Where are you?"
"Hello, Chief of General Staff!" Reinhard's voice came from the receiver: "I followed the agreement with the head of state and called him at five o'clock..."
"General Reinhard." Guderian interrupted Reinhardt before he could finish his words: "I'm really sorry, the head of state was feeling a little uncomfortable just now and went back to rest. Before he left, he specifically told us, No one is allowed to disturb them. So General Reinhardt, I cannot help you call the Führer, so please forgive me."
"Hell, how could this happen?" When Reinhard heard this, he knew that he had been deceived by Mustache. The other party obviously asked him to call back at five o'clock, but he didn't know that he called as originally planned. Went to run and rest. Guderian originally wanted Guderian to call Mustache, but then he remembered that Mustache had left and said that no one was allowed to disturb him. He swallowed the words that were on his lips and asked cautiously: "Your Excellency, Chief of General Staff, I don't know." When is a good time for me to call?”
Guderian raised his head and glanced at the clock on the wall, and then said: "General Reinhardt, I think you'd better call back in two hours. Even if the head of state goes to rest, he should be there in two hours Come back here again. If he is not here by then, you can call the Army Headquarters and ask to see if he has signed any orders."
Although Reinhard was unwilling to do so, since Mustache deliberately avoided seeing him, there was no point in being anxious. The only way now is to wait another two hours and then call the headquarters or the army headquarters to see if there are any latest instructions from Mustache.
Two hours later, Reinhard called the headquarters again, found Guderian, and asked about the whereabouts of Mustache. Guderian, who answered the phone, said apologetically: "I'm really sorry, General Reinhardt. I haven't seen him since the head of state left. If you have anything to ask him, I suggest you call the Army Headquarters." Call and ask if there is any order he signed."
Reinhard dialed the number of the Army Headquarters again. With the last trace of luck, he asked the officer who answered the phone: "I am General Reinhard. I want to ask if you have a head of state there." What order was signed by yourself regarding the East Prussia region?"
"No, General Reinhardt." The officer on duty answered simply: "We don't have an order signed by the head of state."
Reinhard, who had already guessed the outcome, became angry. He raised his voice and said to the officer on duty: "Please record my words: Since I have not received any clear instructions, I will withdraw the troops to Afghanistan according to my original plan. Le River to the Helsberg-Friedland line and build new fortifications there.”
After Reinhard hung up the phone, the officer on duty did not dare to neglect and hurriedly reported the contents of the call with Reinhard to his superior.
The call record was quickly sent to Xiao Hu. After reading it, Mustache directly pulled the water glass in front of him to the ground. At the same time, he stood up and walked back and forth in the room like a trapped animal. His mind began to think about how to deal with a bold person like Reinhardt.
Reinhardt, who was far away in East Prussia, made several phone calls back to Berlin but could not find the whereabouts of Mustache. He made the final decision in anger and retreated the troops to a reliable location according to the original plan. area and re-establish a new defensive zone.
His chief of staff, General Heide Koppel, reminded him: "Your Excellency, Commander, you are withdrawing the troops without authorization against the wishes of the head of state. I am worried that it will have a negative impact on you."
"What adverse effects can there be?" At this moment, Reinhard had decided to risk it all: "At best, remove me from my post. I really don't want to be this commander anymore. I haven't had a solid night's sleep since I accepted this position. , thinking about how to block the Russian attack every day, and even drive them away from the East Prussia area. But unfortunately, the high command does not add new troops to us at all. It is impossible to stop it simply by relying on the existing strength. Inhabited by Russians.”
"Okay, Your Excellency, Commander." Seeing that Reinhard had made his final choice, Heidekoppel knew that no matter what he said, he would not be able to change the other person's mind. The only thing he could do now was to help Reinhard coordinate with the retreating troops and try to get them to the designated location as soon as possible. After all, he wasted most of his time just waiting for orders from his superiors.
While they were busy, a communications staff officer came over with a telegram and said to Heidekoppel with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, Chief of Staff, the telegram was sent by the High Command in Berlin. It is with you and the Commander." There are relationships."
Heidekoppel took the telegram with doubts on his face and lowered his head to read it. When he saw clearly what was on the telegram, he was stunned.
Reinhard, who was standing not far away, saw his chief of staff holding a telegram in a daze, and asked with some displeasure: "Chief of Staff, what did the telegram say? You look so distracted." .”
"Your Excellency, Commander," after the Chief of Staff came to his senses, he quickly came to Reinhardt and said in a panic: "The high command in Berlin has just issued an order. In view of your unsatisfactory physical condition, we are going to let you go." After being dismissed, he went to Berlin for treatment."
"Oh, the action is quite fast." Reinhard sneered and said: "You dismissed me so quickly. Chief of Staff, it seems that until the new commander arrives, this unit can only be temporarily commanded by you. ”
"Your Excellency, Commander, I haven't finished speaking yet." Heidekoppel said with a wry smile: "Like you, I have been relieved of my duties."
(End of chapter)
