Red Moscow

Due to Dietrich's prudence, he sent the Führer's Regiment to accompany the Imperial Division and suffered no losses. Just when he thought he had escaped, he received a report from his rear guard that he had been attacked by the Soviet army.

It was the commander of the 3rd Grenadier Regiment who reported the situation to him. The commander reported to Dietrich in a panic through the wireless phone: "Your Excellency, the Russians are bombarding our regiment's defense area with rockets, and request support." ,Request support!"

The report of the head of the regiment reminded Dietrich that a few hours ago, the German Regiment, which served as the rear guard of the Imperial Division, sent a distress signal to the division headquarters after being attacked by the Soviet army. When they were approached by the Russians, not only did they suffer huge casualties, but even the division commander, Major General Val, was also injured.

In order to avoid repeating the same mistakes, he quickly ordered his regiment commander: "Colonel, immediately order your subordinates to transfer and quickly move closer to the division headquarters."

"Your Excellency, Commander," the head of the regiment became a little anxious when he heard 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 heavier."

Hearing what the regiment commander said, Dietrich murmured in his heart, Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division, was killed in battle in Balvenkovo ​​yesterday; today, Major General Val, the commander of the Imperial Division, was ambushed and injured by the Soviet army during the reinforcements. Fortunately for him, he was only slightly injured. If he led troops to reinforce him, he might risk his life.

Thinking about it this way, how could Dietrich dare to bring troops to reinforce him? He could only repeat his order again and again: "Colonel, retreat, I order you to retreat immediately. Not only the casualties, but also the existing troops must be withdrawn immediately." area, move closer to the division headquarters."

"Master Commander," the head of the regiment didn't understand why Dietrich ordered himself to retreat so forcefully, and quickly said politely: "Can you send the Head of State Regiment to support us? With their help, we have full confidence in defeating the Russians." attack."

"Colonel, stop having such unrealistic fantasies." Dietrich said mercilessly: "A few hours ago, Major General Val received a report from the deputy head of the German Guards Regiment, saying that they were attacked by the Russians. I personally took people to reinforce them, and I also sent the head of state to go with them. Unexpectedly, on the way, they were approached by the Russians. The Imperial Division suffered heavy casualties, and even Major General Val was injured. If I At this moment, we are also sending troops to reinforce, maybe we will encounter the same problem on the road, and you will not be rescued by then, and the main force of the division will also suffer heavy casualties."

Hearing what Dietrich said, the head of the regiment broke out in a cold sweat, and quickly asked, "Your Excellency, what should we do now?"

"What else can I do?" Dietrich said impatiently, "Didn't I tell you just now? Retreat, retreat immediately, throw away those things that cannot be taken away, quickly break away from contact with the Russians, and quickly move towards the Russians." The division headquarters are close together, so that you have a chance of survival. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Your Excellency, Division Commander." The commander of the German army realized the seriousness of the problem at this moment, and quickly stated: "I will order the troops to throw away the luggage that cannot be taken away, and quickly move closer to the division headquarters."

"That's right, Colonel." Dietrich said to the regiment commander: "I guess the Russians who attacked you came from the position of attacking the rear regiment of the Imperial Division. They were not many in number, and the rockets they carried The number of ammunition will not be too many, if you disengage from them quickly, there is a possibility of escape. Once you delay the time, when their main force arrives, you will not be able to leave if you want to leave."

It was precisely because of Dietrich's determination to break his wrists that the 3rd Regiment, who served as the rear guard, immediately threw away all the baggage it was carrying, quickly evacuated the area attacked by the Soviet army, and moved towards Barvinkovo .

Seeing that the enemy began to retreat in large numbers, Ershakov quickly sent a telegram to Sokov, reporting the situation here to him in detail.

"Chief of Staff, the enemy is very cunning." After reading Yershakov's telegram, Sokov said to Sidolin: "This Dietrich found that his rear was under attack, and he was worried that he would send reinforcements. Encountering the same fate as the Imperial Division, they ordered the rearguard to throw away their luggage and retreat to the direction of Barvinkovo."

"Comrade Commander," Sidolin asked Sokov for instructions, "Do you think we need to order the 125th Regiment to pursue the enemy?"

"It's not necessary." To Sidolin's proposal, Sokov shook his head and said, "The 125th Regiment now has less than 3,000 people. If they are ordered to pursue them, once the German troops from Barvinkovo ​​go south and entangle them , it will not be so easy to withdraw from the battle at that time."

"Then what should we do?" Sidolin asked for instructions.

"Send a telegram to the commanders of the regiments," Sokov thought for a while, thinking that the German army would shrink the three divisions together, and it would be difficult for him to find any more fighters. Since there is no opportunity to fight, there is no point in staying here anymore, so he ordered: "Let them move to the direction of the Red Army Village after repelling the enemy in front of them. Also, the telegram to Vanya is the same. Content."

Don't look at the great achievements made in the enemy's rear these days, but because the soldiers have been marching in the snow for a long time, their physical strength has been seriously exhausted. If they continue to fight, the combat effectiveness of several regiments will decline to varying degrees . So after hearing Sokov's order, Sidolin immediately agreed readily: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will pass on your instructions immediately."

The three SS divisions, which had been severely beaten by the Guards, shrank in the direction of Balvenkovo. In a radius of nearly 100 kilometers, there was not a single German soldier in sight. Vanya, who was about to lead his troops to fight guerrillas in the forest, received the retreat telegram from Sidolin, and immediately led the troops of the two battalions. The commanders 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, and at the same time sent someone to the Red Army Village to make contact, so as not to cause conflicts with the defenders in the city during the retreat. Misunderstanding, it will be troublesome when one of your own people fights against 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 line of defense here to deal with possible German retaliation.

Seeing Sokov returning safely, Vitkov couldn't help being overjoyed. Don't look at everyone's minds, Sokov is very good at commanding and fighting, but this time he is leading a division, but he is dealing with the three elite divisions of the German army. And not long ago, there were countless Soviet troops 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 killed Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division; he also severely damaged the Imperial Division and injured the division commander; he also beat the number one Banner Guard Division so that he dared not fight.

After embracing Vitkov and Sokov, he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Commander, I really want to find out one thing. Why did the three SS divisions who defeated our army become so different in front of you?" Became a sheep for your slaughter?"

"Actually, it's nothing," Sokov said modestly. "I just used a little trick to trick the enemy around. When they didn't pay attention, I rushed up and bit them hard."

"Comrade Commander," Vitkov brought Sokov to the map, pointing to the enemy and friend signs on it, and said, "Due to the proactive attack of the 41st Guards Division, the enemy had to retreat. Now they are far away from us. It’s a full forty kilometers, and there are ice and snow barriers 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 didn't come to attack." Sokov knew very well in his heart that with the current fortifications of the Red Army Village, it was difficult to block the attack of the enemy, especially the armored division. If this attack frightens the Germans and prevents them from coming to attack for a long time, then our troops will have enough time to strengthen their defenses. With solid fortifications and a complete defense system, there is no need to worry about the German attack.

…………

Knowing that the three SS divisions had been tricked by one of Sokov's Guards divisions, Manstein couldn't help being ashamed and turned into anger. He called Hausser and asked sharply, "General Hausser, what's going on here?" What? I gave you three of the most elite SS divisions. But I saw that their performance was not even as good as that of a reserve division, in case the Russians attacked, they had no power to fight back."

"Your Excellency the Marshal," Hausser was also dumb in the face of Manstein's accusation, and he defended himself, "My troops have tried their best, but their opponents are known for their cunning." Russian Colonel Sokov..."

"General Hausser, your news is outdated." Manstein interrupted Hausser: "Sokoff is no longer a colonel. Not long ago, he was just promoted to major general. The reason why he can be so Becoming a general at a young age is all the achievements of those idiots under your command."

Although Manstein's words were ugly, Hausser 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: "Your Excellency, Marshal, what should we do next?"

"What else can I do? At that time, all the troops were concentrated in Barvenkovo ​​for rest and reorganization." Manstein said with some helplessness: "I will order the 57th and 48th Armored Corps to move closer to you, and then concentrate on attacking the Red Army Village. , Get rid of this troop that is giving us headaches."

"Your Excellency the Marshal," Hausser hastily reminded him when he learned that Manstein planned to transfer the other two armored corps to the south, "In this way, it will be given to Kharkov—the Russian army on the Belgorod line. Is there a respite for the troops?"

"If I don't do this, what can I do?" Manstein had an urge to throw off the microphone, "If we continue to attack in the direction of Kharkov according to the original plan, Sokov's troops will be on our way. What should we do if we launch a large-scale attack later?"

After thinking for a while, Hausser felt that what Manstein said made sense. If the frontal attack of one's own troops did not go smoothly, and the rear continued to be attacked on a large scale, it would definitely affect the morale and morale of the army. Rather than taking the risk of annihilation of the entire army to seize the Kharkov-Belgorod line, it is better to concentrate our forces first, eliminate the Russians gathered in the Red Army Village, and then turn around and attack Kharkov northward. It's safer.

The news that the German 57th and 48th Panzer Corps were heading south quickly reached Golikov's ears. The first reaction after hearing the news was that the scouts must have made a mistake. The enemy has advanced to the city of Kharkov. As long as they launch a fierce attack, they can take the city in at most two or three days. How could it be possible at this time? What about retreat? Maybe this is fake news deliberately released to make the defenders in the city relax their vigilance.

When Golikov reported this situation to the General Staff, Antonov, the deputy chief of staff, told him happily: "General Golikov, don't worry, this is not false information, but true. The enemy has really moved their troops south."

"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, how is this possible?" Golikov asked Antonov in puzzlement: "The enemy only needs to launch one or two more onslaughts on the city to capture Kharkov. How about withdrawing troops to the south at this time? Could it be that the headquarters mobilized reinforcements from the south and launched an attack on the enemy's rear? Other than that, I can't think of any reason why the Germans would stop attacking us and send troops south .”

"The base camp has no large-scale troops that can be used in the south." Antonov did not hide Golikov, but replied truthfully: "Your unfavorable situation was reversed by Sokov alone. of."

"Sokov did it?" Golikov asked curiously: "Deputy Chief of Staff, what did he do to make the enemy stop the attack on 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, turning the enemy's defensive zone upside down." Antonov said a little excitedly: "They put on a posture to attack Barvinkovo. Attracted all three SS divisions in Germany. Then they killed Ike, the commander of the Skeleton Division, wounded Major General Wahl, the commander of the Imperial Division, and caused the enemy to lose nearly half of their troops."

"Is this true?" Hearing Antonov's words, Golikov couldn't believe it was true. The three SS divisions are powerful, and he has personally experienced them. If it is one-on-one, then Sokov's guard division still has the possibility of victory. But now it's one-on-three and still won, which is simply unbelievable.

"Of course it is true." Antonov replied affirmatively: "Otherwise, why would the enemy rush to transfer troops to the south when they have the upper hand?"