Red Moscow

"In order to rescue us from the encirclement of the Russians, Marshal Manstein dispatched multiple armies and launched an attack on the Russians from the periphery of the encirclement at the same time." Stemmelmann continued: "The most smooth progress is now , there is nothing better than the Baker Heavy Armored Regiment. They have broken through the defense line of the Russian 20th Tank Corps and are attacking the defense area of ​​the 18th Tank Corps in Lisanka. If we leave a part of our troops here to contain the Russians, the main force rushes to fight with Baker The rendezvous of the heavy armored regiments will completely break the Russian encirclement."

The officers present, in addition to General Gilles, were the commanders of the 72nd, 112th, 38th, and 57th Infantry Divisions. After Stemmerman finished speaking, the commander of the 72nd Division immediately asked: "Your Excellency, I wonder how you plan to allocate our existing troops?"

Stemmelman knew what the other party meant, and wanted to ask which unit he planned to keep, to attract the attention of the Soviet army near Height 239, so as to cover the main force to break through the encirclement smoothly.

"The breakout force will be divided into two echelons. The first echelon will be the 72nd, 112th Infantry Division and the Viking Division. Under the cover of tanks and assault guns, you will open gaps for the besieged troops and cooperate with those who came to rescue from outside the encirclement. The troops converge. The commander of the first echelon is General Giller, the commander of the Viking Division."

The officers had no objection to Stemmelman's arrangement, they just stared at him intently, waiting for him to continue to issue orders to break out.

"The headquarters of each division and officers above the regiment level follow behind the first echelon and participate in the breakout operation. Behind them are our wounded logistics team and medical institutions."

"The second echelon is made up of the remaining troops. Among them, the 38th Infantry Division provides cover from the north and east, and the 57th Infantry Division protects the troubled group from the south."

After talking about the breakout arrangement in one breath, Stemmelman paused for a moment, and then asked, "Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, Your Excellency General." The commander of the 57th Infantry Division stood up and asked with a serious expression: "I want to ask, who will be the commander-in-chief of the second echelon?"

"The task of the second echelon is arduous. They not only have to contain the Russians near Height 239, but also serve as the guard of the entire besieged group." After finishing these words with a blank expression, Stemmerman was shocked. Said: "I will personally serve as the commander-in-chief of the second echelon. If we can successfully break through the Russian encirclement, I will join ordinary soldiers and finally leave this damn encirclement."

After hearing that Stemmerman planned to cut it off himself, everyone couldn't help but turn pale with fright. Giller said even more excitedly: "Your Excellency, how about I take the command of the second echelon, and you command the first echelon to break through the Russian defense line and rush to join the friendly forces."

Facing the kindness shown by Jiller, Stemmerman still refused: "General Jiller, thank you for your kindness. I have made the final decision, and you don't have to persuade me anymore."

Hearing what Stemmerman said, Giller knew that no matter how much he persuaded him, he could not change the other party's decision, so he could only nod his head and said helplessly: "Okay, Your Excellency General, I will follow your order and lead the first echelon Break out in the direction of Lixiangka." After a short pause, he asked again, "Then when should we act?"

"23 o'clock tonight." After telling the time of action, Stemmerman explained to Giller: "Because the ground is frozen at that time, it is more conducive to marching, and at the same time, the visibility is extremely poor at night, which is conducive to our concealment. action.."

"Then before the attack, do we need to shell the Russian defenses?"

"No, shelling is not allowed." Stemmelman shook his head and said, "When the cannon fires, doesn't that mean telling the Russians that we are going to break out from there? Therefore, before you attack, there is no artillery fire." For cover, you can only rely on your own tanks and assault guns to open a gap in the Russian defense line as soon as possible to ensure that the entire army can break through the encirclement smoothly."

The Chief of Army Staff waited for Stemmerman to finish speaking, and asked tentatively, "Your Excellency, since we are going to break through tonight, will the attack on Height 239 continue?"

"Of course." Stemmelman nodded and said, "In order to prevent the Russians from noticing our strangeness, the attack on Height 239 must continue. However, except for the Walloon Assault Brigade, the Viking Division Let the other units return to the construction. The task of attacking the high ground should be handed over to the 167th and 168th Infantry Divisions."

"Your Excellency, Army Commander," the Chief of Staff couldn't help but turn pale when he heard Stemmelman's order, "the total strength of these two divisions is only over 6,000 now. If they are allowed to carry out such an order, I'm afraid it will turn them into an empty number."

Staring at his chief of staff, Stemmelman said earnestly, "Chief of staff, if we don't find a way to attract the attention of the Russians, then the main force will not be able to break through at all. The airports we communicate with the outside world have all been destroyed by the Russians." If the occupation continues, we may repeat the same mistakes Paulus made in Stalingrad. At that time, no matter how useful the remaining troops are, these troops will still be canceled by the high command.”

The chief of staff of the army thought about it carefully, and what Stemmelman said was very reasonable. If the troops were allowed to stay in the encirclement, it would be a matter of time before they were annihilated by the Soviet army. If you want to get rid of this fate, you must desperately break through the encirclement of the Soviet army, and holding the 53rd Army near the 239 Heights is the key to breaking through.

Seeing that no one spoke, Stemmerman waved his hands at the crowd and said, "Everyone go back to their respective troops to prepare. Next, we will face a fierce battle that will determine our survival."

…………

Two hours later, the German army launched an attack on Height 239 again.

Kirillov soon discovered the strangeness. When the Germans attacked this time, they did not prepare for artillery fire, so they directly charged. The infantry attack was covered by tanks and assault guns that hadn't shown up for a long time.

Seeing this situation, Kirillov couldn't help frowning. He didn't understand how the Germans would suddenly change their offensive tactics. You must know that before the German attack, the violent shelling could destroy the fortifications on the high ground and cause certain casualties to the defenders. And this kind of attack that relies on tanks and assault guns as cover is obviously much less effective.

After observing with the binoculars for a while, Kirillov also noticed that the ordinary Wehrmacht was attacking now, not the SS just now, and he couldn't help frowning, thinking about what was going on. But after thinking for a long time, he still didn't come up with an answer, but he felt that he should report the situation to Sokov, so he picked up the phone on the table.

"Comrade Commander, the enemy launched another attack on the 239 Heights that our division is defending." As soon as the phone call was made, Kirillov said straight to the point: "But this time the attack, I feel something is wrong."

"Something's wrong?" Sokov asked wonderingly, "What's wrong?"

"It's hard to say," Kirillov said, looking at the enemies approaching the position, with a complicated expression, "I can't tell you the specifics, but I always feel that these enemies are somewhat different from the enemies who attacked in the previous two rounds."

Kirillov's report made Sokov realize that the Germans might want to escape. In order to confirm his guess, he told the other party: "Lieutenant Colonel Kirillov, find a way to find out the enemy's number. I would like to know , Which army is so bold that it dared to directly attack the 239 Heights without the cover of artillery fire."

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Kirillov said, "I will find out the number of the German army as soon as possible."

It is not difficult to find out the number of the German army. You can confirm which army they belong to by interrogating the prisoners and checking the documents on the corpses.

Less than ten minutes later, Kirillov called Sokov again and hurriedly reported: "Comrade Commander, I have figured everything out. Our soldiers confirmed the identity of the deceased by checking the documents on the corpse. The enemy attacking the high ground this time is the officers and soldiers of the 167th and 168th Infantry Divisions."

"What, the officers and soldiers of the 167th and 168th Infantry Divisions?" After hearing Kirillov's report, Sokov was even more sure that Stemmerman was planning to slip away. However, he did not disclose this situation to Kirillov, but told the other party: "The Germans changed the troops attacking Height 239 from the SS to the ordinary Wehrmacht. I think there is a problem. You have to find a way to catch them." A few captives will be sent to the Army Group Command, and I will personally interrogate them."

As soon as Sokov put down the phone, Smirnov asked curiously: "Comrade commander, tell me, the Germans replaced the troops attacking the highlands from the SS with strong combat effectiveness to the 167th and 167th troops with mediocre combat effectiveness. 168th Infantry Division, what is going on here?"

Before finding out the truth of the matter, Sokov was unwilling to express his guess casually, so he said perfunctorily: "It may be that Stemmerman wants to use these ordinary troops to consume our vital strength and ammunition. Wait. After achieving the goal, use the Viking division to carry out the final assault, so as to achieve the goal of occupying the high ground and opening the gap in the encirclement circle."

This half-truth and half-false analysis made Smirnov believe it was true. He also said to Sokov with emotion: "Comrade Commander, your analysis is really correct. I think it should be the case in reality."

Sokov began to ponder that just around the 239 Heights, the strength of his four divisions was occupied, accounting for half of the total strength of the group army. If you want to attack the German army, the strength in your own hands is obviously not enough, so you can only ask your superiors for help. Thinking of this, he immediately ordered the communications director to connect him to the front army headquarters.

The person who answered the phone was still Zakharov. Hearing Sokov's voice, he thought that Height 239 had fallen, and he couldn't help feeling a little nervous: "Comrade Sokov, are you calling me about Height 239?"

"Yes." Sokov didn't think too much, and replied truthfully: "The situation I want to report is indeed related to Height 239."

Zakharov's breathing became short, and he asked nervously, "Comrade Sokov, you won't tell me that Height 239 has fallen, right?"

"Highland 239 fell?" Sokov said in surprise, "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, when did I say that Highland 239 fell?"

"Since it's not the fall of the 239 highland, then why are you calling me this time?"

"It's like this, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Sukov realized that Zakharov had misunderstood himself, and quickly explained to him: "The enemy attacking the 239th Hill suddenly changed from the original Viking Division to the 167th Division. And the 168th Infantry Division, I think it is necessary to report to you."

After listening, Zakharov asked in surprise, "Comrade Sokov, how do you think about it?"

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, you and I both understand that Height 239 is the key to the success of the German army's breakthrough. This is why the Germans used the Viking Division to attack at first. Because this army has a strong combat effectiveness and is capable of breaking through our army's defenses Sokov said this, not exaggerating the strength of the Viking Division, but seeking truth from facts. After all, this division disabled the 116th Infantry Division of Stirlitz in the recent attack. With the results of the battle, Stemmerman will definitely continue to let them attack the 239 Heights, but now they have changed to other troops, and their intentions can be imagined. "The Germans suddenly replaced the two Wehrmacht divisions with incomplete organizational systems and severely reduced combat effectiveness. There must be a conspiracy in them."

"Conspiracy, what conspiracy?" Zakharov asked.

"I think the Germans may be trying to use these two divisions to attract our attention, and then they transfer the Viking division to other directions to continue their breakout plan."

"Then where do you think their breakthrough point will be?"

Sokov's eyes stayed on the map for a long time before he said: "I think the Germans must cross the Gniloydikich River if they want to completely escape our army's encirclement. To get there, they have to cross the river." Can bypass the 239 highland from the north or south..."

Zakharov was a little dumbfounded when he heard Sokov say that, saying this is tantamount to not saying it. If the Germans really couldn't take the 239 Heights and had to choose a detour, it must be detoured from the south or north of the Heights, and they couldn't go east and return to the area where the Soviet army gathered to die.

"Then what do you think about it?"

"I hope my superiors can send me a highly mobile unit." Sokov made his own request to Zakharov: "So that I can pursue the Germans when they retreat."

"Wait a minute, Comrade Sokov." Zakharov was silent for a moment after listening, and then said: "I will ask General Konev for instructions first to see what he means."

After listening to Zakharov's report, Konev stared at the map for a while, thinking about which unit should be transferred to Sokov, so that he can decisively launch a pursuit operation when he finds that the German army is retreating.

Zakharov saw that Konev had been silent for a long time, and thought he was unwilling to send new troops to Sokov, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, if you think it's inappropriate, you don't have to send a report to the 53rd Army." Send new troops."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I think reinforcements should be sent to the 53rd Army." Konev raised his head, looked at Zakharov and said, "Call General Selivanov, commander of the 5th Guards Cavalry Army now. , ordered him to lead his troops into the defense zone of the 53rd Army and accept Sokov's command."

"What, hand over the cavalry to Sokov?" Zakharov asked in surprise, "Is this appropriate?"

"There is nothing inappropriate." Konev said confidently: "I believe Sokov will be able to maximize the role of the cavalry, we will wait and see."