Although the honor of captive Paulus was given to the 64th Army, the base camp was given to the German army's capture of Paulus in detail.
Although the Imperial Division is now the trump card of the German army, Major General Herbert Val, who had just taken office for less than a month, repeatedly warned his troops that if he encountered the troops of the 41st Guard Division, he would not act rashly. After all, an army that can face a powerful offensive and can still hold on to Mamayev's side should not be underestimated.
When the battalion commander confirmed that the troops on the opposite position were Sokov's 41st Guard Division, he canceled the original attack and ordered the radio operator: "Send a report to the division commander that we encountered the troops of the 41st Guard Division of the Russian 41st Guard Division on the eastern high ground of the Red Army Village, and the attack launched was repelled by them."
After receiving a telegram from Paul Hauser, Hulbert Vall learned that Donetsk had been lost and the Red Army Village might be attacked by the Russians. After ordering him to send troops to reinforce, he disagreed. After all, they have been suppressing the Russians for more than a week. According to his idea, the reason why Donetsk quickly lost was entirely because there were too few defenders in the city and he only needed to send a battalion of troops, which was enough to defeat this ignorant Russian unit.
However, what happened next was different from his imagination. He received a telegram from his battalion commander and learned that the Russian troops that appeared near the Red Army Village were actually Sokov's 41st Guard Division. He was a little panicked. He quickly issued an order to several regiment commanders to stop attacking the Russians in front, turn around and take them down, and rush to the direction of the Red Army Village to attack the 41st Guard Division that appeared there.
Of course, he did not dare to hide such an important situation and quickly ordered someone to send a telegram to Paul Haussel to report the matter in detail.
After reading Major General Val's telegram, Paul Hauser was silent for a long time, and then asked his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, tell me, wasn't the 41st Russian Guard Division stationed in Lugansk? Why did it suddenly appear in the Red Army Village, and even before that, it captured our Donetsk. Could it be the impersonation of other troops?"
"Genius General." After the Chief of Staff waited for Manstein to finish his speech, he said respectfully: "The number of troops can be impersonated, but the combat style and combat effectiveness of a unit cannot be impersonated. Since this information was reported by a low-level officer of the Imperial Division, I think the credibility is very high."
"What should we do?" Paul Haussel looked at his chief of staff and asked, "Do you need to order the Flag Guard Division and the Skeleton Division to stop the attack and transfer them to the Red Army Village to destroy the Russians there?"
"General, I don't think it's necessary." The Chief of Staff refuted Paul Hauser's statement: "I think the combat effectiveness of the 41st Guard Division within our army is greatly exaggerated. Many elite Russian troops encounter the same fate when they encounter our imperial divisions, that is, they are crushed or defeated. I believe that after Major General Val's main force arrives at the Red Army Village, it will be enough to eliminate the Russian troops that make our officers and soldiers timid."
After listening to the Chief of Staff's analysis, Paul Hauser thought about it carefully and felt that the other party was very reasonable. A few days ago, the Russian assault cluster consisting of two tank troops and three infantry divisions was almost destroyed by his own three divisions. Now, using the imperial division to deal with one of their divisions is already a smug recommendation, and there is no need to use other powers at all.
The imperial division, which was originally attacking in the south of Kharkov, immediately withdrew from the battle after receiving the order from Major General Val, took various transport vehicles and advanced towards the Red Army Village.
The remnants of Rebarco were defending this area. Seeing the enemy retreating, the commanders at the front immediately reported the situation to Rebarco. Rebarco's first reaction when he heard the news was that this must be the conspiracy of the Germans. Otherwise, how could they suddenly stop attacking their defense zones when they gained the advantage and voluntarily withdraw from the battle?
Rebarko went to the front line and carefully observed the original area where the German army was located before confirming that the other party had indeed withdrawn from the battle. Although he was not sure about the reason for the enemy's retreat, he still called the front commander Golikov to report.
"General Rebarko, what did you say?" Golikov was shocked when he heard Rebarko's report: "The enemy retreated? How is this possible? The enemy is not a fool. How could they take the initiative to withdraw from the battle while having the advantage?"
"That's right, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Seeing that Golikov was not convinced, Rebarko emphasized again: "I have personally visited the frontier. In addition to the areas controlled by the Flag Guard Division and the Skeleton Division, they are still constantly attacking our troops, the imperial division, which was originally responsible for the frontal attack, has evacuated the battlefield."
"Do you know where they went?"
"I don't know." Rebarco muttered: "Anyway, they're either south or east, they've withdrawn from the battle anyway."
"Okay, General Rebarko. Since the imperial division has retreated, regardless of whether they have any conspiracy, you should transfer the troops defending this area as soon as possible to two more dangerous areas, and you must not let the enemy approach Kharkov."
After putting down the phone, Golikov asked Chief of Staff Major General Korgenievic: "Comrade Chief of Staff, tell me why did the Germans withdraw the Imperial Army from the battle at this time? Will there be any conspiracy?"
"Comrade Commander, I am also confused." The Chief of Staff of the Front Army, who had just taken office for less than three days, had not even remembered the name of the division commander of the Front Army's subordinates. He was still confused about the entire situation and could not express any constructive opinions. He could only say vaguely: "I think it may be that our army launched an attack in the rear of the enemy. The enemy was worried that their retreat would be cut off, so he had to order the Imperial Division to withdraw from the battle to protect the safety of their rear."
"Philip Ivanovic, I have a premonition." Seeing the Chief of Staff's statement vaguely, the military commissioner Khrushchev, who was sitting beside him, said: "The enemy's rear must have been under a huge threat, otherwise they would never order the troops to voluntarily withdraw from the battle and transfer them from the battlefield without taking the advantage."
"Comrade of Military Commissioner," Golikov said with a wry smile: "Now General Vatujing's southwestern front army has been defeated by the German army. Where can we have our established troops behind them? If there were any, we would not be so embarrassed now."
"Aren't there still troops from the Don Front?"
"The 21st Army of the Don Front was commanded by General Krelov, but they were too far from the enemy." Golikov said with a wry smile: "It cannot threaten the enemy's rear at all."
"Do we have no other troops except them?"
"In addition, there is a combat cluster of Colonel Sokov, but the Luhansk where they are located is several hundred kilometers away from us." Golikov still shook his head and said, "Even if they attack the enemy, they may not pose any threat."
"You can't say that. That little guy is simply a genius in fighting. Maybe he made some noise and forced the enemy to transfer troops to the rear to put out the fire." Khrushchev said with a smile: "I'll call the General Staff and ask what happened."
Khrushchev quickly contacted Antonov using the headquarters' high-frequency phone number. He asked with a smile: "Comrade Antonov, I am Khrushchev. Can you tell me any good news?"
"Yes, Comrade Khrushchev." Since it was Khrushchev's call, Antonov naturally would not hide it: "Before dawn today, the 41st Guard Division commanded by Major General Sokov unexpectedly captured Donetsk."
"What, Donetsk was taken down?" Khrushchev, who was just trying to understand the movements of various battlefields, was moved after hearing what Antonov said. After quickly finding Donetsk's location on the map, he said to the microphone: "No wonder the German imperial division suddenly stopped the attack and evacuated the battlefield. It turned out that Colonel Sokov's troops took Donetsk..."
"Comrade Khrushchev, I want to correct you a little." Although the situation in Kharkov's direction is still tense, some troops have won battles and even effectively restrained the elite German troops. This is a happy thing: "Not long ago, Sokov was promoted to major general, and now he should be called Major General Sokov."
The phones used in this era were all very leaky, and the conversation between Khrushchev and Antonov was clearly heard by the people around him. Everyone was happy when they learned that Sokov's troops had recaptured Donetsk and came over to hear more exciting news.
"I really didn't expect that this little guy is now a general. If his father had any knowledge of him, he would be happy for him." When Khrushchev talked about his long-dead old comrade, he couldn't help but sigh. "I hope that his troops can withstand the attacks of the Imperial Division."
At this moment, Antonov on the other end of the phone suddenly said, "Comrade Khrushchev, please wait for a moment. I just received a war report. I will first look at the contents to decide whether to report to the Supreme Commander himself."
Taking advantage of Antonov's work to check the war report, Khrushchev covered his microphone and said to several colleagues around him: "Comrades, let me tell you good news. Before dawn today, the troops commanded by Major General Sokov had successfully captured Donetsk. I guess the reason why the German army transferred the imperial army to deal with Sokov."
After hearing what Khrushchev said, everyone couldn't help but worry about Sokov's fate. Major General Korgenievic said hesitantly: "Two days ago, the Imperial Division, the Skeleton Division, and the Flag Guard, severely damaged General Rebarko's troops. From this we can see that their combat effectiveness is not weak at all. Can the Sokov troops you mentioned withstood the German attack?"
Before everyone could speak, Khrushchev suddenly heard a voice in his microphone: "Hey, Comrade Khrushchev, are you still here?"
"I'm here, Comrade Antonov." Khrushchev quickly put the microphone close to his ear and asked, "Can you tell me what was in the battle report just now?"
"Of course it's good news." Antonov said excitedly on the phone: "It was the battle report sent by Rokosovsky, which said that Major General Sokov's troops had successfully occupied the Red Army village not long ago and annihilated all the enemies in the city."
"What, Sokov's troops occupied the Red Army Village?" Khrushchev stared at the map, measured the distance between Donetsk and the Red Army Village with his hands, and asked in surprise: "Comrade Antonov, his troops did not occupy Donetsk before dawn. How could they occupy the Red Army Village again in such a short time? Could they be mistaken?"
"No mistake, Comrade Khrushchev." Antonov said with a smile on the phone: "I just finished reading Rokosovsky's detailed report. It turned out that when Major General Sokov captured Donetsk, he only used the 124th Guards Regiment. After occupying Donetsk, he ordered the troops that were marching to turn to the Red Army Village, and before the enemy had completed the deployment, he used the 125th Guards Regiment to launch a decisive attack. After three hours of fierce fighting, he wiped out the defenders in the city and occupied the Red Army Village."
"This is really great." Although Khrushchev is an amateur to the military, he knew very well what the liberation of Donetsk and the Red Army Village meant. Not long after he was happy, he was worried about Sokov's fate: "Comrade Antonov, does Misha have enough troops in his hands? I am worried that he could not stop the crazy offensive of the Imperial Division."
"Comrade Khrushchev, you don't have to worry about this. He has four infantry divisions, including tank brigades and artillery divisions. Not to mention an imperial division, he may be able to deal with it even when adding the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard." Antonov said this and suddenly accelerated his tone: "I want to report this good news to Comrade Stalin immediately. Comrade Khrushchev, we will talk next time." After that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Khrushchev to say anything.
"Comrades, you all heard it." Khrushchev said excitedly to the people around him when he put down the phone: "Sokov's troops not only took Donetsk, but also liberated the Red Army village not long ago. Now you should understand why the imperial division suddenly withdrew from the battlefield when he had the advantage? The enemy was worried that their retreat would be cut off, so they had to draw elite troops to consolidate their rear."
Chapter completed!