Shekhtman immediately conveyed the order issued by Sokov without hesitation. As Sokov's subordinate, he had inexplicable trust in Sokov, which was established by countless victories.
If he was skeptical about whether his division could defeat the Skeleton Division before the attack began, but as the battle began, the Skeleton Division's resistance was not as strong as imagined. On the contrary, the enemy even gave himself a feeling of collapse at a touch. It is precisely because of this that Shechtmann made up his mind that not only Sokov issued any order, but he should execute it without hesitation.
The artillery regiment that received the order immediately pushed the artillery to a few hundred meters away from the German position, and used direct aiming to bombard the German trenches, trying to use artillery fire to drive the enemy out of the position.
After Simon escaped from his division command, he thought that he could escape from danger by hiding on the right-wing grenade team's position. Unexpectedly, he was still breathing, and the Soviet artillery shells fell on the position like raindrops. As soon as the artillery fire stopped, groups of Soviet infantry rushed up and quickly occupied part of the position before the German army could react from the artillery strike.
In order to block the breakthrough, Simon ordered his subordinates to organize troops to launch a counterattack, trying to drive them all out while the Soviet army was not yet stable. But unexpectedly, this Soviet army was different from the troops that had been fighting in the past. Seeing the German counterattack troops appear, they immediately looked for a suitable location to hide, and then called for artillery support, which made the Germans rushing up to howl.
After learning that the chief of staff who had just escaped from the destroyed division headquarters, after hearing the increasingly fierce gunfire outside, he said to Simon nervously: "Sir, the division commander, I think the Sokov troops who were attacking our position should be the Sokov troops who had just arrived before dark. Now our soldiers are in chaos, and I don't think they can defend their position."
"Then tell me, what should we do?" Simon also knew that the enemy he fought with was Sokov, who gave him a headache? At this moment, he heard the Chief of Staff say this, and said in a fury: "Can you continue to retreat?"
"Yes, Master of the Division." Unexpectedly, the Chief of Staff said unexpectedly: "In order to preserve our living power, I feel that it is necessary to retreat."
"What, retreat at this time?" Simon was extremely instinctive when he was defeated. He heard from the Chief of Staff say this and suddenly became furious: "Didn't this hand over the position we had finally seized into the hands of the Russians?"
"Sir, I also know that we should find a way to hold our position, but the current situation is very unfavorable for us." The Chief of Staff explained to Simon: "After our division advanced outside Prokholovka, Sokov's troops cut off our logistics supply line. Now we have a serious shortage of ammunition and fuel. If we continue to fight, once the ammunition and food are exhausted, there will be a danger of the entire army being destroyed. Do you want to be a captive to the Russians again?"
To Simon, being captured by Sokov's troops, was a stain on his military career. Although Xiaowang trusted him and continued to let him serve as the commander of the Skeleton Division, he could feel the contempt of the following commanders in private. If he became a prisoner of the Russians again, even if the head of state was large, he would not have the shame to survive.
Thinking of this, he asked the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, tell me, what should we do?"
"Retreat." The Chief of Staff replied very simply, "If we don't want the entire army to be destroyed and become a captive of the Russians, we must choose to retreat." He pointed to the map on the table and said to Simon, "Secretary Commander, our location is only two or three kilometers away from the defense zone of the Flag Guard Division. I think we can retreat there. As long as our two divisions join forces, even if the attack is Sokov's troops, they dare not act rashly."
"Sir," just as Simon was a little confused, an officer broke into the command center and shouted at him: "The Russians are bombarding our positions with artillery fire. It seems that they are preparing to launch a more violent attack."
After seeing clearly that the officer coming in was the commander of the grenade regiment, Simon couldn't help but frown slightly, and then said, "Col. Can you block the Russian attack?"
After hearing Simon's question, the commander of the grenadier was stunned at first, and then looked at the chief of staff for help. Seeing that the other party nodded to him and signaled that he could tell the truth, he plucked up his courage and said: "Secretary Commander, if our regiment had just arrived outside Prokorovka City and faced with such an offensive from the Russians, I can assure you that we can definitely defend it. However, the Russians recently cut off our logistics supply line, and there was a shortage of ammunition and supplies in the regiment. I was worried that if we continued to fight, we would be in danger of destruction of the entire army at any time."
Another person who said that the entire army was destroyed. When Simon heard the word "公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公公�
Simon stood at the table, staring at the map for a long time without saying anything, but his mind was running quickly: if he followed the advice of the Chief of Staff and retreated to the defense zone of the Flag Guard Division, and after the two divisions joined forces, the Russians would not dare to continue the attack. However, the most worrying point was that if the Flag Guard Division was also facing the same situation as himself and lacked ammunition and fuel, then the next battle would not be able to be fought.
Seeing that Simon was not speaking for a long time, the Chief of Staff was a little anxious: "Secretary Commander, the Russians' artillery fire is getting stronger and stronger. It seems that they will launch a new attack soon. You must make your own ideas as soon as possible."
Before Simon made his final decision, a call came in, which was called by a battalion commander of the Grenadier Regiment. He reported to the regiment commander in panic: "Col. It's not good. The Russians from the 252.2 Highlands left the position and were starting to move towards our defense zone."
"Bad." The Chief of Staff was stunned when he heard the news. He pointed to the map and explained to Simon: "Sir, our main forces are fighting with Sokov's troops. Now that the Russians on the high ground are moving again, we may not have enough strength to stop them."
"So, we can only choose to retreat." Simon knew that if he didn't retreat, he would fall into the Soviet army's encirclement, and it would be difficult for him to escape the fate of becoming a prisoner. But he was still worried that the Flag Guard Division was in the same situation as his own. They lacked ammunition and fuel. Once the Soviet army came to fight a rabbit, not only would he be finished, but even the Flag Guard Division could not escape the bad luck: "But will the Flag Guard Division be as short as we do, but also the Flag Guard Division lack ammunition and fuel?"
The commander of the grenadier immediately shut his mouth when he heard Simon's question. He was just an ordinary regiment commander and had no way of knowing whether friendly forces had obtained enough supplies. But the situation of the Chief of Staff was different. Due to his position, he was destined to have more information than Simon. Hearing Simon's concerns at this moment, he quickly explained: "Sir, you don't have to worry about this. Now the Russian troops staying behind the Flag Guard Division are just a guard division of the 69th Army. It may not be a big problem for defense, but if it is used for offense, it will be far from enough. Therefore, so far, the supply lines of the Flag Guard Division are still operating normally. They have enough ammunition and fuel, and we can even get some necessary supplements from them."
The Soviet attack on the high ground and the words of the Chief of Staff made Simon completely resolve: "Well, since that's the case, then we immediately move to the position of the Flag Guard Division and get rid of this damn Russian."
With the order issued, the German army, which was originally fighting to the death, began to retreat in an orderly manner along the traffic trench in batches towards the direction of the flag guard division.
The news that the German army began to retreat soon reached Sokov's ears. It was confirmed that the enemy had really begun to retreat, and the huge rock hanging in his heart fell to the ground. He used an infantry regiment and an artillery regiment to actively attack the right wing position of the Skeleton Division. There was a grenade regiment and several direct troops under the division. In the eyes of outsiders, this was to strike the stone with eggs.
The Germans were unable to understand their own reality and dared not leave their positions to carry out a comprehensive counterattack easily, but just concentrated some of their troops to try to block the breakthrough. Now that the enemy has been scared away by their own, they can order the troops to follow and pursue. If they can break through the position of the Flag Guard Division in one breath, it will naturally be a happy thing for everyone. However, even if they cannot break through, they can establish an offensive starting point near the enemy's position, and after they mobilize enough troops, they will launch a new attack.
"Col. Shechtmann," the battle on the right wing was coming to an end, and Sokov began to ask Shechtmann about the combat situation on the left wing. According to his idea, there should be no big problem for two infantry regiments that were strengthened by tank troops, with the cooperation of a friendly tank army, to annihilate a severely damaged German armored regiment and a grenade regiment: "How is the battle on the left wing going? Are the enemies destroyed?"
"Comrade Commander, I am preparing to report this to you." Colonel Shechtmann quickly replied: "The enemy, who was attacked by two regiments of our division and friendly tanks, has now suffered heavy casualties and has been compressed into a narrow area. As the enemy is resisting stubbornly, we launched two attacks in a row, but we did not achieve the desired effect. But please rest assured that we will destroy this enemy before dawn."
"Do you have to wait until dawn?" Sokov raised his hand and looked at his watch. It was still early before dawn, and he was eager to transfer these two regiments from the left wing to the right wing to carry out the task of attacking the flag guard division. He would definitely not be able to wait that long. After a brief thought, he said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, the battle in the direction of October Farm must be determined as soon as possible..."
"Comrade Commander, we have done our best." Shechtmann explained with a sad face when he heard Sokov say this: "But the enemy's resistance is too tenacious. If we attack desperately, we will definitely pay a heavy price. I am worried that after solving the enemy near the farm, our two regiments will basically lose their combat effectiveness."
"War, we must not only be brave, but also know how to use our brains." Sokov pointed his head with his finger and continued: "We must not only know how to fight military wars, but also learn how to fight political wars. Immediately let Colonel Bilin organize political workers to shout to the surrounded enemies, urge them to put down their weapons and surrender to our army."
"Comrade Commander, I think the enemy may not surrender." But Shekhtman questioned Sokov's words: "You know, if we seized the SS officers and soldiers, they were all shot and executed on the spot, and we never accept their surrender. Secondly, even if we shout, do you think the enemy will listen to it?"
After Sokov finished speaking, he took out the paper and pen and started writing down. After he finished writing what he wanted to say, he tore off the paper and handed it to Shechtmann, and told him: "Col. Shechtmann immediately ordered someone to hand it over to Colonel Billing, and asked him to find someone to translate it into German, and then shouted to the surrounded German officers and soldiers. I believe that after they listened to my advice, some of them would lay down their weapons and surrender."
After learning that Sokov wrote something, some German officers and soldiers put down their weapons and came out to surrender after listening to it. Shechtman picked up the paper half-believingly and looked carefully. After a glance, his pupils began to shrink violently. He did not expect Sokov could write such a book of persuading surrender.
Shechtman quickly browsed the book of persuasion written by Sokov, and quickly straightened his body and said to Sokov: "Comrade Commander, don't worry, I will immediately send someone to send this book of persuasion to the political commissar of Billing. He had studied in the Military Academy in Berlin before, and his German level was no worse than our translation. I think it would be his own call, and the effect would be better."
Chapter completed!