Chapter 2223: the fateful general

  Chapter 2223 The Fated General

  After dawn, the German army, which was repelled by artillery fire, made a comeback.

   Their task was to rush to Elbin to join the troops there. The midnight raid on the 48th Army was nothing more than raking grass and beating rabbits in order to cause confusion to the Soviet army. Unexpectedly, they did not lose money by stealing chickens, but they themselves paid a considerable price.

  The 170th Infantry Division and the 28th Jager Division, which participated in the battle, adjusted their attack targets. They first launched a sudden attack on the 194th and 399th Infantry Divisions in the Wormdik area. After successfully repelling these two divisions, they surrounded the 17th and 96th Infantry Divisions of the Soviet Army. For a time, the situation in the Elbin area became very unfavorable to the Soviet army.

   Don't see that the German army temporarily gained the upper hand, but after Rokossovsky learned the news, he did not panic in the slightest. Although the situation is critical, he has a lot of troops at his disposal now. Even if there are only two German divisions, no matter how strong their combat effectiveness is, they can defeat them by themselves.

   "Comrade Chief of Staff," Rokossovsky asked Bogolyubov: "How is the situation with the assault on the 2nd Army?"

Knowing the reason for Rokossovsky's question, Bogolyubov quickly replied: "Comrade Marshal, the 2nd Shock Army of General Fejuninsky will draw from it the 98th Infantry Army in accordance with our original order. Go to Marienburg and attack the enemy there. However, the current situation is not very favorable for our army. I suggest that the original plan be changed, and the 98th Army should be turned to the east, between Wolmdijk and Elbing, Build a new line of defense."

"I think it can." Rokossovsky nodded and agreed to Bogolyubov's proposal: "Chief of Staff, you call Feduninsky immediately and tell him our latest decision, so that he can let the troops go as soon as possible. Hasten to the appointed place. One division is in defense south of Elbing, facing east; the other two divisions are in reserve."

"Comrade Commander." Bogolyubov reminded Rokossovsky: "General Volsky's 5th Guards Tank Army is located east of Elbing and controls a section of the coastline, cutting off the German army. Lines of communication. You see, are they ordered to prepare for the assault?"

   "I think it can." After Rokossovsky agreed to Bogolyubov's proposal, he told him: "Transmit the order immediately."

   After receiving the order from Bogolyubov, Wolsky immediately called a meeting of his army commanders and brigade commanders.

"Commanders," Woliski said to the commanders attending the meeting, "I have just received news that German troops emerging from nowhere have successfully repelled the 194th Infantry in the Wormdik area. and the 399th Division, encircling the 17th and 96th Infantry Divisions, are now advancing in the direction of Elbing."

   Hearing what Woliski said, the commanders below couldn't help but start talking. It feels like this German has taken the courage of the bear and dared to attack the area where the Soviet army's heavy troops are assembled. Didn't he think that there would be the possibility of annihilation of the entire army?

Woliski heard the following discussion and said with a smile: "Commanders, the Germans are not reconciled to their defeat, so they tried every means to prepare to defeat us on the battlefield, thereby reversing their unfavorable situation. This offensive , I think that’s the nature of it.”

   "Comrade Commander." A general sitting below asked, "How many troops does the enemy have?"

   "According to the information obtained so far, the German troops who launched an attack on our army are the 170th Infantry Division and the 28th Jager Division, with a total strength of more than 20,000 troops."

   It turned out that everyone thought that the German army had used at least four or five divisions, but when they found that there were only two divisions, they all showed relaxed expressions. In everyone's mind, no matter how strong the German army's combat effectiveness is, if only two divisions dare to attack an area where heavy troops are assembled, it is simply courting death.

  Thinking of this, an impatient commander immediately asked Woliski for an order: "Comrade commander, please give an order, we will definitely defeat the incoming enemy."

  Woliski is a cautious person. Although he feels that the enemy's strength is small, he cannot take it lightly. Therefore, he decisively issued an order: "I plan to send the 3rd Guards Tank Army and the 29th Tank Army to attack the German 28th Jager Division. It is necessary to defeat this German army in the shortest possible time. The trapped troops were rescued."

  The two army commanders whose names were called by Woliski quickly stood up and said to him: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander, we will use powerful fortifications to smash the German attack."

"Comrade two army commanders." Woliski reminded them: "The enemy you are facing is not only the Jaeger Division, maybe there will be German reinforcements somewhere. You must not Take it easy."

   "Understood." The two army commanders replied: "We will set aside enough reserves to deal with possible German reinforcements."

   "In addition." Woliski continued: "The 8th Guards Tank Army, the 8th Mechanized Army, and the 3rd Guards Cavalry Army serve as reserves and will be put into the battlefield at the right time."

   While the 2nd Assault Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army were forming formations, Sokov was not idle. Although he had discovered that the Germans had little interest in his troops, he readjusted his deployment and prepared to attack from the German flank with an infantry division, two infantry brigades and a tank brigade, completely disrupting the German army's movement. Offensive deployment.

As soon as Sokov announced the order, Sukharev, who attended the meeting, stood up and said with red eyes: "Comrade commander, please allow our brigade to participate in this attack? The German sneak attack at night, let us The brigade suffered heavy casualties, and I want to pay back the blood debt owed by the Germans."

  Sokov hopes that the 109th Infantry Brigade can take revenge in today's battle. However, he knew even better that after the night battle, the 109th Brigade had already been disabled. Even if such a force went to the battlefield, it might not be of much use.

"Major Sukharev, I understand your desire to avenge the sacrifice of your comrades." Sokov said to Sukharev: "But after the night battle, your brigade has lost more than half of its personnel. Even if I send you On the battlefield, do you think you can defeat the enemy?"

Sokov's words stopped Sukharev. He just thought about avenging the sacrificed comrades, but he forgot that his troops were severely weakened in the night battle. I am afraid that even half of the combat power is not left. , Putting into battle under such circumstances is tantamount to letting the soldiers die.

  Sukharev didn't know what to say for a while, so he could only sit down again. He put his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his palms. He just felt ashamed. A few hours ago, he sacrificed so many excellent subordinates, but he couldn't personally avenge them. It was a pity. .

"Okay, I will continue to assign tasks." Sokov continued: "The 211th Infantry Division, the 118th Brigade and the 122nd Brigade, and the 202nd Tank Brigade are responsible for launching the attack from the rear of the German 170th Infantry Division. We must crush them in the shortest possible time."

   "Misha." After Sokov assigned the task, Lunev asked: "Although the German army only has one division, can we really defeat them?"

"No problem." Sokov said confidently: "After the night battle of the German 170th Infantry Division, the regiment that carried out the sneak attack has suffered nearly half of the casualties under our army's vigorous counterattack; while the other regiment was killed by our army. The artillery fire has damaged the combat effectiveness, and the combat effectiveness has also been greatly weakened. There is only one remaining regiment that is truly combat-effective. Comrade military commissioner, do you think that we use two infantry brigades, one infantry division and one tank brigade? Can't you crush the German remnants?"

From Sokov's tone, Lunev heard the other party's dissatisfaction, and quickly explained with a smile: "Misha, don't worry, I'm just asking casually. I believe that the troops of the 48th Army can fight on any battlefield. , can defeat our enemies.”

  Horsbach felt very relieved when he learned that his two divisions had caused huge chaos to the Soviet army. Just when he was about to put the other two infantry divisions into the battlefield in order to control the whole situation, he received bad news: the Soviet Army's Belarusian Third Front launched a new attack on the depth of their defense. In order to prevent his own defense line from being broken by the Soviet army, Hossbach had to change his original plan and turned the second echelon ready to fight to the east to stop the advance of the Soviet army.

   In this way, the 28th Jager Division and the 170th Infantry Division, which were fighting fiercely with the Soviet army, became a lone army. Although the German army stubbornly advanced towards Elbing in the west, it encountered tenacious resistance from the Soviet army along the way. The Germans managed to occupy several villages, but because there were not enough troops left to defend, the main force fell back into the hands of the Soviets shortly after leaving.

  After Hossbach learned of this situation, he immediately ordered the 7th Armored Division located west of Elbing to launch an attack to the east of the city, trying to meet the 28th Jaeger Division, which was attacking west.

  The sudden action of the 7th Armored Division of the German Army disrupted the deployment of the Soviet Army, and the defense line of the 3rd Guards Tank Army was torn a gap by the German Army. The 83rd Jaegering Regiment under the 28th Jaegering Division, which was attacking from east to west, took advantage of this opportunity to successfully merge with the 7th Armored Division, and under their cover, successfully entered the city of Elbing.

  The attack on the Soviet army commanded by Horsbach was approved by Reinhardt. They hope that through such an offensive battle, they will tell Mustache that with the current strength of the German army, it is impossible to hold on to Königsberg and other areas of East Prussia. The only way is to abandon East Prussia and gather precious troops in the In mainland Germany, there was a desperate struggle with the Soviet army that was preparing to rush to Berlin.

   Regrettably, Reinhardt and his chief of staff were dismissed by Mustache before the offensive began. Although the candidates to replace them have not yet arrived, they have completely lost command of the troops, so they cannot send more reinforcements to Hossbach according to the original agreement, which led to the German troops on the offensive mission. It is destined to be a lone army.

  The battle that took place near Elbing will soon spread to Berlin. After the mustache learned about this, a glimmer of hope ignited in his heart. He hoped that this attack would deal a heavy blow to the Soviet army near Elbing and crush their intention to rush to Berlin from here.

   But unfortunately, the battle lasted until the afternoon, and there was still no exciting news. After waiting for a long time, the mustache completely lost his patience. He said to Guderian: "Guderian, the troops of the 4th Army are fleeing to the German mainland. This is absolutely not allowed. You immediately issue an order to relieve Huo Seebach's position, and arrange for new candidates to succeed Reinhardt and Hosbach's positions."

   Hearing Mustache's order, Guderian was dumbfounded. Although Hosbach's offensive did not make much progress, it caused great trouble to the Soviet army. If troops can be deployed for reinforcements at this time, good results will definitely be achieved. Even if the unfavorable situation in East Prussia cannot be completely reversed, at least in some areas, the German army can still maintain a certain advantage. But Mustache directly announced the dismissal of Hossbach. Guderian can imagine that once this order is issued, the German army attacking in the Elbing area at this moment will suffer failure due to reasons such as lack of morale and low morale.

  Although he knew the consequences of this order very well in his heart, he also understood the fate of contradicting Mustache, but he didn't dare to talk, so he could only pass on this order obediently.

In Hossbach in East Prussia, when he received a call from Guderian, he thought that the other party was about to provide assistance to him, and said excitedly: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, are you going to send us more reinforcements? To crush the Russians once and for all?"

But he didn't expect that Guderian's words at the next moment made his heart fall into an ice cave: "I'm sorry, General Hosbach, I may have disappointed you. I didn't make this call to Tell you when our reinforcements will arrive, but convey the order of the head of state."

   "The order of the head of state?" Hearing what Guderian said, Hossbach asked nervously: "What order?"

"From now on, you have been dismissed from your current position." Guderian said with a bitter face: "The plane that will pick you up will arrive in the evening, and you will take that plane back to Berlin, and I will send someone there then." Pick you up at the airport."

Hearing that he was dismissed and that he had to fly back to Berlin immediately, Hossbach asked anxiously: "Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, if I am dismissed, who will command the troops? The battle between our army and the Russians, Now is the most critical moment, if I leave like this, I am worried that our well-organized attack will end in failure.”

   "Even if it fails, there is no way." Guderian said helplessly: "This is an order issued by the head of state himself, and no one can change it."

  Since Guderian has already said this, Hossbach also knows in his heart that no matter what he says, he can't change the mustache's decision. He asked with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, Chief of the General Staff, can you tell me, if I return to Berlin now, how does the head of state plan to deal with us? Will I go to a military court or be shot directly?"

"General Hossbach, don't be so pessimistic." Guderian enlightened the other party and said, "Even if you don't dismiss your post, you won't come to this point. I think you may be dismissed from all military posts, and then let you Stay at home."

  (end of this chapter)