Chapter 2253:

  Stettin, also known as Szczecin, is the capital of West Pomerania Province in Poland, the seventh largest city in Poland and the largest port city in the Baltic Sea. Known as Szczecin in Polish and Stettin in German, it was once ruled by Poland, Denmark, Sweden, Prussia and Germany in history. Since it is a port city, the artillery in the fortress only needs to be used to deal with enemies from the sea.

  When Batov's 65th Army launched a full-scale attack, the cannons of the Stettin Fortress immediately began to intercept and fire, but since most of the fortress guns were aimed at the sea, they had no effect on attacks from land at all. In addition, the Soviet bomber formation bombed the fortress indiscriminately, and the artillery in the fortress became completely dumb after a while.

   Without the obstruction of artillery fire, the troops of the 65th Army quickly rushed to the front of the fortress.

   Knowing that the infantry had reached the outskirts of the fort under the cover of tanks, Batov immediately ordered the artillery to use flat fire to blast open the gate of the fort.

  As the order was issued, dozens of 122mm cannons deployed five or six hundred meters away from the fortress aimed their muzzles at the walls and gates of the fortress. In addition, there are more than a dozen Katyusha rocket launchers, and the rear wheels are also padded with steel rails, ready to bombard the walls and gates of the fortress together with the cannon.

But before the offensive began, Batov wanted to surrender without a fight, so he sent a messenger into the fortress and sent a letter to the German division commander, asking him to lay down his weapons and make a sneak attack within two hours, otherwise the fortress would be attacked. Temporarily open the storm.

Standing on the fortress is the Stettin Fortress Division, which belongs to the 32nd Infantry Division of the 3rd Armored Army. It was formed on March 22, 1945. It has five fortress regiments and one fortress artillery regiment. Strength, was a Panzer IV and a captured T-34.

Knowing that the Soviet army had reached the outskirts of the fortress and was ready to attack the city, the commander of the fortress couldn't help but panic. You must know that his troops have only been formed for a month, and their combat effectiveness is worrying. The Soviet army hurriedly asked their superiors whether they could allow the troops to withdraw from the fortress by sea.

   But it is regrettable that the order given to him by his superiors is very simple, stick to the Stettin Fortress with all his strength, fight to the last man, and shoot out the last bullet. He must not easily hand over the fortress to the Russians.

The German division commander who received such an order was completely disappointed. He could only tell Batov's messenger through an interpreter: "Mr. Honor, we have to keep fighting."

  Batov received a reply from the messenger, knowing that the defenders in the fortress would not surrender, so he ordered the artillery outside the fortress to fire. After blasting a gap with artillery fire, let the armored troops and infantry enter the fortress city.

  The German Army Command knew very well that it was impossible to rely on the troops in the Stettin Fortress to block the Soviet attack. The fall of the fortress was only a matter of time. In order to prolong the time of holding the fortress, he sent the 27th Langemark Volunteer Grenadier Division and the 27th Wallonian Grenadier Division of the SS to reinforce, trying to disrupt the rhythm of Batov's attack.

   Among them, the 27th Division of the SS was responsible for rescuing Fortress Stettin, while the 28th Division was to block the advance of the 48th Army.

The 27th Division of the SS is a volunteer division composed of Belgians and Finns. It was rebuilt on the basis of the original Langemark Assault Brigade. The total strength is only 4,000 people. It is a typical shelf division. What combat power. After they rushed to the outskirts of the Stettin Fortress, they were immediately besieged by two infantry divisions and a tank brigade of the 65th Army. The battle lasted less than three hours, and the heavily damaged Langemark Division hurriedly withdrew from the battlefield. , the remaining hundreds of officers and soldiers fled to the Mecklenburg area and surrendered to the British army a few days later.

  The 28th Division, which was ordered to launch a counterattack against the 48th Army, was also a shelf division. When it was formed, its total strength was only 3,500, which was only equivalent to a regiment of an ordinary national defense division.

Knowing that the mission of his division was to stop the 48th Army and find a way to drive the opponent into the Siode River, Division Commander Leon Degrelle couldn't help but smile bitterly. He knew very well what kind of enemy he was facing. . Even the most elite Banner Guard Division, Imperial Division, Skeleton Division, and Viking Division in the SS Army failed to please Sukov. His Walloon assault team separated from the Viking Division Brigade, how could it be Sukov's opponent?

In fact, as early as February, the 28th Division suffered heavy losses in the battle with the Soviet army. However, since the troops have not been replenished, the total strength at this moment is no more than a thousand. Competing with Sukov's 48th Army is simply hitting a stone with an egg . Although he realized that there was no certainty of victory in this battle, Leon Degrelle made a difficult decision after repeated thinking. He ordered the chief of staff to gather all the soldiers and give them a lecture. .

   In less than ten minutes, the troops were assembled.

Leon de Grele, who was standing in front of the queue, glanced at his subordinates one by one, and said: "Soldiers and officers, I have received an order from the headquarters to let our division attack the Russians. The 48th Army. The commander of this army, even if I don’t say anything, everyone should know in their hearts that it is Sokov who makes our army’s generals feel headaches. Basically, no one has ever won a battle against him...”

When Leon Degrelle spoke, there were soldiers in the queue whispering: "Let us have a thousand people to deal with General Sokov's one hundred thousand people, isn't that the same as sending us to death? ?”

   "I heard that the Wehrmacht officers and soldiers captured by this unit are fine. If the SS officers and soldiers are captured, they will all be shot."

   "Damn it, I was thinking of surrendering if I can't beat it. Since the SS is going to be shot, I can only fight to the last bullet."

Leon Degrelle heard all the discussions in the queue, but he didn't stop him. He finally waited for the queue to quiet down before continuing: "Soldiers and officers, this time it might be us. I don't want everyone to die in vain, so I will leave all the civilians, logistics personnel and wounded who cannot participate in the battle, and only take the remaining people to participate in this final battle."

After saying this, Leon de Grele ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately select all the civilians, logistics and wounded who cannot participate in the battle in the division, and arrange vehicles to send them to the rear. "

Regarding this decision made by Leon Degrelle, the chief of staff of the division said in surprise: "Your Excellency, there are only less than a thousand people left in our division. If so many people are taken away, the remaining people will be even worse." How else are we going to fight the Russians?"

"Chief of Staff, as I just said, this is the last battle of our division, and I don't want more innocent lives to be sacrificed in vain." Leon Degrelle said to the Chief of Staff in a stern tone: "Don't dawdle, Carry out our orders immediately."

   In this way, after an hour of screening, all civilian and logistical personnel and more than a hundred seriously injured were selected, and they boarded the truck arranged by Leon Degrelle and headed west.

When the convoy disappeared from view, Leon Degrelle turned to face the remaining officers and soldiers and said: "Soldiers, officers, the rest are those who can fight now, let us take up arms and fight the Russians , fight for the honor of our soldiers, fight to the last man, shoot the last bullet, never surrender to the Russians."

When the 3rd Infantry Division commanded by Kirillov advanced, the scouts reported to him: "Comrade Commander, according to our reconnaissance, the 28th SS Division, also known as Walloni, is stationed in the front position. Grenadier Division."

Hearing that there was an SS division ahead, Kirillov instinctively thought it was a strong enemy, and quickly said to Miyakov: "Chief of Staff, order the leading regiment to stop advancing, and wait for the next two infantry regiments and artillery regiments to catch up." After that, attack the true essence of the enemy." The reason why he did this was because the SS army was so powerful that he might not be able to win a one-on-one fight with the opponent. It is possible that the entire army will be wiped out.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished his words, the scout continued: "Comrade commander, I haven't finished my words yet. The 28th Division of the SS is a division in name, but due to the large losses in the early battles, it is now always There are less than a thousand troops."

  Kirilov's pupils contracted violently. He stared blankly at the scouts for a while, and then asked, "Are you sure that their total strength is less than a thousand?"

   "Yes, Comrade Division Commander." The scout replied, "And before they entered the position, they sent away a group of people. There may only be a few hundred troops left."

Regarding the report of the scouts, Kirillov couldn't believe it was true. He thought he was ready to compete with an SS division with tens of thousands of people, but at this moment he realized that the opponent had only a few hundred people. It is equivalent to a reinforced battalion, and there are six or seven thousand people in our own army, which is ten times the strength of the opponent.

  To be on the safe side, Kirillov ordered the communications corps to get through to the group army headquarters. He was going to report the matter to Sokov to hear what the other party planned.

When Sokov learned that Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division had encountered the German Wallonian Grenadier Division, he couldn't help taking a breath. He was worried that there would be a fierce battle next, and was about to ask Kiri When Love needed support, he heard the other party say: "Comrade commander, according to the report of the scouts, the total strength of the 28th SS Division is now only a few hundred people, but I always feel that this report is a bit untrue." .”

Hearing what Kirillov said, Sokov immediately remembered something. He remembered that in the last few months of the war, some of the troops that the German army hastily formed were shelf divisions with only a few thousand people. Not so much. The final outcome of these troops was either annihilated by the Soviet army, or they fled to the area controlled by the Allied forces and surrendered to the Allied forces. Thinking of this, Sokov said decisively: "General Kirillov, since the enemy's forces are weak, you can attack boldly. In order to avoid complications, Lieutenant Colonel Victor's 122nd Infantry Brigade is nearby. I will send him to support you."

"Great, this is really great." Even though the SS division ahead has only a few hundred people, Kirillov still does not dare to take it lightly. At this moment, he heard that Lieutenant Colonel Victor's 122nd Infantry Brigade When reinforcements came, he couldn't help but be overjoyed: "With the support of friendly troops, we will definitely be able to completely wipe out this SS unit."

Victor received Sokov's order to rush to support Kirillov's 3rd Infantry Division, and when he wiped out the 28th SS Division with only a few hundred people, he was as excited as a chicken. Get up: "Comrade commander, please rest assured that our brigade can complete the task of destroying the enemy without the 3rd Infantry Division doing it."

"No." Sokov worried that the opponent underestimated the enemy, and said with a straight face: "I have already said that the task of your brigade is to assist the 3rd Infantry Division to eliminate the 28th SS Division of the German Army. You must listen to Kirillov in all actions." Do you understand the general's instructions?"

Although Victor was very reluctant, since Sokov personally issued the order, he could only bite the bullet and accept it: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I obey your order. In the next battle , my troops will be under the command of General Kirillov."

When the Soviet army exchanged fire with the Walloni Division, Kirillov couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. The opponent's total strength was only a few hundred people, which was equivalent to a reinforced battalion, but their fighting power was not weaker than the a regiment. The attack launched by the vanguard regiment had already rushed into the German position, but unexpectedly, the German division commander arrived with a company of guards, started hand-to-hand combat with the Soviet army at the breakthrough, and drove the commanders and fighters of the vanguard regiment out.

  The head of the vanguard came to Kirillov and said with a face of shame: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I failed to complete your task. Please punish me."

  When the vanguard was fighting the German army, Kirillov watched the whole process through a telescope. He found that although the number of the German army was small, the officers and soldiers were extremely brave in the battle. Even if they were seriously injured, before they completely lost their combat effectiveness, the German soldiers would slam the grenade and die together with the Soviet commanders who rushed up.

"It doesn't matter, Comrade Colonel." Kirillov raised his hand and patted the shoulder of the regiment commander, saying a Russian proverb: "Success has a hundred mothers, but failure has only one father. Take the troops to rest first." After a while, reorganize the attack later, I believe that your next attack will be successful."

Faced with Kirillov's encouragement, the dejected head of the regiment suddenly regained his confidence. He looked up at Kirillov and said, "Comrade commander, please rest assured. I will go back to revive the troops immediately. After the assembly is completed, I will attack the enemy again, if I can't take the enemy's position, I will come to see you with my head up."