Chapter 1232

I immediately called chisgakov and asked him to move the headquarters to the city as soon as possible. As soon as I put down the phone, I saw managarov, who had been commanding troops all night, coming in from outside with another lieutenant commander.

I carefully looked at the new commander and thought I had never seen him before. But if managarov can take him to the headquarters in person, he must have something important to report to me. So after a moment's silence, I asked, "Comrade General, I don't know which unit this lieutenant commander belongs to?"

Managarov turned to look at the commander behind him, and then replied, "he's the deputy division commander of the 252nd infantry division, Lt. Col. djielev. He's here to tell you what happened to the division."

When I heard that it was the deputy division commander of the 252nd infantry division, especially when I saw his dejected expression, my heart could not help but thump for a while, and then I had a feeling of uncertainty. Last night, when I was in charge of the army's fierce attack on the city center, I completely forgot that I should send troops to strengthen the 252nd division, which cut off the German rear. According to the expression on his face, it is estimated that many German troops broke through their blocking positions and successfully broke through from the south of Kharkov.

I looked at jijerev in front of me and said kindly, "Comrade commander, please go ahead. I'm waiting to hear your report."

"Comrades commander," said jijerev, blushing and somewhat guilty, "after cutting off the German rear road, our division immediately built several fortifications using the local terrain to prepare for the possible German attack."

"Well done, comrade commander." When I heard this, I nodded with satisfaction at the deployment of the division and said with approval, "it's an unfinished task to attack the enemy with the strength of one of your divisions, so it's the wisest choice to stick to your position."

"Shortly after we entered the position, the German infantry, under the cover of tanks, launched a fierce attack on our position." "Under the tenacious resistance of our commanders and fighters, the enemy's seven attacks ended in failure," he continued

I can't help but doubt my own judgment when I hear what Ji jielev said. I wonder if I guessed wrong? He didn't come here because he let the Germans go, but because he had something else to report? Thinking of this, I said in an encouraging tone: "go on, comrade commander, please go on!"

"After dark, because there was fierce fighting all over the city, the division commander worried that the enemy would take the opportunity to break through, so he went to the front position to inspect in person." Speaking of this, a painful expression appeared on jijerev's face. "Who knows, as soon as he arrived at the front, he was raised by the German cavalry division. They used tanks and cavalry to attack our army in turn. The command post of the division commander was destroyed by German artillery fire, and all the commanders including the division commander were killed. He lost the front line of unified command and was thus broken through by the German army. "

"German cavalry division?" After repeating what tjelev said, I raised my head and asked managarov, "Comrade General, is it the eighth cavalry division of the SS?"

"Yes, they are." One of his division commanders died. As soon as managarov mentioned this unit, he was filled with anger. He gritted his teeth and said, "many of our units have suffered losses in front of this division, especially the guerrillas in Ukraine. They have almost wiped out all of them. Early this morning, when the commander of the 252nd division died and the command system of the unit fell into chaos, they used armored assault to break through the line of defense of the 252nd division at one stroke and cover other units to rush out from the open gap. "

According to my understanding of history, the Soviet army recovered Kharkov because, on the one hand, they launched a fierce attack regardless of casualties; on the other hand, the German army withdrew from the battle because of the heavy casualties. As for the division's purposeful attack according to the captured fortifications, it only advanced the time for the German army to retreat. Tens of thousands of German troops retreated to the south. With the strength and equipment of the 252nd division, the German troops could not be stopped at all.

I waited for managarov to finish what he said, then I turned my eyes to jijerev and asked with concern, "Comrade commander, how many people are left in your division now?"

Hearing my question, jijerev immediately straightened up and said, "Comrade report commander, there are still more than 1700 people in the whole division, half of whom are wounded."

There are still more than 1000 people left in a division. This figure gives me a surprise. If we get rid of the wounded and non combat personnel, the total strength may be only 600 or 700. Although I know that after all night's fighting, there are few German troops left in the city, if they are desperate to break through, the 252nd Division will not be able to stop them. So I quickly asked managarov, "Comrade General, how many troops do you have in the first place?"

"The 29th division of Jinwei has gathered more than 3000 people. I have ordered them to reinforce the 252nd division." With these words, managarov looked at jijerev and asked cautiously, "Comrade commander, lieutenant commander jijerev, they let the German army out of our encirclement. What do you plan to do with him?"

"Deal with him?" When I heard managarov say this, I immediately asked, "why should I deal with him? We should know that in the face of tens of thousands of German troops, not to mention an infantry division without heavy weapons, even two more well-equipped divisions will not be able to block the enemy who is rushing to the wall. They have done their best, and we have no right to blame them any more. "

I took a look at Ji jielev, who was very grateful, and then said, "Comrade General, since the division commander of the 252nd Division has died, let commander Ji jielev take over the post of division commander." With that, I waved to jijerev, "Comrade commander, go back to the army first. Remember, no matter how many people are left in your division, as long as the position is still in your hands, we will firmly hold it. Do you understand? "

"I see, comrade commander." "On behalf of the whole division, I assure you that we would rather leave bones exposed in the wilderness than let the enemy move forward," he said solemnly

After jijerev left, managarov said to me with regret, "it's a pity that so many Germans have run away."

"Comrade General, it is not impossible for us to force all the enemies to stay. But in that case, the German troops, who have been completely cut off, will be tenacious. If we want to eliminate them, we have to pay at least several times more casualties than we do now. "

After listening to what I said, managarov shrunk and said, "as long as we can eliminate the enemy, no matter how much we sacrifice, it's worth it."

As for his assumption, I said politely: "Comrade General, if the German army uses Kharkov's strong city defense to contain and kill a large number of troops in the street battle for a long time, we will be in a passive position. In order to avoid this situation, we need to let the Germans leave the city, and then we will divide and annihilate them in the field. "

"But we've got the German fortification map." Managarov said somewhat unconvinced: "if our troops launch targeted attacks according to the enemy's deployment, we believe that the enemy will be completely wiped out in a short time."

"Comrade General, it is really helpful for our army to get the German city defense map. But the Germans are not stupid either. If they find out the law of our army's attack, they will understand the intelligence of their distribution of forces, and they will be mastered by our army, and then they will adjust their deployment. " At this point, I hesitated for a moment, and then decisively said what I thought in my heart, "you also know that our efficiency is low. Even if we notice that the German military deployment has been adjusted, it may take us a day or two to make the corresponding adjustment. In this case, we will pay a lot of unnecessary sacrifices. "

We were talking when the telephone rang on the desk. I picked it up and heard konev's voice: "Hello, comrade oshanina."

"Hello, comrade commander of the front army." Hearing konev's voice, I quickly came to attention and asked respectfully, "do you have any instructions?"

"My men reported to me that there was no German army in the city, and now there are only sporadic exchanges of fire in some areas." Konev asked in an uncertain tone: "have tens of thousands of Germans withdrawn from Kharkov?"

"Yes, comrade commander of the front army." When I heard his question, I had no choice but to reply: "because we only set up an infantry division in the south of the city, the division commander died and the troops were almost disabled under the fierce attack of the German breakout forces. The German troops, who had the advantage of strength and weapons, swaggered out of the open gap. "

"It's a pity that we didn't deploy large troops in the south of the city," konev said with great regret as soon as I finished saying, "otherwise, we can divide and surround the German army which has become a lost dog in the wild, and then eat them all bit by bit."

"It's a pity to watch the enemy break through from under our nose, but there's nothing we can do." After following his words, I changed the topic, "but it's not a bad thing for the Germans to escape. At least it will lead to the demoralization and demoralization of the broken troops. When our troops eliminate them, they can reduce a lot of unnecessary sacrifice."

After listening to my "high opinion", konev said, "Comrade oshanina, I also thank you on behalf of all the commanders and fighters of our front army. Without the city fortification map you provided, our troops may have to pay more than double the casualties to break through the German fortifications outside Kharkov and rush into the city. "

"You are welcome, comrade commander of the front army." I politely replied, "we are friendly forces and comrades in arms fighting side by side. If there is any important information, I think it is necessary for us to share it."

I just finished my call with konev, and then I got a call from vatugin. He asked excitedly on the phone, "Hello, comrade oshanina, are there any Germans near you?"

"Yes, senior general." I could tell from his voice that he was in a happy mood, and he jokingly said, "it's just German corpses and some prisoners."

"What are the casualties of your troops?" Then vatukin asked.

"Comrade General, as the casualties and achievements of the troops are still in the statistical collection, I can not provide you with accurate data for the time being." I took a look at managarov, who was standing next to me, and then said, "the 252nd division, which cuts off the German army's rear road in the south of the city, is still fighting bravely with indomitable spirit in the face of the German army, which has absolute superiority in strength and weaponry. Before the end of the battle, in front of their positions, the * aggressors left at least a thousand bodies. "

After listening to my report, vatukin was silent for a moment and asked, "did the main force of the German army break through from the south of the city?" I knew that I couldn't hide this little trick from an old fox like watujing, so I honestly replied, "yes, Comrade General. According to my analysis, the German army may have planned to retreat long ago, so they planned to retreat to the south of the city last night and early this morning when they were attacked by our army. "“ Comrade o'shanina, you don't have to say it. I understand it. " "We didn't think that the German would give up Kharkov so soon, so the troops of Voronezh's front army haven't had time to detour back to the south of the city," said vatujing with a trace of regret. Otherwise, on the wide plain to the south of Kharkov, we can surely teach the Germans a lesson that they will never forget. " Soon Zhukov's voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, Rita, good job! You and your men are good. I didn't expect you to launch an attack on Kharkov and successfully recover this kind of city in just two days. " Although I knew in my heart that Zhukov's praise to me was from the bottom of my heart, in order to avoid hatred and estrangement from the commanders of friendly forces, I said humbly, "marshal, if you don't have the wise command of the superior and the comprehensive cooperation of the grassland front army, you can't achieve such a great victory only by our troops and general managarov." Zhukov said with regret: "it's a pity that nearly half of the German troops escaped from our encirclement. If we can eliminate more of their effective forces, we will achieve more brilliant results in the next battle. " I know that with the recovery of Kharkov, the battle of Kursk started in July has come to a successful end. But on Kharkov's side, there are millions of troops from the southwest front and the south front, fighting against the German army. I estimated that after a short rest, the troops would immediately fight again, so I asked Zhukov, "marshal, my troops suffered a lot of casualties during this period of attack. I don't know when they will be supplemented?" After pondering for a while, Zhukov said to me in a serious tone: "don't worry, in two days at most, the additional soldiers and weapons and equipment will be in place. But you can rest for a short time, because I have more important tasks to give you