The SS Reich Panzer Division was progressing smoothly and won another great victory. General Paul Hausser sent various battle groups to successfully cross the Liedi River, and at dusk attacked with the 3rd Infantry Regiment of Field Marshal von Reichenau's 6th Army (Colonel von Manteuffel). Enter Krolovez. The infantry captured two prisoners on this day that were important for the division's next move. When the Führer Armored Regiment intercepted an enemy convoy and captured its occupants, it was discovered that one of them was a recipient of the Order of Lenin. The man was Chief Engineer Chistov. As the plenipotentiary representative of the Supreme Soviet, he was leading the construction of fortifications on the banks of the Desna River. The other was an officer from a Russian military headquarters at the time. This officer carried maps and enemy position layouts.
Despite heavy rain and muddy roads, the SS Reich Division launched its attack at dawn on September 4. The Führer Regiment advanced on a forced march to close the gap with the neighboring 52nd Infantry Division of the Sixth Army. At five o'clock in the morning, the "Imperial" Division launched an attack on the enemy's strong positions without large-scale artillery preparations. Due to the very strong enemy firepower, the first attack was frustrated, and the second and third attacks also failed. They shouted "Hail!" and attacked again. This time, the 2nd Battalion of the "Fuhrer" Regiment, commanded by the SS Captain Halmel, successfully broke through the enemy's defense line. After that, regardless of the enemies on both sides, the battalion continued to charge forward, chasing the fleeing enemies, and finally That afternoon, they suddenly crossed the Ubed River and captured an enemy division headquarters. The Soviet troops were taken prisoner before leaving their garrison. In addition, the battalion captured twenty field howitzers. The assault of the 2nd Battalion of the Führer Regiment also created favorable conditions for the 3rd Battalion of the Führer Regiment, which arrived at the Ubed River before dusk.
This attack relieved the SS Viking Panzer Divisions located around Klop. At the same time, enemy resistance at the Korop bridgehead collapsed as other units of the Viking division broke into the Soviet flank. The Soviet army began to retreat towards the Cheim River. In this area, the Viking Armored Division suffered the greatest losses, but it still captured 3,700 prisoners and destroyed 18 enemy tanks and 8 artillery pieces in the last five days.
The unexpected success led Paul Hausser to report in a report on September 4 that the First SS Panzer Corps captured a total of 15,800 prisoners from August 27 to September 4. , destroyed and captured 101 enemy artillery pieces and 26 tanks. Since the Imperial and Viking divisions could only move along a few muddy roads, villages and forest areas far away from the roads became beyond the reach of the German army. Small groups of Russian troops gathered together and continuously attacked the German supply lines from there. General Paul Hausser cleared the enemy in the rear area and asked Dietrich to send a battle group composed of the Guards and commanded by Colonel Bacher. At this time, the battle group had captured more than 2,000 enemy stragglers.
At dusk, the greatest victory in recent days was achieved in the area of the Imperial Armored Division. General Paul Hausser moved his command post to the building of the Krolovez School. A Soviet reconnaissance plane flew over the area many times. Hovering in the sky. The light anti-aircraft gun from the command post entered the position and fired tracer bullets into the air. The enemy plane was hit and burned and crashed not far from the school building. The pilot of the aircraft was not captured after parachuting, but was killed by machine gun fire. While searching the pockets of the deceased's uniform, Lieutenant von Dem Kneizebeck, the division's reconnaissance officer, discovered orders for the construction of anti-aircraft installations in Moscow and Bryansk, as well as a copy of the information on enemy forces facing the 1st SS Panzer Corps. Detailed configuration of the troops.
They immediately reported this unexpected gain to the Armored Corps headquarters. When the plotter determined that the Imperial Armored Division was definitely in the gap between the Soviet 13th and 21st armies, Admiral Paul Hausser and Felix Stanel were overjoyed. Crazy.
"It seems to be a good opportunity, but it's a pity that our strength is not very strong!" Admiral Paul Hausser said with regret, "If we can use the tactics of rapid assault, it may have unexpected effects. !”
"Yes, we don't need many troops. We only need one battle group to turn the situation around!" Felix Stanel also said regretfully, "But we are still not strong enough and can only wait to rendezvous with the Sixth Army. After that, make more plans!”
Dietrich, who had been a student in the First SS Panzer Corps, now understood the words of the two generals even though he was not good at strategy. Obviously there was a good opportunity in front of him, but he had to Admiral Felix Stanel and Admiral Paul Hausser were now preparing to give up the operation, so Dietrich couldn't sit still and said, " Two generals, what is the opportunity that makes you regret so much!"
It has to be said that Dietrich really has no talent for strategy on the battlefield. It took Admiral Felix Starnell and Admiral Paul Hausser a long time to make Dietrich understand. What does the gap between the Thirteenth Army and the Twenty-first Army of the Soviet Red Army mean for the current battle of Kiev.
Although Dietrich was not good at battlefield planning, he had something that Admiral Felix Starnell and Admiral Paul Hausser did not have, which was the courage to bear any consequences and the ability to be armed. Although the SS was transformed by Lin Wei as much as possible into a force capable of fighting hard, it is undeniable that the SS is after all based on Hit? It was established for the purpose of Le's Guards, so the SS has always flaunted loyalty and bravery. Although Lin Wei asked most of the SS generals to fight with their brains, people like Dietrich in the SS There is no shortage of fierce generals like Xi at any time.
Now that Dietrich learned of this situation, he immediately asked the two generals to formulate a plan based on the greatest results achieved. The boldness of it made both of them sweat, although they tried their best to dissuade Dietrich. It was a risky behavior, but Dietrich, who had always been very obedient, seemed to have made up his mind this time, and it was not something that two people could persuade.
No one on either side could persuade the other. After the last two people saw that they could no longer change Dietrich's mind, they had to report the situation to Lin Wei, although the order of operations of the First SS Armored Corps had now been changed. Moved to Army Group South, but the two generals cautiously passed Marshal Rundstedt and reported directly to Lin Wei, because they knew that once Marshal Rundstedt knew about this situation, Dietrich would definitely be punished. He hoped to be removed from his post, which would create a gap between Army Group Southeast and Army Group South.
When he received the telegram from three people, Lin Wei was with Marshal Rundstedt. Crawford knew that the matter was important, so he secretly called Lin Wei out and handed the telegram to Lin Wei. " That's crazy, Dietrich is really a madman!" Lin Wei immediately had this idea when he read the telegram.
"However, even if you are crazy once, I will use you just this once!" Lin Wei immediately ordered, "Send power to the headquarters of the First SS Armored Corps, respect Dietrich's decision, and tell him, Do what you want and I will give you my unconditional support! Don’t worry about any criticism, what I want is the result. No matter how fierce the argument is, I only want the result to speak for itself!" After Lin Wei finished speaking, he took a sneak peek inside the headquarters. , after confirming that Marshal Rundstedt had no suspicion, Shi Shiran walked in again, as if nothing had happened.
With Lin Wei's support, Dietrich naturally won the debate. With Paul and Admiral Hauser shaking their heads and sighing, Dietrich began to assemble his own guard flag. Although the guard flag The team is only a brigade, but even if it is not the largest brigade in the world, it is almost the same. After Dietrich assembled this over-staffed brigade, Dietrich immediately became more confident in the next operation.
Full of confidence, Dietrich quickly jumped onto a Panzer IV tank and shouted, "This time, let the Russians see the strength of our standard guard!" Following Dietrich's order Next, a super large battle group that gathered almost all the Guardsmen's combatants set off amidst the rumbling sound of tracks. In the next operation, Dietrich was also prepared to meet with the battle group commanded by Colonel Bacher earlier, as much as possible. to expand the strength of their own battle group.
Dietrich was worthy of the title of "madman" given by Lin Wei. After catching up with Colonel Bacher's command of the battle group, Dietrich ordered the troops to continuously pursue the enemy and march to the Sheim River that night. and launched the attack at six o'clock the next morning. The battle group occupied the high ground north of Mudino in one fell swoop. When the Second Battalion of the Guards Corps arrived, the infantry shouted "Long live" and rushed into the city of Mudino. In the battle for the city of Mudino, the standard guard commanded by Dietrich gave the armed SS, which had always performed well, a different look. Facing the Soviet Red Army soldiers defending the city, Dietrich Use all available means to ensure the speed of travel, and even require the soldiers of the guard flag to take any self-defensive attack under the premise of ensuring safety. As for the boundaries of self-defense, they have their own assessment, which means Dietrich The flag guard was asked to abandon the practice of not harming civilians.
"Attack, attack, attack!" Amid Dietrich's shouts, the city of Mudino could not stop the Guardsmen, whose cruel elements were fully exploited by Dietrich. However, the Russians arrived at Shay when the German army The bridge had been blown up shortly before. Dietrich and the Leibstandarte reached the banks of the Cheim River.
While Dietrich's Guardsmen made progress, the assault of the Reich Panzer Division also improved the situation of the Viking Panzer Division on the right. The Soviet troops here and in front of the Viking Panzer Division also began to withdraw towards Shay. Mu River. The troops of the SS "Reich" Division gradually gathered together and assaulted to the southwest without stopping. General Paul Hausser saw the enemy fleeing in panic in the face of the SS's rapid assault.
At dawn the next day, the SS Reich Division continued the attack in the rain. The 1st Battalion of the "Fuhrer" Regiment, as the vanguard, wedged the enemy column near Mjenas and routed the enemy. In this way, the road to Makoshin on the Desna River was clear. Two Soviet heavy tank platoons attempted to cover the retreat of the troops across the 60-meter-wide river here. After the tentative attack ordered by Paul Hausser was disrupted by Soviet tanks, he had to temporarily stop the advance and began to contact the Air Force, requesting the Air Force to provide sufficient support to the Imperial Division to ensure that it could continue to advance.
However, the dive bombers that the Imperial Armored Division had been waiting for never came. At this time, General Paul Hausser, who was in the command post of the "Fuhrer" regiment, still ordered the troops to launch an attack at two o'clock in the afternoon. The motorcycle battalion rushed forward, and the soldiers bravely took the lead. They broke into the city of Makoshin and drove the stubbornly resisting enemies out of the city step by step. At half past two in the afternoon, an hour later than the requested time, the dive bombers arrived. The planes made a deafening roar and dive-bombed the city of Makoschen. The Germans waved signal flags and fired flares in an effort to stop the planes from bombing, but to no avail. The bomb exploded among the charging motorcyclists and over the heads of two enemy heavy tank platoons. Both the enemy and ourselves suffered heavy losses. However, as the Soviet army lost its tank platoon and its firepower was greatly reduced, it was forced to give up its resistance...
SS Lieutenant Frank, commander of the 14th company of the "Führer" regiment, and SS Lieutenant Rentrop, commander of the 2nd company of the 2nd SS anti-aircraft battalion, took this opportunity to lead four soldiers through the burning building. city, rushed towards the railway bridge, eliminated the explosive charges, and then occupied the south bank of the Desna River. At the same moment, the Soviets also realized that they would be in danger if the SS captured the bridgehead. Therefore, heavy artillery and mortars were used to fire on the bridge. The other squads of the German army were unable to keep up, and only a few of them were left alone on the south bank. They stayed close to the ground and waited for help. It was not until nightfall that two self-propelled artillery pieces and several motorcycle soldiers were able to cross the bridge.
While the Imperial Division and the Guardsmen each made progress in their own areas, the Viking Armored Division's offensive also made progress. The 35th Armored Regiment occupied Baturin, but was unable to cross because the Soviets blew up the bridge. Over Shaymho. The 15th Armored Regiment, operating on its left, was also unable to cross the river that day. Although the division attempted to make progress in various sectors, the enemy was quite strong. Each battle group only reached the Sheim River and failed to cross it.
When the SS 1st Panzer Corps' Leibstandarte, Imperial Division, and Viking Division each achieved results in their own areas, as a general attack, the Gendarmerie Division, Police Division, and Skeleton Division of the Southeast Army Group finally A week later, he successfully made a forced march and reached the northwest of the First Armored Corps of the Waffen-SS. Although Lin Wei had always ordered the troops of the three divisions to march on the route that had been opened by the Sixth Army, As Germany's leading mechanized force, the troops of the three divisions arrived at a safe distance from the First SS Armored Corps according to Lin Wei's scheduled time. In this way, Lin Wei could rest assured and no longer had to worry. Because the Imperial Division, Viking Division and Guards Corps advanced too fiercely, they would be surrounded and annihilated by the Southwest Front Army who responded by mobilizing heavy troops.
At the same time, as if knowing Lin Wei's arrangement, Army Group South issued an order to assault in the direction of Romney. The order stated that the right wing of the 1st SS Panzer Corps should stop the assault on the Bosna-Romney line after establishing contact with Army Group Southeast.
General Paul Hausser had a different view on this. The Soviet Fifth and Twenty-first Armies on the northern flank of the Sixth Army of the Waffen-SS First Panzer Corps and Army Group South were now protecting them. flank, trying to establish a line of defense on the banks of the Sheim River and to its south. The left-wing Reich Division of the 1st SS Panzer Corps had crossed the Desna River and entered Bolsna. Therefore, now the First Panzer Army should continue to attack the Bolsna-Romne line, otherwise the enemies faced by the First SS Panzer Army will retreat eastward.
Therefore, General Paul Hausser said in a telegram to Field Marshal Manstein, "The divisions of the 1st Waffen SS Panzer Corps should forcefully cross the Scheim River and then head towards Bolsna-Medway. Attack on the front line of Sihe and seize the bridgeheads on the Borosna and Romen rivers... Only in this way can the retreat of the Soviet Fifth Army be cut off!"
Although Marshal Manstein has a strong ability to control the overall situation, after all, he is not as good as General Paul Hausser who is on the front line, so he does not understand some things. After fully considering General Paul Hausser's After the proposal, Marshal Manstein finally decided to follow the frontline commander's advice. In this way, Admiral Paul Hausser was able to implement his intentions.
After successfully letting Marshal Manstein understand his thoughts, General Paul Hausser immediately issued several orders. The SS "Reich" division fighting on the right wing must crush the enemy's stubborn resistance near Makoschen. On the front, a powerful armored regiment, "Fuhrer" regiment and motorcycle battalion were used to launch an assault near Plachi. The Viking Armored Division is setting off from Mitschenchi to attack Baturin. The purpose was to assault the enemy positions north of Nerevki and reach the Krasnopole-Popovka road.
After Dietrich made progress in the city of Mudino, he took a short rest and immediately set out again to launch an assault. Although Dietrich was not as scheming as General Paul and Hauser, he still knew the basic principles. The strength of the Guards Standard Corps cannot be compared with that of the Imperial Division and the Viking Division, so they must level the battle line between themselves and the Imperial Division before the enemy in front of them can react. Therefore, in order to ensure the safety of the Guards, Dietrich almost made a breakthrough plan for the Guards that went beyond the limit. The enemies Dietrich faced were indeed not small. They were two infantrymen of the 21st Army of the Soviet Union. division.