Empire in Progress

Chapter 403: Battle of Kiev (17)

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"Yes, leader!" The radio operator clearly remembered Lin Wei's order. At this moment, a radio operator stepped down from the armored command vehicle. Compared with the one who was talking to Lin Wei, the expression of the one who had just ran over was His performance was anxious, and he even walked a little out of shape, bringing up a cloud of dust on this uneven road.

"What are you doing in such a panic? What on earth is going on?" Lin Wei reprimanded, "You must stay calm at all times, especially in a war!" Although Lin Wei reprimanded him very fiercely, he didn't know why, but in his heart The uneasiness is getting bigger and bigger.

"Leader! General Paul Hausser called, a large number of Soviet Red Army troops appeared on the right side of the Imperial Division, and are now attacking Lochvita controlled by the Imperial Division!" the radioman said, "The enemy is huge in number, the Imperial Division Now I can’t stand it anymore!”

"Impossible!" Lin Wei said categorically, "The entire Southwest Front is surrounded by us. There cannot be a large number of Soviet Red Army infantry in the east! Wait, to the east, that is the Southern Front of the Soviet Red Army. Timoshin Did you put the Southern Front Army into the battle?" Lin Wei's words were full of disbelief. Since the battle broke out, Lin Wei had indeed been wary of the Southern Front Army's actions, but in the two full months since the war began, The Southern Front remained motionless and remained determined spectators of the war. Lin Wei thought that the cowardly Marshal Budyonny would not let the Southern Front go into battle. In fact, Marshal Budyonny did not have any intention of putting the Southern Front into battle, but now the commander of the Soviet Southern Front had been replaced.

When Marshal Timoshenko replaced Marshal Budyonny, the situation in the Battle of Kiev had completely shifted to Germany. If the Southern Front was deployed at this time, it would only be possible to rescue the Southwest Front, but it might even ruin the Southern Front. , Lin Wei once analyzed Marshal Timoshenko's tactics and found that he does not seem to be an adventurous person, or that he prefers frontal attack. As we all know, the battle is now in its final stage. Lin Wei never expected that Marshal Timoshenko would put the Southern Front into battle at this time. What made Lin Wei even more depressed was that he was not prepared for this.

Lin Wei wronged Marshal Timoshenko because this was what Stalin meant. As the supreme leader of a country, it is not wise to always interfere in frontline battles, whether it is Stalin or Hitler? Bald Jiang was still the one who suffered a lot in this matter, but it has to be said that this time Stalin made a clever move that made Lin Wei embarrassed.

what to do? Now Lin Wei is really anxious. The Imperial Division and the Military Police Division combined can ignore most opponents, but it does not mean that they can withstand the attack of a front army. Although the strength of the Southern Front Army is not as strong as the surrounded Southwest Front Army, it is still a With a front army of more than 300,000 people, the Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division would be severely damaged even if they successfully resisted. Suddenly, Lin Wei suddenly thought of the things he had stored in Romania before coming to the battlefield.

It was a poison gas bomb that Lin Wei secretly transported from Farben Chemical Company to hide it from everyone. It was specially prepared by Lin Wei just in case. For this reason, Lin Wei suddenly took out one-fifth of the inventory of Farben Chemical Company. If used at the right time, it would be enough to kill three people in Moscow.

After thinking about it, Lin Wei rejected the proposal in his heart. The use of chemical weapons in combat must have the most basic premise, that is, when you use it, you must ensure that the other party does not have such weapons. Why can the Japanese use it without any scruples? Chemical weapons are used against China. That is because China does not have the same weapons, which means that Japan will not worry about retaliation. However, the Soviet Union is different. Although the Soviet Union’s industrial level is not high in gold content, it is definitely higher than Japan. Once Lin Wei uses chemical weapons company, and cannot deal a fatal blow to the Soviet Union in a short period of time, then ordinary German soldiers fighting in the Soviet Union will be out of luck.

It is clear that he can rescue the siege now, but he cannot do so. This feeling is not pleasant. It is far from the time to use chemical weapons to win victory, and it will not be possible until the Battle of Moscow starts at the earliest. When Lin Wei stood by the car and worried about whether to use chemical weapons, everyone around him was quietly waiting for Lin Wei's decision. But they were destined to be disappointed this time. Lin Wei said softly, "There is no other way but to let the Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division hold on and tell them the orders I gave to the Northern Division and the Prince Eugen Division that are currently defending Leningrad." They have to hold on for a month. Now I only let them hold on for two days. A fast-moving infantry division will arrive in Lochvita in one day. Maybe the situation in Lochvita will still be dangerous by then, but the front will be completely stable in two days. ! Stop the Southern Front’s rescue operation at all costs!”

"And!" Lin Wei stopped the two people who were going to generate electricity, and then said, "Order the southern infantry division echelon, Hohenstaufen Division, Frundsburg Division, Nordic Division, National Leader Division, Hoth The Wessel Division changed its route and circled to the right side of the Southern Front, cutting off the Southern Front's retreat. If the Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division were severely damaged, I would let the Southern Front die with them! At the same time, I sent a signal to General Kesselring. The Imperial Army in the Hvitsa area was attacked by the assault forces of the Southwest Front's Eastward Advance Group and the Southern Front. Once the defense line collapsed, the entire Southwest Front Army may escape, so it must receive full support from the Air Force!" The Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division are If Lin Wei's earliest troops were annihilated by the Soviets, it would be a major blow to Lin Wei. Lin Wei can put them in danger, but he will never allow them to be eliminated.

"Yes, leader!" The two telegraph operators immediately returned to the armored command vehicle. From their busy figures, Lin Wei had no doubt that his orders could be accurately issued.

"Drive!" Lin Wei, who had completely lost his leisurely state, sat down in the car and said.

Crawford looked at the confused driver and asked, "Leader, where are you going now?"

"Nonsense, of course it's Lohvitsa! I don't believe that the ace division that I provided with the best equipment and armed with the best equipment will be killed in two days? Drive quickly! I want to see how powerful the Southern Front is!" At this time Lin Wei changed from his usual gentleness and cursed loudly. The stopped convoy began to move on, and the road suddenly became dusty. Their goal was still Lohvita.

At this time, in the city of Lochvita, on a three-story building on the main road in the city, General Paul Hausser was busy issuing orders one after another. Marshal Timoshenko sent troops to break out on Paul Hausser. The general expected it, but the sudden attack of the Southern Front was beyond his expectation. Now in both directions, the Imperial Division's troops were under strong attack, especially the Soviet Southern Front in the east. In the initial attack, the Imperial Division was almost unable to resist, and easily broke through the control of the Imperial Division soldiers. bridge, if it were not for the military police division's rescue, I don't know what the current situation would be like. But even so, the current German army can only barely resist. After all, this is different from the battle of the First SS Armored Corps in the Battle of Minsk. Now they are facing a front army with an extremely large number of personnel. .

After Marshal Timoshenko's detailed description of the current situation, the commander of the Southern Front, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev, clearly knew what kind of danger the Southwest Front encountered. Therefore, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev attached great importance to this rescue operation. For this reason, he brought out all the strength of the Southern Front. From bombarding with one hundred and two hundred cannons to advancing with mechanized divisions, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev strived to achieve perfection. This is one of the reasons why Admiral Paul Hausser was suddenly in a panic.

During the battle to break through the bridge, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev rarely used a small group of troops to sneak attack the German defenders on the bridge. These troops were Soviet internal affairs troops. They used their knowledge of German to pretend to be German patrolling troops. The soldiers, in a final surprise attack, took control of the bridge.

Since the 3rd Panzergrenadier Regiment and the 4th Panzergrenadier Regiment of the Imperial Division had been dispatched by General Paul Hausser, the strength was somewhat insufficient under the attack of the Southern Front, and most importantly, the Empire For the first time, the soldiers of the division saw a large number of Soviet tanks. When they blocked the Soviet Red Army on the Berezina River, the Soviet Red Army had already lost all their weapons in the encirclement.

In the face of a huge number of Soviet tanks, the anti-tank trenches only played a small role. If it had not been for the timely arrival of the First Armored Regiment of the Gendarmerie Division and contained the offensive of the Soviet Armored Division, the consequences would have been disastrous. But even so, the pressure on the entire Lochvita area is constantly increasing. The German army of more than 60,000 people has been squeezed into the center by hundreds of thousands of Soviet Red Army troops from two different directions. pressure.

At this time, Lin Wei's telegram has arrived, keep holding on! Although the words in the telegram were not long, they clearly showed Lin Wei's current attitude. There was nothing he could do now.

But in order to prevent the German tank troops from attacking first, Ribeyashev decided to launch the attack one and a half hours in advance. Due to the hasty preparation time, the commanders of the Soviet armies did not conduct detailed reconnaissance, let alone a detailed understanding of the enemy's situation and terrain. They only prescribed a general attack direction for their troops on the map. In order to gain time and ensure the battlefield situation, it can be said that throwing troops into hasty counterattacks with insufficient preparation has become a major feature of the Soviet Red Army, but it is also an important reason for its heavy losses.

But this characteristic of not treating people as human beings has now stumped the defensive troops of the Imperial Division, because compared with the Soviet Red Army, the number of German troops currently in a weak position is too small, and they have to be separated on two sides. Defending in three directions, these tanks are large and small. There are distinguishable BT types and T-26 types, as well as our basic tanks, and some strange-shaped armored vehicles. These vehicles are heading straight towards the hilltop where the Imperial Division is located. The Soviet Ninth Army's first mechanized division suffered particularly heavy losses. In the offensive area in front of the Imperial Division, tank wreckage emitted black smoke and fell during the attack, but the infantry following behind did not seem to see the tanks. Miserable Xiang is still determined to charge forward according to the established plan.

The Second Grenadier Regiment of the Imperial Division defending here has forgotten how many attacks it has repelled from the Ninth Army. The entire area is covered with the corpses of Soviet soldiers, but the Soviet Red Army's attacks are still as fierce as ever. There are fewer and fewer soldiers on the position, and a lot of surrounding positions have been lost. In the last attack, after repelling the attack of the Soviet Red Army, the Second Grenadier Regiment suddenly discovered that it had not been troubled by ammunition. I actually have to be careful with my calculations. The anti-tank rockets have long been used up, the grenades are almost used, and even the guns in the hands of many soldiers only have one magazine left.

At this time, the 2nd Grenadier Regiment finally waited for the supporting troops. It was an armored battalion from the Gendarmerie Division. There was no way. The entire area was now fighting. Although the Gendarmerie Division was very large, it could not use troops without scruples. , Sufficient reserves must be left to deal with emergencies. However, the arrival of the armored battalion is not without effect. At least it can free the soldiers here from the threat of Soviet tanks. In addition to the T34, which can compete with each other, the Panther tank has no pressure to deal with other Soviet tanks. It simply improves its record.

Therefore, after the armored battalion joined the battle, the defense line here immediately stabilized, and the pressure on the soldiers was reduced a lot. The situation here is just a microcosm of the entire Lochvita. Enemies are coming from all directions, and they are quite ready to kill all the Germans here. In fact, the Soviets are indeed planning to do this.

In the afternoon, perhaps Lin Wei's request had an effect. General Kesselring's aviation force was dispatched in large numbers and began to fully support the attacked SS troops. The Luftwaffe's bomber groups began to appear regularly in Lochvita. In the sky above, according to the reconnaissance plane's reconnaissance, the Air Force pilots now also know what kind of pressure the SS is facing. At 1:30 in the afternoon, the Stuka dive bombers of the first group appeared. Then when it was dark and the Air Force could not take off, bombers ranging from two groups to one wing would appear every half hour. Give the Imperial Division the confidence to resist.

In the dark night, the Soviet Red Army still did not stop attacking. It seemed that they were determined to annihilate the Military Police Division and the Imperial Division on the spot. In the night battle, although the scale was not as huge as during the day, it was not bloody at all. Reduced, almost at the same time, Admiral Paul Hausser and Lieutenant General Ryabyshev organized a pair of commandos. Admiral Paul Hauser wanted to take back the bridge, and Lieutenant General Ryabyshev The general wanted to sneak attack the SS defensive position. By coincidence, after the two commandos set off secretly, they met in the middle of the area controlled by Germany and the Soviet Union. Although both sides wanted to surprise the opponent, they both They did not carry heavy weapons, but the battle still entered a fierce stage as soon as it started. Soldiers from both sides carrying bayonets launched a decisive battle in the dark wilderness. In addition to bayonets, the German soldiers also had engineer shovels and daggers. The Soviet Red Army Although the soldiers do not have so many close combat weapons, the size of these people is larger than that of the German commandos, and there are some soldiers of the Soviet Internal Guard among them, so they are not at a disadvantage during the fight.

The two sides were mixed together. At this time, the role of the gun was weakened to the point where it could not be increased. Both sides used cold weapons to solve the battle, including their own fists. If they continued, the two commandos might die together in the wild, but because The fighting during the day was fierce, so both the German army and the Soviet army increased their vigilance while sneaking attacks on the other side. They soon discovered that their comrades were fighting, so they immediately began to respond to them. During this period, the responding troops also There was some exchange of fire. Post-war statistics showed that 121 German commandos died and 138 Soviet commandos died.

When the Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division were put to the test by heavy Soviet attacks, the German 17th Army Group Command ordered the troops to launch an offensive westward on the 16th in the direction of Army Group South's attack. Until that day, the battlefront on the Sula River had been relatively calm. Several attempts by the Soviet Army to break through the river across the Army Group South defense line were thwarted. At 5:40, the German 11th Army crossed the Sula River near its mouth and then advanced northwest along the Dnieper River. The 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments crushed the enemy's initial resistance and opened the way for the division to continue its advance. The 257th Infantry Division occupied the high ground west of the Sula River before 9 o'clock, and captured 300 enemy soldiers and ten 76.2mm anti-tank guns. Infantry General von Kotzfleisch, who had crossed the river with his troops here, was wounded, and Lieutenant General Sachs became acting corps commander: his 257th Infantry Division was replaced by the artillery commander Major General Angell. Soon after the first assault group crossed the river, the division's engineers began to erect a military bridge, and the bridge was erected at 6:30 p.m. When a battery of 100 mm guns crossed the bridge, it collapsed, preventing the crossing from being made any faster. The work of demolishing and erecting bridges began immediately. The new bridge was not put into use until about two o'clock in the afternoon the next day. On September 17, the 477th Infantry Regiment captured the high ground southwest of Pervomyskoye and reached a place 20 kilometers west of the Sura River. The next day, the 477th Infantry Regiment advanced another kilometer. At dusk, the 257th Infantry Division advanced ten kilometers in front of Sortonosha.

Perhaps noticing the difficulties encountered by the Imperial Division and the Gendarmerie Division, Marshal Manstein decided to help Lin Wei once, so he ordered the 24th Division of the Wehrmacht to attack the center of this huge encirclement, giving it the new task of Smash the enemy's attempt to break out and drive a wedge into the Soviet troops. In other words, the large encirclement of Kiev was divided into many small encirclements, causing the enemy to gradually collapse on its own. At the same time, it also prevented the enemy's command structure from concentrating its forces to carry out a coordinated large-scale breakthrough against the German encirclement front.