Chapter 92: Meet another stupid teammate
It is said that an armored unit without infantry support is a piece of fat meat that anyone can take a bite of. But what is an armored unit without infantry support and without vigilance? To know the answer, please watch the heroic battle of the German Imperial Armored Division in the Borodino area.
At the artillery position, Yuri watched through a telescope as two columns of German tanks crossed the bridge and entered the valley in an orderly manner. When the leading command tanks entered the lowlands of the valley, the artillery on the hidden positions of the Soviet army opened fire.
A German tank in the front was hit directly by a shell on its turret. In the billowing smoke, the tank lost control and hit another tank on the flank. The tank that was hit was lucky. Several shells exploded around it, and the two tanks behind it were also blown up, but it was the only one that was not damaged at all. But the tragedy was that the tank that hit it from the flank caught its tracks, making it unable to move forward or retreat. It could only helplessly adjust its turret on the spot and try to fire back at the artillery position on the ridge. In just a few breaths, after the tank fired a shell at the ridge, it was hit by two consecutive shells, and the entire body of the tank caught fire.
The artillery commanded by Antipov carried out his orders perfectly. The entire German tank formation was destroyed first, with the leading few tanks blocking the way for the following tanks. Then, the tanks in the rear that had not had time to turn around were also blown up one after another, blocking the retreat route with billowing smoke.
The two armored columns consisting of more than 40 tanks were paralyzed within the first three minutes of the bombardment. The German tanks blocked in the columns could neither move forward nor turn around. They tried to dodge on both sides of the road, but were blocked by the woods. Two tanks even drove directly into the Semenovka River while retreating. The ice on the river could not bear the weight of the tanks, and the ice surface immediately broke, and the tanks sank directly to the bottom of the river. The German tankmen who managed to climb out floated on the river and tried to climb onto the ice, but were soon killed on the river by Soviet soldiers ambushed in the jungle.
Yuri put down his telescope. There was no need to command this battle anymore. Rather than a battle, it was more of an orderly massacre of the unprotected armored forces by the well-prepared artillery units.
Polosukhin was very excited, and so were his staff officers. Being able to destroy more than 40 German tanks in one battle with little casualties on their side would surely be commended by the Supreme Command. Comrade Polosukhin had already begun to consider how to write this report.
However, Yuri was not as optimistic as him. Don't forget that the battle on the left wing was still going on. If the German army broke through the defense line in that direction , then the victory on the right wing would become meaningless.
"We must resolve the battle in this direction as quickly as possible," Yuri said, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and distributing one to everyone present, "and then transfer the artillery units to the left wing to support the battle in this direction."
Polosuhin lit the cigarette, took a puff, and nodded in agreement.
"I have an idea," Yuri continued, "We can ask the army headquarters to request the 133rd Division on the left wing to launch an offensive against the German flank in the direction of Maslovo to see if there is a chance to encircle part of the German army in this area to expand the results of the battle."
"I agree with Comrade Lieutenant Colonel Yuri," a staff officer next to him said immediately.
Yes, this is indeed a good opportunity. If the 133rd Division's flank attack is effective, the German troops in front of the 635th Regiment will be surrounded by the Soviet army, which will greatly help to reduce the pressure in the Borodino direction.
"Report!" Just as everyone was agreeing with this proposal, a communications soldier climbed up from the back of the hill and rushed into the observation post panting. Before he could even stand still, he said impatiently, "Comrade Colonel, an urgent report from the headquarters of the 621st Regiment of Puklovya: The enemy appeared near the village of Boltana behind Puklovya, with at least one motorized brigade. Comrade Major Bachayaev requests to retreat to avoid being surrounded by the enemy."
"What?" The signalman's words made everyone present change color.
The 621st Regiment was stationed in the village of Puklovya, northwest of Borodino Village, on the right rear wing of the 32nd Infantry Division's defense line. Its main function was to provide flank protection for friendly forces in the direction of Ruza Town to prevent the Germans from attacking Ruza Town from that direction. Now, the signalman actually said that the Germans appeared behind the 621st Regiment. What was going on?
We were just about to win a victory, and everyone was in high spirits. But before we could be happy, a bucket of cold water was poured down on us. No one could bear it. Yuri almost fainted. He was very familiar with the deployment of the 32nd Infantry Division, and he also knew what the news from the signalmen meant to them. There was no doubt that it was not just the 621st Regiment that was threatened, but also the 635th Regiment that was fighting hard in front of it. No, it was more than that. At present, it could be said that the entire 32nd Infantry Division was threatened. If the German troops quickly penetrated the rear of Borodino, the entire 32nd Infantry Division would be surrounded.
This cold water directly angered the hot-tempered Polosukhin. He stepped forward, grabbed the signalman by the collar, and shouted, "What did you say? Say it again?"
The signalman was so frightened that he stammered and repeated what he had just said. But before he could finish his words, Polosukhin pushed him to the ground and said, "You are a spy, a German spy. I will shoot you!"
Seeing him reaching for the pistol on his waist as he spoke, everyone around him, including Yuri, hurried to stop him.
"Has the news been verified? Was it indeed sent by the 621st Regiment?" Stopping Polosuhin, Yuri turned and asked the communications soldier.
"It's been verified," the communications soldier replied stutteringly, his face pale with fear.
"Which direction are the German troops coming from?" Yuri stared at him and continued to ask.
"Yes, yes, in the direction of Ruza town," the signalman replied hurriedly.
"Call the army headquarters immediately and ask about the combat situation of 133!" Someone shouted loudly.
Polosukhin did not speak either. His face was livid. He pushed away the staff officer who was trying to stop him and strode out of the observation post. At this moment, the battle in the valley was still going on. A shell fired by a German tank landed less than 30 meters away from him. The huge explosion shocked his eardrums, but even so, Polosukhin did not stop.
Yuri followed closely behind him, followed by a group of staff and divisional personnel. No one was in the mood to continue watching here. To be frank, if there was really a problem in the direction of Ruza Town, the 32nd Infantry Division would have to retreat, otherwise, the entire army would be wiped out.
Coming down the hill, the group hurried to where the vehicles were parked, ready to return to the division headquarters as quickly as possible. However, before their vehicle returned to the division headquarters, the communications soldier who came from the division headquarters had delivered the latest order from the army headquarters: Rokossovsky asked the 32nd Infantry Division commanded by Polosukhin to withdraw from the battle quickly, retreat in an orderly manner towards Istria, and reorganize the defense line in the area.
Undoubtedly, this was a depressing order, especially under the current circumstances. As the commander of the 32nd Infantry Division, Polosukhin had to make a painful decision, which was to abandon the 635th Regiment and part of the 621st Regiment, which were still fighting hard with the Germans, to contain the German offensive and buy time for the large forces to move to the rear.
For the commander, abandoning his troops who were still fighting hard was undoubtedly a torture, but Polosukhin had to give this order for a simple reason. The 133rd Division had abandoned the town of Ruza, which was originally supposed to be garrisoned by it, nearly an hour ago. This hasty decision, which was not communicated with the 16th Army, exposed the entire right wing of the 32nd Infantry Division to the German offensive. If Polosukhin did not retreat, it would not only be a regiment that would be destroyed, but the entire division.
The news received from the army headquarters was that the 133rd Division was under fierce attack from the German 3rd Panzer Group and its troops suffered heavy casualties. Finally, out of desperation, its division commander Gerasimov, after consulting with Military Commissar Shabalov, ordered the troops to withdraw from the town of Ruza.
The enemy's fierce attack and heavy casualties can be used as an excuse for retreat? Perhaps, but the bigger problem is that this retreat was not communicated to any higher authorities, nor was it notified to neighboring friendly forces. The 133rd Division may have ten thousand reasons for retreating, but for the 32nd Infantry Division, their actions only have one meaning, that is, betrayal, and it is naked betrayal.
The 32nd Infantry Division officially retreated to the rear at 3:00 p.m. that day. The good situation won by the previous hard work was destroyed in an instant. The hot-tempered Polosukhin even gave up direct command of the troops and went to the army headquarters to complain. Yuri, who was also furious, used his power as a leader of the special operations department for the first time and wrote a report on the retreating car, blaming Colonel Gerasimov for cowardice, avoiding battle, and ruining friendly forces.
Although the retreat was carried out in a relatively orderly manner, the 32nd Infantry Division still suffered heavy losses. Most importantly, this retreat dealt a heavy blow to the morale of the soldiers. As an experienced front-line commander, Yuri could feel the negative atmosphere that was building up in the entire army.
To this end, after the 32nd Infantry Division retreated to the Istria region, Yuri, as the army's combat staff, made suggestions to the army's command. He believed that the 32nd Infantry Division could not continue to fight in the short term and they had to retreat to the rear for reorganization.
