Burning Moscow

Knowing that Povsky and I had been busy all morning, Bezikov quickly ordered the orderly soldiers to bring us hot tea and some snacks.

After eating for a while, the phone on the table rang. I quickly put down the bread in my hand and got ready to get the phone, but Danilov, who was across the table, had already picked up the microphone first. I was worried that Vatutin made the call to learn about regaining position 4. I couldn't help staring at Danilov nervously, listening to his conversation with the other party.

Danilov put the headset to his ear and said loudly, "I am Danilov, the deputy commander of the group army. Where are you? Oh, it is General Tavartkilasze. Do you have anything to do?"

Seeing the smile on Danilov's face while on the phone, I secretly breathed a sigh of relief. It seems that the commander of the 51st Guards Division called just to report on some work. I was a little too nervous. Thinking of this, I picked up the teacup on the table and prepared to take a sip of tea.

At this moment, Danilov yelled unexpectedly, and then asked with a serious expression: "What, Comrade General, what are you talking about, what more do you say?"

Seeing Danilov's startled reaction, my hand holding the teacup stopped in the air, staring at Danilov nervously, trying to figure out what was going on.

After facing the microphone for a while, Danilov covered the microphone with his hand, and said solemnly to me: "Comrade Commander, Commander Tavart Kiradze reported that there was an armored division an hour ago. Drive into Tomarovka."

"What, an armored division drove into Tomarovka?" When I heard the news, my hand shivered, and I almost poured tea out. I quickly put down the cup, stood up and took the headset from Danilov's hand and pressed it to my ear. Asked into the microphone: "Hey, is it Commander Tavart Kiradze? This is Oshanina, the number of the German armored division who drove into Tomarovka. Have you figured it out?"

"I've figured it out, Comrade Commander." Tawart Kiradze replied clearly: "According to the scout's report. It is the ‘Greater German’ armored division of the German Wehrmacht."

"Great German" armored division? ! If Tavart Kiradze did not add the words "Wehrmacht" in front of the unit number when reporting, I would definitely think that this division is also the same as the "Imperial Division", "Hitler Division", and "Skull Division The battle sequence of the SS.

I looked at the map and found that Tomarovka is located in the southwest of Yakovlev, not more than ten kilometers away. The appearance of this armored division made the defense situation of the 51st Guards Division more serious. If you want to adjust the defense force in a targeted manner, you must first understand the enemy's strength. So I then asked: "General Tawart Kiradze, have you figured out the enemy's strength and equipment?"

"I'm sorry, not yet." Tavartkilasze replied briefly: "Because the enemy has just moved into Tomarovka and is constructing fortifications nervously, our scouts have not been able to approach for the time being. To understand In more specific cases, you may have to wait until the evening."

"In this case, Comrade General." After listening to his report, I politely said to Tawart Kiradze: "As soon as the latest reconnaissance results are available, report them to me immediately."

Putting down the phone, I turned my head and asked Bezikov: "Chief of Staff. Do you know the situation of the ‘Great German’ armored division?"

Regarding my question, Bezikov had a dumb expression for a while. He murmured: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I'm not sure."

Although Bezikov is an acquaintance and has a good relationship with me, after observing this period of time, I found that he is not a qualified chief of staff at all and does not understand anything in the army. If it were not for the delay in sending me a new chief of staff, I guess he would have been removed from the post of acting chief of staff long ago. Seeing him standing still in place, I sighed secretly. Slowly said to him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since you don’t know the situation of the Grand German Armored Division. Then ask Lieutenant Colonel Ras Mihin. He is the chief of intelligence. There should be information about this armored division. ."

"Then I will go and ask." After Bezikov said this, he turned and walked out of the house.

Danilov looked at Bezikov’s back and couldn’t help but sighed, then looked at me with a meaningful look, then looked down at the map in front of him and said, “Comrade Commander, maybe we It is time to ask the front command to see when they can send us a new chief of staff. If anyone can point Colonel Bezikov, I believe it will not take long for him to become an excellent staff officer. "

I know that Danilov said these words because he was afraid of saving my face. Although he buried his head and couldn't see my expression, I smiled gratefully at him. When I was about to say a few words of gratitude, I only heard Danilov say again: "I know a little bit about the situation of this ‘Great German’ armored division."

"Oh, Comrade Deputy Commander, you know?" I asked Danilov suspiciously.

"Yes," Danilov said affirmatively: "I have been to Berlin twice as a member of the friendly delegation to Germany, and I happened to know something about this ‘Greater German’ armored division."

"Really?" I didn't expect that my deputy Danilov had actually visited Germany. It seems that he said that he knew about some "Great German" armored divisions. The credibility should still be quite high, so he hurriedly urged. He said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, in order to deal with this German army more effectively, please tell me what you know, okay?"

"Well, Comrade Commander, since you want to know our opponent's situation so much, I will tell you what I know." After saying this, he began to introduce this sudden emergence. "Greater German" armored division: "The predecessor of this unit was the'Berlin Garrison' established in 1921. In addition to suppressing domestic riots, it also had to undertake the usual inspection and security duties. But I don't know why. It was disbanded in June of the same year.

Soon after, on the basis of the newly disbanded garrison, another ‘headquarters garrison’ was established, which was stationed in Berlin until 1934. The officers and men of the army come from seven divisions across Germany, and each division draws out a company of officers and men. Together they formed this garrison. The officers and soldiers of the Berlin Guard Regiment spent almost every day on the training ground, and on Sunday, all the officers and soldiers of the company held a military parade in public with the accompaniment of the regiment's military band.

On April 12, 1939, Hitler personally ordered the Berlin Guard Regiment to be renamed the "Greater German" Infantry Regiment. The newly recruited members come from surplus personnel and volunteers from other divisions. The requirements for joining the force are that the height must be more than 1.75 meters, no criminal record and a good level of education. The first head of the team, von Stockhaus. "

Listen to Danilov's introduction here. I couldn't help but interrupt him and asked, "Comrade Deputy Commander, the'Greater German' armored division is just a garrison. Its combat effectiveness should not be as high as that. Take a look at Yushchenko's well-equipped guard regiment. , The combat effectiveness is slightly stronger than that of ordinary troops."

Unexpectedly, as soon as I finished my analysis, Danilov waved his hand again and again, and then said: "Comrade Commander, you are not right. Compared with the armored division of the'Great German', our guard regiment is not at the same level. On. If in a one-on-one situation, they can win the game."

"Ah, really?!" Danilov's admiration of the "Great German" armored division surprised me.

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Seeing my disbelief, Danilov specifically emphasized to me: "If the Hitler Division, the Imperial Division, and the Skeleton Division are in the SS The best, then the'Greater German' armored division is the most elite unit in the entire Wehrmacht system."

Listening to Danilov speaking so solemnly, I did not refute it, but quietly listened to him continue to say: "...The first "Germany" regiment that participated in the war was part of Guderian’s 19th armor. The army, supported by the artillery and engineers of the 10th Panzer Division, crossed Luxembourg and advanced towards the Belgian fortress.... After occupying the Maas River across Sedan, it was placed under the command of the First Panzer Division and broke through Maginot. After the line of defense, he fought in France for two months and achieved a series of amazing results.

In April 1941, the ‘Greater Germany’ regiment, which had been reorganized and reorganized, was transported by train to Vienna, and then via Bob, Budapest and Segedin to Romania, where it was incorporated into the 41st Mechanized Army sequence. Participated in the attack on Yugoslavia and was stationed in Banat east of the Danube as an occupying force. ..."

Before Danilov introduced me, I saw Bezikov hurriedly walking in with Chief of Intelligence Rasmihin. As soon as Bezikov entered the door, he said to me excitedly: "Comrade Commander. The situation of the'Greater German' armored division has been clarified." After speaking, he lighted Rasmihin in front of me. Gently push. At the same time, he said, "It's better for the lieutenant colonel to report to you. The information is collected by him, and he speaks more clearly than me."

After getting our permission, Ras Mihin introduced us to the "Great German" armored division. In the first half, what he said was similar to what Danilov said, so I was a little absent-minded. It wasn't until he talked about the "Barbarossa" project that I regained my interest.

Ras Mihin didn’t notice my change, and stood in front of us and said to himself: "... After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the'Berg German' infantry regiment was assigned to the Central Army Group, which was subordinate to Guderian’s No. 2 Armored Group. On June 27th, the'Greater German' Infantry Regiment crossed the Burg River and officially set foot on the Soviet Union. At this time, the 2nd Armored Group and Hult’s 3rd Armored Group joined forces to complete the encirclement of our Western Front , The'Greater Germany' Infantry Regiment just caught up with the Battle of Minsk and achieved great results.

After the Battle of Minsk, the Infantry Regiment of the “Greater Germany” was assigned to the 10th Armored Division. Later, this unit fought in Yelnya, Kiev, and Moscow. Until our army began a great counterattack under Moscow, the Tuancai and its troops were driven away from Moscow by our army's counterattack.

In March 1942, at this time, the "Greater Germany" Infantry Regiment received the order of expansion, and was then withdrawn to the Orel area for rest and rehabilitation, and became the Division's 1st Infantry Regiment. After the formation of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in Berlin, Went to Orel and joined the expansion division. In addition, the division also received an armored battalion equipped with tanks 3 and 4, an assault artillery battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, an anti-tank battalion, a communications battalion, and an air defense battalion. The battalion, expanded as a division, the "Greater Germany" division received unprecedented preferential treatment in weapons. After the expansion was completed, the division joined the 48th Panzer Corps under the command of General Kempf and participated in Operation "Blue". Its goal was to capture Stalingrad then marched towards the Caucasus.

On June 28, the division, as a pioneer, broke through the defense line of the Soviet 40th Army in one fell swoop. On July 4, the ‘Greater German’ division successfully made a forcible crossing of the upper reaches of the Don River, and entered Voronezh after breaking through the defense zone of our army. Fortunately, because of the accident, the division was not sent to Stalingrad. In August, the division retreated to the north bank of the Donets River for defense and used as a group army reserve. Since then, the division participated in the Battle of Erzhev, and together with the 9th Army, guarded the Erzhev salient and blocked our army's offensive.

In October 1942, the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Grand German Division was named the Grenadier Regiment of Grand Germany, and the 2nd Infantry Regiment was named the Flintlock Regiment of Grand Germany.

On January 13, 1943, the 13th Great German Heavy Armor Company was incorporated into the "Big German" division and received nine Tigers and ten No. 3 tanks at the same time.

In February 1943, the 18th Panzer Corps of the "Greater German" Division received an order to join the Waffen-SS 2nd Panzer Corps in Ukraine to resist our army’s attack on Kharkov. On February 14, Southwest China The main force of the Front Army attacked Kharkov. After a fierce battle between the division and the Waffen-SS 2nd Panzer Corps, they successfully withdrew from the city and went to the Poltava area to rest. One week later, the division was in Mann. Under the command of Stein, a counterattack was launched against our southwest front army. On March 5th, the German army of the "Greater Germany" division reoccupied Kharkov.

On March 22, the division once again came to Poltava to rest. Here, the first battalion of the Grenadier Regiment of the Greater Germany received 83 half-track armored vehicles, completely transformed from a motorized infantry battalion to an armored grenadier battalion, and the divisional air defense battalion received twelve 88 mm anti-aircraft guns~www.NovelMTL.com~month On the 15th, the division officially changed its name to the "Germany Panzergrenadier".

The current division commander is Major General Walter Hollein, the chief of staff is Major General Von Huber, the first regiment commander Colonel Kauchler, and the second regiment commander Colonel Garski. ..."

Although the content about the "Greater German" armored division is very long, Ras Mihin did not read any documents, but based on his amazing memory, he introduced it to us in one breath.

After I listened, I smiled and nodded at him, and said in praise: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you and your intelligence department did a good job, and even the situation of the ‘Greater German’ armored division was done a few days ago."

After hearing my praise, Ras Mihin smiled honestly, then straightened his body and asked solemnly: "Comrade Commander, if nothing happens, can I leave?"

"Go, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." After I agreed to Ras Mihin's request, I said to him gratefully: "Thank you for your information."

"This is my job." After saying this, Ras Mihin raised his hand to salute us, then turned and walked out of the house. (To be continued.)