red moscow

Chapter 3089

After the chief of staff finished relaying the retreat order, Martinek immediately summoned all the officers in the command post and said to them with a grave expression, "Gentlemen, the situation is extremely dire. The Russian vanguard has approached our command post and is only inches away. If we do not want to be taken prisoner by the Russians, we must seize this last opportunity to organize a breakout. I order everyone to take up arms immediately and follow me in a charge to the west. We must break through their lines at all costs before the Russian encirclement is fully secured."

The officers knew perfectly well that Division Commander Martinek's assessment was entirely correct. In the current critical situation, the only way to avoid capture by the Russians was to break out while the enemy encirclement was still relatively tight. The officers quickly left the division headquarters, collected submachine guns from the soldiers, and then led the men they could muster westward.

Looking at the command post that had suddenly become empty, the chief of staff anxiously looked at Martinek and asked urgently, "Commander, what should we do now?"

"What else can we do?" Martinek answered without hesitation. "Of course we should follow the officers, break through the Russian encirclement to the west, and join our friendly forces as soon as possible."

Soon, hundreds of German soldiers gathered in the area surrounding the division headquarters, and they launched a full-scale attack westward along the paths in the dense forest.

At the same time, Yefim observed hundreds of German soldiers surging toward the area defended by the 1st Battalion. He immediately summoned a communications soldier and decisively issued the order: "Go and inform the mortar company commander immediately, and order him to bombard the charging enemy troops to disrupt their attack formation."

After the communications soldier left, Yefim summoned another officer and continued to deploy the combat mission: "Transmit my order: all machine guns in the battalion must prepare to fire. Once the enemy passes through the artillery-blocked area, open fire immediately."

Upon receiving Yefim's order, the mortar company opened fire first. Shells roared from their barrels, slamming into the charging German ranks, sending plumes of smoke rising from the ground. The intense barrage shattered the German formation. German soldiers near the blast points were thrown into the air by the powerful blast waves, only to fall back down with mangled limbs.

Martinek, who was following behind the column, watched helplessly as his men fell one after another under the Soviet mortar fire during the charge, and felt a pang of heartache in his heart.

Seeing that Division Commander Martinek had caught up, the chief of staff snatched a submachine gun from a soldier next to him and shouted to those behind him, "Attention, guard company! Charge forward with me!"

However, he had only rushed a short distance when a bullet flying towards him struck his right shoulder. His body jerked, and he staggered back two steps, his right hand holding the submachine gun falling limply to his side, while his left hand tightly clutched the bleeding wound.

"Medic!" Upon seeing the chief of staff wounded, the adjutant standing close to Martinek shouted hoarsely, "Medic! Medic! Someone come quick!"

Hearing the adjutant's shout, a male medic carrying a medical kit rushed over, crouching low. He approached the adjutant and loudly inquired, "Sir, who is wounded?"

The adjutant pointed at the chief of staff, who had fallen to the ground, and roared angrily, "Are you blind? Can't you see that the chief of staff is wounded?"

The medic was so nervous he barely dared to breathe. Upon hearing the order, he immediately responded, quickly ran to the chief of staff's side, knelt down, and opened his personal medical kit. He deftly took out the first-aid kit and carefully began cleaning, stopping the bleeding, and bandaging the chief of staff's wounds to alleviate his pain as much as possible.

Just then, Division Commander Martinek strode over and bent down to ask with concern, "Chief of Staff, how is your injury? Is it serious?" The Chief of Staff, enduring the pain, raised his head, looked at Martinek, and replied resolutely, "Thank you for your concern, Commander. My injury is nothing serious. The offensive on the eastern flank is urgent; the Russians could press forward at any moment. Please consider the overall situation and evacuate immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Martinek turned to the medic with a grave expression and solemnly instructed, "After you have treated the chief of staff's wounds, immediately escort him to break through to the west. Do you understand?"

While continuing his bandaging work, the medic replied respectfully and firmly, "Please rest assured, Commander, once the bandaging is finished, I will personally escort the Chief of Staff to his new post without delay."

Upon hearing this reply, Martinek nodded slightly and said to the chief of staff, "Hold on, we'll meet again after we break through!" Then, he turned to his adjutant and said sternly, "Let's go!"

Meanwhile, the German troops launched a near-frenzied offensive to break through the Soviet encirclement as quickly as possible. Officers and soldiers alike charged forward bravely amidst a hail of bullets. Despite the relentless bombardment of mortars and machine gun fire from the 1st Battalion's position, they pressed on relentlessly, wave after wave. The 1st Battalion's commanders and soldiers had previously annihilated several German units and captured a large quantity of weapons and ammunition. Now, they were making full use of this equipment, using the enemy's guns and artillery to construct a formidable defensive line. Machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles formed a dense network of fire on the position, relentlessly suppressing the German advance and repelling their attacks time and again.

Martinek could see from afar that in just over ten minutes, more than two hundred officers and soldiers had fallen before the Soviet lines, and the situation was clearly unfavorable. He sighed and had no choice but to order a halt to the offensive, commanding his troops to temporarily retreat and switch to a defensive posture, while searching for a suitable opportunity and breakout point.

The fourth battalion, attacking from the east, reached the location of the German division headquarters and found the houses empty.

Vasya immediately reported to Sokov via radio: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have successfully captured the German division headquarters, but it is empty. They must have fled beforehand when they saw the situation was not good."

“I have already sent a battalion to cut off the enemy’s retreat,” Sokov said. “Although the enemy launched an offensive, they still failed to break through our defenses. You leave some soldiers behind to collect documents and maps from the German command post, and the rest of the soldiers continue to pursue westward to cooperate with the comrades of the battalion to annihilate this force.”

“Comrade Brigade Commander!” Vasya said, “After the enemy was defeated by us, they fled to different areas. Our battalion’s soldiers are busy chasing the fleeing enemy, and I’m afraid we don’t have enough strength to cooperate with the First Battalion in the operation.”

Upon hearing Vasya's words, Sokov remained silent for a moment before asking, "The Second Battalion is following behind your battalion. I wonder how far away they are?"

“Our two battalions are now mixed up,” Vasya said somewhat awkwardly. “For example, among the officers and soldiers who just stormed into the German command post, there were soldiers from our 4th Battalion as well as soldiers from the 2nd Battalion. In short, the organization of the troops is completely messed up.”

"Major, listen to me," Sokov said sternly. "I don't care what methods you use, you must find a way to gather as many troops as possible under your control. Then you will continue leading your troops westward to join forces with Yefim's forces in a pincer attack on the fleeing enemy. Understand?"

“Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander,” Vasya said decisively. “I will go and regroup the troops now.”

An hour later, the German 267th Division's troops, except for some of the 487th Regiment who escaped the encirclement, were surrounded in a small grove of trees along with the division headquarters.

As soon as Sokov arrived at the edge of the woods, Vasya greeted him with delight and reported, "Comrade Brigade Commander, we have surrounded at least five hundred German soldiers and trapped them all in this grove of trees."

Just as Sokov was about to ask why they weren't firing into the woods, Vasya preemptively said, "Comrade Brigade Commander, the reason we're surrounding the Germans without attacking is because we've discovered there might be big fish inside."

"A big fish?!" Sokov was immediately intrigued by Vasya's words and quickly asked, "How big is it?"

“My subordinates reported to me that there were at least five or six colonels in the woods, which meant that the enemy surrounded inside was at least a German regimental command.”

“I don’t think it’s a regimental command post,” Sokov said with a smile. “Maybe the headquarters of the German 267th Division is also trapped inside.”

Upon hearing Sokov's words, Vasya immediately became excited: "Really, Comrade Brigade Commander? Is the German division headquarters really surrounded inside?"

(End of this chapter)