The joy of capturing Zaporozer was not maintained for a day, and the situation of the Southwest Front became more and more dangerous. The 48th and 57th Panzer Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armor
Before dark, the two armored troops, after annihilated many Soviet troops along the way, conquered Pavlograd, joined with the imperial divisions heading south, and successfully cut off the retreat of the Sixth Army of the Soviet Army.
General Knobel Stewart, commander of the 48th Armored Army, and General Knobel Stewart, commander of the 57th Armored Army, met in the city. The two stood on a three-story building and looked at the city that was still smoking in the distance. Kissina said proudly: "General Knobel Stewart, the loss of this city by the Russians means that their Sixth Army retreat has been cut off by us."
"Twenty days ago, Paulus's Sixth Army was destroyed in Stalingrad." Knobelsdorf said thoughtfully: "Now the Russian Sixth Army has also been trapped in our siege. I wonder if they will be destroyed like Paulus, or will some people break out?"
Although his troops had an absolute advantage, Kissina was not proud of it. He thought for a while and replied: "I think there are many difficulties in completely annihilation of the Russian army. First of all, our troops are limited and we cannot form a real siege on them. The encirclement is full of loopholes. Secondly, the Donetsk River has a thick layer of ice, and the Russians carrying light weapons can easily escape our encirclement through the ice."
"If ordinary Russian soldiers want to escape, let them go." Knobelsdorf said: "But their command must not be let go. Even if they cannot capture their commander alive, they will be severely injured."
Pavlograd's loss was greatly beyond Vatutin's expectations. After staring at the map for a long time, he called Lieutenant General Ivanov, his chief of staff, and asked with a stern face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why can't our troops who are defending Pavlograd prevent the enemy's attack? You must know that the loss of this city means that the retreat of the Sixth Army has been cut off and they will no longer be able to obtain supplies from the rear. Once their ammunition and food are exhausted, what awaits them will be the end of the destruction of the entire army."
"Comrade Commander." Lieutenant General Ivanov carefully reminded him after he finished speaking: "A few days ago, General Rokosovsky forwarded us, which reminded us that the German army might launch a comprehensive counterattack in part, and that Pavlograd will be the focus of the enemy's attack, so let us be careful."
Vatuting naturally remembered the letter sent by Rokosovsky a few days ago. The situation was very good at that time. Vatuting naturally had no interest in reading the letters like Rokosovsky that were singing opposite. At this moment, he heard Ivanov mention it and quickly ordered the other party, "Hurry up, go and find the letters, I want to see what General Rokosovsky said."
After a while, Ivanov came over with Rokosovsky's letter and handed it to Vatutin and said, "Comrade Commander, look at this letter. General Rokosovsky made detailed analysis in the letter. He really did not expect that all the things he predicted were fulfilled."
Vatutin snatched the letter from Ivanov and quickly browsed it. The more he read it, the more he became, the more he became, the more he was afraid. In his letter, Rokosovsky wrote in detail the direction of the enemy's possible attack, time and the troops he might use. Vatutin didn't know these contents, and it was compiled by Sokov based on his memory, and thought it was the conclusion drawn by Rokosovsky's analysis. He couldn't help but sigh and said to Ivanov: "Chief of Staff, General Rokosovsky is really amazing. The content he analyzed is basically the same as what we encountered. If we had seen his letter earlier, our losses might have been much smaller."
When Ivanov heard Vatutin say this, the muscles on his face couldn't help but twitch violently. He clearly remembered that after Rokosovsky sent someone to deliver the letter, the messenger sat on the bench for a long time before handing the letter to himself. At that time, he thought Rokosovsky's analysis was reasonable, so he reported the matter to Vatutin. Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the other party not only did not arouse alertness, but also blamed himself for being a fuss.
However, under the current circumstances, it is no matter who is right and who is wrong. What we need to do now is to save the Sixth Army from the brink of destruction. Therefore, Ivanov asked carefully: "Comrade Commander, not only the Sixth Army is trapped in the German encirclement, but also the 24th Tank Army, the 267th Infantry Division and the 106th Infantry Brigade. If they are all eaten by the German army, the strength of our front army will be seriously damaged."
Vatuting didn't expect that his troops had just occupied Zaporoze yesterday and drove Manstein and his headquarters away from the city. Unexpectedly, before he could laugh, the German army launched a counterattack, and in less than a day, they surrounded one of their own army. He pondered for a long time and looked up and asked Ivanov: "Chief of Staff, what do you think you should do?"
"I think Popov should be ordered to quickly stop the current offensive operation." Ivanov suggested to Vatujing: "Let General Popov turn around and join the Sixth Army. With the strength of the two troops, he can completely break through the German encirclement."
"Break through the German encirclement?" Vatujing looked at Ivanov and asked with a sneer. "Where to break through? Then escape back to our current position?" He raised his hand and slapped his hands on the table, saying loudly, "Appoint Popov to continue to attack the enemy's defense in depth according to the original plan. At the same time, he will send a report to the commander of the Sixth Army, so that he will be determined to defend the existing position at all costs and must not throw an inch of land to the enemy."
As the chief of staff, Ivanov felt that Vatujin's order was completely wrong. If this order was really conveyed, then waiting for the fate of the Sixth Army and Popov's rapid cluster would be a devastating blow. Therefore, he reminded Vatujin carefully: "Comrade Commander, this is related to the lives of tens of thousands of commanders and fighters. Please consider this matter carefully."
"There is nothing to consider." Vatujing said stubbornly: "Transfer my order immediately, otherwise I will miss the opportunity to fight and I will personally send you to the military court."
Seeing that Vatujing was so dissatisfied, Ivanov sighed softly and ordered people to send Vatujing's orders in the form of a telegram. However, when sending a message to Popov, he became more cautious and asked the radio operator to add in the back of the telegram: If the situation is out of control, you are allowed to issue various combat orders according to the specific situation.
Chapter completed!