In the face of the sudden counterattack of the German army, the commander of the 163rd Division, Vysotsky, was both ill-prepared and inexplicable, because at this time the entire front of the German army collapsed and was desperately fleeing in the direction of Belarus.

I have to admit that the military quality of a group of middle-level commanders in the Red Army still needs to be improved, so why should Hort fight back? The reason is very simple, that is, he knows very well that it is pointless to just hold on to the 112 heights, and with the superior forces of the Red Army, he will soon be able to take this small nail, and only by disrupting the rhythm of the Red Army by surprise can he buy more time.

From this point of view, the counterattack of the German army on the 112th heights is reasonable and quite wonderful. This counterattack did disrupt the plans of the 1st Guards Mechanized Corps, forcing the army to stay in the vicinity of Heights 112 for an additional 24 hours. And these 24 hours were too precious for the Germans, and Hort, who desperately turned around and fled, was finally able to bring several armored divisions out of the pincer offensive of the Red Army, leaving a little precious incense for the German armored troops and avoiding the dilemma of being put in a pot.

Of course, in this wonderful counterattack, the Germans did not make mistakes. At seven o'clock in the morning, Schroeder mistakenly believed that he had repelled and driven away the Red Army, and had successfully completed the combat mission assigned by his superiors, so he did not give the order to pursue the victory, but chose to hold on to the position and consolidate the position.

I have to say that this decision was really too conservative, because at that time there was already a lot of confusion in the 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 1st Division of the Red Army. If Schroeder takes advantage of the victory, he can really completely crush this force, and this will make the 163rd Division need more time to relaunch the attack.

And. Soon after, the artillery of the Red Army began to work again. The 163-mm howitzers and cannons belonging to the 122th Division began to violently bombard Schroeder's positions. The density of its firepower once suffocated even the veterans of the German SS who had participated in the battles on the Eastern Front. Although this heavy artillery attack did not kill or kill many German soldiers, it forced Schroeder to retreat some distance, and the results of his morning raid were detracted.

At eight o'clock in the morning, the belated 1st Battalion of the 9th SS Panzer Regiment finally felt the battlefield, and Schroeder was overjoyed, and he immediately asked the battalion to continue to advance and kick the Russians in the ass. The 9th Battalion of the 1st Armored Regiment of the SS also gladly accepted the task and happily plunged into the offensive operation. Then he ran headlong into the heavy tank battalion where Zherelov was.

Can tank number four beat the T-54? It is unlikely from the technical level, of course, the battlefield has never been technological, and there are many, many geniuses who use backward equipment to win battles. But the 9th Battalion of the 1st Panzer Regiment of the SS was not such a master, they were too gullible to Schroeder's intelligence, and really thought that the Red Army on the opposite side did not have many tanks, so the battalion immediately fell into confusion after encountering the T-54 tank group head-on!

Zherelov's unit destroyed nine No. 4 tanks with little effort, while the remaining German tanks scattered in a panic and fled without a trace. This time. Having defeated the enemy, the battalion commander of Zherelov did not rush in pursuit. Instead, he chose to move forward steadily. It was not until 11 o'clock at noon that the German positions north of Heights 112 approached, and they did not attack at the first time.

Schroeder's mood at this time could not be said to be good, the 9th battalion of the SS 1st Panzer Regiment suffered heavy losses, and it also attracted a group of terrifying enemies. How perverted the T-54 is, he still doesn't know that his Tiger tank is no match for the enemy at all, and the future is bleak!

However, Schroeder, as a soldier and a Nazi loyalist, still blindly carried out the plan of his superiors, believing that it was possible to defeat the enemy only by launching an offensive when the Red Army was not firmly established. So he immediately organized an attack.

The 102nd Company of the SS 2nd Battalion, together with the remnants of the 9th Battalion of the 1st Armored Regiment of the SS, took advantage of the cover of woods and bushes to attack the Red Army from the flanks in a roundabout way. On the way to the offensive, Schroeder saw unimaginable scenes, the corpses of the German and Red Army were intertwined, with stumps and broken arms and stains of blood everywhere. Destroyed tanks and armored vehicles are not uncommon, and a considerable part of them have been reduced to parts in heavy shelling from both sides.

As the Germans approached, SS soldier Hemlintz recalled: "When the Tiger tanks were carrying us close to the Russian positions, we were driven out of the car, and with me jumped out of the car was our second class assault squadron leader (lieutenant) Brammersdorff, 'Hermlintz, prepare for battle!'" He shouted at me. We had to repel the enemy, and along the ditch and craters we began to advance, and I followed Brammersdorff closely, and more than four more comrades followed me. Brammersdorff was the first to burst out of the ditch, and we immediately opened fire to cover him, but when the tanks accompanying us followed, we couldn't find Brammersdorff...... This poor man, I am afraid, rushed directly into the position of the Russians and was beaten into a sieve......"

In the face of the German raid, the battalion commander of Zherelov did not panic, because when he gave the order to stop, he was ready for the German attack. As soon as he discovered the enemy, he summoned an overwhelming artillery support, and then he didn't care about the three-seven-twenty-one bombardment for a while, and then beat the German infantry away, and the remaining tanks were easy to do.

Hermlinz was also impressed by the shelling: "...... The earth was shaking, and the comrades who had been blown away were flying in all directions along with the trees, and the waves of the explosion came in one after another, pushing us all over the ground like a tidal wave...... I thought I was dead, and when the shelling was over, the people who were alive burst into tears......"

Unbeknownst to the SS soldiers on the 112th Heights, it was not only their blocking force that was in a desperate situation, but that to the west of them, Admiral Hult, who was galloping at full strength, was also faced with a thorny problem - that is, the speed of the Red Army's attack was beyond his expectations.

At this time, the main forces of the Ukrainian Second Front, which was rushing from the direction of Chernihiv, were already directed towards Gomel, while the Belorussian First Front, which was rushing from the direction of Mogilev and Minsk in the north, had successively captured Bobruisk and Rogachev, and the front was directed towards Zhiluobin.

And once the day Robin and Gomel lost. At this moment, the main forces of Hort, which were still moving east of Gomel, would be closed and beaten by dogs. Therefore, holding Gomel and Zhirobin was crucial for Hort and the Germans. Especially Gomel. Once this important railway junction was occupied by the Red Army. Nahot's troops are unlucky.

Therefore, Hort rushed in the direction of Gomel with all his might, discarding everything that could be discarded, and even leaving all the wounded behind, and running for his life. However, Hoult also knew that it was useless to be quick on his side, and the defenders of Gomel had to be strong, otherwise everything would be in vain.

So are the defenders of Gomel powerful? Truth be told, not very powerful. Because the strength of the defenders there is too limited. Compared to the powerful Second Ukrainian Front, it is simply not worth mentioning. In late March, General Zhukov's 5th Guards Army advanced rapidly northward, aiming directly at Bolchev, and it took only one day for the 5th Guards Army to capture the small city, which meant that the southern gate of Gomel had been opened.

The Germans were well aware of Gomel's role, and at that time he was the chief of the German Army. The Chief of Staff, Admiral Yodel, recalled: "At the afternoon meeting, as a rule, I reported to the Führer on the situation of the fighting at the front...... Gomel, the Führer attached not general importance to the city. And immediately instructed: 'Tell Hult to keep it!' His fierce eyes told me that it was useless to talk more. It is a soldier's duty to carry out orders! ”

But it backfired, and before Jodel could convey the Führer's supreme instructions to Hoth, Zhukov's tanks had already reached the south bank of the Sozh River, and a day later at dawn they entered Gomel without bloodshed.

The T-34 marched through the streets of the city with its gun barrel held high, and the Red Army infantrymen with the joy of victory on their faces were confident that they would annihilate Hoth's tank cluster in one fell swoop, thinking that a good time awaited them.

Hey? And what about the Germans? The Russian guy with a Bobosha submachine gun in his hand turned around for a long time and did not see a single shadow of the enemy. This is all thanks to a "cute" commander of the German army's urban defense, a German army colonel engaged in logistics, who comforted himself when he saw that the Red Army was about to enter the city: "We are outnumbered, and there is no way to fight this battle, so we should retreat first!" ”

The commander's understanding instructions were quickly unanimously approved and "enthusiastically responded" by the staff, and on the eve of the arrival of Zhukov's tanks, the German troops guarding Gomel had already fled!

"Gomel is lost!"

The bad news soon reached the ears of Marshal Bock, who knew that the Führer's instructions had just been issued, and the troops below had stabbed him in such a big basket, and it was difficult to protect the black gauze hat! But in a hurry, Bock is still a battle-hardened veteran, and he immediately did what he had to do - counterattack! Reclaim Gomel now!

Almost all the forces that Army Group Center could draw were thrown in the Gomel direction, but the stretches on the front line also made Bock very nervous, and even if he did do so, he raised only one tank battalion and two unstaffed panzergrenadier battalions and an assault gun battalion.

This is at best the strength of a reinforced regiment, and it is a joke to deal with the mighty 6th Guards Army. But even more jokingly, the Germans actually succeeded!

The thing is that after Zhukov's bloodless capture of Gomel, he was very proud and felt that the overall situation had been decided, so the impulsive general was immediately not satisfied with a small fight in Gomel, and he decided to directly meet Hort's rout in the area east of Gomel, and wiped out the only remaining German armored forces in one fell swoop.

Therefore, after the capture of Gomel, Zhukov left only a small force to garrison, and the main force moved eastward on its own initiative, which gave Bock an opportunity to take advantage of. In fact, when the news of Gomel's miraculous recovery reached Bock's ears, the old marshal could not believe it and repeatedly demanded confirmation of the result.

It wasn't until the troops repeatedly confirmed that Gomel had been recaptured, and Bock was really overjoyed, knowing that when he organized the troops to counterattack before, he actually didn't have hope, and he just did his best to obey the fate of God.

Here it is necessary to examine a very bad habit of the Red Army at that time -- rashness and underestimation of the enemy. For the two sides facing each other on the Soviet-German battlefield, if strength is the bargaining chip and logistics is the support, then speed is the key. In fact, the core of a large-depth operation is to quickly assault in depth. As soon as the cannon rang out. Tearing apart the opponent's front-line defensive positions was generally not particularly difficult for the Red Army, which had a high degree of mechanization. Tearing a breakthrough of sufficient width and gaining sufficient depth of attack before the opponent's reserve team can replenish the defense is the real winner of the offensive battle.

In 1943. After more than a year of fierce fighting, the Red Army has initially possessed this capability. Breakthroughs, intersperses, and outflanks in battles can often be accomplished in one go, which is pleasing to the eye. But at the same time, "contradictions" also arose -- the temptation to win a big battle often made the Red Army generals unconsciously neglect to consolidate the breakthrough or occupied territory while seeking speed. Committee and government. In order to seek the victory they needed, the rulers also consciously or unconsciously "appeased" this dangerous practice, for the simple reason - the mighty Soviet Union could afford to lose!

Bock was really proud of Gomel's loss, and in the following week, he drove the powerful 48th Panzer Army (which had just completed the reconstruction) to launch a fierce attack on Zhukov's 6th Guards Army in the northeast, which caught Zhukov by surprise and successfully opened the railway line. Zhukov's troops were suppressed in the south-eastern direction of Gomel.

Bock's counterattack made Zhukov a little embarrassed, which also made Zhukov realize that the German army was not deliberately bullied, but he still didn't want to watch his opponent so easily, so Zhukov made an ambitious plan - to eat the German 48th Panzer Army southeast of Gomel and recapture Gomel again!

Zhukov was determined to remove these two thorns in his eyes and flesh at the same time this time, and for this reason he concentrated the 1st Guards Mechanized Army (the 2nd Ukrainian Front was temporarily strengthened for Zhukov's use) and the 4th Guards Mechanized Army in this direction.

On the morning of March 23, the Il-2 roared past the position, and it is not known whether Zhukov was unintentional or deliberately arranged, but his heavy blow happened to hit the junction of the German 48th Panzer Army and the 13th Infantry Corps. Perhaps because there were so many lines to consolidate, Bock and von were the ones who had to consolidate. At the same time, Kruger neglected to defend the area, as two well-known veterans of the battlefield. Such a common-sense mistake really shouldn't happen.

The natural consequences were catastrophic, and the 6th Guards Army advanced more than 60 kilometers in one go. And directly led to the siege of the 1st Division of the 48th Panzer Army in Gomel! As a result, Hort had to temporarily adjust his escape route and had to bypass Gomel and flee in the direction of Zhirobin, which directly led to a considerable part of the German infantry that could have escaped from the encirclement being caught up and annihilated by the Red Army.

These are all afterthoughts, but let's first get to know a legendary German officer -- von Brown. Major General Neindorf, who has passed the age of confusion, has the vicissitudes of a soldier on his face, and the deep scar under his forehead is proof of history, and the shining Knight's Cross on his chest is an honor that every Prussian soldier dreams of.

There are many stories about him in Neindorf's troops, and in Minsk he personally commanded an anti-tank gun crew to knock out three T-34s, one of which he personally handled, in just two minutes......

At this moment, the veteran hero was faced with a mess, the core of the Gomel garrison was two battalions from the Wehrmacht's 949th Grenadier Regiment (formerly part of the 78th Infantry Division, previously temporarily reinforced to the 48th Panzer Corps), as well as his brothers from the SS and the "disgusting" Gestapo (Neindorf), while in Gomel you could see Galician volunteers who "willingly" served the German army (in the southeast of present-day Poland, in the valley of the upper Vistula River, rich agricultural forests and oil resources). The inhabitants are Polish in the west and Luthenians in the east, and have long fought for Russia and Austria for the target. At the time of the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, Western Galicia was occupied by Austria, and in 1867 the eastern part was also occupied. After World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed and Galicia was returned to Poland. They probably hate the Russians even more than the Germans.

Another headache for Neindorf was the extreme lack of heavy fire support, with only 15 anti-tank guns (all the old 37 guns) in addition to 9 assault guns and 6 self-propelled guns as a mobile defensive force. In addition, there are 3 20mm anti-aircraft guns, 4 88mm anti-aircraft guns (of course, this "magic weapon" can temporarily play the role of an anti-tank expert) and a pitiful 4 105mm howitzers, 8 150mm howitzers (the gun is purely a decoration, because there is basically no ammunition left).

Of course, this is not bad, what is even worse is that the previous commander of the city defense of Gomel, that is, the logistics colonel, did not forget to take all the supplies that could be taken away before escaping, and all the materials that could not be taken were burned. Although he was well-intentioned, he did create a big problem for Neindorf, a huge city that lacked food, coal for heating, and ammunition. Let's put it this way, Gomel lacks nothing but plenty of shivering cold air! (To be continued.) )