The German 18th Panzer Division had been separated by the fierce fighting until late that night, but it was surprising that Paulus was incredibly cautiously optimistic about the situation, and he was convinced that the 18th Panzer Division and the 10th Panzer Division would be able to hold the remaining defensive lines, and even said in his report to the Wolf's Lair that day: "The enemy's breakthrough has been blocked!" ”

But in fact, the 18th Panzer Division could not stop the 58th Tank Division of the Red Army at all, and after a whole day of fierce fighting, most of the division's reserves had been exhausted, and the 10th Panzer Division, which fought with them, was even more miserable, with only 1890 men left of all the battalion-level troops under it.

After the war, Guderian commented with a slight sarcasm: "In the examination of the situation, General Paulus again showed his inexplicable optimism, although there was nothing to be optimistic about." ”

In fact, the onslaught of the 47th and 48th mechanized corps has completely exposed Ubolevich's attempt, that is: to divide and surround the Paulus cluster and annihilate it on the spot in Krollevets!

It was not until July 25, when Manstein's 11th Army, after several rounds of hard work, still failed to break through Lukin's defenses, that Paulus realized that something was wrong, and he finally resisted Hitler's pressure and ordered the SS 2nd Panzer Division to immediately stop the breakout and immediately assist the 18th Panzer Division and the 10th Panzer Division to "stabilize the line".

Why is "stabilizing the line of defense" in quotation marks? The reason is simple, because the so-called "stable defensive line" was only a conjecture of Paulus, and at this time the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions were already surrounded by the 47th Mechanized Corps. The so-called "stabilizing the line" was actually for the SS 2nd Panzer Division to go and relieve the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions!

For the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS, this was an out-and-out terrible task. At the beginning of the mission. Misinformation led them to think that they were really trying to "stabilize the line of defense". As a result, it crashed headlong into the heavily fortified anti-tank gun positions of the Red Army, losing about a dozen tanks.

After receiving the report from the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS, Paulus was taken aback, he realized that the very center of his line had been penetrated by the Red Army, and if it were not for the lack of strength of the 47th Mechanized Corps to continue deep, otherwise his troops would have been cut in two with a knife.

Paulus, who broke out in a cold sweat, hurriedly adjusted his deployment, and on the one hand ordered the SS 2nd Panzer Division to continue to "stabilize the defensive line". Strive to relieve the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions as soon as possible, on the other hand, he also hastened to order the troops to shrink and retreat, if they meet the battle with the current situation, soon when the main force of the Red Army arrives on the battlefield, his troops will be divided by five horses in minutes!

The "timely" contraction finally prevented the Paulus cluster from being eaten up quickly, but it was only a matter of craving. At this time, Ubolevich's main forces were pouring towards Paulus, and they would soon surround it with three layers inside and three layers outside.

Paulus, who was in danger, begged the wolf's den to speed up the process of relieving the siege as soon as possible, and on the other hand, he also issued an unusually strict order: "Every inch of land must not be abandoned without a fight." I strictly forbid anyone to retreat from the front line, the enemy will attack at any time and to destroy us. But the more the enemy attacks with strong forces, the more we will hold out until the last moment. We must be more determined to fight than the enemy, and the final victory will definitely be ours! ”

And Hitler, who was far away in the wolf's den, was not willing to accept such a shameful defeat: "Paulus must send all his troops, including everyone who can hold a gun, to the front!" On the evening of July 27, the Führer slapped the table at a military meeting in the Wolf's Den and shouted hysterically: "If I find him hiding a man, then only God can bless him!" ”

On the same day, Paulus's encircled nine divisions were squeezed to only 15 kilometers wide, indicating that disaster was looming! The 2nd Panzer Division of the SS did everything possible to open a way for the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions to survive, and in three days and three nights of fierce fighting, the division destroyed 58 tanks of the Red Army! Despite the desperate assault of the SS, the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions could not be reversed.

Under the blows of the Red Army, the two divisions were in disarray from top to bottom, and telegrams for help poured into Paulus one after another, and finally they directly asked for help on the radio. But at this time, Paulus was a mud bodhisattva who crossed the river and could not protect himself, and he had no ability to come and rescue them.

Seeing that there was no hope of breaking the siege, the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions were determined to break through, unfortunately the entire breakthrough operation could only be described as a disaster, and the Germans, who had long run out of fuel, could only flee with two legs, but the tracks of the Red Army were vegetarian?

In the face of the tanks and artillery of the Red Army, the panicked grenadiers rushed forward desperately, and with a little more strength might they be able to survive? Groups of grenadiers fell in the barrage of Red Army, and after the breakout troops struggled to break through the two blockade lines, they were surrounded again by the arriving Red Army tanks, and the 10th and 18th Panzer Divisions disappeared from the Wehrmacht sequence after a barrage of artillery, machine guns and mortars from the tanks.

Only a handful of survivors of the two divisions of German troops survived, but even if they were lucky enough to save their lives, it didn't mean they were safe, and they didn't even have a chance to breathe. Because then the Red Army launched a new offensive and routed them along with the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS!

That night, the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS easily held off the onslaught of the Red Army, but also paid a heavy price. The morale of the once invincible SS officers and men was at this point at a freezing point, and there was no hope in sight of them. The officers who went to the division headquarters for an emergency operations meeting actually fell asleep at the meeting hall, and the soldiers at the grassroots level fell asleep soundly under the shelling of the Red Army.

A man named Friedrich. Hooker's soldiers of the SS 2nd Panzer Division recalled: "I was very tired and hungry...... In the last week, I've barely eaten a full meal, and then every day is an endless battle, and it's a day like this. It wasn't until July 30, when the Air Force once again ventured to airdrop precious supplies, that we were finally able to have a good meal...... I will never forget that meal, the company commander personally took charge of the cooking and stewed a large pot. Potatoes and bacon are stewed like fire. What a wonderful smell it was! Each and every one of us licked the lunch box clean. Let's put it this way. It was like a fire rising from head to toe in my body! Then, and then for the next week, except for a few pieces of black bread, we had to drink water to satisfy our hunger, and when the Russians cut off the water supply, we had to survive......"

It can be said that the 2nd SS Panzer Division, which was in the center of the battlefield, could not hold on for long, and the besieged SS officers and soldiers were panicked, and various rumors arose. It was even said that Paulus had abandoned his troops and left the battlefield on planes.

Let's put it this way, Paulus did leave the battlefield by plane, but he did not abandon his troops, and left the battlefield to go to Chernihiv for a military meeting to discuss the final round of relief and breakout plans with Bock, Rundstead, and Manstein. Because both Hitler and other German officers understood that the Paulus cluster could not be abandoned just like that, and after the loss of the cluster, almost half of the German armored forces were removed, how could they attack in the future?

And when Paulus and others were meeting to discuss the plan to relieve the siege, Hitler, who was far away in the wolf's den, personally issued an extremely strict order to the SS 2nd Panzer Division: "You are not allowed to take a step back." The existing positions must be held! ”

For the officers and men of the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS, this order was completely insane. After this period of fighting, 75% of the tanks and anti-tank guns of the 2nd SS Panzer Division had been destroyed by the Red Army, and the loss of personnel was more than 60%. In the words of the division commander: "The enemy is simply unstoppable, the Russians can drown us with tanks alone!" …… The division headquarters thinks that there is no point in continuing to hold on, and it can't be held at all! ”

In fact, the 2nd Armored Division of the SS was indeed unable to hold on, and under the fierce attack of the 47th Mechanized Corps, they were quickly defeated. Just when Paulus returned from a meeting in Chernihiv, his troops were officially divided into two sections by the Red Army. And this made the plan discussed by the German generals at a meeting completely meaningless.

According to Bock and Manstein's vision, the Paulus cluster in the encirclement should be shrunk more closely to avoid being quickly divided by the Red Army, and to give their reinforcements outside the encirclement more time to break the siege. And now, the Paulus cluster has been cut into two sections, and the meeting is in vain.

Not only was the meeting in vain, but what was even worse was that when Paulus landed in the encirclement, he was almost captured alive by the Red Army, but fortunately, his adjutant quickly pulled him into an armored car and fled quickly, otherwise at the last moment Paulus cluster would face the dilemma of being leaderless.

Worse still, it was not here, but after the Führer, who was far away in the wolf's den, learned that the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS had not held its ground according to his orders, but had shamefully "fled", it was a thunderstorm that broke out:

"Armed with the best weapons and commanded by my most trusted veterans, they don't deserve my name!"

During the meeting with Propaganda Minister Goebbels, Hitler, whose cheeks were red and his whole body was trembling, raised his fist and roared: "If the Paulus cluster is annihilated, then it is all the fault of the SS Second Reich Panzer Division!" ”

After a series of pointless discussions, Hitler himself ordered the removal of the DasReich Honor armband on the left sleeve of the uniforms of the officers and men of the 2nd SS Reich Division (the SS was generally embroidered with the inscription Adolf Hitler, DasReich, Hohenstaufen or Hitlerjugend) and the SS Eagle emblem on the left arm, and canceled the previous April 20, That is, the promotion and award of the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS on Hitler's own birthday.

Hitler's order exploded among the officers and men of the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS, and most of the officers and men were "extremely shocked" by it, and many officers could not believe their eyes when they read it for the first time. At that time, the commander of the division, George . Koppler muttered with a grim face: "DasIstnunderDankfuralles (That's thanks for everything!) ）”。

Even many SS officers angrily protested: "Do you want to peel off the armbands of the uniforms of all the officers and men of the SS 2nd Panzer Division who have died in the Soviet Union since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa!" ”

When later interrogated by the Red Army, George . Kopler described his reaction this way: "I drank until I got drunk and fainted. When I woke up, I asked myself, 'Are you crazy?' Or is the Führer crazy? I know very well that I am not crazy, so then the Führer must be crazy! ’。 ”

Although very frustrated and disappointed, George. Kopler still tried to order his staff officers and the commanders of the regiments and battalions not to convey this order to the rank-and-file soldiers. Not to mention the execution (Hitler could not have sent someone to supervise their execution anyway).

After this. Indignant George. Kopler drafted a gunpowder-filled recall. He said he would rather commit suicide than accept or carry out this order. It's a pity that even George. Kopler tried his best to cover this order, not wanting it to bring a new blow to the officers and men of the 2nd Armored Division of the SS, who were already demoralized, but this order eventually spread everywhere.

The reason for this was simple, Paulus's command also received this order, and the Wehrmacht commanders, who had always been at odds with the SS, gloated and played into the joke. For example, the commander of the 46th Panzer Army, Heinrich. Gottfried. Feng. Fittinghof. General Scheer recalled: "We were very relieved and satisfied when we learned of the 'Badge Removal Order'! ”

In fact, for the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS, the order itself dealt them a much greater blow than the execution of this order. Especially for those veterans, their fighting spirit and morale have also become gone, as George Murphy said. "After hearing the news, the veterans who survived the many fierce battles became as if they had been hit hard!" ”

Another SS officer, Kane, recorded in his memoirs the suffocating atmosphere of ordinary officers and soldiers after learning of this "shameful" news:

"Ukrainian, this is such a wonderful place!"

"If we don't get killed by the Russians, will we be killed by Adolf (Hitler) when we go home?"

"Is there no one who can tell the Führer what we are really doing here?"

Enraged, the soldiers of the 2nd SS Panzer Division gathered all their armbands and left sleeve cuffs, along with all the medals they had previously earned, threw them all into the urinal, and then peed into them one by one. Even some of the more extreme officers and soldiers sent the arm of a dead soldier with the armband of the SS 2nd Panzer Division to Paulus's headquarters along with a note that read "Kiss my ass", hoping that the commander would hand over the "gift" to the Führer.

Hitler's extreme approach undoubtedly accelerated the collapse of the German army, when the 2nd Panzer Division of the SS was demoralized. On the side of the Red Army, however, morale was booming, under the command of Konev and Vasilevsky. The Germans were quickly divided and crushed little by little.

In the wilderness of Krollevetz, countless remnants of the German army fought separately according to Paulus's orders, in order to slow down the pace of the Red Army as temporarily as possible, but in the end it was difficult to escape the total annihilation.

Here are the memories of the German soldiers who participated in this "final blockade": "In the last days of the end of July, we were attacked by the Russian army again and again, we fought and retreated, until finally there was no way to retreat, there were Russians in front and behind, and we tried to fight our way out. But as soon as we attacked, we were met head-on, and the Russians, under the cover of about forty T-34s, drove straight at us - they opened fire on us from all sides, and the infantry came at us in waves, despite the heavy fire. And we only have light weapons in our hands, and we can't stop it at all, so we have to cover each other in pairs and retreat......"

"At that time, we were ravaged by all kinds of weapons, most of our comrades were swept away by the T-34's tongue of fire, and only a few escaped. After hiding in a wooded area for five hours, I quietly crossed an open field...... When I found my company again, I found that there were only 15 men left in the entire company......"

The broken and loose German line was shattered by the onslaught of the Red Army, and the Paulus cluster was completely divided, and then Vasilevsky and Konev seized the opportunity: the 47th and 48th mechanized armies carrying infantry swarmed in, and the rolling iron stream crushed all the presence that dared to stop the mantis.

By July 31, Paulus's cluster had been divided into a dozen pieces, large and small, and for the Red Army, this piece of fat was already a certainty. Not only did the Red Army feel that victory was in their hands, but in fact the Germans realized that the Paulus cluster was finished. Manstein, having seen the photographs of the aerial reconnaissance, immediately ordered his troops to suspend the attack.

Because there was no point in continuing the offensive at all, even if the 11th Army broke through the defense line of the 6th Army of the Red Army, it would not be possible to bring the Paulus cluster out of the encirclement. What's more, Manstein still has no way to take Lukin.

Manstein knew very well that he would not be able to complete the rescue mission, and if he continued to attack like this, when Ubolevich's Kursk Front had eaten Paulus, it was likely that his 11th Army would be the next to be on the table.

The wise Manstein naturally did not dare to take such a risk, so he ordered the attack to be postponed, and suggested to Bock and Rundstead: "It's time to think about the battle plan for the future!" ”

Not only was Manstein very pessimistic, but even Hitler actually knew that this time the Paulus cluster might be more than lucky, but the Führer was not willing to admit defeat so easily, and he always believed that the final winner could only be him.

So in front of the huge operational map of the Wolf's Lair, Hitler fell into deep thought, what could be done to regain the initiative on the battlefield? Is there any way to avenge Paulus immediately? (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you for drinking a thousand cups and Comrade Juventus!