Chapter 114 Blocking
Soon, the 11th Army Commander von Schobert received an order from the Army Group Command.
The order was issued by Marshal Rundstedt, commander of the Army Group.
"There is a Russian armored force breaking out of Kyiv!" Rundstedt told Admiral Schobert. "They have a large army and an unknown number of tanks. They are advancing in the direction of Uman. Hold them off! "
"What?" Admiral Schobert couldn't help but be surprised when he heard the news: "But Marshal, our main force has already advanced to the line of the Dnieper River. What shall we use to stop them?"
Admiral Schobert is right. The strategic goal of the 11th Army has been the Crimea region from the very beginning... There are Soviet airfields in the Crimea region. From here, Soviet bombers can cross the Caspian Sea and bomb oil fields in Romania. Oil supply was the basis for the German army to attack the Soviet Union.
Therefore, the 11th Army, including the Romanian 3rd and 4th Army, is advancing eastward at full speed. At this time, there are only a few divisions left behind.
"That's something you need to consider, General!" Marshal Rundstedt replied: "No matter what method you use, block them!"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal!" Admiral Schobert stood up and answered helplessly.
After hanging up the phone, Schobert immediately walked to the map, and then ordered: "Order the 198th Infantry Division to immediately withdraw to the Uman area to garrison. The 1st Armored Division will advance to Uman to coordinate with the 198th Infantry Division. At the same time... the expeditionary force will withdraw Uman reinforcements!"
"Yes!" The adjutant responded and conveyed the order.
This order sounds like it has a well-thought-out plan: use an infantry division to garrison in place, an armored division to coordinate, and an army to reinforce.
With such a force, it should be more than enough to block a mechanized army of the Soviet army.
But the difficulties are only clear to Admiral Schobert himself: Among these troops, only the 198th Infantry Division is the German army, the 1st Armored Division is the Romanian army, and the expeditionary force is the Italian army.
The reason why Romania’s 1st Armored Division is suitable for entering the Uman area is because the speed of this armored division is too slow... The so-called "Romania" is an army equipped with a large number of mules and horses. Coupled with the speed of their tanks and poor road conditions, they are far behind the main force.
The Italian Expeditionary Force, because this army is the only mechanized unit of the 11th Army, Schobert judged that it was the only one that could arrive in time and participate in the battle.
"These idiots!" Schobert couldn't help cursing while looking at the map: "They actually left the Russian armored troops and crossed the river!"
Schobert scolded Kleist, which is indeed a bit unbelievable, but Schobert didn't know that there were many twists and turns in it, even Schobert himself, I'm afraid he couldn't avoid making the same mistakes.
The Soviet Mechanized Ninth Army did not know these arrangements of the German army.
It should be said that the Soviet army could have known it, because this is the site of the Soviet army, and there are Soviet civilians and guerrillas everywhere. As long as the German army moves, people will see it, such as how many troops pass a certain road and so on.
The problem is that these people and guerrillas do not have radio stations, and they cannot pass the news to the Soviet army in a timely manner.
But this is not important, because they are unfolding as planned before: the front is reconnaissance with fast mobile forces, and the information is constantly passed to the rear and advanced at full speed.
This is a bit like "crossing the river by feeling the stones", that is, moving forward while scouting, but it is much better than fighting without knowing what the situation is.
Shulka and his men are in the second echelon.
There was silence in the car, although the soldiers were all in the car, they were in a mess. Because of the previous battle, muddy water and blood made the entire carriage dirty.
If there is any good, it is that the car is not as crowded as before... Shulka's platoon lost 7 people, and two people were seriously injured and carried back to Kyiv, which means that there are only 26 people left in the car.
"Avmovich is dead!" Leonyev said: "Alyoshinka, Andreevich, Anisim..."
"We know, Leonyev!" Shulka interrupted him, saying that there was no point in reporting these people, which would only increase the fear in the hearts of the recruits.
"No, you don't know, comrade platoon leader!" Leonyev replied excitedly: "Many of them don't even have a soldier certificate!"
It is true that most of these recruits were temporarily recruited from Kyiv, and there were so many that there was a shortage of fighter certificates.
That is, they are more likely to be missing than martyrs.
But Leonyev's tone made the actor angry.
"So!" The actor stared fiercely at Leonyev and said, "Do you think this is the fault of Comrade Platoon Leader? Oh, my God... Someone in our platoon died, so Comrade Platoon Leader should be responsible for it!"
"Actually!" The veteran said while bandaging the wound on his arm: "If it weren't for the command of the platoon leader, our platoon probably wouldn't exist anymore!"
"Yes!" The thief continued: "Leonyev, you should be a corpse at this time, not complaining here!"
Leonyev was silent for a while, then turned to Shulka and said: "Sorry, Comrade Platoon Commander, I didn't mean to complain about you!"
"I know!" Shulka replied: "It doesn't matter, you will get used to it soon..."
Before he finished speaking, Shulka realized that he had said the wrong thing.
Sure enough, these words caused a period of silence again.
After a long while, the recruit timidly asked: "Where are we, is it a breakout?"
"No!" The veteran shook his head and replied: "I think we are in Uman and heading south, which means... our destination is likely to be the Odessa region!"
"This is impossible!" Leonyev said: "The Germans have hit the Dnieper River!"
Everyone knows what this means. If the Germans have reached the Dnieper River, it means that this route will be within the enemy's control range, so there will be no breakthrough.
The veteran did not answer.
A recruit looked out through the back of the car for a while, and then said palely: "God, this is Uman!"
"Did you admit your mistake?" Leonyev asked.
"I won't admit it!" The recruit replied: "I've been here a few times!"
The carriage fell silent again, because they knew that the veteran was right, and this meant that there would be many battles to be fought in the future.
The car continued to drive forward staggeringly, and Shulka could faintly hear some weeping in the sound of the "rumbling" motor.
(end of this chapter)
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