Knowing that Povsky and I had been busy all morning, and that there was still no water and rice, Bezikov hurriedly ordered the orderlies to bring us hot tea and some snacks.

Not long after eating, the phone on the table rang. I hurriedly put down the bread in my hand and prepared to pick up the phone, but Danilov on the other side of the table had already picked up the microphone first. I feared that Vatutin had called to find out about the recapture of Position 4, and I couldn't help but stare nervously at Danilov and listen to his conversation with the other side.

Danilov put the headphones to his ear and said loudly: "I am Danilov, deputy commander of the army group, where are you?" Oh, it's General Tawart Kiradze, is there anything you can do? ”

Seeing the smile on Danilov's face who was on the phone, I was secretly relieved, it seems that the commander of the 51st Guards Division called just to report some work, and I was a little too nervous. Thinking of this, I picked up the teacup on the table and prepared to take a sip of tea.

At this moment, Danilov suddenly screamed unexpectedly, and then asked with a serious expression: "What, Comrade General, what do you say, please say something more?" ”

Seeing Danilov's startled reaction, I stopped in mid-air with my teacup in my hand and stared nervously at Danilov to figure out what was going on.

After a while, Danilov covered the microphone with his hand and said to me with a solemn expression: "Comrade commander, the commander of the Tavart Kiradze division reported that an hour ago an armored division drove into Tomarovka. ”

"What, an armored division drove into Tomarovka?" Hearing this, my hands trembled and I almost spilled the tea. I quickly put down the cup, stood up, took the headphones from Danilov's hand, and put them close to my ear. He looked into the microphone and asked, "Hey, is it Commander Tawalt Kiradze?" I'm Oshanina, the number of the German Panzer Division that marched into Tomarovka, have you figured it out? ”

"Figured it out, Comrade Commander." Tavart Kiradze replied clearly and articulately: "According to the reports of the scouts, it was the 'Greater Germany' panzer division of the Wehrmacht. ”

"Großdeutschland" panzer division ?! If Tavart Kiradze is at the time of the debriefing. Without the word "Wehrmacht" in front of the unit number, I would have thought that this division also belonged to the SS combat sequence, as did the "Reich Division", "Hitler's Division", and "Skeleton Division".

I looked at the map, and Tomarovka is located in the south-west direction of Yakovlevo, at a distance of no more than ten kilometers. The appearance of this armored division made the defensive situation of the 51st Guards Division more serious. If you want to adjust the defensive forces in a targeted way, you must first find out the enemy's forces, so I then asked: "General Tawart Kiradze, do you have a clear picture of the enemy's forces and equipment?" ”

"I'm sorry. Not yet. Tavart Kiradze replied briefly: "Since the enemy has just entered Tomarovka and is intensively building fortifications, our scouts will not be able to approach it for the time being. For a more specific picture, you may have to wait until the evening. ”

"In that case, Comrade General." After listening to his debriefing, I politely said to Tavart Kiradze: "As soon as there is an update on the results of the reconnaissance, report to me immediately." ”

Putting down the phone, I turned to Bezikov and asked: "Chief of Staff." Do you know about the Panzer Division 'Großdeutschland'? ”

For my question, Bezikov actually had a dumbfounded expression. After a while, he muttered, "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander, I don't know. ”

Although Bezikov is an acquaintance and has a good relationship with me, after this period of observation. I found out that he was not a qualified chief of staff at all, and he did not understand anything about things in the army. If it weren't for the delay in sending me a new chief of staff, I would have removed him from his position as acting chief of staff long ago. Seeing that he was standing still for a long time, I sighed secretly and said to him in a slow tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff. Since you don't know about the 'Greater German Panzer Division', then ask Lieutenant Colonel Rasmikhin, who is the chief of intelligence, and should have information about this panzer division. ”

"Then I'll ask." After saying this, Bezkov turned around and walked out of the house.

Danilov looked at the back of Bezkov's departure, couldn't help but sigh, and then after looking at me with meaningful eyes, he lowered his head and looked at the map in front of him and said: "Comrade commander, maybe we should ask the front command to see when they can send us a new chief of staff." If someone can instruct Colonel Bezikov, I believe that it will not be long before he can become a good staff officer. ”

I know that Danilov said this because he was afraid of losing my face. Even though he couldn't see my expression with his head down, I smiled gratefully at him. Just as he was about to say two words of gratitude, Danilov said again: "I know a little about the situation of this 'Big Germany' Panzer Division. ”

"Oh, Comrade Deputy Commander, you know?" Hearing Danilov say this, I asked rhetorically with some skepticism.

"Yes," Danilov affirmed, "I have been to Berlin twice before as a member of the German Friendship Delegation, and I happen to know something about this 'Greater Germany' panzer division. ”

"Really?" I didn't expect that my deputy Danilov had actually visited Germany, and it seemed that he said that he knew about some of the "Greater Germany" armored divisions, and his credibility should be quite high, so he hurriedly urged him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, in order to deal with this unit of the German army more effectively, please tell me what you know, okay?" ”

"Well, Comrade Commander, since you want to know so much about the situation of our opponents, I will tell you what I know." After saying this, he began to introduce the "Greater Germany" armored division that suddenly appeared: "The predecessor of this unit was the 'Berlin Garrison Regiment' established in 1921, in addition to suppressing domestic riots, it also had to undertake the usual inspection and security work, but I don't know why, the regiment was disbanded in June of the same year.

Soon after, on the basis of the recently disbanded garrison, a 'Headquarters Garrison' was formed, which was stationed in Berlin until 1934. The officers and men of the unit came from seven divisions throughout Germany, and each division drew a company of officers and men. Together, this garrison was formed. The officers and men of the Berlin garrison spent almost every day on the training grounds, and on Sunday all the officers and men of the company went out into a public parade accompanied by the regimental band.

On April 12, 1939, Hitler personally ordered the Berlin garrison to be renamed the "Großdeutschland Infantry Regiment", with new recruits drawn from surplus personnel and volunteers from other divisions. The requirements to join the army are a height of more than 1.75 meters, no criminal record and a good level of education. The first head of the regiment, Feng. Stockhouse. ”

Listening to Danilov's introduction here, I couldn't help but interrupt him and ask: "Comrade Deputy Commander. The 'Greater Germany' Panzer Division is just a garrison, and its combat effectiveness should not be higher than that. If you look at the well-equipped guard regiments under Yushchenko, the combat effectiveness is slightly stronger than the average unit. ”

Unexpectedly, as soon as I finished speaking my analysis, Danilov waved his hand again and again, and then said: "Comrade commander, you are not right. Our guard regiment is not at all on the same level as the 'Großdeutschland' panzer division. If it's a one-on-one situation, they can win outright. ”

"Ah, really?!" Danilov's admiration for the Panzer Division of the "Greater Germany". I was blown away by the blow.

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Seeing my disbelief, Danilov made a point of emphasizing to me: "If the 'Hitler Division,' the 'Reich Division,' and the 'Skeleton Division' are the best of the SS, then the 'Großdeutschland' Panzer Division is the most elite unit in the entire Wehrmacht system." ”

Hearing Danilov say so solemnly, I did not refute, but quietly listened to him continue to say: "...... The 'Greater Germany' regiment, which entered the war for the first time, was attached to Guderian's 19th Panzer Corps, supported by artillery and engineers of the 10th Panzer Division. Advance through Luxembourg to the Belgian fortresses. …… After capturing the Maas River across Sedan, it was placed under the command of the 1st Panzer Division. After breaking through the Maginot Line, he fought in France for two months, achieving a series of astonishing results.

In April 1941, the regiment was transported by train to Vienna and then to Romania via Baumber, Budapest and Szegedin. Here it was incorporated into the 41st Mechanized Corps sequence. Participated in the assault on Yugoslavia and was stationed as an occupation force in Banat, east of the Danube. ……”

Before Danilov had introduced me, I saw Bezikov hurrying in with the head of intelligence, Rasmikhin. As soon as Bezikov entered the door, he said to me with an excited face: "Comrade commander, the situation of the Panzer Division of the 'Greater Germany' has been clarified. "Finished. He nudged Rasmikhin in front of me and said, "It's better for Comrade Lieutenant Colonel to report to you, he collected all the information, and he spoke better than me." ”

With our permission, Rasmikhin briefed us on the Panzer Division of the "Greater Germany". In the first half, what he said was much the same as what Danilov said, so I listened a little absent-mindedly, and it wasn't until he talked about the "Barbarossa" project that I regained interest.

Rasmikhin didn't notice the change in me, and stood in front of us and said to himself, "...... After the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, the 'Greater Germany' Infantry Regiment was assigned to Army Group Center and was subordinate to Guderian's 2nd Panzer Group. On 27 June, the 'Greater Germany' Infantry Regiment crossed the Bug River and officially set foot on Soviet soil. At this time, the 2nd Panzer Group joined forces with Hort's 3rd Panzer Group and completed the encirclement of our Western Front, and the 'Großdeutschland' Infantry Regiment just caught up with the Minsk Battle and achieved great results.

After the Battle of Minsk, the "Großdeutsch" infantry regiment was assigned to the 10th Panzer Division. Later, this unit fought successively in Yelnya, Kiev and Moscow. It was not until our army began the great counteroffensive under Moscow that the regiment and its unit were driven out of Moscow by the counterattack of our troops.

In March 1942, when the "Großdeutschland" infantry regiment received an order for expansion, it was withdrawn to the Orel area to rest and become the 1st infantry regiment of the division. After the formation of the 2nd Infantry Regiment in Berlin was completed, it rushed to Orel to join the expanded division. In addition, the division received an armored battalion equipped with tanks No. 3 and No. 4, an assault gun battalion, a reconnaissance battalion, an anti-tank battalion, a communications battalion and an anti-aircraft battalion. After the expansion was completed, the division joined the 48th Panzer Corps under the command of General Kempf in Operation "Blue", the goal of which was to capture Stalingrad and then march towards the Caucasus.

On June 28, the division, as the vanguard, broke through the defensive line of the Soviet 40th Army in one fell swoop. On 4 July, the 'Greater Germany' division successfully crossed the upper Don River and entered Voronezh after breaking through the defensive zone of our army. Thankfully, for unexpected reasons, the division was not sent to Stalingrad. In August, the division retreated to the north bank of the Donets River for defense, where it was used as a reserve of the army group. After that, the division took part in the Battle of Rzhev and, together with the 9th Army, held the Rzhev salient and blocked the offensive of our troops.

In October 1942, the 1st Infantry Regiment of the 'Großdeutschland' division was named the 'Großdeutschland' Grenadier Regiment and the 2nd Infantry Regiment 'Großdeutschland' flintlock pistol regiment.

On January 13, 1943, the 13th German Heavy Panzer Company was incorporated into the "Großdeutschland" division, receiving simultaneously nine Tiger and ten No. 3 tanks.

In February 1943, the 18th Panzer Corps, which belonged to the "Großdeutsch" division, received an order to join forces with the 2nd Waffen-SS Panzer Army in Ukraine to resist the offensive of our troops on Kharkov. On February 14, the main forces of our Southwestern Front attacked Kharkov, and after a fierce battle with the 2nd Waffen-SS Panzer Corps, the division managed to withdraw from the city and went to the Poltava region to rest. A week later, the division, under the command of Manstein, launched a counteroffensive against our Southwestern Front. On 5 March, the German troops of the 'Großdeutschland' division reoccupied Kharkov.

On 22 March, the division again came to Poltava to recuperate. Here, the first battalion of the 'Großdeutschland' grenadier regiment received 83 half-track armored vehicles, completely changed from a motorized infantry battalion to an armored grenadier battalion, and the divisional anti-aircraft battalion received 12 88-mm anti-aircraft guns. On 15 June, the division was officially renamed the 'Großdeutsch Panzergrenadier Division'.

The current commander of the division is Walter. Major General Holren, Chief of Staff is von Lee. Major General Huber, Colonel Kauhler, commander of the 1st Regiment, Colonel Gaski, commander of the 2nd Regiment. ……”

Although the content about the Panzer Division of the "Greater Germany" is very long, Rasmikhin did not read any documents, but with his own amazing memory, he introduced it to us in one breath.

After listening to this, I smiled and nodded at him, and praised: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you and your intelligence department have done a good job, and even the situation of the 'Big Germany' armored division a few days ago has been obtained. ”

After hearing my praise, Rasmikhin laughed innocently twice, straightened up and asked solemnly: "Comrade commander, if there is nothing to do, can I leave?" ”

"Go, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." After agreeing to Rasmikhin's request, I gratefully said to him: "Thank you for the information you provided us. ”

"It's my job." After saying this, Rasmikhin raised his hand and saluted the few of us, turned and walked out of the room. (To be continued.) )