Chapter 79 Zilkasai Pocket

In the center of the army group's front, after a successful counterattack against the Russian XXX Corps in the hollow east, the mobile units of the 1st Panzer Army turned to the west again.However, once our armored division has left the first battlefield, the enemy's troops will automatically fill in. At the end of January, a strong enemy force, including several tank corps and mechanized corps, broke into the inner flanks of the 1st Panzer and 8th Armies, and continued to hold positions on the Dnieper from Tirkasai onwards. The prominent arc of the line of defense to the northwest.This penetration brought the enemy to the middle of the 7th and 42nd armies and continued southwards deep into the Zvenigorodka area.

At the same time, the enemy has also attacked the east-facing front of the Eighth Army in the southwestern area of ​​​​Zilkasai, and broke into the area with the new forces of the Fourth Guards and the Fifth Guards tank armies.They moved westward until they joined forces with the enemy who had penetrated into the 1st Panzer Army from the northwest towards Zifenigorodka.This means that the above-mentioned salient areas, together with the Forty-Second Army of the First Panzer Army and the Eleventh Army of the Eighth Army, will be cut off. This was what awaited me when I returned to Army Group headquarters on January 28.In order to clear the retreat of the besieged forces, immediate and decisive measures must be taken.

The 1st Panzer Army was ordered to immediately end its presence on the left flank against the Russian 1st Tank Army and release the 3rd Panzer Army as quickly as possible.It should immediately commit to new crisis points the two Panzer Divisions of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth, the Führer's Guard SS Panzer Division, and the Baeke Panzer Regiment, which had already distinguished itself in the above-mentioned battles .Then in the back is the 1st Armored Division. The Eighth Army was also ordered to dispatch the Forty-seventh Armored Army Headquarters and the Third Armored Division from its front to form another front in the direction of the breakthrough point.The 24th Panzer Division was also ordered to be transferred from the Sixth Army to reinforce this group.But when he arrived, Hitler ordered it to return to Army Group A, because the situation at the bridgehead of Nikopp had already become critical.In fact, again, it was too late to accomplish anything.

The army group ordered the first armored army of the two armies to attack from the west and the eighth army from the south to attack the rear and flanks of the enemy forces that had surrounded the forty-second and eleventh armies. The number of divisions used by the group army to rescue these two armies is quite huge.But because in fact, the enemy has already crowded twenty-six infantry divisions and seven or eight tank or mechanized corps in this area.The reason why there are so many designations is because the strength of the Russian divisions, except for the new force, is already insufficient.

The task of our two strike groups is to first cut off the rear lines of communication of these enemy units, and then destroy them with a concentric attack. Unfortunately, their assembly was delayed first by snow and then by mud.But once they can act, they can still cause heavy damage to the enemy.The two armies reported that they captured more than 700 tanks, more than 600 anti-tank guns, and about 150 field guns, but the number of prisoners was only more than 2,000.This can prove that the enemy army is mostly composed of motorized units.At last, snow and mud brought an end to the advance, and by the time 47th Corps was likely to pin down the bulk of the enemy force, III Panzer Corps had reached a point within eight miles of the southwestern front of the encirclement.

The Operations Section of the Army Group used to take our command train to Uman to oversee the cooperation of the two armies in combat.The headquarters of the First Panzer Army is located in Uman, and the headquarters of the Eighth Army is also nearby.Twice while in Uman I attempted to visit the front in person, but each time my vehicle was stuck in mud or snow.On this kind of ground, the wide tracks of Russian tanks are much better than ours. As there was no hope of getting the armor to reach this encirclement, I ordered the two encircled corps to break out to the southwest.By this time they were cornered on all sides, and the space left now was about thirty miles to the north and south, and only ten to twelve miles to the east.The Russians had demanded their surrender on February 4th.

Under their corps commanders, Generals Stemmermann and Lieb, the two corps broke out during the night between 16 and 17 February.As they advanced on the Third Army, the latter also made a last-ditch effort to send at least a few tanks to meet them through the bottomless sea of ​​mud.The two corps in the encirclement had been instructed by the army group to support the breakthrough with all its artillery and ammunition.Because in the deep mud, it is impossible to do cross-country operations. After the shells are fired, the artillery will stay in place. We sat in the command train waiting for the news of the successful breakout, and it is not difficult to imagine the anxiety in our hearts.At 1:25 a.m. on February 17, the first good news came that the breakout force had established contact with the spearhead of the Third Panzer Army.The enemy between them has been routed.By February 28th, we know that 30,000 to 35,000 people have escaped from this pocket.The besieged units consisted of six divisions and one brigade, but the frontline strength had long since weakened, so this number should be considered to represent most of the combat troops. (Note: Before the siege, according to the ration distribution list, the two armies had a total of 54,000 people. However, some of the logistics units were not in the encirclement at all.) However, what makes people sad is that most of the wounded soldiers have not recovered. It was able to be shipped out, and General Steeleman was killed in battle.

In any case, these two armies finally escaped the same fate as the Sixth Army at Stalingrad.Hitler asked to stick to it again, but finally agreed to the order of the army group.When the latter gave the order to break out, Hitler did not notify Hitler in advance, lest he interfere again. Naturally, most of the artillery and heavy weapons were buried deep in the mud.Thanks to the superhuman efforts of the troops, only a small number were barely rescued.The six and a half divisions rescued this time obviously had to withdraw from the front line for the time being.Although this loss of combat effectiveness has made the position of the group army group more difficult, at least the soldiers of the two armies have been rescued, which is still gratifying.

After observing the various units that participated in the breakout, my combat headquarters returned to Proskurov.The development of the situation on the left wing of the Army Group made it necessary for us to rush back.