Reborn South Africa as a police officer

Chapter 2539 Breakout Night

In order to fulfill the bearded man's order, Malinovsky did not hesitate to pay any price. Under the crazy attack of the Russian army, the German army's defense line collapsed. On the 27th, the Russian army invaded the city of Budapest, and the more brutal city station broke out immediately.

The city of Budapest, built in the 9th century AD, is located at the crossroads of the Eurasian continent. It is a cultural ancient city with a long history and beautiful scenery, with a large number of historical buildings.

The war has completely destroyed the city. The Hay Square in the city center used to be the most prosperous place in Pest, but now it is inevitably reduced to a blood mill.

The Fortress Command, the command center of the Budapest garrison, is located in a four-story building next to the Hay Square.

During the period of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, this building used to be the palace of Emperor Franz Joseph I of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After the end of World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire disintegrated and the palace became the presidential palace of the Hungarian Republic. After the German invasion, the presidential palace was replaced by Ed Dr. Mond Fessenmeyer confiscated it and became the center of German rule in Hungary.

After the outbreak of the Battle of Budapest, Hay Square became the key bombing target of Russia. The former magnificent palace has almost been reduced to ruins, all doors and windows have disappeared, large pieces of exquisite exterior wall sculptures have peeled off, and there are bomb craters everywhere.

The dry grass square is also in a mess. The trees around the square are burnt and only broken and dry. Many car wreckages have not been removed in time. The former parliament building directly opposite the fortress headquarters was bombed a few days ago Hit by an aerial bomb, a fire broke out, the white building was burned to black, and there were traces of charred corpses on the steps in front of the building.

The Russian attack was very sharp. In just two days, the German defense line completely collapsed. After studying the situation, Admiral Wiedenbruch held a military meeting in the basement of the fortress headquarters and decided to take the initiative to break through.

"The breakout operation will start at 3 o'clock tonight. The 8rd Army and the 3th Army will break through to the northeast. If they cannot break through the Russian army, they will organize a defense around Buda Mountain and wait for reinforcements—" Joachim Fei, Chief of Staff of the Fortress Defense Lix laid out the breakout plan in the meeting, and several generals of the 8rd Army and the [-]th Army were livid.

The Pest garrison is composed of the German army and the Hungarian army. The 3rd Army and the 8th Army that Felix just named are both Hungarian troops.

The northeast of Pest is the main attack direction of the Russian army. The best equipped tank divisions under Malinovsky are all in this direction. Felix arranged for the 3rd Army and the 8th Army to break through from this direction to let Hungary The army went to attract the attention of the Russian army and create an opportunity for the German army to break through.

To put it bluntly, let the Hungarian army die.

Although they knew that there would be ten deaths and no lives, the generals of the 3rd Army and the 8th Army did not dare to refute. As for whether they will resolutely implement the orders of General Wiedenbruch, that is another matter.

"Gentlemen, I hope we will meet again in Vienna—" Admiral Wiedenbruch also had a very ugly expression. This is actually the second time he has held a meeting of all generals since he took office.

The last meeting after Admiral Wiedenbruch took office.

No one expected that the second plenary meeting was about to break through.

In just a few days, the number of generals attending the meeting has already decreased by several.

After Felix assigned the task, the attendants brought the generals gin wine, each with a small glass. This is a decisive battle ceremony that has been handed down by the German army since the Teutonic Knights in the 15th century.

Everyone downed their gin and smashed their glasses.

At eight o'clock that night, the breakout operation officially began.

Although Felix made detailed arrangements at the military meeting, in fact, when the German army began to break out, the situation was very chaotic.

It is also impossible to be organized. The crazy offensive of the Russian army in the past few days has cut the German defense line to pieces. Many generals don't even know where their troops are and how many people are left.

For example, the commander of the Hungarian 8th Army, Siegel Szalay, has less than 500 troops left under his command. Referring to the German army establishment, this number does not even reach a battalion.

In Felix's plan, in the direction of the Eighth Army's breakout, there are Russia's most elite Second Mechanized Army and Fourth Mechanized Army. The total number of tanks and self-propelled artillery equipped by these two armies exceeds 8. 800 people.

Using a force of 500 light infantry to attack the defense line of 5 people, it goes without saying that these 5 people are also equipped with heavy tanks. Even if they are also light infantry, the outcome is obvious.

So after the meeting, Siegel took the initiative to complain to Klein Heisler, the commander of the 3rd Army.

"The breakout operation has no possibility of success. If it is carried out according to the plan, it is better for us to commit suicide collectively." Siegel does not want to die, but if he wants to escape, Siegel needs allies.

"The day I joined the army, I had a premonition that this day would come, but I didn't expect that this day would come so soon!" Heisler was expressionless. Hungarians are still better at composing piano music. no.

Since the Renaissance, for a full 500 years, Hungary has never won a foreign war, whether as an independent country or as part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

After Germany invaded Hungary, in order to make up for the lack of strength, they recruited Hungarians to join the army and formed the Hungarian servant army.

The treatment and equipment of the Hungarian servant army is very different from that of the German army. They hold the worst weapons, are hungry, undertake the most dangerous tasks, and are finally abandoned by the German army like rags. This feeling is really great Make Heisler uncomfortable.

"No matter what you do, I won't break out from the northeast—" Siegel has his own plan. Compared with Felix's plan, Siegel's plan seems to have a higher success rate.

"What are you going to do?" Heisler was curious. If he could live, Heisler would certainly not want to die.

"We go south and cross the Danube. If we are surrounded by the southern African army, we will surrender to the southern African army—" Siegel has no taboo, and he has no southern African blood on his hands.

"How is it possible to cross the Danube—" Heisler retorted subconsciously, and shut up halfway through the sentence.

If it is summer, the strength of the Danube is absolutely impossible, because the German army blew up all five bridges connecting the two cities of Buda and Pest when the Battle of Budapest broke out.

It's winter now, the river is frozen, and tanks weighing tens of tons can't drive across. Light infantry can just walk across the ice.

"It's a good idea, let's do it!" Heisler survived a desperate situation and decided to cross the river with Siegel.

So when we broke through at 3 o'clock in the evening, some of the remnants of the 8rd Army and the 2500th Army, a total of about [-] people, sneaked around the defense lines of other German troops, broke out from the direction of the Danube to the south, and successfully crossed the river. After successful expeditions to southern Africa Army surrendered.

The rest of the defenders were not so lucky.

The Russian army didn't realize that the German army was going to break out of the encirclement at the beginning. It was unprepared and caught off guard. Some German troops did break out of the encirclement.

Of course, the price was huge. When the German 8th Cavalry Division broke into Vienna Avenue, it was hit head-on by the Russian army. The division commander and chief of staff were killed on the spot. On Vienna Avenue alone, about 800 German soldiers died in battle.

When the 22nd Cavalry Division of the SS passed through the "Territory of Blood" square, it was immediately discovered by the Russian army. The Russian army immediately used flares. In the open square, the snow had not yet melted, and the German officers and soldiers in gray uniforms were completely exposed.

In this environment, the Russian army's Bobosha can exert its power to the greatest extent. The division commander August Zehend was hit by a stray bullet and died on the spot. The 22nd Cavalry Division finally crossed the square at the cost of nearly 1500 people.

The 22nd Cavalry Division, which had fought bloody battles, did not escape from birth. After rushing out of the city, they encountered the biggest obstacle.

This obstacle was not created by the Russians, but by the Germans themselves.

In order to stop the heavy tanks of the Russian army, the German army dug a lot of wide and deep anti-tank trenches around Pest. These anti-tank trenches played a huge role in the battles of the past few months, but now they have become the biggest barrier to prevent the German army from escaping. obstacle.

By the time the 22nd Cavalry Division arrived at the anti-tank trenches, Russian troops were ready.

A few days ago, the German army used anti-tank trenches to wait for the Russian army's attack, causing huge damage to the Russian army.

Now the situation is completely reversed, the Russian army is defending, and the German army is actively attacking.

When the Russian army attacked, with the help of tanks and self-propelled artillery, it had a huge firepower advantage.

When the German army broke through, in order to run as fast as possible, they voluntarily discarded all heavy weapons, and did not carry many grenades and bullets with them.

So what the German army ushered in was a brutal and bloody strangulation.

The 22nd Cavalry Division was an SS, and this became the main reason for the complete annihilation of the 22nd Cavalry Division.

On the eastern battlefield, the Russians generally refer to the German "SS, Gestapo, tank soldiers and military police" as "running dogs", and as long as these people are captured, they will be shot immediately.

The remaining officers and soldiers of the 22nd Cavalry Division also knew that even if they surrendered, the Russians would not let them go.

Fighting broke out immediately.

The cavalry divisions have horses, and the speed is relatively fast under normal circumstances. When they climbed over the anti-tank trenches, they were unable to do what they wanted. Many officers and soldiers dismounted and fought on foot.

It has been snowing for many days, and the snow on the ground is as thick as one meter. The remaining officers and soldiers of the 22nd Cavalry Division are struggling on the thick snow. The Russian officers and soldiers are like shooting targets, and the battle is relaxed and happy.

In just 10 minutes, more than 2000 people died in battle.

About half an hour later, a pursuing Russian army attacked the remnants of the 22nd Cavalry Division from the rear. The fighting was not completely over until early morning. The Russians dug two large pits, one for burying the Hungarians and one for Bury the horses and the bodies of the German soldiers.

That's right, the Russians mixed the corpses of German soldiers and horses, and poured gasoline on them and burned them before sealing the soil.

This is indeed the Russian style.

Not only the 8th Cavalry Division and the 22nd Cavalry Division were annihilated, but after the Russian army interrogated the Hungarian captives who surrendered, they were fully aware of the German army's breakout plan. Two hours after the breakout operation was launched, Marshal Malinovsky told The deployment of the Russian army was adjusted. At this time, Malinovsky issued an order to wipe out all German troops and not let a single German go.

Under the command of Marshal Malinovsky, the Russian army chased and intercepted the breakout German army.

The Russian troops in other directions stepped up their attacks and wiped out the remaining German troops in the city.

SS General Weidenbruch, the commander of the garrison, was very unlucky. After the breakout operation was launched, he and the staff officer fled along the sewer to a villa about one kilometer behind the Russian army's defense line.

This is not a safe place, and soon the Russian army discovered Admiral Wiedenbruch.

Admiral Wiedenbruch was not as strong as he had shown at the military meeting. He only made weak resistance and surrendered voluntarily.

It is said that when Wiedenbruch was brought before Marshal Malinowski, Marshal Malinovsky said with great hatred: If I hadn't received a direct order from Moscow, I would have brought it to us for you. All troubles and losses, hang you in the central square of Buda Castle——

The bearded man didn't want Wiedenbruch's life. He ordered Malinowski to capture Wiedenbruch alive. After all, the SS general is still very valuable for publicity.

Other German troops were not so lucky.

A Hungarian lieutenant led more than a dozen Hungarian soldiers and 1 SS soldiers to escape from the encirclement. They went up the railway and tried to cross the Swabian Mountains, but they were ambushed by the Russian army on the way and all were captured. .

Four SS soldiers were immediately stripped naked and shot, and the remaining Hungarians and Russians promised to assist their round-up operation, and barely saved their lives.

A German army of about 4000 people also rushed out of the encirclement, but they had bad luck. They had to go around in a circle and bypass the Russian army's defense line before they could go to Vienna.

This German army was frantically strangled by countless Russian troops, and only about 200 people managed to survive.

As for the losses during the breakout night, there was only an approximate figure half a month later.

When Wiedenbruch decided to break out, the Pest Fortress had about 7.8 defenders, of which about 4.5 were German troops.

According to the statistics of the German army, only 785 people successfully broke through, and the remaining more than 4 people all died in Pest.

These data do not match the data reported by Marshal Malinovsky. After the first phase of the battle, Malinowski claimed that Pest had 18 defenders.

18 to 10, a total of [-] people are missing. In order to make the data more tidy, after the battle in Pest, Malinovsky arrested the Hungarians and put them in German uniforms. The prisoners of war were escorted back to Russia.

During the entire Battle of Pest, the number of civilian casualties was around 8.

Another approximately [-] Hungarian women were humiliated.

Of course, these will not be reflected in the battle report.

(End of this chapter)