In this extremely tragic and tragic breakthrough battle, the tankers of the "Viking" armored division, who had Nordic pirate blood, fully demonstrated their bloodline, destroyed one Soviet T34 tank after another with their "Leopard" tanks, saving many German officers and soldiers who were in desperate situations.

However, the tanks of the "Viking" armored division were wiped out in the battle of attrition with Soviet tanks, and only five people successfully broke through.

In the evening of that day, the Soviet army closed the encirclement again. As of this time, 40,000 of the more than 60,000 German soldiers surrounded had successfully broken through.

At noon on the 17th, the German army, who had been with Soviet artillery fire and tank tracks for the rest of their lives, came to the north bank of the Gniloidikic River.

This 30-meter-wide river was the last obstacle on the German army's breakout road. As long as you go, you can reach a safe area.

However, there are no bridges on the river.

Bang bang bang bang!

At this time, the Soviet artillery shells began to explode on the river bank. If they wanted to escape from the sky, the German officers and soldiers had only one choice: swim over!

Judging from the history of wars in ancient and modern times, in this case where there are big rivers in front and pursuers behind, the army is very likely to collapse and disintegrate, but at this time the unique discipline of the Germans saved them again.

Many German officers spontaneously stood up to maintain order on the shore, and they loudly encouraged the soldiers to "hold on, and you will get home after crossing the river."

Under their command, the German soldiers began to cross the river. Some of them carried simple life-saving tools, some helped each other, those who could swim and those who couldn't swim, those who were strong helped the weak, and most of the wounded were carried across the river by strong soldiers.

Despite this, due to the severe cold climate of minus 5 degrees Celsius, many people sank to the bottom of the river due to physical exhaustion, and at least hundreds of people drowned.

In the afternoon, the Germans discovered a section of shallow rivers downstream, so many Germans crossed the river more easily.

This unprecedented tragic breakthrough battle, despite the loss of most of the vehicles, equipment and supplies, comforted the German senior management that this battle did not become the second Stalingrad.

Among the nearly 60,000 German officers and soldiers surrounded, 40,000 were finally escaped, but a large number of senior officers and the remaining personnel, including the commander of the 11th Army, General Stmorman, were buried in the snowfield.

Among the 14,000 people in the SS "Viking" Armored Division and "Wallonian" Brigade, 8,000 survivors, and of the 2,000 people in the "Wallonian" Brigade, only 632 survived the battle.

The battle was over, and along the path of the German army breaking through, German corpses were everywhere.

The Soviet commander General Konev came to the battlefield, and the scene in front of him shocked him.

In his post-war memories, he narrated that "I have seen countless bloody scenes in the war, but I have rarely seen so many German corpses in such a small area" among the numerous corpses.

After the war, when the Soviet army was cleaning the battlefield, General Stemmermann's body was found on the high ground where the war was most intense, and he was holding a rifle tightly in his hand.

Beside him was the Vikings' guard battalion, and this small army, who was in the blocking mission, earned the survival of a large number of compatriots at the cost of all the battle.

Stemmermann's courage won the respect of his opponent. General Konev personally ordered the German general who calmly fell on the defender's position with full military salute.

Comrade Si was very excited by the victory of this siege. He not only claimed in a high-profile manner that the German army in the region had been completely wiped out, but even fired a salute specifically for the victory of this battle.

It is worth mentioning that Stalin intentionally left the honor of annihilation of the German army to his new beloved general Konev.

General Konev, the highest commander of the Soviet army, was promoted to marshal for this battle.

However, although the Soviet Union claimed to have wiped out the German army, in fact, 40,000 German troops in the area were finally able to escape.

Even so, the siege of Cherkasser was the most tragic and tragic breakthrough for the German army in World War II. This battle exhausted the German army's final offensive force in Ukraine, and the deployment of the southern front was completely disrupted.

For the Soviet army, it was a victory with great cost and great significance.

Through this battle, the Soviet army gained the freedom to advance towards the South Bug River, creating favorable conditions for the advance into Poland, Romania and the Balkans in the summer and autumn of 1944, and laid a solid foundation for the final victory of the Soviet-German War.

"Hu, it turns out that the world is in a vast and powerful way, and those who follow it will prosper and defy it will perish! The war myth created by German chariots is still beyond the historical trend after all, and they will still have to go to the end step by step!"

After receiving the latest battle report from the European Eastern Front battlefield, Yang Fan breathed a long sigh.

As a modern military fan, putting aside various complex factors, Yang Fan actually admired the German army in World War II and was a respectable and powerful opponent.

But that's all, because the Tao is different and does not plan for each other, the enemy can only be treated by the autumn wind sweeping away the fallen leaves and carrying out the most ruthless blow.

At this time, the Battle of Marshall Islands on the Central Pacific battlefield also came to an end.

On February 1, with the support of naval guns and aviation fire, the US military bypassed the outer island and landed directly at the north and south ends of the main island Kwajalin Atoll.

Nearly 8,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and injured on the island, and the remaining troops were ordered to defend to the death and used the darkness of the night to fight back.

On the same day, the US military occupied Majuro Atoll without resistance; then successively occupied the islands and reefs such as Votto, Namu and Uja, occupied Kwajalin Atoll on February 7, and occupied Eniwitok Atoll on the 24th.

In order to reduce casualties, the US military surrounded the Mili, Voje, Maloerap and Jaluit atolls, which were mainly fortified by the Japanese army, without attacking, and only suppressed and blocked the navy and air force until the end of the Pacific War.

At this point, the Battle of the Marshall Islands ended. In this battle, the Japanese army suffered casualties and were captured about 11,000 people. The US army broke through the Japanese peripheral defense circle at the cost of about 2,200 casualties, and opened up a road for entering the Mariana Islands.

After that, Nimitz decided not to launch an assault on the 50,000 Japanese strongly fortified Truk Islands, and first carried out fierce bombardment with aircraft carrier-based aircraft, and then bypassed the island.

At the same time, after months of tug-of-war, the total strength of the Allied troops fighting on the ground in Guado has reached more than 50,000, and have obtained the initiative. The front has advanced to the near the most core plain airport of the Japanese army.

In order to defend Guadalam, the Japanese army has also increased its troops many times, and the total force has reached more than 30,000.

However, after a long period of exhaustion, the Japanese defenders of Guadalao have already suffered a defeat and have completely become the last of the power.

During this period, the Allied fleet was not idle, and fought against the Japanese joint fleet many times on the Coral Sea, the South Pacific, the Central Pacific and other oceans, swapping dozens of warships of various types.

In terms of casualties alone, both sides can only describe it as having a win or a loss, and a balance between them, but it is obvious that the same consumption means that the Japanese army will become weaker and weaker, and the Allies will become stronger!
Chapter completed!