(Author: big mouth)
German military center, please keep it.
As we all know, in World War II, the Yugoslav people led by Tito fought bravely against the invasion of Nazi Germany and paid a heavy price. The courage and tenacity of the Yugoslav people also amazed the whole world. I am writing this article out of this respect and dedicated it to the heroic and unyielding Yugoslav people.
At the beginning of 1943, the main force of the Yugoslav People's Army just smashed the Nazi's fourth encirclement and suppression. Although Bihac, the base of Bosnia and the "capital" of guerrillas, was lost, the main force of the People's Army moved to Montenegro, posing a great threat to the important traffic arteries of the German and Italian armies. To this end, General Wright, commander of the German southeast front, issued an order for the fifth encirclement and suppression of the Yugoslav People's Army on May 6.
General Luest, the German commander in charge of the war against Bosnia and Montenegro, got the troops he wanted in the last encirclement and suppression campaign. He not only has the elite SS First Mountain Division and the SS "prinz eugen" Seventh Infantry Division, but also has 1 18 sniper infantry division, 369 sniper infantry division and 104 sniper infantry division of the German regular army who has experienced the smoke of the European battlefield. He was also authorized to command the Italian Venetian Division, Ferrara Division and Torinaser Division stationed in Kosovo and Albania. Pro-Nazi Bulgaria also sent two regiments into Montenegro, and Nazi-supported 15000 Pavels cooperated in the fight. The Brandenburg regiment, a special operations force directly under the German General Staff, was specially transferred from Germany. The total strength reached 130000, not including the air force that Yugoslav guerrillas did not have.
The Germans gathered in secret, and even their allies, the Italians, were only informed when the battle was about to begin. This was also an accident of the Supreme Command of the Yugoslav People's Army. Tito was busy preparing for a British military mission from North Africa in his spare time when he was directing troops to attack everywhere. In order to dispel Moscow's doubts and sincerely hope to get the international support of * * * *, he also negotiated with the Soviet Union by telegraph the possibility of a Soviet military delegation's visit. On May 8, the High Command held a battle meeting in a village in the Piva Valley to discuss the guerrilla plan to attack the border between Kosovo and Serbia. During the meeting, there was news about the German assembly, which the staff thought was unfounded. It was not until May 15 that German planes and attacking troops besieged on all sides that they realized that the Germans had started a new round of large-scale attack.
Luest estimated that the number of guerrillas in the encirclement was about 15000, which was almost accurate. The main force of the People's Army was about16,000 people in the encirclement and suppression campaign, and more than 4,000 people were injured or suffered from typhoid fever in the fourth counter-encirclement campaign. Louste plans to complete the siege in ten days, then defeat the main guerrilla forces in ten days, and finally spend several weeks sweeping back and forth in this area to completely destroy the guerrillas.
If there were not so many wounded and sick people, the main force of the People's Army would have had enough time to jump out of this encirclement, but the high command never abandoned the wounded. In the fourth battle, even if there were heavy casualties, they rushed out of the encirclement with the wounded, and this time was no exception. So the guerrillas had to save the wounded first, and then they could save themselves, which meant a cruel battle of encirclement.
At first, the attacking Germans first encountered Cetnik armed forces under the command of the old Yugoslav royal family in exile in London. Although this armed force is also under the banner of opposing aggression, the number of times they attack guerrillas is far greater than the number of times they attack Germans. This time, they handed over their weapons at the request of the Germans, but they were quickly sent back and began to fight guerrilla warfare with the Germans.
After several battles in the Lim River and drina river, the high command decided to break north and go to Bosnia. The order arrived at the troops soon and stopped attacking Serbia. As a vanguard assault force, the First Brigade of the Proletarians attacked Fu Cha, where they fought fiercely with the Germans. The delay during this period was mainly waiting for the arrival of the British military mission. According to the requirements of the British Near East Command, one of the three British military missions that arrived in Yugoslavia in April will be stationed directly at the Supreme Command. 1943 On the morning of May 28th, a delegation led by Major William Stewart and Captain William Deakin finally arrived, so the guerrillas lost six precious days.
By the end of May, the high command had understood that it was impossible to break through the enemy's encirclement in Fu Cha, so it re-selected Sutaishka Valley as the breakthrough direction. Obviously, Vuchevo Highland between drina river, Sutaishka River and Piwa River is the key to Sutaishka Valley. The second proletarian brigade was ordered to occupy this strategic place. These soldiers from Serbia and Bosnia occupied the hill a few minutes before the Germans arrived and drove the Germans into the Sutaishka Valley. But the Germans in other directions are getting closer and closer to the guerrillas and the wounded.
At this time, Tito reported the news of the arrival of the British mission to Moscow, hoping that the Soviet Union could provide assistance. At this time, the Soviet Union was holding a Kursk meeting with the Germans in Ukraine, and the Germans politely refused Tito's request. The report that the British mission asked the Royal Air Force in the Near East to attack the German assembly area was also ignored by the British command.
The Germans have discovered that the guerrillas have decided to break through the Sutaishka River, and several divisions have begun to deploy in this direction. At this critical juncture, the command of the People's Army decided to divide the troops into two ways: the command of the People's Army led ten brigades from the first and second divisions to cross the Sutaishka River and break through in the direction of Bosnia. The Executive Committee of the Yugoslav Anti-Fascist People's Liberation Committee commanded the Third Division and the Seventh Division, together with six brigades, to cover the wounded to cross the Tara River and return to Sanjekert. At the same time, the Bosnian troops were ordered to push south and attack the enemy from behind so that the main force could break through.
On June 6th, 1943, the troops buried all the heavy weapons and began to cross the river. The Germans occupied the upper reaches of the Sutaishka River, but failed to occupy the commanding heights. The fiercest fighting took place here. The commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 2nd Dalmatian Brigade, who is guarding here, issued the following report on June 8th 1943:
"The Germans are attacking more and more crazily with more and more powerful forces. Our casualties are two thirds, but you can still count on us, just as our establishment is full. "
But the second group who covered the wounded failed to cross the Tara River, so the wounded returned to follow the first group, and the second group covered behind. The High Command crossed the Sutaishka River and climbed Mount Guerra in Thelen on June 9 1943. German special operations forces accurately determined the position of the high command by detecting radio stations, and sent air forces to bombard this area, causing great casualties to guerrillas. Tito was injured in the explosion. Major Stuart, head of the British mission, was killed and another member, Captain Kindy, was also injured.
On June 1943, 10, the First Brigade of the Proletarians led by Lekic formed a battle formation, charged at the defense line of the German 369th Division in Witwicz, Baliros, and occupied the position. The First Division of Proletarians, headed by Popovich, used tactical breakthroughs to rapidly expand the gap. On June 1943 and 12, Fu Cha-Kalilovich Highway was successfully crossed, and the encirclement was broken.
The German high command issued a new order to strengthen the siege. On June 1943, General Luest personally came to the Fu Cha-Kalilovic highway to improve the morale of the troops. At this time, the second batch of guerrillas in the encirclement are advancing here. On the eve of the breakthrough, Tito sent the following message to Moscow * * * International in this group:
"Our situation is very difficult, and the enemy is trying to defend us again. On our way to central and eastern Bosnia, the enemy occupied all the highlands and built fortifications. On these highlands, the enemy deployed artillery, machine guns and troops, and its main force tried to surround us. The enemy kept attacking us from all directions. The enemy suffered heavy casualties, and so did we, especially the bombing by enemy planes. Especially on June 9th and 10, the losses were the biggest. On June 5438+00, due to enemy bombing, Major Stuart of England was killed, and Captain Deakin and I were slightly injured. Shrapnel hurt my arm. Major Stewart is the head of the British military delegation to our high command. The British said they didn't expect us to fight so hard. They saw our troops fighting during the day and marching at night. The troops have no rest and no food. There is no bread now, and all the horses have been killed and eaten. We are in a difficult situation, but we will get out of it, even though we will lose a lot. The enemy is trying their best to destroy us. They won't succeed. We ask you to help us in our most difficult time. "
Together with the high command, the Second Division began to break through in the night of June 12. On June 13, the troops crossed the Fu Cha-Kalilovic highway. This route is guarded by an armored unit of the German Army. The soldiers of the Second Brigade of the Proletarians violated the order to lay heavy weapons, but they still brought an anti-tank gun with only three shells. They hid their guns in the bushes on the side of the road, and when the enemy tanks drove only a dozen meters away, they destroyed two tanks with two shells, and the remaining tanks retreated. At this time, the seventh division also caught up with the second division and crossed the Fu Cha-Kalilovich highway.
However, the Germans got reinforcements and finally completed the siege of Sutaishka. The third division, focusing on the wounded, failed to break through the encirclement. 12, the third division made the last radio contact with the high command. 13, tired and hungry guerrillas began to cross the Shika River in Su Jie at dawn. On the other side of the river, the Germans stopped the soldiers in the river with heavy artillery fire. Teacher Kovacevic took the lead and finally died in front of an enemy bunker on the river bank. The troops that lost command lost half their personnel and broke through in small groups.
The worst is the seriously injured. According to the unwritten rules of guerrillas-you can't fall into the hands of the enemy alive, many people commit suicide. Miledic, political commissar of Sanjak's third brigade, was injured in the breakout. He touched the broken femur and shouted to his comrades: "Forward! I don't want you to die for me, "so I shot myself in the forehead. A few minutes later, the deputy political commissar of a battalion was also injured and fell down. He did not hesitate to take out his pistol so as not to increase the burden on his comrades.
According to the German documents captured by Yugoslavia after the war, in the Battle of Sutaishka, German and Italian troops killed a total of 300 guerrilla wounded/Kloc-0, and the guerrillas also sacrificed about 200 nurses and 30 doctors, almost half of the technicians in the guerrilla central hospital.
In the battle of Sutaishka, the guerrillas sacrificed more than 6,000 people, that is to say, in May 1943, one of the three guerrillas surrounded by the Germans was killed. 30% of the soldiers of the main battle force are buried in the Sutaishka Valley. As for the massacres suffered by civilians, it is difficult to count the specific figures.
After the breakthrough, the guerrilla main force persisted in fighting on the way into eastern Bosnia, liberated many cities such as Srebrenica and seized a number of weapons. When castle wolfenstein summed up the campaign, he had to admit that the campaign goal had not been achieved. General Wright, commander of the German Southeast Europe, later said: "The original task of rescuing the Germans trapped in Yugoslavia and transferring them to the Eastern Front was never completed. On the contrary, at the end of the campaign, the Germans were asked to send new troops and commanders. "
The battle of Sutaishka shows that the fighting quality and skills of Yugoslav guerrilla fighters and commanders have reached such a high level that they can defeat well-trained commanders like German commanders and well-trained troops like German troops.
In the Soviet Union's first film "Liberation", a fragment of this history was reflected: Tito led his guerrillas to break through the Fu Cha-Kalilovich highway with a submachine gun on his back, and the dubbing of the film was telegraph sound:
"Here is the Yugoslav People's Army, here is the Yugoslav People's Army, we have broken through the encirclement, and we are still fighting! We are still fighting! "
1947 65438+On February 22nd, Marshal Tito recalled in an interview:
At that time, we were in the most difficult situation, and I think the most difficult situation was in Millingler. I still remember saying, "We should either sacrifice everything here or find a way to get out of here." The Italian prisoners of war carrying the old poet Nazor escaped, and the Germans learned from them where I was, so they kept firing into the forest.
I didn't know that my arm was hurt at that time. Something hit my chest. I thought it was my heart. After the bomb exploded, I looked up and asked if the others were still alive. I stood up and picked up my automatic rifle. I feel my arm completely numb. But I don't care. After a while, I could hardly feel my arm. I told Kyle. My sweater is tight and there is blood in it. I checked and found bullet holes in my coat. I said, "Help me put it on". On the second or third day, Dr. Olga remembered to check my arm. My arm turned purple, and then I looked again and found a bullet hole. We walked down the hill with Prlja with us. Whenever he wants to help me, he always grabs my injured arm. I had to grit my teeth and remind him to stand on the other side again and again.
On the last battle of the third division of besieged guerrillas;
After the breakthrough of the high command and the first, second and seventh divisions, the main blow of the enemy fell on the third division, which served as a defender to protect the wounded. Political commissar Dreilas and division commander Kovacevic commanded the troops. When the Third Division suffered heavy losses and crossed the Sutaishka River, everything was calm, as if the Germans had retreated, but when the guerrillas went to the nearest mountain area, the Germans hid in the bunker and opened fire. Turning back means death. So the commander ordered the attack. They walked towards the enemy's bunker. Half of the guerrillas fell down when they rushed to the vicinity of the bunker, and the rest destroyed more than 30 bunkers. But when the guerrillas reached the top of the mountain, Kovazevic, a tall and strong teacher, was killed by a bullet that hit his forehead. His nephew Tragon, a guerrilla journalist aged 14, also died. The whole division is in chaos In the valley area, injured guerrillas also crossed the river, hoping that the third division would open the gap and escort them out. Political commissar Dreilas and thirty guerrillas were behind. He didn't know that the front team had actually collapsed.
The Germans began to rush down the hill to slaughter the wounded. There is a female guerrilla with a broken thigh lying by the river. Her husband, a soldier of the Fifth Brigade of the Negro, refused to abandon his wife and always stood by her side. When the German came 20 feet away from them, he shot his wife in the head and then shot himself again.
Dreilas and the last thirty soldiers tried to break through, but all the roads were occupied. This small group of people hid in a small forest. They didn't start until after dark. On several occasions, they were ambushed by the Germans and fought fiercely. After dawn, Dreilas found an enemy bunker ahead. He walked at the front of the line and suddenly met two German soldiers when he turned the corner. It's too late to raise his gun. A German pulled out a knife. Dresden also pulled out a knife. He pulls faster than the Germans. Another German was shot dead by other guerrillas with gun butts. All this happened less than 50 meters away from the enemy bunker. A German sentry stood guard on the bunker, but he obviously didn't see what happened just now. It was not until the next night that talents such as Dreilas broke through. A week later, he found the headquarters.
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Every time I read what I wrote, I can't help but think of a speech Himmler gave to the graduates of the SS Mountain Infantry NCO School shortly after this battle. Don't remember the exact words carefully. My gentlemen, when we are sitting here, I seem to see Uncle Tito giving you a lesson next to me. This villain, who has 1 0,000 people, is called 1 brigade, although we are. Himmler said nothing wrong. Tito launched guerrilla warfare in isolation from 194 1 to 1943. That's all I admire.
German military center, please keep it.