At two o'clock in the morning on June 18, German 9th Army Corps Command, Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner was woken up by his adjutant.
"What happened?" Erich Hoeppner asked sleepily.
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, this is an urgent Telegram sent from Berlin by Your Excellency Commander." The adjutant handed a copy of Telegram to Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner.
Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner took the Telegram and read it. Later, when he saw the contents of Telegram, the sleepiness on his face completely disappeared.
Among Telegram, Marshal Rommel requested Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner to lead 9th Armored Division, 99th Armored Division, 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, No. 83 Mechanized Infantry Division and No. 84 Mechanized Infantry Division attacked Nizhny Novgorod as quickly as possible, chasing Joseph who escaped from Moscow.
Marshal Rommel hopes that Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner will do his best to complete this task. Once you successfully capture or kill Joseph, you will gain huge military exploits.
Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner also knew this, so he was very excited. He knew that this was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for him. If he can seize this opportunity, then it will be certain that he will be promoted from general to general, or even take on actual duties.
"God! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that must not be missed. Otherwise, there will never be such an opportunity again." Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner told himself.
"Come here, let the division commanders of 9th Armored Division, 99 Armored Division, 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, 83 Mechanized Infantry Division and 84 Mechanized Infantry Division come to see me immediately. In addition, let these six divisions immediately carry out emergency mobilization and prepare them for battle!" Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner ordered.
"Yes, Your Excellency, Chief of Staff!" The adjutant immediately went to make arrangements.
The two Armored Division and four Mechanized Infantry Division of German 9th Army Corps are stationed away from the group army headquarters, some are closer and some are farther away. However, after receiving the order, the commanders of these divisions rushed to Army Group Commander immediately. An hour later, everyone gathered in the headquarters' war room.
Although, the faces of these teachers and commanders could not hide their tiredness. However, they all knew that if the headquarters summoned them urgently, something big was definitely going to happen. This is also an excellent opportunity for these generals.
When Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner walked into the war room, the division commanders stood up and saluted.
"Everyone, please take a seat. Your Excellency Commander is still at Berlin and will return to the headquarters early tomorrow morning. However, I have received orders from His Excellency Commander. Our two Armored Division and four Mechanized Infantry Division must set off after dawn to carry out a top-secret operation!" Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner said.
"Chief of Staff, what action are you taking? Are you going to close the encirclement of Moscow?" asked the division commander 9th Armored Division.
Although the Moscow offensive and defensive battle is in full swing. However, this is nothing to German armored forces and the mechanized troops. In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, those who invaded the Moscow urban area were only a small number of German military infantry plus a large number of Puppet Troops. German armored forces and the mechanized troops were resting outside the city and did not participate in the attack on Moscow.
Lieutenant General Erich Hoppner shook his head. "Everyone, this is a top-secret operation. We got the news that Joseph escaped from Moscow by train last night and is escaping eastward. Our mission is to launch an attack immediately and intercept Joseph in one fell swoop. If we can capture it alive, that would be the best. If not, kill it."
"What? Go after Joseph?" Several division commanders were stunned. Obviously they didn't expect that they would be asked to perform such a task.
"How could Joseph escape from Moscow? Doesn't he know that if he escapes from Moscow, he will die faster?"
"Who knows what he was thinking? Maybe he thought he could successfully escape to the east of the Ural Mountains!"
"Okay, everyone. Are your troops ready? We will launch an attack after dawn. The air force will be dispatched first to blow up the train Joseph is riding on and slow down its escape. At that time, it will be up to us. If Joseph is allowed to escape under such circumstances, that would be inappropriate." Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner said.
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, what should we do if those guys from the Air Force kill Joseph during an air strike?" asked a division commander.
Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "If that's the case, then those guys in the Air Force are out of luck. They will make great achievements, and we can only watch helplessly."
"Shit! We absolutely can't let those guys from the Air Force take away our military exploits. We want to capture Joseph alive, or get rid of him no matter what!" said the division commander of the 99th Armored Division.
"Yes, this is our military exploits!" Other division commanders also said.
They all know that this is undoubtedly a huge military achievement for them. If they let their military exploits slip away like this, they would suffer a great loss. Everyone wants to gain this military exploit and get promoted.
"Very good, everyone is aware of this problem. Then, we will set off after dawn. No matter how powerful the enemy is in front of us, we must complete the mission and capture Joseph!" Lieutenant General Erich Hoeppner ordered.
"Yes, Your Excellency, Chief of Staff!" several division commanders replied.
Of course, they didn't think the enemy standing in front of them would be that powerful. The main force of the Russian army is now surrounded by German military, Moscow and Yuzefgrad, and the rest of the troops are still quite numerous. However, it was just a ragtag group of people. It is simply impossible to withstand the attack of German military's huge Armored Forces and mechanized troops. It is foreseeable that they will advance to Nizhny Novgorod in a very short period of time. Then search around and find Joseph. It would be great to be able to capture Joseph alive. Even if he couldn't be captured alive, he still had to make sure his body was found.
At six o'clock in the morning, the German military 9th Armored Division, the 99th Armored Division, 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, 82nd Mechanized Infantry Division, the 83rd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 84th Mechanized Infantry Division, who were ready, left the station and launched a fierce attack to the northeast.