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; a little more...................................
The Radfahr Bataillon 402 - Barbarroja 1941.
The fighting in Bausk.
On June 28, 1941, according to the orders of the General Staff of the 8th Soviet Army, the 28th Tank Division must travel through Bausk and to Riga. In that city, to patrol and to protect there were already tanks of the 23rd Tank Division. At 11:00 hours the 28th Tank Div was ordered to concentrate on the north shore of the Dvina near the Kegums station where it prepared for the defense at 22:00 hours. Also there, at the end of the day advanced the 23rd Tank Div under the orders of Lieutenant General Safronov to defend the crossing point. Therefore, the infantry and the artillery, that marched on the Dvina, had no armored support this day.
The motorized companies of Kampfgruppe Lasch, therefore, engaged with parts of the 125th Rifle Division and the 9th Brigade of anti-tank artillery in front of Bausk. Arvasyavichus reported: "We retired fighting, the losses grew." Not too far from Bausk a battery of howitzers suddenly found itself with the German column.The gunners dragging the howitzers of the highway, were locked in a duell with the enemy vehicles. The column was destroyed, but all the guns were left on the battlefield, and more than half of its crews were killed. "
On the outskirts of Bausk, large losses occurred in the 2nd Battalion of the 657th Rifle Regiment, Battalion Commander A. Smorkalov was wounded and taken prisoner. To the city came the schw. Art. Abt 536. The arriving units were regrouped. The Germans managed to capture the bridge over the Memel, to create a small bridgehead to the north. There get across the IIII./IR 43. The Aufkl. Abt 11 under Oberstleutnant Hans Källner was detached to protect Bausk from the east.
A bloody combat broke out southeast of the town near the village of Lauksargi, which was defended by Soviet troops with heavy artillery. Oberst Lasch sent out to the place an infantry company and an assault cannon but it was not enough. The Germans lost 17 prisoners. As a reinforcement, several assault cannons and motorcyclists arrived in Lauksargi, which burned the village and destroyed three Soviet batteries, the prisoners were recovered.
Meanwhile, Oberst Lasch received a radio message from the III. / IR 43 north of the Memel: "Troops are heavily shelled. We request support from assault guns and artillery." A new report said: "The enemy attacks the Aufkl.Abkl 11 from the east with large forces.The detachment requests artillery support." Probably the AA 11 was being attacked by the troops of the 65th Soviet Rifle Corps retreating along the route Ligumai, Linkuva, Tsereukate.
Under these conditions Lasch ordered Källner to maintain the reached positions and sent a radial message to the Aufkl. Abt 21 ordering to speed the march and reach Bausk as soon as possible (before midnight). The kampfgruppe occupied a circular position and prepared to spend the night in Bausk.
The strength of the opponent was stated by V. Richter: "In the afternoon the Kampfgruppe Lasch was able to seize Bausk after a brutal fight."
At nightfall Oberst Lasch received the order to await the arrival of the Aufkl. Abt 1 and 21, another battery of assault guns and a company of IR 23 transported in trucks. The latter was sent to protect the bridges over the Mushu, Memel and Aa. The continuation of the attack was scheduled at dawn of June 29, 1941.
Soon, in a nearby meadow landed the 18. AOK Chief of Staff, Oberst Hasse. He listened to the report of Oberst Lasch and required the plan for future actions. Lasch said: "If the promised reinforcements arrive, I feel able to start the march on Riga tomorrow. If everything goes well, we will be in the city by noon, as soon as we are able to understand the situation, we will attack. The vanguard will be composed of the 10./ IR 43, a platoon of machine guns, a platoon of the 14./ IR 43 (Atan) with three anti-aircraft guns, the battery of assault guns and a platoon of combat engineers. Its task will be to break into Riga towards the bridges and capture them.
The bulk will consist of the AA 11 and my III./ IR 43. With them the assault guns, artillery, anti-tank, anti-aircraft and Radf. Btl 402. This combat group will follow the advance guard with the highest possible speed and will secure the bridges against an enemy's attempt to break from the west.
The rest of the combat group will be composed of AA 1 and AA 21, which I hope will arrive in time "
Oberst Hasse told Oberst Lasch that from 00:00 hours on June 29, his combat group was to be subordinated to XXVI. AK.
Source:
http://home.clara.net/percy/index.htm
Http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... Abt402.htm
http://www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de/Gli ... IKorps.htm
http://refdb.ru/look/1557681.html
Cheers. Raul M
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