ASL Comp Cherkassy II: Shanderovka EVERYMAN EDITION

SHANDEROVKA, RUSSIA, 17 February 1944: Kästner, using only a single captured Soviet map for orientation, led his column astray, across the path of a nearby German column. Correcting the mistake, Kästner and his men broke through a Russian cordon using machine-pistols and bayonets, before navigating back to the southwest and returning to their march to freedom. At just about the halfway point of their escape from the Kessel, Grenadier Regiment 105 came upon two enemy gun batteries. A firefight broke out as the Russian crews turned their guns to face the oncoming Germans. Kästner would write, after the battle, that this was the only real resistance he and his men faced during the escape. After dispatching the enemy gunners, the German commander realized that he and his men had indeed broken through the inner ring that had imprisoned them and were halfway to their destination: Lysyanka.