Red Moscow

"One month later?" Golikov smiled wryly after hearing Antonov's answer, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, do you think we can last a month with our current strength?"

"General Golikov, it seems that we have all been dazzled by the victory of Stalingrad." Antonov talked to his old friend, naturally without so many scruples: "Thought that after the enemy was hit by us, , will definitely leave elite troops to block, and use the sacrifice of these troops to cover the retreat of the main force to the other side of the Dnieper River.

But now we have discovered that the retreat of the Germans was a conspiracy. When they gave up a large amount of occupied land, they concentrated the originally disadvantaged forces in a certain place to form a local advantage. When our army's offensive troops became exhausted, they launched a counterattack by surprise, inflicting heavy losses on our army. "

"Yes, judging from the current situation, the German conspiracy has succeeded. It is only a matter of time before we are defeated by the enemy."

During the conversation between Golikov and Antonov, neither of them mentioned Sokov's combat group. In the minds of the two, it is their limit that this force can contain several divisions of the German army. , If you want to smash the German army's conspiracy, it is simply a fantasy.

Antonov considered that once Kharkov and Belgorod fell and Golikov's Voronezh Front Army was severely damaged, the German army would be able to threaten Moscow's safety again. Thinking of this, he said to Golikov: "General Golikov, judging from the current situation, I can only report to the Supreme Commander himself and ask him to send other troops to reinforce you."

"Oh, other troops?" Hearing what Antonov said, Golikov asked quickly, like a drowning man grabbing a life-saving straw, "Where are the troops?"

"I can't give you an accurate answer yet." Antonov said: "I need to ask the Supreme Commander himself for instructions, and only after obtaining his permission can I mobilize the troops."

"Okay." Golikov used to be the head of the intelligence bureau, and he naturally understood that some things should not be spread casually before the Supreme Commander himself made a decision, so he said understandingly: "I am waiting for your good news."

After Antonov finished talking with Golikov, he rushed to Stalin's office and greeted Boskrebyshev, who was sitting outside: "Hello, Comrade Boskrebyshev. Excuse me. Is Comrade Stalin there?"

Poskrebyshev did not speak, but nodded, indicating that Stalin was inside. He picked up the phone on the table, pressed a button and said: "Comrade Stalin, General Antonov, the deputy chief of the general staff, has come and said he has something important to ask you. Can you meet him?"

After Boskrebyshev put down the phone, he said blankly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, please come in!"

Stalin, who was pacing back and forth indoors with a pipe in his hand, stopped when he saw Antonov enter the door and asked, "Comrade Antonov, has the situation on the battlefield become unfavorable to our army again?"

"Comrade Stalin, the situation on the battlefield has not changed significantly in the past few hours." Antonov straightened his back and replied, "I have come here to see you because I have something more important to ask you." report."

"What's the matter, tell me."

"The situation at General Golikov's place is very dangerous." Antonov said: "Once a few SS divisions transferred by the German army to the south defeated Major General Sokov's combat group, they turned around and went north to recapture Kharkov. and Belgorod, the troops of General Golikov will be difficult to resist."

"Why can't the enemy be stopped?" Stalin said angrily when he heard this: "According to intelligence, there are as many as thirty infantry divisions under the command of Golikov. A German?"

"Comrade Stalin, the situation is more serious than you imagined." Antonov gritted his teeth and decided to tell what he knew: "Although there are more than 30 infantry divisions in General Golikov's front army, However, these divisions have been seriously weakened, the number is no more than 5,000, and the number is only 1,000, or even less. It means that these troops are a division in name, but in fact they can only be a regiment, or even a regiment. A battalion to use."

"Damn, it's really hateful." Stalin punched the table with his fist, and ran away indoors, "What did Golikov do? The situation of his own troops is so bad, why didn't he report to me earlier? If I knew this situation a long time ago, and when the logistics department made a supply distribution plan, I would not agree to give priority to replenishing Vatutin's Southwest Front Army."

"Comrade Stalin, in fact, at this moment, Sokov's troops have contained the main force of the German army, buying precious time for General Golikov. We can use this opportunity to supplement them."

"Supplement?!" Stalin asked in surprise, "Where do we draw troops to supplement Golikov?"

"Actually, we do have such an army in our hands, but it's just a little farther away from Kharkov."

"Where is that army?" Stalin couldn't wait to ask: "Who is the commander of the army?"

"Comrade Stalin, I'm talking about General Shumilov's 64th Army." Antonov quickly replied: "Although they have been weakened in battle, and they are a bit too far away from Kharkov. But as long as Even if we throw them into Kharkov, it will still be very helpful to reverse the entire situation."

"General Shumilov's 64th Army." Stalin walked to the map, carefully checked the location of the 64th Army, and said in surprise: "What, they are thousands of kilometers away from Kharkov? Comrade Antonov, have you considered how long it will take to transport them to Kharkov with our current transportation situation?"

"I have calculated that if you go on foot, it will take at least 25 days. By truck, you can reduce the time to two days. The defenders of Kharkov and Belgorod, as long as they can be strengthened, will It is fully capable of resisting the German attack."

"We simply can't afford so many transport vehicles now." Stalin knew very well how bad the army's transport situation is now. If it weren't for the lack of logistical supplies, how could this battle, which was originally a sure thing to win, be fought so aggrievedly. Now, if you want to deploy Shumilov's 64th Army to the Kharkov area as soon as possible, the fastest way is to use railway and road transportation. But now the railway has not been fully repaired, and the road has become difficult to pass due to the destruction of the German army and the melting of snow.

"Comrade Stalin, I want to tell you one thing. The reason why Major General Sokov's two offensives achieved unexpected results is entirely because of the speed of his troops." Antonov said to Stalin: "He also In the case of insufficient transport vehicles, the method of boarding in batches was adopted to send soldiers to the battlefield in batches, thus winning the battle."

"Comrade Antonov," Stalin finally understood Antonov's intentions after hearing this, and asked tentatively, "You mean to use a batch of trucks to send some troops to Kharkov first." , and turn around to pick up the walking soldiers?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Seeing that Stalin had guessed his intentions, Antonov nodded quickly and said, "In this way, we will be able to expedite the deployment of troops to areas where the battle is fierce when the transportation force is insufficient." Purpose."

"Well, Comrade Antonov, I agree with your request." Stalin said to Antonov: "You immediately send a telegram to General Shumilov, ordering him to lead the troops to Kharkov immediately. And Rokossovsky, you remember to say hello to him, lest he suddenly find out that a certain unit is missing, and he will be anxious."

Shumilov, who had received Antonov's order, dared to be negligent, and quickly issued a mobilization order to the troops.

After receiving the order to be transferred to Kharkov, the commanders and fighters who were still resting did not complain, but immediately packed up their bags and set off in the direction of Kharkov on foot.

Rokossovsky learned that the base camp was going to transfer his 64th Army to the direction of Kharkov, so he quickly called Sokov and informed him of the matter: "Misha, I have something to tell you. , the base camp has transferred General Shumilov's 64th Army to Kharkov, and they are marching on the road right now."

Sokov naturally knows where the 64th Army is. Knowing that the troops were rushing to Kharkov on foot, he couldn't help asking in surprise: "My God, it's thousands of kilometers from the 64th Army's station to Kharkov. If you just walk, at least It will take more than 20 days, and after the troops arrive at the designated location, they have already become exhausted, and without a long period of rest, I think it will be difficult for them to recover their combat effectiveness."

"I think the same as you." Rokossovsky said helplessly: "At that time, I couldn't help it. The deployment of the 64th Army was an order from the superior."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I would like to ask, do you think General Golikov's troops can last half a month to a month?"

"I don't think they can last that long at all." Rokossovsky said into the microphone: "If your troops hadn't captured Donetsk and the Red Army village by surprise, attracting the attention of the Germans. , so that the enemy brought back a large number of troops from Kharkov, I am afraid that there has long been lost."

Speaking of this, Rokossovsky was silent for a while, and then asked: "Misha, tell me honestly, if the Germans launch a fierce attack on you, how sure are you that you will hold the Red Army Village and Donetsk?" ?”

Sokov silently calculated the comparison of the strength of the enemy and us, and replied: "Comrade commander of the front army, the chance of winning is less than 10%."

"What, there is only a 10% chance of winning?" Regarding Sokov's analysis, Rokossovsky not only did not blame him, but also said understandingly: "In the face of such a powerful enemy, you have a 10% chance of winning. It has been very difficult.”

After putting down the phone, Sokov stared at the map on the wall in a daze. He was thinking in his heart, if Shumilov's 64th Army could reach Kharkov and Belgorod within two to three days. Germany, and build a good fortification, then in the face of a strong offensive by the German army, it may be able to last for a few more days.

"Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?" Seeing Sokov staring blankly at the map on the wall, Witkov couldn't help asking.

"General Rokossovsky just told me that the base camp is dispatching the 64th Army to Kharkov to strengthen the defense there." Sokov pointed to the map and said, "I'm thinking, this force probably How long does it take to get to the designated location."

"The defense zone of the 64th Army is too far away from Kharkov." Witkov had just arrived from Stalingrad not long ago, so he naturally knew the location of the 64th Army. Hearing what Sokov said, he said with a sad face: "If all the troops march on foot, I estimate that it will take nearly a month to arrive at the fastest. And these are lightly armed troops, without any heavy weapons, and no Technical equipment, if they encounter German armored units, they will die in vain."

"But this should be the only thing that the base camp can do," Sokov said, pointing to the location where the Southwest Front Army was defeated, "Although there are still many troops of the Southwest Front Army in these areas, they have just been heavily attacked by the German army. I am afraid that the morale and morale of the army are extremely low, so they cannot count on it. Although the 64th Army is thousands of kilometers away from Kharkov, it is the only army that can be used. After all, to outsiders, everyone It is known that this force captured Paulus and his headquarters alive. The enemy will feel somewhat scruples when they hear their names."

"Pull it down, Comrade Commander." After waiting for Sokov to finish speaking, Vitkov said disdainfully: "Who doesn't know, you captured Paulus yourself, let alone us, even the enemy knows This matter. Otherwise, the enemy who came back from the direction of Kharkov only fought two battles with us, suffered a small loss, and withdrew in a hurry, only confronting our army, and did not dare to attack. I think they are afraid of you, so no one dares to attack easily."

"It's not a bad thing for us if the enemy doesn't attack." Sokov smiled lightly and said, "Not only can we contain a large number of German troops, but at the same time, we can also use this precious time to strengthen our existing defenses." .”

"By the way," Sokov reminded Vitkov, remembering an important thing: "After the two divisions of the 21st Army arrive at Donetsk, immediately order General Merkulov to take the city handing over the defense to friendly forces, he took the rest of the troops and moved closer to the Red Army Village."