Red Moscow

"Comrade Commander," Major General Biryuzov asked tentatively after a short pause, seeing that Tolbukhin hadn't spoken, "how should we deal with these enemies?"

Tolbukhin was drawing on the map with a red and blue pencil, and when he heard his chief of staff ask this question, he asked back without raising his head, "What do you think?"

Biryuzov was not aware of Tolbukhin's true intentions, so he could only say cautiously: "Comrade Commander, judging from the air force's reconnaissance, this German army is definitely going to reinforce Kharkov. If they are allowed to A successful entry into Kharkov will make our army's battle to capture Kharkov even more difficult."

Tolbukhin stood up straight, threw the pencil in his hand on the table, and said firmly: "Whether the enemy is going to reinforce Kharkov or not, we can't let them go easily. Immediately notify Nao of the 4th Air Force Army Major General Naco Air Force ordered him to dispatch a reconnaissance plane to carry out reconnaissance in the area where the enemy was found. Once it is confirmed that a large-scale enemy is marching, he will immediately dispatch bombers to attack the marching queue."

Hearing Torbukhin's order, Biryuzov replied loudly: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I will immediately call Major General Naunak Air Force and ask him to send a reconnaissance plane for reconnaissance and send bombers to attack the troops on the march. The Germans carried out the bombing."

After finishing speaking, Biryuzov grabbed the phone on the table and said loudly into the microphone: "I am Major General Biryuzov. Please connect me to the 4th Army Command of the Air Force and find Air Force Major General Naunak."

The call was connected quickly, and the voice of Major General Naunak came from the receiver: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, what instructions do you have for us from the superior?"

"General Naunak," Major General Biryuzov said into the microphone, "please immediately send more reconnaissance planes to conduct further reconnaissance in the area where the German marching column was found."

"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Naunako waited for Biryuzov to finish speaking, and immediately said, "After I reported the reconnaissance results, I dispatched several reconnaissance planes to verify the accuracy of the pilot's information. Reconnaissance of that area."

Knowing that the Air Force had taken the lead, Biryuzov asked in surprise, "General Naunak, what are the latest reconnaissance results?"

Naunak paused for a moment, then asked the chief of staff beside him, "Chief of staff, have the pilots you sent out come back?"

"No, Comrade Commander." The Chief of Air Force Staff reported to Naunak: "It will take twenty minutes at the earliest before the latest report will come back."

After Naunak figured out the situation, he reported to Biryuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, my subordinates may have to wait twenty minutes before the latest reconnaissance information comes back."

"I understand. As soon as you have the latest information, report it to the Front Army Command." After Biryuzov finished speaking, he added: "Once you confirm that there is a large-scale enemy marching, you will immediately send bombers. The formations go to the area and bomb the enemy on the ground, and they must not be allowed to enter Kharkov smoothly."

"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Naunak saw that the order conveyed by Biryuzov coincided with the combat plan he had envisioned, and quickly replied loudly: "Our aerial bombs and machine gun bullets, It will make a deep impression on the Germans."

When Biryuzov put down the phone, Tolbukhin suddenly said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think that just dispatching the air force may cause limited damage to the enemy. It is better to send ground troops to attack and inflict greater damage on the enemy." Kills. Which unit is closest to the German marching route?"

"It's Lieutenant General Starikov's Eighth Army."

Tolbukhin said: "Immediately order General Stalikov's troops to move to the area, and after our air strikes begin, they will attack the enemy."

Regarding the order issued by Tolbukhin, Biryuzov cautiously reminded him: "Comrade commander, the enemy has armored troops in the marching ranks, but Lieutenant General Stalikov's Eighth Army lacks armor." With anti-tank weapons, it is still very difficult to completely wipe out the enemy."

"Comrade Chief of Staff, you have reminded me a lot." After staring at the map for a while, Tolbushin nodded slightly and said, "Then you give orders to the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Army Group , Let them mobilize the idle troops in their hands and rush to the area as quickly as possible to participate in the encirclement and annihilation operations against the German army."

With the issuance of a series of orders, the various armies of the Southern Front took active actions and began to dispatch troops to the area where the German army was marching. The air force commander, Major General Naunak, immediately dispatched the 219th Division of the Bomber Air Force and the 230th Division of the Attack Air Force to carry out the air strike mission after confirming the location of the large German troops.

The German army who was marching immediately began to disperse and hide when they saw the Soviet fighter planes appearing in the sky. The infantry left the road one after another and hid in the ravines or forests on the side of the road, but the tanks, armored vehicles and trucks driving on the road were unable to hide in a safe place in the shortest time, and became the enemy of Soviet bombers and attack aircraft. attack target.

After the first round of attacks, the roads were littered with burning tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, as well as corpses strewn about. Some trembling German soldiers hiding in the ravine suddenly felt a familiar feeling when they saw the attack planes and bombers diving down from the sky. It was just that their air force used to bomb the Soviet army, but now it happened to be adjusted. First, Soviet fighter planes were bombing them, and they could only hide in a place they thought was safe and resign themselves to fate.

The Soviet planes in the sky had just left. Before the German troops who came out of the forest and ravines had completed their formation, there was another dense sound of gunfire nearby. This was the vanguard of the 10th Infantry Army under the 8th Army. German troops attacked.

Although the German army paid a huge price in the air strike that ended not long ago. But in the face of the Soviet troops chasing up from behind, they still relied on the rough terrain to resist stubbornly. Facing the resistance of the German army, the attacking Soviet troops found it difficult to break through the enemy's defense line for a while.

After more than an hour of fighting, Soviet attack planes and bombers reappeared over the battlefield. The pilots bombed and strafed places where the enemy's firepower was strong, in order to destroy the resistance of the German army and assist the offensive troops to break through the temporary German defense line.

Seeing where the enemy was gathering together, the Soviet attack planes and bombers swooped down there, dropping bombs and strafing. A single aerial bomb fell, and the crowds of enemies were blown to pieces; a string of bullets fell, and the firepower of the enemy who was shooting wildly was immediately muted.

The Soviet commander who commanded the troops to attack saw some tricks from the air force's tactics, knowing that the planes in the sky were guiding and covering their own attacks, so they commanded the troops to follow the plane's attack point to attack. Often, as soon as the plane was blown up, hordes of Soviet commanders and fighters rushed up, submerging the remaining German officers and soldiers in the hail of bullets.

The German troops who had been bombed by the Soviet army originally fought on their own, but now faced with the ground-air coordination of the Soviet army, they suddenly became confused. They didn't want to continue to resist, so they used the tactics of fighting and retreating, retreating in the direction of Kharkov, hoping to escape.

After the reserve team dispatched from Donbas encountered an air strike, the commander immediately reported the situation here to Manstein by radio, requesting the other party to send air force reinforcements.

After Manstein learned of this, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He did not expect that the troops he sent to reinforce Kharkov would be attacked by the Soviet Air Force halfway. If they did not provide them with air support as soon as possible, they would be considered If we barely reach Kharkov, I am afraid that we will lose a lot of vitality, and I am afraid that it will not be of much use to stick to Kharkov.

After thinking of this, Manstein quickly ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, immediately call our air force and order the fighter jets to take off immediately to expel the Russian air force that attacked my reinforcements and cover our troops' smooth arrival." Kharkov."

The chief of staff was also frightened out of his wits when he learned that the reserve team departing from the Donbass was attacked by the Soviet army. At this moment, he heard Manstein's order and quickly replied loudly: "Understood, Your Excellency Marshal, I will notify you immediately." Air Force, let them send out fighter jets, drive the damn Russian Air Force off the battlefield, and cover our reinforcements into Kharkov without incident."

As soon as the German fighter planes appeared on the battlefield, the Soviet attack planes quickly greeted them and started a dogfight with the enemy planes. One or two hundred planes from both sides flew up and down in the air, attacking each other, and fought with great joy. Since the Soviet Air Force had to deal with enemy planes appearing on the battlefield, the intensity of its attack on the ground was weakened, giving the Germans a chance to breathe.

The German commander left some troops to stop the Soviet 10th Infantry Army, and quickly withdrew to Kharkov with the main force. He only hoped to escape to a safe area before the air battle was decided.

Knowing that the enemy was going to flee, Tolbukhin immediately ordered the chief of staff to give orders to the commanders of the 2nd, 5th, and 17th armies. In addition to following and pursuing, they also had to intercept the enemy in the direction of advance.

The troops who received the order immediately divided up the work and cooperated. Some joined the pursuit force of the 10th Infantry Army, and some attacked the train station and bus station on the enemy's advance road, destroying the trains and cars inside, so that the enemy could not obtain transportation. Cannot quickly evacuate the battlefield.

The retreating enemy found that his way forward had been blocked by the Soviet army, and the trains and cars that were going to be used to transport troops were either captured or destroyed by the Soviet army. Even if there is no Soviet army blocking the way ahead, they will not be able to obtain enough means of transportation to transport the huge troops.

"Your Excellency Marshal, it's not good." Manstein's chief of staff immediately reported to Manstein after receiving this depressing information: "The Russians blocked the way of our reinforcements, and they attacked the troops on the way forward. Railway and bus stations at the station, seized and destroyed trains and automobiles stored in the stations, so that our reinforcements could not obtain sufficient means of transport to transport troops."

Manstein did not speak, but stared at the map on the wall, carefully pondering what the reinforcements should do next.

Seeing that Manstein did not speak, his chief of staff added: "Your Excellency, Marshal, please see if you have given an order to General Hoth to send an armored force to help this reinforcement."

Hearing what the chief of staff said, Manstein turned around, looked at his chief of staff and said coldly: "Chief of staff, don't you know that the Russians dispatched a large number of planes to bombard my reinforcements indiscriminately?" What? If you order General Huot to send armored troops to rescue the troops under attack at this time, doesn't it mean that they are sent to die?"

The chief of staff's face turned red. He only thought of rescuing the troops from Donbass, but he forgot that the air supremacy on the battlefield was basically in the hands of the Soviet army. If the armored troops dispatched could not get enough Air cover, then it can only become the target of Soviet fighter planes. Perhaps, the troops that were attacked were not rescued, and the troops that rushed to support from Kharkov also entered.

"Then what should we do?" the chief of staff murmured: "Should we just watch this army be annihilated by the Russians?"

Manstein snorted coldly: "It's not that easy for the Russians to eat my troops." He picked up the explanation stick by the wall and tapped a few times on a certain position on the map, "From the troops Judging from the current situation, it is obviously unrealistic for them to continue to advance to Kharkov. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, they are ordered to turn around and return to the original starting point."

"Return to the original starting point?" The chief of staff came down in a cold sweat: "Your Excellency, the Russians are constantly attacking behind them. In other words, if they want to turn back, it means that they must conduct a breakout operation."

"That's right, breaking out to the south is better than letting them go north to Kharkov to die." Manstein pointed to the map with a guide stick, and said to his chief of staff: "The Russians standing in front of them now, Not only occupied the railway station and bus station along the way, seized and destroyed all means of transportation, but also a steady stream of troops arrived. If they continue to order troops to go north to Kharkov, they will break through more Russian-established Defensive line. Got it?"

After Manstein's analysis, the chief of staff also felt that the only way to survive was to go south, so he rushed to the communication room and sent Manstein's order to the commanders in the army in the form of a telegram.

Not long after the telegram was sent, there were several thunderclaps in the sky, and then big raindrops fell from the sky. After a short time, it turned into a downpour.

Manstein came to the window and looked at the non-stop rainstorm outside. He felt a deep sense of exhaustion in his heart, and his mood was as gloomy as bad weather.