Red Moscow

There is an hour's time difference between Ukraine and Germany. Manstein knows the habits of the head of state. He gets up at eight o'clock every morning, takes a hot bath, and then enjoys a breakfast with only a glass of milk and two pieces of bread before reading. Newspapers and magazines. He won't show up in his own office until noon.

Because of this, Manstein decided to postpone the news of the Soviet invasion of Kharkov and his intention to abandon the city until after 1 pm local time, when the Führer should be in his office.

At noon in Berlin time, Mustache appeared at the door of his office on time. The generals sitting at the long table covered with maps all stood up in unison when they saw Mustache, and raised their right hands to him. salute.

Mustache came to the center of the room with his hands behind his back, looked at the chief of staff standing by the table, "Zeitzler!"

The chief of the general staff whose name was called quickly stepped forward, straightened his back and agreed: "My head of state!"

"How's the situation in Manstein?" Mustache asked casually as he walked towards his seat, "Did they drive the damn Russians away from around Kharkov?"

Hearing this question, Zeitzler had a desperate expression on his face. He looked around at the generals, and saw that some turned their faces to the side, some shook their heads with wry smiles, and some gave him sympathetic sympathy. look.

"Zeitzler," the mustache had already come to his seat, but he still didn't hear Zeitzler's answer. He put his hands on the back of the chair, frowned and said, "Why don't you speak, don't you listen?" Is it my question?"

"Understood, my Fuehrer." Zeitzler said bravely, "I'm afraid all I can tell you is bad news. The Russians' 27th Army, 53rd Army, 5th Army and Rotmistrov A part of the tank group army has broken into Kharkov. Now the troops of General Huott and General Wheeler are resisting tenaciously."

"What's going on?" After listening to Zeitzler's report, anger appeared on the face of the mustache, and he asked dissatisfiedly: "Why is this happening? I remember that when you reported to me yesterday, you said that we The heroic 3rd Armored Division shattered the Russian armored assault twice in a row in the northwest of the city, destroying at least 1,500 of their tanks. In order to commend such a great victory, we even gave the commander of the 3rd Armored Division Weiss General Thofen awarded the Cross.

How could the Russian tank army rush into the city overnight? And the number of the army level has also increased to three? "

Facing the question from the mustache, Zeitzler raised his hand to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, and said guiltyly: "My Führer, Marshal Manstein's report is not detailed enough, and I don't know why overnight, Harko There will be so many numbers of Russian troops in the city."

"Connect me to Manstein's headquarters immediately." Mustache pointed to Zeitzler and said, "I want to ask Manstein personally what happened in Kharkov last night."

Hearing Mustache said that he would call Manstein himself, Zeitzler's legs couldn't help trembling. In order to please Mustache, he and the members of the General Staff deliberately exaggerated the results of the 3rd Armored Division and would destroy the The results of nearly 400 tanks were exaggerated to 1,500. If Mustache and Manstein talk on the phone, there is a possibility that this matter will go wrong.

Seeing Zeitzler dawdling, Mustache became even angrier, and urged sharply: "Zeitzler, what are you still doing in a daze, don't hurry up and answer the call from Manstein's headquarters."

The call was connected quickly, and Mustache took the receiver and asked angrily, "Manstein, tell me why so many Russian troops appeared in Kharkov overnight?"

"My head of state." Manstein didn't expect that Mustache would take the initiative to call to find him, he hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "The strength of the Russians far exceeds ours, although the two generals Holt and Wheeler They all tried their best, but they couldn't stop the Russians from breaking into the city, and now their officers and soldiers are fighting the Russians to the death."

"Manstein," Mustache was not satisfied with Manstein's answer, and continued to ask: "You just need to tell me, how long will it take you to drive the Russians out of Kharkov?"

"Please forgive me, my head of state." Manstein is very aware of the current situation in Kharkov, and knows that if the fight continues, Hoth's Panzer Army and Weller's 8th Army will inevitably follow Paulus' 6th Army Then he said euphemistically: "The Russians are in an absolute advantage in terms of military strength and weapons and equipment. If we continue to fight, our troops may be wiped out. Therefore, I suggest Abandon Kharkov, withdraw the defenders of the city to the Dnieper, and build a new line of defense there against the Russians."

"Manstein," Mustache raised his voice: "In February of this year, the Russians also had an advantage in terms of military strength and equipment, and even once occupied Kharkov and Belgorod, but they still failed to Escaping the fate of being defeated by you. What is the matter with you now, and you plan to hand over the city to the Russians on your own initiative?"

"My Führer." Facing the furious moustache, Manstein felt guilty for a while, but he still insisted on saying: "The current situation is very different from the beginning of the year..."

"what is the difference?"

"After the Russians wiped out Paulus's troops at the beginning of the year, their morale was high. I knew that I would suffer losses if I confronted them head-on, so I chose to give up some places on my own initiative, so that the Russians' front lines would be stretched and they would be far away from their logistics supply lines." Manstein Explained: "And we can concentrate our superior forces and launch an attack on the Russians in the situation area, thus eliminating them one by one. Although we have achieved a series of victories and completely defeated the Russians, we should also see the sufferings huge loss."

"A huge loss?" Mustache asked with a frown, "Marshal Manstein, what are you referring to?"

"Sokov's unit is our army's nightmare," Seeing that Mustache seemed to have forgotten the fact that several SS divisions were beaten all over the ground, Manstein reminded him euphemistically: "The 21st Division he commanded at the time The group army once caused our SS division to suffer huge losses. If he hadn't been transferred away later, it would have been basically impossible for us to capture Kharkov."

As soon as Manstein reminded him, Mustache immediately remembered that the Imperial Division was wiped out and then rebuilt later, so he gritted his teeth and asked, "Is this defeat related to him?"

"That's right, my Führer." Manstein quickly replied, "I personally called General Westhofen, the commander of the 3rd Armored Division, and asked about what happened in the early hours of this morning. Only then did I know that they originally told Luo Termistrov's tank unit had already gained the upper hand, but suddenly a unit rushed out from behind, catching them by surprise. After this unit merged with Rotmistrov's remnants, followed Our retreating troops stormed the city..."

"Who is in command of this sudden Russian force?"

"According to the corpses left on the battlefield, General Westhofen said it was a unit of the Russian 5th Shock Army."

"Is there any connection between Russia's 5th Shock Army and Sokov?"

"Of course there is a connection." Seeing that Mustache didn't understand the connection between the two, Manstein quickly explained to him: "Sokov's troops have established two bridgeheads on the east bank of the Ud River. One of them is located on the right wing of our army. Half of the troops in the bridgehead belonged to the 5th Shock Army. It is said that Sokov and Lieutenant General Tsvetaev, the commander of the 5th Shock Army, commanded the battle there."

"Marshal Manstein, are you saying that the Russian troops attacked the rear of the 3rd Armored Division entirely because of Sokov's instigation?"

"Yes, my head of state." Seeing that Mustache's guess coincided with his own, Manstein continued: "It is precisely because of Sokov's instigation that these troops who were originally timid and dare not take the initiative to attack, now An attack was launched in an area where our army's defenses were empty, which led to the breakthrough of the city defense."

Although Manstein has made it very clear, Mustache is unwilling to give up Kharkov easily. He frowned and said: "Marshal Manstein, I beg you to guard Kharkov. Because of this The loss of this city will have a serious impact. The position of the Turks towards us depends entirely on whether the city is in our hands. It will also be affected by the Romanians. If Kharkov is abandoned, we will Huge humiliation in Ankara and Sofia."

Although Mustache was the first time to be so humble to his subordinates, Manstein said firmly: "My head of state, I think it is absolutely necessary to abandon Kharkov. Otherwise, Hoth's Panzer Army and Vigilante Le's 8th Army is in danger of being wiped out. I would rather lose a city than lose two elite armies."

Faced with such a tough attitude from Manstein, Mustache was helpless. After a fierce ideological struggle, he chose to compromise with Manstein: "Marshal Manstein, I agree with your request to abandon Kharkov. .But I ask you, make sure to withdraw more troops from the city."

Although he agreed to Manstein's request, the seeds of distrust towards Manstein were also planted in Mustache's heart.

As soon as Manstein finished talking with Moustache, he said to his chief of staff, General Busey: "General Busey, immediately send a telegram to Holt and Wheeler, asking them to wait for 48 hours, and on August 22 Withdraw from Kharkov at ten o'clock in the morning."

At the same time, after Zhukov reported the situation on the front line to the bearded man, the bearded man who was beaming with joy immediately gave him an order: "Comrade Zhukov, immediately send powerful troops to cut off all major routes from Kharkov to the Dnieper River." Passage, cut off the rear line of communication between Hoth Panzer Army and Wyler's 8th Army, and strive for another victory like the Battle of Stalingrad."

After listening to the order given by the bearded man, Zhukov showed a embarrassed expression on his face, but since the order was given by the bearded man himself, no matter how difficult it was to complete, he had to bite the bullet and execute it: "Understood, I will arrange it immediately. Troops, to cut off the road from Kharkov to the Dnieper River, as well as the rear communication and supply lines of the German army."

Putting down the phone, Zhukov said to Vasilevsky who was sitting on the side: "Comrade Vasilevsky, the Supreme Commander himself has just issued us a new combat order..."

Before Zhukov could finish speaking, Vatutin poked his head over and asked, "What order?"

Zhukov stared at Vatutin for a while, then shook his head and said, "Comrade Vatutin, I think this order from the Supreme Commander himself has nothing to do with you."

After finishing speaking, he ignored the disappointed Vatutin, but continued to say to Vasilevsky: "Order us to cut off the road from Kharkov to the Dnieper River, cut off the Hoth Armored Army and Villedi The rear supply line of the 8th Army."

After Zhukov finished speaking, Vasilevsky said with a relaxed expression: "Comrade Marshal, I think this task can be handed over to General Tolbukhin's Southern Front Army."

"A few days ago, Tolbukhin also used the troops of the four army groups to prevent the enemy in the Donbass from reinforcing Kharkov." Zhukov agreed with Vasilevsky's proposal: "It's up to them to I think it is very appropriate to complete the task assigned by the Supreme Commander himself."

After receiving the order from Vasilevsky, Tolbukhin and Chief of Staff Biryuzov repeatedly studied the map, and finally decided: Lieutenant General Starikov's 8th Army, Gorbato Lieutenant General Polenov's 5th Army was responsible for cutting off the late supply lines of Hoth's Panzer Army and Wheeler's 8th Army, making them vulnerable to ammunition. and the shortage of supplies, and was annihilated by the Steppe Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army attacking Kharkov.

Manstein's order to Hoth and Weller was to retreat at 10:00 am on August 22. However, due to the rapid action of Tolbukhin's southern front, the task of cutting off the line of communication was completed ahead of schedule, which made the retreat of the German army difficult. , Invisibly evolved into a breakout.

In the breakout sequence of the German army, Hoth's Panzer Army led the way, followed by Weyler's 8th Army. The direction they chose to break out was to the south of the city, where the Soviet army was weakest. They only needed to advance more than 30 kilometers south to join the friendly army.

Just when the German army began to implement the breakout operation, after completing the task of cutting off the communication line, Tolbukhin commanded the remaining troops to launch an attack on Hollett's 6th Army. After successfully crossing the Mius River, he broke through The enemy's solid defenses opened the way to the Donets Basin.

Tolbukhin stared at the map in front of him, thinking in his mind that as his troops successfully broke through the German defenses, Zaporizhia, where Manstein's headquarters was located, was already threatened. And as long as I continue to move forward, I can successfully cut off the 17th Army at the Crimean and Kuban bridgeheads.

In order to achieve this strategic goal, he issued an order to the troops who cut off the line of communication. For the German troops withdrawing from Kharkov, while consuming the opponent's vitality, they must pay attention to preserving their own strength so that they can concentrate too much. Forces, to deal with the German 17th Army.