General Golikov was shocked and asked quickly: "General Kryuchinkin, isn't there a Third Army of Tanks in Kharkov? You can let the tanks cover the infantry and counterattack the enemies who rush into the city and kill them.
Drive them out of the city."
"I'm afraid this cannot be done, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Kryuchenkin said with a sad face: "You should know that most of the tanks of General Rybalko's Third Tank Army were destroyed by the Germans in the early battles.
Most of the remaining tanks cannot be used due to lack of fuel and ammunition. Now we are at an absolute disadvantage in terms of the number of tanks. Once the two sides start a battle, we have no chance of winning."
"Where is the 25th Guards Division in the south of the city?" In Golikov's mind, among the troops deployed in Kharkov, the most reliable one is the 25th Guards Division of General Sarkozyko. They have had many
The German attack from the south was repelled for the first time: "What are they doing now?"
"I don't know." Kryuchinkin replied: "The headquarters lost contact with them an hour ago. I'm worried that their entire army has been destroyed."
"How is this possible for the entire army to be destroyed?" Golikov asked in surprise: "Anyway, there are still more than 5,000 people in the 25th Guards Division, and the division commander, General Sarkozyko, is also a veteran with rich combat experience.
Old commander..."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I didn't lie to you." Seeing that Golikov did not believe what he said, Kryuchenkin quickly defended himself and said: "The Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division rushed from the defense area of the 25th Guards Division.
Come over. Originally, we could contain the Imperial Division's offensive and prevent them from further expanding the occupied area, but as the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division entered the city, the situation became increasingly unfavorable to us."
"Immediately send someone to find General Sako." General Sako was Golikov's favorite general. When he learned that he had lost contact, he seemed particularly anxious: "If you want to see a person alive, you must see a corpse. I understand."
?"
"Understood." Kryuchinkin quickly replied: "I will immediately send someone to find his whereabouts." He did not put down the phone immediately, but asked tentatively, "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the situation here is very critical.
, I wonder if you can send a reserve team to reinforce us?"
"General Kryuchinkin, I don't have a reserve force in my hand." Golikov said impatiently: "The German 11th Army is attacking Belgorod, and the 40th Army is fighting with them.
I can't spare any troops to reinforce you during the battle. You can only rely on your own strength to resolutely defend the city, do you understand?"
After Golikov hung up the phone, he stood and looked at the map for a while. He felt that if he really didn't send more reinforcements to Kryuchinkin, Kharkov might not be able to defend it, so he used the high-definition map on the table.
The phone was connected to the General Staff Headquarters. After hearing Antonov's voice, he said straight to the point: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, I am Golikov."
"It's General Golikov." Antonov was Golikov's subordinate before the war, so he spoke in a particularly polite tone: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Under the strong offensive of the German army, the situation in Kharkov and Belgorod under our control is not good." Golikov said: "I hope that the base camp can send us reinforcements immediately so that we can
The army was rescued from danger."
"General Golikov," Antonov waited for Golikov to finish and explained to him: "If you want to send out reinforcements, you must go through discussions with the Supreme Command. But I have good news to tell you.
"
"What good news?"
"According to the suggestion of Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army," Antonov said, "the 21st, 6th and 64th Army will launch an offensive in the direction of Barvinkovo, while the South-Western Front will also launch an offensive in the direction of Izyum
Feint attack to attract the enemy's attention. In this way, the enemy's offensive against you will definitely weaken, and you can buy time to strengthen the existing defense."
"Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, everything you said has no practical significance to us." Golikov said anxiously: "What we need are reinforcements to strengthen our army's existing capabilities."
Defend and ensure that the enemy cannot capture Kharkov and Belgorod from our hands."
"General Golikov," Antonov said cautiously, "I will immediately report the situation there to the Supreme Commander himself and see if I can send reinforcements to you as soon as possible."
After ending the call, Antonov did not go to Stalin's office immediately. Instead, he ordered someone to send relevant information. After studying it carefully, he set off for Stalin's office.
Poskrebyshev, who was sitting outside, saw Antonov walking in with a serious expression. He immediately realized that something unpleasant had happened, and quickly asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, are you right?"
Has the situation on the front gotten worse?"
"Yes, Comrade Poskrebyshev." After Antonov gave the other party a positive answer, he asked: "Is Comrade Stalin in the office?"
"He is inside." Poskrebyshev replied: "He is reading a report on the Leningrad Front. He seems to be in a bad mood. You should be careful when you go in later."
Antonov walked into Stalin's office. Stalin, who was sitting in the back of the office reading a report, raised his head, looked at Antonov and asked slowly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, why are you so urgent to come to me?"
Something about that?”
"Comrade Stalin," Antonov said straight to the point without beating around the bush: "The situation of our army in the direction of Kharkov has become worse. According to the intelligence we have, the German army has invested 14 troops there.
The strength of three divisions, including four armored divisions, three SS divisions, one motorized infantry division, and three infantry divisions..."
Stalin waited for a period of Antonov's report before asking: "How many tanks does the enemy have?"
"No less than four hundred Li vehicles."
"What about our army?"
"Less than seventy, and this is the statistics from yesterday evening." Antonov said cautiously: "I think the number of tanks our army has at this moment will be much less."
"The situation is very serious, Comrade Antonov." After listening to the report, Stalin said with a serious expression: "Tell me, what should we do to save the situation in Kharkov?"
"I think we should send troops to reinforce." Antonov said to Stalin: "I checked and found that we can mobilize the 2nd Guards Army, the 18th Tank Army and the 3rd Tank Army of the Supreme Headquarters to reinforce.
, they can appear on the battlefield in two days."
"Comrade Antonov, I have a question." After Stalin lit his pipe with a match, he frowned and asked: "Why have the German army been silent some time ago, but suddenly made such a big noise in the past few days?
"
"Comrade Stalin, I think the recent actions of the German army may be related to the transfer of Major General Sokov."
"Oh, are the recent actions of the German army related to Xiao Misha's transfer?" Stalin asked with great interest: "Comrade Antonov, can you tell me the reason?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin, according to my analysis, this is exactly the case." Antonov explained to Stalin: "Major General Sokov had launched an active attack on the German army before he became the commander of the Sixth Army.
Moreover, the enemy was severely beaten and disabled, so that the German army had to mobilize a large number of troops to guard against him.
But as he was transferred, and the commander who took over his post has not yet taken up the post, the acting chief of staff did not dare to make decisions without authorization and could only order the troops to concentrate on building fortifications. The Germans may have known that Sokov was transferred
Now, seeing that the Sixth Army is busy repairing fortifications now, I am afraid that it will not be able to spare the strength to attack itself, so we can safely and boldly deploy troops to launch the attack on Kharkov-Belgorod."
"Cunning German." Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, and after a few puffs on the ashtray, he asked Antonov: "Do you think our troops can hold Kharkov-Bergo?"
Rod?"
"Comrade Stalingrad, it's hard to say whether Belgorod can be held, but Kharkov certainly cannot be held." Antonov explained to Stalin: "The German 48th Army detoured back to Kharko.
to the east of the husband, and launched an attack on the city from there. The defenders in the city could be said to have been surrounded by the German army. They faced two choices. One was to continue fighting the Germans until the entire army was destroyed;
It was to take advantage of the opportunity that the German encirclement had just been formed and was not yet strong enough to decisively choose a weak direction to break out..."
"Kharkov is an important tank production base in our country, and it must not be handed over to the Germans easily." Stalin said with a serious expression: "Comrade Antonov, I agree with your proposal just now, to mobilize the 2nd Guards Army.
, the 18th Tank Army and the 3rd Tank Army of the Supreme Command went to reinforce, and they must defend Kharkov at all costs."
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Seeing that Stalin agreed to his suggestion, Antonov quickly replied: "I will immediately go to deploy the troop mobilization and tell General Golikov the good news."
After Golikov learned that the reinforcements would arrive two days later, he couldn't help but be overjoyed. He assured Antonov: "Comrade Deputy Chief of General Staff, please rest assured that with these reinforcements, we will definitely succeed."
We are sure to hold Kharkov and Belgorod, and we will never let these two cities fall into the hands of the Germans again."
In order to boost morale, Golikov quickly called and informed Klyuchinkin of the good news that reinforcements would arrive within two days. After Kryuchinkin learned the good news, he immediately felt as if he had been given a shot of blood.
General excited, he immediately ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, immediately order the 17th and 19th Infantry Brigades, with the cooperation of the 179th Tank Brigade, to launch a comprehensive counterattack against the German troops rushing into the city."
In response to Kryuchinkin's order, the Army Chief of Staff cautiously reminded him: "Comrade Commander, these two infantry brigades and one tank brigade are the only reserves we have. If they are allowed to engage in counterattack, once
If the counterattack is unsuccessful, I'm afraid the situation in the city will be even more unfavorable to us."
"It doesn't matter, Comrade Chief of Staff." Kryuchinkin said with a relaxed expression: "The superiors have sent us reinforcements. As soon as they arrive, we will be able to completely crush the enemy's attack and drive them far away from the city.
.”
"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff did not give up his efforts and continued to persuade: "General Rybalko's 3rd Tank Army has basically lost its combat effectiveness. The 179th Tank Brigade is the only tank unit in our hands. If the battle
When things don't go well and we have to abandon the city, we still need these tanks to take the lead and help us break through the enemy's encirclement."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, what's wrong with you?" Hearing what his Chief of Staff said, Kryuchinkin became a little impatient: "Didn't I tell you that reinforcements will arrive soon? There are people in the reinforcements.
With the arrival of the two tank corps, the number of tanks on both sides will soon be balanced. If we don't think of ways to regain more places now, when reinforcements arrive, there will not be enough space to place such tanks.
Lots of tanks.”
Seeing that Kryuchinkin was so stubborn, the chief of staff knew that there would be no results if he continued to persuade him, so he could only bite the bullet and said helplessly: "Okay, comrade commander, I will immediately notify the three brigade commanders and order them to
Launch a comprehensive counterattack."
As the order was issued, Soviet commanders and combatants, under the cover of tanks, launched a comprehensive counterattack toward the areas occupied by the Germans. At the beginning, the Germans were caught off guard, and many of the newly occupied areas were retaken by the Soviets.
But with the emergence of German tanks and anti-tank guns, the situation reversed. One Soviet tank after another was destroyed by German tanks and anti-tank guns during the counterattack, and was destroyed in the streets of the city.
superior.
The infantry who lost the cover of the tanks were immediately exposed to the enemy's powerful firepower. The counterattack, which was still vigorous at first, was contained. The commanders and soldiers could only retreat while fighting, trying to quickly return to their attack position, and relying on the terrain there,
to resist the German attack.
However, the enemy was pursuing them. The defenders in the fortifications saw that the enemy was mingling with the retreating soldiers. For fear of accidentally injuring their own people, they did not dare to shoot casually. They could only watch the enemy rush in.
own position. In this way, the counterattack launched by the Soviet army not only failed to achieve the goal of regaining the lost ground, but also lost a lot of territory.
After learning that the counterattack had failed, the chief of staff immediately said to Kryuchinkin: "Comrade Commander, our counterattack has failed. I believe that it won't be long before enemy tanks will appear in front of our command post. It's still too late before it's too late."
, I think it’s better to retreat quickly.”
Kryuchinkin knew that the fight would continue, so he decisively followed the advice of the chief of staff: "Okay, immediately notify the commanders of each unit, immediately implement a breakout to the east of the city, rush to Belgorod and the 2nd
The troops of the 40th Group Army are converging."
After the troops who had just retreated heard the breakout order, they didn't even have time to take a breath and immediately launched a new attack to the east of the city. The commanders and soldiers knew very well that if they didn't take advantage of the enemy's weak encirclement,
Breaking out of an siege, once you are trapped by the shock, it will become an impossible task to break out again.
When the headquarters was preparing to break out with the troops and was dismantling the telephone lines, the chief of staff suddenly received a phone call. An anxious voice came from the receiver: "Comrade chief of staff, this is..." As soon as the other party said this, the phone call came out.
There was a sudden interruption. The chief of staff thought it was a call from a commander asking about a breakout, so he didn't take it seriously. After he put down the phone, he said to the communications soldier on the side, "This phone can also be dismantled."
