General Golikov was shocked and asked quickly: "General Kryuchenjin, isn't there a third tank army in Kharkov? You can let the tanks cover the infantry, launch a counterattack against the enemies entering the city, and drive them out of the city."
"I'm afraid this cannot be done, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Kryuchenjin said with a sad face: "You should know that in the early battles, most of the tanks of General Rebarco's Third Tank Army were destroyed by the German army. Most of the remaining tanks were unable to be used because of lack of fuel and ammunition. Now we are at an absolute disadvantage in the number of tanks. Once the two sides start a battle, we have no chance of winning at all."
"Where is the 25th Guard Division in the south of the city?" In Golikov's mind, the most reliable one among the troops in Kharkov was General Saxko's 25th Guard Division. They had repeatedly repelled the attacks launched by the German army from the south: "What are they doing now?"
"I don't know." Kryuchenjin replied: "A hour ago, the headquarters had lost contact with them, and I was worried that they had completely destroyed."
"How is this possible?" Golikov asked in surprise: "No matter what, the 25th Guard Division still has more than 5,000 people, and the division commander General Sa*ko is also an old commander with rich combat experience..."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I did not lie to you." Seeing that Golikov did not believe what he said, Kryuchenjin quickly defended himself: "The Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division rushed from the defense zone of the 25th Guard Division. Originally, we could still curb the offensive of the Imperial Division 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."
"Send someone to find General Sa*ko immediately." General Sa*ko was Golikov's beloved general. When he learned that he had lost contact, he seemed particularly anxious: "You have to see people alive and die, you have to see the corpse, do you understand?"
"I understand." Kluqinjin quickly replied, "I will send someone to find his whereabouts immediately." 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 Kryuchinjin, I don't have a reserve team in my hand." Golikov said impatiently: "The 11th German Army is attacking Belgorod, and the 40th Army troops are fighting with them. I can't draw any troops to reinforce you. You can only rely on your own strength and firmly defend the city. Do you understand?"
After Golikov hung up the phone, he stood on the map and looked for a while, thinking that if he really didn't send additional reinforcements to Kluchenkin, Kharkov might not be able to defend himself, so he used the high-frequency phone on the table to connect to the General Staff. After hearing Antonov's voice, he said straight to the point: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, I am Golikov."
"It's General Golikov." Antonov was a subordinate of Golikov before the war, so he spoke in a very polite tone: "Do I have anything to serve you?"
"Under the strong German offensive, the situation in Kharkov and Belgorod we controlled was not very good." Golikov said: "I hope that the base camp can send us reinforcements immediately so that we can rescue our army from danger."
"General Golikov," Antonov explained to him after he finished speaking: "To dispatch reinforcements, we must go through discussions from the Supreme Command. But I have a good news to tell you."
“What good news?”
"According to the advice of Major General Sokov, commander of the 27th Army," Antonov said: "The 21st, 6th and 64th Army will launch an attack in the direction of Balvinkovo, and the Southwest Front will also launch a feint attack in the direction of Ijum to attract the attention of the enemy. In this way, the enemy's offensive against you will definitely weaken, and you will be able to gain time to strengthen your existing defense."
"Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, all you said has no practical significance to us." Golikov said anxiously: "What we need is reinforcements to strengthen our existing defenses and ensure that the enemy cannot seize Kharkov and Belgorod from our hands."
"General Golikov," said Antonov cautiously: "I will report immediately to the Supreme Commander himself whether to send reinforcements for you as soon as possible."
After the call, Antonov did not go to Stalin's office immediately, but ordered people to send relevant information, and after careful study, he left for Stalin's office.
Poskrebeshev, who was sitting outside, saw Antonov walking in with a serious expression, immediately realized something unhappy was happening, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, has the situation at the forefront worsened?"
"Yes, Comrade Poskrebeshev." Antonov asked back after giving the other party an affirmative answer: "Is Comrade Stalin in the office?"
"He is inside." Poskrebeshev replied: "He is reading the report on the Leningrad Front and seems to be in a bad mood. Be careful when you go in later."
Antonov walked into Stalin's office. Stalin, who was sitting behind the office reading the report, raised his head and looked at Antonov slowly asked, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, are you in a hurry to come to me. Is there anything urgent?
"Comrade Stalin," Antonov said straight to the point: "The situation in our army in the direction of Kharkov has become worse. According to the intelligence we have, the German army invested fourteen divisions there, including four armored divisions, three SS divisions, one motorized infantry division, and three infantry divisions..."
After a paragraph of the report from Stalin and Antonov, he asked, "How many tanks do the enemy have?"
"No less than four hundred Li cars."
"What about our army?"
"There are less than seventy vehicles, 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 smaller."
"The situation is very serious, Comrade Antonov." Stalin said with a serious expression after hearing the report: "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 we can mobilize the 2nd Guards Army, the 18th Tank Army and the 3rd Tank Army of the Supreme Command to reinforce. They can appear on the battlefield in two days."
"Comrade Antonov, I have a problem." Stalin lit his pipe with a match and asked with a frown: "Why did the German army be silent some time ago, but suddenly make such a big noise these days?"
"Comrade Stalin, I think the recent actions of the German army may be related to Major General Sokov's transfer."
"Oh, the recent German operations are related to the transfer of Xiaomisha?" Stalin asked with interest: "Comrade Antonov, what are you talking about?"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin, according to my analysis, this is exactly the case." Antonov explained to Stalin: "Before being the commander of the Sixth Army, Major General Sokov launched an active attack on the German army, and also beat the enemy torture and crippled it, so that the German army had to mobilize a large number of troops to prevent him.
But as he was transferred, and the commander who took over his post was not yet in office, the acting chief of staff did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so he could only order the troops to concentrate their efforts to build fortifications. The Germans may have known that Sokov was transferred, and when they saw that the Sixth Army is busy repairing fortifications, they may not be able to draw out their strength to attack themselves, so they can safely and boldly draw troops to launch an attack on Kharkov-Belgorod."
"Cunning German." Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, and after dozing hard on the ashtray for a few times, he asked Antonov: "Do you think our troops can defend Kharkov-Belgorod?"
"Comrade Stalingrad, it is hard to say whether Belgorod can defend it, but Kharkov will definitely not be able to defend it." Antonov explained to Stalin: "The 48th Army of the German army detoured to the east of Kharkov and launched an attack on the city from there. The defenders in the city can be said to have been surrounded by the German army. They face two choices. One is to continue fighting with the Germans until the entire army is destroyed; instead, taking advantage of the opportunity that the German encirclement has just been formed and is not solid enough to decisively choose a weak direction to break through,..."
"Kharkov is an important tank production base in our country and 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 transfer the 2nd Army of the Guards, the 18th Tank Army and the 3rd Tank Army of the Supreme Command to reinforce, and to defend Kharkov at all costs."
"Yes, Comrade Stalin." When Antonov saw that Stalin agreed to his suggestion, he quickly replied: "I will immediately deploy the troops to mobilize and tell General Golikov the good news."
After learning that the reinforcements would arrive in two days, Golikov couldn't help but be happy. He assured Antonov: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, please rest assured that with these reinforcements, we must be sure to defend Kharkov and Belgorod, and we will never let these two cities fall into the hands of the Germans again."
In order to inspire morale, Golikov quickly called again to inform Klyuchenjin of the good news that the reinforcements would arrive within two days. After Klyuchenjin learned the good news, he immediately became excited as if he was injected with chicken blood. 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."
Regarding Kluchkin's order, the Chief of Staff of the Army cautionedly reminded him: "Comrade Commander, these two infantry brigades and a tank brigade are the only reserves we have. If they are allowed to fight back, if the counterattack fails, the situation in the city will be even more unfavorable to us."
"It doesn't matter, Comrade Chief of Staff." Kryuchenjin said with a relaxed expression: "The superiors have sent us reinforcements. As soon as they arrive, we can completely crush the enemy's attack and drive them away from the city."
"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff did not give up his efforts and continued to persuade: "General Rebarco'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 is not smooth and we have to give up 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?" Kryuchenjin was a little impatient when he heard his chief of staff say this: "Didn't I tell you, can reinforcements arrive soon? There are two tank troops in the reinforcements. With their arrival, the number of tanks on both sides of the enemy and us will soon become balanced. If we don't find a way to recover more places now, when the reinforcements arrive, there will be no room for so many tanks."
Seeing that Kliuqinjin was so stubborn, the Chief of Staff knew that he would not have any result if he persuaded him. He could only bite the bullet and say helplessly: "Okay, Comrade Commander, I will immediately notify the three brigade commanders and order them to launch a comprehensive counterattack."
With the issuance of the order, the Soviet commanders and fighters launched a comprehensive counterattack towards the area occupied by the German army under the cover of tanks. At the beginning, the German army was caught off guard, and many areas that had just been occupied were recaptured by the Soviet army. However, with the emergence of German tanks and anti-tank guns, the situation reversed. One after another, Soviet tanks were destroyed on the streets of the city by German tanks and anti-tank artillery during the counterattack.
The infantry that lost the cover of the tank was immediately exposed to the enemy's powerful firepower. The counterattack, which was already imposing, was curbed, and the commanders and soldiers could only fight and retreat while fighting, trying to quickly return to their attack position and rely on the terrain there to resist the German attack.
However, the enemy pursued him reluctantly. The defenders in the fortification saw the enemy and the retreating soldiers getting together. Because they were afraid of hurting their own people by chance, they did not dare to shoot casually. They could only watch the enemy rush into their positions. In this way, the counterattack launched by the Soviet army not only failed to achieve the goal of regaining lost territory, but also lost a lot of territory.
After learning that the counterattack failed, the Chief of Staff immediately said to Kryuchenjin: "Comrade Commander, our counterattack has failed. I believe that the enemy's tanks will appear at our command office in the future. While it is still time, I think it's better to retreat soon."
Kryuchenjin knew that he would continue to fight, so he decisively followed the Chief of Staff’s opinion: “Okay, immediately notify the commanders of each unit, immediately break through to the east of the city, and rush to Belgorod to join the 40th Army.”
After the defeated troops heard the order to break through, they didn't even bother to breathe, so they immediately launched a new attack on the east side of the city. The commanders and soldiers knew very well that if they did not break through when the enemy's encirclement was not solid, once they were trapped, they would become an unfinished task if they wanted to break through.
When the headquarters was about to follow the troops to break through and was demolishing the telephone line, the Chief of Staff suddenly received a call, and an anxious voice came from the receiver: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am..." As soon as the other party said this, the phone suddenly interrupted. The Chief of Staff thought that the commander was asking about the breakout, so he didn't take it in his heart. After putting down the phone, he said to the correspondent on the side, "This phone can also be removed."