Chapter 1422 The Eve of the Great War

  Not long after sending Serelkov away, Sokov received a call from Konev.

  The commander of the Front Army told Sokov on the phone: "Comrade Sokov, I have two good news for you."

   "Good news?!" Sokov hadn't heard Konev say the word "good news" for a long time, and hurriedly asked, "Comrade Front Army Commander, what good news is it?"

"I just received a report from the Southern Front. During the day, the German army in Donbas dispatched an armored division and three infantry divisions to try to reinforce Kharkov and strengthen the defense of the area. But they were on the way, It was detected by friendly forces, and then launched a full-scale attack on them."

"The enemy sent troops from Donbass to reinforce Kharkov?" Sokov quickly searched the history he had in his mind, and found that there seemed to be no content about the enemy sending troops from Donbass, so he asked curiously: "Front Army Comrade Commander, I don't know what the final result will be?"

"The Southern Front dispatched the 8th, 2nd, 5th, and 17th armies to block and intercept the German reinforcements in Kharkov. After a day of fierce fighting, no more than 3,000 enemies fled back to the Donbass. "

"This is really a remarkable result." Although Sokov did not know the strength of each division of the German reinforcements, no more than 3,000 people fled back to the Donbass, which means that today's battle of the Southern Front will not be enough. At least 20,000 to 30,000 German troops were wiped out. "After the Germans have suffered this loss, I believe they will not reinforce Kharkov in a short time."

  After speaking in one breath, Sokov paused for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, when will we start our attack on Kharkov?"

"Comrade Sokov, this is the second piece of good news I want to tell you." Konev said: "Now both our front army and the Voronezh front army have moved to the designated positions, and will attack Kharko at six o'clock tomorrow morning." Husband's defenders attack."

"Great, this is really great." Even though the two days of fighting went smoothly, Sokov's heart is still not at ease. If the main force does not take action for a long time, it is entirely possible that the Germans Deploy forces to recover Kazakia Compass Town and October Town, which were occupied by their own troops, and restore the original line of defense. "We've been waiting for this day."

   "How is the situation there?" Konev asked with concern on the phone: "As far as I know, the enemy seems to have been attacking Kazakia Compass Town non-stop. Can your troops hold it?"

   "We can hold it, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov quickly replied, "As long as the main force's frontal attack starts, the enemy will have to deploy troops to defend, and the pressure on us will be greatly reduced."

   "I remember that you seemed to tell me that you planned to send a unit deep into the enemy's defense." Konev waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and asked cautiously: "Have they reached the designated position?"

  Sokov quickly covered the microphone with his hand, and asked Sameko who was standing aside: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where is the unit of the 98th Guards Division now?"

"Comrade Commander," Sameko said, pushing the map in front of Sokov, "Colonel Chuvashov sent me a telegram not long ago, saying that two of his guard regiments have now wedged The German defense line was deep, and as soon as our general offensive began, he immediately took action to seize the bridge over the Oude River."

   "They won't be discovered by the German army?"

"No." Sameko replied with a smile: "Chuvashov has a lot of tricks. He ordered the troops to occupy the defensive position of the German army joint and pretended to be the German army to deploy defense there. The enemy didn't notice it at all. "

After getting the exact news, Sokov removed his hand covering the microphone and reported to Konev: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, two regiments of my 98th Guards Division are now lurking in the German army. At the junction of the defense line, as soon as the main force’s attack starts, they will launch an attack at the same time to seize the bridge over the Oud River, so that our army can cross the Oud River smoothly.”

Knowing that the 98th Guards Division was lurking in the German joint, Konev asked with some concern: "Comrade Sokov, our attack will be tomorrow. They have been lurking in the enemy's joint for such a long time, and they will not be exposed." target?"

"Don't worry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army." Sokov replied: "Our soldiers are all dressed up as Germans. They swaggered to occupy the empty positions and put on a defensive posture. It has the effect of confusing the enemy. I think even if the enemy finds out that there is an army stationed here, they will still think it is their friendly army, and they will never think that it is our army who made up."

Konev smiled gratifiedly and said: "Comrade Sokov, it seems that you have considered it very carefully. Let our troops pretend to be the German army and enter the uninhabited position, so that the enemy can never dream that the troops in their junction , It was actually disguised by our army."

   After Konev finished speaking, he looked down at the map in front of him and asked Sokov, "Comrade Sokov, where are your troops now?"

Sokov knew the specific positions of each division well. Hearing Konev's question, he quickly reported to him in detail, and finally said: "When the main force launches an attack on Kharkov tomorrow, I plan to order to stand by The troops from Compass Town of Kazakhstan are going out to capture Djergachi and use it as a starting point for our attack."

  ...

  Departed from Donbass to reinforce the German troops in Kharkov. Under the siege of the four Soviet army troops, they suffered heavy casualties, which made Manstein cry without tears. He never dreamed that his reinforcements would suffer such a heavy loss just after they were dispatched.

Seeing Manstein's frowning look, the chief of staff quickly comforted him and said: "Your Excellency Marshal, don't worry, although the troops from the Donbass suffered heavy losses from the Russians, the Supreme Command promised us that we will continue to fight." Troops can be drawn from the Central Army Group to strengthen the Kharkov defense line."

"Chief of Staff, you are too optimistic." Manstein shook his head with a wry smile: "Since they can attack our troops from the Donbass today, they can also attack the reinforcements from the Central Army Group tomorrow. It seems that Generals Holt and Kenff are out of reach."

   "Then what should we do, Your Excellency Marshal?" The chief of staff also panicked after hearing what Manstein said: "Should we just watch them be wiped out by the Russians?"

"Although the Russians have an advantage in terms of strength and equipment, and have also gained air supremacy on the battlefield." Regarding the chief of staff's concerns, Manstein said confidently: "But if they want to break through our army's offensive in Kharkov The defense system is not an easy task, and the hundreds of thousands of landmines in the defense zone are enough for the Russians to suffer."

   "Your Excellency, Marshal." Seeing that Manstein was so confident in blocking the Soviet attack, the chief of staff regained some confidence. He asked tentatively, "Then how can we contain the Russian attack?"

"The strength of the Russians is far beyond my imagination." Manstein sighed heavily, and said: "From the end of the fortress project to the present, the Russians have not had more than ten days to rest. They can do so in such a short time." The supply of soldiers and materials was completed within a short period of time, which greatly exceeded our imagination."

   "Your Excellency Marshal, this is the country of the Russians after all, and they have enough personnel to supplement the troops."

Manstein nodded slightly and agreed with the chief of staff. He pointed to the map on the wall and said to the chief of staff: "Chief of staff, if we want to stabilize the battle now, there are only two ways: one is to Abandon the Donets Basin and use local troops to strengthen Kharkov and the Dnieper River; the second is to draw 20 divisions from other theaters to reinforce this area..."

Before Manstein could speak, the chief of staff exclaimed: "Your Excellency, Marshal, this is simply impossible, and regardless of whether Donets is economically important to our country, giving up such a large and solid position in a hurry is harmful to the entire country. The consequences of stability and coherence on the Eastern Front were unimaginable.

   What's more, our army has no line of defense in the Dnieper River area to rely on. If the Russians capture Kharkov, then we must build a new line of defense on the Dnieper River to resist the Russian attack.

  The last point, and the most critical point, is that the reinforcements of the 20 divisions you mentioned cannot be dispatched at all when the Eastern Front is in a tight situation. "

   "Chief of Staff, you are right. My idea is a fantasy." Manstein said helplessly: "But these are also two ways out for us to reverse the situation of the war."

The chief of staff heard the implication from Manstein's words, and hurriedly asked again: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the fall of Kharkov is inevitable, so should we start building the Dnieper River defense line? "

Manstein nodded, and then said: "We have a lot of things to do next, not only to build the Dnieper River defense line to prevent the Russians from crossing the Dnieper River, but also to make a request to the Supreme Command in the shortest possible time. Rebuild the Skull Division, Imperial Division and 19th Armored Division which were annihilated by Sokov."

Hearing what Manstein said, the chief of staff twitched violently a few times, then nodded and said, "Your Excellency, you are right, these troops should indeed be rebuilt, so that in the next battle, we will There are more troops available."

Seeing that the chief of staff echoed his opinion, Manstein told the other party: "Chief of staff, you call General Zeitzler immediately, tell him what I mean, and ask how long it will take to complete these troops. rebuilding work."

  The chief of staff did not dare to neglect, so he quickly called the headquarters of the general staff in Berlin and relayed Manstein's meaning to the chief of staff, General Zeitzler.

After hearing what the chief of staff conveyed, Zeitzler couldn't help but start to worry: "Mr. Chief of Staff, it stands to reason that I shouldn't refuse Marshal Manstein's request, but our current strength is surprising, and the situation of weapons and equipment It is not ideal either, and it is very difficult to rebuild these forces in a short period of time."

The chief of staff waited for Zeitzler to finish speaking, and said reluctantly: "General Zeitzler, Your Excellency the Marshal asked me to tell you that once the Russians capture Kharkov, their next combat goal is to forcibly cross the Dnieper River. Take the whole of Ukraine. If these troops wiped out by the Russians cannot be rebuilt as soon as possible, we will not have enough troops to resist the Russian attack. There will be serious consequences at that time, even if I don’t say it, in your heart It should be clear too."

Zeitzler was silent. He knew very well in his heart that Manstein's request was not excessive at all. If he did not rebuild the troops lost in the fortress operation as soon as possible, then in the next battle, his own side would suffer due to insufficient troops. And suffer. He pondered for a long time, and finally said cautiously: "Mr. Chief of Staff, I will convey the meaning of Marshal Manstein to the Führer, and I believe the Führer will make proper arrangements."

"Also, General Zeitzler." Seeing that Zeitzler agreed to report the matter to the Mustache Führer, the chief of staff went on to say: "Manstein thinks we should build the Dnieper River defense line to prevent the Russians from capturing After Kharkov, they tried to cross the Dnieper, and we couldn't stop them without a line of defense."

"Chief of Staff, this matter is a bit difficult." Zeitzler thought that Manstein's proposal to rebuild the annihilated troops would be very difficult, but he didn't expect what happened next, which made him feel even more headache: " I know that the Dnieper River defense line was proposed by Marshal Manstein as early as the beginning of this year. But unfortunately, the Supreme Command has not yet reached a unified opinion on whether to build the Dnieper River defense line..."

   Seeing that his chief of staff had been entangled with Zeitzler, Manstein walked over and took the microphone from the chief of staff, and said bluntly, "General Zeitzler, I am Manstein."

   "Hello, Your Excellency Marshal!"

"General Zeitzler, you are right. I proposed the construction of the Dnieper River defense line in the first half of the year. It was only because the Russian attack was crushed by me that this matter was shelved." Manstein said in a tone. Sternly said: "The situation today is more critical than at the beginning of the year. The matter of building the Dnieper River defense line must be put on the agenda immediately, otherwise we will wait until the Russians capture Kharkov and launch an attack on the Dnieper River before we want to build a defense line." It's too late."

  Manstein’s words moved Zeitzler: “Your Excellency, Marshal, please tell me the truth, has the situation on the battlefield really reached such a bad point?”

"General Zeitzler, I don't want to hide anything from you. The Russians are now stronger than we imagined." Manstein said with a serious expression: "From the end of the fortress project to the present, they have only rested for less than ten years. Within a few days, they attacked Kharkov and captured the city with ease. Before long, they will attack Kharkov again, and the city’s fall is only a matter of time.”

"But Your Excellency Marshal," Zeitzler recalled that in the last call, Mustache had promised to draw troops from the Central Army Group to strengthen the defense of Kharkov. Could it be that Manstein has no confidence in this situation? Hold Kharkov? He asked with such doubts: "Do you really think our army can't defend Kharkov?"

  (end of this chapter)