"Comrade Commander," Major General Bilyuzov paused for a moment and asked tentatively when Tolbukhin did not speak: "How should we deal with these enemies?"
Tolbukhin was drawing on the map with a red and blue pencil. When he heard his chief of staff ask this question, he asked without raising his head: "What do you think?"
Bilyuzov didn't know Tolbukhin's real intention, so he could only say cautiously: "Comrade Commander, judging from the air force reconnaissance situation, this German unit must be going to reinforce Kharkov. If they are allowed to
Smoothly entering Kharkov will make our army's battle to capture Kharkov more difficult."
Tolbukhin stood up straight, threw the pencil in his hand on the table, and said decisively: "Whether the enemy is going to reinforce Kharkov or not, we cannot let them go easily. Immediately notify Nao of the 4th Air Force Group Army
Air Force Major General Nako ordered him to dispatch reconnaissance planes to conduct reconnaissance in areas where the enemy was found. Once it is confirmed that a large-scale enemy is marching, bombers will be immediately dispatched to attack the marching queue."
After hearing Tolbukhin's instructions, Bilyuzov replied resoundingly: "Yes, Comrade Commander, I immediately called Major General Naunako Air Force and asked him to send reconnaissance planes for reconnaissance and dispatch bombers to attack the march.
The Germans carried out bombings."
After saying that, Bilyuzov grabbed the phone on the table and said loudly into the receiver: "I am Major General Bilyuzov. Please pick me up from the headquarters of the 4th Air Force Army and ask for Air Force Major General Naunako."
The call was quickly connected, and the voice of Major General Naunako came from the receiver: "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, what instructions does the superior have for us?"
"General Naunako," Major General Bilyuzov said into the microphone: "Please immediately send more reconnaissance planes to conduct further reconnaissance in the area where the German marching column was discovered."
"Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army," Naunako said immediately after Bilyuzov finished speaking: "After I reported the reconnaissance results, in order to verify whether the pilot's information was accurate, I dispatched several more reconnaissance planes.
Conduct reconnaissance of the area."
Knowing that the Air Force had taken the lead, Biruzov asked with some surprise: "General Naunako, what are the latest reconnaissance results?"
Naunako paused for a moment and asked the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, have the pilots sent out come back?"
"No, Comrade Commander." The Air Force Chief of Staff reported to Naunako: "It will take at least twenty minutes before the latest report is fed back."
After Naunako figured out the situation, he reported to Bilyuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army, my subordinates may have to wait until twenty minutes before the latest reconnaissance information can be fed back."
"I understand. As soon as you have the latest intelligence, report it to the front headquarters immediately." After Bilyuzov said this, he added: "As soon as it is confirmed that there is a large-scale enemy march, you will immediately send bombers.
The formation heads to the area and bombs the enemies on the ground, absolutely not allowing them to enter Kharkov smoothly."
"Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff of the Front Army." Seeing that the order conveyed by Bilyuzov coincided with the battle plan he had conceived, Naunako quickly replied loudly: "Our aerial bombs and machine gun bullets,
It will leave a deep impression on the Germans."
When Bilyuzov put down the phone, Tolbukhin suddenly said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think just dispatching the air force will cause limited losses to the enemy. It is better to send ground troops to attack and give the enemy a greater impact."
Killings. Which unit is closest to the German marching route?"
"It's Lieutenant General Starikov's 8th Army."
Tolbukhin said: "Immediately order General Starikov's troops to move to the area, and once our air strikes begin, they will attack the enemy."
Regarding the order issued by Tolbukhin, Bilyuzov cautiously reminded him: "Comrade Commander, the enemy's march has armored units, but Lieutenant General Starikov's 8th Army lacks
With anti-tank weapons, it is still very difficult to completely annihilate the enemy."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you reminded me a lot." After Tolbukhin stared at the map for a while, he nodded slightly and said, "Then you give orders to the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Group Armies.
, let them mobilize their idle troops and rush to the area as quickly as possible to participate in the encirclement and annihilation operations against the German army."
As a series of orders were issued, the various armies of the Southern Front took active action and began to move troops towards the area where the German army was marching. The Air Force Commander, Major General Naunako, after confirming the location of the German army, immediately
The 219th Bombardment Aviation Division and the 230th Assault Aviation Division were dispatched to carry out air raid missions.
The marching German troops immediately began to disperse and hide when they saw the Soviet fighter planes appearing in the sky. The infantrymen left the road one after another and hid in the ravines or forests on the roadside. However, the tanks, armored vehicles and trucks driving on the road could not escape in the shortest possible time.
Within a short period of time, he hid in a safe place and became the target of Soviet bombers and attack aircraft.
After the first round of attacks, the road was full of burning tanks, armored vehicles and trucks, as well as corpses scattered everywhere. Some shivering German soldiers hiding in the ravines saw the attack planes and bombers swooping down from the sky, and suddenly a thought came to their mind.
A familiar feeling emerged, but in the past it was their air force that was bombing the Soviet army, but now it happened to be adjusted, it was the Soviet fighter planes that were bombing them, and they could only hide in a place where they felt safe and let nature take its course.
The Soviet planes in the sky had just left. Before the German troops coming out of the forests and ravines could complete their formation, there was another dense sound of gunfire nearby. This was the leading unit of the 10th Infantry Corps under the 8th Group Army, heading towards the rear.
German troops launched an attack.
Although the German army paid a heavy price in the air raid that ended not long ago, they still relied on the crude terrain to resist stubbornly when faced with the Soviet troops catching up from behind. Facing the German resistance, the Soviet troops launched the attack.
The 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 appeared over the battlefield again. The pilots bombed and strafed areas with strong enemy firepower to destroy the German resistance and assist the offensive forces in breaking through the temporary German defense lines.
Whenever they saw the enemy gathering somewhere, the Soviet attack planes and bombers would swoop down there, dropping bombs and strafing. When an aerial bomb fell, it would blow up the group of enemies to pieces; a string of bullets would hit them.
When we got down, the firepower point where the enemy was shooting wildly became mute immediately.
The Soviet commander who directed the troops to attack saw some clues from the tactics of the Air Force. Knowing that the planes in the sky were guiding and covering their attack, he ordered the troops to attack at the attack point of the planes. Often, the planes had just bombed and the result was
Groups of Soviet commanders and soldiers rushed forward, drowning the remaining German officers and soldiers in a hail of bullets.
The German troops who had been bombed by the Soviet army originally fought on their own. Now faced with the Soviet ground and air coordination, they were suddenly confused. They had no intention of continuing to resist, so they adopted the tactic of fighting and retreating, heading towards
Retreat in the direction of Kharkov, hoping to escape.
After the reserve force dispatched from Donbas encountered an air attack, the commander immediately reported the situation to Manstein via radio and asked the other party to send air force reinforcements.
After Manstein learned about 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 on the way. If they did not provide them with air support as soon as possible, even if they
If we barely reach Kharkov, we will probably suffer a heavy loss of energy and vitality, and I'm afraid it won't be of much use in holding Kharkov by then.
After thinking of this, Manstein quickly ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, call our air force immediately and order the fighter jets to take off immediately to expel the Russian air force that attacked my reinforcements and cover the smooth arrival of our troops.
Kharkiv.”
When the Chief of Staff learned that the reserve force departing from Donbass was attacked by Soviet air raids, he was also frightened to death. At this moment, after hearing Manstein's order, he quickly and loudly replied: "Understood, Marshal, I will inform you immediately."
Air Force, let them send out fighter jets to drive the damn Russian Air Force away from the battlefield and cover our reinforcements' smooth entry into Kharkov."
As soon as the German fighter planes appeared on the battlefield, the Soviet attack planes quickly approached them and started a fight with the enemy planes. One to two hundred planes from both sides flew up and down in the air, attacking each other, and the fight was fierce.
Almost. Since the Soviet Air Force had to deal with enemy aircraft appearing on the battlefield, it weakened the intensity of its ground attacks, giving the Germans a chance to breathe.
The German commander left some troops to block the Soviet 10th Infantry Corps, and quickly withdrew to Kharkov with the main force. He only hoped to escape to a safe area before the outcome of the air battle was decided.
Knowing that the enemy was about to flee, Tolbukhin immediately ordered the chief of staff to give orders to the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Group Armies. In addition to following and pursuing the enemy, Tolbukhin must also intercept the enemy in the direction of advancement.
The troops who received the order immediately divided their labor and cooperated. Some joined the pursuit force of the 10th Infantry Corps, while others attacked railway stations and bus stations on the enemy's path, destroying the trains and cars inside, making it impossible for the enemy to obtain transportation.
Unable to evacuate the battlefield quickly.
The retreating enemy found that their way forward had been blocked by the Soviet army, and the trains and cars prepared to transport troops were either captured or destroyed by the Soviet army. Even if there were no Soviet troops blocking the road ahead, they would not be able to obtain enough
A means of transportation to transport huge troops.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, it's not good." Manstein's chief of staff received this discouraging information and immediately reported to Manstein: "The Russians blocked the way of our reinforcements, and they attacked the troops on their way forward.
railway stations and bus stations, and the trains and cars stored in the stations were seized and destroyed, preventing our reinforcements from obtaining sufficient means of transportation to transport troops."
Manstein did not speak, but stared at the map on the wall, carefully thinking about what the reinforcements should do next.
Seeing that Manstein did not speak, his chief of staff added: "Your Excellency, Marshal, would you like to give General Hott an order to send armored troops 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 bomb my reinforcements indiscriminately?
What? If you order General Hott to send out armored troops at this time to rescue the troops under attack, doesn’t that mean you’re asking them to die?”
The chief of staff's face turned red. He only thought about rescuing the troops setting off from Donbas, but he forgot that the air supremacy on the battlefield was basically in the hands of the Soviet army. If the dispatched armored troops could not get enough
If there is air cover, then it can only become the target of Soviet fighter planes. Maybe the troops under attack are not rescued, and the troops rushing from Kharkov to support are also included.
"Then what should we do?" the chief of staff murmured: "Are we just going to watch this unit 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 certain location on the map a few times, "From the troops
Judging from the current situation, it is obviously unrealistic for them to continue to advance towards Kharkov. In order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, they are ordered to turn around and return to their original starting point."
"Return to the original starting point?" The chief of staff came down in a cold sweat: "Marshal, there are Russians constantly attacking behind them. In other words, if they want to turn back, it means they must carry out a breakout operation."
"Yes, it is better to break through to the south than to let them continue north to Kharkov and die." Manstein pointed at the map with his explanatory stick and said to his chief of staff: "The Russians blocking them now are
Not only did they occupy the train stations and bus stations along the way, capture and destroy all means of transportation, but a steady stream of troops arrived. If they continue to order the troops to go north to Kharkov, they will break through more obstacles established by the Russians.
Line of defense. Do you understand?"
After Manstein's analysis, the chief of staff also felt that the only chance of survival was to go south, so he rushed to the communications room and sent Manstein's order in the form of a telegram to the commanders of the troops.
Not long after the telegram was sent, there were several thunders in the air, and then huge raindrops fell from the sky. It didn't take long for it to turn 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. His mood was like bad weather, extremely gloomy.