Upon learning that the German army was moving south in a large scale, Zhukov immediately ordered the troops of the 61st Group Army to launch a small-scale attack in some residential areas or villages occupied by the German army in the northeast of Izyum. This action of the Soviet army caused doubts in the German army.
After learning the news, Manstein immediately ordered the 57th and 48th Armored Corps, which were moving south, to stop their advance in the Izyum area. At the same time, he called General Huot, who commanded these two troops: "Huot General Special, according to intelligence, the Russians are very active in the northeast of Izyum. You must prevent them from launching a sudden attack and attacking the left wing of your department."
The attack by Huot's troops on Kharkov and Belgorod was going smoothly. However, when he suddenly received this call from Manstein, Huot was still very depressed. Knowing that his left wing might be attacked by the Russians, he suggested to Manstein: "Your Excellency, Marshal, in order to prevent the Russians from attacking Izyum, I suggest that my troops stay here temporarily. Indeed, we will decide how to mobilize them after the situation becomes clear.”
"No, General Hoth." Manstein said to Hoth in an unquestionable tone: "Now Hauser's three SS divisions have just suffered a heavy blow from the Russians, and are in a state of low morale and disorganized military morale. If you don’t rush over to reinforce them as soon as possible, I’m worried that they will collapse immediately if they are attacked by the Russians again.”
Holt felt that Manstein's statement was a bit exaggerated. In any case, how could these three SS divisions, which had defeated tens of thousands of Russian troops, suddenly suffer huge losses? Thinking of this, he quickly asked Manstein: "Marshal, do you think it was Hausser who lied about the military situation? In fact, he wanted to preserve his own strength, so he asked you to send my troops to go head-to-head with the Russians?"
"General Holt, the situation you mentioned does not exist at all." Manstein said unhappily: "Besides, for such a big matter, even if Hausser and his three division commanders want to hide something, we can Learn the truth through fixed intelligence channels.”
"So, General Hausser's three SS divisions were really defeated by the Russians?" At this time, Holt was still dubious about what Manstein said: "But those damn Russians, How is this done?”
The three most elite SS divisions under his command were actually defeated by a Guards division of the Soviet army. For Manstein, it was also an extremely shameful thing. However, he felt that he should tell the truth to some of his important generals, lest they be dazzled by victory: "I am ashamed to say that the troops that defeated Hauser's three SS divisions were the Guards commanded by Sokov. 41st Division.”
"What, one division defeated three of our divisions? And it was the three most elite divisions?" Hotter suddenly went crazy when he heard what Manstein said: "This is simply incredible."
"Based on my research on Sokov, I found that he is very different from other Russian commanders." Manstein said with emotion: "His tactics are always emerging in endlessly, and we finally came up with a tactic to deal with him. When the time comes, he can quickly introduce new tactics to make us miserable.
This time when our three divisions faced one of his divisions, to tell you the truth, I felt that it was only a matter of time before they were eliminated. But what happened next was beyond my expectation. Not only did our troops fail to annihilate him, on the contrary, they suffered heavy losses under his attack. "
Hearing Manstein praise Sokov, Holt felt a little sour in his heart. After all, his subordinates had suffered losses under Sokov. He asked tentatively: "Is Sokov really that powerful? ?”
"Yes, it's quite powerful." Manstein said with certainty: "I reviewed his battle process on the map today. I found that not only what he did, it may cause heavy losses to the troops. But in fact, even if Cove’s troops suffered very few casualties, estimated at two to three thousand casualties.”
"What, he only suffered two or three thousand casualties?" Holt couldn't believe his ears: "Our army was in a defensive position, and the number of casualties reached more than 10,000. But as the attacking party, he suffered so many casualties. Little, this is incredible.”
"He is a great commander." Manstein continued: "As time goes by, I think that even if he is not as good as Zhukov, he can at least be on par with famous Russian generals like Rokossovsky."
…………
Sokov didn't know that Manstein and Holt were talking about him. While he was studying the defense situation with his subordinates, he sneezed more than a dozen times inexplicably.
Witkov on the side quickly asked with concern: "Comrade Commander, are you feeling unwell? Do you need me to call the military doctor over to check it for you?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, thank you for your kindness." Sokov politely replied: "I'm not sick, maybe I'm allergic. I'll be fine soon." He pointed to the map and said to Vitkov, "Staff Commander, I think the artillery division should be deployed on this issue, so as to provide sufficient artillery cover for the infantry brothers at the front."
"Comrade Commander, we now have a lot of tanks and artillery." After Vitkov waited for Sokov to complete the deployment, he raised his concerns: "However, there is a shortage of ammunition and fuel."
"What, there is a shortage of ammunition and fuel?" Sokov suddenly broke into a cold sweat when he heard what Vitkov said. If this problem is not solved, his troops will have no choice but to sit back and wait for death when the enemy's attack begins. He quickly asked: "Chief of Staff, have you reported this matter to the Front Army Headquarters?"
"It has been reflected." Vitkov nodded and replied: "According to the original plan, a batch of supplies arrived in Luhansk in the past two days, and then were transferred here from Luhansk. But because General Shumilov The 64th Group Army is being ordered to head west, so many trains and supplies have been temporarily requisitioned by them."
"Hell, it's really a hell." He learned that his urgently needed trains and supplies had been requisitioned by other troops. But Sokov was helpless and quickly ordered the telegraph operator: "Send a telegram to the front army headquarters and report the situation we are facing to our superiors."
The telegram sent by Sokov was soon placed in front of Rokossovsky. After seeing the telegram, he slapped the table hard and asked Ma Lining: "Chief of Staff, what's going on? Why didn't you report to me and just transfer the materials allocated to the combat group without authorization? Don't you know, If they don't have enough ammunition and fuel, they can't fight the Germans."
"Comrade Commander, regarding the deployment of this batch of supplies, the decision was made directly by Moscow's logistics force, bypassing us." Seeing that Rokossovsky was angry, Malinin quickly explained to him: "I just found out too This happened not long ago.”
"Comrade Chief of Staff, tell us what we should do?" Rokossovsky said angrily: "The main reason why the Southwestern Front Army and the Voronezh Front Army were so embarrassed by the Germans was because of their logistics. Insufficient supplies. Especially Popov's rapid group. Due to insufficient fuel and ammunition, many tanks were not lost in the battle, but our commanders and fighters blew them up themselves in order to prevent these equipment from falling into the hands of the Germans. . I don’t want to see a similar tragedy happen to Sokov’s combat group.”
Hearing what Rokossovsky said, Malinin expressed his position and said: "Comrade Commander, we still have some supplies in the logistics warehouse. I think they can be sent to Sokov's troops first."
"That's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." Regarding Malinin's arrangement, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction and said: "As long as the troops commanded by Sokov have enough ammunition and fuel, then No matter how many enemies there are, they won't be able to make him take even one step back."
"Comrade Commander, I very much agree with your statement." Malinin smiled and said to Rokossovsky: "A few days ago, we gathered all the transport planes and sent them a batch of rockets. They used these rockets to kill tens of thousands of Germans, so that the three most elite SS divisions of the German army could only huddle in the Barvinkovo area and did not dare to move easily. They were deeply afraid that if they made a move, they would will be attacked by Sokov's troops again."
"It seems that in the battles in the past few days, Misha scared the Germans." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "Maybe one day in the future, when the Germans hear Sokov's name, they will probably Retreat without a fight.”
"By the way, is there any movement in Zhukov's place?"
"According to the intelligence I received, Marshal Zhukov ordered the troops of the 61st Group Army to launch a small-scale counterattack against some residential areas and villages occupied by the Germans in the northeast of Izyum." Malinin reported to Rokossovsky. : "Their offensive was still very effective. The German army not only sent an armored division to the northeast of Izyum, but also dispatched the 57th and 48th Armored Corps south from the direction of Kharkov."
Malinin picked up the red and blue pencils on the table, drew a circle on each of the place names Barvinkovo and Izyum, and said to Rokossovsky: "But I estimate that the results achieved by Sokov's Ministry are This greatly deters the enemy, who will become cautious in their actions. They may soon temporarily stop in the Barvinkovo and Izyum areas and redeploy to decide whether to take an offensive or defensive position against our troops."
"Misha is really amazing." Looking at the situation map of the enemy and ourselves on the map, Rokossovsky couldn't help saying with emotion: "You know, he only used one to complete the task that we couldn't complete with hundreds of thousands of troops. Division, we will firmly contain more than 100,000 or 200,000 enemies in Barvinkovo and Izyum."
"Comrade Commander," Malinin asked cautiously: "Do you think that this time the German army's attempt to retake Kharkov has been completely blocked, and your superiors will promote him to the rank again?"
Regarding Malinin's question, Rokossovsky thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "I don't think it is possible. Despite his great military achievements, it is a pity that he is still too young. The Supreme Commander himself will definitely have to examine him for a while or two. It will take years to be promoted to his military rank."
"That's such a pity." After hearing Rokossovsky's answer, Malinin couldn't help but said with disappointment: "I thought that after this, the superiors would entrust him with important tasks while promoting him to the military rank. He went to command an army group."
"I have already said that he is too young. Although he has many clever ideas in fighting, he lacks the experience of commanding a large corps." Rokossovsky shook his head and said, "If he is rashly appointed as the commander of the group army, , I’m worried that it will harm him instead.”
"I heard that before the end of the Battle of Stalingrad, he proposed to Chuikov that as soon as the battle was over, he would go to the Frunze Military Academy to study. But I don't know what happened later. He went to the Military Academy to study. It’s ruined.”
"The main reason is that the situation on the battlefield is very unfavorable to our army. The role he can play if he stays on the battlefield is far better than staying in the military academy."
Rokossovsky said this and ordered Malinin: "Chief of Staff, you immediately send a telegram to Misha and tell him that we will distribute the materials in the front army's inventory to him. If he has any difficulties, just ask us. come out."
After recording Rokossovsky's order, Malinin compiled a telegram and immediately ordered the operator to send it to Sokov.
After receiving the telegram, Sokov felt a lot more at ease when he saw that Rokossovsky planned to use the inventory of supplies of the Front Army. He said to Vitkov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if this batch of supplies allocated by the Front Army Headquarters, If it can be transported to our defense area in time, no matter how many enemies come, I will be sure to block their attack."
Vitkov said with some concern: "Comrade Commander, according to regulations, the materials stored in the front army cannot be distributed to the troops without permission from the Supreme Command. Tell me, Rokossov Could this telegram from General Ski be intended to comfort us?”
"No," Sokov shook his head and said, "I believe General Rokossovsky will not deceive us on such an important matter. You know, we may be attacked by the German army at any time. , if we don’t have enough supplies, there will be no way to stop the enemy. Once we are broken through by the German army, then there will be no danger within hundreds of kilometers behind us. The enemy may rush towards Stalingrad again in one go. At that time, the city will face a new fierce battle."
"Well, Comrade Commander, since you said so, I'm relieved." Vitkov took the telegram from Malinin, stood up and said to Sokov: "I immediately called several division commanders to tell them Telling them the news that the supplies are about to arrive will give them peace of mind and avoid pestering me for things all day long.”
