Starikov had long received orders from the front army headquarters, but the reason why he had not mobilized his troops was because of heavy rain and limited visibility. If he sent troops hastily, it might cause unnecessary chaos. Therefore, he decided that it would not be too late to let the troops set off after the heavy rain stopped.
In his understanding, heavy rains of this scale usually don't last too long. The rain will gradually become lighter in half an hour at most, and it will stop completely within two hours. The German army, which was blocked in front and pursued in the rear, was now at the end of its defense. Even if it sent troops two hours late, it would not have any adverse impact on the battle situation.
But God is not as good as man. The rainstorm lasted for more than an hour before it began to gradually weaken. The 10th Infantry Corps, which was responsible for the pursuit mission, was unexpectedly attacked by the Germans before they could even dig up the fortifications. , the enemy was calculated mentally and unintentionally, and it was strange that the unprepared troops could block it.
Sending troops for reinforcements at this moment, although it is a little late, is better than nothing. But after hearing the reminder from the chief of staff, Starikov realized that the original plan needed to be slightly adjusted. If we are still attacking the enemy at this moment, then an infantry division plus a tank brigade should not be a big problem.
But now among the two infantry divisions chasing the German army, one of them has been disrupted by the enemy, and the remaining one is also struggling to support itself. If we still follow the original plan and only send one infantry division and one tank brigade for reinforcements, The military strength does appear to be a bit weak.
"Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Under the current circumstances, if we still follow the original order and send out an infantry division and a tank brigade, the strength of the troops will indeed be a bit less." Starikov, who is always good-hearted, asked himself Chief of Staff: "Which other unit is closest to the fighting site?"
The chief of staff looked at the map and reported to Starikov: "The location of a division of the 12th Mechanized Corps and the 9th Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade is less than ten kilometers away from the battle site. If they are ordered to set off immediately, it will be completely We can rush to the fighting area within an hour.”
"Okay then," Starikov said: "In addition to the infantry division and tank brigade departing as planned, we will also order the 12th Mechanized Corps to deploy a division and the 9th anti-tank artillery brigade to rush to the battle area to support."
When the infantry reinforcements were being mobilized in full swing, Starikov felt it was necessary to report what happened to Tolbukhin so that the other party could be mentally prepared.
When Tolbukhin learned that the call was from Starikov, he quickly took the phone from Bilyuzov and asked with a smile: "General Starikov, are you calling me?" What good news is coming?”
After a brief silence, Starikov's deep voice came from the receiver: "I'm sorry, Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I think I brought you bad news."
"Bad news? What bad news?"
"The enemy launched a counterattack against my troops without any warning. One of my infantry divisions has been defeated, while the other division is still struggling to hold on."
After hearing this, the smile on Tolbukhin's face gradually disappeared, and he could not accept this reality for a while. It was his own troops who were blocking the front and chasing the German army. Seeing that the enemy was about to be destroyed, Starikov told himself that the troops on the southern front had suffered heavy losses due to the enemy's counterattack.
Although he knew that Starikov could not deceive him about this kind of thing, he still took a chance and asked: "General Starikov, are you telling the truth, or are you kidding me?"
After listening to Tolbukhin's question, Starikov replied in a panic: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, what I reported to you are all facts, and I am absolutely not joking. Besides, I don't know how to deal with such a major matter." Dare to joke."
After confirming that the enemy had launched a counterattack on the southern front, Tolbukhin's expression became solemn and he suddenly asked with a straight face: "General Starikov, what measures have you taken?"
"In addition to mobilizing an infantry division and a tank brigade to rush over for reinforcements in accordance with the order of the front army headquarters, I will also transfer a division of the 12th Mechanized Army and the 9th Anti-tank Artillery Brigade to the area."
"General Starikov, you did the right thing." Tolbukhin was still very satisfied with Starikov's remedial measures. After all, his troops were cooperating with the troops of the Southwest Front to attack Dunton. Bath's enemies have a limited number of troops they can mobilize. In addition, it is raining and the air force cannot be dispatched. Whether they can stop the enemies trying to retreat to Donbass depends on the performance of the commanders and fighters of the 8th Group Army: "Whether they can stop the enemies depends entirely on you."
"Comrade Commander of the Front Army," Starikov breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Tolbukhin did not blame him. He expressed his position to the other party: "We will definitely do our best to block the enemy from the south. No matter what, Let them return to Donbass.”
Tolbukhin knew that if the enemy returned to Donbas, it would have a great impact on the subsequent battle, so he told Starikov: "General Starikov, you must do your best to stop the enemy. Prevent them from returning to Donbas." In order to let Starikov have no worries, he also specifically added, "Don't worry, you are not fighting alone. I will soon order the 2nd, 5th and 5th troops on the northern line. The 17th Army attacks the enemy to relieve the pressure on you."
As soon as the call with Starikov ended, Tolbukhin said to Bilyuzov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the situation has changed. The enemy will no longer continue to advance in the direction of Kharkov, but will turn around and try to return. Donbass.”
Bilyuzov vaguely heard some conversations between Tolbukhin and Starikov, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Commander, shall we order the three armies on the northern front to attack the enemy now? "
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tolbukhin nodded and said in a positive tone: "Let the three armies on the northern front launch an attack, forcing the Germans to divide their forces to deal with them, thereby reducing the burden borne by the 8th Army. The pressure allowed General Starikov's troops to hold out longer."
Not long after, the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Group Armies received calls from Biruzov one after another. They learned that the German troops they had intercepted would no longer continue to move north, but would attack southward. Now the 8th Group Army was When the group army was in danger, they couldn't help but be frightened.
The commander of the 5th Army, Lieutenant General Polenov, seeing that his troops were closest to the Germans, immediately called the commander of the 133rd Infantry Division and the 20th Tank Brigade, and ordered them to immediately attack the Germans.
After the tank brigade commander waited for Polenov to finish speaking, he took the lead in raising the question in his mind: "Comrade Commander, this heavy rain has made the road muddy. If our tanks are to be put into battle, they may be slow to move. We need to We know that during an attack, if a tank moves too slowly, it will become a target for enemy anti-tank crews."
"Comrade Colonel," Polenov didn't wait for the other party to finish speaking, raised his hand to interrupt him, and said impatiently: "I understand what you said, but if our offensive force does not have the cover of tanks, it will It's difficult to break through the enemy's defense line, do you understand?" After he finished saying this, he saw the embarrassed expression on the tank brigade commander's face, and then added in a slower tone, "Don't worry, I will let the infantry follow the tank, so Before the enemy anti-tank crews could get close to the tank, the infantry following the tank could eliminate them."
The troops of the 5th Army were closest to the German army, and the attack on the German army began shortly after Polenov's order was issued. The commanders and fighters of the 133rd Infantry Division, following the tanks of the 20th Tank Brigade, rushed towards the German defense line in the distance.
As the heavy rain had made the road muddy, the infantry following the tanks were soon turned into "mud figures" by the mud raised by the tracks. However, the soldiers did not stop and wiped it away with their hands. With mud on his face, he continued to follow the tank and rush towards the German defense line.
Seeing the Soviet troops rushing over, the German troops hiding in simple fortifications began to fight back. Machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in the foxholes fired at the same time, and the dense bullets jingled on the armor plates of the Soviet tanks. Occasionally, some ricochet bullets would hit the Soviet soldiers following the tanks.
At this time, the Soviet tank would stop and slowly rotate the turret to aim at the German firepower point. A single blast can take out the enemy's firepower point; if it fails, it doesn't matter, just add another shot.
After taking out the enemy's fire points, the tanks will continue to lead the infantry to charge forward. They will not stop again until new fire points emerge, and use tank artillery to blast away these fire points that threaten the infantry.
The main force of the German army has been transferred to the south, and the force in the north has become weak at this moment. Facing the Soviet offensive, they could only use the tactic of fighting and retreating to slow down the Soviet advance and buy precious time for the troops breaking out from the south.
It has to be said that in such bad weather, the German army's tactics are very limited. Because the rain kept falling, the visibility on both sides was very low. The attacking side had to slow down to avoid accidentally falling into the enemy's encirclement, so the advancement was extremely slow.
The German troops on the northern front are defending, while the German troops on the southern front are desperately attacking, trying to open a road to Donbass in the shortest possible time and withdraw as many troops as possible to this area.
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Tolbukhin nodded and said in a positive tone: "Let the three armies on the northern front launch an attack, forcing the Germans to divide their forces to deal with them, thereby reducing the burden borne by the 8th Army. The pressure allowed General Starikov's troops to hold out longer."
Not long after, the commanders of the 2nd, 5th and 17th Group Armies received calls from Biruzov one after another. They learned that the German troops they had intercepted would no longer continue to move north, but would attack southward. Now the 8th Group Army was When the group army was in danger, they couldn't help but be frightened.
The commander of the 5th Army, Lieutenant General Polenov, seeing that his troops were closest to the Germans, immediately called the commander of the 133rd Infantry Division and the 20th Tank Brigade, and ordered them to immediately attack the Germans.
After the tank brigade commander waited for Polenov to finish speaking, he took the lead in raising the question in his mind: "Comrade Commander, this heavy rain has made the road muddy. If our tanks are to be put into battle, they may be slow to move. We need to We know that during an attack, if a tank moves too slowly, it will become a target for enemy anti-tank crews."
"Comrade Colonel," Polenov didn't wait for the other party to finish speaking, raised his hand to interrupt him, and said impatiently: "I understand what you said, but if our offensive force does not have the cover of tanks, it will It's difficult to break through the enemy's defense line, do you understand?" After he finished saying this, he saw the embarrassed expression on the tank brigade commander's face, and then added in a slower tone, "Don't worry, I will let the infantry follow the tank, so Before the enemy anti-tank crews could get close to the tank, the infantry following the tank could eliminate them."
The troops of the 5th Army were closest to the German army, and the attack on the German army began shortly after Polenov's order was issued. The commanders and fighters of the 133rd Infantry Division, following the tanks of the 20th Tank Brigade, rushed towards the German defense line in the distance.
As the heavy rain had made the road muddy, the infantry following the tanks were soon turned into "mud figures" by the mud raised by the tracks. However, the soldiers did not stop and wiped it away with their hands. With mud on his face, he continued to follow the tank and rush towards the German defense line.
Seeing the Soviet troops rushing over, the German troops hiding in simple fortifications began to fight back. Machine guns, submachine guns and rifles in the foxholes fired at the same time, and the dense bullets jingled on the armor plates of the Soviet tanks. Occasionally, some ricochet bullets would hit the Soviet soldiers following the tanks.
At this time, the Soviet tank would stop and slowly rotate the turret to aim at the German firepower point. A single blast can take out the enemy's firepower point; if it fails, it doesn't matter, just add another shot.
After taking out the enemy's fire points, the tanks will continue to lead the infantry to charge forward. They will not stop again until new fire points emerge, and use tank artillery to blast away these fire points that threaten the infantry.
The main force of the German army has been transferred to the south, and the force in the north has become weak at this moment. Facing the Soviet offensive, they could only use the tactic of fighting and retreating to slow down the Soviet army's advance and buy precious time for the troops breaking out from the south.
It has to be said that in such bad weather, the German army's tactics are very limited. Because the rain kept falling, the visibility on both sides was very low. The attacking side had to slow down to avoid accidentally falling into the enemy's encirclement, so the advancement was extremely slow.
The German troops on the northern front are defending, while the German troops on the southern front are desperately attacking, trying to open a road to Donbass in the shortest possible time and withdraw as many troops as possible to this area.
