Seven Hundred and Nineteenth Teeth

Sure enough, the news came more than ten minutes later. The entire 1st Panzer Army, as well as the 3rd SS Panzer Division and other troops all went south, preparing to launch a new round of attacks on Igyum, not the dangerous Harko husband.

The German army's main force, Group G, was like a wolf king with a super sensitive sense of smell, sniffing lightly in front of the trap, and then left the disguised danger without even looking back.

Guderian ordered the troops to attack Ijum, so the main force of the German army began to go south. Their attack was beyond everyone's expectations. Changed the direction of his attack.

For a while, the Soviet Red Army deployed near Izyum was in a mess. Without any decent resistance, the German army took advantage of the situation and took this important city. Then the German armored forces began to appear in Kupyan on a large scale. There was Severodonetsk near Sk, and Model's infantry group army began to storm Slavyansk. For a while, the deception of the German army going north was lifted, and the entire southern group began to go south frantically.

"General! General! Severodonetsk is urgent! The main force of the German army did not attack Kharkov, but turned a corner there and went south!" A staff officer rushed into Zhukov's office in panic with a message , startled the general who was studying military maps behind his desk. Zhukov looked up, obviously a little bit in disbelief that such a thing would happen.

A few minutes ago, he was still studying how to hold back the German offensive in Kharkov, and how to make Timoshenko resist tenaciously in Kharkov, buying time for the entire Soviet Northern Army and also providing armor for the main German army The troops dug a huge grave. But now it seems that all of this is just a joke. The German army seems to have seen through his plan and did not continue to attack Kharkov northward.

"It's impossible!" This was Zhukov's first reaction. He subjectively judged that the German army could not give up the plan to attack Kharkov, or he never thought that the Germans would give up such a huge monster that had been swallowed in his mouth. A piece of fat: "If the Germans give up Kharkov and don't go north, won't they give me the victory?"

What he asked makes sense. The only army that can threaten him is Guderian in the south. If this army has no intention of flanking him, then it is impossible to stop the Soviet occupation by relying on the e-group army to hold on to Kyiv. The mission of Kiev, once Kyiv is lost, even if the Germans occupy the Crimea and Donetsk, they will be surrounded by the Soviets in a huge encirclement. There is only one thing waiting for these German troops, and that is to perish.

The German army has higher-speed mobility than the Soviet Red Army, and it also has more powerful firepower and armored vehicles, but it also proves that the German army relies on logistical supplies more than any other army. Once the logistical supply base in Kyiv is occupied by the Soviet army, the logistical supply line will be cut off. , such an elite German tank unit would turn into a pile of scrap iron in an instant, not to mention exerting its power, it is God's blessing to be able to prevent it from becoming a burden.

Therefore,

Zhukov will be sure that the German army will go north and use the attack speed to take the lead in attacking, and after attacking Kharkov's threat to Minsk, he will force the Soviet army to give up its plan to attack Kyiv. This is the only chance for the German army to win under normal circumstances, so Zhukov laid a net in Kharkov so unswervingly, waiting for Guderian to take the bait himself.

It is a pity that Guderian is so unrestrained, so unrestrained that he really doesn't care about Liszt's life and death, regardless of the danger of the main forces of the three German armies on the southern front being encircled, so he made a gorgeous turn in Kharkov , rushed to Donetsk, which is important but irrelevant to the overall situation. This caught Zhukov a little off guard, and even a little worried.

He stood up, took the telegram sent by the staff, read it twice carefully, and then walked to the huge combat map hanging on the wall, raised his head and looked at Rokossovsky. In the position, he muttered in a low voice: "The Germans really believe that Liszt can hold the ground so firmly? Why do they believe him so much?"

"Is this kind of firm belief a pure gamble? Or is it that the head of state who can always perform miracles can really confirm that Liszt's e-group army can really block my entire offensive cluster?" Zhukov frowned, Repeatedly saying these things, walking in front of the map twice, holding his chin, he still couldn't get the point.

In his hand, he still held a powerful front guard army that was not used. Once this army was put into the offensive, then Liszt's front line of defense could last at most another 24 hours. By that time, between the Soviet army and Kyiv, There will be no obstacles at all, and there are still a few days to go to the Army Group A under Marshal Rundstedt on Zhukov's flank, and it will be too late to rescue the collapsed Army Group E.

However, such weird behavior of the Germans alerted Zhukov. Just like Guderian and other German generals saw through the Soviet army's plan, he also noticed the dangerous smell in the abnormal behavior of the German army.

"This is not gambling! No matter how crazy a person is, he would not dare to use all the chips in his hand to gamble on a disadvantageous game! The Germans' cards are not good, and they even say that there is a risk of losing at any time. Only fools bet at this time That's why I did it!" Zhukov gritted his teeth and said, "Their cards will definitely convince them that they have a better chance of winning! Definitely!"

"It's not Liszt! It's not the e-group army! They are sure to hold Kyiv, so they don't come to the rescue! I know how Guderian saw my plan! Because I didn't go to rescue Kharkov, they noticed it. Dangerous! It makes sense for them not to rescue Kyiv now!" Zhukov suddenly realized. He turned his gaze to Kyiv, which was already close at hand on the map, and then smiled with his mouth open. He also noticed the Germans' idea, which was to use Kyiv as a bait to capture the entire Zhukov cluster with more than 700,000 people Soviet Army.

What's interesting is that the two sides drew up almost the same plan in two different places. Except for the opposite direction of attack, they almost drew the same attack curve on the map, and the countermeasures turned out to be the same. I want to eat up the opponent's offensive force and solve the opponent's field armor force once and for all.

"Interesting! It's really interesting!" After laughing a few times, Zhukov clapped his palms twice, as if he was applauding the commander of the opponent, and also seemed to be happy that the attack plan he had drawn up had a good understanding.

However, seeing through the opponent's plan is one thing, and how to deal with the opponent's plan is another matter. The Germans saw through Zhukov's Kharkov trap, and the countermeasures they took were to abandon the bait in front of them, change the direction of attack, and avoid fighting with the Soviet Red Army.

Now the same question is in front of Zhukov, and how he chooses has become a key decision in the final outcome of this battle. Whether the Soviet Union, like the Germans, gave up its plan to attack Kyiv, or made other choices-it all depends on the commander-in-chief standing in front of the map in the Minsk command headquarters.

"If you retreat the same way, then the entire offensive group will be safe and sound, and the war can continue!" Zhukov took another step in front of the map. He walked back and forth, thinking over and over again the different consequences of different choices: "But Guderian's southward attack will cause Timoshenko to lose half of his troops, and at least 400,000 people will be surrounded in Donetsk, and we cannot bear this loss anyway!"

He walked to the other side of the map, looked at the position where the F Group Army commanded by the immovable German commander Kluge was stationed, and shook his head again to deny his idea of ​​changing the offensive route: Germany's F Group Army It's not a second-rate soldier like the Soviet Red Army in Donetsk. It is not easy to eat Klug's F Group Army in one go just like Guderian ate the Soviet Red Army in the direction of Donetsk thing. In case of a little delay, until the a group army arrives at a fixed position, it will really be completely over.

In other words, the only advantage Zhukov has now is that there is a time difference of about 3 to 4 days when attacking Kyiv. His situation fell from heaven to hell.

"Damn it, how did the German army have so many difficult generals and so many difficult troops without knowing it?" Zhukov complained bitterly, and then he called his adjutant and explained Said: "Send a telegram to Comrade Stalin! State the current situation of our army! Let Comrade Stalin make the decision, how should we choose!"

An hour later, Zhukov got the top-secret telegram from Moscow. After reading the above content, Zhukov smiled wryly, then lit a match himself, and burned the order from Moscow.

After that, he returned to his office, sat alone for more than ten minutes, and finally made a crazy decision: "The Germans were afraid at the most critical moment, and they chose to avoid difficulties! Our Soviet Red Army will not be cowardly! We meet the challenge that belongs to us! Order Vasilevsky to let his 3rd Front Army continue to storm forward! Everything is carried out according to the original plan! We will use the Soviets' own methods to decide the outcome!"

"Yes! Comrade Commander!" The adjutant stood at attention and gave a solemn military salute: "The great motherland is with us!"