However, the situation of the battle was actually a bit beyond the control of the German army.

This was mainly due to the fact that the Germans were seriously ill-prepared...... The Germans were preparing for an offensive by massing the 6th Army, the 17th Army and the 1st Panzer Army.

However, only the 6th Army of the three armies was stationed in Kharkiv, and the other two armies were intensively assembling and preparing.

The Soviets, on the other hand, carried out a full-scale offensive with two fronts and the defenders of Kiev, which made the Germans somewhat hasty to respond.

The result of the first battle gave Paulus a bit of a headache.

"General!" The adjutant reported: "The enemy advanced thirty kilometers on the left flank, and fifty kilometers on the right flank. On the other hand, the defenders of Kyiv are also attacking the right flank of our army with all their might, and have already advanced thirty kilometers! ”

Paulus couldn't help but frown.

It was clear that the Kiev defenders hoped to join forces with the Soviet right flank and cut off the connection between the 6th Army and Manstein's 11th Army.

The two armies were flanked one after the other, one advancing 50 kilometers a day and the other 30 kilometers a day, while Kyiv to Kharkiv was only 520 kilometers, and it only took six or seven days to do so at this rate.

At that time, the 6th Army would have to retreat north to escape the encirclement...... This, in turn, would leave Manstein's 11th Army alone in several encirclements.

As a result, the gains made by the Germans in the south would collapse completely.

"General!" The adjutant took the telegram and reported: "The 1st Panzer Army will need at least a week to assemble!" ”

"A week?" Paulus said, "It looks like we can't count on them anymore!" ”

The 1st Panzer Army, which participated in the Battle of Moscow, was greatly weakened, not to mention resting in the area of Bryansk, 600 kilometers from Kharkov, and it was not easy to transport them by train at this time.

After a pause, Paulus asked, "What is the situation of the enemy?" ”

"We have very little information!" The adjutant replied: "From the results of the reconnaissance of the Air Force, it is preliminarily estimated that they have three times more infantry, twice as many artillery, and 5.5 times more tanks, and a considerable part of them are T34!" ”

Paulus couldn't help but raise his head in surprise: "There are 5.5 times more tanks than us?" ”

"Yes, General!" The adjutant replied.

Paulus didn't say a word, and immediately ordered: "Send a telegram to the Führer, we need the support of the Air Force!" ”

"Yes!"

As a result, the 10th Air Force, which was supposed to provide air cover for Manstein, was thrown into the Kharkov battle at the first time.

But that's not enough.

The reason is that the Soviet winter days are short and the nights are long, so the aircraft can play a role for a short time, and as soon as it gets dark, the Soviet tanks and infantry will launch a crazy attack on the German army.

Objectively speaking, if the Soviet army continues to fight like this, it is indeed possible to succeed.

But Paulus was still a step ahead after all.

After being silent for a while, he pointed to the map and ordered: "Here, Zmiyov, assemble an armored corps!" ”

"But the General!" The adjutant replied: "We don't have a single armored corps!" ”

"You're right, Colonel Fischer!" Paulus said: "But the Russians don't know this!" ”

As a result, Zmiyov had an additional Panzer Corps, where from time to time a group of German tanks would come out and turn in circles, and then there would be "tanks" camouflaged in white canvas, which seemed to be waiting for the Soviets to continue to advance and then give the enemy a hard blow from its flank.

The commander of the Soviet army, Marshal Timoshenko, was fooled, and he ordered the Soviet troops to fight steadily and steadily, demanding not speed, but the gathering of sufficient strength.

This was apparently based on the decision of the Germans to assemble an armored corps on the flank, as they were strong enough not to be easily repelled by a German counteroffensive, which doubled the Soviet offensive.

Therefore, the Germans took advantage of the time they had gained to gather their forces as soon as possible.

It's only five days...... The German 1st Panzer Army, under the cover of the air force, suddenly launched a counter-assault without being fully prepared.

The 1st Panzer Army did not stand in front of the Soviet army, nor did it attack the Soviet flank, but attacked the Soviet hinterland, advancing 80 kilometers in one day, cutting off the Soviet army's logistical supply lines.

Suddenly, the situation on the entire battlefield took a 180-degree turn, and the Soviet troops, who had torn apart the German defense line, were in danger of being encircled.

Shulka on the other side is leading his troops to build an underground warehouse.

Not to "build", to be exact, but to improve.

Because these underground warehouses already existed, some of them even have spacious basement buildings.

The problem is just that there are too many sundries and machines in these warehouses and factories, and at the same time, there are too few imports and exports, which are too small to store materials.

Shulka's approach is to dig an inclined plane down the outside of these underground warehouses, and then dig a tunnel several meters wide and high to lead to the underground warehouse.

In this way, the car can drive directly into the warehouse to transport piles of scrap iron, sundries, and waste machines out, and then transport piles of supplies in.

Some basements are not high enough, that is, cars cannot enter...... This problem is easy to solve, as long as you dig a meter down in the warehouse to dig a road, the car can easily enter and exit the warehouse along this road.

This was obviously more efficient, otherwise it would not be possible to store much material in a short period of time if it was transported by manpower, and Shulka's foresight would have lost its value.

"Shulka, Shulka ......" While Shulka and the soldiers were busy, Kalashnikov ran over and said breathlessly: "The Germans have counterattacked, they have surrounded our troops!" ”

"How many troops are surrounded?" Shulka asked.

"All of the 6th Army and the 57th Army, plus parts of the 9th and 38th armies!" Kalashnikov replied.

The Soviet army usually had three corps in one army, some even more, so the encircled troops casually numbered hundreds of thousands.

This sudden turn of events also shook Moscow, especially Stalin.

Because this attack was launched by Stalin despite the opposition of others, and even not long ago, Stalin was complacent at the meeting to demonstrate to the generals who opposed the attack.

"You don't think we should have launched this attack!" Stalin said: "I thought that the Germans had the strength to stop our offensive, but the victory at the front proved that this was not the case, Kharkov was already surrounded by us, and the Germans seemed to have only the option of surrender!" ”

However, it was only three seconds long.

Stalin's words were still in my ears, but the front suddenly came the intelligence that a large number of German armored troops had penetrated deep into the hinterland to counter the encirclement of the Soviet army.