Khrushchev died, inside an unknown building in Moscow, lying on the cold ground until a day later when he was found by another group of German soldiers.

They examined the bodies and then reported their findings. The military doctors, who arrived later, also examined the bodies and basically confirmed the fact that Khrushchev was dead.

When they got the news, the German top brass didn't really feel much. Although Li Le hoped to catch a living Khrushchev, he did not cling too much to this idea.

In July, Moscow began to resume construction, and although the fighting in the center is still going on, the surrounding railroad tracks and stations are being rebuilt.

On the same day, the Germans began to change their defenses, and part of Army Group North, ready to move eastward to take the place of Group G.

After the transfer of Vladimir and other regions, part of Guderian's army of Group G began to move south, and its combat strength was reduced to slightly more than half of its original strength.

In the original sequence, Guderian's G cluster was under the jurisdiction of the 12th Army, the 24th Panzer Corps, the 46th Panzer Corps, and the 47th Panzer Corps.

But these combat units have been fighting on the front lines, advancing all the way from Poland to the area east of Moscow.

These troops needed to rest, so Guderian also had to transfer some of them to give them a vacation home to visit their families.

More than one-third of the front-line combat units have two months of rest and recuperation, as long as they return to duty in mid-September.

The 24th Panzer Corps became Guderian's only trump card, and the 3rd and 4th Panzer Divisions were under his command, as well as the 10th Motorized Rifle Division and the 1st Cavalry Division.

All of these units were still in Guderian's G-cluster, but the rest of the troops were left in place near Moscow.

Including the famous German ace army of the 46th Panzer Corps. Its 1st and 10th Panzer Divisions were ordered to rest in place, along with the elite Greater German Mechanized Infantry Division, and the 267th Infantry Division, which had followed the shit.

In addition, the 47th Panzer Army, which had been playing soy sauce in Guderian's hands and doing hard work, was also ordered to rest.

The 17th and 18th Panzer Divisions, as well as the 29th Motorized Rifle Division and the 167th Infantry Division, were also left on standby south of Moscow.

Therefore, now the G group is heading south, and its troops are only the 24th Armored Army, as well as the 255th Infantry Division directly under the cluster command, as well as the additional artillery units and independent heavy tank destroyer battalions.

If you count by the number of tanks, two-thirds of the tanks of this force were left halfway, and only more than 700 tanks began to move south.

It is unimaginable that the G cluster, which originally had more than 2,000 tanks, has only a little more than 2 armored divisions of troops put into operation in Ukraine at this moment.

"It seems that the Führer has little hope of ending the war before winter comes." Sitting in the armored command car heading south, Guderian sighed helplessly.

At its peak, the troops under his command exceeded 200,000 people, but now there are less than 70,000 left, and of course he will feel a little emotional.

As a front-line commander, he is the person who can best understand the will of the top from his own operational deployment.

At the beginning of the Soviet-German war, the Führer gave him 200,000 troops to advance in the direction of Moscow, which was enough to show the Führer's determination to seize Moscow.

But now, with only 200,000 troops moving south, the huge Army Group Center, it can be seen that the Führer has little confidence in the capture of Ukraine before the onset of winter 41.

After all, it was already July, and they had to engage Zhukov's reserves in Kursk and then advance all the way to Stalingrad, and the time was very tight.

If Stalingrad could not be captured by the end of October, winter would have come, the entire Soviet-German battlefield would be buried by heavy snow, and the field battle would have turned into a disaster.

"If we are overwhelmed and quickly capture Kursk and other areas, and quickly move south along Ryazan and Kursk, we will be able to take Zhukov by surprise." The chief of staff, inside the bumpy armored car, opened his mouth to comfort Guderian.

"I understand this, but unfortunately, as long as Zhukov is not stupid, he also understands this truth." Guderian squeezed out a smile and spoke to his chief of staff.

The German march south was a matter of course, and Zhukov, even if he was a fool, could have guessed this strategic action on the flank.

He probably could not have guessed that the German army was so weakened, that more than half of the million-strong army remained in Moscow and other areas to recuperate, and that less than 200,000 men attacked him.

But he must have guessed that the Germans would choose to move south along the route of Ryazan Kursk, so that there would be no need to worry about logistical supply problems.

As for the fact that the German army was insufficient, as long as a few battles were fought in the path of the German advance, the Soviet Union would realize the fact that the German army did not have many troops to the south.

"Soon, General Manstein's troops, who were the last to enter the battle, will follow, and we will have more troops." The chief of staff reminded him.

Guderian waved his hand and said with a sneer: "I went to see the tragic street fighting in Moscow. The Manstein cluster has suffered a lot of losses, and they are unlikely to follow up anytime soon. ”

In fact, Guderian's guess was right, Manstein's combat troops had lost at least 100,000 people in Moscow, and it was difficult to even replenish them in a short period of time, let alone keep up with the rhythm of the G cluster.

Therefore, Guderian's problem now is that there are too many strategic targets to be attacked by the German southward group, but their forces are seriously insufficient.

"No matter what, our supplies are sufficient, and the army group has also given us comprehensive support, and most of the direct air force is on our side!" In the end, the chief of staff had to think of a reason to continue to comfort Guderian.

"It's true, I've never had such a scale of air support." Guderian nodded, finally remembering a piece of good news.

A full 150 F-190 fighters, as well as 300 Stuka dive bombers belonging to Army Group and more than 300 JU-88 medium bombers were all relocated to the direction of his attack - the power above his head was really powerful.

It was precisely because of such unimaginably strong air force support that the German troops moving south dared to face the numerically superior Soviet army and began their offensive.