Flicking the snowflakes on the brim of his hat, a bearded general stood on the edge of a farmhouse in a small village, the road beneath his feet had been crushed by the troops passing earlier, but his high-waisted leather boots, though covered with mud, did not affect the general's majesty in the slightest.

"Long live Führer Accardo, Rudolph, General Guderian, welcome to the provisional headquarters of Army Group G, a small village codenamed N182 just five kilometers from the front line, a farmhouse large enough to accommodate the high-power radio equipment required by the command. An officer of the staff raised his hand and saluted General Guderian, who had just jumped out of his car.

"Good morning, Colonel. Guderian threw the leather gloves in his hand to the officers who greeted him, and then led a group of officers and staff officers of the army headquarters into the temporarily fortified farmhouse. Sure enough, there is a hole in it, and the electromechanical staff has connected a lot of equipment to a diesel engine equipment that generates electricity, and more than a dozen radio stations in it have begun to work normally.

Guderian walked up behind an electromechanical officer and watched as he was sending a telegram confirming the position to an advancing infantry corps. He did not go any further, but turned back and said to the officer in the telegraph room: "Send a telegram to the Supreme High Command in the highest cipher code, report to it the speed of our attack, and in another half an hour, confirm the position of the 3rd SS Panzer Division, and I will have a first-hand battle report on the front." ”

"Yes, General!" the officer in the telegraph room saluted as he watched his immediate superiors leave the farmhouse. Exiting the farmhouse, Guderian bypassed his car, dodged two swaying logistics trucks, and slipped into the temporary headquarters of Army Group G.

The largest room in the village already had a local topographical map of Ukraine, a contour map with a clear height, and some of the remaining war zone maps were scattered on the table, before they could be classified. Now the entire Army Group G is on the road to attack, and even some units have not had time to set up their artillery because they are advancing too fast.

More than two hours earlier, Moder's 10th Panzer Corps had cut through the frontal positions of the Soviet Red Army, and most of the defensive lines in the hands of the Soviet Red Army, which was in a hurry to attack, had been hastily built half a year earlier, because the troops had gradually been strengthened, and the Soviets were not in a hurry to build more secure fortifications.

This has led to a strange phenomenon: the Germans, desperately trying to fortify their defenses, have switched to an offensive rhythm at the beginning of the battle, while the Soviets, who have been preparing to attack, have been stuck in an endless defensive state as soon as the battle begins. Neither side used what they had prepared, but instead fought with tactics that were diametrically opposed to the plans drawn up before the battle.

A grenadier division of the 10th Panzer Army launched a surprise attack at the junction of the two Soviet Red Army fronts, finally breaking through the Soviet defenses on the first line, only to encounter an unprecedented situation in which two Soviet Red Army divisions surrendered without resistance, so that the entire Army Group G advanced a full 15 hours faster than originally expected.

It seems that the offensive is quite smooth, under the premise that the Luftwaffe cannot provide effective cover, the German armored forces actually played faster than the expected attack, you can imagine how much strength the German armored forces gathered after the long wait, and what kind of terrible offensive ability this force has at the moment of the outbreak.

"Call the Air Force's liaison department and ask the weather forecaster when the weather will improve and the Air Force can be dispatched to cover our advance. Guderian looked at the map and sketched a rough pencil on a map where his army group was now in control, and the spearhead at the forefront was already close to the important city of Pavlograd, as if it was only a matter of time before the German troops could take it.

However, as the commander of the army group, Guderian had just learned the shocking news that the Soviet Red Army had broken through the outer defense line of Army E under Liszt near the town of October south of Minsk, and the offensive group of about 1,000 tanks was very sharp, and under the cover of the fierce Soviet sailors and elite infantry, it had approached the core of Army E's defensive position, Moziri.

Due to the lack of air cover, the German defense was very passive, and the German reserves in the other direction had not yet arrived at the intended position, so the Soviet attack put great pressure on Liszt.

The perimeter infantry of the entire E Army fought very hard, and for the first time the Germans suffered large-scale losses in the defensive armoured forces, the Germans lost 27 Leopard tanks in a defensive battle, which can be said to be the largest loss of Leopard tanks in World War I on record. If you count the assault guns, the Germans have already lost more than 200 tanks of various types in this direction, which also makes Marshal Brauchitsch, who has been sitting on the Eastern Front, deeply disturbed.

As one of the most authoritative experts in the use of tank and armored forces in the German army, Guderian was deeply aware of the breakthrough ability of large-scale concentration of armored forces, and he almost did not encounter the tank units of the Soviet Red Army on his defensive front, which was enough for him to imagine how many tanks this Soviet General Zhukov on the opposite side had concentrated on General Liszt's position.

Now he had no better way to solve the crisis facing Liszt, after all, it was impossible to let his troops stop and make a detour to support Liszt's Army Group E. What can be prayed now is that Liszt can hold his position on his own, and when reinforcements from the flanks arrive, he can immediately turn the situation of the German army around.

As for whether the reinforcements on that flank were so effective, Guderian only knew that the commander-in-chief of this army was the second field marshal of the army, called Rundstedt, and this army group that rushed from the territory of Germany was called Army Group A. It can be called Army Group A among more than a dozen German army groups, and it seems needless to say how strong it is.

So all Guderian can do is to attack as soon as possible, to hit the farthest place he can hit, as long as he threatens Forte in the Soviet Union, threatens distant Moscow, then naturally, the Soviet Red Army will not do anything in small Kiev, things for Army G, it is only as simple as attacking.

"Is General Liszt still very nervous?" "There is no way to take care of it, it does not mean that there is no worry about problems, if once the Soviet Red Army cuts into the vicinity of Kiev, Ukraine, then there will be problems with the logistics supply of Army G and Army D, so Guderian is still more concerned about the outcome of the defensive battle in the north of Kyiv.

"Half an hour earlier, General Liszt had been subjected to heavy Soviet artillery fire while inspecting the front, but fortunately only one guard had been slightly wounded. However, the intensity of the Soviet offensive can be seen, and the front line of Army Group E is said to be fighting very hard. The staff officer who followed Guderian immediately answered his question, and there was a group dedicated to the battle of Army Group E, so as to avoid a lack of knowledge of other units in the event of an emergency.

Guderian was silent for about two seconds, and then gave the order to continue the attack: "Let the 3rd SS Panzer Division and the 1st Panzer Army take over the position of the 10th Panzer Army and continue to attack eastward!" After capturing Pavlograd, turn north, and the target is Lozovaya. ”

The chief of staff of Army Group G stood on the edge of the map, picked up the whip placed in the corner, scratched it lightly on the map, and then said: "General, you mean that we abandon the plan to cut between the two Soviet fronts and first take a frontal assault on the Soviet forces near Kharkov?"

Guderian nodded, he wanted to use this attack to confuse Zhukov and make the other party think that he wanted to capture Kharkov first, so that if the will to attack Kyiv was not too strong, then it was very likely to draw troops to defend this important city, and then reduce the frontal pressure on General Liszt.

"It's a good offense. After thinking about it for a while, the chief of staff, who had been a partner with Guderian for nearly a year, nodded his head, and agreed with the commander, he looked at his adjutant and ordered: "Draw up a detailed written report on the plan just now, and you will personally send it to Marshal Brauchitsch." ”

Seeing that his chief of staff had already begun to arrange, Guderian was relieved that he did not continue to inquire about the specific implementation of this offensive plan, because in his opinion, in a day at most, the German armored forces would meet the offensive requirements he demanded, and they would only complete it better.

He stared at the map in front of him in a daze, and an even bolder plan began to sketch out in his mind, and then his trademark faint smile hung on his face. He knew that once his plan could be successfully completed, the resistance of the Soviet Red Army on the southern front would completely collapse, and Stalingrad would almost become his Guderian's bag.

"Send a telegram to General Manstein, and after I get in touch, I will telegraph him personally! Arrange this matter immediately! Don't delay!" Guderian thought of this, and said to his adjutant behind him: "Also, don't disturb me this afternoon, I will personally write a battle plan and submit it to the Supreme Command!"

As he spoke, Guderian's mood relaxed, and after a long silence, he finally found the momentum of the front-line generals, the momentum of the army sweeping Liuhe while talking and laughing, the feeling of power that with a wave of his hand, thousands of lives withered in the flames of war. He enjoyed the thrill of directing war, which allowed him to judge the situation he was facing more keenly. It was a wonderful feeling, and he just wanted to say to this wonderful feeling: "It's been a long time!"