"A month later?" Golikov smiled bitterly after hearing Antonov's answer: "Comrade Vice Chief of Staff, do you think with our existing strength, can we last for a month?"

"General Golikov, it seems that we are all blinded by the victory of Stalingrad." Antonov spoke to his old friend, so naturally he did not have so much concern: "I thought that after the enemy was attacked by us, he would definitely leave elite troops to block the attack, and use the sacrifices of these troops to cover the main force's retreat to the other side of the Dnieper River.

But now we realize that the retreat of the Germans was a conspiracy. When they gave up the large amount of occupied land, they concentrated their originally disadvantaged forces in a certain place to form a local advantage. When our attacking troops became exhausted, they unexpectedly launched a counterattack, causing severe damage to our army."

"Yes, from the current situation, the German conspiracy has succeeded. It is only a matter of time before we are defeated by the enemy."

When Golikov and Antonov were talking, no one mentioned Sokov's combat cluster. In the minds of the two, it was their limit to this army being able to restrain several German divisions. It would be a fantasy to smash the German conspiracy.

Antonov considered that once Kharkov and Belgorod were lost and Golikov's Voronezh front was severely damaged, the German army could threaten Moscow again. Thinking of this, he said to Golikov: "General Golikov, judging from the current situation, I can only report to the Supreme Commander himself and ask him to dispatch other troops to reinforce you."

"Oh, other troops?" Golikov heard Antonov say this, as if a drowning man grabbed a life-saving straw and asked quickly: "Where are the troops?"

"I can't give you an accurate reply for the time being," Antonov said: "I need to ask the Supreme Commander for instructions first, and only after I get his permission can I mobilize that force."

"Okay." Golikov was the intelligence director before, so he naturally understood that some things could not be spread casually before the Supreme Commander himself made the decision, so he said understandably: "I'm waiting for your good news."

After finishing the call with Golikov, Antonov immediately rushed to Stalin's office and greeted Poskrebeshev, who was sitting outside: "Hello, Comrade Poskrebeshev. Is Comrade Stalin here?"

Poskrebeshev did not speak, but nodded, indicating that Stalin was inside. He picked up the phone on the table, pressed a button and said, "Comrade Stalin, General Antonov, the deputy chief of staff, is here, and said that there is something important to come to you. Can you meet him?"

After Poskrebeshev put down the phone, he said blankly: "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, please come in!"

Stalin, who was walking back and forth in the room holding a pipe, saw Antonov entering the door, stopped and asked, "Comrade Antonov, has the situation on the battlefield become unfavorable to our army again?"

"Comrade Stalin, in the past few hours, the battlefield situation has not changed much. "Antonov straightened his back and replied: "I came here to see you, and there is something more important to report to you."

"What's the matter? Tell me."

"The situation in General Golikov's place is very dangerous," Antonov said: "Once several SS divisions transferred to the south defeated Major General Sokov's combat cluster and turned north to recapture Kharkov and Belgorod, General Golikov's troops would be difficult to resist."

"Why can't you stop the enemy?" Stalin said angrily when he heard this: "According to information, Golikov commanded more than thirty infantry divisions. Can't you stop the Germans who only account for one-something?"

"Comrade Stalin, the situation is more serious than you think." Antonov gritted his teeth and decided to say everything he knew: "Although General Golikov's front army had more than 30 infantry divisions, these divisions were seriously weakened, with the largest number of only 5,000 people, and the fewest number of only 1,000 people, or even fewer. It means that these troops are nominally one division, but in fact they can only be used as a regiment or even a battalion."

"Damn it, it's so hateful." Stalin punched the table with his fist and ran away indoors. "What did Golikov do? The situation in his own troops is so bad, why didn't you report to me earlier? If I had known this situation and the logistics department had made a plan for supply allocation, I would not agree to give priority to the Southwest Front of Vatuting."

"Comrade Stalin, in fact, Sokov's troops have restrained the main force of the German army at this moment and bought valuable time for General Golikov. We can take advantage of this opportunity to supplement them."

"Supplement?!" Stalin asked in surprise: "Where do we draw troops from to supplement Golikov?"

"Actually, there is really such a unit in our hands, but it is a little further away from Kharkov."

"Where is that unit?" Stalin couldn't wait to ask: "Who is the commander of the unit?"

"Comrade Stalin, I am talking about General Shumilov's 64th Army." Antonov quickly replied: "Although they were weakened in the battle and were a little too far from Kharkov. But as long as we put them into Kharkov, it will be very helpful to reverse the entire situation."

"General Shumilov's 64th Army," Stalin walked to the map and carefully checked the location of the 64th Army, and said in surprise: "What, they are thousands of kilometers away from Kharkov? Comrade Antonov, have you ever considered how long it will take to transport them to Kharkov based on our existing transportation situation?"

"I have calculated that if you walk, it will take at least 25 days. By truck, you can reduce the time to two days. The defenders of Kharkov and Belgorod can fully resist the German attack as long as they can be strengthened."

"We can't come up with so many transport vehicles now." Stalin knew very well how bad the troops' transportation situation was. If it weren't for insufficient logistics supply, how could this battle that was sure to win would have been so frustrating. Now, if we want to deploy Shumilov's 64th Army to the Kharkov area as soon as possible, the fastest way is to use railway and road transportation. However, the railway has not been completely restored, and the road has become difficult to pass due to the destruction of the German army and the melting of snow.

"Comrade Stalin, I want to tell you one thing. Major General Sokov's two attacks achieved unexpected results entirely because the soldiers were very fast." Antonov told Stalin: "He also took the shortage of transportation vehicles and used batches to deliver the soldiers to the battlefield in batches, thus winning the battle."

"Comrade Antonov," Stalin finally understood Antonov's intention when he heard this, and asked tentatively: "What do you mean is to use a batch of trucks to send some troops to Kharkov first, and then turn around to pick up the soldiers on foot?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Antonov saw that Stalin had guessed his intention, and quickly nodded and said, "In this way, we can speed up the goal of putting troops into fierce areas of war when the transportation forces are insufficient."

"Well, Comrade Antonov, I agree with your request." Stalin said to Antonov: "You send a telegram to General Shumilov and order him to lead his troops to Kharkov immediately. And you remember to say hello to him, lest he suddenly find that a certain unit is missing, and he will be anxious."

Shumilov, who received Antonov's order, dared not neglect, so he quickly issued a mobilization order to the troops.

After receiving the order to be transferred to Kharkov, no one complained. Instead, they immediately packed their luggage and marched towards Kharkov in a hike manner.

When Rokosovsky learned that the base camp was going to transfer his 64th Army to Kharkov, he quickly called Sokov to inform him of the matter: "Misha, let me tell you a message. The base camp has transferred General Shumilov's 64th Army to Kharkov. They are currently marching on the road."

Sokov naturally knew where the 64th Army was. He learned that the unit was hiking to Kharkov, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Oh my God, it's a thousand kilometers from the 64th Army's base to Kharkov. If you walk alone, it will take at least 20 days. And after the troops arrived at the designated position, they have become exhausted. Without a long period of rest, I think it will be difficult for them to recover their combat effectiveness."

"My thoughts are the same as you." Rokosovsky said helplessly: "I had no choice at that time. The 64th Army's defense was ordered by the superiors."

"Comrade Commander of the Front Army, I would like to ask, do you think General Golikov's troops can last for half a month to a month?"

"I think they can't hold on for that long," Rokosovsky said to the microphone: "If your troops hadn't accidentally captured Donetsk and the Red Army village, attracted the attention of the Germans and transferred a large number of troops back from Kharkov, there would have been a long time ago."

Speaking of this, Rokosovsky was silent for a while, and then asked: "Misha, tell me honestly, if the Germans launch a fierce attack on you, how sure are you to defend the Red Army Village and Donetsk?"

After calculating the comparison between the enemy and our forces in his heart, Sokov replied: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, the chance of winning is less than 10%.

"What, only 10% chance of winning?" Rokosovsky not only did not blame him for his analysis, but also said with understanding: "It is not easy for you to have a 10% chance of winning in the face of such a strong enemy."

After Sokov put down the phone, he stared at the map on the wall in a daze. He was thinking in his heart that if Shumilov's 64th Army could arrive at Kharkov and Belgorod within two to three days and build fortifications, then facing the powerful German offensive, he might be able to last a few more days.

"Comrade Commander, what are you thinking?" Weitkov couldn't help asking when he saw Sokov staring at the map on the wall.

"General Rokosovsky just told me that the base camp was dispatching the 64th Army to Kharkov to strengthen its defenses there." Sokov pointed to the map and said, "I am considering how long it will take for this force to reach its designated location."

"The defense zone of the 64th Army is too far from Kharkov." Weitkov had just arrived from Stalingrad, so he naturally knew the location of the 64th Army. Hearing Sokov said this, he said with a sad face: "If all the troops are marching, I guess it will take nearly a month to arrive at the earliest. Moreover, these are light troops, without any heavy weapons and technical equipment. If they encounter German armored troops, they will die in vain."

"But this should be the only thing the base camp can do," Sokov pointed to the defeated position of the Southwest Front and said: "Although there are still many Southwest Front troops in these areas, they have just been hit hard by the German army. I am afraid that the morale and morale of the army are extremely sluggish, so they cannot count on them at all. Although the 64th Army is thousands of kilometers away from Kharkov, it is the only force that can be used. After all, for outsiders, everyone knows that this unit captured Paulus and his headquarters alive. The enemy will have some concerns when they hear their names."

"Take it down, comrade Commander." After Sokov finished speaking, he said disdainfully: "Who doesn't know that it was Paulus you personally captured. Not to mention us, even the enemy knows this. Otherwise, the enemy who rushed back from Kharkov only fought two battles with us, suffered a small loss, and hurriedly retreated, just confronting our army and not daring to launch an attack. I think they are afraid of you, so no one dares to launch an attack easily."

"It is not a bad thing for us if the enemy does not attack." Sokov smiled faintly and said: "We can not only restrain a large number of German troops, but also use this precious time to strengthen our existing defense."
Chapter completed!