The Third Reich: I Became Emperor

At this time, Timoshenko's command center and his subordinates were urging him to retreat.

"Retreat? Where to retreat?" Timoshenko sneered.

""Comrade Commander, we still have a guard regiment that will definitely be able to escort you to retreat." The subordinates persuaded him. It was difficult for a senior officer like him to die in battle. Usually, when the situation was bad, the guard regiment would protect the retreat, but this time Timoshenko did not want to retreat.

How to retreat? Where to retreat? Losing artillery and tanks, losing all supplies, surrounded by enemies, and without troops to cover the rear, it was impossible to retreat.

That would not be a retreat, but a rout, and the losses would be even greater.

And there were countless seriously injured soldiers. We couldn't just abandon them all, could we?

"Order: All troops retreat on their own. I will not retreat. I have retreated many times. I don't want to retreat again this time. I am tired."Timu Shenke shook his head and said.

He had fought for decades and retreated many times. This time he didn't want to retreat, but he was also unwilling to surrender.

Then, Timoshenke looked at everyone again:"Let's go."

"Someone must be held responsible for this failure. You should withdraw and tell Marshal Zhukov that the Southwestern Army cannot be withdrawn."After saying that, Timoshenko took out the pistol from his waist and decisively pulled the trigger.

Bang! The gun went off, and a generation of famous generals died on the battlefield.

The sun rose in the early morning, and the entire Kharkov battlefield was filled with the smell of blood and the stench of corpses.

The timid people would definitely vomit immediately after smelling it, and the battlefield was littered with the bodies of the Russian soldiers.

Of course, with such a large encirclement, some people still escaped. After all, no matter how much they were surrounded, there would still be loopholes. However, the German army did not care about those who slipped through the net. Although it was a victory, it was a bit tragic. Even the German veterans who had participated in many battles had never seen such a crazy attack.

However, the results of the battle were very good. It took less than two days to completely defeat an army of the Russians.

The Russians once again suffered a loss of nearly 100,000 people on the battlefield. Although the Russians had a vast territory and a large population , but it could not withstand such losses.

From the beginning of the war to now, the Soviet Union is actually very tired. In many cases, it is no longer conscription, but forced enlistment.

If there are dozens more such local battles, it is estimated that the Soviet Union really can't bear it.

At least, the Soviet Union has actually reached its limit at the moment, and it is the United States that is supporting it from behind, otherwise it would have been dead long ago.

Of course, in this counterattack, the losses on the German side were very small, almost to the point where they can be ignored.

The advantage of victory lies in the fact that the German army destroyed Timoshenko's armored divisions at the first time, and the J-5 fighter jets severely abused them, completely depriving the Soviet Union of air superiority.

The Sixth Army is equipped with a large number of automatic weapons, which crush the Soviet Union in terms of firepower alone.

If he can't win even in this way, Manstein's rank of marshal will be in vain.

In the headquarters, Manstein looked at the battle report and was very satisfied.

"Timoshenko was killed?" Manstein asked

"Well, he committed suicide. We found his body in a basement. The operations staff said quickly.

"Well, that's good. He should be restrained. He is a great man. Manstein nodded.

"Yes!"

Although Kharkov was captured, the strategic initiative was not yet fully grasped. It can only be said that being able to independently choose the time and place to launch an attack is not enough to win the war.

Of course, the next target is Kursk. Only by retaking Kursk can the strategic initiative be fully regained.

However, Marshal Zhukov is not stupid. He can naturally see the importance of Kursk, so a decisive war must break out here.

"Order all troops to rest and consolidate the defense line, and temporarily focus on the defense line."After looking at the map for a while, Manstein gave the order:

"Yes!"

Although this local battle was fought very well, the consumption was also very huge. It would take at least a month to restore the supply level before the war.

Therefore, what he can do now is to rest, replenish supplies, and wait for the opportunity. At least now he doesn't have to worry about the Russian bear taking the initiative to attack. This time it will definitely hurt the Russian bear.

After all, a general plus a hundred thousand troops, this loss is enough to make Zhukov feel distressed for a long time.

"In addition, send a telegram to the Supreme Command with a detailed report of the situation here. Manstein added:

"yes!"