The fact that the headquarters has moved back does not mean that the large army will also retreat.

Timoshenko decided to withdraw to Luhansk, an important town southeast of Severodonetsk, where the focus of defense was also placed. Provided, of course, that Severodonetsk is occupied by the Germans.

As far as the current situation is concerned, Severodonetsk, as an important material on the front line, the center of army operations, is in danger!

Therefore, part of the 9th Soviet Army was urgently transferred to the south of the city. Are these troops who have just withdrawn capable of completing a perfect blockade? Timoshenko was seriously lacking in confidence, doubting not only the fighting spirit of his troops, but also the clumsy weaponry at their disposal.

The German tanks and armored vehicles were driving on a smooth road after crossing the river, and they were very fast in their movements.

After all, the Soviet army abandoned a large amount of heavy equipment, and the number of anti-tank guns left was too small, and the anti-tank robbery became an excellent anti-tank weapon at a long distance. The rocket-propelled grenade, the most suitable weapon for individual anti-tank combat, is good for street fighting in the inner city. Unfortunately, there are too few launchers!

In addition, the enemy's armored vehicles have welded fences, which largely offset the destructive power of this weapon.

If the enemy's tanks are allowed to go all the way north bypassing the forest area, then the fall of Severodonetsk will take place within twenty-four hours! If the Soviets want to stop the German army, they may only use brutal methods, bundle a large number of anti-tank grenades together, and pay huge sacrifices to throw them closely!

In the opinion of Timoshenko and Chief of Staff Tupikov, the 9th Army was capable of stopping the first round of the attack of the enemy advancing from the south. However, with the arrival of a tidal wave of enemy infantry thrown away by the tank units, it is not known whether the Soviet line of defense will be able to hold it.

At present, the four armies that the Southwestern Front can still contact on the front line have all had to shrink their defensive lines. As a result, the two army groups have lost contact, and everyone knows that they are surrounded by German troops, and they are still fighting to the death. But whether these troops can break through successfully or not, Timoshenko can no longer care about it!

After all, it was mainly the troops of the Southern Front that were besieged, and its main force also began to shrink strategically, intending to withdraw its center of gravity to Donbass to establish a new defensive line!

Therefore, Timoshenko decisively determined that the withdrawal of the front command to Lugansk must be carried out quickly!

Before retreating, there are many things to deal with, such as this headquarters, and a lot of documents have to be taken away. As for those who can't be taken away, set them on fire!

With the order, the entire city of Severodonetsk fell into chaos, and the people who remained in the city had already learned that the command center of the army was going to be transferred, and rumors of defeat for a time filled the city.

Ordinary people also began to pack their bags, bring a small amount of daily necessities, and spontaneously began to move eastward, and their important destination was the big city - Luhansk!

The order was given very suddenly, and the front headquarters was full of staff officers and guards who packed their bags, and a large number of documents were carried outdoors in bundles, piled up into a hill, and some gasoline was poured on them in order to burn them more thoroughly.

The destruction of documents is very important, and the chief of staff, Tupikov, with a wooden face, threw the burning lighter over, and in an instant burst into flames!

The south wind crackled the fire, and the burning papers fluttered in the wind.

The command center in the southwest was huge, with 900 staff officers in the staff alone. The reason for this is that the command structure of the Soviet army is, after all, somewhat bloated, these people serve in various institutions, but the really decisive ones are the core of dozens of people, among whom Timoshenko and Tupikov are the key figures.

The last day of May was about to pass, and when the sun rose on the first day of June, the Soviets were faced with an extremely difficult situation.

The 9th Army and the 21st and 23rd Tank Armies, which were the main attackers, were originally part of the Southern Front, and they were no longer able to communicate with their headquarters, so they were directly placed under the command of Timoshenko of the Southwestern Front. The casualties of the troops are indeed serious, but the troops are quite sufficient, especially the mobilized soldiers, that is, a large number of middle-aged men, such a force of nearly 100,000 people, which is now also assigned to the outskirts of the city of Severodonetsk to defend the defensive line.

For the rest, the Soviets only need to meet the enemy's attack and repel it, at least the vast number of soldiers still have confidence in this.

Timoshenko insisted on withdrawing his headquarters, all for the sake of safety. He was in a high position in the Soviet Union, and he was a central figure in the army, like the tragic death of Ponomarenko a year ago, and he certainly did not want it to happen to him.

Taking advantage of the fact that it was evening, he urgently convened a meeting in the already empty command post.

The so-called meeting, when several high-ranking officers get together to study the next step of the operation, is basically a one-man show of Timoshenko himself.

"Now we are in a very dangerous situation, the Germans have begun to storm our line of defense on the Oskol, which our army must hold. At the same time, we also had to find a way to reinforce the 6th and 57th armies of Bob King's division of the besieged Southern Front. ”

His words were simply nonsense, and Tupikov regretfully reiterated: "Comrade Commander-in-Chief, our army no longer has enough troops to reinforce friendly forces, and even we have to hold the current line of defense, which is very difficult!" ”

"Yes! But if we do nothing, it will be a stain on our military career! It is even more necessary to go to court-martials for this. Even if they are besieged, we have to find a way. So I decided to send transport planes to drop food and ammunition on the besieged area. ”

"Airplane?! We still have planes?! ”

As the chief of staff, Tupikov could not help but be surprised, because almost all the planes of the Soviet army were consumed.

The Soviet army did not prepare many fighters for this battle, and after the outbreak of the campaign, only a handful of the more than 100 Lag-3 fighters of the Soviet Air Force could continue to fight.

The Germans attacked all the Soviet airfields they could find, so many planes were destroyed on the airfields. The Soviet Air Force was able to control air supremacy for 48 hours before the battle, and after that, the sky became the domain of the German army.

A large number of mile-2 transport planes and old TB3 bombers that undertook the airlift mission were very badly damaged!

It is good that the city of Severodonetsk has relatively good air defense. The targeted bombing of the airport by the Germans paid a price. To the comfort of the Soviets, the enemy did not succeed in bombing the Soviet arsenals, but they bombed the city's granaries, and the grain burning fire was extinguished only on the night of May 30.

Tupikov snapped his fingers and muttered: "My comrade commander-in-chief! We only have eight transport planes left at our disposal that can still take off! How much can this capacity carry?! ”

This is a heartbreaking statistic, and Timoshenko knocks on the table: "I know! But we had to do something. We've left too much ammunition in the city! We distributed a large number of guns and ammunition to the tens of thousands of people who had just been mobilized, and even then, we still have a large amount of ammunition in our warehouse! We can't take them all away, and if they are captured by the enemy, it will be a huge loss for us. Even if we only have eight transport planes, we have to try to airdrop them. We're going to send ammunition to the besieged troops! ”

"They? We had to pass through the German lines before dropping supplies, and worse, if we knew where we were, how could we lose contact with them? Now that you've chosen to airdrop supplies urgently, it's better to airdrop supplies to a more meaningful location! ”

"More meaningful?" Timoshenko gave Tupikov a blank look, and instantly understood his intentions.