The most significant consequence of the failed Battle of Kharkov was that the Soviet Union was losing the entire Crimean peninsula!

The time has passed June 10, and there are only 120,000 men left in the combatable defenders of Savastopol! More than 100,000 troops were trapped on the Kerch Peninsula. The Soviets used all their ships to transport the refugees and wounded in the city, and the attack of the German air force also caused very heavy losses to ships and personnel.

Those who were able to evacuate were lucky, and the warriors who remained to guard Sevastoppo were hardly willing to stay behind for a fight, but because there were no more ships left for 120,000 men to retreat!

In Timoshenko's opinion, Crimea can be held until the first day of July at most, and when the time reaches July, the Southwestern Front will definitely face a new German offensive!

Worried, he explained his concerns to Chief of Staff Tupikov.

"At present, our army lacks the most elite troops, and the 21st, 28th, and 38th armies have suffered heavy losses, and heavy weapons have been lost even more. Comrade Kostenko also died in Severodonetsk, and the city could no longer hold on. Although the troops in the rear are still urgently reinforcing our army, I have no more illusions about these new troops. ”

The commander-in-chief turned out to be pessimistic, and Tupikov himself was even less good.

In the command of the Front, a feeling of defeat was still spreading, and no one had a good idea of how the Soviets would hold the existing defensive line.

Tupikov said nonsense: "We need a lot of anti-tank guns, a lot of tanks, a lot of heavy artillery, and a lot of experienced fighters." Unfortunately, we can't have these anytime soon. ”

His nonsense only aggravated the unease, and the future of the Soviet army was bleak.

On the front line, the fighters of the Southwestern Front could only build their infantry defense line head-on. These young fighters had just experienced defeat, and the mood of defeat was also spreading on the positions. The political commissars at the grassroots level are very worried about such soldiers, because it is easy for such troops to surrender instead of fighting to the death in the face of difficulties!

The various divisions on the front line sent to the headquarters all kinds of weapons, ammunition, and personnel requirements, and each division commander had the greatest demand for anti-tank weapons. Because, almost all of their defense lines are in the open field, and in this huge Donbass basin, only heavy artillery and anti-tank guns can withstand the blitzkrieg of the German army!

Timoshenko could only reply to them with a hard head, the number of these heavy fire supports is scarce, and the so-called waiting for the number of heavy weapons on the front line to basically meet the defense expectations will have to wait until August! Who can guarantee that the Germans will not turn defensive into offensive during this period?

Facing defensive pressure, Timoshenko has insomnia these days!

He was eager for good news, so a lengthy telegram from the 63rd Army made him smile in his frustration.

This is a telegram signed by the commander of the army group Berekov, which was actually drafted for Fomin and sent by Yevlov's representative.

Its content illustrates two things: first, Commander Berekov became ill from overwork, and simply rested for a while to recover. Second, all the supplies transported have arrived, so the early warning radar has been quickly manufactured, and experiments are expected to begin in the middle of this month.

The 63rd Army was only nominally subordinate to the Southwestern Front, and now it is the guerrilla command in Moscow that can actually command them in battle. Timoshenko was indeed full of curiosity about Yang Mingzhi, but the barrier of hundreds of kilometers of enemy-occupied areas prevented him from getting this magical general!

Yes, in Brother Timoxin's opinion, Yang Mingzhi is a strange person.

When he got the message and read it, he even wondered in public whether the telegram had been translated incorrectly.

"He's really not kidding, he can build a radar with just a scrapped magnetron?"

Tupikov had already read the telegram, and he guessed: "Comrade Berekov is not an ordinary talent. Rocket artillery with a range of forty kilometers, and this so-called early warning radar, maybe these are true. Just like the RPG weapon he invented, which was already widely used in combat, and even the Germans quickly copied it! ”

"RPGs are visible and tangible! But their so-called early warning radar, I refuse to believe. With just one magnetron, that man can build a radar? Could he have solved other parts? Could it be that the other parts were fished out of the swamp mud pond? Or is everything pinned on their laboratory-like arsenal?! ”

"And the fertilizer plant!" Tupikov drew inferences.

"That's right! There is also a fertilizer factory, and it is said that because they have a fertilizer factory, they grow enough potatoes to eat until next year! I hope this is true, otherwise tens of thousands of people there will only starve to death in the next bitter cold! ”

"After all, that's Berekov, this man always works miracles!" Tupikov understood Timoshenko's unwillingness, this marshal wished too much for one more fierce general by his side!

Over the past year, Yang Mingzhi's three major feats have been recognized by the Soviet authorities: first, he was the first to defeat the German 1st Panzer Division, second, he invented new weapons, and third, he pulled up powerful troops in the swamp and killed nearly 30,000 enemies in total! These exploits naturally overshadow his other merits, so much so that those petty merits are terrifying!

Tupikov has only seen Yang Mingzhi's true face from the ID photo, and he can be regarded as an old comrade-in-arms who fought together, and Tupikov inevitably kept blowing the wind in his ears by Timoshenko's side. The more he touted, the more Timoshenko wanted to stop him.

It's a pity that these ideas are delusional after all, and the command of the Southwestern Front is going to be relocated again!

The new site of the command, it was decided to withdraw to the Voronezh direction, and during these last days in Lugansk, Timoshenko was full of unwillingness.

Tupikov constantly praised the 63rd Army and Berekov, and at a military meeting, Tupikov again growed, which finally caused the marshal to explode.

"Please shut up! Even if that force is invincible, it is entirely our credit! Even if it was an incredible elite, it would not be able to directly command us! My dear Chief of Staff, I beg you to give up your illusions and stop talking about the troops that are five hundred kilometers away from us! Our headquarters will continue to retreat, and it will be even farther away from them! ”

Tupikov was momentarily speechless.

Timoshenge also took the opportunity to find a wound to vent his long-term pressure, and continued this enemy situation study to vent it.

In the current situation, the Germans were massing their elite troops, as well as a huge number of client state troops, namely Romanians, Hungarians, and Italians.

"The Axis powers continued to increase their strength, intelligence reality, they were equipped with more armored No. 4 tanks, more fighters, and intelligence said that the Germans might even have a more powerful tank! These troops are massing on that side of our line, what do they want to do? Offense, of course! They want to attack there, they don't need to think anymore! So, the distant 63rd Army, we can't take care of them anymore! We can no longer provide them with air assistance! ”

The words came out of the mouth of the commander of the Front, and Tupikov was also taken aback.

"Is it that our promise of their steady air assistance is null and void?"

"That's right! Because we don't have enough transport planes, and the only ones we have are not worth the risk! Since you have repeatedly claimed that the 63rd Army has a strong capacity for self-sufficiency, and you are so convinced, what do I not believe? Comrade Berekov will create a military miracle with one of its kind, and only if he can truly become a strong general under my command, this honor can be a part of me. In the future, everything is up to them! ”