Chapter 716: Another Choice

After Guderian finished speaking, he tapped the map twice with his hand, his smiling expression gone, and said solemnly, “The problems that you all can see, how could I, the commander of this army group, not see them? There are simply too many new Soviet recruits in this sector, so many that it’s impossible to believe it’s just due to our good luck.”

He pointed to the cities on the map that had already been marked as German-occupied and said, one by one, “If we had encountered the Soviet’s forward screening forces at Pavlohrad, and not their main body, that would have been understandable. But if we attacked all the way to Lozova and still didn’t run into the main Soviet force, then that is something well worth pondering.”

“To verify what the enemy is really trying to do, I have personally made two assumptions. One is that the enemy has concentrated their main forces on the northern front. The other is that the enemy has concentrated their main forces in a certain place to set a trap for us,” Guderian said, holding up two fingers and waving them in front of everyone. “As for what the Soviets are really up to, a simple test will tell.”

“If the enemy has concentrated all their main forces on the northern front and used them in the offensive, that would be a very stupid decision,” he said, pointing to the arrows on the map indicating the attacking Soviet forces, then turning back. “That is something a second-rate commander would do. Our opponent is clearly not such a fool. On the contrary, he is very cunning.”

He then walked to the other side of the map, to the area below Shebelynka, and extended his hand to point at the city they had just captured. “So, I and the staff of the High Command have devised a test, and the test is this city, Shebelynka. If we attack here, then the Soviets will have two basic reactions. These two reactions will prove what kind of scheme the Soviets are really playing!”

“Shebelynka is the southern gate to Kharkov. If we attack here and still do not meet with stubborn Soviet resistance, then unless the Soviets have already given up on Kharkov, there is no way to explain why they would abandon this place,” Guderian said, a smile appearing on his face. “This is the reason we have been pushing north all along.”

The German army was fiercely attacking north, heading straight for the important Soviet city of Kharkov. This attack was something Zhukov could not ignore, so the Soviets had to come up with a countermeasure here. No matter what that countermeasure was, they had to react. And what the German commanders were waiting for was what that reaction would be.

If Zhukov wanted to hold Kharkov, but his main forces were no longer in the vicinity, then he had only one choice: to have his reserves immediately reinforce Kharkov and defend this city that was crucial to the Soviet Union.

But just as the Germans had not been in a hurry to reinforce Kiev, the Soviets also had no intention of reinforcing Kharkov. This made the German generals feel a little strange. After all, the German army’s speed of attack was much faster than the Soviets’. Could it be that Zhukov was really not afraid of the German army pushing all the way north and cutting off the retreat route of the entire main force of the Red Army?

“It’s not that he’s not afraid! He’s terrified!” Guderian said, tapping Kharkov on the map fiercely. “So it’s a very simple process of elimination. Since the Soviets do not intend to reinforce Kharkov, nor do they want to just hand it over to us, then there is only one possibility! That is, the main Soviet forces are hidden inside Kharkov. They intend to use urban warfare to trap my armored forces and destroy our offensive power!”

Seeing that all the generals seemed to be relieved and were looking at him with curiosity, he continued, “Zhukov is desperately attacking Kiev on the northern front. One of his objectives is to make us think that all of the Soviet Union’s elite forces are on the northern front, to create a certain amount of trouble for our assessment of the Kharkov trap!”

A confident smile of having seen through the enemy’s intentions appeared on Guderian’s face, providing the best supplement to his conclusion: “The intelligence from the northern front shows that the scale of the Soviet armored forces has exceeded our estimates, which means the Soviets have concentrated a large number of armored units in the north. For us, this is absolutely very good news!”

“General, since you already know that Kharkov is a trap set by the Soviets, why did you still have us attack it?” Freericks asked with a frown. His panzer division had made a long-distance forced march to get here. He really didn’t want to launch an attack on the city of Kharkov. After all, armored units were not suitable for that kind of grinding urban warfare.

“Who said I was going to attack Kharkov?” Guderian glanced at Freericks, then laughed loudly. “Rest for two hours. This is my reward to you. Then, the main force will begin to head south. We will cross the river, attack Izyum, and then strike east towards North Donetsk!”

“General, there is one problem… If we give up the northward advance and turn south to encircle the Soviet forces near Donetsk, then the pressure on General List will be even greater. If our rear is lost, the situation will be very unfavorable for us,” Corps Commander Hoth questioned. After all, List’s current combat environment was very harsh. It would not be surprising if the entire defense line collapsed at any time. To just leave him be at a time like this was indeed a very worrying matter.

It could be said that Guderian’s northward-advancing Army Group G was the flank threat that Zhukov was most worried about, and also the only German offensive direction that could be considered a threat to Zhukov. If the German southern forces that were heading north were to turn around and head south, then Zhukov could attack Kiev with confidence.

This was not a situation the German generals wanted to see. To place all their hopes on Army Group A, under the command of Field Marshal von Rundstedt, arriving at its position ahead of schedule and launching an attack on the flank of Zhukov’s group was clearly a gamble, an extremely irresponsible decision.

“In fact, after we had tested and found out that the Soviet Red Army had set up a trap for us in Kharkov, we decided to play an even bigger game of chess with this formidable Soviet opponent, Zhukov,” Guderian said, walking to the side of the desk and leaning against it. “Our main direction of attack has been determined. To encircle Donetsk and annihilate the more than 500,000 Soviet Red Army soldiers within the encirclement is our mission! As for the rest, the Führer has his own arrangements!”

Rustle! At the mention of the Führer, all the generals in the room stood up and snapped to attention. This was the prestige of Akado within the military, a special courtesy for a Führer who had won the hearts of the army.

“The 3rd SS Panzer Division and the 1st Panzer Corps, along with the two armored grenadier divisions within the army group, are to turn around immediately. After crossing the river, advance south at full speed and attack Izyum!”

Everyone raised their arms, the heels of their leather boots clicking together with a crisp sound. They answered together in a uniform voice, “Yes!”

The crew of Rein’s tank, who were preparing to attack Kharkov, were at this moment loading ammunition into the interior of the Tiger tank. A shell was picked up from the ground by Rein and Alice together and handed to Andre, who was standing on the tank. Then Baumann and Andre passed the shell to Bruce, who was receiving it inside the tank. It was up to this loader to decide the specific placement of the shells.

“Hey! Commander, are we just going to charge in like idiots and then wait for the Soviets to come out from all directions and throw Molotov cocktails and hand grenades at us?” Bruce, who was still chattering while he worked, was not quiet. He placed a shell and then began to prattle on about the topic that interested him.

“I hear the unit next door is already resupplying with fuel. Including this batch of ammunition, it’s definitely going to be a big fight,” Baumann was also very concerned about the German attack on Kharkov. As a driver, he naturally knew how pitiful the role of a tank was in an urban area, and also knew just how vulnerable his seemingly indestructible tank was in a city.

“I’ll bet you five Imperial Gold Marks that our direction of attack is not Kharkov!” Rein said with a smile.

“Then I’ll match your five Gold Marks! And add another five! I’ll bet that we will definitely be attacking Kharkov before tomorrow!” Bruce was sure he would win and said to Rein smugly.

“I’ll also bet five Gold Marks, the same as Rein!” Alice said, helping Rein with a smile as she lifted a shell that was lying on the ground. Her words made Baumann laugh heartily.

“You’re betting too? How do you know we’re not attacking Kharkov?” Bruce asked Alice, surprised and a little confused.

Alice shrugged. “It’s simple, Bruce. I trust Rein’s judgment, that’s all.”

“Hahahaha!” Baumann and Andre laughed even louder.

“Well then, Commander, how do you know that we’re not attacking Kharkov?” Bruce asked again, annoyed.

Rein pointed to Kharkov in the distance and said with a smile, “Not a single shell has fallen into the city yet. Don’t you think that’s strange? If we were going to attack there, we would have at least started the shelling by now, and at least fired a few volleys! Also, Bruce, if we were going to fight in the streets, we should have been supplied with more high-explosive shells than armor-piercing ones, right? But now the number of both types of ammunition is basically the same, so I don’t think we will be attacking Kharkov.”

“My God! I’ve just lost five Gold Marks so easily? Oh God! I’m never betting with you again!” Bruce cried out, covering his face in mock despair.

“You’ve said that no less than 100 times, Bruce!” Alice laughed heartily. “And you owe me 175 Gold Marks!”

Published: 2025-09-21T03:34:17.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-03-08T18:26:50.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c716-another-139373249

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