The German troops arrived faster than Sokov imagined. Thirty-six hours after Kursk was liberated, a leading German force appeared east of the city.
This German unit is the 297th Infantry Division of Paulus's 6th Army, and the division commander is Major General von Dreiber. The division was originally moving towards the Don River. After Paulus learned that Kursk had been lost, he was deeply afraid that his transportation line would be cut off, so he ordered Drebel to lead his troops to turn around and recapture the city.
When Dreiber received the order from Paulus, the troops were marching towards the Don River. It would take at least two days to gather the troops. But Paulus strictly ordered him to launch an attack on Kursk from the east early the next morning. Dreiber, who was helpless, could only send the 523rd Infantry Regiment at the rear, equip them with artillery and tanks, and rush towards Kursk first.
The scouts deployed in the east immediately reported to the battalion headquarters after discovering the enemy heading toward Kursk. When Andre learned that enemies had been discovered near the city, he did not dare to neglect and quickly reported to Sokov.
When he learned that there were traces of German troops in the east of the city, Sokov's heartbeat suddenly accelerated. He did not expect that the enemy would come so quickly. He quickly asked into the microphone: "Captain Andre, how many troops the enemy has, do you know how many troops there are?" ?”
"According to the scout's report, the enemy has about a regiment of troops, and there are also a large number of tanks and artillery." Andre said loudly on the phone: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I am setting up defenses, I hope you can provide us with Artillery and tank support.”
"Hold your position, I will provide you with artillery support." After Sokov ended the call with Andrei, he picked up another phone and said into the phone: "Let Porochenko and Aritai come to my command post."
A few minutes later, the two company commanders arrived at the command post. Sokov walked up to them and asked: "Comrades, company commanders, the German vanguard has arrived in the east of the city and may launch an attack on us at any time. I would like to ask, can you provide artillery support to the third battalion?" "
As soon as Sokov finished speaking, the two company commanders replied in unison: "No problem."
"Is it really okay?" Seeing the two of them agreeing so readily, Sokov couldn't help but asked with some suspicion.
Tank company commander Alitai quickly stepped forward and replied loudly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, since the tanks captured in the warehouse are all T-34 tanks of our army, the soldiers can operate them skillfully."
"The situation of our artillery is similar." As soon as Alitai finished speaking, Porochenko continued: "The artillery stacked in the warehouse should have been captured by the German army, and they are all standard artillery of our army."
When he learned that the tanks and artillery in the warehouse were all standard weapons captured by the German army from the Soviet army, Sokov felt much more at ease. Even though the tank company and artillery company were just established yesterday, the soldiers in the company They are still able to skillfully use the tanks and artillery they are equipped with.
"We only know that the invading enemy has an infantry regiment, plus a large number of tanks and artillery." Sokov said to the two company commanders: "In order to avoid exposing the strength of our army, we do not plan to prematurely send tanks and artillery Enter the battle. Wait until the enemy's physical strength is consumed in the attack, and then use tanks and artillery to beat the enemy to pieces."
When the German army was still five or six kilometers away from Kursk, the leading troops discovered that there were a large number of Soviet troops deployed in the field fortifications ahead. They quickly reported to the regiment leader, Colonel Weber: "Mr. Colonel, our leading troops discovered that there were a large number of Soviet troops in the field fortifications." A large number of Russians are stationed.”
After hearing the report from his subordinates, Weber ordered his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, contact the artillery battalion and ask them to use artillery to bombard the Russian fortifications. After the bombardment is over, send out the 1st company, 2nd company, and 13th company. Attack the Russian positions."
"Do we need to send the 14th company?" the chief of staff asked cautiously.
"No need," Weber said nonchalantly: "According to the intelligence we have, the Russians who attacked Kursk only had a few hundred people, and they didn't have any heavy weapons, let alone tanks. The 14th Company still stayed in place. Stand by and wait for the Russian tanks to appear before sending them onto the battlefield."
When the German army began to shell the third battalion's position, five soldiers from a reconnaissance company were lurking on a hill far away from the city. They were carefully observing the gathering German army. Among these scouts, except for one who was a veteran, the rest were inexperienced recruits. Therefore, while the veterans used binoculars to observe the enemy's movements, they kept imparting experience to the recruits: "...the German infantry regiments have three Each infantry battalion has three infantry companies and one machine gun company. The machine gun company is usually equipped with a mortar platoon. The company numbers of the infantry regiment are from the 1st company to the 12th company. In addition, there are A battery of short-range close support artillery drawn by horses, the 13th, and an anti-tank battery of 12 37 mm anti-tank guns, designated the 14th battery..."
The position of the third battalion was shrouded in artillery smoke. Because there were many new soldiers on the position, it had never been bombarded by the enemy. At this moment, when I saw dazzling fireballs and billowing black smoke rising everywhere on the battlefield, I couldn't help but feel a little confused. Ignoring the hoarse shouts of commanders at all levels behind them, they ran around like headless flies until they were hit by German artillery shells and blown to pieces; or they were hit by flying shrapnel and screamed in agony. Falling in a pool of blood.
The bombardment finally stopped after half an hour. Andre immediately contacted the company commanders by phone and asked them to report the damage. Before each company could report their losses, Andre saw from the observation post's lookout a dozen German tanks in an offensive formation, heading towards his position in a mighty manner. Behind the tanks were groups of murderous German infantry.
Seeing this situation, Andre did not bother to count the losses of the troops, and quickly ordered the company commanders of each company: "Get ready for battle immediately, and fire as soon as the enemy comes into range."
Then, he called Sokov's command post. As soon as he heard Sokov's voice, he said excitedly: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the enemy has just shelled our battalion position for half an hour, causing us great losses. Now the German tanks and infantry It’s already up, I’m asking the brigade to provide artillery support, provide artillery support!”
"When the time is right, I will provide you with artillery support." Sokov said to Andre in a stern tone: "Your task now is to hold your position at all costs. Do you understand? "
"Understood." Andrei heard Sokov's voiceover. At least under the current circumstances, it was impossible to provide them with any support. They had to rely on themselves for everything. Andre could only say helplessly: "We will resolutely hold our position."
