Two hours before daybreak, the Infantry and Marine Brigades reached Sokov's position.
After Sokov and the other three brigade commanders saluted him, he stepped forward to shake hands with them one by one and said with a smile: "You guys came just in time. In this way, we will have enough troops to hold our current positions. "
Colonel Chuvashov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, and immediately said impatiently: "Comrade Commander, please give us an order. I assure you that our 84th Marine Brigade will fight to the last man. We will never give our position to the Germans."
"You all come to the map." Sokov called the three brigade commanders to the table, pointed to the map spread out on it, and said to them: "I plan to place all three of your brigades on the right wing of the 188th Division. , Well, it’s right here.”
Chuvashov glanced at the map and couldn't help but frowned: "Comrade Commander, our defense area and the troops responsible for the Pushol River defense line are more than ten kilometers apart. With such a wide front, which team do you plan to send?" Are the troops here to defend?"
"I have no intention of arranging troops for defense here." Sokov picked up a pencil, drew a circle on the defensive position, and said to everyone: "The task I give you is to hold the existing defense line for two days. Above. Are you confident?"
Then after Sokov finished speaking, no one agreed to him. The three brigade commanders looked at each other, as if they had not yet woken up from the shock. After a while, Chuvashov said: "Comrade Commander, once we shrink our troops for defense and create a defensive gap between us and the Pushor River defense line, the enemy will be able to pass through here and head eastward. To attack the city of Prokhorovka.”
"Comrade Commander, in addition to what Colonel Chuvashov said, there is a worse situation." Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, commander of the infantry brigade, continued: "After the enemy passes through the gap between our defense lines, They can circle back to our rear, form an encirclement on us, and completely cut off the connection between us and friendly forces. Once we are surrounded by the Germans and the supply line is interrupted, I really don’t know how many days we can hold on.”
Seeing that everyone still had doubts about his order, Sokov did not simply and rudely order the other party to carry out his order, but explained to them: "Comrade three brigade commanders, you also know that from our defense area to The defense line of the Pushor River is more than ten kilometers away. If all three of your brigades are deployed in this area, it means that each of your brigades must be responsible for a five-kilometer defense front.
I won’t tell you how many troops you have left, but you should know in your mind. Even if each brigade has 1,500 men, it can only deploy 300 men per kilometer. Tell me, in the absence of strong defenses, can your small number of troops be able to withstand an enemy attack that is several times larger than yours? "
The three of them thought about Sokov's words in their hearts, then shook their heads in unison, and replied awkwardly: "We can't hold it! If the defense front of each brigade is five kilometers, it means that every soldier is responsible for A distance of three to four meters. As long as the Germans concentrate their forces on the attack, they can easily tear open our defense line."
Seeing that the three brigade commanders also realized the seriousness of the problem, Sokov smiled and nodded, and continued: "Since we can't defend it, why should we waste our precious troops on these unimportant defense areas?"
"But, are we just going to watch the Germans swaggering towards the city of Prokhorovka from the gap in our defense line?" Chuvashov reminded Sokov again: "Once they and the German troops coming from other directions Convergence, I'm worried that the city is in danger of falling."
"Don't worry, Comrade Colonel." Sokov grinned and said: "As long as we still hold on to our position, the enemy will not be able to boldly launch an attack on Prokhorovka City. If necessary, we can still Launch an attack in the enemy's rear, so that they cannot see each other from head to tail, and accelerate their rout."
Lieutenant Colonel Dobrushin, who had been silent for a long time, said: "Comrade Commander, I have an idea. This defensive front, which is more than ten kilometers wide, cannot be given to the enemy in vain. Should we do something? ?”
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you are right." Sokov said: "Although we do not deploy large forces for defense in this area, we can leave some small teams to deal with the enemy here."
Sokov's words made everyone's eyes light up. Chuvashov had the fastest reaction: "Comrade Commander, do you plan to deploy some anti-tank teams here to ambush the enemy's armored forces?"
"Colonel Chuvashov, you are right." Sokov gave the other party a thumbs up, and then said: "The rockets we are equipped with can attack enemy tanks, armored vehicles and other vehicles from a distance of a hundred meters. Trucks. If we deploy several anti-tank teams in this area, how much damage can we cause to the enemy?"
Chuvashov turned to look at the other two brigade commanders, then turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, I think our three brigades can dispatch at least ten anti-tank groups. Even if one group can only destroy Two or three tanks, but when the numbers are added up, the enemy will lose twenty or thirty tanks..."
From Colonel Chuvashov's words, Sokov realized that the other party planned to use these anti-tank groups to compete with the enemy, and quickly raised his hand to interrupt what he was saying: "Comrade Colonel, I want to correct you. We The anti-tank team sent to this area used guerrilla tactics of shooting one shot at a time to consume as many enemy tanks as possible, instead of engaging in positional warfare with the enemy.
Therefore, when you dispatch anti-tank groups, each group must be equipped with a firepower group of equal size to provide them with cover. Even if the firepower team is exhausted, we must do our best to protect the safety of the anti-tank team. "
Regarding Sokov's order, the three of them fell into confusion again. Koida, who was attending the meeting, saw that the three people did not understand what Sokov meant, so he explained: "Comrade three brigade commanders, haven't you understood what the commander meant? The enemy's blitzkrieg relies on large numbers. tanks and armored vehicles. If our anti-tank fighters achieve great results and destroy a large number of their tanks and armored vehicles, the enemy's combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced if they lose the cover of tanks and armored vehicles.
Of course it would be a good thing if the small team that went out to perform the mission could all come back. But if it is entangled by the enemy, priority must be given to the anti-tank team to retreat, leaving the fire team to provide cover. As long as the anti-tank team is saved, they will be able to destroy more enemy tanks in future wars. "
"So that's it." After Koida's explanation, the three brigade commanders immediately understood what was going on. They all expressed to Sokov that they would definitely send capable combat teams to cover the anti-tank teams in attacking the enemy's armored forces.
…
Before daybreak, Joseph Dietrich's Flag Guard division moved into attack position.
Hausser was overjoyed when he learned that the Flag Guard Division had arrived. He quickly invited Dietrich to his command cabin and said earnestly: "General Dietrich, it's a pity that your troops arrived one day late, otherwise we would We had already torn the Russian defense line to pieces, and then successfully advanced to the city of Prokhorovka.”
"Your Excellency, Commander," Dietrich said with an arrogant expression: "Although my troops arrived one day late, the results we achieved today can definitely exceed the cumulative results achieved by the Skeleton Division in two days."
If it were in the past, Max Simon would definitely have retorted when he heard Dietrich say this, but yesterday's confrontation with Sokov's troops completely knocked him out of temper. Seeing Hauser looking at him with worried eyes, he quickly put on a smile on his face and said to Dietrich: "General, I wish you good luck and can rush into Prokhorovka as soon as possible. .”
"My troops will definitely be the first to enter the city of Prokhorovka." On the way here, Dietrich learned a little bit about the hard battle that the Skeleton Division went through yesterday. He put a hand on Simon's shoulder. on the road, and said in a sympathetic tone: "Yesterday you fought all day and worked hard. Today, follow us and move towards the city of Prokhorovka. We will help you clear out the enemies on the road ahead, so that you can To be able to move forward unimpeded.”
After yesterday's setback, Simon became confused about the future of the war. He felt that with his own strength, even if he wanted to break through the defense line of Sokov's troops, he would have to pay a huge price, and even if he won the final victory, it would be a one-sided victory. A tragic victory. If he wins a few more times like this, his troops will basically be able to cancel their designation.
At this moment, when he heard Dietrich volunteering to open the way in front, he forced a smile on his face and said: "General Dietrich, on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Skeleton Division, I thank you. I wish you good progress, and soon Some arrived outside Prokhorovka and rushed into the city ahead of other troops."
Hausser was particularly happy to see Dietrich's eagerness to learn. Although he didn't like overstepping command, he still wanted to know whether the other party was preparing to organize an attack: "General Dietrich, can you tell me how you plan to attack?"
"Your Excellency, Army Commander." Dietrich came to the map, pointed at the Soviet defense line above, and said to Hausser: "Before the attack, I plan to concentrate all artillery fire on a certain part of the Russian defense line. "Ten minutes after the bombardment begins, my tanks and armored vehicles will attack, and when they are still three to four hundred meters away from the Russian positions, the artillery will stop the bombardment."
Dietrich said triumphantly: "Although the shelling has stopped, the Russians in the position were knocked unconscious even if they were not killed by our artillery fire. Before they could recover, our The tanks were already at full power, running over their incomplete positions and continuing to rush forward; some of the armored vehicles following them would stop to let the infantrymen get off and clear the trenches that were knocked unconscious by bombings. Russians with their heads turned..."
When Simon heard this, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and thought to himself: Isn't this the tactic I used yesterday? I didn't succeed yesterday. Can you use this tactic to break through the Russian defenses? You know, the Russian in front is our enemy Sokov, he is not so easy to deal with.
But Simon then thought about it. After yesterday's fierce battle, a lot of the effective strength of Sokov's troops was consumed. With the few remaining troops in his hand, if he wanted to stop the well-equipped and well-manned standard guard division, he would be defeated. , it is basically impossible. Maybe today's assault by the Flag Guard Division will have huge results. He was even thinking about what to do with Sokov if he was captured alive?
When the sky just glowed with white light, the artillery of the Skeleton Division and the 2nd SS Panzer Corps fired at the selected Soviet position. While watching the fire and smoke rising from the distant position, Simon asked Dietrich curiously: "General Dietrich, why did you choose the breakthrough here?"
"After careful observation, I found that the terrain here is flat, which is very conducive to the maneuvering of armored forces, and the Russian defense force is relatively weak, which is the easiest position to break through." Dietrich explained: "So I concentrated all my efforts The artillery bombardment must tear a gap in the Russian position."
Ten minutes passed quickly. The tanks of the armored regiment quickly rushed towards the Soviet position in a wedge-shaped battle formation, followed by more than 40 armored vehicles, and the 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment followed far behind.
As soon as the attack began, Simon kept watching the advance of the armored forces through his binoculars. The tanks in front were running at full speed, trying to rush into the Soviet defensive positions in the shortest possible time. When the tank at the front was still about 500 meters away from the Soviet trenches, the artillerymen in the rear stopped their shelling because they were worried about accidental damage.
Seeing the tanks of the Flag Guard Division gradually approaching the Soviet position, but there was still silence in the Soviet trenches, Simon couldn't help but frowned and murmured: "Strange, why is there no movement until now? Is it possible? Have they not woken up from the shelling that just ended?”
Soon, the tank at the front rushed into the Soviet position where the smoke had not yet dispersed. However, the Soviet army still had no defense. They neither saw the rocket launcher that could destroy the tank from a long distance nor heard it. No sound of gunfire or explosions could be heard, and only the roar of engines from tanks and armored vehicles could be heard in the distance.
"General Dietrich, I feel something is wrong." Simon turned to Dietrich and said: "Your troops have rushed into the Russian position, but they must not have reacted. This is too abnormal. I suspect they may have some conspiracy, you can remind your subordinates to be more careful."
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