While Sokov and Malankin were studying how to hold on to the existing defense area, in the headquarters of the Voronezh Front, two marshals, two generals and two lieutenant generals were studying how to implement a counterattack outside Prokhorovka.
The first person to speak was Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Ivanov. He pointed to the map and introduced the current situation to everyone: "We are going to counterattack the German army outside Prokhorovka. This is not an easy task.
First of all, our original plan was for Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army and General Katukov's 1st Tank Army to jointly launch a counterattack against the enemy. However, General Katukov's troops were entangled by the enemy during the battle and were unable to participate in tomorrow's counterattack. In other words, the 5th Guards Tank Army could only complete the attack alone.
The problem we are facing now is that the original attack starting position has been captured by the German army. The 2nd Tank Corps, which was originally scheduled to play an important role in this offensive, suffered heavy losses in the daytime battle, with less than 100 tanks left, and the corps' positions are very scattered. It was impossible to regroup, so they could only be tasked with covering the flanks of the 5th Guards Tank Army and did not directly participate in the counterattack.
After consulting with Lieutenant General Rotmistrov, we finally decided to use the 18th and 29th Tank Corps to attack the German Flag Guard and Skeleton Division from the front, and use the 2nd Guards Tank Corps to attack the German right wing. The 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, which has 212 tanks, will serve as the general reserve, but when the war goes unfavorable, they will be put into battle.
At the same time, General Rotmistrov's deputy and deputy commander of the group army, General Trufanov, will lead a combat group of 100 tanks to the 69th Group Army on the left flank of our army to assist them in consolidating the existing defense line. . "
After hearing this, Zhukov could only say a faint "Yeah", and then turned to Vasilevsky and asked: "Comrade Vasilevsky, what do you think of the latest combat plan of the Voronezh Front?"
"Comrade Marshal," Vasilevsky replied respectfully, "I think the plan is very good. It will definitely crush the enemies gathered near Prokhorovka."
"Two comrades, marshals," Deputy Commander Apanashenko, whose presence in the headquarters has always been very low, said: "The enemy only has four or five divisions in the Prokhorovka area, and they have all been attacked to varying degrees. Weakened. As for us, we have several group armies and have an absolute advantage in strength. No matter how strong the enemy's combat effectiveness is, we cannot defeat them one on one, but with two or even three divisions, we can always win. Therefore. , I think tomorrow’s counterattack will definitely lead to victory.”
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Vatutin said. In the past few days, Vatutin has fully realized the powerful combat effectiveness of the German army. He secretly thought that if it had not taken several months to build a strong position and a complete defense system built by the entire front army, I am afraid that the defeat in March would have happened again. Seeing Apanashenko's disapproval at this moment, he was worried that the other party would make Zhukov and others unhappy, so he quickly came out and said: "As commanders, when we make plans, we must take the earliest situation into consideration. Although we We have advantages in terms of troops and equipment, but we must not take it lightly when launching a counterattack against the enemy, otherwise we will easily suffer losses."
Apanashenko's tone indeed made Zhukov feel very unhappy. You know, from the outbreak of the war to the present, Apanashenko has basically stayed in the Far East, far away from the war. Maybe he did a good job in logistics, but it does not mean that he is an excellent commander, because he has no experience fighting the Germans at all. If his ideas affect the commanders below and take the Germans lightly, it will definitely You will suffer a big loss.
He wanted to say a few words, but when he saw Vatutin coming out to smooth things over, he turned to look at Rotmistrov, who was sitting next to him silently: "Comrade General, you will play the leading role on the battlefield tomorrow. Troops, do you have anything to say?”
Hearing Zhukov call his name, Rotmistrov quickly stood up, straightened his back and replied: "Comrade Marshal, my troops are ready for all battles. They will give Germany a decisive victory in tomorrow's battle." A lesson one will never forget.”
Zhukov was not interested at all in these clichés spoken by Rotmistrov. He frowned and asked: "Comrade General, can you tell me how much time it will take you to drive the enemy from Prokhorovka?" Are you going to drive him away?"
There is a reason for Zhukov to ask this. The counterattack carried out during the day on Highland 252.2 and the October Farm on the north side of the highland did not drive the enemy away from the above-mentioned areas after paying huge casualties. Zhukov is worried that the same situation will occur during the counterattack launched during the day tomorrow.
Rotmistrov saw Zhukov's frown and immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. He stared at the map on the wall and thought seriously in his mind. It would definitely not be a problem for his troops to drive the enemy away from Prokhorovka, but it was hard to say how much time it would take. .
Seeing that Rotmistrov did not speak for a long time, Zhukov became a little unhappy: "Comrade General, what's going on? Didn't you hear what I was asking you?"
"Comrade Marshal," Rotmistrov quickly replied, "I'm thinking about it."
"Tell me," Zhukov asked, "how long will it take?"
"I think it will take at least three to five days to completely defeat the enemy outside Prokhorovka." Rotmistrov did not know Zhukov's true thoughts, so he could only say cautiously: " This is our limit.”
"In the enemy's rear, here it is." Zhukov stood up and walked to the wall, picked up the explanation stick, tapped twice on the map, and said: "There are also Sokov's troops and a division of the 69th Group Army. , it is precisely because of their presence that the enemy's 6th and 19th Armored Divisions did not appear outside Prokhorovka. If it takes you three to five days to drive the enemy out of Prokhorovka, Let’s go, what should we do with these two troops?”
"Yes, General Rotmistrov." Vasilevsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, then agreed: "While these two troops were containing the enemy, they were also trapped in the encirclement of the German army and the outside world. Contact is also broken. I don't think they can hold out for three to five days, so you have to attack faster."
Rotmistrov had long heard that Sokov had a relationship with Zhukov and others. Now that he heard Zhukov changing his ways to speak for Sokov, he realized that what he knew might not be rumors, at least. Judging from the current situation, Zhukov is worried about Sokov's safety. He reorganized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, I think if the war goes smoothly, we can drive the enemy away from Prokhorovka within 48 hours."
"Drive the enemy away within 48 hours?" Regarding the deadline proposed by Rotmistrov, Zhukov hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied readily: "Okay, then I will give you 48 hours." , I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Rotmistrov said bravely, "We think we will drive the enemy away from the city within the specified time."
Zhukov nodded slightly, then waved his hand to Rotmistrov and said: "Comrade General, now that the combat mission has been clarified, you should return to the army as soon as possible. Check the army's preparations at the end, so as not to wait until tomorrow When the battle begins, something unexpected will happen.”
