The tank battle outside Prokhorovka took longer than Sokov expected. In fact, this is easy to understand. Regarding this battle, the history books only lightly recorded a few entries, and did not say how long the battlefield lasted. As for how many tanks were used by both sides, it is still an issue of endless debate.
Although Sokov did not witness this battle with his own eyes, according to the information he had, there were more than 400 Soviet tanks outside Prokhorovka, and the total number of German tanks and self-propelled artillery was more than 100. . Except here, the Soviet Union and Germany in other directions each have hundreds of tanks. If these numbers are added up, even if it does not reach a thousand, it is not far from this number.
Since the battle outside Prokhorovka has not yet ended, General Polubyarov's tank army was basically in a state of doing nothing after arriving at the designated position. Looking at his tank soldiers, all sitting on the tanks, watching the infantry building fortifications in boredom, Polubyarov felt that he should let Sokov arrange some work for him, which would be better than being idle and bored now.
"Comrade Commander, this is Polubyarov." As soon as the call was connected, General Polubyarov said straight to the point: "Two hours have passed since our army entered the designated position. Except for Apart from the two small transport teams, there was no trace of the Germans."
"It's a good thing for you that you can't see the shadow of the Germans." Sokov replied with a smile: "This way you will have enough time to maintain the tanks, and when the battle starts, you can use them at your best." into battle."
"But when can we go into battle?" Polubyarov muttered: "Now, whether it is to our east or west, friendly forces are engaged in fierce battles with the enemy. But our soldiers are Stay where you are and watch the fun, so that everyone will be in the mood."
Since the enemy has not appeared for a long time, it is indeed inappropriate to let General Polubyarov's tank army stay in place and do nothing. But for a while, he could not find a suitable combat mission to assign to the tank army. Sokov could only say helplessly: "Comrade general, don't be anxious. If you want to fight, there are many opportunities. Your task now is to do it properly." Rest and recuperate. But at the same time, you have to send a tank detachment to intercept the enemy's transport convoy, so that they cannot deliver ammunition and fuel to Prokhorovka. As long as you cut off the enemy's supply line, the enemy will not be far from defeat. .”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Since Sokov said this, Polubyarov could only bite the bullet and reply: "I will send a tank squad to intercept the enemy's transport convoy and cut off the enemy's supply line. "
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he saw Colonel Mashkov, the political commissar of the 188th Division, appearing in the headquarters. Since the 188th Division was stationed here, Mashkov has been staying in the grassroots troops, and his political workers have done propaganda and agitation work for the soldiers to boost morale.
Seeing him appear in the headquarters at this moment, Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked casually: "Colonel Mashkov, why are you free to come back to the division headquarters today?"
"Comrade Political Commissar." Koida also saw his political commissar for the first time since arriving here. He asked curiously: "Did something happen?"
"Yes, there is indeed something wrong." Mashkov nodded, picked up a cup of tea on the table, drank it in one gulp, and then said: "After successive battles, the 568th Regiment now only has There are more than 300 people left, and if the Germans choose the area they defend next time they attack, I'm worried that the position may be lost."
"What, there are only more than 300 people left in the 568th regiment?" Koida was shocked by the number Mashkov said. You know, when the troops first stationed here, the 568th Regiment had more than 1,800 people. Now, less than two days later, the regiment has only a fraction of its original number.
Koida picked up the phone, ordered the communications troops to connect to the regiment headquarters of the 568th Regiment, and asked the regiment leader who answered the phone directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard that there are only more than 300 people left in your regiment. Is this true?" Of?"
The lieutenant colonel leader quickly replied: "Yes, comrade division commander. There are only more than 300 people left in our regiment..."
"Why didn't you report it?" Before the other party could finish speaking, Koida got angry: "Do you know that if the entire division's defense line is breached due to insufficient troops in your regiment, can you afford the responsibility? "
"Comrade division commander, even if there is only one person left, we will never let the Germans pass our position." The lieutenant colonel assured Koida: "Please believe me, we will do everything we can to defend the position. "
"Nonsense, you are just nonsense." Koida continued to roar: "If Comrade Political Commissar hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that your regiment had such a serious depletion. If you were silently wiped out by the German army, by then Who should be held responsible for losing the position?”
"Comrade Colonel, give me the phone." Seeing Koida yelling into the phone, Sokov walked up to him and stretched out his hand: "Let me have a word with Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."
Koida did not dare to refute, so he could only obediently hand the microphone in his hand to Sokov. Sokov put the microphone to his ear and said kindly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander!" The lieutenant colonel became a little nervous when he heard that the speaker was Sokov. "Do you have any instructions?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I admire you for your determination and courage to sacrifice your life to defend our great motherland. But..." Sokov felt that in positional warfare with the enemy, we cannot blindly confront the enemy head-on. Paying attention to some strategies, he said euphemistically: "Sacrifice for your country is never the way to win a war. The way to win a war is to let your enemies sacrifice for their country!"
The lieutenant colonel never dreamed that Sokov would actually say such words, and for a moment he didn't know how to reply.
Seeing that the lieutenant colonel did not speak, Sokov continued: "Sooner or later, the war will end. Those of us who live until the day of victory cannot become idle just because the war is over. On the contrary, we have a lot of work. What we need to do is to rebuild the cities and farms that were destroyed by the war. Not only ours, but even the enemy's cities and farms, we have an obligation to help them rebuild."
"Comrade Commander, I don't understand." The lieutenant colonel became more and more confused as he listened: "Why should we help the enemy build cities and farms?"
"The reason is simple. When the enemy was defeated by us, their land was also occupied by us." Sokov explained to the lieutenant colonel: "Now that the war is over, we should use our energy to build those Occupied land. Do you understand?”
After Sokov's simple and straightforward explanation, the lieutenant colonel finally understood what he meant: "Comrade Commander, I understand. This should be what you often taught us before. In battle, we must know how to preserve ourselves and destroy ourselves." The enemy achieves the greatest victory at the least cost.”
"That's right, that's what it means." Seeing that the other party understood his intention, Sokov showed a happy smile on his face: "How about it, can you still persist?"
After hearing the question raised by Sokov, the lieutenant colonel hesitated for a long time and then said: "Comrade Commander, the troops I have now are limited, and a large proportion of the wounded are wounded. If the enemy attacks our regiment's position again, We may be able to block one attack. But if there are too many attacks, we may not be able to hold our position."
The tank battle outside Prokhorovka took longer than Sokov expected. In fact, this is easy to understand. Regarding this battle, the history books only lightly recorded a few entries, and did not say how long the battlefield lasted. As for how many tanks were used by both sides, it is still an issue of endless debate.
Although Sokov did not witness this battle with his own eyes, according to the information he had, there were more than 400 Soviet tanks outside Prokhorovka, and the total number of German tanks and self-propelled artillery was more than 100. . Except here, the Soviet Union and Germany in other directions each have hundreds of tanks. If these numbers are added up, even if it does not reach a thousand, it is not far from this number.
Since the battle outside Prokhorovka has not yet ended, General Polubyarov's tank army was basically in a state of doing nothing after arriving at the designated position. Looking at his tank soldiers, all sitting on the tanks, watching the infantry building fortifications in boredom, Polubyarov felt that he should let Sokov arrange some work for him, which would be better than being idle and bored now.
"Comrade Commander, this is Polubyarov." As soon as the call was connected, General Polubyarov said straight to the point: "Two hours have passed since our army entered the designated position. Except for Apart from the two small transport teams, there was no trace of the Germans."
"It's a good thing for you that you can't see the shadow of the Germans." Sokov replied with a smile: "This way you will have enough time to maintain the tanks, and when the battle starts, you can use them at your best." into battle."
"But when can we go into battle?" Polubyarov muttered: "Now, whether it is to our east or west, friendly forces are engaged in fierce battles with the enemy. But our soldiers are Stay where you are and watch the fun, so that everyone will be in the mood."
Since the enemy has not appeared for a long time, it is indeed inappropriate to let General Polubyarov's tank army stay in place and do nothing. But for a while, he could not find a suitable combat mission to assign to the tank army. Sokov could only say helplessly: "Comrade general, don't be anxious. If you want to fight, there are many opportunities. Your task now is to do it properly." Rest and recuperate. But at the same time, you have to send a tank detachment to intercept the enemy's transport convoy, so that they cannot deliver ammunition and fuel to Prokhorovka. As long as you cut off the enemy's supply line, the enemy will not be far from defeat. .”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Since Sokov said this, Polubyarov could only bite the bullet and reply: "I will send a tank squad to intercept the enemy's transport convoy and cut off the enemy's supply line. "
As soon as Sokov put down the phone, he saw Colonel Mashkov, the political commissar of the 188th Division, appearing in the headquarters. Since the 188th Division was stationed here, Mashkov has been staying in the grassroots troops, and his political workers have done propaganda and agitation work for the soldiers to boost morale.
Seeing him appear in the headquarters at this moment, Sokov raised his eyebrows and asked casually: "Colonel Mashkov, why are you free to come back to the division headquarters today?"
"Comrade Political Commissar." Koida also saw his political commissar for the first time since arriving here. He asked curiously: "Did something happen?"
"Yes, there is indeed something wrong." Mashkov nodded, picked up a cup of tea on the table, drank it in one gulp, and then said: "After successive battles, the 568th Regiment now only has There are more than 300 people left, and if the Germans choose the area they defend next time they attack, I'm worried that the position may be lost."
"What, there are only more than 300 people left in the 568th regiment?" Koida was shocked by the number Mashkov said. You know, when the troops first stationed here, the 568th Regiment had more than 1,800 people. Now, less than two days later, the regiment has only a fraction of its original number.
Koida picked up the phone, ordered the communications troops to connect to the regiment headquarters of the 568th Regiment, and asked the regiment leader who answered the phone directly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard that there are only more than 300 people left in your regiment. Is this true?" Of?"
The lieutenant colonel leader quickly replied: "Yes, comrade division commander. There are only more than 300 people left in our regiment..."
"Why didn't you report it?" Before the other party could finish speaking, Koida got angry: "Do you know that if the entire division's defense line is breached due to insufficient troops in your regiment, can you afford the responsibility? "
"Comrade division commander, even if there is only one person left, we will never let the Germans pass our position." The lieutenant colonel assured Koida: "Please believe me, we will do everything we can to defend the position. "
"Nonsense, you are just nonsense." Koida continued to roar: "If Comrade Political Commissar hadn't told me, I wouldn't have known that your regiment had such a serious depletion. If you were silently wiped out by the German army, by then Who should be held responsible for losing the position?”
"Comrade Colonel, give me the phone." Seeing Koida yelling into the phone, Sokov walked up to him and stretched out his hand: "Let me have a word with Comrade Lieutenant Colonel."
Koida did not dare to refute, so he could only obediently hand the microphone in his hand to Sokov. Sokov put the microphone to his ear and said kindly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I am Sokov."
"Hello, Comrade Commander!" The lieutenant colonel became a little nervous when he heard that the speaker was Sokov. "Do you have any instructions?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I admire you for your determination and courage to sacrifice your life to defend our great motherland. But..." Sokov felt that in positional warfare with the enemy, we cannot blindly confront the enemy head-on. Paying attention to some strategies, he said euphemistically: "Sacrifice for your country is never the way to win a war. The way to win a war is to let your enemies sacrifice for their country!"
