The German 48th Panzer Corps continued to launch attacks in the Oboyan area, trying to break through the Soviet defenses here so that it could quickly advance along the road to Kursk. However, the commanders and fighters of the 1st Tank Army, under the command of General Katukov, stubbornly blocked the German attack, causing them to stagnate in front of Oboyan's defensive position and unable to make any breakthrough.
Fierce fighting was taking place in the direction of Oboyan, and the fighting outside Prokhorovka also entered a fever pitch. General Baharov's 18th Tank Corps, after restoring October Farm to the north of Hill 252.2, established new defenses there to prevent the Germans from taking it again.
Manstein, who had lost his reserve team, could only order Hauser's SS Panzer Corps and the Kef Combat Group to increase their offensive efforts against the Soviet army in order to capture the city of Prokhorovka, in order to annihilate one of them first. Ministry, and then capture this city.
After receiving the order, Hausser decided to retake the October Farm as a breakthrough, and then detoured back to the rear of the Soviet army. According to his experience on the Soviet-German battlefield, once the Soviet army was encircled, many troops would fall into chaos. As long as one of them was annihilated, the rest would not be a concern.
In order to achieve this operational goal, Simon went to the front line in person and commanded his troops to launch an attack on October Farm. He and his chief of staff stayed in an observation post and saw with his own eyes a battalion of infantry, following more than 20 tanks, launching an attack on the Soviet position in the distance.
The Soviet positions were just temporary dug trenches. There were neither minefields nor barbed wire in front of them. The German infantry, under the cover of tanks, could easily rush to the trenches. Seeing his officers and soldiers rushing forward, Simon began to think about which troops he should leave behind for defense once the October Farm was captured, and which troops should then detour back to the Russian rear. Encircle them.
However, what happened next shocked Simon. He saw that the Russians holding on to their positions did not have many anti-tank guns, and relied more on anti-tank rifles to snipe their own tanks from long distances. However, since the tanks leading the infantry charge were all Panther tanks, the anti-tank rifles on the position could not penetrate the front armor of the tanks at all. The limited number of anti-tank guns were locked on target by the moving tanks after firing twice and were quickly destroyed with artillery fire.
Unexpectedly, just as the tank approached the trench, countless figures jumped out of the crater next to the tank. Some of them threw anti-tank grenades at the tank, some threw Molotov cocktails, and some even had cluster grenades tied to their bodies and rushed to fight with them. Those Panther tanks that could not even be destroyed by anti-tank rifles were destroyed.
Simon's heart bleeds when he sees dazzling fires and black smoke rising in the distance. He realizes that those are his tanks being continuously destroyed by the damn Russians. I originally thought that the infantry following the tanks could destroy the Russian anti-tank fighters, but I didn't expect that the opponent fought bravely. Unexpectedly, someone held a smoking grenade and rushed directly into the German infantry queue, fighting with several Even a dozen soldiers died together.
Although the Skeleton Division was an elite division of the German army, they still felt intimidated when they encountered such desperate tactics as the commanders and fighters of the 18th Tank Corps. At this time, Baharov saw that the infantry brigade successfully blocked the German attack, so he decisively ordered the 170th Tank Brigade to counterattack the German army.
The German officers and soldiers who had begun to intend to retreat suddenly became confused when they saw the Soviet tanks rushing up. Immediately, some officers and soldiers retreated like a tide, while the remaining officers and soldiers hid behind the destroyed tanks or in bomb craters, shooting at the rushing Soviet tanks.
While the 18th Tank Corps tenaciously blocked the Skeleton Division at October Farm, the 29th Tank Corps also fought fiercely with the Flag Guard Division near Hill 252.2. To the south of the city of Prokhorovka, there are several infantry divisions of the 69th Army, fighting positional battles with the Kef Combat Group, fighting for every inch of territory.
Rotmistrov, who set up his headquarters in the city of Prokhorovka, after carefully studying the situation outside the city, called Vatutin and said to him: "Comrade General, the Germans The force is more tenacious than we imagined. If we launch a comprehensive counterattack at this time, it may be difficult to achieve any results, and it will easily exhaust our effective strength."
You know, Vatutin has always advocated offense. Soon after the battle of Kursk began, he ignored the situation on the battlefield and put all his reserves into the counterattack. As a result, not only did they fail to crush the German offensive on the southern front, but they also exhausted all the effective strength they had finally accumulated. In the end, they had to shamelessly ask for help from the base camp.
If he had heard Rotmistrov's words a few days ago, he would have definitely gotten angry at him. But after learning the lessons of the past few days, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and asked: "General Rotmistrov, what did you think about it?"
"Comrade General, this is what I think about." Rotmistrov stared at the map in front of him and replied: "Let the troops of the 18th and 29th Tank Corps hold on to the October Farm and 252.2 Highlands in the west of the city, blocking the The attack of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps. In addition, I plan to divide the 5th Guards Mechanized Corps into two parts, one part will be deployed behind the two tank corps, and the other part will be deployed behind the 69th Army to stop Kenf Advance of the Corps.”
After hearing Rotmistrov's idea, Vatutin did not speak immediately. Instead, he glanced at Zhukov standing next to him and asked for his opinion with his eyes. Zhukov heard clearly the conversation between Vatutin and Rotmistrov, looked down at the map, and felt that this arrangement was very safe, so he nodded slightly, indicating that he agreed with Rotmistrov's plan. .
"Okay, General Rotmistrov." After receiving Zhukov's approval, Vatutin immediately said into the microphone: "Let's arrange the defense according to your plan."
"Although the Germans have transferred their reserve team, the situation is still not good for us." Vasilevsky took advantage of Vatutin's call and said to Zhukov: "What should we do? What measures can we take to resolve the current crisis?”
"Do we have any other troops we can mobilize?" Zhukov asked without looking up from the map.
"We have deployed all available troops in the Oboyan and Prokhorovka areas." Vatutin, who had just put down the phone, heard Zhukov's question and replied with a face full of shame: "If the base camp does not give us If we send more reinforcements, I think we won’t have any troops to put into the battlefield.”
"Comrade Vatutin, you are wrong. We still have troops that can be mobilized." Zhukov raised his head, looked at the embarrassed Vatutin in front of him, and said expressionlessly: "Once this unit is put on the battlefield, we can Deal a heavy blow to the German army."
"Is there such a unit?" Vatutin had just said this, and immediately realized which unit Zhukov was talking about, and quickly said: "Comrade Marshal, are you talking about Major General Sokov's 27th Army?" Army group?"
"Yes, it's Misha's troops." Zhukov nodded and replied affirmatively: "He told me on the phone yesterday that Manstein's reserve team could not be put into battle and would be transferred. I also I criticized him. I didn’t expect that his analysis was completely correct.”
Hearing Zhukov mention the 27th Army, Vasilevsky quickly echoed: "For the Germans, the 27th Army is their nightmare. A few days ago, they not only annihilated the Imperial Division that broke through the Oboyan line of defense , and even killed the division commander of the German 6th Armored Division. If this unit is allowed to go into battle, we will definitely be able to reverse the situation on the southern front of Kursk in the shortest possible time."
At this stage of the battle, it would be a good thing if one's side could have a fresh force to join the battle. But Vatutin thought that although this unit was stationed in the Prokhorovka area, it was not under his control. He had no right to give orders directly to the other party, so he said to Zhukov with some embarrassment: "Comrade Marshal, although the 27th Army It’s not far from us, but it’s under the control of the Steppe Front. I can’t mobilize this unit until I get authorization from General Konev.”
"Leave this matter to me." Vasilevsky said proactively: "I am the representative of the base camp. I will come forward to talk to General Konev. I am sure he will not have any objections."
Seeing that Vasilevsky took the initiative to take on this offending matter, Zhukov said nothing, just nodded, and then said to Vatutin: "Comrade Vatutin, judging from today's battle, the situation of the 69th Group Army It is very dangerous. They may be cut off and surrounded by the Germans at any time. Should you arrange to evacuate them to a safe area?"
Vatutin pointed to the map and said to Zhukov: "In order to avoid the risk of them being encircled, I can withdraw them to the next line of defense. But the problem now is that not only are the troops of the group army too scattered, but all the troops We are all fighting the enemy. Once we retreat, the enemy will take the opportunity to occupy the area we gave up, and then the situation in the Prokhorovka area will become even more unfavorable to our army."
"Comrade Vatutin, I think Misha said something right." Seeing Vatutin's surprised look, Zhukov continued: "As long as the enemy's effective strength can be eliminated, sometimes there is no need to worry about a city. The gain and loss of one place. As long as we can preserve our strength, even if we temporarily give up some places, when the time is right, we can take these places back from the enemy's hands.
On the contrary, if we keep fighting against the enemy, in the end we may lose our position and all our troops. It will take a long time to retake these positions. "
Vasilevsky, who called Konev, thought that the other party would readily agree to his request. Unexpectedly, after he finished speaking, Konev said slowly: "Marshal Vasilevsky, The 5th Guards Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army, which originally belonged to our front, have been placed under the command of the Voronezh Front. Now you want to put my 27th Army under the command of General Vatutin again. In this way , half of the effective strength of our front army is gone, how can we fight the next battle?"
Vasilevsky did not expect that Konev would object to assigning Sokov's troops to Vatutin's Voronezh Front, and he did not know how to answer for a while. Even thinking about it from his perspective, he felt aggrieved for Konev. He only had seven armies in his hands, and he was already at a disadvantage when two full armies were assigned to the Voronezh Front. Now Sokov's 27th Army has to be placed under the command of Vatutin. With only half of the strength of the front army left, the combat effectiveness will definitely be affected.
Seeing Vasilevsky's embarrassed look, Zhukov walked over and took the microphone from his hand and said, "I'll talk to General Konev." Zhukov put the earphone close to his ear and spoke in a friendly voice The tone said, "Is it Comrade Konev? I am Zhukov!"
Konev served as the commander of the Western Front during the Battle of Moscow, but was dismissed from his position by the base camp because his troops lost the battle. If Zhukov, who took over as commander, had not put in good words for him and recommended him as the commander of the Kalinin Front, he might have ended up like General Pavlov. He always kept Zhukov's kindness in mind. When he heard Zhukov's voice, he quickly replied politely: "Hello, Comrade Marshal."
"Comrade Konev," Zhukov organized the vocabulary in his mind, and then said into the microphone: "I know that the base camp has transferred two armies from your front army, which has greatly weakened your strength. Now there are still In your organization, removing Sokov's 27th Army will further weaken your strength.
However, there is no way around this. Now the situation outside Prokhorovka is extremely critical. Vatutin has used all the power he can, but he still cannot crush the German attack on the city. And Sokov's 27th Army is stationed not far from the fighting area. If his troops can go into battle, they can completely reverse our army's unfavorable situation in the Prokhorovka area..."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Konev patiently listened to Zhukov's words and realized that Sokov's troops were the key to reversing the occupation. Even if he insisted on his principles, he firmly disagreed with placing them under the command of the Voronezh Front. But if this matter reaches the top,
However, there is no way around this. Now the situation outside Prokhorovka is extremely critical. Vatutin has used all the power he can, but he still cannot crush the German attack on the city. And Sokov's 27th Army is stationed not far from the fighting area. If his troops can go into battle, they can completely reverse our army's unfavorable situation in the Prokhorovka area..."
"Okay, Comrade Marshal." Konev patiently listened to Zhukov's words and realized that Sokov's troops were the key to reversing the occupation. Even if he insisted on his principles, he firmly disagreed with placing them under the command of the Voronezh Front. But if this matter reaches the top,
