Don't forget that Sokov told Rotmistrov not to report to Vatutin about his command of the troops to attack the Skull Division. But it was unrealistic to completely conceal Vatugin from such a big war. Ten minutes after the battle started, Vatugin learned about the matter through his own specific intelligence channels.
Vatutin put the received intelligence in front of Zhukov and Vasilevsky, and said excitedly: "Two comrades, marshals, have you seen it? Although Konev promised to hand over the 27th Army to my command , but Sokov disobeyed my orders. I ordered him to attack the Flag Guard Division, but he pointed the attack directly at the Skeleton Division. This, this is simply outrageous. "
"Comrade Marshal," Vasilevsky said to Zhukov with a side face after listening to Vatutin's words: "Among the enemies inside Prokhorovka, the Skeleton Division is indeed the weakest. During the battle, a large number of soldiers and technical equipment were lost. Even if the German army is already defeated, Comrade Sokov intends to destroy the enemy with only one division. I think it is still a bit difficult."
"That's right, Marshal Zhukov." As soon as Vasilevskiy finished speaking, Vatutin echoed: "The situation of the 69th Army is not optimistic now. Once the Flag Guard Division and the Kef Combat Group merge, they will be The possibility of encirclement. Now Sokov disobeys my order and runs to attack the Skeleton Division. Once entangled by the enemy, we can only watch the 69th Group Army fall into the enemy's encirclement..."
Before Vatutin could finish speaking, Zhukov interrupted him and asked unexpectedly: "Comrade Vatutin, wouldn't you be able to fight without Misha's troops?"
"How is this possible, Comrade Marshal." Upon hearing Zhukov's question, Vatutin replied in a panic: "I just thought that if Sokov's troops could attack the Flag Guard Division according to my intention, maybe It can quickly reverse the current unfavorable situation of our army."
Zhukov, who had been looking down at the map, waited for Vatutin to finish speaking, looked up at him and said: "I think Misha made the right choice. Prioritize the attack on the Skeleton Division. As long as this force can be defeated, then the city of Prokhorovka will be destroyed." The situation in the northwest will become stable, and then Rotmistrov's troops will be free to attack the Flag Guard Division together with Sokov's troops. Comrade Vatutin, tell me, is it a Is it easier for one force to defeat the Guards Division, or is it more likely to succeed if the two forces take joint action?"
"Of course, it is easier to achieve success if the two troops act at the same time." After Vatutin said these words without thinking, he said with some hesitation: "However, I am worried that Sokov's troops will not be able to defeat the Skeleton Division in a short time. , so that we will be entangled by the enemy and unable to free our hands to deal with their Guards Division to the south."
"Comrade Vatutin, you are worrying too much." Zhukov said calmly: "Since the troops commanded by Misha can defeat the Skeleton Division once, there is no big problem in defeating the Skeleton Division a second time. Besides, not only the Skeleton Division and the Skeleton Division have been eliminated The Imperial Division, and even the Flag Guard Division that gives you a headache, were once defeated by Misha. If Misha's troops first eliminated the Skeleton Division and then dealt with the Flag Guard Division, the enemy's morale would definitely suffer a heavy blow Strike. When the time comes to eliminate a demoralized unit, the price we have to pay will be much smaller."
Vatutin's worries and anxieties suddenly disappeared as Zhukov recognized Sokov. In his mind, he even began to think about which unit he should send after Sokov's troops destroyed the Skull Division to assist them in jointly attacking the German Flag Guard Division.
…………
When the 354th Division arrived at the attack position, German scouts had already discovered them and reported the information to the division headquarters in a timely manner. When division commander Simon learned that it was Sokov's troops who were coming, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He quickly issued an order to the commanders of each regiment, asking them to hurry up and repair the fortifications. They must complete the construction of the fortifications before dawn tomorrow. To counter a possible attack by Sokov's forces.
When the German regiment commanders learned that Sokov's troops had arrived, they did not dare to neglect. They immediately ordered their soldiers to start repairing the fortifications, striving to repair the fortifications that had been destroyed in the artillery fire a few days ago before dawn. After the Germans captured this area, although they also carried out repair work on the fortifications, they were worried about the counterattack from the city of Prokhorovka, so the focus of defense was placed on the east. Now suddenly faced with a threat from the west, they could only improvise and repair the fortifications overnight, trying to rely on the fortifications to resist the attack of Sokov's troops.
But what the Germans did not expect was that Sokov did not plan to rest all night and wait until dawn the next day before attacking. Even before the troops arrived, he couldn't wait to launch the attack. The first wave of attacking troops actually rode in tanks and quickly rushed towards Simon's division headquarters.
Fifty tanks, carrying more than 400 infantry commanders and combatants, quickly passed through some small and weak German positions and rushed straight to the division headquarters.
When Simon learned that the Soviet tanks were coming straight to his division headquarters, he shouted to his guard battalion commander on the phone: "Major, order your men to block the Russian tanks. They must block them, otherwise the division headquarters will It’s all over.”
Although Simon ordered his troops to defend, he did not dare to stay in the headquarters anymore. After all, he had been captured by Sokov's troops a few months ago. Even if he was later rescued by his men, he still became a A blemish on his military career. If Mustache hadn't valued him so highly, I'm afraid he would have been sent to a military court by now. It would be a fantasy to become the commander of the Skeleton Division again.
"Chief of Staff, our defense line cannot stop the Russians. The division headquarters needs to be transferred immediately, otherwise we will become prisoners of the Russians." Simon said to his Chief of Staff: "I will take the first step, and you stay." Come down and take charge of the aftermath." After Simon said this, he took a dozen guards and two armored personnel carriers and fled to the Grenadier Regiment in the south.
Watching the armored personnel carrier Simon was riding in go away, the chief of staff cursed in his heart: a coward who is greedy for life and afraid of death. Then he ordered the staff officers and communications soldiers in the division headquarters to start dismantling the telephones and lines, and gradually moved the things to the trucks outside, trying to move them to a safe area.
The tank battalion commander who was leading the charge saw several brightly lit wooden houses in the distance. He guessed that they must be the German command headquarters, so he ordered his men to stop and target the wooden houses in the distance for shelling.
Fifteen tanks stopped one after another, and they slowly pointed their muzzles at the wooden house in the distance. Following the battalion commander's order to fire, fifteen tanks fired one after another at the wooden house in the distance. After only two rounds of shooting, the wooden houses in the distance were hit one after another. After the violent explosion, the wooden houses were either blown to pieces or started to burn.
Seeing that the wooden house in the distance was shot and on fire, the tank continued to drive forward. The infantrymen on the tank jumped off the tank one after another, formed a battle formation, followed the tank with their waists bent, and rushed towards the enemy's position. .
Although the officers and soldiers of the guard battalion responsible for protecting the division headquarters performed extremely tenaciously, they were unable to stop the rushing Soviet tanks due to their lack of effective anti-tank weapons. What's even worse is that the tanks were followed by Soviet infantry. They took advantage of the chaos of the defenders and quickly rushed into the trenches and started fighting with the soldiers inside.
When the soldiers saw that the wooden house where the division headquarters was located was destroyed by Soviet tank fire, their morale was already in chaos. So much so that the Soviet commanders and fighters who followed the tanks quickly took the initiative after jumping into the trenches.
Just as the German resistance was getting weaker and weaker, the main force that had just arrived flowed over the German defensive position like a tide, and continued to rush forward with the tanks in front.
"Comrade Division Commander." The commander of the main regiment responsible for the offensive mission reported to Shechtman via the radio after confirming that his troops had captured the German division headquarters: "We have captured the German division headquarters."
"Have you captured the German division headquarters?" Hearing the good news, Shechtman couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Have you captured General Simon, the commander of the Skeleton Division?"
"No, comrade division commander." The head of the vanguard group replied awkwardly: "When we arrived, the house was burning violently. Although there were many burnt corpses inside, we learned when we interrogated the prisoners that division commander Simon was Before our tanks opened fire, they left the division headquarters in a vehicle, leaving behind only his chief of staff and a group of staff officers and communications troops."
Knowing that Simon had run away, Shechtman felt very sorry. He quickly asked: "Do you know where he escaped to?"
"I don't know, Comrade Division Commander." The regiment commander replied truthfully: "The prisoners only know that he took two armored personnel carriers and left the division headquarters. As for where he went, no one knows."
When Sokov heard this, he quickly said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, ask your subordinates which direction the German armored vehicles are going?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," after hearing Sokov's instructions, Shechtman quickly said into the microphone: "Did you ask the prisoners which direction Simon and his men were walking?"
The other end of the phone was silent, but Shechtman could vaguely hear some voices, which seemed to be the leader asking something. After a while, the regimental commander's voice came through the earphones again: "Comrade division commander, according to the prisoners' confession, the armored personnel carrier Simon was riding in retreated toward the southeast..."
"Retreating toward the southeast?" After hearing what the regiment leader said, Sokov immediately checked the map to study where Simon might have fled. After looking at it for a moment, he analyzed Simon's next stop based on the enemy's and our situation on the map, and said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, inform your subordinates immediately and order them to continue to advance northwest and respond as soon as possible." The fighting tanks of the 18th Army merged to destroy or severely damage the enemies who escaped from our defense zone."
"Comrade Commander," Shechtman said with some confusion about Sokov's order: "Didn't Simon flee to the southeast to find his Grenadier Regiment? Why don't we advance to the southwest? Instead, should we attack in the northwest direction?"
"The reason is very simple." Sokov said lightly: "At this moment, by ordering the troops to go north, they can attack from the front and back with General Rotmistrov's 18th Tank Corps and annihilate the main force of the Skeleton Division that has fallen into chaos. As for the southeast direction That grenadier regiment can throw the remaining infantry regiments and artillery regiments into battle, allowing them to eliminate as many effective German forces as possible."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." After listening to Sokov's arrangement, Shechtman said with understanding: "I immediately ordered the infantry regiment and artillery regiment still on the position to attack the German army."
"First order the artillery to bombard the German Grenadier Regiment's station." Sokov told Shechtman: "While the bombardment was going on, the infantry regiment quickly moved towards the enemy's defensive position. When the bombardment stopped, the enemy still There is no favorable opportunity to recover and quickly occupy the enemy's position."
Regarding Sokov's arrangement, Shechtman had inexplicable confidence in him, and this confidence was built up from countless previous victories. He did not question Sokov's order, but truthfully He conveyed Sokov's latest orders to several of his regimental commanders.
The other end of the phone was silent, but Shechtman could vaguely hear some voices, which seemed to be the leader asking something. After a while, the regimental commander's voice came through the earphones again: "Comrade division commander, according to the prisoners' confession, the armored personnel carrier Simon was riding in retreated toward the southeast..."
"Retreating toward the southeast?" After hearing what the regiment leader said, Sokov immediately checked the map to study where Simon might have fled. After looking at it for a moment, he analyzed Simon's next stop based on the enemy's and our situation on the map, and said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, inform your subordinates immediately and order them to continue to advance northwest and respond as soon as possible." The fighting tanks of the 18th Army merged to destroy or severely damage the enemies who escaped from our defense zone."
"Comrade Commander," Shechtman said with some confusion about Sokov's order: "Didn't Simon flee to the southeast to find his Grenadier Regiment? Why don't we advance to the southwest? Instead, should we attack in the northwest direction?"
"The reason is very simple." Sokov said lightly: "At this moment, by ordering the troops to go north, they can attack from the front and back with General Rotmistrov's 18th Tank Corps and annihilate the main force of the Skeleton Division that has fallen into chaos. As for the southeast direction That grenadier regiment can throw the remaining infantry regiments and artillery regiments into battle, allowing them to eliminate as many effective German forces as possible."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." After listening to Sokov's arrangement, Shechtman said with understanding: "I immediately ordered the infantry regiment and artillery regiment still on the position to attack the German army."
"First order the artillery to bombard the German Grenadier Regiment's station." Sokov told Shechtman: "While the bombardment was going on, the infantry regiment quickly moved towards the enemy's defensive position. When the bombardment stopped, the enemy still There is no favorable opportunity to recover and quickly occupy the enemy's position."
Regarding Sokov's arrangement, Shechtman had inexplicable confidence in him, and this confidence was built up from countless previous victories. He did not question Sokov's order, but truthfully He conveyed Sokov's latest orders to several of his regimental commanders.
