"Comrade Commander, are you a little nervous that the war has reached this level?" As soon as Samyko walked aside to make a phone call, Lunev walked to Sokov and took out a cigarette from the box. The cigarette was handed to him: "Come on, have a cigarette and relax."
Sokov took the cigarette from Runev's hand, held it in his mouth, and wanted to light it with a match, but found that his pocket was empty, and the box of matches used to light the cigarette had long since disappeared. Fortunately, Runev struck a match in time and helped Sokov light his cigarette.
"Yes, it is indeed a bit." After taking a puff of cigarette, Sokov said to Lunev: "If the Germans move quickly and get ahead of us to annihilate the 19th Armored Division, the reinforcements will arrive and cut off by then. The German troops on the rear route are in danger of being counter-encircled. At that time, the situation will develop in an unpredictable direction."
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander. I believe that our troops will be able to annihilate the 19th Armored Division before the German reinforcements arrive." Lunev said with a smile: "I have such confidence, don't you? ?”
Sokov hesitated for a moment, and then replied bravely: "Of course I am sure. But the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. When we as commanders make plans, we must also take the worst-case scenario into consideration. In this way, when This way you won’t panic when traveling is unfavorable.”
"Look, let me just say that you are confident that you can wipe out the 19th Armored Division before the enemy reinforcements arrive. Then there is nothing to worry about." Lunev raised his hand and gently placed it on Sokov's shoulder. He patted the ground twice and reminded him: "I think you should still consider how we should deal with the enemy in the direction of Oboyan after the 19th Armored Division is annihilated."
Even after the Battle of Kursk began, Sokov's troops won the first battle in the direction of Oboyan, but if the 19th Armored Division was really annihilated, his superiors ordered him to assist friendly forces and repel the enemies gathered in this area. A difficult task. Thinking of this, Sokov couldn't help but frowned again, staring at the map in front of him and thinking.
Schmidt, commander of the 19th Armored Division, originally thought that he could completely repel Sokov's attack with his own strength. However, as the war progressed, he found that his estimate of the situation was too optimistic. Facing the tenacious defense of its own troops, the Soviet offensive not only did not weaken, but became more fierce.
When the artillery shells fell and exploded near Schmidt's headquarters, the division chief of staff said to him anxiously: "Your Excellency, division commander, our army's positions have been lost one after another under the Russian attack. Now our remaining troops are being compressed by them." In a small area. With our current strength, it is impossible to crush their attack."
Schmidt was at a loss at this moment. When he heard what the Chief of Staff said, he quickly asked: "Then what else can we do to save the situation at hand?"
When the Soviet army launched a full-scale offensive, the division chief of staff persuaded Schmidt to report directly to Manstein the situation facing his troops. However, Schmidt stubbornly believed that with the combat effectiveness of his troops, he should pay attention to crushing the Soviet attack, so he rejected the chief of staff's proposal without hesitation.
Seeing that he had reached a desperate situation, Schmidt knew that if he continued to resist, he might not be able to escape the fate of being annihilated. So he could only adopt the opinion of the chief of staff and confess the truth to Manstein: "Okay, chief of staff, please help me get through to the headquarters. I want to report the war here to the marshal personally."
At this moment, Marshal Manstein, who was staying in his command cabin, was drinking coffee. Since not long ago, Combat Group Kemp and the Flag Guard Division successfully crushed the Soviet counterattack outside Prokhorovka, this made him feel very happy, which diluted the pain caused by the annihilation of the Totenkopf Division. Come trouble.
At this moment, the adjutant, Colonel Burke, walked up to him, leaned over and said to him: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the commander of the 19th Armored Division, General Schmidt, called and has something important to report to you."
Hearing that the call was from Schmidt, Manstein's mood became even more cheerful. This armored division successfully contained several Russian divisions, preventing the Russian commander from throwing them outside Prokhorovka. battle. He looked up at Burke and said to him: "Colonel, could you please bring the phone? I think General Schmidt may have brought me good news."
Burke agreed and soon came to Manstein with a microphone and phone base. Manstein took the phone, put it to his ear and said with interest: "Schmidt, did you bring me any good news?" He picked up the coffee cup and began to think about what would happen if Proholo was captured. After the city of Fka, will some troops be transferred over to attack the pinned Russian troops with the 19th Armored Division?
"Marshal, I'm sorry, I may have brought you bad news." Schmidt said hesitantly: "My troops were attacked by Sokov's troops. Now most of the positions have been lost, and the remaining defenders have lost their positions." The army is being gradually compressed into a narrow area. If you don't send reinforcements as soon as possible, I think in a few hours, the designation of the 19th Armored Division will no longer exist."
This bad news made the smile on Manstein's face freeze instantly, and his whole body seemed to be immobilized. He held the coffee cup in one hand and the microphone in the other, like a marble sculpture.
This is impossible! Manstein was shouting in his mind. Although he knew that there were Sokov's two divisions among the troops confronting the 19th Armored Division, he always felt that Sokov would not take the initiative to attack the 19th Armored Division until the fighting outside Prokhorovka was completely over. After all, the destruction of the 19th Armored Division to the east of the Flag Guard Division is of greater significance.
Once the 19th Armored Division is annihilated, the troops in Oboyan and Prokhorovka will be divided by the Russians into two disconnected parts. In this way, Sokov's troops, who were originally pinned down, could launch attacks at will in these two directions, completely disrupting their own offensive deployment.
At this moment, Manstein seemed to be suffering from Alzheimer's disease. He had forgotten the coffee cup in his hand and allowed the coffee to flow down the corner of his mouth and drip onto his uniform and trousers.
"Your Majesty, Marshal, your coffee has been spilled." Burke saw Manstein suddenly enter a state of trance. After calling him hurriedly, he took the coffee cup from his hand, and then hurriedly wiped it with a cloth. Coffee stains on clothes and pants.
After waking up, Manstein pushed Burke away and asked angrily into the microphone: "General Schmidt, what is going on? When did Sokov's troops launch the attack, and how could they do so in such a short period of time?" In a short period of time, your division was defeated?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Now that it was a life-or-death situation, Schmidt did not dare to hide it any more. He could only honestly report to Manstein in detail about how he sent troops to sneak attack last night and captured Sokov's wife alive. Finally, he said: "I thought that by sending his wife back, maybe my defense zone would be peaceful for a while, but I didn't expect that he would launch an attack so quickly. And his attack was not just a show-off, it was really hard. Almost all of my elite troops were consumed in the battle."
After listening to Schmidt's story, Manstein scolded him in his heart: It's not good for you to provoke Sokov's troops. What's even more outrageous is that your people actually arrested Sokov's wife. It's strange that he didn't get angry. But now that things have happened, no matter how angry you are, it will not help. The current top priority is to immediately dispatch reinforcements, hoping to save the 19th Armored Division from the edge of destruction.
"How long can you hold on?" Manstein asked coldly.
Schmidt quickly covered the microphone and asked his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, how long can we hold on?"
"Two hours at most." The division chief of staff said with a grimace: "Any longer, there is no guarantee."
"Your Excellency, Marshal," after receiving the reply from the division chief of staff, Schmidt quickly removed his hand covering the microphone: "We can still hold on for two hours."
"What, you can only hold on for two hours?" Hearing what Schmidt said, Manstein couldn't help but frowned: "Is this the combat effectiveness of your 19th Armored Division? Facing the Russian attack, you can only Last two hours?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Schmidt quickly defended himself: "In order to eliminate us, the Russians dispatched at least seven infantry divisions, five tank brigades, and powerful artillery. As for us, after passing through this After several days of fighting, nearly half of the soldiers and weapons and equipment were lost. With such a disparity in strength between the two sides, how can we stop their attack?"
"I will send troops to support you as soon as possible." Manstein did not talk nonsense to Schmidt, and said in a commanding tone on the phone: "You must hold on for another five hours." After saying this, he did not give Schmidt any advice. When Te had the opportunity to speak, he hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Manstein stood up, walked to the map, and asked the Chief of Staff standing aside: "Chief of Staff, the current situation of the 19th Armored Division is very critical. Which troops can we send for reinforcements?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal, we currently only have the severely damaged 6th Armored Division. I feel that given their current situation, it is obviously unrealistic to reinforce the 19th Armored Division." The Chief of Staff said respectfully: "I think it can be done The Grossdeutschland Division was dispatched to reinforce the 19th Armored Division. With their strength, they can completely defeat the Russian troops besieging General Schmidt."
"Isn't the Grossdeutschland Division currently fighting Katukov's troops?" Manstein looked at the enemy and friend situations on the map and couldn't help but frowned: "Removing them will not affect our operations in the Oboyan area. Strength?"
"There will definitely be a certain impact." The chief of staff replied: "But if under the current circumstances, the Grossdeutschland Division is not mobilized for reinforcements, it means that we can only give up the 19th Armored Division."
After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Manstein thought for a long time and said: "Okay, first dispatch the Fusiliers and a tank battalion to rush over to support. As long as they can tear a gap in the Russian encirclement, the 19th Armored The division will not be annihilated by the Russians. In addition, the air force is ordered to dispatch to bomb the Russian forces besieging the 19th Armored Division."
Half an hour later, the first batch of German bombers appeared on the battlefield. They first carried out violent bombing on the positions of the 384th Infantry Division that had cut off the retreat of the 19th Armored Division, causing considerable casualties to the Soviet army.
Major General Gritsenko saw the enemy plane appearing in the sky and quickly ordered the troops to stop the attack and find a suitable location for air defense. At the same time, he called Sokov and asked Sokov for help: "Commander Comrade, our division was attacked by the German Air Force and suffered heavy casualties. We ask our superiors to provide us with air support."
The group army commanded by Sokov was a reserve force before the outbreak of the battle. Therefore, its equipment in terms of heavy weapons was unsatisfactory. In addition to the artillery regiments owned by each division, there was no direct artillery. Troops, let alone air defense troops. Faced with the sudden appearance of the German Air Force, Sokov was helpless. However, in order not to cause panic in the troops, he comforted Gritsenko on the phone and said: "Comrade General, don't be anxious. You first order the troops to conduct air defense. I will immediately Request superiors to dispatch air force support.”
Having said that, after finishing the call with Major General Gritsenko, Sokov was faced with a dilemma: Should he ask for support from the Air Force, Vatutin or Konev?
After listening to the words of the chief of staff, Manstein thought for a long time and said: "Okay, first dispatch the Fusiliers and a tank battalion to rush over to support. As long as they can tear a gap in the Russian encirclement, the 19th Armored The division will not be annihilated by the Russians. In addition, the air force is ordered to dispatch to bomb the Russian forces besieging the 19th Armored Division."
Half an hour later, the first batch of German bombers appeared on the battlefield. They first carried out violent bombing on the positions of the 384th Infantry Division that had cut off the retreat of the 19th Armored Division, causing considerable casualties to the Soviet army.
Major General Gritsenko saw the enemy plane appearing in the sky and quickly ordered the troops to stop the attack and find a suitable location for air defense. At the same time, he called Sokov and asked Sokov for help: "Commander Comrade, our division was attacked by the German Air Force and suffered heavy casualties. We ask our superiors to provide us with air support."
The group army commanded by Sokov was a reserve force before the outbreak of the battle. Therefore, its equipment in terms of heavy weapons was unsatisfactory. In addition to the artillery regiments owned by each division, there was no direct artillery. Troops, let alone air defense troops. Faced with the sudden appearance of the German Air Force, Sokov was helpless. However, in order not to cause panic in the troops, he comforted Gritsenko on the phone and said: "Comrade General, don't be anxious. You first order the troops to conduct air defense. I will immediately Request superiors to dispatch air force support.”
Having said that, after finishing the call with Major General Gritsenko, Sokov was faced with a dilemma: Should he contact Vatutin or Konev to request air force support? "Isn't the Grossdeutschland Division currently fighting Katukov's troops?" Manstein looked at the enemy and friendly situations on the map and couldn't help but frowned: "Removing them will not affect our operations in the Oboyan area. Strength?"
"There will definitely be a certain impact." The chief of staff replied: "But if under the current circumstances, the Grossdeutschland Division is not mobilized for reinforcements, it means that we can only give up the 19th Armored Division."
