At dawn the next day, two hundred tanks of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps formed a huge wedge formation and advanced rapidly along the railway line, trying to decisively break through the defense line and rush into Hal before the Germans could react. Kokov joined Sokov's 27th Army.
Whether it is Rotmistrov or the commander of the 2nd Tank Army, they all feel that with the current strength of the Germans, it is simply impossible to stop such a huge armored assault group. Even if there will be losses in tanks along the way, the large number of tanks will not be able to stop them. Most of the tanks were still able to break through the enemy's positions and enter the city to join Sokov's troops.
But what happened next hit Rotmistrov hard in the face. When the Soviet tank group passed through the sunflower field, it once again encountered an armored group composed of Tiger tanks, Panther tanks and assault guns. Behind them was the German anti-tank weapon-88mm anti-aircraft gun.
The advancing Soviet tanks were not stopped in the open ground and burned by German tank guns or anti-aircraft guns, but the remaining tanks rushed forward without hesitation, or fired at the German tanks approaching them.
The German troops deploying defenses here are the 394th Panzer Grenadier Regiment under the 3rd Armored Division. They use 88mm anti-aircraft guns in conjunction with their own tanks to destroy Soviet tanks trying to approach the position. Artillery shells fell in the Soviet offensive line. From time to time, tanks were destroyed. After moving forward for a certain distance under fire and smoke, they stopped where they were and burned.
However, there were too many Soviet tanks. One tank was destroyed, and another tank appeared in the gunner's field of vision, making the German gunner very busy.
As soon as the Soviet tank approached the German position, the front-mounted machine gun began to spit out tongues of fire, destroying the exposed infantry or gunners. Because they were so close to the German positions, the tank soldiers had a high shooting hit rate. Those infantry or artillerymen who stood out, as long as they were targeted by the tank soldiers, would either be shot to death indiscriminately or bombarded to ashes.
This tank decisive battle lasted until noon, and the 2nd Guards Tank Corps had to withdraw from the battlefield again after paying heavy casualties. In this encounter, the army lost more than 150 tanks.
When he learned that the tank group's assault had failed again, Rotmistrov was so angry that he dropped his tea cup. He shouted at Solomatin: "This is simply a ghost. No matter which direction we come from, Whenever we launch an attack, we will encounter German Tiger tanks, Panther tanks and assault guns. Did the enemy obtain our attack plan from within us in advance?"
"Comrade Commander, you are worrying too much." Solomatin knew very well that except for a few main commanders of this attack, the others did not know the specific attack time and route. Even if they wanted to attack the Germans, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it. "I think this attack failed due to many reasons..."
"Then tell me, what are the aspects?"
"The attack formation composed of two hundred tanks is too large. No matter how we hide our whereabouts, it is obviously impossible not to be discovered by the enemy's scouts." Solomatin said to Rotmistrov: " I think our tanks should have been discovered by German scouts as soon as they left the offensive starting position, so that the enemy could use this information to deploy defenses on our way forward in advance."
"The order given to us by General Konev is to break through the enemy's defense line, rush into Kharkov and Sokov's 27th Army to join, and continue to expand the results." Rotmistrov said with a depressed expression: "Now that our troops were defeated before they even got close to the main road in Kharkov, I really don't know how to explain to General Konev."
"I think it's better to tell the truth." Solomatin sighed and said: "We lost a lot of tanks during the two days of attack. We must report the truth to our superiors so that the leaders of the front army can grasp the real situation on the battlefield. .”
Rotmistrov took off his glasses, breathed a sigh of relief, took out a white handkerchief and wiped it, put it on again, nodded, and said to Solomatin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right. Yes, we must report our failures to our superiors in a timely manner so that they can more accurately grasp the situation on the battlefield."
Just when Solomatin picked up the phone and was about to contact the front army headquarters, Rotmistrov stopped him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am very responsible for the failure of the offensive in the past two days, or am I Let me report to the commander of the front army."
After the call was connected, Konev learned that Rotmistrov's attack had failed again. His face suddenly became frosty. He gritted his molars and asked, "General Rotmistrov." , please explain to me, how did you lose more than 500 tanks in three days?"
Hearing Konev mention the number of tanks lost in the bombing the day before yesterday, Rotmistrov realized that the other party was really angry, and quickly explained with a red face: "Comrade Commander, please listen to my explanation. Germans We cleverly used the sunflower fields as cover to prevent our attacking troops from detecting them during their march, which resulted in us being ambushed by the enemy and losing a large number of tanks."
Now that the matter had happened, Konev knew that it was useless to say anything else, so he asked with a straight face: "General Rotmistrov, what are your plans next?"
"Comrade Commander," Rotmistrov secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Konev's tone slowing down: "I plan to wait until dark before attacking the enemy. There is a saying that the night is dark. An ally of the brave. The Germans were victorious during the day, but they never dreamed that we would attack again at night."
Konev has no interest at all in whether the night is an ally of the brave. What he is most concerned about at the moment is whether the remaining tanks in Rotmistrov's hands will support him in launching another attack? He coughed slightly, cleared his throat, and asked, "How many tanks do you have available to you? Can you break through the German defense line?"
Before calling Konev, Rotmistrov counted how many tanks were left in the army. At this moment, when Konev asked about this, he replied confidently: "Comrade Commander, we still have 160 tanks left in the reserve, and we are fully capable of breaking through the German defense line."
Seeing that Rotmistrov spoke with such confidence, Konev could not say anything else. After all, the Supreme Command now called several times a day to urge him to seize Kharkov as soon as possible. Since Rotmistrov said he planned to attack again at night, let him try it.
Since Rotmistrov's troops failed to break through the German defenses, Sokov should be notified of the news as soon as possible, lest he rush to attack the Germans without the cover of friendly forces, thus causing the 27th Army's troops to in danger. He pointed at Zakharov with his hand and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, call Sokov immediately and tell him that General Rotmistrov's tank unit encountered an enemy during the assault. Due to some troubles, we cannot meet them in the city according to the original battle plan, so Sokov can be mentally prepared."
But what happened next surprised Konev. When Sokov received his call, not only was he not surprised, on the contrary, he said calmly: "Comrade Commander of the Front Army, please rest assured, no matter what the enemy initiates, Regardless of the size of the attack, our troops can resolutely defend the occupied areas."
Sokov put down the phone and said to Tsvetayev who was sitting next to him: "Comrade General, it seems that my judgment yesterday was correct. The more than two hundred tanks of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps were destroyed in just one morning. , 150 vehicles were scrapped, directly causing the army to lose its combat effectiveness."
Sokov's words made Tsvetaev panic. He asked Sokov nervously: "General Sokov, what should we do next?"
"What else can be done?" Sokov shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "Of course, order the troops to repel the enemy's counterattack, continue to hold on to the occupied area, and wait for the friendly forces to enter the city before launching a new counterattack."
"Then when do you think our friendly forces will be able to enter Kharkov?"
"Come on, come on, General Tsvetaev." Sokov comforted the other party and said: "In two days at most, we will be able to rush into Kharkov with the main force." He was deeply afraid that the other party would not believe what he said. Then he added, "As far as I know, General Katukov's 1st Tank Army is attacking the German positions. I believe that they will be the first troops to rush into the city in the near future."
