Chapter 1125

After I finished speaking, bezikov politely asked Kravchenko, "Comrade General, I don't know if your troops can be deployed in Prokhorov area before dawn tomorrow?"

I thought Kravchenko would answer that he could, and then explain to bezikov the position of each tank brigade. Unexpectedly, he hesitated and said: "Comrade chief of staff, although I really want to let the troops enter the designated combat position immediately and make all preparations for combat. However, judging from the current situation, it is impossible for the troops to be deployed before dawn tomorrow. "

"Why?" I, Danilov and bezikov all asked in unison, because Kravchenko's answer was far beyond our expectation.

"There is no railway connection from our base to here." Kravchenko saw that several of us asked this question and quickly explained: "after receiving the order to drive to prohorovka, all the tanks were driven by tank soldiers. After a continuous March of more than 200 kilometers, our maintenance team needs to maintain the tanks, which takes a certain amount of time. I estimate that it will be as soon as tomorrow night for several tank brigades to enter the combat position one after another. "

Kravchenko's words made me think of the 10th army of tanks I saw on the way back to the headquarters. I believe their situation is the same. They must maintain the tanks before they can fight. In this way, any attempt to block the German breakthrough is unrealistic. They can only delay the German army's advance to Kursk.

I was thinking about the 10th army of tanks when a telephone beside the wall rang. Akhromeyev, the director of operations, got up and went to the telephone. He raised the phone and listened to it. Then he turned to me and said, "Comrade commander, it's the call from the headquarters of the front army. Comrade General wants to speak to you."

I went to pick up the microphone. After hearing the voice of watujing coming from it, I said politely, "Hello, comrade commander of the front army."

"O'shanina, I'll send you two tank troops. Have they reached the designated position?" Vatukin did not beat around the Bush, but asked bluntly, "with their support, can you eliminate or drive out the German troops who rush into the breach?"

After thinking for a moment, I replied, "sorry, comrade general, I can't do it."

On hearing my reply, watujing unexpectedly did not get angry, but asked in a smooth tone: "Comrade oshanina, can you tell me your reason?"

After repeating what Kravchenko had just said, I added: "Comrade commander, even if the tanks do not need maintenance, it is very unwise for two tank troops who have just arrived at the battlefield to fight with the German troops who are familiar with the terrain in a strange area. I think we should adopt the original operational plan, deliberately open up a few areas, let the German army enter our first line of defense, use the existing defense depth, carry out continuous fighting, consume a lot of the enemy's living strength, and then organize forces to give them a thunderbolt when they are exhausted. "

After I finished speaking, vatukin sighed and said, "Comrade oshanina, I originally wanted to use these two tank troops and several other infantry divisions to form a shock group to attack the German army head-on and prevent them from advancing towards Kursk. But you have a point. I'll think about it again

As soon as I put down the phone, Danilov quickly walked up to me and asked in a low voice, "what did the senior general say on the phone? Did he order us to fight back?"

I looked at Danilov, nodded and said: "yes, the general intends to use the two newly transferred tank troops, plus several infantry divisions, to form a powerful assault group to meet the German troops breaking through our direction and stop them from advancing towards Kursk."

Danilov looked at Kravchenko sitting at the table and said to me in a low voice with a wry smile, "Comrade commander, we can't count on tanks at all now. How can we fight against the German steel torrent?"

"That's right," I replied in a low voice. "Today, when I was in the 52nd division of the guards, I met the troops attacked by the skull division. Although the German army had only one tank, they were in a mess. If the tanks of the 96th brigade had not arrived in time, it is estimated that the division headquarters of the division would have been taken away by such a small German force. "

When I got back to the table, Kravchenko had obviously guessed something. He stood up and asked awkwardly, "general oshanina, I don't know what the commander of the front army said on the phone?"

I raised my hand and pressed down, motioned him to sit down first, and then said, "Comrade General, the headquarters of the front army originally intended to let your army and the 10th tank army, together with a number of infantry divisions, form a powerful assault group to meet the German troops breaking through our defense line and stop them from advancing towards Kursk."

Kravchenko, who had just sat down, immediately got up from his seat and said to me respectfully, "general oshanina, I have just reported to you the difficulties our army is facing. I hope you can report this matter to your superiors truthfully."

"Don't worry, Comrade General." Seeing his appearance of panic, I quickly comforted him and said, "I have reported the current situation to the commander of the front army in detail on the phone. He will not blame you. But according to my estimation, the original plan may change. "

"Comrade commander," Danilov interjected, "for nearly a day, neither of the two tanks will be able to fight. Maybe our situation will be very bad."

I also thought about Danilov's worries. After a brief thought, I said to Kravchenko, "Comrade General, I have an idea. Do you think it's ok?"

Kravchenko was flushed by Danilov's words. Now when he heard what I said, he hastened to say: "general oshanina, I don't know what you have in mind. Please tell me quickly."

"Comrade General, can the maintenance of tanks be carried out independently by the maintenance team, brigade by brigade?" Although vatukin said on the phone that he had sent two tank troops, he didn't make it clear whether it was under my command or to cooperate in the battle. So when I spoke to Kravchenko, I didn't use the tone of superiors and subordinates, but the negotiating tone among my colleagues: "after the maintenance of a tank brigade is completed, they can be sent to the designated defensive position immediately. How about this? "

Kravchenko listened to me, frowned and thought for a moment, then brightened his eyes and said excitedly, "great, general oshanina, your proposal is really great. By doing so, we can ensure the normal maintenance of the tanks and will not delay our time to enter the position. That's it. I'll arrange for it immediately. "

Said, he bowed his head to the side of a tank brigade commander whispered a few words. After listening to him, the other party got up and saluted us, then turned around and walked out of the headquarters. It should be about the arrangement of tank maintenance.

After the tank brigade commander left, Kravchenko asked carefully: "general oshanina, the superior ordered our army to enter prohorovka. Do you think the German army will attack there? You know, it's the defense depth of our Voronezh front army. "

"Comrades general, according to my analysis, although prohorovka is our defense depth, with the assault ability of the German armored forces, it is entirely possible for them to break into there." Although I know in my heart that the largest tank decisive battle in the Kursk battle will break out in Prokhorovka, I can only say in an analytical tone: "because of this, when the German armored forces rush there, the tank troops we have been waiting for can attack them decisively and give them a hard blow, Heavily damaged or even completely annihilated their armored forces. As long as the German armored forces are killed, the attack launched by Manstein from the south side of Kursk will be a complete failure. "

My analysis, so that the presence of all the faces are showing a relaxed expression. Bezikov even said: "our tank army is equipped with a large number of new tanks. Compared with the German armored forces, we not only have an advantage in quantity, but also far superior to the German in quality. I believe that if the German army doesn't get to Prokhorovka, it will come to an end

After bidzikov finished, I told him: "Comrade chief of staff, please call or send a telegram to the commander of the 10th tank army, so that he can complete the tank maintenance work of one or two tank brigades in the shortest time, and let the troops quickly enter the designated position and get ready for battle."

"I see. I'm going to the telegraph room to send a telegram." Bezikov readily agreed, got up and went out to the telegraph room next door.

After glancing around the commander in the room, I stopped at rasmishin, the director of intelligence. I looked at him and asked, "Comrade commander, have we got a clear picture of the German army?"

"Yes, comrade commander, it's all clear." Rasmishin stood up and replied.

Listening to what he said, in order to understand the real situation of the German army, I said, "now that we have made it clear, let's talk about it so that we can have a clear idea."

Rasmishin opened the folder on his desk, took out a document from it and read it aloud: "our enemy in front of us is Adolf Hitler division of Germany. The division commander is Theodore weisch, the leader of the SS brigade; The commander of the imperial Panzer Grenadier division of the Waffen SS is the regional commander of the Waffen SS; The SS skeleton Panzer Grenadier division is headed by SS brigade leader Max Simon... "

My heart became heavy when I heard the serial numbers read out by rasmishin. I didn't expect that we were facing the elite SS troops. The next battle was not easy to fight. Even if we have perfect fortifications and brave and fearless commanders and fighters, the German army is not a vegetarian. To defeat them, it is bound to pay a heavy price.

While I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard Kravchenko say to me: "general oshanina, as far as I know, in prokholovka, except for a few hilly areas, the rest of the areas are plains, which is very conducive to the deployment of tank troops. Please rest assured that the 5th tank army of our guards will be able to defeat the enemy here. "

I know what he said is true. Since they can defeat German Tiger tanks with T-34 in real history, it should be much easier to win with the latest t-5455 tanks.

I recalled the battle of Kursk in history, and then said to Kravchenko: "Comrade General, although your tanks are more advanced than the German tanks, after the battle begins, your tanks should not appear..." I was interrupted by Kravchenko in the middle of my speech: "general oshanina, why?"“ Let the Germans attack our defensive positions first, and our infantry, with their solid fortifications, will stop their attacks and consume their living strength. " I lost no time to instill my own fighting ideas into Kravchenko: "and you and your troops are hidden on the flank of the German army. When their offensive strength weakened, you suddenly rushed out from the side and hit their flanks hard. "Kravchenko immediately showed a happy expression on his face after listening to me. He said excitedly:" general oshanina, this is really great. The Germans never dreamed that we would rush out from their flanks and we would be caught off guard. " As soon as Kravchenko's words were finished, bzikov came in from the outside. He reported to me, "Comrade commander, the telegram to the 10th tank army has been sent out. The commander of the army called back and said that he would follow your orders, let some tank troops start on the designated positions as soon as possible, and make all preparations for combat. " I nodded, then leaned over to Danilov and said, "Comrade deputy commander, next we're going to talk about how infantry should defend tanks." Danilov was stunned by my words. He asked in a puzzled way: "didn't our troops distribute a large number of 40 rocket launchers? It's a perfect weapon for German tanks. "“ Comrade deputy commander, it is not enough to rely on 40 rocket launchers. " After Danilov finished, I waved my hand and said, "the range of the rocket launcher is too close. Our commanders and fighters must be close to two or three hundred meters to open fire. In this way, they can easily be targeted by the machine guns of the armored vehicles following the tanks." My words made Danilov's face serious. He frowned and thought for a moment, then asked me, "Comrade commander, what shall we do?"