Chapter 1152

Since akhromeyev was appointed Deputy Chief of staff of the group army, it seems that the work efficiency has been improved. Before long, a map marked with the latest situation of the enemy and ourselves was hung in the tent, giving us a perceptual understanding of the current overall situation.

I looked at the map, nodded with satisfaction, and then said to akhromeyev, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, give us a brief report on the current situation of the enemy."

Ahlomeyev walked to the map in no hurry, took a branch he had just picked up from outside the tent, turned to the leaders of our group army, and began to briefly introduce our army's current defense deployment, weapons and equipment, as well as the reserves deployed in the areas that might be broken by the German Army.

He also specially stressed that our troops have established a perfect defense system relying on various fortifications built in the early stage, and it is not easy for the German army to break through this defense first. Moreover, in front of our defensive positions, there are so many new anti tank trenches, which greatly limits the attack range of German armored forces.

For akhromeyev's explanation, Danilov's face showed dissatisfaction. "We know everything you said, comrade deputy chief of staff," he muttered. What I want to know is how to consolidate the existing defense so that the German army can no longer move forward. "

I saw that akhromeyev was a little embarrassed because of Danilov's words, so he quickly rescued him and said, "don't worry, deputy commander. I see that major akhromeyev seems to have a lot to say. Listen to him." Then I winked at ahlomeyev and motioned him to continue.

Akhromeyev gave me a grateful smile, and then pointed out the casualties that the German might pay when they break through our defensive positions. According to the war report, the two sides' forces were compared. From his narration, we clearly know that although the total strength of the German army is quite large, due to the consumption of a large number of living forces in the battle, and the existence of the 51st, 52nd, 67th and 90th divisions of the guards, a considerable number of their forces are restrained, so that the number of their forces in the main assault direction seems to be a little thin. In this way, we are in the second, second and third divisions The pressure on the troops of the third line of defense has been greatly reduced.

Danilov asked reluctantly, "Comrade deputy chief of staff, if we are going to fight back against the German army, which location do you think is more suitable?"

Akhromeyev held the branch in both hands, shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, comrade deputy commander. Judging from the war reports collected from various aspects, we can't launch an attack yet. Because our forces are not strong enough, there are not enough tanks and artillery, and we have no air supremacy. If we launch a rash counterattack, our elite troops will be lost in vain, and then the German army will be able to easily seize our weak defensive positions. "

I didn't comment on what akhromeyev said. I just looked at him and Danilov with a smile to see what they would say next.

"When do you think our counterattack is most appropriate?" Danilov shrugged his shoulders and said with some dissatisfaction, "we can't always let our commanders and fighters stay in the fortifications and carry out passive defense."

"Comrade deputy commander, our commanders and fighters are not engaged in passive defense." When he heard what Danilov said, kirilov was not happy. He retorted: "although they stayed in the trenches during the day for tenacious defense, it was because the German army had an advantage in weapons and equipment. If they left the position rashly, they would be killed in vain. At night, they would leave their positions and sneak into the enemy's rear to harass them, leaving the enemy unclean and successfully disrupting their offensive deployment. "

"But the effect of such an attack is very limited." Danilov also retorted unconvinced: "should the German army attack or attack during the day, and after suffering losses the night before, they will intensify their attack the next day to retaliate for our sneak attack on them."

I saw that if they continued to talk like this, there was bound to be a quarrel, so I stood up again to settle the dispute. I said to Danilov, "Comrade deputy commander, if you were asked to organize your troops to fight back against the German army, where would you choose to attack and what kind of forces would you put in?"

Danilov thought about it and said decisively, "that's not necessary. Comrade commander. I will definitely choose Yakovlev as the direction of counterattack. There are the ready-made 51st, 67th and 90th divisions of the close guard, plus the 71st and 77th divisions of the close guard and the Sixth Army of the close guard tank. I think it's a great chance to succeed in attacking the enemy with such strength. "

As for Danilov's counterattack with a certain gambling nature, I immediately vetoed it: "deputy commander, you have considered the problem too simply. At present, the most elite German divisions, such as the Hitler division, the imperial division, the skull division, the Viking division and the great German division, are concentrated in Yakovlev. The tanks of their divisions add up to more than those of our two tank armies. "

Seeing that Danilov's face turned ugly, I added: "under the present circumstances, our troops can only rely on solid and perfect defensive positions to consume the living strength of the German army. Only when their soldiers and weapons are seriously depleted can we have enough strength to fight back against them. "

After I finished speaking, bezikov sighed and said with regret, "Comrade commander, the main reason is that our defense zone is too wide, otherwise we would have been able to launch a counterattack against the German army in some areas."

"That's right," Danilov unexpectedly supported what bezikov said: "although our group army has so many close guard divisions, which can be evenly distributed to three lines of defense, the number of troops that can be used in each line of defense is very limited."

"If our superiors can send us more troops, or compress our existing defense lines, then our troops will be much richer." After bezikov expressed some emotion, he said with regret: "it's a pity that the forces of the headquarters of the front army have been allocated all the time. Even if they want to reinforce us, they can't do it."

Seeing bezikov's dejected face, I laughed but did not speak, because I vaguely remember that it was just these two days that vatukin made a request to vasilevsky to transfer konev's close guard fifth tank group army to Prokhorovka. As soon as the new troops arrive, our days will be much better.

As soon as I thought about it, the phone on my desk rang. I picked it up and a voice came out of the receiver: "Hello, is that oshanina?"

"Yes, comrade commander, it's me." Although I don't know what happened when he called, I politely asked, "do you have any instructions?"

"Well, comrade oshanina." "According to the information we have detected, the German army may gather superior forces in the near future and launch a strong offensive against Prokhorovka," said vatukin, speaking very quickly. With the strength of your army, it is difficult to keep Prokhorovka. After the study of the headquarters of the front army and the approval of the chief of the general staff, marshal vasilevsky, it is decided that you will hand over the defense of the area to the fifth group army of the close guard tanks, which belongs to the grassland front army. "

"The fifth group army of close guard tanks?" When I heard the name of this unit, I couldn't help but feel ecstatic. However, for the sake of safety, I tentatively asked, "is it the unit of lieutenant general rotmistrov?"

"Yes, it's his army," said watujing, surprised that I could name the commander of the army. He asked curiously, "have you seen him before?"

"No, senior general. I've never seen him before." Although the image of rotmistrov with eyes and a moustache appeared in my mind, I firmly denied: "I have only heard his name, but I have never seen him in person."

After listening to my explanation, vatujing did not continue to study deeply, but said to me: "the fifth group army of the close guard tanks governs the third army of the close guard tanks, the 29th army of the tanks, the 5th mechanized army of the close guard, the 994th regiment of the light bombing air force, as well as the Ruo * * army and other regiments and units. Their actual strength is much stronger than that of your current prohorovka troops, So after you hand over the defense, there will be nothing for you here. You can use the extra troops in areas where you need them badly. "

I was overjoyed to hear that. Just now, I was still worried about the limited number of troops in my hand. I immediately called and asked me to hand over the heavily guarded area to the friendly forces. In this way, I had two more divisions in my hand, and I had enough confidence.

When I put down the phone, I immediately announced the good news to everyone. After listening, everyone was stunned and cheered. Bizikov said excitedly, "Comrade commander, this is really wonderful. Originally, I thought that we had to invest at least one or two divisions in Prokhorovka area to stop the large-scale German attack. I was worried about this. Now that we have strong friendly forces to take over, we can draw out our forces here and use them in other more important areas. "

"Yes, chief of staff." I agree with this statement of bezikov: "after handing over the defense area to the friendly forces, we can have at least two more infantry divisions and one more tank division, which can be the key force to turn the situation around no matter where they are used."

Bezikov turned to ahlomeyev and then looked at me and asked, "Comrade commander, who are you going to put in charge of the transfer of defense?"

I saw this little action of bezikov. I also understood the implication of his question. I wanted to know whether he was responsible for the transfer or akhromeyev. After thinking about it in my heart, I felt that bezikov was the chief of staff after all, and he played a greater role in the headquarters. So I called ahlomeyev over and told him, "Comrade major, I will give you full responsibility for the transfer of defense to the friendly forces tomorrow. Are you ok?"

"No problem, comrade commander." Akhromeyev readily promised: "I ask you to rest assured that I will successfully complete the task you have given me."

Danilov came up to me and said excitedly, "Comrade commander, since we have two more infantry divisions and one more tank division, can we study how to counterattack the German army?"

"Comrade deputy commander, you are too anxious." Facing the deputy commander who wanted to fight back against the German army at any time, I couldn't help but say: "at present, the strength of the German army is still stronger than ours. It's not the time to fight back. We need to continue to wait."

"Comrade commander, when do you think is the right time?" Danilov asked reluctantly“ Wait a little longer, comrade deputy commander. " His incessant behavior almost drives me crazy, but I still try to control my emotions: "at present, the first thing we need to do is to move these two infantry divisions and one tank division to other areas and start fighting formation. As for when it's time to fight back, I think we'll have to wait for a contest between the fifth group army of close guard tanks and the German armored forces. " When Danilov heard what I said, he asked: "Comrade commander, when do you think the friendly forces can start a large-scale battle with the German forces?"“ It won't be long, comrade deputy commander. " At this time kirilov came out to rescue me and said, "according to my observation, we only need to wait three to five days, and the friendly forces and the main German forces will start a large-scale battle in prokholovka area. As Lida said some time ago, here will be the key to the whole Kursk battle. " Kirilov's words finally made Danilov calm down. When he ran to the map to check the situation of the enemy and ourselves, kirilov shrugged his shoulders and cast a helpless look at me. It seemed that he was also helpless about Danilov's performance. Akhromeyev came up to me, stood straight and asked, "Comrade commander, I don't know when I can go to Prokhorovka?" I raised my hand and looked at my watch. Then I said to him, "major, let's go now. When you get to the place, first call up the local garrison division commander to hold a meeting, and let them know about this, so that they can be ready to move. Do you understand? "“ I see, comrade commander. " Akhromeyev agreed, raised his hand to salute me, turned and walked out of the tent.