"Major General Sokov," Zhukov asked in a stern tone into the microphone, "tell me honestly, has your position been breached by the Germans?"
When Sokov heard that Zhukov did not call him by his nickname, but called his surname and military rank in a stern tone, he immediately realized that he had betrayed the truth about abandoning his position without authorization, and he could not help but feel guilty and replied: "Comrade Marshal, I
The troops are still holding their positions..."
"I'll ask you again." Zhukov didn't wait for Sokov to finish speaking and asked sternly again: "Has your position been breached by the Germans?"
"No, Comrade Marshal." Sokov heard that Zhukov was angry. If he reported it truthfully at this moment, he might add fuel to the fire, so he decided to play a word game and pick out the words: "My troops are still holding on to the assigned tasks.
Not an inch of ground was lost to the Germans on the battlefield."
After learning that the Germans had not broken through Sokov's defense line, Zhukov's anger weakened a bit. He slowed down his tone and asked puzzledly: "Since the Germans did not break through your position, why did they manage to do so in such an extreme amount of time?"
, appeared outside Prokhorovka? What on earth is going on?"
"Comrade Marshal," Sokov explained to Zhukov, considering that Zhukov might not understand the situation here: "Yesterday the enemy broke through the friendly defense line on our right wing and occupied their position. In order to prevent the enemy from attacking our unit,
Forming an encirclement, I organized my troops to carry out a counterattack and restored the lost positions. However, due to the heavy losses of the troops in the battle, I was unable to defend the too wide front, so I shrank the troops to the main position last night, preparing to continue the stalemate with the enemy.
."
"Major General Sokov, as far as I know, didn't you transfer all the troops from the direction of Oboyan?" Zhukov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, then his tone became stern again: "Don't you have enough troops?
Are you going to hold your position on the right wing and let the enemy march past you to attack Prokhorovka?"
"Comrade Marshal, I have only added three brigades to the main defensive position. The rest of the troops are placed on the banks of the Pushor River as reserves to prevent the enemy from launching a forced crossing." Sokov knew that he was like this.
The answer was difficult to satisfy Zhukov, and he specifically added: "Although I do not have too many troops for the defense of secondary positions, I did send ten anti-tank squads equipped with firepower groups.
Area attack the enemy.”
"An anti-tank squad equipped with a firepower team?" Sokov's words aroused Zhukov's interest: "Then can you tell me how many people there are in your squad?"
"Ten people, Comrade Marshal." Sokov replied: "A detachment is ten people, and ten detachments are a hundred people. The task I gave them is to use guerrilla tactics to attack the enemy's tanks.
Armored vehicles, as well as trucks transporting troops or fuel and ammunition.”
"Ten squads, one hundred people." After Zhukov repeated the data Sokov said, he said disapprovingly: "With just this few people, what threat can they pose to the Germans?"
"Comrade Marshal, although the small team I sent has only a hundred people, the role they played will definitely not be worse than that of a regiment fighting positional warfare." In order to further convince Zhukov, he also specifically mentioned an incident that happened under Stalinger.
An example from the Battle of Stalingrad: “During the Battle of Stalingrad, on a hill south of Kletskaya, four soldiers of the 84th Regiment of the 33rd Guards Division relied on the four anti-tank weapons they carried.
Tank rifles destroyed 15 enemy tanks. I believe that the ten anti-tank squads I sent will achieve more brilliant results than them."
Zhukov had seen the battle example Sokov mentioned in the battle report submitted by the 62nd Army. At that time, he thought that four anti-tank fighters destroyed 15 German tanks, but he did not suffer any casualties. This result was too incredible.
. But after subsequent verification, it was found that this classic battle example was actually true.
Now when Sokov said that the ten anti-tank squads he sent could achieve greater results, Zhukov only thought for a moment before agreeing with the other party's statement. You know, the rocket launchers equipped by Sokov's troops use
To deal with German tanks, it is much more effective than anti-tank guns.
"Then let your anti-tank squad take action quickly." Zhukov said into the microphone: "Now the enemy has arrived at the city of Prokhorovka and is engaging in a fierce battle with our army. If your anti-tank squad can hurry up,
If it plays its role, it can also reduce the pressure on the defending troops."
The ten anti-tank squads sent by Sokov were scattered on a vast battlefield 15 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers deep. They were like a drop of water falling into the sea and immediately lost their trace. They cleverly used ravines, bomb craters, and trenches
and woods and other terrain, use rockets to attack German tanks and armored vehicles that appear in front of you.
The battalion commander of the 1st Battalion of the 84th Marine Brigade was Major Shamrih. After receiving the brigade commander's order to dispatch an anti-tank squad to harass the enemy, he immediately called the platoon leader, Sergeant Hollor, and gave the order
He said: "Comrade Sergeant, according to the order from our superiors, our battalion is going to send out an anti-tank squad to harass the enemy's transportation lines. After discussing with the deputy battalion commander, I decided to hand over this glorious task to your platoon.
Completed. You immediately select nine soldiers, carry a rocket launcher, and as much ammunition as possible to perform the mission. Remember, the commander asked you to fight guerrillas, not positional warfare, so don’t wait all the time.
If you are in one place, you have to shoot and change the place. Do you understand?"
Sergeant Hollor is a veteran who participated in the Battle of Stalingrad and is also an old subordinate of Sokov. Naturally, he knows all about this kind of guerrilla tactics. When he heard Shamrih’s question, he quickly replied loudly:
: "Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander, when we harass the enemy, we will definitely change our positions at any time so that the enemy cannot find us."
After selecting the members of the squad, Hollor set off quietly before it was dark. Unlike several other squads, he controlled the activity area close to his own position, but moved towards the general position.
Heading in the direction of the Shoal River.
When daybreak was about to dawn, Hollor had already led his team to walk seven or eight kilometers. The anti-tank man carrying the rocket launcher was a little overwhelmed and complained: "Comrade Sergeant, the position where we ambush the enemy is too far away from us."
The army's position is too far away."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ammunition hand carrying several rockets on his back echoed: "Yes, Comrade Sergeant, we were exhausted after a day of forced march. We could have set up an ambush near the position, so why did we leave?
So far?"
When Holor saw his soldiers complaining, he stopped and said to them: "Comrades, I know everyone is tired, but there is a reason why I did not choose to set up an ambush near our army's position."
"Is there a reason?" the anti-tank soldier asked in confusion: "What is the reason?"
"That's right, setting up an ambush close to the position not only eliminates the need to travel far, but also enables us to quickly withdraw to our position once we find that the situation is critical." After Hollor finished talking about the advantages of setting up an ambush close to the position,
Then he continued: "Have you ever thought about it at that time? It is precisely because it is close to our army's position that the enemy will definitely not choose to pass through there in order to avoid conflict with us. Even if there is an enemy who wants to pass through here, they will definitely maintain an extremely high altitude.
We must be vigilant, which brings a certain degree of difficulty to our ambush. On the contrary, if we choose the location of the ambush far away from our army's positions, the enemy will relax their vigilance when passing through these areas, allowing us to easily
Destroy them."
After the soldiers heard what Sergeant Hollor said, although they were still dubious, they, who were accustomed to obeying their superiors, stopped talking and followed Hollor and continued to walk forward.
After walking another kilometer or two, the sound of rumbling artillery could be heard in the distance. Sergeant Holler looked in the direction of the sound of the artillery. Knowing that the Germans were preparing to attack, he decided to find a suitable place to hide nearby.
He got up. He looked around and found a simple road passing by a forest, and there was a long ravine outside the forest. Seeing such a terrain, Sergeant Hollor couldn't help but be overjoyed and hurriedly led his people there.
, conduct careful investigation.
After getting closer, Hollor found that the ravine was about fifty meters away from the road, and one end of it extended into the woods. After seeing the terrain clearly, Hollor nodded secretly, thinking to himself:
This ditch is only more than fifty meters away from the road. Anti-tank soldiers hiding in the ditch can easily destroy German tanks on the road. Moreover, this ravine is connected to the woods. If the battle does not go well, you can lead people along it.
The gully retreats into the woods.
Thinking of this, he immediately ordered everyone: "Comrades, we will choose the ambush location here. I think everyone must be very tired after such a long march, so we should seize the time to have a good rest before the enemy comes.
"
Everyone hid in the gully. Some people began to close their eyes and rest, while others began to eat and drink water. The anti-tank man sitting next to Hollor quietly listened to the rumble of artillery in the distance and whispered.
To Hollor: "Comrade Sergeant, tell me, how long will it take for the enemy to reach us?"
"I just took a look. It's about eight to ten kilometers away from the position that was bombarded." Hollor replied: "Even if the enemy launches an attack on the position immediately after the shelling stops, it must be done quickly."
You'll have to wait two or three hours at most to get to our place."
However, Hollor was just an ordinary sergeant, and he was not qualified to know many things. For example, he was not aware of Sokov's order to abandon secondary positions and concentrate all troops on the main positions.
According to his idea, after the bombardment ended, the German army would need to spend at least an hour to break through the position, and then get here, at least two or three hours would have passed.
But what he did not expect was that the attacking Flag Guard division was attacking an undefended position. Since there was no resistance, the tanks would naturally advance deep into the Soviet defenses after breaking through the position.
When Hollor saw the large number of German tanks appearing, he was dumbfounded. He did not expect that only forty minutes had passed from the time he ordered the ambush position to the time the German armored troops appeared.
Seeing Holor's stunned look, the anti-tank soldier on the side was also frightened. He asked in a panic: "Comrade Sergeant, the German tanks are coming, should we take action?"
"Do it, why do you do it?" Holor glared at the anti-tank man and said sternly: "You didn't see that there were twenty or thirty tanks coming over. Do you think you can destroy them with the rocket launcher you carry?
So many tanks?”
"Then what should we do?" the anti-tank man asked.
"The enemy is powerful and we cannot confront them head-on." Holor quickly ordered the members of his squad: "Everyone listen to my order and immediately move along the ravine to the woods to avoid being discovered by the enemy coming over."
What happened next proved that Holor's decision was completely correct. As soon as they retreated into the woods, they saw two three-wheeled motorcycles approaching and stopped by the ravine.
The two German soldiers who got out of the truck looked into the ditch for a while, then fired twice and threw a grenade. After confirming that there were no Soviet troops hiding here, they got back on their motorcycles and followed the tanks on the road.
Continue to advance eastward.
The soldiers hiding in the woods looked at the German armored troops passing in front of them, and they were all silent. They thought to themselves: If Hollor had not ordered everyone to hide in the woods, but had continued to stay in the ravine to hide, what would have happened?
Maybe the Germans had discovered it at this time and started a firefight.
The members of the squad are very discerning, and no one is so arrogant that they think they can escape in front of twenty or thirty German tanks, as well as a number of armored vehicles and three-wheeled motorcycles. If there is a fight, even if the squad is
The equipped rocket launcher can destroy one or two German tanks, but the destruction of the entire army is unavoidable.
After this group of German troops passed by, before Hollor and others came out of the woods, they saw new German troops appearing. This time, the troops marching along the road not only included tanks, armored vehicles and motorcycles, but also
There were infantry on foot, and artillery units already towed by trucks.
Seeing this situation, Hollor couldn't help but take a breath. If the enemies passing by today were of this size, then they would have no chance at all. As soon as they opened fire, the enemy would easily rely on their superiority in firepower and numbers.
Destroy them all.
Seeing this situation, the anti-tank man felt panicky. He leaned close to Hollor's ear and whispered in his ear: "Comrade Sergeant, the situation is not good. Do you think we should withdraw?"
"No, we can't retreat." Holor, who was riding a tiger and unable to dismount, knew very well that retreating at this time would easily expose the target, and he would not be able to escape the fate of being destroyed by the enemy. Therefore, the only option was to continue hiding and wait until the enemy came.
After the large forces have passed, they will look for opportunities to attack the small units that are alone behind them: "Let me tell you, wait patiently, the enemy's troops cannot be unlimited. After these groups of large units pass, there may be
When a small, lone unit passes by, we can use them as targets for our ambush."
In the next hour, there were still a lot of German troops passing in front of the small detachment. Through their clothing, the soldiers recognized that the first one to pass was the Flag Guard Division, followed closely by the Totenkopf Division.
This chapter has been completed!