Chapter 1257: Close the door and beat the dog (Part 1)
The tank unit led by General Trufanov arrived at the defense area of the 81st Guards Division at five o'clock.
Division Commander Malankin couldn't help but be overjoyed when he saw the troops brought by Trufanov. Due to his excitement, his tongue was a little sluggish: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I really didn't expect that you brought so many tanks. Yes.
With these tanks, we don’t have to hide on the ground and passively defend, and can counterattack the enemy’s armored forces at any time.”
"General Malankin," Trufanov held Malankin's hand and said with a smile, "you are really amazing. With only one division of troops, you blocked the fierce attack of two German armored divisions."
Hearing Trufanov's praise of himself, Malankin couldn't help but blush, and hurriedly explained: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are mistaken. The troops blocking the two German armored divisions are not only our division, but also
General Sokov's troops."
"General Sokov?" Trufanov repeated the name and asked tentatively: "Are you talking about the commander of the 27th Army, Major General Sokov?"
"Yes, that's him." Malankin replied affirmatively: "If his troops hadn't covered my right wing well, my troops might have been defeated by the Germans long ago."
"So that's it." Although Trufanov is the deputy commander of the group army, because his unit has been marching, he does not understand many situations on the battlefield, so that until now, he thought it was
One of Malankin's divisions blocked the German 6th and 19th Armored Divisions.
Since there were friendly forces on the battlefield, and the other party’s commander was higher than himself, Trufanov felt it was necessary to visit the other party, so he asked Malankin: “General Malankin, Comrade Sokov’s headquarters,
Is it far from here?”
"Not far, not far," Malanjin waved his hand and said, "It's only four or five kilometers away from my headquarters. If you want to see him, I can accompany you."
After obtaining Trufanov's consent, Malankin led a small team and headed to the defense area of Sokov's troops together with Trufanov.
When Sokov was wondering when Rotmistrov's troops would launch a full-scale counterattack against the Germans, a staff officer came in and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, General Malankin is here."
"Oh, General Malanjin is here?" Sokov knew that Malanjin would go to the Three Treasures Hall for no reason. He came to see him before dawn today. There must be something important, so he quickly ordered the staff officer: "
Invite him in quickly!"
Along with the staff who walked in, besides Malankin, there was also a general who looked a bit unfamiliar. Just when Sokov was trying to think about who the other party was, Malankin had already taken the initiative to introduce him: "General Sokov,
Let me introduce to you, this is General Trufanov, deputy commander of our army group."
"Hello, General Trufanov." When he learned that the person who came was actually the deputy commander of the 5th Guards Tank Army, Sokov suddenly understood that the Soviet counterattack was imminent. He shook hands with the other party while testing
He asked: "Are you coming here to attack the Germans?"
"You guessed it right, General Sokov." Seeing that Sokov had guessed his purpose, Trufanov did not hide it, but answered truthfully: "The troops of our group army will arrive at ten o'clock in the morning.
Launch a full-scale attack on the German army. And my task is to lead a hundred tanks to strengthen the defense force in this area."
After learning that the other party had brought a hundred tanks, Sokov immediately began to wonder in his mind that his tank army now had nearly a hundred tanks left. What if he added the hundred tanks that Trufanov had brought?
tanks, then there are two hundred tanks. If these tanks are used together, they will be enough to destroy any resistance of the German army.
However, he did not rashly discuss with the other party: "Should the tanks of our two armies be pooled and used?" Sokov knew very well that this time the team was led by a deputy commander of the group army. If the tanks of the two armies were
If the tanks are used together, he will definitely compete for the command of the tank troops. Instead, he cautiously asked: "Comrade deputy commander, how do you plan to use these tanks?"
"As soon as daybreak, I will prepare these tanks to launch an assault on the area where the German troops are stationed." Trufanov said with some complacency: "The enemy may not have dreamed that we would appear at such a time. It will definitely
They will be beaten dizzy by us. By the time they come to their senses, it will be too late."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, do you plan to use these tanks to attack the enemies in front of us?"
"Yes." Trufanov didn't know the reason for Sokov's question and said confusedly: "I think General Rotmistrov sent me here just to prepare me to use tanks.
Troops, come and give the two German armored divisions blocked by you a severe lesson."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, one hundred tanks does sound like a lot." Sokov was not blindly optimistic, but said cautiously: "But it must be very difficult to deal with two enemy armored divisions at the same time."
From Sokov's words, Trufanov heard the implication, and he asked tentatively: "General Sokov, do you have any good plans?"
"Leave some old tanks on the position to be used as fixed forts." Sokov said with a normal expression: "And the rest of the tanks are placed on the second line of defense."
"Place it on the second line of defense?" Hearing what Sokov said, Trufanov asked with some confusion: "General Sokov, I want to ask, why do we put all our tanks on the second line of defense?"
Where is the line of defense?"
"The reason is very simple. Our army is about to launch a major counterattack. The German troops outside Prokhorovka cannot stop them at all. Then they will have no choice but to retreat." Sokov explained to Trufanov
Said: "In order to give the enemy attacked by our army a chance to breathe, Manstein may order the 6th and 19th Armored Divisions to strengthen the attack on our positions in an attempt to retreat from the direction of Prokhorovka.
The troops converged."
"It makes sense, it makes sense." Trufanov nodded and said: "The enemies outside Prokhorovka must have no choice but to retreat when they are attacked by our army. Those who are confronting us now
The two German armored divisions will definitely try their best to break through our existing defenses to cover the smooth retreat of their friendly forces."
Seeing that Trufanov understood what he meant, Sokov gave him a thumbs up, and then continued: "My idea is to use infantry to hold the position and block the two armored divisions to the west. And we deploy
The tank troops on the second line of defense can take advantage of the defeat of the German armored divisions to the east to launch an active attack and catch them off guard."
