After Polubyarov received Sokov's order to attack, he did not dispatch an organized tank brigade. After all, after the battles in the previous few days, the organized structures of each brigade were in an incomplete state. He and the military staff
After discussion, the commander decided to dispatch a special tank battalion to carry out Sokov's order.
When he learned that Polubyarov planned to send out a special tank battalion, the army chief of staff asked with some concern: "Comrade Commander, although the special tank battalion is the only battalion in our army equipped with T-34/85 tanks,
They only have twelve tanks, which are always under full strength. Is it feasible for them to deal with the German armored regiments?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Polubyarov said disapprovingly of the Chief of Staff's concerns: "Although the special battalion is always under full strength, because they are equipped with the most advanced tanks of our army, the combat effectiveness of this battalion is
No less than an armored brigade of friendly forces."
The Chief of Staff did not refute Polubyarov's statement. He knew very well that other tank armies were severely lacking in T-34/76 tanks, let alone T-34/85 tanks.
, can only be replaced by a large number of old and outdated T-70 tanks. These 12 advanced T-34 tanks are fully capable of defeating a friendly tank brigade.
Seeing that Polubyarov had made up his mind, the chief of staff could no longer persuade him, but tactfully said: "Comrade Commander, which infantry unit do you plan to send to cooperate with them? You know, there is no infantry.
The covering tanks are very easy to be killed by the enemy's anti-tank crews."
"This is easy to handle." Polubyarov had already considered these details. When the chief of staff asked about it, he said casually: "Just transfer a battalion from the mechanized brigade to assist in tank operations."
Considering that it is a joint operation of two battalions, the Army Chief of Staff must designate one of the battalion commanders to take charge, lest the two battalions fight independently during the war and fail to cooperate with each other, resulting in being defeated by the German army: "Comrade Commander,
Then who do you think should command this combat force?"
"In my opinion, let Major Bunch, commander of the tank battalion, take charge of the command." Polubyarov said to the chief of staff: "Major Bunch has been an officer since 1927 and has rich command experience.
, I think it is very appropriate for him to command this joint force."
The chief of staff remembered that the mechanized brigade was reorganized in January. The four battalion commanders who were promoted in the brigade were all company and platoon-level commanders. When it comes to commanding operations, they are definitely not comparable to Major Bunch, so he nodded.
Said: "Understood, Comrade Commander, I will immediately assign the task to Major Bunch."
Twenty minutes later, twelve tanks from the special tank battalion, more than twenty trucks from the mechanized battalion, and more than a dozen three-wheeled motorcycles drove toward the west in a mighty manner.
While the tank was driving, the driver looked at Bunch sitting next to him and asked curiously: "Comrade Major, the battle is going on outside Prokhorovka. What are we doing to the west? Isn't that far away from the battlefield?"
Is it getting further away?"
Bunch, who was observing the situation outside through the lookout hole, heard what the driver said. He quickly sat up straight and said to him sideways: "Comrade Sergeant, there are battlefields everywhere in the entire Kursk area. No matter where we go,
No matter which direction you drive, you may encounter the enemy at any time. Do you understand?"
However, after hearing this, the driver muttered: "If it is just a transport team with no combat effectiveness, no matter how many are eliminated, what is the use?"
The driver originally thought that the sound of the tank engine was enough to cover up his own mutterings, but Bunch still heard what he said clearly, "Sergeant, even if we can only destroy some enemy transport convoys, but in Prokhorov
The enemy who is fighting fiercely with our army outside Calgary will suffer final defeat due to lack of ammunition and fuel."
"So that's it." The driver suddenly looked astonished when he heard what Bunch said, "Comrade Major, let's put it this way, even if we only deal with the enemy's transport convoy in the next battle, by the end of this battle
At the end, we also contributed to the victory. Is my understanding correct?"
"Exactly, Comrade Sergeant." Bunch said with a smile: "But don't worry, in the coming days, we will not only have to deal with the German transport convoy, but also have to fight with the Germans with real swords and guns.
Ichiban.”
"Really?"
"Of course it's true." Bunch nodded and said: "The order given to us by our superiors is to bypass the German flanks and hit them hard from the side while they are attacking the 188th Division's position.
"
"Great, this is really great." The driver suddenly became excited when he learned that he was rushing to fight the German army: "Comrade Major, when we launch an attack on the enemy later, I will definitely rush to the front.
."
The troops fighting in a roundabout way bypassed the Marine Corps' defense area and entered an ambush position. Bunch found the commander of the infantry battalion and said to him: "Comrade Captain, there is a low mountain on the right wing in front of the friendly troops' position.
There are still trees and bushes on the hill. If we hide our troops here, we don’t have to worry about being discovered by the enemy. When the enemy launches an attack on the friendly positions, we will rush out unexpectedly and cut their troops into two pieces.
, to crush their attack."
The infantry battalion commander was a young captain who had only served as battalion commander for more than half a year. He knew very well that his command ability and battlefield experience were not as good as Bunch's, so he did not object to Bunch's plan.
Instead, he nodded and said, "Yes, Comrade Major. I will resolutely obey your order."
"After my tanks attack, you must send at least one company of infantry to follow up on motorcycles to provide cover and eliminate those anti-tank fighters who pose a great threat to us."
"No problem." The infantry battalion commander replied simply: "Although the number of motorcycles in my hand is not large, soldiers who cannot ride motorcycles can ride on tanks to charge. We will do our best to ensure that tanks
Not destroyed by enemy anti-tank crews."
The tank battalion and the infantry battalion entered the ambush position one after another. After waiting for almost two hours, the German army finally launched a new attack. This time they were sure to win. Not only did they dispatch a full infantry battalion, but also more than twenty
Cooperated with several tanks, including two T-34's nemesis - Panther tanks.
After seeing the enemy tanks passing by his ambush position one after another, Major Bunch issued an order to his subordinates and infantry battalion through the radio: "Attack!"
As the order was given, the tanks started up one after another. With a huge roar, they rushed out of the woods where they were hiding and rushed towards the German tanks that were covering the infantry attack.
The field of vision of tank soldiers in the tank is very narrow, otherwise there would not be so many tank soldiers leaning half out of the turret to observe the surrounding environment when the tank is driving. All the tanks that are now advancing towards the Soviet positions
The top cover of the turret was closed, and no tank crew was outside to observe the environment. Therefore, their field of vision could only see the front, so that they could not detect the tank rushing out from the flank at the first time.
When the infantry following the tanks saw the Soviet tanks rushing down the hills on the flanks, they shouted loudly, chose a suitable position to hide, and fired at the Soviet tanks with their weapons.
The German infantry was unable to notify their tanks of the presence of Soviet tanks on the flanks in the shortest possible time through effective communication means. Therefore, the Soviet tanks that rushed out from the flanks stopped one after another after entering a suitable shooting position.
Come down and choose a target to shoot.
Although the German infantrymen fired desperately, the bullets fired by the weapons in their hands could only make a sound like hail hitting the armor plate and throw up countless sparks after hitting the armor plate of the tank, but they could not cause any damage to the tank.
What harm.
Bunch's tank aimed at a Panther tank four hundred meters away and opened fire decisively. The armor-piercing bullet only made a small hole in the armor plate, but after the armor-piercing bullet penetrated the armor, it produced a splash effect.
It splashed around inside the tank body, killing the tank crew inside, and soon hit the ammunition in the vehicle, causing a fatal explosion.
The Panther tank exploded from within, spitting flames outwards. A tank soldier covered in fire crawled out from the bottom of the burning steel coffin, stumbled forward for a few steps, and then fell to the ground.
There was no more movement, just letting the flames burn on his body.
Seeing that the tank where the battalion commander was sitting opened the scoring, the other tanks were not to be outdone and fired at their chosen targets. The German tanks that were directly hit quickly stopped in place and burned; the tanks that were not hit were
, also noticed the Soviet tanks rushing out from the flank, stopped their advance, and slowly turned their muzzles to prepare for counterattack.
However, the facts ruthlessly shattered the attempts of the German tank crews. Those T-34 tanks that looked a little different once again fired in front of them, directly destroying more tanks. But some of the tanks that survived by chance were because of
The distance and the smoke generated by the burning tanks blocked the line of sight, making it impossible to locate the Soviet tanks, and none of the shells fired hit the target.
Seeing their own tanks being destroyed one after another by the Soviet army, the German infantry panicked. They knew that without anti-tank guns, they knew that they could not destroy the Soviet tanks hundreds of meters away by relying solely on the weapons in their hands. So the German army commanded
The officer reported what happened here to his superiors through the radio; at the same time, he gathered anti-tank fighters and prepared to blow up the Soviet tanks at close range when the Soviet tanks approached.
But Major Bunch, who was commanding the tank battalion to move forward, had already considered this possibility. As the tank battalion continued to move forward, the soldiers sitting on the tanks jumped off one after another and trotted behind the tanks, ready to eliminate those soldiers at any time.
Anti-tank man approaching.
When the tanks and infantry rushed into the middle of the battlefield, apart from the wreckage of destroyed and burning tanks, and the corpses of German soldiers scattered everywhere, the remaining infantry were fleeing towards their starting position.
When Bunch saw the enemy escaping, he showed a proud smile on his face. He said to his men through the radio: "Brothers, the Germans have been repelled by us. But we cannot let them leave easily.
Bomb, send them off well and leave them with a memory they will never forget."
When the tank crews heard what Bunch said, they immediately cheered, and then they changed their armor-piercing bombs to high-explosive bombs and bombarded the retreating German troops.
When the German army began to retreat, the commander of the armored regiment came to the edge of the battlefield. He wanted to find out what happened. The attack, covered by more than 20 tanks, was actually repelled by the Russians in such a short period of time.
But he didn't realize that he had made a mistake, a fatal mistake that could cost him his life. Instead of going to an observation post, he stood next to a barrel truck and raised his telescope to observe the situation on the battlefield. You know
The barrel truck is a vehicle used by German officers. It suddenly appears on the battlefield and can easily become the enemy's main attack target.
So, without any warning, three or four tank shells suddenly roared in. They landed around the barrel truck and exploded. While blowing up the barrel truck, it also blew up the German commander who was observing the battlefield situation.
fragments.
However, Bunch and the others did not know how many rounds they had fired, so they killed the German armored regiment commander. After bombarding the fleeing Germans for a while, they turned around and returned to the position held by the Marine Brigade.
In his headquarters, Colonel Chuvashov clearly saw everything that happened on the battlefield through his telescope. At this moment, he saw that the tank battalion and part of the infantry of the mechanized brigade that had completed the mission were heading towards his position, and he quickly
He led members of the headquarters to greet him.
When Major Bunch saw Chuvashov and a group of commanders greeting him at the position, he quickly ordered the driver to stop. After leaving the tank, he took a motorcycle and rushed to the friendly position.
When he was still five or six meters away from Chuvashov and others, Bunch ordered the motorcycle rider to stop, then jumped out of the sidecar, trotted to Chuvashov, straightened his body and reported: "Comrade Colonel,
I am Major Bunch, commander of the Special Battalion of the Tank Corps. Please forgive me for not being able to salute you."
"Hello, Major Bonci." It was not his first day on the battlefield. Chuvasov naturally knew not to salute casually on the battlefield, lest he expose his target and become a target of German snipers. He stepped forward and held Bonci's hand.
He held Qi's hand and said enthusiastically: "You did a great job. I never thought in my wildest dreams that you could destroy more than 20 enemy tanks in such a short period of time, and even killed and wounded some.
One or two hundred German soldiers."
"Comrade Colonel," Bunch grinned and said to Chuvashov: "Although we have successfully carried out a sneak attack on the enemy, the enemy is not stupid. The next time they attack, they will definitely conduct reconnaissance on the flanks.
To avoid something like this happening again, we can only withdraw first.”
Chuvashov waved his big hand and said carelessly: "Comrade Major, you have completed your mission. Now retreat behind us and rest in peace. We will do the rest."
This chapter has been completed!