The news of the fall of the 252.2 Highland was soon reported to Rotemistrov. The general who wore round-frame glasses and had a toothbrush and looked like a rural teacher, frowned. He asked the commander of the Guards who reported the situation: "Comrade Commander, as far as I know, the fortifications on the 252.2 Highland are the most perfect outside Prokhorovka. Why was it occupied by the German army after just a few hours?"
"Comrade Commander," replied the commander with a crying face: "According to our prior analysis, the best attack terrain should be the narrow area southwest of Prokholovka. This area has formed a good tank passage, which is very conducive to the German army's large-scale armored forces. Therefore, our defense focus is mainly in this direction. Unexpectedly, the Flag Guard Division and Skeleton Division from the west actually took the 252.2 highland as the first breakthrough point."
"Comrade Commander, the order I give you now is to concentrate all the troops you can concentrate, and to counterattack the 252.2 Highlands, and be sure to take it back from the Germans." Rotmistrov was very afraid that the commander of the Guards would ignore his proposal, and he emphasized specifically: "Whether the 252.2 Highlands can be regained is the key to our repelling of the enemy."
When Rotmistrov put down the phone, he saw a group of people walking into the command center. He couldn't help but frown slightly, thinking that who was so weak and actually caused trouble for himself at this time. Just as he was about to step forward and scold the other party, he saw Vasilevsky from the crowd. He hurried forward and saluted: "Hello, Comrade Marshal."
"Hello, General Rotemistrov." Vasilevsky held Rotemistrov's hand and said with a smile: "I came to you here to see it, and I hope it will not affect your work."
"No," with the efforts of the Chief of Staff and a group of command members, Rotmstrov would not affect the combat of the troops even if he was not in the command. Hearing Vasilevsky's politeness, he hurriedly said: "Even if I am not in the command, the Chief of Staff can handle everything."
"Since there is nothing to do, can you accompany me out for a walk?" Huaseylevsky asked politely: "I want to learn about the frontier war."
"Comrade Marshal, this is not easy." When Rotemstrovsky learned that he was going to the frontline to see it, Rotemstrov was shocked and sweated in a cold sweat. He quickly persuaded: "Now the battle is starting outside Prokhorovka. If you go to inspect it at this time, there may be danger."
"Comrade General, I know that the enemy from the west is attacking the 252.2 Highlands." Vasilevsky said: "I just want to see the battle there with my own eyes to determine whether our upcoming counterattack can achieve ideal results."
"Comrade Marshal," Rotemistrov's face showed an embarrassing expression on his face: "Half an hour ago, the German flag guard division had occupied the 252.2 highland..."
"What, the 252.2 highland was lost?" Huasilevsky didn't expect that when he left the Vatujing command, the news he received was that the defenders repelled more than a dozen German attacks. He wanted to come to the 5th Army Command of the Guards Tanks and personally praise Rotmistrov for this tenacious unit. But unexpectedly, the troops he saw actually lost their positions. A hint of anger appeared on his face: "Where are the defenders on the highlands retreating?"
"No," Rotmistrov shook his head and said, "none of them was removed."
"None of them was removed?" Huasilevsky asked in surprise: "Are they all captured the Germans?"
"No, comrade Marshal, none of them were captured." Rotmistrov couldn't help but get angry when he saw Vasilevsky suspected his subordinates. He raised his voice and said, "According to the observations of the rear observation center, they detonated the explosives buried in the trenches when the enemy rushed into the position, and died with the enemy who rushed up."
After listening to Rotmistrov's story, Vasilevsky remained silent for a long time, and finally nodded slowly and said, "They were very brave. In order not to sacrifice in vain, I think we should counterattack the 252.2 Highlands and regain the position from the Germans."
"Marson Marshal, my troops are already doing this." Rotmistrov replied: "The 26th and 28th Airborne Regiments are assembled to take back the positions from the enemy."
"Comrade General, since your troops are ready to launch a counterattack, I think it is more necessary for us to go to the frontier to see." Vasilevsky urged Rotmstrov to say: "Transfer the work here to the Chief of Staff, and you and I go to the frontier."
Seeing that Huasilevsky had made up his mind, Rotmistrov refuted it again, so he could only hand over the work of the headquarters to the Chief of Staff, and then took a guard platoon and the guard soldiers brought by Huasilevsky, and took three jeeps and two trucks toward the area where he was fighting.
When the convoy was driving on the road, Huasilevsky saw a convoy full of fuel and ammunition driving on the right, while the ambulance convoy was coming towards him, with wounded people on the car. Seeing this, Huasilevsky said with emotion: "Comrade General, it seems that the battle ahead is very fierce, and so many wounded people are transported down."
After driving for a while, Rotmistrov saw that the road ahead was covered with craters of all sizes, and destroyed trucks and other means of transportation were everywhere, so he said to Huasilevsky: "Comrade Marshal, if we continue to drive along the highway, it will easily become the target of the Luftwaffe's attack. Why don't we change the road, right?"
"Yes." Vasilevsky did not object to Rotemstrov's proposal: "If you are familiar with this place, you have the final say."
Soon, the convoy changed direction, passed through a mature wheat field, and headed towards the forest in the distance.
When the convoy entered the forest, Rotemstrov felt much more at ease. With the cover of trees, even if a German plane appeared in the airplane at this time, he did not have to worry about being air strikes. He introduced the situation to Huasilevsky with interest: "The north of the forest is the offensive starting position of the 29th Tank Army, and on their right wing, the 18th Tank Army..."
While listening to Rotmistrov's report, Vasilevsky observed the situation outside through the car window glass. Based on the smoke rising from afar, he knew that the area where the battle took place was only two or three kilometers away.
At this moment, he heard a roar of tank engines from near to far, and quickly ordered the driver: "Stop!" As soon as the car stopped, he immediately pushed open the car door and jumped down. Rotmistrov didn't know what had happened, so he quickly pushed open the other car door and got out of the car, looking at Vasilevsky with surprise.
The convoy was located at the edge of the forest, and you could see the situation outside. Vasilevsky walked to the side of the road, raised the telescope in his hand, and carefully observed the situation outside. Not long after he looked, he put down the telescope, turned his head and got angry at Rotemestrov: "Comrade General, what's going on with these tanks?"
Seeing Rotmistrov's confused look, Vasilevsky said to himself: "Comrade Vatujing has greeted you. Before the counterattack begins, we must not let the enemy know that a large number of tanks have entered the attack position? But you are so many tanks, in broad daylight, swaying under the enemy's noses. Do you think the enemy is blind or deaf?"
Rotmistrov quickly took the telescope from Huasilevsky's hand and looked at the tank group operating outside the forest. He quickly saw clearly the tanks that stopped firing from time to time during the driving process, and were basically equipped with short-barrel artillery. It took only a few seconds to understand in his heart that the tanks that appeared in front of him at this moment were not his own tank army, but the enemy tanks.
He quickly turned around and reported to Huasilevsky: "Comrade Marshal, I think it is necessary to explain to you that the tanks you see are all Germans..."
"What, is it a German tank?" Huasilevsky heard Rotmistrov say so, and quickly grabbed the telescope in his hand and observed it carefully again. The differences between the Soviet and German tanks were quite big. Not long ago, Huasilevsky was too excited and did not see the model of the tank at all. At this moment, when he saw clearly that they were all German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, his face turned pale: "Comrade General, it seems that the situation is not good. If an enemy tank appears here, it means that the starting position for your order to launch an attack has been occupied by the Germans."
"Yes, comrade Marshal, the battlefield situation now seems worse than we expected." Rotmistrov told Vasilevsky: "I feel it is necessary to re-form a new offensive plan."
After hearing Rotmistrov's words, Vasilevsky only considered it for more than ten seconds and announced without hesitation: "Let's go, let's go back to your command and re-form a plan to prevent the situation from developing in an uncontrollable direction."
After the two returned to the command center, Huasilevsky immediately called Vatuting through a dedicated line. Rotmistrov called his chief of staff and pointed to the map to tell him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we have found a large number of German tanks here, and there are probably more than fifty."
The Chief of Staff only glanced at the map and immediately showed a shocked expression: "Comrade Commander, the offensive starting positions we set in advance have been occupied by the Germans. What should we do?"
"In order not to worsen the situation, we must take corresponding measures." Rotmistrov issued an order to the Chief of Staff: "You call General Kirichenko immediately and ask him to send two tank brigades to fight these German tanks that have penetrated our defense zone and prevent them from continuing to advance towards our army's defensive depth."
After Huasilevsky and Vatujin came to the phone, he said to Rotmistrov with a serious expression: "Comrade General, the 1st Tank Army, which was originally scheduled to launch a counterattack with you tomorrow, is now entangled by the 48th Armored Army of the German army and cannot reach the prescribed starting point within the specified time. This means that the attack on the German army tomorrow can only be completed by your Guards Tank Army alone."
What Huasilevsky said was long ago as Rotmistrov expected, so he did not show any stimulation. After he finished speaking, he immediately expressed his opinion: "Comrade Marshal, since the German army has occupied our offensive starting position, we have to readjust the offensive deployment, especially the pre-selected artillery positions and offensive routes, which must be adjusted."
Just as Vasilevsky and Rotmistrov were discussing how to change the deployment, Vatutin, who had just put down the phone, said to Zhukov, who was sitting next to him with a bitter face: "Comrade Marshal, this is really strange. Logically speaking, the Sokov troops are blocking the Flag Guard Division and the Skeleton Division. It will take at least two or three days for the enemy to break through their defense. How could they rush from the west to the outside of Prokholovka in such a short time? I think there may be any problems."
"What's the problem?" Zhukov raised his eyebrows and asked vigilantly: "What's the problem?"
When Vatutin thought of the friendship between Sokov and Zhukov, he knew that he would offend people after analyzing the reasons, and he couldn't help but hesitate. The deputy commander Apaneseko, who was sitting next to him, said without hesitation: "Is it necessary to say that Sokov's troops must have given way to the Germans, otherwise how could the enemy reach outside Prokhorovka in such a short time?"
Although Apanathenko expressed his true thoughts, Vatutin deliberately blamed the other party in front of Zhukov, saying, "Comrade Deputy Commander, you can't say that. I believe that in the face of the fierce attack of the Germans, General Sokov's troops should have made tenacious resistance, but because the troops were insufficient to defend the entire position, the defense line was torn apart by the enemy. The German troops who broke through the defense line were able to march straight in and rushed directly outside the city of Prokholovka."
Zhukov didn't think Sokov would open the passage for the Germans at all, but the speed of the flag guard division and the skeleton division advancing to Prokholovka City was too fast. It was so fast that even the paratroopers defending the city did not have time to further consolidate their positions. In order to figure out what was going on, he called the director of the communications corps and ordered the other party: "Comrade Director, please contact me of Sokov's headquarters. I have important things to find him."
Fortunately, the communications officer director knew that Sokov was now in the division headquarters of the 188th Division, so he did not contact the 27th Army Command, but directly connected to the division headquarters of the 188th Division. When he heard someone answering the phone, the communications officer director said politely: "I am the communications officer director of the Voronezh Front Command. Comrade Marshal has important things and wants to talk to General Sokov."
A moment later, Sokov's voice came from the receiver: "I am Major General Sokov."
"General Sokov, please wait a moment." Hearing Sokov's voice, the director of the communications soldier quickly said politely: "I will ask the marshal to speak to you immediately."