Sokov called Sameko in front of Trofanov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am Sokov. I will inform you about one thing now and immediately prepare for General Poluboyarov's tank army. They have rested for a long enough time, and now it is their turn to fight."
Samek, with the main force of the army, stayed on the banks of the Pushore River and did nothing, and felt very uneasy. At this moment, when he heard Sokov issue a combat order to himself, he immediately asked excitedly: "Comrade Commander, so, the time for a decisive battle with the Germans has finally arrived."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov was startled by Sameko's words. Although he was commanding an army now, he was extremely lacking in tanks and artillery. He could barely make do with a small German armored force. If he really wanted to attack actively, it would be like hitting a stone with an egg. In order to prevent his chief of staff from being too inflated and unrealistically confronting the enemy head-on, Sokov quickly reminded him: "With our current strength, we do not have the ability to fight the main force of the German army. The task I gave to the Tank Army is to block the area from the Puscher River to the 188th Division, and prevent German tanks from escaping in an organized manner."
Sameko felt that Sokov's statement was a bit contradictory. He first told himself that the current strength of the troops could not confront the German large-scale armored troops; but he ordered the tank army to attack and eliminate the established German armored troops. He asked in confusion: "Comrade Commander, aren't you saying that our troops lack artillery and tanks and cannot fight against the large-scale German armored troops? Then why do you want Poluboyarov's tank army to eliminate the established armored troops of the enemy?"
Sokov realized that he had not made it clear, which led to Sameko misunderstanding his meaning, so he explained: "Yes, our strength is indeed not enough to fight against the powerful German armored troops. But in today's battle, friendly troops will dispatch a large number of tanks to fight the enemy's armored troops. What Poluboyarov's tank army intercepted was nothing but the defeated German armored troops. I believe they must have the ability to eliminate the enemy."
"I understand, Comrade Commander." After hearing Sokov's explanation, Sameko understood his intentions and quickly asked for instructions: "I don't know when they will attack?"
"I think you have to wait until after three o'clock in the afternoon at the earliest." Sokov said to the microphone: "Chief of Staff, remember to remind General Poluboyarov that the enemy is equipped with many tiger and leopard tanks, which are the nemesis of the T-34 tanks. If you encounter these tanks, don't just rush and rush hard. Use your brain more and think about what methods to use to destroy the enemy's tanks. Do you understand?"
"I understand, Comrade Commander." Sameko quickly replied, "I will tell you what you say to General Poluboyarov truthfully, so that he can be more vigilant."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, it is not realistic to rely on the tank army to defeat the enemy alone, and the infantry must also cooperate." Sokov continued to remind Sameko: "Let the infantry build fortifications in some important areas to assist the tank army in blocking the enemy's retreat."
"Comrade Commander, what about you?" Sameco asked cautiously: "Will you assist the tank army in destroying the enemy?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, we have other tasks." Sokov continued: "We also have two German armored divisions on the front. If they learned that the German army attacking Prokolovka was counterattacked by our army, they would definitely attack our defense zone desperately so that they could rush over and meet with the retreating enemies. Therefore, our mission is to try every means to block the German attack and prevent the enemies from gathering."
After Sokov put down the phone, he expressed his opinion: "General Sokov, are you not optimistic about the attack we are about to launch?"
Sokov was stunned and asked back, "Comrade Deputy Commander, why did you say that?"
"I heard that the attack time you arranged for the tank army was after 3:00 pm." Trufanov said with some dissatisfaction: "You know, not counting the 100 tanks I brought, the more than 400 tanks that our army can mobilize outside Prokhorovka City, while the enemy has only more than 100 tanks. The comparison of technical equipment between the two sides is 3:1. With such a clear advantage, does it take five hours to smash the enemy's resistance?"
Sokov then understood what Trufanov meant and quickly defended himself: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you are right. The number of tanks in our army is several times that of the enemy. But you forgot that there are many outdated T-70 tanks in the tank army. Not to mention the Tiger or Leopard tanks that deal with the German army, even the No. 4 tank cannot be defeated.
According to the information I have, the enemy has occupied the offensive starting position of your army planned, which forces your tanks to fight with German tanks through an open area without any obstacles. When your tanks pass through this open area, they will inevitably be attacked by Tiger tanks equipped with 88mm artillery. At such a long distance, the 76mm artillery equipped by the T-34 tank does not pose a threat to the enemy tanks at all."
As the deputy commander of the Tank Army, Trufanov naturally knew that the attack starting position was occupied by the German army, and there were a large number of outdated T-70s in the tank army, which was also an unrefutable fact. He was silent for a long time and asked tentatively: "General Sokov, then tell me, can the counterattack we launched outside Prokolovka today be successful?"
"Comrade Deputy Commander, it is unquestionable whether he can win." Sokov explained to Trufanov: "Don't see that the enemy's tanks are more advanced than us, but our soldiers are braver than the enemy's soldiers. Even if they are behind in equipment, they will do whatever they can torch the enemy outside Prokholovka."
Seeing that Trufanov's face showed a frustrated expression, Sokov said again: "Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry. As long as our tanks drive at full speed and pass through the open land quickly, as long as they approach the enemy's tanks, the T-34 can use its excellent mobility to deal with the German bulky Tiger tanks."
"General Sokov, you make sense." Trufanov waited for Sokov to finish speaking, nodded and said, "I need to report this information to Commander Rotmistrov immediately and make him mentally prepared in advance."
Sokov raised his hand and looked at the watch. It was already eight twenty minutes old, and he said to Trufanov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, if you want to report to General Rotmistrov, I suggest you to do so as soon as possible. Once the battle begins, some orders will be difficult to convey to the grassroots combat units."
"Don't worry, General Sokov." After hearing this, Trufanov said carelessly: "We plan to attack the enemy at 10 o'clock, and now there is still one and a half hours."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly." Sokov smiled and said, "Even if something planned in advance, it is entirely possible to make adjustments due to some accidents."
"You make sense." Trufanov looked around and asked politely: "General Sokov, can you borrow your radio station?"
Trufanov asked him to borrow a radio station so that he could convey his opinions to Rotemstrov. Sokov naturally would not object, so he asked Koida to lend the telegraph from his division to Trufanov for use.
Less than five minutes after the telegram was sent, Trufanov received a call from Rotmistrov, which read: "I will notify the tank brigades participating in the war as soon as possible, and order them to drive full power when passing through that open land to reduce the losses of the tanks. In addition, since the attack time of our army has been controlled by the German army, after research by the Army Command, the attack time has been advanced to 8:30 in the morning."
"Damn, the attack time is ahead." After reading the telegram, Trufanov immediately shouted in surprise: "You know, the troops I brought have not yet been launched." He looked up at Sokov and said, "General Sokov, I'm really embarrassed. The attack is about to begin. I must go back and arrange combat missions for the troops."
At 8:30, hundreds of Soviet artillery fired violently on the German positions that were about to attack.
After the shelling lasted thirty minutes, a red signal flare rose into the air, which was a signal of attack. The Soviet tanks who saw the signal immediately drove out from the hidden place and rushed to the German positions in the distance at full speed.
What happened next was just as Sokov "analyzed" to Trufanov. When the Soviet tanks passed through the open area without any barriers, they were blocked by German tiger tanks and 88mm anti-aircraft guns. Many moving tanks were directly hit by shells and stopped on the open ground and burned wildly. For a moment, the black smoke from the burning of the tanks covered the sky and made the sky dim.
Rotmistrov, who was standing in the observation center, saw his tanks being destroyed by the Germans one by one, and his whole heart was bleeding. For a moment, the idea even came out of his mind to let the tank brigade stop attacking. But as soon as this idea came out, he immediately denied it.
He held the telescope in his hands and said to the Chief of Staff standing beside him without looking back: "Chief of Staff, tell the commanders of each tank brigade to order all tanks to speed up their speed and quickly rush through the open land."
However, before the Chief of Staff had time to pass on his order to the troops, the first attack launched by the Soviet tanks ended in failure under the enemy's artillery fire.
Seeing that the tanks on the side retreated, Rotmistrov was irritated, but in order not to affect his morale, he tried to say to the Chief of Staff in a stable tone: "Chief of Staff, say hello to the commanders of the Tank Army and tell them not to blame the tank brigade commanders. The reason for the failure of the offense is that the enemy's firepower is too strong. We must reassemble and launch a new attack on the enemy."
After responding, the Chief of Staff did not leave immediately, but whispered to remind Rotemistrov: "Comrade Commander, the difficulties we encountered during the attack were mentioned to you not long ago by the Deputy Commander in the telegram."
"Where is the telegram?" Rotmistrov searched through the numerous battle newspapers on the table for a while, and found the telegram sent by Trufanov. After reading it carefully, he nodded and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander saw it very accurately. He felt that when our tanks passed through that open area, they would definitely be blocked by Tiger tanks and anti-aircraft guns. Therefore, it is recommended that we pass there as quickly as possible to reduce the losses of the tanks."
"Comrade Commander, this telegram was sent from the division headquarters of the 188th Division." Seeing that Rotmistrov did not understand what he meant, the Chief of Staff reminded him: "I think the person who can find this problem should not be the Deputy Commander."
"If it is not the deputy commander, who can it be?" Rotmistrov was shocked as soon as he said this, and then he said in surprise: "Chief of Staff, do you mean that you want to say that the person who discovered this problem is Major General Sokov, the commander of the 27th Army?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, that's exactly what I think." The Chief of Staff nodded and replied, "Since General Sokov can find this problem, maybe he had thought of a way to approach it. If you agree, I would like to ask him for advice."
The Chief of Staff's proposal made Rotmistrov feel very embarrassed. Don't see that he and Sokov are both commanders of the army, but the other party is too young. He asked someone who has been in the army for more than 20 years to ask for advice from a person who is about the same age as his son. He felt that he couldn't let go.
The Chief of Staff noticed Rotmistrov's embarrassment and took the initiative to say: "Comrade Commander, I know you think he is too young and you can't let go of your stigma when you go to ask him for advice. If you feel embarrassed, you don't have to come forward to deal with this matter. What do you think?"
"Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff." Rotmistrov nodded when he saw the Chief of Staff help him to relieve him, and said with a wry smile: "Then I will feel wronged."
"Don't be wronged." The chief of staff waved his hand and said, "As long as the casualties of the troops can be reduced and we can win, I am willing to be a student for General Sokov."
In this way, a strange telegram was issued and sent to Sokov's temporary command center through the radio. Sokov couldn't help laughing as he looked at the telegram sent from the Tank Army Command. He felt that Rotmistrov's approach was simply a superfluous way. The reason why he did not take the initiative to tell the other party how to crack the German defense was because he was worried that the other party would think he was meddling in other people's business.
Chapter completed!