Chapter 1271 Cutting the Trouble with a Quick Sword
Don't forget that Sokov told Rotmistrov not to report to Vatutin about his command of the troops to attack the Skull Division. But in such a big war, it is still difficult to completely hide it from Vatutin.
It is unrealistic. Vatutin found out about this matter through his own specific intelligence channel just ten minutes after the battle started.
Vatutin put the received intelligence in front of Zhukov and Vasilevsky, and said excitedly: "Two comrades, marshals, have you seen it? Although Konev promised to hand over the 27th Army to my command
, but Sokov disobeyed my orders. I ordered him to attack the Flag Guard Division, but he pointed the attack directly at the Skeleton Division. This, this is simply outrageous."
"Comrade Marshal," Vasilevsky said to Zhukov with a side face after listening to Vatutin's words: "Among the enemies inside Prokhorovka, the Skeleton Division is indeed the weakest.
During the battle, a large number of soldiers and technical equipment were lost. Even if the German army is already defeated, Comrade Sokov intends to destroy the enemy with only one division. I think it is still a bit difficult."
"That's right, Marshal Zhukov." As soon as Vasilevskiy finished speaking, Vatutin echoed: "The situation of the 69th Army is not optimistic now. Once the Flag Guard Division and the Kef Combat Group merge, they will be
Possibility of encirclement. Now Sokov disobeys my order and goes to attack the Skeleton Division. Once entangled by the enemy, we can only watch the 69th Group Army fall into the enemy's encirclement..."
Before Vatutin could finish speaking, Zhukov interrupted him and asked unexpectedly: "Comrade Vatutin, wouldn't you be able to fight without Misha's troops?"
"How is this possible, Comrade Marshal." Hearing Zhukov's question, Vatutin replied in a panic: "I just thought that if Sokov's troops could attack the Flag Guard Division according to my intention, they might
It can quickly reverse the current unfavorable situation of our army."
Zhukov, who had been looking down at the map, waited for Vatutin to finish speaking, looked up at him and said: "I think Misha's choice is correct. Prioritize the attack on the Skeleton Division. As long as this force can be defeated, then the city of Prokhorovka will be destroyed."
The situation in the northwest will become stable, and then Rotmistrov's troops will be free to attack the Flag Guard Division together with Sokov's troops. Comrade Vatutin, tell me, it is a
Is it easier for a single force to defeat a division of the Color Guard, or is it more likely to succeed if the two forces take joint action?"
"Of course, it is easier to achieve success if the two troops act at the same time." After Vatutin said these words without thinking, he said with some hesitation: "However, I am worried that Sokov's troops will not be able to defeat the Skeleton Division in a short time.
, so that we will be entangled by the enemy and unable to free our hands to deal with their flag guard division to the south."
"Comrade Vatutin, you are worrying too much." Zhukov said calmly: "Since the troops commanded by Misha can defeat the Skeleton Division once, there is no big problem in defeating the Skeleton Division a second time. Besides, not only the Skeleton Division and the Skeleton Division have been eliminated
The Imperial Division, and even the Flag Guard Division that gives you a headache, were once defeated by Misha. If Misha's troops first eliminated the Skeleton Division and then dealt with the Flag Guard Division, the enemy's morale would definitely suffer a heavy blow.
Strike. When the time comes to eliminate a demoralized unit, the price we have to pay will be much smaller."
Vatutin's worries and anxieties disappeared immediately with Zhukov's recognition of Sokov. He even began to think about which troops he should send to assist after Sokov's troops destroyed the Skull Division.
Together they attacked the German Flag Guard Division.
…………
When the 354th Division arrived at the attack position, the German scouts had already discovered them and promptly reported the information to the division headquarters. When the division commander Simon learned that it was Sokov's troops, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
, he quickly issued an order to the commanders of each regiment, asking them to seize the time to repair the fortifications and be sure to complete the construction of the fortifications before dawn tomorrow to resist the possible attack by Sokov's troops.
When the German army commanders learned that Sokov's troops had arrived, they dared not neglect. They immediately ordered their soldiers to start repairing the fortifications, striving to repair the fortifications that had been destroyed in the artillery fire a few days ago before dawn. The German army captured this area.
Later, although they also carried out repair work on the fortifications, they were worried about the counterattack from the city of Prokhorovka, so the focus of defense was placed on the east. Now that they suddenly faced the threat from the west, they could only make temporary arrangements.
, rushed to repair the fortifications overnight, trying to rely on the fortifications to resist the attack of Sokov's troops.
But what the Germans didn't expect was that Sokov had no intention of resting all night and waiting until dawn the next day before attacking. Even before the troops had arrived, he couldn't wait to launch the attack. And the first group of attackers
The troops actually rode in tanks and quickly rushed to Simon's division headquarters.
Fifty tanks, carrying more than 400 infantry commanders and combatants, quickly passed through some small and weak German positions and rushed straight to the division headquarters.
When Simon learned that the Soviet tanks were coming straight to his division headquarters, he shouted to his guard battalion commander on the phone: "Major, order your men to block the Russian tanks. They must block them, otherwise the division headquarters will
It’s all over.”
Although Simon ordered his troops to defend, he did not dare to stay in the headquarters anymore. After all, he was captured by Sokov's troops a few months ago. Even if he was later rescued by his men, he still became a
A stain in his military career. If Mustache hadn't valued him so highly, I'm afraid he would have been sent to a military court by now. Wanting to become the commander of the Skeleton Division again was simply a fantasy.
"Chief of Staff, our defense line cannot stop the Russians. The division headquarters needs to be transferred immediately, otherwise we will become prisoners of the Russians." Simon said to his Chief of Staff: "I will take the first step, and you stay."
Come down and take charge of the aftermath." After Simon said this, he took a dozen guards and two armored personnel carriers and fled to the Grenadier Regiment in the south.
Watching the armored personnel carrier Simon was riding in go away, the chief of staff cursed in his heart: Cowards who are greedy for life and afraid of death. Then he ordered the staff in the division headquarters and the communications soldiers to begin to dismantle the telephones and lines, and put things one after another.
After moving it to the truck outside, I tried to move to a safe area.
The tank battalion commander who was leading the charge saw several brightly lit wooden houses in the distance and guessed that they must be the German command headquarters, so he ordered his men to stop and target the wooden houses in the distance for shelling.
Fifteen tanks stopped one after another, and they slowly aimed their guns at the wooden house in the distance. Following the battalion commander's order to fire, the fifteen tanks fired at the wooden house in the distance one after another. Only two rounds were fired.
, the wooden houses in the distance were hit one after another. After the violent explosion, the wooden houses were either blown to pieces or started to burn.
Seeing that the wooden house in the distance was shot and on fire, the tank continued to drive forward. The infantrymen on the tank jumped off the tank one after another, formed a battle formation, followed behind the tank, and rushed towards the enemy's position.
.
Although the officers and soldiers of the guard battalion responsible for protecting the division headquarters performed extremely tenaciously, due to their lack of effective anti-tank weapons, they were unable to stop the rushing Soviet tanks. What was even worse was that the tanks were followed by Soviet infantry.
, they took advantage of the chaos of the defenders, quickly rushed into the trenches, and started fighting with the soldiers inside.
When the soldiers saw that the wooden house where the division headquarters was located was destroyed by Soviet tank fire, their morale was already in chaos. So much so that the Soviet commanders and soldiers who followed the tanks and rushed over quickly took the initiative after jumping into the trenches.
Just as the German resistance was getting weaker and weaker, the main force that had just arrived surged through the German defensive position like a tide and continued to rush forward following the tanks in front.
"Comrade Division Commander." After confirming that his troops had captured the German division headquarters, the head of the main regiment responsible for the offensive mission reported to Shechtman via the radio: "We have captured the German division headquarters."
"Have you captured the German division headquarters?" Hearing the good news, Shechtman couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Have you captured General Simon, the commander of the Skeleton Division?"
"No, comrade division commander." The head of the vanguard group replied awkwardly: "When we arrived, the house was burning violently. Although there were many burnt corpses inside, we learned when we interrogated the prisoners that division commander Simon was
Before our tanks opened fire, they left the division headquarters in a car, leaving behind only his chief of staff and a group of staff officers, communications troops and the like."
Knowing that Simon had run away, Shechtman felt very sorry. He quickly asked: "Do you know where he escaped to?"
"I don't know, Comrade Division Commander." The regiment commander replied truthfully: "The prisoners only know that he took two armored personnel carriers and left the division headquarters. As for where he went, no one knows."
When Sokov heard this, he quickly said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, ask your subordinates which direction the German armored vehicles are heading?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," after hearing Sokov's instructions, Shechtman quickly said into the microphone: "Did you ask the prisoners which direction Simon and his men were walking?"
The other end of the phone was silent, but Shechtman could vaguely hear some voices, which seemed to be the regiment leader asking something. After a while, the regiment leader's voice came again from the earphone: "Comrade division commander, according to the prisoner's confession
, the armored personnel carrier Simon was riding in was retreating toward the southeast..."
"Retreating toward the southeast?" After hearing what the regiment leader said, Sokov immediately checked the map to study where Simon might have fled. After looking at it for a moment, he analyzed the enemy and friend situations on the map and figured out where Simon was going.
As soon as he reached a foothold, he said to Shechtman: "Comrade Colonel, immediately notify your subordinates and order them to continue to advance to the northwest, join the 18th Tank Corps that is supporting the battle as soon as possible, and destroy or severely damage them to escape from our defense area.
enemies."
"Comrade Commander," Shechtman said with some confusion about Sokov's order: "Didn't Simon flee to the southeast to find his grenadiers? Why don't we advance to the southwest?
Instead, should we attack in the northwest direction?"
"The reason is very simple." Sokov said lightly: "At this moment, by ordering the troops to go north, they can engage in a flanking attack with General Rotmistrov's 18th Tank Corps and annihilate the main force of the Skeleton Division that has fallen into chaos. As for the southeast direction
That grenadier regiment can throw the remaining infantry regiments and artillery regiments into battle, allowing them to eliminate as many effective German forces as possible."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." After listening to Sokov's arrangements, Shechtman said with understanding: "I immediately ordered the infantry and artillery regiments still on the position to attack the German army."
"First order the artillery to bombard the German Grenadier Regiment's station." Sokov told Shechtman: "While the bombardment was going on, the infantry regiment quickly moved towards the enemy's defensive position. When the bombardment stopped, the enemy still
There is no favorable opportunity to recover and quickly occupy the enemy's position."
Regarding Sokov's arrangement, Shechtman had inexplicable confidence in him, and this confidence was built up from countless previous victories. He did not question Sokov's order, but truthfully
He conveyed Sokov's latest orders to several of his regimental commanders.
After Colonel Shechtman's order was issued, except for a few troops who stayed to clear out the remaining enemies, the rest immediately turned around and headed north to continue attacking the enemies who were still seizing the time to repair their fortifications.
The 18th Tank Corps stationed at the October Farm has been confronting the Germans for two days. Two hours ago, the commander of the Corps, Major General Baharov, received a call from Rotmistrov, saying that Sokov's
The troops are about to launch an attack on the Skeleton Division. I hope he can take active actions and cooperate with Sokov to eliminate this enemy.
Baharov was very resistant to Rotmistrov's order. His troops and the 29th Tank Corps fought with the enemy here for two days, but they were still trapped in the October Farm.
Unable to take a step forward, why should Sokov's troops be able to crush the enemy's resistance once they arrive?
After dark, he listened to the gunshots and explosions coming from outside, and secretly muttered to himself that if the gunfire stopped, it would prove that the friendly forces' attack had been crushed by the Germans. Then he could temporarily stand still and wait for the friendly forces to gain strength.
Rush to the vicinity of the farm and it won't be too late to send troops to help.
The sound of gunfire did not last long and was soon stopped. Just as Baharov was sighing because of the failure of the friendly army's attack, a staff officer came in from outside and reported to him: "Comrade Commander,
Friendly forces are attacking the enemy's flank in front of us, should we help them?"
"What, what, what did you say?" Baharov thought he heard wrongly, and quickly asked the staff officer: "What did you just say, and what are our friendly forces doing?"
"Report to Comrade Commander," the staff officer reported to him: "Friendly forces are attacking the enemy's flank. Do we need to help them?"
"Come to the map." Baharov did not easily believe the staff report. Instead, he called him to the wall, pointed to the map hanging on it and said, "Point to me where the friendly forces are."
"Here, Comrade Commander." The staff officer picked up the explanation stick on the wall, pointed to the southwest of October Farm, and said to Baharov: "According to the intelligence we have, the friendly forces are attacking the Skeleton Division.
After the troops were dispatched, they immediately turned around and headed north to attack the flanks and rear of the Skeleton Division... The battle is currently going on fiercely, do we need to help them?"
After understanding the situation, the high-spirited Baharov straightened his back and said to his staff: "Since our friendly forces are attacking the enemy, how can we stand by and watch? Immediately order the troops to start a full-scale counterattack, and join the friendly forces heading north as soon as possible to encircle and annihilate them.
