When the Soviet Air Force was bombarding the German artillery indiscriminately, Von Dreibel's heart was bleeding. You must know that these artillery were all the artillery he could mobilize at present. As a result, he was destroyed by the Soviet army under his nose.
The bomb exploded into piles of scrap metal.
After finally seeing German fighter jets appear in the sky and knocking down two Russian planes that were bombing and strafing his own artillery, Von Drebel couldn't help but cheer. He even thought in his heart: After the battle is over, he must do it himself
Honor these brave pilots with the Iron Cross.
But the good times did not last long. With the emergence of Soviet fighter planes, the situation reversed again. The German fighter planes, which had the numerical advantage, were actually shot down by Soviet fighter planes. Five of them were shot down, and the other three were also damaged. The entire army was almost wiped out.
was destroyed. What's even more egregious is that after the German fighter jets withdrew from the battlefield, the Soviet bombers bombed the tank troop assembly area. In addition, the artillery in Kursk city was also shelling continuously, resulting in the division's second
More than a dozen tanks turned into burning torches.
After finally waiting for the Soviet bomber formation to fly away from the battlefield, von Drebel hurriedly ordered the tanks to withdraw from the battlefield in order to prevent the entire tank force from being wiped out. Two anti-tank artillery batteries blocked the advancing Soviet tanks.
When the Air Force began to bomb the German tank assembly area, Alitai led his tank company to launch a charge. The tank commanded by Alitai took the lead and rushed to the front of the entire company. It was still more than 300 meters away from the temporary German position.
At this moment, Alitai suddenly heard a loud bang, and then the entire tank body shook. According to his many years of combat experience, it was attacked by a German anti-tank gun, but fortunately this 37 mm caliber anti-tank gun
Tank guns, at such a long distance, cannot penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 tank.
Without waiting for Alitai's instructions, the driver had already stopped the tank, preparing for the gunner to destroy the German anti-tank gun. The tank driver slowly turned the turret, trying to find the location of the enemy's anti-tank gun. At this moment, another one
A shell flew over and accurately hit the left side of the turret. Fortunately, the shell still failed to penetrate the armor of the tank.
The tank crew quickly turned the turret to the left again, searching for the anti-tank gun that had just fired. Before he could find it, several more anti-tank armor-piercing rounds flew from different directions. Some fell to the ground and exploded, setting off a wave of
Mud shot up into the sky; some of it hit the tank body, and because it could not penetrate the armor, it became a ricochet.
Although Alitai knew in his heart that the armor-piercing shells fired by the German anti-tank guns would hardly pose a threat to his own tanks. However, it was also annoying that the shells kept hitting the armor plate.
, he quickly ordered the gunner: "Find the target quickly and destroy it."
Not only Alitai's tank was attacked by German anti-tank guns, but other tanks also encountered the same problem. German anti-tank gunners hid in different positions and fired at the rushing Soviet tanks at the same time. Although this
The anti-tank gun, known as the "stepping stone", cannot penetrate the armor of T-34 tanks, but it can prevent them from traveling at the fastest speed, thereby buying precious time for the retreating German tanks.
Cooperating with the tank company's attack was the third company commanded by Guchakov. Seeing that the tanks covering the infantry charge were attacked by German anti-tank guns and had to stop, he couldn't help but become anxious. Without the cooperation of the tanks, what would he have done?
An infantry company that is not equipped with heavy weapons is in danger of being wiped out once it encounters a German counterattack.
After hiding in a safe place and observing for a while, he discovered that although the German artillery shells continued to hit the Soviet tanks, they did not destroy any tanks. He stood up from his hiding place, raised his pistol above his head, and shouted loudly
: "Comrades, move forward!"
"Comrade Company Commander," a new soldier lying next to him said to him in a panic: "The German artillery is still firing. Let's wait until the tanks rush up."
"Don't worry, comrade soldier." Guchakov leaned over and grabbed the soldier's collar, lifted him up from the ground, and then said to him: "The enemy's artillery is attacking our tanks with armor-piercing shells. As long as they don't hit it themselves,
, it won’t cause us any harm.” After saying that, he pushed hard on the new soldier’s back, “Don’t delay, charge forward!”
"Come with me, comrades!" Guchakov was afraid that the soldiers would still have scruples. After shouting, he took the lead and charged forward.
Seeing that the company commander had already taken the lead in the charge, the soldiers who were still lying on the ground stood up straight, put their rifle butts against their abdomens, shouted loudly, and charged forward after Guchakov.
Andre, who was watching the battle in his observation post, first saw that the tank company was blocked by German anti-tank guns and had to stop. But after a while, he saw the infantry charging behind the tanks crawling from the ground.
Get up, jump over the stationary tanks, and rush towards the enemy's position.
When he saw this scene, Andrei couldn't help but want to curse, thinking that Lieutenant Guchakov was really unreliable. He actually led the infantry to charge the German artillery. As long as the enemy fires a few shots at you, he will be defeated.
It can kill you all. But the next scene surprised him. He found that the charging troops were not bombarded by the enemy as he imagined. Instead, they successfully rushed to the artillery position and then used grenades.
, submachine guns, rifles, and engaged in close combat with enemy artillery.
After being blocked by anti-tank guns, the tank company stopped and fired at the enemy's anti-tank gun emplacements. However, because the German anti-tank guns were well concealed, the Soviet tanks' shelling achieved limited results. What we see now
The infantry took the initiative to rush forward and easily eliminated the enemy's anti-tank gun positions. Then they mobilized again to cover the infantry as they rushed forward.
In addition to two anti-tank companies, the German rear troops also had an under-manned infantry company. Seeing that the Soviet tanks were blocked by their own anti-tank guns, they took the time to dig individual bunkers and tried to build them here.
A temporary line of defense to cover the retreat of the main force.
Before they could build defenses, the Soviet tanks rumbled over again. The German company commander hurriedly ordered the machine gunners to shoot at the approaching tanks. The dense bullets jingled on the armor plates, but the Soviet troops
The tank still approached the German man bunker without any influence.
The German company commander saw that in a minute or two, the tracks of the Soviet tanks would crush the unfinished individual bunkers, so he gritted his teeth and ordered the soldiers around him to rush up with cluster grenades to blow up the tanks. According to his instructions
The idea is that although the Soviet T-34 tank has an armor plate behind it, the field of vision inside the tank is very limited. As long as your soldiers rush up from the blind spot of the tanker's field of vision, they can successfully blow up the tank.
Two German soldiers each held a bundle of cluster grenades, got up from the ground, and rushed toward the Soviet tank. After trying to get closer, they threw the grenades into the middle of the tracks, so that they could blast through the tank's weak
abdomen, thereby achieving the purpose of destroying the tank.
Unexpectedly, when they were still seven or eight meters away from the tank, several Soviet soldiers suddenly leaned out from behind the tank. They shot at the German soldiers with rifles and submachine guns in their hands. Two soldiers holding grenades were killed.
The soldiers spun around twice before falling to the ground, and the grenades they were holding fell far away.
Seeing that his soldiers could not get close to the Soviet tanks, the German company commander knew that there was no point in continuing to fight, so he issued a retreat order: "Retreat, retreat immediately!" He was eager to escape, forgetting that once his troops were separated, he
When these simple bunkers are exposed in an unobstructed open area, they will become targets for Soviet commanders and fighters.
Standing in the bell tower, Sokov saw that the enemy was retreating, but the only pursuing troops were Alitai's tank company and a small infantry. He picked up the phone and asked Andre: "Captain Andre, the enemy
We have already been defeated, why don’t you pursue us? Are you putting so many troops on the battlefield just waiting to lay cubs?”
Hearing Sokov speak to himself in such a stern tone, Andrei said aggrievedly: "Comrade Brigadier, there are only about 700 people left in our battalion. If we attack across the board, I'm worried if we are attacked by the German army."
We won’t be able to hold our position.”
"You can only attack across the board to confuse the enemy. In this way, they will lose the power to counterattack." Sokov said into the microphone: "I order you to immediately attack across the board. If you delay the opportunity, I will
Remove you from your post."
After Belkin waited for Sokov to put down the phone, he said to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, you did the right thing. Due to the bombing of our air force and the bombardment of artillery, the enemy has completely fallen into chaos. This is a good time to counterattack."
." Andrei did not dare to disobey Sokov's order. He immediately ordered a full-scale counterattack and launched a pursuit of the fleeing enemy.
"The strength of the third battalion is still too weak." Belkin looked at the commanders and soldiers who jumped out of their positions and charged forward, and asked tentatively: "There is no enemy movement found in the direction defended by the first and second battalions.
, do you think we can draw troops from them to participate in the counterattack?"
"No," Sokov shook his head and said, "Even if the weather is calm in other directions, we can't just use the troops of the first and second battalions. Who knows whether the German army will be hiding nearby and just wait for our troops to arrive.
When they are mobilized and their troops are empty, they will launch an attack by surprise. If that happens, our defense line will collapse in an instant, and it will become an impossible task to defend Kursk."
Although Belkin believed that what Sokov said was reasonable, he still said reluctantly: "Comrade Brigadier, even if the troops of the first and second battalions are not used, the reserve team deployed in the city center will always be
Can we be transferred here to support the Third Battalion? I'm worried that with just a few hundred men in the Third Battalion, the damage we can cause to the enemy is very limited."
"Comrade Political Commissar, with our current strength, it is impossible to destroy the enemy. We can only drive them away from a distance." Sokov explained to Belkin: "As long as the German troops attack the city
If they are not destroyed by us, the enemy will not send new troops. The 297th Infantry Division has been defeated twice in a row. Their officers and soldiers have developed a sense of fear towards us. Even if they launch a new attack soon, they will still be because of this.
After the first two failures, we have become more cautious. In this way, we will be more certain to defend the city."
While the two were talking, a communications soldier ran up from downstairs panting and handed a telegram to Sokov: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is a telegram from the Front Army Headquarters."
After reading the telegram, Sokov said to Belkin: "It's a telegram from General Malinin, the Chief of Staff of the Front Army. He asked us how the situation is here?" After speaking, he turned to the communications soldier and said, "Call back to the headquarters.
, saying that with the cooperation of our comrade pilots, we have successfully crushed the German attack. The third battalion commanded by Captain Andre is launching a counterattack against the fleeing enemy."
After receiving Sokov's telegram, Malinin couldn't help but smile. He quickly came to Rokossovsky, placed the telegram he had just received in front of him, and said: "Comrade Commander
, you see, this is a telegram sent by Sokov. With the cooperation of the air force, they have successfully crushed the German attack and launched a local counterattack."
"Well done." After reading the contents of the telegram, Rokossovsky nodded and said: "Their strength is limited. As long as they can drive the enemy away from the city, it will be a great victory." Chief of Staff
, you call Air Force Commander Krasovsky again and ask him to continue sending planes to the direction of Kursk to strengthen the city's defense through practical air cover."
Malinin waited for Rokossovsky to finish, nodded, and then asked: "Comrade Commander, I will call General Krasovsky right away, but how should Misha reply to him?"
"No need to reply," Rokossovsky said, shaking his head: "Judging from Misha's various performances, he is an excellent commander. He will know what to do next, and we don't need to
I'm gesticulating here so as not to affect his command, do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Ma Lining agreed, turned around and left.
Belgin, who was on the bell tower, seemed a little absent-minded since Sokov ordered the communications troops to send a report to the front army headquarters, and looked downstairs from time to time. Seeing his behavior, Sokov asked curiously: "
Comrade Political Commissar, what are you looking at?"
Since he and Sokov were partners, Belkin did not conceal his intentions, but answered truthfully: "I am waiting for a call back from the Front Army Command."
"Don't wait, Comrade Political Commissar, there will be no call back." Sokov replied: "Based on my understanding, Comrade Commander, in order not to affect my command and operations, he will not give us any orders easily.
