In the early morning of 8 July, the Germans dispatched nearly 300 tanks, supported by artillery and aircraft, to attack the Soviet positions northwest of Olikhovatka, at the junction of the 13th and 70th armies.

When he saw this battle report, Rokossovsky's first reaction was that the tank decisive battle in the Battle of Kursk should be changed to his own defense area? But this thought was only fleeting, and he immediately asked Kazakov to give the artillery an order to support the defense of the infantry with artillery fire and destroy the German tanks that were rushing towards the position.

After Kazakov left, Rokossovsky felt that it was not enough to rely on artillery alone to reverse the unfavorable situation on the battlefield, and it was necessary to take air supremacy on the battlefield from the Germans, so he called Rudenko again and asked straight to the point: "General Rudenko, I want to ask, how many planes can you put into battle now?" ”

After a moment of silence, Rudenko replied very dryly: "Report to Comrade Commander, according to the current strength of the Air Force, we can put in two hundred fighters at a time to fight for air supremacy in the battlefield north of Kursk. ”

"It's good to be able to put in two hundred fighters." After listening to Rudenko's reply, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "The German army is launching a fierce attack on the defensive positions of our army in the area of Olikhovatka, and I now order you to immediately send a group of fighter planes to the area to fight for air supremacy with the Germans." ”

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Rudenko replied: "I will immediately order the group of fighters to take off in batches and rush to the area of Olikhovatka to drive away the enemy aircraft there." ”

The battle continued until noon, when the Germans stormed the 13th Army's line and engaged in a melee with the Soviets. As soon as he received a report, Kazakov came to Rokossovsky and reported: "Comrade commander, I have just received a telegram from Colonel Rukosuev that the 3rd Brigade of Fighter Artillery, under his command, has reached the appointed position, established an artillery position on the march, and is using direct-aim artillery fire to hit the Germans. ”

Kazakov's report was the only good news in a pile of bad news, Rokossovsky nodded after listening to it, and then said to Kazakov: "Send a telegram back to Colonel Rukosuev, ordering them to do everything possible to provide artillery support for the infantry and resolutely hold their positions." ”

Orel also came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the 9th tank corps of General Bogdanov, has arrived at the designated position and is ready to go into battle. ”

"Wait a minute, Comrade Orel." Although the situation on the battlefield was very serious, Rokossovsky did not rush to put Bogdanov's troops into battle, but on the contrary, said to Orel: "Let them rest in place first, and then plunge into the battle after receiving orders." ”

"Comrade commander, the situation in Boneri is bad at the moment, why not immediately put the 9th Tank Army into battle?" Regarding Rokossovsky's decision, Military Commissar Terekin asked puzzledly.

"Comrade Military Commissar," although the military commissar in charge of political work now has much less power in the army than before, Rokossovsky still maintains enough respect for them, and he patiently explained Terekin's question: "At present, the German offensive is still very fierce, and if the 9th Tank Army is allowed to enter the battle too early, it will only make the battle fall into a stalemate, so that when the German army is repulsed by our army, we will be exhausted and unable to counterattack them." So I ordered Bogdanov's troops not to take part in the battle for the time being, intending to wait for our defenders to repel the German attack or for them to be used in a counterattack. ”

"I see," after listening to Rokossovsky's explanation, Teregin nodded and said self-deprecatingly: "Comrade commander, I am a political worker, and I am a layman in military affairs. In order to win the battle, you should still be solely responsible for military affairs, and I just need to take care of the political work. ”

In order to break through the defense line of the Central Front, Moder and Manstein joined forces in the north, not only launched a powerful offensive in the area of Boneri and Olikhovatka, but even the combination of the 13th Army and the 48th Army on the left flank of the Soviet army also carried out a surprise attack, in which the defense of the Soviet army was dispersed through multiple attacks to achieve the goal of breaking through the defense line.

The two sides invested more than 100,000 or 200,000 troops in repeated battles on this wide front of more than 200 kilometers. Under the stubborn defense of the Soviet troops, the German offensive suffered a complete failure, and they had to withdraw to their starting positions in disgrace.

……

……

In the evening, when the battlefield calmed down again, the commanders of the Central Front were summing up the day's battles at the headquarters of the Central Front.

Kazakov was the last to speak, and after he routinely reported the results of the artillery in battle, he took out another telegram and said to everyone: "Here is a telegram from Colonel Rukosuev asking for a commendation, I would like to read it to you here, do you not object?" ”

After saying this, he set his sights on Rokossovsky and waited for him to make a final decision. Seeing Rokossovsky's slight bow, Terekin added: "General Kazakov, I think what is written in the telegram must be the heroic deeds of the artillery brigade, you can read it to everyone." ”

Instead of reading dryly according to the telegram, Kazakov put the telegram on the table and began to tell everyone what Rukosuev had reported: "...... About 30 tanks rushed towards Captain Igshev's artillery battery, and the disparity between the forces of the enemy and the enemy was too great in this battle. In order to destroy the enemy, the company commander ordered the soldiers to put the enemy at a distance of 600~700 meters, and then the four guns of the whole company opened fire at the same time.

During the battle, our hero's artillery destroyed a total of 17 enemy tanks, and they also suffered heavy casualties, leaving only one gun and three fighters in the company. In the face of the German tanks that continued to rush forward, the surviving artillery fighters continued to bravely fire at the enemy, and successfully destroyed two German Tiger tanks.

In the face of our brave warriors, the helpless enemy could only stop the attack and was forced to retreat. ”

"What happened to the captain?" As soon as Kazakov's words were finished, Terekin asked.

Kazakov was stunned for a moment, then understood who Terekin was asking, and hurriedly replied: "Comrade Military Commissar, Captain Igshev died heroically in battle, and only three fighters of the company survived in the end. ”

"They behaved bravely," said another military commissar, Ponomarenko, "in recognition of their great achievements and the bravery they showed in battle, I propose that Captain Igishev be awarded the title of 'Hero of the Soviet Union', and that the company be renamed 'Igshev Company' and that they be reconstituted immediately with the transfer of men and new artillery." ”

"Comrade Military Commissar," Kazakov immediately said gratefully, hearing Ponomarenko's words, "on behalf of Captain Igishev, as well as all the commanders and fighters of the company who died and survived, I would like to thank you!" ”

As soon as the summary meeting ended, Zhukov's phone call came in, and he asked Rokossovsky with concern: "How is it, Comrade Rokossovsky, can you withstand the attack of the German army?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Zhukov." Through the summary meeting just now, Rokossovsky was very optimistic about the current situation on the battlefield, "Don't look at the ferocity of the German offensive, but I found that their offensive intensity has obviously weakened, and I believe that before the Bryansk Front turns to the counteroffensive, they will not be able to break through our defensive line." ”

"Comrade Rokossovsky," Zhukov asked, after a moment of silence, "Comrade Stalin asked me, why did your troops, not supported by the base camp reserves, hold their existing positions, while Vatutin's defensive line was in danger under the German offensive?" ”

Rokossovsky pondered for a long time about Zhukov's question before he spoke: "Comrade Marshal, the reason why we were able to hold off the onslaught of the German army without the reserve of the base camp was that we correctly allocated our forces and concentrated them all in the most dangerous areas of the front troops, so that the attacking enemy could not defeat such a dense number of troops and weapons of our army.

As for the Voronezh Front, I think their defense method is to spread their forces evenly throughout the defensive area. I believe that it is precisely for this reason that the enemy was able to advance to the defensive depth of our army in the defense zone of General Vatutin, which led to the fact that in order to block the enemy, they had to mobilize a large number of troops from the base camp reserves. ”

"You have a good analysis," Zhukov agreed, agreeing with Rokossovsky's statement, and then asked: "Is there any other reason besides this?" ”

"Comrade Marshal, you played an extremely crucial role in our success in repelling the German offensive."

"What role do I play?" Rokossovsky puzzled Zhukov.

"Comrade Marshal, back in the preparation stage of the campaign, you spent a long time in our front army, working with us on the principled issues of organizing and conducting a defensive battle, as well as a counteroffensive." Rokossovsky flattered without moving: "With your help, many of our requests to Moscow at that time were met. On the eve of the battle, you came to us again to learn more about the situation, and when the battle was at the height of the battle, you reported to Comrade Stalin that the commander of the front army commanded the troops with firmness and composure, was able to complete the task independently, and completely put the initiative in my hands. ”

After listening to this, Zhukov said with a smile: "Comrade Rokossovsky, although I am the representative of the base camp, I am not the commander of the front army, I am only responsible for the coordination of several front army units during the operation, and the specific command of the battle, or you should be responsible for the head of the front army." ”

After talking to Zhukov, Rokossovsky immediately instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, send a telegram to Comrade Antonov and give him a detailed report on the situation of the fighting in our defense zone." ”

In the phone call with Zhukov just now, Rokossovsky did not say one more thing, that is, in the course of the battle, the Central Front Command and the General Staff have always maintained the closest contact with the General Staff, and they have kept the General Staff informed of the situation in the Front. Therefore, after hearing about Rokossovsky's recovery, Malinin immediately replied: "Comrade commander, when you were on the phone with Marshal Zhukov just now, I already reported today's report to Comrade Deputy Chief of the General Staff in the form of a telegram. Here's his callback. As he spoke, he handed over a telegram.

After briefly reading the contents of the telegram, Rokossovsky said to Malinin: "Although the German offensive has weakened, it does not mean that they have lost their offensive capability. Later, you can call a few more army commanders to find out what is going on there and remind them not to take it lightly. ”

As soon as Malinin walked away, Rokossovsky called Orel over again and said to him: "Comrade Orel, although the 9th Tank Army has achieved certain results in today's battle, the losses suffered are not small. You have to urge the tank repair shop to repair the destroyed tanks as soon as possible so that they can return to the battlefield as soon as possible. ”

"A lot of destroyed tanks are parked in the open field," Orel said with some embarrassment when he heard Rokossovsky say this: "As soon as the armored tractors in the pit station entered the battlefield, they were strafed by German machine guns. ”

"Order the artillery to take cover, and as soon as a German point of machine-gun fire is discovered, destroy it with artillery fire." Rokossovsky said with a serious expression: "We have nothing to replenish at the moment, so we can only rely on our own strength for everything." The more tanks we repair, the more advantage we will have in the next battles, understand? ”、

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Orel waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, then immediately nodded and said: "I immediately went to the repair station and asked them to find a way to pull more broken tanks back from the battlefield." ”

"Comrade Orel, you must remember that the strength of the German Tiger tank battalion is equivalent to a previous German armored division. In equal numbers, our T-34 tanks are no match for them. Rokossovsky once again reminded Orel: "Therefore we can only use numerical superiority to win." In the absence of supplies from our superiors, we can only gain a numerical advantage by repairing more damaged tanks. Do you understand? ”

"Comrade Commander, don't worry." After listening to Rokossovsky's heartfelt words, Orel immediately patted his chest and said: "I will personally go to the tank repair station later, talk to the comrades inside, and ask them to find ways to repair as many damaged tanks as possible in order to strengthen the strength of our tank troops." ”

Hearing Orel's reply, Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, waved at him with a smile, and said: "Without further ado, you should go quickly." ”