From the beginning of the Battle of Kursk to the present, Rokossovsky has been thinking about a question: if Manstein's troops launched an attack on the Kursk region as soon as the Third Battle of Kharkov ended, leaving no time for the Soviet army to reorganize and gather strength, then would the final winner of the Battle of Kursk still be the Soviet army?

The answer is no, if Manstein's troops, having routed the Southwestern Front and the Voronezh Front, continue to advance north to join up with their Army Group Center, then perhaps it will not be the Battle of Kursk, but the Second Battle of Moscow.

But the German high command made a fatal mistake, and after winning the Third Battle of Kharkov, they ordered the troops to stop the offensive and rest and build fortifications in place. It was precisely because of the four, five, six or three months when they stopped the offensive that the Soviet troops were given a respite. Victory in the Kursk region was now impossible, no matter what forces they invested, and since the Allies had landed in Sicily, the Germans would have to reinforce those lines.

As Rokossovsky's troops joined the offensive, the forces of the German defense in the Orel area became scattered. The 61st, 3rd and 63rd armies, to which the Bryansk Front belonged, launched a fierce attack from the east on the German defensive strips of Borkhov and Orel. By the time it was dark on the 13th, the troops of the Front that had successfully broken through the German defense line had wedged the German defense to a depth of 15 kilometers, posing a threat to the encirclement of the German 2nd Tank Army stationed in the area.

In order to prevent the 2nd Tank Army from being routed by the Soviets, Moder had to hastily transfer part of the forces of the 9th Army from the direction of Orel Kursk to the defense area of the army group in order to strengthen their defenses. However, with the transfer of four tank divisions and one motorized division of the German army, the frontal resistance of Rokossovsky's troops was greatly reduced, and the offensive launched by the three armies became smoother.

Seeing that the situation of the Central Front was very good, Zhukov was also very happy. He specifically said to Rokossovsky: "General **v's troops fought well, forcing the Germans to withdraw a large number of troops from the front to strengthen their threatened areas. Comrade Rokossovsky, starting tomorrow, you and the right flank of the Bryansk Front will carry out a general assault in the direction of Kromé, striving to break through the German defenses in the shortest possible time. ”

……

However, Zhukov underestimated the determination of the German army to hold on to the Oliar salient, and in the face of the powerful offensive of Rokossovsky's three armies and the right flank of the Bryansk Front, the Germans relied on strong fortifications to defend stubbornly, and at the same time transferred seven divisions from other places to carry out a fierce counter-assault on the attacking Soviet troops, trying to prevent the Soviet army from continuing to advance.

In order to gain air supremacy on the battlefield, the Soviet army even dispatched fighter groups, including the French "Normandy" air group, to engage in fierce air battles with the German air force. When they gradually gained air supremacy on the battlefield, Rudenko ordered bomber formations to attack and indiscriminately bombed the German defensive positions and counterattacking units.

The fighting in this area lasted for four days, and the Soviets still failed to effectively break through the German defenses. When Stalin learned of this, he called Deputy General Staff Antonov and Chief of Operations Shtemenko to his office and asked straight to the point: "At present, the situation south of Kursk has stabilized, but the counteroffensive launched in the north has entered a stalemate due to the stubborn defense of the German army with strong fortifications." I'm calling you two here to ask if there's anything you can do? ”

Antonov and Shtemenko glanced at each other and saw helplessness in each other's eyes. He coughed lightly, and then said: "Comrade Stalin, although there are many troops on three fronts in our offensive against Orel north of Kursk, we should also see that the Central Front, which is the main force of the offensive, has been greatly weakened in the defense of the previous few days, and if we do not give them additional troops, it may take them more time to complete the objectives of the campaign than we thought in advance. ”

After listening to Antonov's euphemistic words, Stalin looked at him and asked: "Comrade Deputy Chief of the General Staff, do you think we should transfer those troops to the north of Kursk?" ”

Antonov walked to the map, turned to Stalin and said: "Comrade Stalin, according to the results of our research, in order to accelerate the course of the campaign, it is necessary for us to immediately put into battle the 3rd Guards Tank Army of General Rybalko, Fedyuninsky's 11th Army, Lelyushchenko's 4th Tank Army. ”

At this, he deliberately paused for a moment to see if Stalin had anything to ask. But after waiting for a while, seeing that Stalin did not speak, he pointed to the map and continued: "We should first let General Rybalko's troops enter the battle in the direction of Orel in the Bryansk Front; Then, let Fedyuninsky's troops, from the junction of the 11th Guards Army and the 50th Army of the Western Front, enter the battlefield and participate in the battle. If the input of these two forces still fails to speed up the progress of the campaign, we will put the 4th Tank Army in combat mode in the area of the 11th Guards Army at the right time. ”

After Stalin waited for Antonov to finish, he stared at the map for a long time, took the pipe from his mouth, nodded and said: "Comrade Antonov, you are very thoughtful, then according to the plan you said, let the troops that are about to enter the battle be ready for battle." ”

When Antonov and Shtemenko were about to walk out of Stalin's office, Shtemenko suddenly remembered something important, quickly stopped and said to Stalin: "Comrade Stalin, I have one more extremely important thing to report to you. ”

Seeing Shtemenko's serious face, Stalin, who was about to light his pipe, was stunned, and he asked a little nervously: "Comrade Shtemenko, what is the important matter?" ”

"Comrade Stalin, we have just received a telegram from the Yugoslav partisans." A smile suddenly appeared on Shtemenko's face: "They have successfully broken through the enemy's encirclement and are fighting stubbornly in new sections. ”

"Well done, the comrades of the Yugoslav partisans are all good." Stalin lit his pipe and said with a smile: "They will hold a part of the fascist invaders firmly in their territory and relieve the pressure on our offensive." ”

……

After the troops of Rybalko and Fedyuninsky entered the battlefield, the resistance of the German troops became somewhat overwhelming. Lelyushchenko's tank army, after entering the battle, together with the troops of Bagramyan's 11th Guards Army, advanced southward and threatened the rear of the German troops who were resisting the Bryansk Front and the Central Front, so that in order to escape the fate of being encircled, they had to retreat their troops to the west.

The battle continued until July 29, when the 61st Army of the Bryansk Front, in cooperation with the 11th Guards Army and the 4th Tank Army, inflicted heavy losses on the German Borkhov group and liberated the city of Borkhov on the same day.

After receiving this exciting good news, Zhukov pointed to the map and said to Rokossovsky: "Comrade Rokossovsky, in order to quickly capture Orel, you should advance the vanguard to the close ground of Kromé in order to contain the German forces. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Rokossovsky confidently said: "I will immediately call the commanders of the 48th and 13th armies and order them to rush to the Kromey area day and night, forcing the enemy not to be able to draw forces from there to strengthen the defense of Orel." ”

After receiving Rokossovsky's assurances, Zhukov called Rybalko and asked straight to the point: "How is it, Comrade Rybalko, your troops are only a few dozen miles away from Orel, do you have the confidence to take the city?" ”

"I'm sorry, Comrade Marshal." Who knows that after listening to Zhukov's question, Rybalko gave him a surprising answer: "I am not going to occupy Orel." ”

"What, you're not going to take Orel?" Zhukov was puzzled and angry at Rebalko's answer: "You give me a reasonable explanation. ”

"Comrade Marshal, it's simple." "The streets there are so narrow that my tanks can't be deployed in the city, and it's easy to be a target for anti-tank fighters hiding in buildings," Rebalko said lightly. I think I'd leave the honor of capturing the city to the infantry, and I'll take a detour back to the west of Orel to cut off the German retreat. ”

Hearing Rybalko say this, Zhukov couldn't help laughing: "Well, Comrade Rybalko, since you have thought things out so thoroughly, then do what you think." I will leave the honor of liberating Oryol to Gorbatov's 3rd Army, as well as Korpakich's 63rd Army. ”

According to the information available to the Soviet army, Orel, a city of 100,000 people before the war, is now in ruins. The Germans blew up all the factories, destroyed the railway and bus stations, and even burned half of the city in one fell swoop, in order to leave the Soviets with an unusable city. However, in order to prevent the Soviet army from entering the city too quickly, they also set up some fire support points in the city, preparing to fight street battles with the Soviet troops who rushed into the city.

When the Soviet commanders learned the news that the city had been destroyed by the Germans, they all felt angry. However, they also inevitably developed the idea of underestimating the enemy, and almost everyone believed that the destruction of the city by the Germans was a precursor to preparing to retreat. But after the offensive began, they found that the German resistance was still stubborn, and the enemy skillfully used their well-built fortifications to put up stubborn resistance to the attacking Soviet troops. So much so that the Soviet troops had to gnaw position by position.

In order to free himself from an unfavorable situation, in the face of a powerful offensive of the Soviet troops, the enemy resorted to the tactics of mobile defense. They left some units to defend in existing positions, while others occupied new defensive areas a few kilometers away, and occasionally counterattacked with tank units, slowing down the Soviet advance.

Zhukov was so anxious about this situation that he personally went to the Western Front to discuss with Sokolovsky how to deal with the new tactics adopted by the German army. When Zhukov left, Terekin asked Rokossovsky with some concern: "Comrade commander, do you think we will succeed in taking Orel?" ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Military Commissar." Worried about Terekin, Rokossovsky said with a smile: "Don't you see the situation on the battlefield, which is very beneficial to our army?" I believe that in a few days the German defense will collapse under the offensive of our troops, and then Orel will be back in our hands. ”

Although Rokossovsky seemed confident when he said this, Terekin did not believe Rokossovsky's opinion, after all, in the past few years of war, when the Soviet army was in absolute upper hand, it was not uncommon to be defeated by the German army, and he was worried that the battle of Oryol would repeat the mistakes of the past.

Because Zhukov personally supervised the battle on the Western Front, the troops of the 3rd and 63rd armies, which were attacking Oryol, fought extremely tenaciously, and they fought with the Germans for every inch of land, sometimes in a dozen tug-of-war battles between the two sides in order to seize a commanding height. In this way, the Soviet troops, having paid a huge price, approached the city of Orel little by little.

On the evening of August 4, the 127th, 153rd and 197th Divisions of the 63rd Army, after fierce fighting, simultaneously rushed into the city from the north and east of the city, and engaged in street fighting with the German troops holding the fire support point.

The battle continued all night, and by daybreak the sound of gunfire had become more and more thin. With the flag of the 197th Infantry Division, it was planted on the top of the municipal building, announcing that the city, which had fallen for two years, was back in the hands of the Soviet army.

At the end of the battle, Gorbatov's 3rd Army marched into Orel in a neat formation along the streets strewn with rubble and bomb craters strewn high. And the surviving residents of the city also spontaneously came to the sides of the street to warmly welcome their troops into the city.

At the same time, there was good news on the southern front. Konev's troops, having defeated the Germans holding out in Belgorod, recaptured the important city.

When Stalin heard the two good news coming at the same time, he was overjoyed. After careful consideration, in addition to awarding medals to Zhukov, Konev, Bulganin and others, he also prepared to celebrate the great victory in the Battle of Kursk by firing a gun salute and setting off fireworks on Moscow's Red Square.

From then on, whenever a large Soviet city was recaptured, it became a tradition to fire salutes and fireworks on Moscow's Red Square until the end of the Great Patriotic War.