Considering that the combat units involved in this operation were not just their own fronts, Rokossovsky made a special request to Zhukov before assigning combat tasks to his subordinates: "Comrade Marshal, what should we do? Is it to report to the High Command first in order to obtain permission to fight? Or immediately issue an operational order to the troops? ”

After hearing this, Zhukov, who was sitting at the table, looked up at Rokossovsky, then at the leaders of the front standing aside, and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, if the words of the prisoners are true, then in three hours, the Germans will launch a full-scale attack on the Kursk arc, and there can be no more delay." After a pause, he continued, "You should immediately give the troops an operational understanding, and I will be responsible for the liaison with the Supreme High Command, and I will personally report to Comrade Stalin the information we have received and the decisions we have taken." ”

Just as Rokossovsky was assigning combat missions to his subordinates, Zhukov answered Stalin's call. Stalin was woken up from his sleep and asked in a somewhat unhappy tone: "Comrade Zhukov, calling me so late, did something important happen?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov replied respectfully: "According to the latest information we have received, the Germans will launch an offensive on the Kursk arc at 3 a.m. on July 5. ”

"What, attack at three in the morning?" Stalin was taken aback by what Zhukov said, and after a short silence, he cautiously asked: "Comrade Zhukov, are your sources of intelligence reliable?" ”

"This information was provided by a German engineer who was captured by our troops." Zhukov reported with his usual expression: "He said that they received an operational order from Hitler to launch a powerful offensive against our troops at three o'clock in the morning. ”

"Comrade Zhukov," Stalin steadied himself, then asked, "do you think that the information provided by this captive is reliable?" Could he have been deliberately sent by the German generals to distract our troops? ”

"No, Comrade Stalin." Regarding Stalin's suspicions, Zhukov said categorically: "I was there when the prisoner was interrogated, and I could tell whether the prisoner had told a lie." ”

Stalin listened to Zhukov's answer and couldn't help but think of that night in June 41, when Zhukov and Timoshenko reported to him that there was a German defector, who reported that the German army would launch an operation against the Soviet Union in a few hours, but because he suspected that the person was providing false information, he ignored it, resulting in his own army suffering unimaginable losses in the early stage of the war due to lack of preparation.

Thinking of this, Stalin took a deep breath and said into the microphone: "Comrade Zhukov, what measures have you taken?" ”

Zhukov glanced at Rokossovsky, who was on a mission, and then replied: "Comrade Rokossovsky is on a combat mission, and he intends to carry out heavy artillery bombardment and bombardment of the German assembly sites before the German offensive begins. Even if we can't crush the German offensive attempts, we must force them to postpone their offensive and buy us more time to prepare. ”

After listening to Zhukov's report, Stalin said with satisfaction: "It seems that you have made full preparations, from now on I will always be in the office waiting for the development of the situation, and you must report to me on the situation on the battlefield in a timely manner." ”

After Zhukov waited for Stalin to finish speaking, he cautiously asked: "Comrade Stalin, I would like to ask, is there any movement on Vasilevsky's side?" ”

"No," replied Stalin, shaking his head, "I have not received any information from the Voronezh Front, and it seems that I should have made a phone call to see if they had found any signs of an offensive by the Germans." ”

After finishing the conversation with Zhukov, Stalin redialed the number, and when he heard the voice of the operator coming from inside, he immediately ordered: "I am Stalin, give me the Voronezh Front." ”

After a short wait, the call from the command of the Voronezh Front was connected. Hearing Vasilevsky's voice coming from inside, Stalin did not go around in circles, but asked directly: "Comrade Vasilevsky, is there any movement in the German army opposite you?" ”

After he finished asking, there was silence in the earpiece. Stalin frowned, raised his voice and asked again, only to hear Vasilevsky say with some hesitation: "Report to Comrade Stalin, we have captured a sergeant of the German 6th Infantry Division, according to his confession, the Germans will counterattack our defensive positions at 3 a.m. on the 5th. ”

"When did you catch the captive?" After listening to Vasilevsky's return, Stalin asked with some exasperation: "Why don't you report to me immediately?" ”

"Comrade Stalin," Vasilevsky said cautiously, "we are still verifying and intend to report back to you after confirming that what the German prisoners said is true......"

"Confused, you are confused." When Stalin heard this, he couldn't help but get angry, he slapped the table in front of him with his palm a few times, and said angrily: "Just now Zhukov called me and said that the 13th Army had captured a German sapper, and the sapper confessed that the German offensive would start at 3 a.m. on the 5th, which coincided with the time you know. ”

"What, Zhukov also got information that the Germans were going to attack?" After listening to this, Vasilevsky was stunned for a long time, and finally muttered: "It seems that the Germans really plan to attack." ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," Stalin called Vasilevsky to his post as an expression of his indignation: "Now there are still a few hours before the German attack, there is still a chance to remedy, so act immediately." ”

"Understood," replied Vasilevsky, somewhat flustered, "we will immediately make all preparations for the German offensive." ”

After putting down the phone, Vasilevsky said to Vatutin with a serious expression: "Comrade Vatutin, it seems that what the captives said is true, the Germans are really preparing to launch an attack on the Kursk region at three o'clock in the morning on the 5th, and Zhukov and their side also have the same information. ”

"What should we do, Comrade Marshal." Vatutin asked anxiously.

"We can't figure out the enemy's situation, and we may not be able to achieve the desired results by attacking without authorization." While pondering, Vasilevsky replied: "I think the safest way is to use artillery to carry out a fierce artillery bombardment of the areas where the German troops may be concentrated, so as to delay their attack and buy precious time for our army." ”

"Yes, yes, Comrade Marshal, you have a point, we will use artillery to delay the German offensive." After Vatutin finished speaking, he shouted at his chief of staff: "Immediately bring the artillery commander, I will assign him an important task." ”

……

……

After quietly listening to Rokossovsky's deployment, Zhukov stopped the other chiefs who were about to leave to deliver the order, and then asked puzzledly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, there is one thing I don't understand, the German army launched an attack on our army at three o'clock in the morning, why did you choose the time of the shelling and bombing at 2:45?" ”

In fact, not only Zhukov had this question, but even Kazakov and Rudenko, who specifically carried out the order, were also confused, because the time set by Rokossovsky was only a quarter of an hour before the German army launched an offensive, and the German army was already in a state of readiness at that time, even if it was shelled or bombed by the Soviet army, they could return fire at the first time.

Faced with the doubts of Zhukov and his subordinates, Rokossovsky smiled and replied: "I understand what everyone is worried about, but please rest assured, I have chosen this time after careful consideration. ”

Zhukov saw that Rokossovsky looked confident, and knew that he had already taken into account everything that should be considered, so he urged him: "Tell me your reasons!" ”

"We could have carried out heavy artillery bombardment of the Germans before 2:30." Rokossovsky stood in front of the map and said to Zhukov and his men: "But we must also take into account that due to the early time of the shelling, most of the German officers and soldiers are still in the trenches or shelters, and their armored units are still hidden in the waiting area. Our shelling was carried out with area coverage, not at specific targets, and the premature shelling caused far fewer casualties to the Germans than we expected. ”

The doubts in everyone's minds were relieved with Rokossovsky's explanation.

At 2:20, the Voronezh Front made a preemptive strike and took the lead in starting an artillery bombardment of the Germans.

Having learned that the Voronezh Front had not coordinated with the B, it preemptively launched an artillery attack. Rokossovsky was so angry that he pouted the red and blue pencil in his hand into two pieces, threw the broken pen into two to the ground, and said to Zhukov with strong anger: "Comrade Marshal, due to the actions of the Voronezh Front, we have already been caught aback, and we can only advance the shelling and bombardment of the German army. ”

Zhukov was also extremely dissatisfied with Vasilevsky, and said: "If you want to carry out artillery bombardment on the German army first, you must always say hello to us, and everyone will negotiate the time when the shelling will begin, so as to inflict huge casualties on the German army." Who knew that if you launched an artillery bombardment without saying a word, this is not tantamount to telling the enemy in the north that we will also launch artillery bombardment here? Therefore, as soon as he heard Rokossovsky's inquiry, he nodded and said: "In the present situation, we can only advance the time of the shelling, hoping that it will not have any adverse effects on the next battle." ”

Rokossovsky immediately called Kazakov and informed him that the time for the start of the shelling would be brought forward to 2:30; Then he called Rudenko and ordered the air force to immediately go out and bomb the German defensive positions.

At 2:30 a.m., on the positions of the Central Front, 10,000 artillery pieces fired in unison, and the sound of heavy artillery bombardment, rocket explosions, and the roar of aircraft engines converged, breaking the silence of the early morning in Orel.

The Battle of Kursk, which was at stake between the Soviet Union and Germany, officially broke out!