It had been an hour since the end of the artillery bombardment of the German troops, and the smoke that had filled the positions had long since dissipated, but the Germans still did not move at all.

At the headquarters of the 13th Army, Pukhov heard information from his subordinates, saying that there was calm on the other side and that there was no movement of the German army. There were even division-level commanders who personally called to ask if they wanted to take the initiative to attack the German defensive positions, and although the sudden start of the artillery bombardment surprised the commanders at the front, they all took it for granted that this should be the artillery preparation before the attack.

Pukhov parched his mouth and explained to every division commander who called for instructions: "No, comrade division commander, I have not received any order to attack, and you have all honestly stayed in the position and prepared to carry out a stubborn defense against the imminent attack of the German army. ”

After making the call, Pukhov raised his hand and looked at his watch, it was almost half past four, which means that two hours had passed since the shelling of the Germans, but the Germans still did not move at all. It may be the influence of those division commanders under his command, his heart is ringing incessantly, maybe the Germans were blinded by our artillery bombardment, and instead of staying in the trenches and doing nothing,

Just as Pukhov was picking up the phone and was about to call Rokossovsky to ask if he could send troops to attack, a strange sound suddenly came from the air. When the chief of staff standing next to him heard this voice, his face suddenly changed greatly, and he ran outside with Pukhov, and at the same time shouted in his mouth: "Comrade commander, the shelling of the Germans, quickly transfer." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, countless shells fell around and exploded, shaking the dirt on the roof of the headquarters and falling down the gaps between the logs, and before Pukhov could run out of the headquarters, he had already turned into a clay man.

As soon as Pukhov and the chief of staff ran into the anti-artillery hole in the forest, the German shells rained down and exploded into a sea of fire. Although Pukhov covered his ears with his hands and opened his mouth wide, the deafening explosion continued to pour into his ears. The shock wave generated by the explosion uprooted patches of trees, and in the area where the bombs fell, no sound of people could be heard, no screams of the wounded could be heard, and the only thing that could be heard was the continuous sound of explosions!

……

……

Not only the defense areas of the 13th Army were subjected to retaliatory shelling by the Germans, but also the defense areas of the 48th and 70th armies on the left and right flanks were also shelled by the Germans.

When receiving the forward report, Rokossovsky, Zhukov and Terekin discussed matters related to the selection of the military commissar of the 60th Army. After listening to the two of them, Zhukov said: "I know Comrade Zaporozhyets, he is an old Bolshevik, a hero of the Civil War, he fought very bravely in those years, and even Comrade Stalin praised him. ”

"Comrade Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 60th Army, is a very good person, and everyone who has dealt with him feels this way." Rokossovsky smiled bitterly and said: "But I don't know how, he and Comrade Zaporozhye just don't get along, Terekin and I have mediated several times, but we have never been able to get them along." ”

"Comrade Marshal, let me talk about my opinion." As soon as Terekin waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, he continued: "I think the reason why Zaporozhets and Chernyakhovsky do not get along may be related to his work attitude. Although he was a hero during the civil war, time had passed, and he still worked as usual, so he had a friction with the young commander of the group army. ”

After figuring out the reasons for the discord between the heads of the 60th Army, Zhukov stood up, walked back and forth in the house several times with his hands behind his back, then stopped, faced Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, it seems that they belong to different eras, and they are not able to work together at all. In order to prevent the discord between them in the ensuing battle and affecting the troops, I suggest that you immediately report this to the High Command. ”

However, before Rokossovsky could call Stalin, the news of the heavy shelling of the front line by the Germans reached the command of the Front. After reading the telegram, Rokossovsky immediately instructed Malinin: "Chief of Staff, call the 13th, 48th and 70th armies and ask them to report on the specific situation. ”

Malinin shook his head and said: "Comrade commander, probably because the German artillery fire is too fierce, our telephone contact with the front line has been cut off, and we can only contact by telegram. ”

"Send a telegram immediately and ask them to report the actual situation on the front." Rokossovsky ordered: "Also, call General Rudenko of the Air Force again and order the bomber and fighter groups to be ready for sorties." ”

After Rokossovsky finished instructing Malinin, Zhukov, who was sitting on the side, said leisurely: "It seems that our artillery bombardment is quite effective, which is enough to delay the preparation of German artillery fire for an hour and a half. ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal, our shelling did disrupt the German offensive steps." Rokossovsky, after agreeing with Zhukov's opinion, expressed his concerns: "Although we cannot yet understand the situation of the German artillery bombardment on the front line, we can see that the German army has eased up. ”

Zhukov nodded, just in time to see the director of the communications corps Maksimenko passing by, and hurriedly stopped him, "Comrade chief of the communications corps, please connect me to the Voronezh Front, I want to talk to Marshal Vasilevsky." ”

After the phone was connected, Zhukov heard a cacophony coming from the receiver, and it seemed that the command headquarters was busy. He hurriedly asked Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, what is going on there, why do I listen to such chaos in the command headquarters?" ”

"Alas, don't mention it, Manstein's troops suddenly launched a heavy artillery bombardment of our defense area." Vasilevsky said with some annoyance: "Before the shelling began, we were preparing for the attack, but as a result, the German artillery bombardment caused a lot of casualties to the troops. ”

"What, Comrade Vasilevsky, what are you talking about, before the start of the German shelling, you are preparing for the strike?" Zhukov was taken aback by what Vasilevsky said, and hurriedly asked: "Don't you know that the reason why we preemptively shelled the German positions was to disrupt the offensive deployment of the German army?" ”

"I also saw that an hour or two after the shelling ended, there was not the slightest movement on the German positions, and I thought they were blinded by our artillery fire." Vasilevsky did not put the blame on Vatutin, but took it on himself, "and let Vatutin send a battle alert to the second echelon, preparing to carry out a surprise attack on the positions of the German army." But before our offensive began, the Germans began heavy shelling. ”

"Thankfully, you didn't have time to attack yet, otherwise the situation would have gotten out of control." Hearing Vasilevsky say this, Zhukov felt glad that the German artillery bombardment had started early, and if they had carried out the shelling only when the Voronezh Front had launched a full-scale offensive, they might have crushed the attacking Soviet troops at once, and then the defense line south of Kursk would have collapsed, and the troops of the Central Front would have fallen into the embarrassing situation of being exposed to the enemy on their backs.

After the end of the phone call between Zhukov and Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky also received a reply from the armies, saying that the areas currently being shelled are the defense areas of the 48th, 13th, and 70th armies, respectively, while the defense areas of the 60th and 65th armies are still calm.

After waiting for Zhukov to read the telegram, Rokossovsky said: "Comrade Marshal, it is clear that the Germans are planning to carry out a surprise attack on the defensive positions of our army from the direction of Orel in the north. ”

Zhukov put aside the telegram in his hand, looked down at the map and asked: "Although the positions of the three army groups were all shelled by the Germans, they could only choose one breakthrough direction in the end. Comrade Rokossovsky, where do you think the Germans will choose the breakthrough? ”

"I've dealt with Moder before." Rokossovsky stared at the map in front of him and said: "He will not choose a breakthrough at the first time, but send troops to carry out a feint, and after attracting the attention of the opponent, he will launch a surprise attack in the direction of the main attack." ”

The German shelling, which lasted for an hour, finally stopped. They did not wait for the smoke that had enveloped the Soviet lines to dissipate, and they could not wait to launch an attack two and a half hours late.

Malinin, who had just answered the phone, came over and reported to Rokossovsky: "Comrade commander, the Germans have begun to attack. ”

Rokossovsky, who was looking at the map, asked without raising his head: "Is it on the lot of General Pukhov?" ”

Unexpectedly, Ma Lining shook his head and said, "No." It was the 48th Army of General Romanenko on the right flank of our army that was attacked. According to the report of the observation post, the Germans committed at least three infantry divisions in this area. ”

"Hell, how did the Germans attack in this direction." Zhukov stared at the map and said: "The defense of our army in this direction is the strongest, and it is ready to be supported by the friendly neighbor Bryansk Front. Could it be that Modell chose this direction in order to divert our attention from their real main direction? ”

"That's right, Comrade Marshal, I think so too." Rokossovsky nodded and said: "I think the Germans should know that the right flank of our army is always supported by friendly forces, and if they want to break through the defense on this side, they will have to pay more than they think, so I think what they are doing is only a feint." ”

Zhukov waited for Rokossovsky to finish speaking, and then once again raised the question in his heart: "Then where do you think Moder will choose the breakthrough?" ”

"In the defense area of the 70th Army, there are quite a few mountains, which is not conducive to the deployment of large German forces." Rokossovsky drew a circle with his hand in the position of the defense zone of the 13th Army, "I think the direction of their main attack should be here." ”

After staring at that position for a long time, Zhukov nodded and said approvingly: "Comrade Rokossovsky, I agree with you, there is a high probability that the Germans will choose the direction of the main attack there. You see if the second echelon is alerted to the battle, ordering them to move closer to where the 13th Army is located and prevent the Germans from completing the breakthrough from here. ”

By noon, Moder saw that the troops attacking the Soviet 48th Army's defense area were stubbornly resisted and could not advance at all, so he was a little breathless, and immediately threw the four armored divisions and three infantry divisions into battle, allowing them to storm the defense area of the 13th Army, trying to open a passage from here and wedge into the Soviet defense.

At the same time, the battle to the south of Kursk was underway.

Although the German offensive was delayed by three hours, the 4th Panzer Army under Manstein attacked with exceptional ferocity. At the cost of more than thirty tanks, they managed to pass through the Soviet anti-tank minefields and launched a fierce assault on the positions held by the 67th Guards Division.

In the face of such a ferocious attack by the Germans, although the commanders and fighters of the 67th Guards Division carried out a stubborn defense, due to the huge disparity between the enemy and our forces, coupled with the lack of enough tanks and artillery, after a fierce battle, they had to abandon the first-line position and retreat to the second line of defense while fighting.

When Vatutin heard that the Germans had broken through their first line of defense, he hurriedly ordered the commander of the 6th Guards Army, Chistyakov, to throw the army group reserves into battle, in an attempt to block the German offensive forces in front of the second line of defense.

Unfortunately, before Chistyakov's reserves arrived, the German armored units, which were advancing all the way, tore a gap in the second line of defense of the Soviet army and successfully crossed the Pena River.

In the face of one bad news after another, Vatutin was as anxious as an ant on a hot pot, and he muttered: "It's all my fault, it's all my fault, seeing that the German army has not moved for a long time, we should be vigilant, instead of taking the initiative to attack." As a result, now that the troops have been defeated by the Germans, and the defense line cannot be held, what can I do? ”

Fortunately, there was still Vasilevsky in the headquarters, and when he saw Vatutin's appearance of the six gods and no master, he immediately turned his face and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Vatutin, what are you panicking about, although the Germans have broken through your two defense lines, their strength is almost exhausted, as long as you immediately organize a counterattack, you can recapture the defense line." ”

After speaking, Vasilevsky picked up the phone on the table, called the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army, General Katukov, and said categorically: "General Katukov, the situation at the front is very bad now, the Germans have broken through our two lines of defense and forcibly crossed the Pena River, I now order you to immediately organize troops to carry out a counterattack on the German troops who broke through the defense line, and in the shortest possible time, re-close the breakthrough." ”

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