Hearing Nekrasov's words that were so unconfident, I stared into his eyes and said categorically: "Comrade Colonel, do you need to say this? We will definitely defeat the Skeleton Division, and in addition to it, the Hitler Division and the Reich Division, which are on the same level, will also become our defeated men without exception. ”

After saying this, I waved my hand at him and impatiently instructed him: "Comrade Colonel, please make a phone call to the headquarters of the group army, and say that I have successfully arrived at your division headquarters, and if there is anything to contact, I will call you here." ”

When Nekrasov heard my order, he immediately ordered the chief of staff of the division to call the headquarters and report my whereabouts. As soon as the chief of staff walked away, we asked Nekrasov: "Comrade Colonel, in the next battle, we will have to face the tank units in which the Germans have the upper hand." If the anti-tank operation is unfavorable, our defense line risks crumbling under the heavy blows of the enemy. Tell me, do you have any good solutions to tanks? ”

Nekrasov walked to the wall, poured me a cup of tea, brought it to me, and said with a smile: "Comrade commander, you also know that we have just exchanged fire with the Germans today, and we are just busy dealing with the German offensive, and we have not had time to sum up this experience properly." ”

I picked up my teacup, took a sip and asked, "In today's battle, your position was attacked by the German tank troops, was there any regiment that fought better, destroyed the most tanks, and suffered relatively small casualties?" ”

"Comrade Commander, do you need to talk about this, there must be one." Nekrasov said with a smile: "Yershov's 225 regiment fought well. In today's battle, they destroyed more than 30 tanks, and the casualties of the troops were the fewest among the three regiments. ”

"Why, they destroyed more than thirty tanks?" I know the fourth position of the 225 regiment for defense. It was the focus of the German offensive, and the reinforced companies that had previously held the heights had long since been wiped out. I didn't expect that the newly replaced troops would be able to achieve such results, which was too unexpected for me.

"If I'm not mistaken, I think thirty-seven were wrecked." It just so happened that the chief of staff of the division walked by after making a phone call. Nekrasov also specially checked with him: "Chief of Staff, am I right? ”

"That's right, comrade division commander, it's thirty-seven." The chief of staff of the division said with certainty.

The words of the two aroused my great interest, and I asked with a smile: "I wonder what method Lieutenant Colonel Yershov used to achieve such a big result?" ”

"It is said that the tactics he used were very special." Nekrasov replied.

"What kind of tactics, Comrade Colonel?" I asked curiously.

To my question, Nekrasov could not answer it for a while. He blushed and said, "I haven't had time to ask in detail." It is said that Comrade Yershov used the artillery batteries assigned to them in conjunction with 40 rocket launchers to deal exclusively with German tanks, and the effect was quite good. ”

"Today's troops on the first line of defense are fighting the Germans in this way." I was particularly unhappy with his vague answer, "I care." How could he destroy so many tanks more than friendly troops? ”

Nekrasov still didn't say a word, and my resentment towards him grew stronger and stronger. Just when he wanted to attack, the chief of staff of the division came out and played a round: "Comrade commander, while the German offensive has stopped now, why don't you let Yershov come to the division headquarters and let him personally report to you, what do you think?" ”

I looked up at my watch. Seeing that the time was not yet seven o'clock, and there were still many hours before dark, who knows if the Germans would take advantage of this time to attack again. I wanted to refuse this proposal from the chief of staff of the division, but with a strong curiosity, I changed my mind: "Okay. Comrade Chief of Staff, please call Lieutenant Colonel Yershov now, and ask him to come to the headquarters immediately, and I will ask him what new tactics he is using. ”

Yershov's regimental command post was not far from here, and only a few minutes later he appeared in the division headquarters. I shook hands with him, beckoned him to sit down, and then asked, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I heard from your division commander that you have adopted a new tactic in today's battle. I wonder if you can introduce me to it? ”

Hearing me say this, Yershov, who was a little embarrassed, took off the military hat on his head, scratched the back of his head and said: "Comrade commander, it's actually quite simple. We set up artillery groups of about ten anti-tank guns or 40 rocket launchers to concentrate our fire on one tank. Several anti-tank artillery groups were formed into an artillery group, and the artillery groups were distributed throughout the position, forming a deep configuration. ”

Seeing that I had recorded it in his notebook, Yershov added: "In addition to the use of this anti-tank tactic, we also used minefields and anti-tank trenches against German tanks. The sappers sent to us by the army group laid mines very quickly, laying thousands of mines in front of our positions in an hour.

In order to prevent detection by the Germans, we also camouflaged it, and it would have been difficult for them to detect our minefields and anti-tank artillery groups if the German tanks had not been blown up by mines or destroyed by our anti-tank guns. ”

"That's a good tactic." After listening to Yershov's introduction, I immediately nodded in agreement, and at the same time said: "When we resist the German attack, we cannot simply defend for the sake of defense. Mechanical passive defense is not advisable; It is necessary to learn an active way of defense, to use one's own advantages, to massively deplete the living forces of the German army. ”

I was in the middle of my sentence when the phone on my desk rang. I interrupted the conversation with Yershov, stared at Nekrasov, who was answering the phone, with dissatisfied eyes, and cursed in my heart, which guy who is not long-eyed, actually called at this time.

While I was thinking nonsense, Nekrasov suddenly covered the microphone with his hand and handed it to me, and at the same time said: "Comrade commander, I am looking for you." ”

I thought the phone was brought by the 51st or 67th Guards Division, so I put the microphone to my ear and asked a little disapplausively: "Hey, I'm Oshanina, where are you?" ”

A loud business came out of the microphone: "Hello, Leda! Thank goodness for finally finding you. You've been running around all the time today. I made at least a dozen phone calls to find you. ”

"Katukov, General Katukov?!" Although I immediately heard that it was Katukov who was calling, I still had to make sure that there was no misunderstanding. "Do you have anything to do with me?"

"What else can I do, of course, I want to study with you how to deal with German tanks." Katukov spoke very quickly: "I'll tell you bad news. The defensive positions on the northwestern defense line of Yakovlevo were broken through, and the Germans were carrying out a surprise attack along the Belgorod-Kharkov road. ”

"Comrade General, what the hell is going on? Your words have confused me. I was puzzled and asked, "It stands to reason that the troops you have deployed in this area, equipped with new tanks, can easily lose their positions?" ”

"The Germans adopted a new type of assault formation, which I call the 'bell' formation. Tiger tanks in a bell formation were in the center, medium tanks were on the sides. The light tank followed behind the Tiger tank. According to the report below, this formation is capable of suppressing anti-tank fire from defensive positions. And sappers in armoured personnel carriers followed in the middle of the 'bell' formation, ready to clear the minefields they had found. The close coordination between their various arms made it easy to succeed in the attack in the bell formation. ”

I knew that Katukov was absolutely not out of purpose when he said this, and he must have something in mind, so I asked straight to the point: "Comrade General, tell me about your plans." If I can cooperate, I will cooperate with you well. ”

Here's what's next. As I expected, as soon as I finished speaking, Katukov announced in a shocking manner: "Lida, I plan to attack at night after dark. ”

"Attack the enemy tonight?" When I heard Katukov's words, I couldn't help but laugh. He had to be kindly reminded of him: "Comrade General, do not forget that it is very difficult to attack at night, because it is necessary to choose terrain that is convenient for the tank situation, and preferably on a moonlit night. This makes it easier for troops to move on easily discernible roads or dirt roads. ”

"Lida, I also want to fight back during the day, but I can't." Katukov said a little depressedly: "This bell-shaped formation of the German army is very suitable for attacking at night, because the night will have a great impact on our artillery fire, so they will attack first and generally will not suffer large losses." ”

"Comrade General, then what can I help you?" Seeing that Katukov had already made up his mind to strike first, I stopped persuading and offered to ask for help.

"It's simple, I hope you can rush back to the army group headquarters as soon as possible." When Katukov said this, he suddenly lowered his voice and said: "As far as I know, General Vatutin intends to deploy several tank brigades and anti-tank artillery regiments to the Yakovlevo region. With so many troops, without a unified command, it is easy to fall into chaos. ”

Katukov's words surprised me, and I could not have imagined that Vatutin would suddenly transfer so many troops to strengthen the defense of the Yakovlevo region. In this way, my plan to lure the enemy deeper may fail. Therefore, as soon as he finished speaking, I immediately expressed my position and said: "Comrade General, please rest assured, if the front army headquarters really sends us so many tank brigades and anti-tank artillery regiments, I will definitely send troops to assist you in recovering your lost positions." ”

After I ended the phone call with Katukov, I dialed the phone of the army group headquarters, and when I heard Danilov's voice, I was angry, saying that you didn't report such a major event as the front army command sending us additional tank brigades and artillery regiments in time, which was simply too unusual. Because of this, there was a hint of anger in my tone: "Comrade Deputy Commander? I'm Oshanina, and I want to ask, did the Front Command transfer new tank brigades and artillery regiments to us? ”

"That's right, Comrade Commander." Although Danilov heard the anger in my tone, he wisely chose to ignore it, and said respectfully: "In order to repel the German offensive, the 10th Tank Army and the 5th Guards Tank Army have been ordered to reinforce us, and will be stationed in the Yakovlevo and Melovoye areas today and tomorrow, and a division of the 35th Guards Infantry Corps will be stationed in the Prokhorovka area to the northeast. ”

When I heard that it was actually two tank armies that reinforced our group army, I couldn't help but say with emotion: "Commander Vatutin is so generous, he actually reinforced so many of our tank troops at once, presumably he wants us to hold Yakovlevo." ”

"I think so too, Comrade Commander." Danilov echoed.

And when I heard Danilov say this, I smiled wryly. The combat effectiveness of the Soviet army is far from that of the German army, and if it is to fight hard, it will definitely suffer a big loss, and even if it wins in the end, it will be a disastrous victory. This kind of play, for me, is more than worth the loss, if it were up to me to choose, I would never do it.

After a pause, I asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I don't know if Commander Vatutin has any special explanation?" ”

"No, he didn't say anything." Danilov also said blankly: "He just called and said that two tank corps had been transferred to us to assist us in consolidating the defense of Yakovlevo." ”

"I see, Comrade Deputy Commander." I knew that if I asked any more, nothing would come of it, because according to my estimate, Vatutin probably didn't even think about what to do, so I just hung up.

And Nekrasov, who was standing next to him, vaguely heard the conversation between me and Danilov and excitedly asked: "Comrade commander, is this all true?" ”

His direct and special questioning made me stunned for a moment before I understood what he was asking. Hurriedly nodded and said: "Comrade Colonel, you heard it right, the superiors transferred two tank corps and a large number of artillery units to us, hoping that we can contain the German offensive in the Yakovlevo area." ”

It may be that the performance of the tank company equipped with new tanks in the past two days left a deep impression on Nekrasov, and he said excitedly: "We can easily defeat the same number of German tanks with a dozen new tanks." If there are hundreds of these new tanks at once, it is not impossible to even go straight to the headquarters in Manstein. ”

I am not as blindly optimistic as Nekrasov, although I know in my heart that with my appearance, history has once again gone awry here. The defensive area of the 6th Guards Army has moved a lot eastward compared to history, and some units that should not have appeared on the battlefield at this time at all have also appeared in advance, and there are even hundreds of new tanks that are ahead of this era. But at what cost did the Soviet army have to pay in the Battle of Kursk to achieve the final victory? I don't know anything about this. (To be continued.) )

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