Although I could not observe the effect of the shelling, it did not affect my immersion in my imagination in the slightest. I sat at the table with my eyes closed, and my mind was like a movie, showing the scenes of the German artillery bombardment one by one: the shells streaked across the sky and hit the newly assembled German columns. In the smoke and dust in the sky blown up by the dense shells, thousands of shrapnel bursting from countless explosion points were intertwined into layers of death webs all around, and severed limbs and severed flesh and blood were splashed everywhere, crowding the assembly areas of countless officers and soldiers, and they were cleared out of the open space in an instant. Even the invincible Tiger tank was overturned or disintegrated and burned like a toy in an earth-shattering explosion.

Maybe my expression was too relaxed, and even Kirillov asked a little unsteadily: "Leda, do you really think that the shelling of our army can inflict huge losses on the Germans?" ”

"That's right, my comrade military commissar." I opened my eyes and smiled at the worried Kirillov: "The assembled German troops will surely suffer heavy losses after being bombarded by our artillery fire. If they want to regroup and attack us, they will have to be at least a few hours later than they were. In a word, our artillery bombardment has completely disrupted the German offensive plan. "The reason why I am so sure is that the confidence comes from the film about the Battle of Kursk that I watched later.

After hearing what I said, Kirillov sighed and said: "It's a pity that the German offensive was only delayed, if only our artillery bombardment could cancel the enemy's attack from their battle plan." ”

I looked up at my watch. Thirty minutes have been underway since the shelling. He stood up. Picking up the phone on the table, I asked the communications corps to help me connect to the division headquarters of the 51st Guards Division.

When I heard Tavart Kiradze's voice coming out of the earpiece, I asked him with a smile: "Comrade General, how is it, can you see the Germans opposite you?" ”

Unexpectedly, after being silent for a while, Tavart Kiradze said cautiously: "Comrade commander, I only saw thick smoke billowing from the direction of Prokhorovka in the observation post, what kind of casualties were inflicted on the enemy. We don't know yet. ”

I knew that what he said was true, and that since the reconnaissance detachment of Travkin had withdrawn a few days earlier, it had never sent a reconnaissance unit to the enemy's occupied territory, so I had no choice but to say: "Keep watching, report to me in time if there is any situation." ”

Then I called the headquarters of the 52nd Guards Division and asked Nekrasov, who answered the phone: "Colonel, how is the situation in your area, can you see clearly the area that has been shelled?" ”

"I couldn't see the exact situation, I could only see the smoke billowing out. Presumably, the casualties of the German army must have been quite small. After answering my question, Nekrasov also asked tentatively: "Comrade commander." Need me to send someone to scout? ”

I saw that the time was almost three o'clock, and the sky was gradually starting to brighten, and sending people to reconnoiter at this time was not conducive to concealment, and it was tantamount to sending the scouts to death in vain. So I rejected this offer of his without thinking: "No need, Comrade Colonel. After this shelling, it will take at least a few hours for the Germans to organize a new offensive, and you will need to use this time to prepare for battle. ”

After calling the two division commanders, I looked at Danilov and Kirillov with worried expressions, and comforted them with a smile and said: "Deputy commander, military commissar, why are you sad, don't you know how many artillery we have?" You must know that so many artillery pieces are firing at the same time, and the main forces of the German army will definitely be disabled. Even if they were able to regroup, the intensity of the attack would be much lower than we expected. ”

It was only after the Battle of Kursk that I learned from Zhukov that our artillery preparation for this time began prematurely. At that time, most of the German officers and soldiers were still lying in bunkers, deep ditches or shelters, and the armored units were still hidden in the waiting area. It would have been better if our shelling had been delayed a little longer for 20 minutes or half an hour. In addition, before the shelling, we did not accurately identify the location of concentration of the German troops before the attack, so most of the shelling was an area covering, rather than the shelling of specific targets of the position, which invisibly prevented the Germans from suffering greater casualties.

After learning about this situation, I couldn't help but feel that the plot in the movie was really unreliable. The results of this preemptive artillery strike must have been exaggerated by the Soviet Union, which was the filming party. If the Germans had really suffered such serious losses before the offensive, it would have been absolutely impossible to launch a full-scale attack on the Central Front and the Voronezh Front in just two or three hours, and in the shortest possible time, break through the multiple defensive zones of the two fronts.

At three o'clock sharp, the shelling of the Germans stopped, and the outside world suddenly became quiet.

Bezzikov listened attentively to the movement outside, and then said tentatively: "The shelling seems to have stopped?" ”

"That's right, it's stopped." Danilov continued.

Hearing the two of them say this, I also concentrated and listened to the movement outside, except for the footsteps of the staff officers of the headquarters walking around outside, and the ticking of telegrams in the telecommunications room next door, the muffled explosion was really inaudible. Hearing the movement outside, I sat up straight and said to the few people present: "That's right, our shelling of the Germans is over, and now we can't hear any movement outside, and I don't know how effective it is." ”

After saying these words, without waiting for them to express their position, I said to Povsky again: "Comrade Colonel, immediately give orders to your artillery fighters, let them seize these precious hours and immediately retreat to their original defensive zone. Remember, after completing the return defense, it is necessary to prepare for battle as soon as possible, ready to meet the German armored forces that have broken through our defensive lines. ”

My words made Povsky stunned for a moment, but he didn't ask more, nodded, walked over to the intercom, and gave orders to his men.

After another ten minutes or so, Vatutin called my headquarters, and as soon as he opened his mouth, he asked bluntly: "Hey, Comrade Oshanina. Can you see any movement of the Germans there? ”

I quickly replied, "There is no movement." Comrade Commander. The whole front was as silent as death. I estimate that the Germans, after being shelled by us, are adjusting their deployment and may not be able to attack for a few hours. ”

My reply surprised Vatutin, who asked in surprise: "How do you know that it will be a few hours before the Germans launch a new offensive?" ”

"Comrade Commander," although I knew in my heart the exact timing of the German attack on the Central Front and the Voronezh Front, I would not tell him directly, lest he become suspicious, but said in an analytical tone: "The German units that are preparing to attack us. There must be a very large number, and in the shelling that has just ended, their formation has been disrupted by us, and if we want to reorganize a new offensive, we must first gather our troops. Because of this, I concluded that the German offensive should be a few hours later. ”

And after listening to my explanation, Vatutin was silent for a long time before he hesitated and said, "Oshanina, I want to hear your truth. Do you think our shelling really caused casualties to the Germans? ”

"I'm sorry. Comrade Commander, I don't think I understood what you meant. Vatutin's brainless words confused me, so I asked in confusion: "Can't we inflict heavy damage on the German troops that are gathering by firing thousands of artillery pieces at the same time?" ”

"That's not what it means, that's not what it means." Hearing my question, Vatutin quickly explained: "Although the shelling is necessary, I am worried that our artillery has not hit any effective targets at all, and perhaps most of the shells have fallen in the open and no one. As soon as he said this, he probably realized that he had said something that he should not have said, so he immediately stopped, and then instructed me: "Comrade Oshanina, pay attention and observe, and report to me in time if there is any situation." ”

After finishing the call with Vatutin, I didn't bother to talk to Danilov and them, so I dialed Tavart Kiradze directly and asked anxiously: "Comrade General, the shelling has been over for so long, is there any movement in your place?" ”

"Report to Comrade Commander." Tavartkiradze politely replied: "There is no movement at the front except for the billowing smoke in the distance. I even suspect that the German units that were preparing to attack have been wiped out by our artillery fire. ”

"Comrade General, don't be too blindly optimistic." From his voice, I could tell that he was a little too underestimated, and hurriedly reminded him: "If the Germans were really so easily destroyed by us, they would have been driven out of the border by us a long time ago." Continue to be vigilant and report to me immediately if there is a situation. ”

There was no movement here at Tavartkiradze, and there was still no movement from Nekrasov's side. When I heard their report, my heart became reassured, it seemed that the German army was massing, and we could even use these few hours to further strengthen the existing fortifications.

I put down the phone, stood at the table, closed my eyes and thought about what I was missing, so I could make up for it in time. After thinking about it for a long time, I felt that in order to deal with the swarming German armored units, in addition to the anti-tank weapons of the infantry, the cooperation of tank units was also needed. Thinking of this, I called Colonel Bere again.

I heard his voice coming out of my headphones and politely said, "Hello, Colonel Bere." ”

"Comrade Commander, I don't know what instructions you have?" After saying this official sentence, Bere suddenly changed the topic and asked: "If the Germans attack, where should our tank army be placed?" ”

"How many troops did your army have in the rear of the first line of defense?" I asked cautiously.

"Comrade commander," Beray replied, "according to your order, the tanks of our army were all assembled in the Prokhorovka area, and behind the first line of defense there were only two tank battalions. ”

I was overjoyed to hear that there were two tank battalions behind the first line of defense. Although they only have about 50 tanks, if they are equipped with the new T-54/55 tanks, then even if they completely annihilate a German armored regiment, there will be no problem at all. So I hurriedly ordered Bere: "Comrade Colonel, according to the analysis of the movements of the German army during this period, position No. 4 will become their main direction of attack, and I order you to immediately transfer a tank battalion to the rear of position No. 4." If you encounter a surprise attack by the German armored forces, don't go to the front, just need to sneak attack on the flank. ”

"Understood." To this order, Colonel Bere, who knew me well, replied without hesitation: "I will immediately send that battalion of the 82nd Tank Brigade over, and I believe that their performance in the battle will not disappoint you." ”

This time, when he put down the phone again, Danilov finally found an opportunity to interject, and he quickly said to me: "Comrade commander, I have a proposal. ”

"Please, Comrade Deputy Commander." I said politely.

"I propose to immediately send the engineering units belonging to the army group to the front." Without waiting for me to ask why, Danilov directly stated the answer: "In order to slow down the German assault, the sappers should carry out minelaying where the Germans could pass." ”

Listening to Danilov's proposal, I couldn't help but nod my head again and again, thinking that today's troops are equipped with new tanks, 40 rocket launchers, Kalashnikov rifles and other new weapons, and actually ignore the role of mines in battle. Realizing this omission, I immediately instructed Bezkov: "Chief of Staff, did you hear what Comrade Deputy Commander said?" Immediately ordered the engineer units under the group army to divide their troops into two routes and rush to the defense areas of the 51st and 52nd Guards Divisions respectively to carry out the special task of emergency mine-laying. ”

The order was given quickly, and the engineering units were assembled within an hour, and they rushed to the first line of defense in thirty trucks. Almost as soon as the engineer commander called back to report to us that he had successfully reached the first line of defense, and that he was laying mines behind the line, a call from Tawart Kiradze also came.

I took the phone from Bezikov's hand, and I heard Tavartkiradze's somewhat flustered voice coming from inside: "Oh no, Comrade Commander, the Germans are attacking!" ”

I raised my hand and looked at my watch, the hour hand was already pointing to the sixth, and it seemed that the Germans had launched an attack on time from the south to Kursk, as in history. I spread out the notebook on the table, picked up the pencil, prepared to take notes, and then asked: "Tell me, Comrade General, what is the size of the German attacking force?" ”

"According to the report from Position No. 1, the Germans dispatched hundreds of tanks to cover the infantry for an attack on our positions." Tavart Kiradze, probably in a hurry, spoke quickly: "At the head of the offensive line were the German Tiger tanks, which in groups of ten to fifteen, opened the way in front and fiercely shelled our defensive positions with tank guns. Then German tanks No. 3 and No. 4 appeared, and they also rushed towards our position, and behind them were armored transports full of German soldiers. (To be continued.) )