Danilov listened to what I said solemnly, but he pouted disapprovingly, probably thinking that I was too alarmist. Perhaps in his mind, there was wishful thinking that Manstein's attack from the south was nothing more than a feint by the Germans, the purpose of which was to cover the attack of the German Army Group Center on Kursk from the north.

My suspicions were quickly confirmed. After staring at the map for a while, Danilov suddenly said: "Comrade commander, I think that although the offensive organized by Manstein is huge, it is actually not making much progress. You see, not only have they not captured any positions in the Prokhorovka region so far, but even the few divisions that we have fallen into their encirclement have not been able to eat. From this, it can be judged that the offensive of the German Army Group South was only aimed at pinning down the troops of the Voronezh Front, so that we could not withdraw troops to reinforce the Central Front, which was fighting bloodily. ”

"Comrade Deputy Commander, can you tell me what you think?" In response to Danilov's opinion, Kirillov asked with interest: "Where do you think their ultimate assault target is?" ”

Danilov glanced at Kirillov, then looked at the map and said: "Where else could it be, Comrade Military Commissar." You look at the forces of the German Army Group Center, which had broken through the combined 70th and 13th armies of our Central Front and was rushing towards Kursk. But due to the stubborn resistance of General Rokossovsky's troops, the German advance was slow. If we do not send troops to contain us, as long as we send two army groups to fill the breakthrough, we can wipe out the hard-won gains of the German army. ”

I did not express any opinion. Just quietly listened to Danilov's analysis. Wait until he's done. I found that there was some truth in what he said. If I hadn't known this history and knew what the end would have been, I wouldn't have hesitated to agree with him.

After listening to what he said, Bezikov asked in confusion: "Comrade Deputy Commander, if it is really as you said, why does Manstein not send troops to directly reinforce Army Group Center, but risk defeat by seeking the near and far. Attack our defensive positions? ”

Who knew that when Bezikov asked this, he really stopped Danilov. He thought about it for a long time before he reluctantly came up with a possibility, and halfway through, he himself overturned his guess.

Before Danilov could give Bezikov a reasonable explanation, the phone on the desk rang. When I saw that Bezzikov and Danilov were still studying the German army's retreat, I reached out and picked up the phone and asked: "I am the headquarters of the army group, where are you?" ”

The voice of Tavart Kiradze came from the microphone, and a hint of panic was heard in his tone. An ominous premonition immediately welled up in my heart, and I hurriedly asked, "Comrade General." What's wrong? "Maybe it's because I'm so loud that I grab the attention of a few people around me.

"Report to Comrade Commander, the heights of the 308th Regiment have been lost." Tavart Kiradze reported tremblingly.

"What, the position of the 308th regiment was lost?" Hearing this, I immediately jumped up from my seat, frowned, and asked loudly: "Comrade General, isn't it possible for your several highlands to support each other with artillery fire?" How can the enemy still take the position, what the hell is going on? ”

Tavart Kiradze reported to me: "Comrade commander, this is the situation. Since the high ground guarded by the 308th Regiment had not been subjected to a large-scale attack by the Germans, the south side of the high ground was overgrown with weeds that had not yet had time to be cleared and were more than half a man high, which seriously affected the vision of our commanders and fighters.

The Germans who came to attack us were wearing rare camouflage uniforms, and they used weeds as cover to quietly touch only a hundred and fifty meters from our position. At this time, their artillery suddenly opened fire and suppressed our defenders with artillery fire. When the artillery fire extended to fire, the Germans, regardless of the possibility of being accidentally injured by their own artillery fire, launched a charge at our positions from a hidden place. They cleared the obstacles of the colored jade in front of the position with grenades, and pulled out the exposed civil fire points of our troops with flamethrowers. But when the resistance on our positions gradually weakened, German officers and men armed with submachine guns jumped into the trenches and engaged our defenders in close combat. ”

When I listened to Tavartkiradze's report, I suddenly had a sense of déjà vu, and the more I listened to it, the more it looked like my own usual tactics, but now I was being learned by the Germans and dealing with us in turn. As soon as he finished speaking, I immediately asked, "Comrade General, have you figured out the number of this German army?" ”

"Judging by the documents seized from the corpses of the Germans, they belonged to the 'Viking Division.'" After Tawalt Kiradze finished answering, he also deliberately emphasized: "The combat effectiveness of this army is very strong, and it is no worse than the 'Hitler Division' or 'Reich Division' that fought with us two days ago. ”

When I heard that it was the "Vikings" who had seized our position, I couldn't help but look black and my body swayed, and if I hadn't held on to the edge of the table, I would have fallen to the ground. I really didn't expect that Manstein would think so highly of me that he would send another SS division with strong combat effectiveness, and he would not be willing to see that he would not defeat us. I took a deep breath, calmed down my emotions a little, and then ordered Tavart Kiradze: "Comrade General, there is nothing to say, immediately organize troops to counterattack, and we must recapture the heights as soon as possible, otherwise the flanks of the 309th Regiment and your division headquarters will be completely exposed to the enemy." ”

"Yes, I immediately organized troops to counterattack." Tavart Kiradze replied that he was about to hang up, but I stopped him, so he asked: "Comrade commander, do you have any other instructions?" ”

"I know a little bit about the terrain of the high ground defended by the 308th Regiment." I remembered that I had inspected the forward positions many times before the outbreak of the battle, so after assigning a counterattack mission to Tawart Kiradze, I specifically told him: "The northern slopes of the heights are gentle, easy to attack and difficult to defend, and you can send tanks to support the infantry attack." ”

After putting down the phone, I looked at Danilov and said with a serious expression: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the defense area of the 51st Guards Division has just been attacked by the 'Viking Division', and the current position has been lost, and the flanks of the division headquarters and the 309th Regiment have been completely exposed to the enemy. If General Tavart Kiradze does not organize his troops in time and restore the lost positions, then Yakovlevo is in danger of falling. ”

Although I did not directly criticize Danilov's misjudgment of the current situation, he also heard reproach in my words. However, he is also a person who knows his mistakes and can correct them, and after a moment of hesitation, he immediately confessed his mistakes to me: "Comrade commander, I'm sorry, it seems that my judgment is completely wrong. The actions of the Germans in the south of Kursk were not feints, but really wanted to rush into Kursk from the south. What we can do at present is to rely on the existing defensive operations, and in the process of resisting step by step, consume a large number of the German army's vital forces, and wait for the arrival of a major counteroffensive. ”

When I saw Bezkov standing next to me, I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you thinking?" ”

Bezikov said with a sad face: "Comrade commander, the 'Viking Division' is not easy to deal with. In the early days of the war, when our 38th Army launched an offensive against Kamenkov, it was this unit that held the city. The artillerymen who provided artillery support at that time came from a nearby artillery school, and they knew the coordinates of the local area well, so they could bombard German positions with unusually accurate artillery fire during the battle. At the same time, the eight infantry divisions of the 38th Army also launched regimental charges into the cities from time to time.

But even in this situation, the 'Viking Division' still blocked our attack, and they remained in the dilapidated position, showing composure and calm, carefully arranging the fire network to inflict heavy casualties on our troops. After three days of fierce fighting, our troops lost their offensive capability due to excessive losses and had to withdraw from their positions. ”

After Bezkov finished speaking, Danilov also added: "In the Battle of Kharkov at the beginning of the year, we had the advantage in our own hands, but who knew that the Popov armored assault group, but after being attacked by the 'Viking Division' one after another, almost all the troops were annihilated, which led to the defeat of the entire campaign." ”

I knew of the existence of the "Viking Division", an ace unit, because it was a well-known part of the German SS units, and because most of its soldiers were not Germans, but volunteers from Western and Northern Europe. As for what kind of achievements it has achieved on the battlefield, it is not known. At this moment, after listening to the introductions of Bezzikov and Danilov, my mood became more and more nervous. If the counterattack organized by General Tawalt Kiradze cannot quickly regain the position, then with the strong combat strength of the "Viking Division", as long as it gains a firm foothold, it will not be long before the high ground guarded by the 51st Guards Division can be taken over one after another.

"Comrade Commander, what should we do?" Bezikov probably saw that I was anxious like an ant on a hot pan, and couldn't help but ask: "Is it necessary to prepare the 51st Guards Division for retreat?" ”

I sat in my seat, my head in my hands, and there was a fierce ideological struggle in my head, whether to retreat or to defend, which was really a headache. (To be continued.) )

PS: Everyone, because there was a small mistake when uploading it yesterday, it caused the 1140th chapter of the update to be repeated. After I found this issue, I have replaced the duplicate chapters with new content.