The Soviet army easily captured the first line of defense, and spent a lot of time when seizing the second line of defense. After all, there were not many infantrymen following the tanks into the second line of defense. As soon as they took action, the defenders noticed the abnormality and the two sides launched a fierce exchange of fire.
Fortunately, the German Lieutenant Colonel, who was in charge of command, had been crushed to death in the command center that was bombarded by a tank. The German army lost unified command and could only fight on their own. As the Soviet army arrived from the first line of defense, the enemy's resistance melted away like snow in the sun.
Katukov walked out of the command center, pointed at the troops cleaning the battlefield, and said to Sokov with relief: "Comrade Sokov, when you proposed this plan, I felt it was too crazy and worried that it might not succeed. But now it seems that you are right. This unexpected tactic actually allows us to easily regain those positions that we can't take after a day of fighting."
After saying that, he turned to the Chief of Staff and said, "Comrade Chief of Staff, report to the Front Command immediately, saying that we have successfully seized the positions on the left bank of the Pena River and that the enemy has been driven across the Pena River."
After receiving Katukov's report, Vatukiv was stunned. He called Lieutenant General Ivanov, the chief of staff, and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I remember a few hours ago, General Katukov was still complaining to me, saying that the enemy had defeated their many attacks based on the defensive positions along the coast, and hoped that we could provide them with air support."
"Yes, comrade General, this is indeed the case." Ivanov nodded and replied, "When General Katukov's troops attacked the enemy entrenched on the left bank of the Pena River, they were bombed by the Luftwaffe, which led to their originally hoped victory in the end in failure."
"But what's going on with this report?" Vatuting handed over the telegram he received to Ivanov: "A few hours later, he actually told me that he had taken back all the positions on the left bank of the Pena River and drove the enemy across the Pena River. Go and ask, what's going on?"
Fortunately, there was a special telephone line between the Front Command and Katukov's command, so Ivanov didn't have to ask what was going on through the telegram. When he learned about the whole situation from Katukov via the phone, he felt extremely shocked. So much so that after Katukov hung up the phone, he held the microphone and spoke for a long time.
Seeing his chief of staff holding the microphone in a daze, Vatujing asked curiously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you in a daze?"
"Comrade General, it's simply incredible." Ivanov woke up from his meditation and looked at Vatutin excitedly, "General Katukov adopted Major General Sokov's suggestion and readjusted the offensive tactics..." He told Vatutin in detail what he had just known.
After hearing this, Vatujing felt that it was a fantasy. He was also muttering in his heart that Sokov's plan was too crazy. During the implementation process, as long as there was a slight mistake, it would bring unimaginable consequences.
He calmed down and felt that he should immediately report the good news of recovering the left bank of the Pena River to the Supreme Command, so that those who were in trouble could get the good news sooner. He answered the General Staff via a high-frequency phone call. When he heard Antonov's voice coming from the receiver, he smiled and said, "Hello, Comrade Chief of Staff!"
"I'm very bad, Comrade Vatutin." Antonov said in a serious tone: "The current situation in the Kursk region is very unfavorable to our army. In this case, it is difficult for me to have any good mood."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I guessed that you may be in a bad mood at this moment, so I specifically want to tell you a good news."
"Good news, what good news?"
"Not long ago, General Katukov's First Tank Army restored all our positions on the left bank of the Pena River after a fierce battle, and drove all the enemies across the Pena River."
"What, the positions on the left bank of the Pena River have been restored?" Antonov was particularly surprised to hear Vatuting say: "This is really exciting good news, how did you do it?"
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I'm going to hide it from you. This is a victory that General Katukov won after he followed Major General Sokov's advice, and he..."
Before Vatujing finished speaking, Zhukov's voice suddenly came from the receiver: "Comrade Vatujing, what did you say just now? Katukov's troops were able to recover all the positions on the left bank of the Pena River, and were they helped by Major General Sokov? Tell us quickly, what was going on?"
When Vatuting was stunned at first when he heard Zhukov's voice, he thought that the other party had visited Sokov's command before leaving Kursk. He must be more concerned about what idea Sokov had, and he could take down the left bank position that he could not capture for a long time.
After listening to Vatujing's story, Zhukov couldn't help but murmur: "This Misha can actually come up with such a crazy plan. Such a plan is not only unexpected by the enemy, but also by me, so there is a reason for his success."
When he heard Zhukov constantly praising Sokov on the phone, Vatutin was not in a hurry. After he finished speaking, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, according to all the signs now, the next area where we fight with the Germans should be in the Prokhorovka area. Can you provide us with more assistance?"
If Vatujing had proposed such a situation a few hours ago, Zhukov would have refused without hesitation. After all, the base camp had already assigned Konev's Guards Tank 5th Army and Guards 5th Army to Vatujing's command, and he could not draw more troops.
But at this moment, Zhukov had a new idea in his mind. Since Sokov had so many ghost ideas, then transferring his troops to the Prokorovka region, then in the next battle, he might even be able to create new miracles. Thinking of this, he asked Vatutin: "Where is Major General Sokov now?"
"After he assisted General Katukov's troops in regaining the left bank of the Pena River, he should return to his headquarters. At this moment, he should be on the way." Vatuting felt that Zhukov would not ask Sokov for no reason, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, what did you ask him for?"
"What do you ask him?" Zhukov sneered, "You are about to fight against the enemy in the Prokhorovka area. With your current strength, you will definitely not be able to stop the large-scale armored forces of the German army. I must do my best to replenish more troops for you."
After hearing what Zhukov said, Vatutin immediately realized that the other party might have planned to hand over Sokov's troops to his commander. Although he did not have much affection for this commander of the general at a young age, the more powerful he had, the more confident he would be in the battle.
He hurriedly said, "Comrade Marshal, it would be great if Major General Sokov's troops could be assigned to our front command."
Sokov, who was being talked about by the two, was now heading back to the Army Command in Shumakovo with General Poluboyarov.
On the way, General Poluboyarov was very praiseful of the tactics implemented by Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I thought your plan was too bold at that time. I was full of questions about whether it could be implemented smoothly. But I didn't expect that when a war really started, everything was carried out according to your plan. The Germans did not doubt the troops that emerged from our military defense zone and allowed them to enter their own defense zone."
"Actually, I also took advantage of a loophole." Faced with General Poluboyarov's praise, Sokov said modestly: "There is a barrier between the German SS and the National Welfare. When the defenders saw a SS emerge from our defense zone, the first thing they thought of was not to attack and attack our attacking troops forward and backward, but to stay in fortifications and watch the other party fight to the death with our army. After seeing the SS troops drill through our army's ranks, they were worried that their actions just now would cause dissatisfaction from the other party, so they could only let the other party's tanks and infantry enter their defense zone."
General Poluboyarov thought for a moment when he heard Sokov say this, and asked thoughtfully: "Comrade Commander, I have not understood the mistake. What do you mean is that if the troops rush out of our military defense zone are not the SS but the National Defense Forces, then our plan may not be implemented?"
"That's right, comrade General." Seeing that General Poluboyarov understood his intention, Sokov nodded and said, "If the defenders find that the National Wehrmacht appears on the battlefield, they will first find a way to figure out the opponent's number, and then attack our offensive troops with them. In that case, my plan will put our offensive troops in danger."
When the car the two were riding was five or six kilometers away from Shumakovo, a three-wheeled motorcycle came towards him. Samoilov looked carefully and turned his head to Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, he is a communications consultant in the headquarters."
When he learned that it was the headquarters' communications officer who came to him, Sokov immediately realized that something important was going to happen, so he ordered the driver: "Park the car on the side of the road."
Not long after the car stopped, the motorcycle drove over and stopped beside the jeep. The staff officer sitting in the stand-alone, waited for the car to stop, jumped down immediately, trotted out of the window, raised his hand to salute, and said, "Comrade Commander, you have your emergency telegram."
"Urgent telegram?!" Sokov opened the car door and reached out to the other party: "Take it to me."
The staff officer took out a folder from the briefcase, took out a telegram from it, and handed it to Sokov. After doing all this, he raised his hand and bowed, turned around and left on his motorcycle.
Sokov opened the telegram and saw that there was a note from Chief of Staff Sameko: "Comrade Commander, I just received a notice from my superior. Marshal Zhukov will call you in half an hour. Please return to the headquarters as soon as possible."
After reading the telegram, Sokov said to everyone: "The Chief of Staff told me that Marshal Zhukov will call me in half an hour and ask me to return to the Army Command immediately."
"What important things will happen?" General Poluboyarov asked curiously: "You know, Marshal Zhukov has not left the headquarters for a long time."
From the moment he saw the telegram, Sokov realized that he had done everything he had done in restoring the position on the left bank of the Pena River. Zhukov understood everything. He was anxious to call himself, and must have been preparing to assign a new task to himself. However, he did not say this in front of his subordinates in the car, but just ordered the driver: "Drive, we must return to the Army Command as soon as possible."
After rushing back to the Army Command, Sokov told Sameko and Lunev about the battle to recapture the left bank of the Pena River. Before he could finish his sentence, the high-frequency phone on the table rang. Sameko did not take the initiative to answer the phone as usual, but looked at Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, it should be the call from Marshal Zhukov."
Sokov walked to the phone, took a deep breath, put the microphone in his ear and said, "I am Major General Sokov, where are you?"
"I am Zhukov." A moment later, Zhukov's voice came from the receiver: "Misha, I heard that you had helped General Katukov's troops not long ago and successfully recovered all the positions on the left bank of the Pena River. You are so amazing."
"Comrade Marshal, you are really over-reward." Sokov heard Zhukov praise him and quickly said modestly: "I'm just a slaughter of my hand, not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."
"Misha, you did a good job." Unexpectedly, Zhukov continued to praise him: "It is because of your bold plan that the casualties of our army have been minimized. On behalf of those surviving commanders and fighters, I thank you!"
Zhukov said not something in the scene, but a heartfelt truth. It is precisely because of Sokov's seemingly absurd but extremely effective tactic that at least hundreds or thousands of people were killed in the offensive troops and many technical equipment. It is reasonable for Zhukov to thank him for this.
"I just met Comrade Beria not long ago." Zhukov continued: "I heard from him that according to your analysis, the next combat location between our army and the Germans is in the Prokhorovka region. Am I right?"
"Yes, comrade Marshal." Although Sokov thought Zhukov's question was strange, even if he didn't say it, as a commander of his level, he should be very clear about the next target of the German army. But since Zhukov asked, he still answered truthfully: "That's what I think."
Chapter completed!