Two hours before dawn, the Infantry Brigade and the Marine Brigade arrived at Sokov's location.
After saluting himself by three brigade commanders, Sokov and three other brigade commanders came forward to shake hands with them one by one, and smiled and said, "You are here in time. In this way, we have enough troops to defend our existing positions."
Colonel Chuwashov waited for Sokov to finish his words, and immediately said impatiently: "Comrade Commander, please give us an order. I promise you that even if our 84th Marine Brigade fights to the last man, he will never hand over the position to the Germans."
"You all come to the map." Sokov called the three brigade commanders to the table, pointed to the map spread above, and said to them: "I plan to arrange all three of your brigades on the right wing of the 188th Division, here, right here."
After looking at the map, Chuwashov couldn't help but frown: "Comrade Commander, our defense zone and the troops responsible for the Pushol River defense line are more than ten kilometers apart. With such a wide front, which unit do you plan to defend?"
"I don't plan to arrange troops to defend here." Sokov picked up his pencil, drew a circle in the position where he arranged the defense, and said to everyone: "The task I give you is to keep the existing defense line for more than two days. Are you confident?"
Then after Sokov finished speaking, no one agreed to him. The three brigade commanders looked at each other, as if they had not yet woken up from the shock. After a while, Chuwashov spoke: "Comrade Commander, once we shrink our troops to defend, there will be a defensive gap between us and the Pushoer River defense line, the enemy can pass through here with great swagger and attack Prokholovka City eastward."
"Comrade Commander, besides the possibility that Colonel Chuwashov said, there is a worse situation." Lieutenant Colonel Uzakov, the commander of the infantry brigade, continued: "After the enemy passes through the gap between our defense lines, they can detour behind us, form a siege against us, and completely cut off the connection between us and friendly forces. Once we fall into the German encirclement and the supply line is interrupted, I really don't know how many days I can last."
Seeing that everyone was still concerned about their orders, Sokov did not simply and roughly order the other party to execute their orders, but explained to them: "Three brigade commanders, you also know that there is a distance of more than ten kilometers from our defense zone to the Pushore River. If you deploy all three of your brigades in this area, it means that each of your brigades must be responsible for the five-kilometer front.
I don’t even say how many troops you have left, you should know in your heart. Even if there are 1,500 people per brigade, you can only deploy 300 people per kilometer. Tell me, without strong fortifications, can your little troops block the attack of several times your enemy?”
The three of them thought about Sokov's words in their hearts, then shook their heads neatly, and replied awkwardly: "Can't defend! If the front of each of our brigades' defense is five kilometers, it means that each soldier must be responsible for a distance of three or four meters. As long as the Germans concentrate their troops to attack, they can easily tear open our defense line."
Seeing that the three brigade commanders also realized the seriousness of the problem, Sokov smiled and nodded, and continued, "Since we can't defend, why should we waste our precious troops on these unimportant defensive areas?"
"But, are we watching the Germans swagger towards Prokholovka from the gap in our defense?" Chuwasov reminded Sokov again: "Once they meet with the Germans from other directions, I worry that the city will be in danger of falling."
"Don't worry, comrade Colonel." Sokov grinned and said, "As long as we still stick to our positions, the enemy will not be able to attack Prokholovka City with confidence. When necessary, we can also attack the enemy's rear, so that they cannot take care of each other and accelerate their defeat."
Lieutenant Colonel Dobruchen, who had not spoken, said, "Comrade Commander, I have an idea. This defensive front, which is more than ten kilometers wide, cannot be given to the enemy in vain. Should we do something?"
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you're right," Sokov said. "Although we don't deploy large troops in this area, we can leave some small teams to deal with the enemy here."
Sokov's words made everyone's eyes lit up. Chuwashov's reaction was the fastest: "Comrade Commander, are you planning to deploy some anti-tank teams here to ambush the enemy's armored forces?"
"Col. Chuwashov, you're right." Sokov gave a thumbs up at the other side and continued: "The rockets we equipped can attack enemy tanks, armored vehicles and trucks a hundred meters away. If we deploy several anti-tank teams in this area, how much damage can it cause to the enemy?"
Chuwashov turned his head and looked at the other two brigade commanders, turned his head to look at Sokov and said, "Comrade Commander, I think our three brigades can send at least ten anti-tank teams. Even if one team can only destroy two to three tanks, the number will accumulate, and the enemy will lose twenty or thirty vehicles..."
Sokov realized from Colonel Chuwashov's words that the other party was planning to use these anti-tank teams to fight for consumption with the enemy, so he quickly raised his hand to interrupt his words: "Comrade Colonel, I want to correct you a little. The anti-tank teams we sent to this area use the guerrilla tactic of firing one shot and changing another place to consume as many enemy tanks as possible, rather than fighting positions with the enemy.
Therefore, when you send an anti-tank team, each team must equip them with a firepower team of a considerable number to provide cover for them. Even if the firepower team is exhausted, you must try your best to protect the safety of the anti-tank team."
The three of them fell into confusion again with Sokov's order. Koida, who attended the meeting, saw that the three of them did not understand Sokov's meaning, so she explained from the side: "Three brigade commanders, don't you understand the commander's meaning? The enemy's blitzkrieg war relies on a large number of tanks and armored vehicles. If our anti-tank hands achieve great results and destroy their tanks and armored vehicles in large quantities, the combat effectiveness of the enemies who lose the cover of tanks and armored vehicles will be greatly reduced.
It is of course a good thing for all the teams that go out to perform missions to come back. But if they are entangled by the enemy, they must give priority to the anti-tank team retreating and the firepower team will leave cover. As long as the anti-tank team is preserved, they will be able to eliminate more enemy tanks in future wars."
"So that's how it is." After Koida's explanation, the three brigade commanders immediately understood what was going on. They told Sokov one after another that they would send out capable combat teams to cover the anti-tank team's attack on the enemy's armored forces.
...
Before dawn, Joseph Dietrich's flag guard division came to the attacking position.
When Haussel learned that the flag guard division had arrived, he was overjoyed. He quickly invited Ditrich to his command cabin and said earnestly: "General Ditrich, it's a pity that your troops have arrived one day late, otherwise we would have torn the Russian defense line to pieces and then smoothly advance to the city of Prokhorovka."
"Your Excellency," Dietrich said arrogantly: "Although my troops come one day late, the results we have achieved today will definitely exceed the results accumulated by the Skeleton Division in two days."
If it were before, Max Simon would definitely refute when he heard Ditrich say this, but yesterday's confrontation with Sokov's troops beat him completely to a loss of temper. Seeing Hauser looking at him with a worried look, he quickly squeezed out a smile on his face and said to Ditrich: "Genre General, then I wish you good luck and rush into Prokholovka as soon as possible."
"My troops will definitely be the first to enter Prokhorovka." Ditrich learned about the hard battles that the Skeleton Division had experienced yesterday on the way to come. He put a hand on Simon's shoulder and said in a sympathetic tone: "You fought for a day yesterday, thank you for your hard work. Today, follow us and move towards Prokhorovka. We will help you clear the enemies on the road ahead so that you can advance without any obstacles."
After yesterday's setbacks, Simon became confused about the future of the war. He felt that with his own strength, even if he wanted to break through the defense line of the Sokov army, he would definitely pay a huge price. Even if he won the final victory, it would be a terrible victory. If such a victory occurs a few more times, his troops can basically cancel the number.
At this moment, when Ditrich volunteered to open the way, he squeezed a smile on his face and said, "General Ditrich, on behalf of the officers and soldiers of the Skeleton Division, I would like to thank you. I wish you a smooth progress, arrive outside Prokhorovka City earlier, and rush into the city in front of other troops."
Hauser was very happy to see Dietrich seeking knowledge. Although he didn't like commanding above the level, he still wanted to understand that the other party was preparing to organize an attack: "General Dietrich, can you tell me, how are you going to attack?"
"Mr. Commander." Dietrich came to the map, pointed his finger at the Soviet defense line above, and said to Hauser: "Before the attack, I plan to concentrate all the artillery fire and bombard a certain part of the Russian defense line. Ten minutes after the bombardment begins, my tanks and armored vehicles will attack, and when they are still three or four hundred meters away from the Russians' positions, the artillery will stop the bombardment."
Ditrich said proudly: "Although the shelling has stopped, even if the Russians stayed in the position were not killed by our artillery fire, they were still dying. Before they could come back to their senses, our tanks had already driven up their power, ran through their incomplete positions, and continued to rush forward; and some of the armored vehicles that followed would stop, let the infantry on their carriers get out of the car and clear out the Russians who were blown to turn in the trenches..."
When Simon heard this, his brow raised his eyebrows and thought to himself: Isn’t this the tactic I used yesterday? I didn’t succeed yesterday. Can you use this tactic to break through the defense of the Russians? You know, the Russians who are standing in front are our enemy Sokov, who is not so easy to deal with.
However, Simon thought about it again that after yesterday's fierce battle, a large amount of live power was consumed. With the few remaining defeated generals in his hands, it was basically impossible to block the well-equipped and sufficiently powerful Flag Guard Division. Perhaps the Flag Guard Division's assault today would feel that the huge results might be achieved. He was even thinking in his mind, what should he do if he captured Sokov alive?
When white light just shone on the horizon, the artillery of the Skeleton Division and the Second SS Panzer Army fired fire at the selected Soviet positions. Seeing the fire and smoke rising in the distance, Simon asked Ditrich curiously: "General Ditrich, why do you choose the breakthrough here?"
"After careful observation, I found that the terrain here is flat, which is very conducive to the maneuver of the armored forces. Moreover, the Russians' defense is relatively weak, which is the easiest position to break through." Dietrich explained: "So I concentrated all the artillery fire to bombard the Russians, and I must tear a gap in the Russians' positions."
Ten minutes passed in a flash, and the armored regiment's tanks rushed to the Soviet position in a wedge-shaped combat formation, followed by more than 40 armored vehicles, and the 2nd Armored Grenadier Regiment followed far behind.
At the beginning of the attack, Simon kept watching the armored troops advance through the telescope. The tanks in front drove at full speed, striving to rush into the Soviet defensive position in the shortest time. When the tanks in the front were about five hundred meters away from the Soviet trenches, the artillery behind stopped the artillery attacks because they were worried about accidental injuries.
Seeing the tanks of the Flag Guard Division gradually approaching the Soviet position, but the Soviet trenches were still silent, Simon couldn't help but frown and murmured: "Strange, why is there no movement yet? Haven't they woke up from the just-concluded artillery bombardment?"
Soon, the tanks rushing in front rushed into the Soviet position where the smoke had not yet dissipated, but the Soviet army still had no defense. They neither saw the kind of rocket launcher that could destroy tanks from a distance, nor heard any gunshots or explosions. They could only hear the roar of the engines on tanks and armored vehicles coming from afar.
Chapter completed!