After dawn, under the strict order of Manstein, the German army on the southern Kursk line launched a fierce attack on the Soviet defense zone again.
General Knobel Stewart's 48th Army once again launched an attack on Oboyang, who was defended by Katukov's 1st Tank Army. Since Katukov's troops were divided and used by Vatukin in the battle, the troops in many important areas seemed particularly weak.
Faced with the advantageous enemy, Katukov had to transfer some troops from non-important areas to the areas where the battle was most intense to prevent the defense line in the Oboyan area from being broken through by the German army again.
In later records, the battles in the Prokholovka region were written by big books, while the battles carried out by Katukov and his friendly forces in the direction of Oboyang were briefly described in the Spring and Autumn style. However, they knew that the scale of the tanks carried out there far exceeded that of the Prokholovka region.
At the beginning of the battle, Katukov's First Tank Army and Chisdakov's Sixth Guard Army suffered crazy attacks from nearly 700 tanks. Although in the battle, both tank soldiers and infantry were extremely tenacious, they destroyed a large number of German tanks and delayed the enemy's speed of advancing towards the depth of defense.
However, due to the huge losses suffered in the battle, the defense line in the Oboyang area was still broken by the German army. If Sokov's troops had not appeared in time, the situation would have become even worse.
As the Imperial Division was annihilated, the remaining Skeleton Division and Flag Guard Division turned to the direction of Prokholovka, and the situation in Oboyang seemed to improve. It was in this case that the Soviet Command turned all its attention to the Prokholovka area, which they felt was the area for the decisive battle.
When the Skeleton Division and the Flag Guard Division turned to Prokholovka, Katukov felt that the time for a counterattack was up. After discussing with Chisdakov, the commander of the Sixth Army of the Guards, he decided to organize a full-scale counterattack on July 11 to eliminate or drive away the enemies in the areas of Rakovo and Belezovka.
In order to complete the planned offensive plan, he mobilized the 10th Guards Tank Army and the 5th Tank Army to assist the Sixth Guards Army. The offensive battle was originally scheduled to start at 9 a.m., but before 8 a.m., the artillery of the Sixth Guards Army carried out artillery preparations towards the enemy's positions.
After the one-hour artillery preparation was over, the infantry of the Guards launched the attack before Katukov's tank arrived. As the signal flare representing the beginning of the attack took off, tens of thousands of Soviet commanders and fighters jumped out of their hiding place, holding weapons, shouting "Ula", and rushing towards the enemy's position.
The enemy troops occupied the areas of Rakovo and Belezovka, and never dreamed that the Soviet army would suddenly launch a full-scale counterattack on them. However, the trained troops stationed here were all well-trained. After a brief chaos, they immediately adopted the tactics they had adopted before. Except for a few people who stayed to monitor the movements of the Soviet army, the rest retreated to the rear positions through the traffic trenches, causing the shells fired by the Soviet army to hit the empty space without anyone.
When the Soviet artillery was over and the infantry began to attack, the German troops retreated to the second line of defense, then passed through the trenches and returned to their original positions in an orderly manner, preparing to launch a fierce sniper on the Soviet army.
The infantry without tank cover was blocked by the barbed wire in front of the German position. Just as they began to clear the road, the machine gun fire on the German position began to fire, and dozens of MG42 machine guns fired at the same time, forming a dense firepower net, which immediately knocked down the commanders and fighters who were cleaning the barbed wire in pieces.
Seeing the enemy start shooting, most of the commanders and fighters lie down on the spot, hide in bullet craters or other hidden positions, and shoot back at the enemy's positions. However, a small number of commanders and fighters tried to rush to the enemy's positions by blocking the barbed wire in front, but they continued to be shot and fell under dense firepower.
The German army had machine gun fire, suppressing the attacking Soviet army in the barbed wire area. Then, they transferred mortars and launched violent shellings at the places where the Soviet army gathered. The Soviet army, which was suppressed by machine gun fire and killed mortar shells, persisted in the barbed wire area for half an hour. Seeing that they could not effectively break through the enemy's position, they had to choose to retreat.
A tank brigade of the 10th Guard Tank Army arrived at the battlefield. The brigade commander led the team to see that the troops on his side were attacking the enemy's positions, so he ordered the entire brigade's tanks to advance at full speed and catch up to support the infantry. Unexpectedly, they had just walked halfway, and the infantry that was still attacking retreated. This made the tank brigade commander feel a headache. Attack, the infantry retreated, and the tank without infantry cover rushed forward and would be eliminated by the German anti-tank hands; retreat, it was not easy for the tank to turn around on a battlefield full of people.
The tank brigade commander hesitated for a long time and finally issued a not-so-error order: "All tanks listen to my orders, aim at the enemy's positions and shoot, and cover our infantry brothers to retreat."
More than fifty tanks fired at the same time, and immediately suppressed the machine guns and mortar firepower on the German positions in the distance. Many Soviet commanders and fighters who were suppressed by the firepower were unable to move. Seeing that the firepower on the enemy positions were mute, they climbed up one after another and retreated to the position they were already on.
Seeing that the infantry had withdrawn their positions, the tank brigade commander ordered all the tanks and also withdrew from the Soviet defensive positions. After returning to his own position, the tank brigade commander immediately reported everything that happened on the battlefield to Katukov through the radio station.
After hearing this, Katukov immediately started to attack: "What's going on with Chisdakov? He had clearly agreed to operate in a joint manner, why didn't we wait for our tanks to arrive before launching an attack on the enemy?"
"Comrade Commander," said cautiously after Chief of Staff, after Katukov finished speaking, "Maybe General Chisdakov felt that the enemies in the area of ​​Rakovo and Belezovka had been severely weakened after a long battle. Even without the assistance of our tanks, infantry alone could eliminate the enemies here."
"Nothing, this is nothing more than nonsense." Katukov said angrily: "When the German army launched an attack on our position, tanks and armored vehicles rushed to the front to destroy our army's defenses to cover the infantry following behind, and could quickly seize our position.
What about our friendly forces? They actually use infantry without any cover to attack the enemy's strong defensive positions? If Chisdakov waits until our tanks arrive on the battlefield and then orders the troops to launch an attack, then the infantry following behind the tanks will not have to worry that the barbed wire in front of the enemy's positions will block their way. The tanks that open the way in front will open up several roads for infantry to pass from these obstacle areas formed by barbed wire."
Katukov threw the cigarette butts that had been smoked in his hand on the ground, crushed it with his toes, and continued, "I think the Germans should be invited to teach our infantry commanders so that they can know what the B-Tan coordination in offensive battles is."
"Comrade Commander," the military commissioner next to him quickly reminded Katukov: "How can you say that you invite the Germans to teach us this way? If outsiders find out, you will make a mistake."
Katukov was also angry. He did not expect that today's attack would have unexpected variables because of Chisdakov's arbitrary initiative. Although the first attack on the German positions was injured or killed hundreds or thousands of people, it was a great blow to morale. In this case, if you launch an attack on the enemy's positions, there is probably little hope of victory.
He walked back and forth in the command center with his hands behind his back, thinking in his mind how to deal with the enemies occupying the areas of Rakovo and Berezovka. After walking for a long time, he finally stopped and said to his chief of staff: "Chief of Staff, immediately transfer General Krivoshein's mechanized 3rd Army to replace the attack of the Sixth Army of the Guards. We must find a way to take down Rakovo and Berezovka."
After hearing this, the Chief of Staff carefully reminded Katukov: "Our mechanized 3rd Army is still in contact with the German army. Will temporarily mobilize them not have an adverse impact on our overall defense?"
"I can't care about that much now." Katukov waved his hand and said, "From the battle that just ended, the quality of the infantry is still a little worse. I am not at all relieved to cooperate with us. It is better to use my own mechanized army as a pre-emptive agent. Chief of staff, don't be standing there, hurry up and call General Krivoshein and order him to transfer the troops to the designated offensive position as soon as possible."
Katukov was not sure. What he said was heard by a staff officer in the command center and passed it to Chisdakov's headquarters through a telephone. The officer who answered the call immediately reported to Chisdakov: "...Comrade Commander, this is the situation. According to General Katukov's intention, he was preparing to transfer the mechanized 3rd Army to complete the offensive mission here."
The war was not going well, and Chisdakov was already full of fire. When he heard the officer repeating what Katukov said, it was like adding fuel to the fire. He threw the red and blue pencil in his hand on the table and said in a furious manner: "Since Katukov has such ability, let his troops deal with these Germans."
As he said that, he called the chief of staff to the front and ordered the other party: "Stop the original offensive operation, and except for leaving a regiment to hold on, the rest of the troops will return to their original garrison and leave it to Katukov's troops."
"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff realized that Chisdakov was dizzy. Now the main forces of the group army have already taken on an offensive posture. If they are mobilized without authorization, it will not only cause chaos, but also be easily taken advantage of by the German army. So he persuaded: "General Katukov may be speaking all angry words, so don't take it to heart. No matter how strong the tank troops are, the ones who occupy the enemy's positions in the end are our infantry. If we really withdraw and the mechanized army is unable to be in place for a long time, then the counterattack we are talking about here will end in failure."
After listening to the Chief of Staff's persuasion, Chisdakov stared at the map in front of him in a daze. After a while, his mood slowly stabilized. He thought to himself that he did have an unshirkable responsibility for what happened today. It was originally planned to be a joint battle between the two armies, but without waiting for the tank troops to arrive, he ordered the infantry to launch the attack first, which resulted in losses in the troops.
After understanding the consequences, his face turned slightly red, and then he said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, you are right. We are indeed wrong in this matter. It is understandable that General Katukov complains a few times. You immediately notify the troops and hurry up and prepare to wait for more tank troops to arrive before launching a new attack."
Not only Katukov or Chisdakov, he soon forgot about this matter, but he focused on mobilizing his troops and prepared to launch a new attack on the enemy-controlled areas of Rakovo and Belezovka.
But neither of them expected that what Katukov said and Chisdakov's reaction after hearing these words were quietly reported to the intelligence department of the Front Command. After receiving the news, the intelligence director immediately went to the command center of Vatukin to report the matter to him.
After entering the door, the Director of Intelligence saw Vatukin and Zhukov. Huasilevsky surrounded the table and leaned over to look at the map spread on it. Seeing this, the Director of Intelligence knew that the three of them were studying the situation outside Prokholovka City, and the tanks on both sides were fighting there.
When Watujing saw the intelligence director standing at the door, he stood up and asked, "Comrade Director, is there anything wrong?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." The Intelligence Director who was about to leave heard Vatujing's question, quickly walked forward and handed over the telegram in his hand: "This is a telegram we just obtained, please check it out."
Watujing thought it was an enemy situation report, but when he opened the telegram, he found that it was a report of the discord between Katukov and Chisdakov. He couldn't help but frowned and asked the intelligence director with a stern face: "Is this intelligence reliable?"
"Full be reliable, Comrade Commander." The Director of Intelligence quickly replied with affirmation: "The source of the information is completely reliable, so the authenticity of this telegram is unquestionable."
"I understand." Vatujing nodded at the other party and said, "There is nothing to do with you here, so you can go back first."
Zhukov and the Intelligence Director left, then asked Watujing: "Comrade Watujing, what happened?"
Vatutin placed the telegram in front of Zhukov and Vasilevsky and smiled and said, "Nothing is the big deal, it's the two generals Katukov and Chisdakov. There was a little friction due to different combat concepts. But the matter has passed and will not affect our next combat operations."
Chapter completed!