Chapter 1291: Epilogue (below)

  Chapter 1291 Ending (Part 2)

  After learning that the 19th Armored Division was annihilated by the Soviet army, Manstein fell into a state of madness. In less than a week, the most elite Imperial Division, Skeleton Division and 19th Armored Division under him were wiped out by Sokov's troops. Even the 6th Armored Division, which had participated in the battle, suffered huge losses .

"This Sokov is simply my nemesis." Manstein murmured: "Where he appears, it means that our troops will be wiped out by him. The strength of an army under his command is no less than A front army."

"Mr. Field Marshal," Adjutant Burke couldn't help interjecting when he heard Manstein talking to himself, "Actually, Sokov is not invincible. Don't look at his troops just annihilating the 19th Armored Division. We have paid a huge price. If we dispatch an armored division from the direction of Oboyan and launch a fierce attack on his defense zone at this time, there may be unexpected gains!"

"Colonel, please pay attention to your identity!" Unexpectedly, after hearing what he said, Manstein immediately straightened his face and said in a stern tone: "You are only my adjutant, not my chief of staff. Your responsibility is to My orders should be conveyed truthfully, instead of giving me some ideas like a staff officer. Do you understand?"

   "Understood, Your Excellency the Marshal." Burke, who was reprimanded by Manstein, flushed with shame. He lowered his head and said embarrassedly, "I won't make a similar mistake next time."

"If you do it again next time, I will send you to the front." Manstein threatened the other party and said: "I will let you command a regiment and fight the Russians face to face. Then you can command as you want. I will never will interfere with you."

  After teaching his talkative adjutant a lesson, Manstein got up and walked to the chief of staff, and asked, "Chief of staff, do you have any good suggestions?"

  The chief of staff glanced at Burke, who was silent beside him, and said with some concerns: "Your Excellency, Marshal, I don't know if you will lose your temper after listening to my suggestion."

   "Just say what comes to mind." Manstein said impatiently: "Since you are my chief of staff, you should provide me with useful suggestions."

"I agree with what Colonel Burke said just now," the chief of staff waited for Manstein to finish speaking, and said courageously, "Deploy an armored division from the direction of Oboyan to carry out an assault on the area defended by Sokov's troops. Now the main force of the Russians is being pinned by us in the two directions of Oboyan and Prokhorovka. Even if Sokov's troops are attacked, I don't think the Russians will be able to spare them any strength to support them. , our chances of winning are much greater.”

"Chief of Staff, if it is an ordinary Russian army, even if they have a group army, I only need to dispatch two armored divisions to defeat them." Manstein said expressionlessly: "But now, what we have to deal with is the Kov, not ordinary Russians, will suffer a great loss if he continues to command operations according to the previous thinking. Don’t say that you haven’t made progress by then, but instead have added another force.”

Manstein's words made the chief of staff completely shut up. He knew that what the marshal said was true. When encountering a monster like Sokov, those generals who have repeatedly made military exploits on the Russian battlefield seem to be unable to fight. Taking advantage, it is not Sukov's opponent at all. This Sokov, who is different from other Russian generals, seems to be a messenger from hell.

   "Chief of Staff," Manstein waited for a while, and seeing that his chief of staff was silent, he took the initiative to say: "Do you know why I don't plan to use troops in the direction of Oboyan?"

  The chief of staff quickly shook his head, and then asked cautiously, "Why?"

"According to recent intelligence, the Russians' Southern and Southeast Fronts are gathering troops and seem to be preparing to attack the rear of our army." Manstein said to his chief of staff: "If we consume more troops in the direction of Oboyan If there are too many, then in the next battle, you will become very passive. Do you understand?"

"I understand, Your Excellency the Marshal." Although the chief of staff had seen information about the Soviet Army's Southern Front Army and Southeast Front Army from the received information, his attention was focused on the two directions of Oboyan and Prokhorovka. There is no time to consider the enemies behind us who may threaten our retreat: "We have to leave enough troops to deal with the Russians who may give up their attack from our rear."

"That's right, that's true." Manstein nodded and said, "I contacted Model on the northern front today, and he said that he had given up his plan to attack and was going to concentrate his forces to protect Orel. The Russians retook that city."

   "So, we are all fighting alone now?" the chief of staff asked cautiously.

"Yes, if the head of state doesn't transfer the 24th Armored Corps in my hands, I'm absolutely sure to finish off the Russians on the southern front in these two days, and then move northward to capture Kursk." When it comes to being transferred After leaving the 24th Armored Army, Manstein felt heartbroken: "A total of 50,000 people, a combat force of 50,000 people, and 381 tanks and assault guns of various types. If the head of state did not transfer this force Come on, I can use them to deal the final blow to the Russians and completely smash all their defenses in the Prokhorovka area."

   "Your Excellency, Marshal, let me ask a question carefully." The chief of staff asked cautiously: "Why did the head of state transfer the 24th Armored Army from us?"

"The British and American coalition forces have landed in Sicily. The head of state believes that relying solely on Italy's own strength cannot resist the attack of the Western Allied forces. In order to keep Italy and the Balkan Peninsula, troops have to be drawn from the Eastern Front to support the Italian front." Mann Stein said bitterly: "I think the head of state has completely lost confidence in the victory of the fortress operation. I feel that our victory in the Kursk salient operation cannot offset the British and American forces in Italy. victory."

   "Then what should we do next?" After hearing Manstein's words, the chief of staff realized that this battle could not be fought, and even the mustache, who was the supreme commander, lost confidence. How could the officers and soldiers below fight? Therefore, he cautiously asked Manstein for instructions: "Should we continue the offensive, or withdraw from the Kursk salient in an orderly manner and return to the original starting point of the offensive?"

"The attack continues." Although Manstein knew in his heart that Mustache was no longer willing to waste troops on the Kursk Bulge, but before receiving a formal retreat order, he could only choose to continue fighting, so he had no choice but to continue fighting. Against his will, he gave an order to the chief of staff: "Without my order, no one will withdraw from the current combat area."

  ...

   At dawn the next day, thousands of artillery pieces of different calibers outside the city of Prokhorovka fired at the same time. They fired at the positions where the German troops were stationed non-stop for an hour and a half.

  After the bombardment ended, the Soviet army did not launch an attack immediately, and the entire battlefield fell into silence. Those German officers and soldiers who got out of the shelter looked at the open space in front of the position in a daze through the thick gunpowder smoke, but they didn't find any trace of the attacking Soviet army, and they didn't even hear the familiar "Ula" sound. arrive.

   Just when they were puzzled, a strange sound came from the air. Soon, the German officers and soldiers saw countless arrow-like flames appearing in the sky. "Concealment," most German officers and soldiers have seen the power of Soviet rocket launchers. As soon as they saw the flames in the sky, they knew that the Soviet Katyusha rockets had been launched, and they quickly dispersed and hid in nearby shelters or anti-aircraft artillery. Hole.

   After the rockets drew beautiful arcs in the air, they disappeared into the German defensive positions, and then there was a terrible rumbling sound. Huge explosions came and went, making the whole earth tremble. The German officers and soldiers hiding in the shelter felt the thick soil on their heads falling like rain.

  After Katyusha completed a volley, three red flares appeared in the air, which was a signal to attack.

   Tens of thousands of commanders and fighters who gathered crowdedly in the trenches and traffic trenches leading to the enemy's positions suddenly heard the melody of "Holy War" when they saw the signal flare rising into the air.

At first, everyone thought it was their own hallucination, but when they saw the confused expressions on the faces of the comrades on the left and right, they realized that it was not their own hallucination, but the song "Alexander Red Flag Song and Dance Troupe" was playing on the radio. Holy war".

  Hearing this passionate song, the commanders and fighters jumped out of the trenches and traffic trenches one after another, shouting "Ula", and bravely rushed to the German positions. Soon after the infantry attacked, the tanks and self-propelled artillery concealed in the rear were also launched one after another, crossed the trench at full power, and rushed towards the enemy's position.

  Colonel Shechtman's 254th Division, under the cover of the tanks of General Baharov's 18th Tank Corps, also rushed towards the position where the Banner Guard Division was located. Don't look at the failure of the several consecutive attacks launched yesterday, but today, whether it is Colonel Shechtman or General Baharov, they all feel that the troops coordinated by Butan can break through the defensive position of the Banner Guard.

  The 181st Tank Brigade covered the 762nd Regiment of the 254th Division, and the target of the attack was the positions of the German 101st Heavy Tank Company and the 1st Assault Gun Battalion. Before the offensive began, no one would think that this place would become a hard nut to crack. They all thought that once the tanks rushed up, the German defense would definitely collapse immediately.

But the Soviet commanders and fighters never dreamed that in this seemingly weakly defended area, there were ten huge Tiger tanks with German flags on the rear of the vehicle body, and ten 88mm Rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns. . These tanks and anti-tank guns are concealed in tank trenches or bomb craters dug in advance.

  When the Soviet tanks were still 1,200 meters away from the position, the German Tiger tanks and Rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns began to fire. Facing the flood of Soviet tanks and infantry, the tankers and gunners did not panic at all. Instead, they fired methodically as usual in training, destroying the fast-advancing Soviet tanks one after another.

  The Soviet tanks, which suffered huge losses, not only did not retreat, but continued to brave the enemy's artillery fire, trying to shorten the distance between the two sides before destroying the enemy's tanks with artillery fire.

  But the following facts disappointed the brigade commander of the 181st Tank Brigade. Even if his tank advanced to a distance of 500 meters from the enemy tank, it still could not destroy the enemy tank. Because the enemy's tanks were all hiding in tank trenches or shell casings, with only a turret and gun barrel exposed, the shells fired by the Soviet tanks were either empty, or hit the turrets and could not penetrate them.

Seeing this situation, the commander of the tank brigade could only ask for help from the commander of the army, General Baharov: "Comrade commander, the tanks of our brigade were attacked by the German Tiger tanks and Rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns. support."

When Baharov learned that his troops were not progressing smoothly, he immediately replied: "Colonel, order your tanks to continue to charge forward. As long as you get close to the German tanks, the enemy's tanks will lose their advantage. Don't be afraid of casualties, don't be afraid." Afraid of losses, I will immediately send the 170th Tank Brigade to support you."

  Seeing the Soviet tanks rushing towards them regardless of casualties, the German tanks and rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns, which were at a disadvantage in number, could only choose to alternately cover and retreat towards the rear in an orderly manner.

   The 170th Tank Brigade, which came to support from the left flank, saw that the enemy had begun to retreat, so they scrambled to the enemy's position, trying to destroy the retreating German tanks. However, unexpectedly, they were blocked by a wide anti-tank trench in front of the enemy's position.

   Seeing that the road was blocked, the brigade commander could only order his subordinates to find another road to pass through this area. Unexpectedly, when they were looking for a way, several Rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns came over again, hid in the crater, and fired again at the Soviet tanks that were trying to detour.

  The tanks of the 170th Brigade were about to make a detour. They were already crowded together. They did not expect to be attacked suddenly by the German Rhino anti-tank guns, and they were caught off guard. Those tanks with shooting vision were unable to fire back in time because of the nervousness of the tankers; while those tank soldiers who reacted quickly were unable to shoot because of the occlusion of friendly tanks.

  The tanks of the 170th Brigade crowded together became the best targets for the German Rhino self-propelled anti-tank guns. Most of the shells fired by the anti-tank guns hit the target. For a while, the Soviet tanks in front of the anti-tank trench were destroyed one after another, and countless tanks were burning and smoking. Except for a few tank soldiers who escaped from the tank in time and ran towards the rear, the rest either died in the tank or were cut down by the shrapnel produced by the explosion after they came out.

   Fortunately, the self-propelled anti-tank guns of the German army did not carry much ammunition. After firing the ammunition, they retreated to the rear one after another, rushing to join the Tiger tank.

  Major General Baharov, who was staying in the command post, stomped his feet angrily when he saw that his tank was beaten by the Germans and had no power to fight back. He went to the radio, grabbed the microphone, and called the brigade commander of the 170th Tank Brigade loudly: "Hey, Colonel, what's the matter with you, why did you put the troops in front of the enemy's position, and let the enemy treat you as an enemy?" Target hit."

   Unexpectedly, after a long time in the earphones, a heavy voice came: "Comrade Army Commander, the Brigadier Commander has died in the battle just now."

  After hearing the bad news, Baharov thought he heard it wrong, and shouted into the microphone: "What did you just say, repeat it again."

   "Report to the army commander, the brigade commander has died in the battle a few minutes ago."

  (end of this chapter)