Chapter 1114 The ultimate gamble

The bad news from the telegram was very clear and only one. The Soviet troops deployed on the wings of the Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade and responsible for attacking the Northern Skeleton Division and the Southern Reich Division had been defeated.

The Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division, which adopted roundabout offensive tactics, relied on strong armor support and powerful air strikes to advance rapidly. They continued to defeat the Soviet troops who came to attack them in an attack-on-attack manner. Next, continue to move forward to launch a follow-up attack.

The Soviet infantry unit, whose legs could not outrun the track wheels, suffered heavy casualties, and the Soviet tank unit was also not much better.

Those T3476 faced hordes of tigers and leopards, which turned out to be much larger than in the existing history, and were beaten into a state of disarray. After a wave of armored raids by the SS, dozens or even hundreds of medium and light tanks were often destroyed. Neither the T3476 nor the T70 could withstand this wave of armor.

What's even more terrible is that the aircraft that Vatutin can mobilize are only two fighter divisions and one assault pilot division, and these three aviation divisions have all suffered considerable losses in the battles in the past few days. Compared with the overwhelming German air raids described in the news from the battlefield, the numbers are obviously not at the same level.

"Comrade Stalin, we still need more planes! The enemy has concentrated a large number of fighter planes in Prokhorovka on the southern front. They are densely packed and overwhelming! We must block their air attacks in order to repel the enemy and lose Prokhorov The consequences of getting stuck will be disastrous!”

The situation on the battlefield was extremely urgent, and Vatutin, who did not care too much, directly called Stalin in the Kremlin in Moscow and asked for support.

Comrade Stalin, the loving father who was holding the microphone on the other end of the phone, looked very solemn. The situation of the troops in the north commanded by Zhukov was also not very good.

The Germans went crazy and directly used armored troops to attack the Soviet positions protected by minefields. The tanks in front hit mines and were paralyzed, and the German tanks behind them followed closely and continued the attack. The attack rhythm was so fast that it almost overwhelmed the Soviet troops. In previous battles, the German armored troops had never been seen so crazy.

If the strategic depth were not large enough and there were multiple defensive positions prepared in advance, which could be used by the Soviet army to weaken the German offensive edge, Stalin even felt that Zhukov might have sent him a signal for help earlier than Vatutin. .

Fortunately, Zhukov, who is still in a defensive state, is still commanding the Kursk Northern Theater Command and continues to fight back and forth with the Germans without giving in too much. Some strategic reserves that have been prepared can be sent to them now. Vatutin, go to support.

"The aircraft you want will arrive soon, and the two newly formed fighter aviation divisions will be able to support and go into battle today. But the ground support troops will have to wait a little longer, especially the tank troops. I will find a way We will send you support from the north, but before that we must hold Prokhorovka and not retreat! We must not lose this strategic location!”

Stalin put his words more tactfully. Although it sounded promising, this was not the final result that Vatutin sought. The words blurted out almost without hesitation as soon as the voice on the other end of the phone finished speaking.

"Comrade Stalin, how long will it take for ground support to arrive? I ask for the specific time!"

The majestic and domineering father-in-law Comrade Stalin was rarely questioned like this by his generals. Previously, the only frontline general who dared to continue questioning after Stalin made his promise was Zhukov, who was famous for his bad temper.

On a normal day, such questioning might make Comrade Stalin unhappy on the spot, but the consequences of the Supreme Leader being unhappy are something anyone can imagine.

But now, at the critical moment when the situation is extremely urgent, Stalin, who puts the overall situation first, has no time to care about those trivial things. Now is not the time to engage in such insignificant things.

His thick black eyebrows and beard trembled uncontrollably almost simultaneously. Comrade Stalin, who hesitated for two or three seconds, then reported the accurate time.

"Tomorrow, at the latest this time tomorrow, ground reinforcements will arrive, including tanks and infantry. You must use these reinforcements to defeat the enemy's counterattack in the Prokhorovka theater, and you must not let this place fall into the hands of the enemy. do you understand?"

Stalin once again made a promise to Vatutin, and now he needed to get the results he wanted to hear.

"Yes! Promise to complete the mission, Comrade Stalin! We will definitely repel all enemies who try to make a breakthrough in Prokhorovka. Victory will eventually belong to the Red Army!"

"I hope you will keep your word, Vatutin. I am waiting for your good news."

Snapped--

Stalin on the other end of the phone was the first to hang up the receiver.

Vatutin stared at the phone in his hand with a confused look, increasingly confused as to what the hell these German guys were planning.

Are the Krauts really eager to make a breakthrough in Prokhorovka?

Yes, Vatugin had always thought so before, but the current situation was a little different.

The next move of the two SS divisions that defeated the Red Army troops in front of them was not to make a high-speed assault, continue to intersperse, and move forward to penetrate the depth of the Prokhorovka theater and complete a breakthrough.

The two SS divisions are now trying to merge together in an increasingly obvious semi-arc attack route. The inner line of the arc corresponds to the SS Division still entrenched at the October State Farm. These three echoing The movement and deployment of the SS divisions clearly indicated a three-point encirclement situation.

From the perspective of the battle command level, Vatutin could see from the map that the Germans were in an obvious encirclement situation and seemed to be intending to eat all the Soviet troops in the Provo theater.

But the problem is that the total number of Soviet troops currently deployed in Prokhorovka is still more than 100,000, which even includes first-level integrated units directly under the front army such as the Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade.

The Germans want to use three divisions to eat 100,000 of their own people? He has quite an appetite!

Vatutin believes that he still has the ability to grasp the overall war situation. As soon as reinforcements arrive, he can launch a new round of attack on the Germans and reverse the situation in Prokhorovka.

But Vatutin, who was feeling a little uneasy, was even more worried about the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. Malashenko was currently facing a situation where he was entangled by the Guards Division and unable to withdraw even if he wanted to.

The other two SS divisions that were outflanking were now trying to encircle more than 50,000 Soviet troops, including the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. Divide the entire Prokhorovka theater into two halves with a single knife, encircle and suppress the surrounded Soviet troops internally, and resist the attack of Soviet support troops externally, intending to do so at the same time.