Guderian changed his intentions, and the opponent used the main forces to counterattack, apparently guessing the weakness of his insufficient forces.

At this point, he also knew that he had no way to really hide it for long. Therefore, he immediately adjusted his combat deployment and prepared to take out the Soviet troops blocking the road first.

He wanted to eat the 6th Guards Panzer Division of the Soviet Guards on top first, encircle and annihilate this army, and then continue to advance south, taking Zolotushino and Svoboda in one go.

If he wanted to achieve this operational goal, he had to make the 1st Cavalry Division, which was in charge of guarding the left flank, make a detour forward as quickly as possible.

On the other side, the 10th Motorized Rifle Division was also supposed to immediately spread out to the west, forming a pocket with the 4th Panzer Division on the front.

As long as the troops on both flanks advanced fast enough, the 24th Panzer Army could form a huge pocket and carry the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Division in front of it.

"The plan looks pretty good." After marking the location of the troops on the map, the chief of staff nodded in agreement.

There were no other towns in the vicinity of the town of Boneri, which meant that there were sufficient field conditions for the Germans to carry out a local siege of armored forces.

As long as the Soviet tank units in the encirclement can be eaten, it is equivalent to tearing a hole in the Soviet defense line, and the German army can continue to drive straight in.

Zolotushino, the follow-up units of the Soviet army are following up in an orderly manner. Zhukov's troops in Kursk actually far exceeded Guderian's estimates.

As a German commander, Guderian judged that the Soviet army in Kursk was about 150,000 troops, which were obviously not enough to pose a threat to the German army.

Because the Soviet army is currently seriously shrinking in strength, most of the troops are replenished recruits, and with insufficient weapons and equipment, the combat effectiveness of these troops will be reduced.

In fact, the main force mobilized by the Soviet army is almost 150,000, and counting the second-line troops formed locally, the Soviet army has gathered more than 300,000 troops here.

The morale of these units was high, and many of the second-line troops were far superior to the civilian forces near Moscow because of the months they had to train.

"Report! The 10th Motorized Rifle Division called, and on their flanks they found a Soviet infantry unit, which was quite adequate. Soon, a telegram was delivered to Guderian, and his plan for encirclement, which had just been executed, was in trouble.

If one side of the encirclement cannot be formed, then the pocket is useless. So Guderian pulled through the telegram, looked at it carefully, and handed it to the chief of staff.

"Our right flank found a Soviet army, eighty percent retreating from Zheleznogorsk...... What I don't understand is, why are they retreating to this side? Before the chief of staff could read the message, Guderian asked as if he were talking to himself.

The chief of staff looked at the map and felt that the direction in which this Soviet army appeared was a little too strange. If the Soviet troops in the Zheleznogorsk region were pressured to retreat, they should not have marched in the direction of the Germans moving south.

"They were not forced to abandon Zheleznogorsk! They received the order to attack our flank! Guderian narrowed his eyes and deduced the plan of action of the Soviet army.

"General! The 1st Cavalry Division encountered Soviet tank units...... They built a line of defense in the field, and the Soviet offensive was very fierce. A few hours later, another message arrived.

Guderian was ordering the 3rd Regiment of the 1st Panzer Division to reinforce the 10th Motorized Rifle Division, and when he heard the news, he grasped the crux of the matter.

The other party is also divided into three ways, ready to fight a field battle to compete with him! And at present, it seems that the other party's troops are much more sufficient than him!

Thinking of this, Guderian knew that his estimate was too optimistic, the Soviet army had more troops than he thought, and the combat effectiveness was also stronger. Since the troops are sufficient and the combat effectiveness is higher, it is natural to do things that are more in line with strength!

"Chief of Staff! Zhukov seems to have underestimated us......" Guderian sneered, and then said to the chief of staff.

His chief of staff also realized the Soviet army's intentions, nodded in agreement: "The other side has mobilized at least 5 divisions of troops, ready to surround us!" ”

It is a question of who will surround whom, after all, the German army also has 5 divisions of strength, and it is unlikely that it will be surrounded and annihilated by 5 divisions of the Soviet army.

However, these Soviet troops poured in from all directions, which really made the Germans feel that they could not move an inch - they were ordered to go south, and it was not a good thing to be stopped halfway after all.

After thinking about it, Guderian finally gave up the original plan of encircling and annihilating the 6th Guards Tank Division of the Soviet Army, and prepared to fully switch to the defense to see the follow-up attempts of the Soviet army.

So, what are the Soviet troops that are pouring out of the German army from all directions, and how did they come from?

The Soviet troops that appeared on the right flank of the German troops moving south were actually a division of the Soviet army deployed in Zheleznogorsk, and at this moment they abandoned their original positions and were moving towards the German flank.

And on Guderian's left flank, the Soviet 8th Guards Tank Division, on Zhukov's orders, had begun a few days earlier to move to the northwest, approaching the Germans along a tributary of the Sosna River.

In the vicinity of Velizhirovo, the Soviets had gathered two infantry divisions, which were also moving north at this moment, preparing to set up a defensive line along the tributaries of the Seim River to prevent the Germans from making a detour to the west.

The Soviet troops, which were followed by Zolotushino, were also deployed behind the 6th Guards Tank Division, with two divisions in force.

In other words, the chief of staff of Cluster G, estimating the strength of the Soviets with 5 divisions, still underestimated his opponent. Zhukov gathered 7 divisions in one go, ready to give the Germans a dismount.

As early as the Battle of Nomenkhan, Zhukov was accustomed to gathering forces several times larger than his opponent, forming a local superiority and resolutely fighting an offensive war.

Although he has always used defensive tactics when directing the fighting in Ukraine, this does not mean that Zhukov has forgotten his forte.

Guderian believed that he was fighting an offensive war, and he had to face passive defensive Soviet positions.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhukov also wanted to fight an offensive battle, and he also hoped that he could use an effective counterattack to expel the German army from Kursk.

Therefore, both armies discovered the opponent in front of them without much preparation, and on the day of July 17, they figured out the opponent's intentions.