Amid the whistling of shells and rocket artillery, Zhukov's Korthuban offensive began.

In fact, the Soviet offensive in Korteluban did not enter the city, for the simple reason that the Soviets hoped to break through the German defense line as quickly as possible, cut off the German army in the east of Korteluban and its main force, and at the same time get in touch with Stalingrad.

So it's all about speed.

Under such considerations, it is obvious that the city of Kotluban cannot be used as an offensive node, on the one hand, because street fighting is more time-consuming, and on the other hand, street fighting is not conducive to tank combat.

The actual breakthrough set by Zhukov was a five-kilometer stretch of road between the 139.7 heights and Kuzmich, two miles outside of Kotluban...... Occupying the high ground can protect the security of the Soviet flank, and at the same time, there is a Konnaya Gorge under the high ground, the Soviet army can use the high ground and the gorge to build a defensive line to block the pressure from the main German army, and then the Soviet army can safely cut off and eat the German army east of Kotluban.

The plan was perfect, but the reality was brutal.

The battle went smoothly at first, and the commander of the 1st Guards Army, Moskalenko, personally commanded the troops at the front.

The first units to go on the offensive were the 38th Guards Division, the 39th Guards Division, and the 16th Tank Army, which were attached to the 1st Guards Army.

The 38th Guards Division was responsible for attacking the 139.7 Heights and pinning down the Germans in Kort Luban, while the 39th Guards Division was responsible for occupying and garrisoning along the Konnaya Gorge to prevent any possible German threat from the west.

The 16th Tank Corps was the main force of the battle, and it was responsible for cutting as fast as possible along the passage opened by the two Guards Infantry Divisions in the direction of Stalingrad, and then launching a flank attack on the Germans east of Kotluban.

In this respect, the tactics of the Soviet army have gradually matured, because some traces of the German "blitzkrieg" can already be seen in this tactic...... Although the Soviets will never admit it, they have been studying and learning German tactics and treating them the way they do.

This is normal, and it can even be said to be justified, but because the Soviet army has no air supremacy and relatively backward communication equipment, it is not very similar to what it has learned, and its combat effectiveness has been greatly reduced.

139.7 The heights fell into the hands of the Soviets half an hour later...... Only one battalion of German troops were stationed on this height, and the Soviets concentrated artillery fire on it, and then charged it in turn with the strength of two regiments, and after paying more than 500 casualties, they completely occupied Heights 139.7.

The occupation of the Konnaya Gorge was also smooth, this gorge was running north-south, and the Germans needed an east-west defensive line, so the gorge was basically unmanned, and if there were any, there were only two checkpoints set up by the Germans on the road.

IT'S JUST THAT THESE TWO OUTPOSTS BROUGHT UNEXPECTED TROUBLE TO THE SOVIETS, BECAUSE THE SENTRY POSTS WERE SET UP IN DANGEROUS TRAFFIC AREAS, AND THE GERMAN ARMY USED MACHINE GUNS AND 50MM MORTARS TO GARRISON THE INTERSECTION OF A CANYON ON ONE SIDE AND A CLIFF ON THE OTHER, AND THE SOVIETS COULD NOT BREAK THROUGH SEVERAL CHARGES, UNTIL A T34 TANK RUMBLED UP TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM.

Then the 16th Tank Army stopped for a while to gather its forces and advanced towards the state farms.

The 16th Soviet Tank Army consisted of a tank brigade, an infantry division and a motorized infantry division, with a total strength of 23,000 men and 80 tanks.

This was not a large number of troops, but the commander of the 16th Army, Pavelkin, was not at all worried, because he received information that only one enemy infantry regiment was defending the state farm, and that the terrain there was still open and suitable for tank troops. In particular, the German line of defense was still oriented towards Stalingrad.

In other words, the 16th Tank Army not only had superior forces and equipment, but also fought from the enemy's back.

In fact, after passing the two levels of 139.7 Highlands, the terrain has gradually opened up.

Pavelkin, who was commanding on a T34, thought he should be cautious, so he took the walkie-talkie and ordered: "Slow down, the tanks behind you will follow, form a battle formation, we will defeat them in one shot, understand?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Pavelkin!"

The tanks slowed down according to Pavelkin's orders, and adjusted nervously as they advanced, gradually forming a wedge-shaped offensive formation led by 50 tanks, and surging towards the state farm.

Heights 139.7 was only eight kilometers from the state farm, and the tank corps wiped out some of the German stragglers along the way, and an hour later came to the state farm.

Tanks were parked on the edge of the farm waiting for orders, and Pavelkin had the chief of staff send a telegram to the command: "The crops are ripe!" ”

This was a coded sign for the arrival of the 16th Tank Army and its readiness for battle.

A few seconds later, there was a whistling of shells and rockets in the air, and the shells smashed into the fields of the state farm in pieces, blasting the vegetables and wheat straw into the air, and many of the sun-scorched golden wheat and wheat caught fire, and the fire spread like dominoes when the wind blew it.

But such a small fire clearly did not affect the offensive of the Soviet tank units.

Five minutes of artillery preparation...... The ammunition brought in by the Soviets in a hurry was not sufficient, and the artillery was prepared only to destroy the mines laid by the Germans in the wheat fields.

Then Pavelgin waved his hand and shouted: "Comrades, for Stalingrad, rush!" ”

"Rush!" Soviet soldiers howled loudly.

As soon as the tankmen stepped on the accelerator, fifty T34 tanks lined up like a shield to lead the Soviet army to the German defense line.

A few shells whizzed, presumably German mortars, which exploded powerlessly near the tank, and all it could do was kick up a cloud of dirt. More than a dozen Luftwaffe aircraft also flew over the state farms to join the fighting......

Pavelgin cursed, what he was most worried about was the German planes, the tanks had nothing to do with them, they could only be blown up one by one under their dive like a target.

On the other hand, Pavelkin was relieved by this, because it proved that the Germans had nothing but planes to stop the 16th Tank Army.

Major General Pavelkin seemed to see victory at hand, and couldn't help but take the walkie-talkie and ordered: "All tanks, go full speed!" ”

It makes sense, or arguably, a no-brainer, to let the tank go at full speed...... At this time, the tank was being strafed and bombed by German fighters, and the faster the tank was, the easier it was to maneuver to avoid the pursuit of the fighters.

On the other hand, the tank can break away from the infantry by increasing its speed, which can also minimize casualties under the pursuit of enemy fighters.

But what Pavelgin didn't know was that this was exactly what the Germans wanted.

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