At a time when Hort was struggling with the discord between the SS and the Wehrmacht, the Soviet side was alarmed by the offensive of the German 4th Panzer Army in the Belgorod direction.

The staff officer hurriedly walked into the office of the commander of the Voronezh Front, General Vatutin, with a telegram, and after handing him the telegram, he reported: "Comrade Vatutin, both German armored units have reached the second line of defense before dark!" ”

Vatutin took the telegram and glanced at it, set it aside, and then looked at the map with a frown.

The chief of staff next to him, Lieutenant General Kazakov, couldn't help but say: "They will definitely take advantage of the darkness to rest, prepare for the attack at night, and then wait until the early morning to attack again!" ”

"I know this, Comrade Kazakov!" Vatutin replied distressedly: "But we don't seem to have anything to resist their attack now, and all our equipment can't penetrate the armor of their tanks!" In just one day, we lost more than two hundred tanks under the attack of the Germans, and their losses were minimal! ”

Lieutenant General Kazakov could not help but pick up one of the telegrams, which said that the Soviets had destroyed 19 "Elephant" tanks of the Germans.

(Note: The Soviets did not know the name of the "Tiger" tank at the beginning, but it was called the "Elephant" because of its rough skin and thick flesh and large size)

Vatutin shook his head and said: "Forget about it, I just got the information that the Germans only have 11 'Elephants' in one armored division, and only about 33 in the whole army, if we really destroy 19 of them, then we don't have to worry about it at all...... Because we'll destroy another 14 tomorrow! ”

At this time, it was common for the Soviet army to lie about its exploits.

On the one hand, the top of the Soviet army turned a blind eye.

The reason is that the Soviets need some "achievements" to boost the morale of the army, and sometimes they deliberately exaggerate some.

On the other hand, it is very low cost to lie about war achievements.

A few shells hit the target on the battlefield, even if they didn't destroy it, but who can deny that they have injured it?

Or simply make something out of nothing, saying that you blew up a "Tiger" at a certain position, and this position is occupied by the Germans, who can verify it?

Even if it turns out that this does not exist, it can be easily bypassed with the excuse of "I was wrong".

As a general, Vatutin, of course, knows the truth of this, so he will not believe in these so-called "results".

He said to Kazakov self-deprecatingly: "If we believe these results, then you will have some illusions...... The Germans are going to be finished, and we won't be able to win in a few days! ”

Lieutenant General Kazakov wanted to laugh, but he couldn't.

After a pause, Kazakov said: "Comrade Vatutin, should we withdraw the troops between the two lines of the enemy?" ”

Senior General Vatutin was silent.

Even if Vatutin knew that the Germans would launch a counteroffensive, and it was from the Belgorod region, he could not have imagined that the Germans would attack at two points on the defensive line at the same time.

As a result, immediately after the first line of defense was broken through, the Soviet troops were in a passive state...... The 15-kilometre-wide stretch of troops between the two roads was in danger of being surrounded at any moment.

This can be said to have completely disrupted Vatutin's battle plan...... Vatutin's original plan was to bring the German army in and then send troops to outflank it and annihilate it.

But now......

The Germans were unable to outflank the Germans in this way, or rather, the Germans would encircle and eat the Soviets in the middle before the Soviets launched a counteroffensive, so the Germans were integrated with their rear.

In order to stop this situation, the Soviet army had to organize troops in front of the German army to encircle and intercept the German army, so it was all in chaos.

To withdraw, or not to withdraw?

Remove.

This meant that the Germans were given a very ideal logistical ...... The 15-kilometer-wide gap, plus the width of several kilometers opened by the German two Panzer armies themselves, is more than 20 kilometers wide, and the Germans can safely and quickly transport supplies in this gap, and then it will be even more difficult to drive the Germans out.

Not withdrawn.

In the middle of the strip there was an elite corps, the 22nd Guards Infantry Corps, and a reinforced 245th Tank Regiment with 50 tanks.

If they were surrounded, not to mention the heavy losses of the Soviet army itself, the gap would still be formed.

After thinking about it, Vatujin said, "No, we can't withdraw!" ”

"But, Comrade Vatutin!" Kazakov expressed concern about this: "If we do not withdraw, we will only block the way of the Germans." But we've tried all sorts of things......"

"And something we haven't tried!" Vatutin interrupted Lieutenant General Kazakov.

Kazakov looked at Vatutin suspiciously, he didn't understand what Vatutin said he hadn't tried.

"I believe that the army of the Germans in the Butovo direction does not have 'Elephant' tanks!" Vatutin said.

"That's true!" Kazakov replied: "Because in the direction of Butovo it was the Wehrmacht of the Germans, and in the direction of Tomarovka it was the German SS, and they usually equipped the SS with advanced equipment first!" ”

"So why don't we take advantage of this?"

"You mean ......"

"We can't stop the 'Elephant' tank, so don't stop it!" "We just need to block," Vatutin said. And on the other side, for the Germans who did not have 'elephant' tanks...... We can concentrate our forces on blocking it, so that these two German forces will not be able to merge to form an encirclement on the Yakovlevo road! ”

Kazakov nodded when he heard this, and then said: "It's a way, Comrade Vatutin, so that we can continue to threaten the rear of the Germans with the 22nd Army and divide and surround their two armoured armours!" ”

"Yes!" "Therefore, instead of withdrawing our troops from the middle ground, we should strengthen them, so that they will not be routed by the Germans and will make contact with each other!" ”

"But ......," Kazakov continued, "how can we stop the Elephant tanks?" Our tank is simply a target in front of it! ”

After thinking about it, Vatutin replied: "Hide the tank, I mean...... Build fortifications for them, exposing only the turrets. This will make it difficult for enemy tanks to penetrate our tanks from a distance! At close range, our anti-tank guns may be able to make a difference! ”

Kazakov immediately understood what Vatutin meant.

However, Kazakov was not sure if this method would actually work on the battlefield.