The sun of the new day slowly rose, spreading warm sunlight all over the land. General Kravchenko's Fifth Guards Tank Corps was building a new defensive position southwest of Prokhorovka.

Kravchenko chose a good terrain, and he placed the defensive positions of the 6th Guards Motorized Brigade on a hill overgrown with bushes. The dense bushes provided the best cover for the anti-tank artillery positions, so that the German tanks passing in front of the hill could not detect the ambush of our troops in advance. And the main force of his tank corps, hidden in the open field behind the hills, was cleverly camouflaged.

Kravchenko and I stood on the high ground and looked in the direction of Prokhorovka, where there was smoke and the faint sound of rumbling explosions, where the Soviet and German tank units were engaged in fierce fighting. But it's a pity that I watched it for a long time, and I couldn't see anything else clearly except the smoke of gunpowder or gunsmoke.

Kravchenko asked me worriedly: "General Oshanina, do you think that General Rotmistrov's tank army will be able to defeat the German 2nd SS Panzer Army?" ”

Instead of answering his question, I thought about the ongoing tank battle of Prokhorovka. It has long been known for being the largest tank battle in the history of human warfare, with 1,500 tanks on both sides reportedly fighting here on July 12, 43.

No matter what the scale of this tank Armageddon is in real history, but at this moment I clearly know that the number of tanks involved in the battle on both sides will definitely not reach that number. After all, in the recent battles, the strength of the German 2nd SS Panzer Corps has been greatly weakened by us, and it is only in our defense zone. They lost more than two hundred tanks. Before getting a new tank replenishment. They are much weaker than they were historically.

Kravchenko thought that I did not hear him, so he repeated the question: "General Oshanina, do you think that with the strength of our army, you can defeat the German 2nd SS Panzer Army?" ”

I turned my head to look at Kravchenko next to me and said in an affirmative tone: "Comrade General, I think that General Rotmistrov's tank army will definitely be able to defeat the enemy. According to my intelligence, in the Prokhorovka area there were the 18th and 29th armies of the Fifth Guards Tank Army. The tanks of the two armies finally exceeded 400, and compared with the German army, they had a certain advantage in terms of numbers; In addition, they are also equipped with a lot of new tanks, and it is not too much of a problem to deal with the German Tiger and No. 4 tanks, No. 3 assault guns and Weasel destroyers. ”

"I hope so." Kravchenko, perhaps not wanting to pour cold water on me, sighed softly after listening to my words, and then reluctantly agreed: "As long as General Rotmistrov does not make any mistakes in command, we will achieve the final victory." There is still a lot of certainty. ”

I could hear what he was saying, and he was not optimistic about the prospects for a decisive battle of tanks in the Prokhorovka area. I couldn't help but ask curiously: "Comrade General, I listen to the tone of your voice, as if you don't have any confidence in General Rotmistrov?" ”

"Comrade Oshanina, you may not know that the Fifth Guards Tank Army, as a reserve, is not equipped with any new tanks at all." When he saw the look of surprise on my face, he continued word by word: "Of the two tank corps you just mentioned, there are still a considerable number of obsolete light tanks, and the T-34, which can really pose a threat to German tanks, accounts for only half of this force. ”

Kravchenko's words startled me, I was confident that Rotmistrov's troops had won the tank battle, but now that I had figured out the equipment of the Fifth Guards Tank Army, my heart suddenly sank as if the ground had sunk. Although I was shocked in my heart, I said with strong words: "General Rotmistrov could have used those light tanks as batteries, and when the Germans attacked them, he could attack them with artillery fire." ”

As soon as I finished speaking, I noticed that Kravchenko's face had completely changed, and he said with a bitter face: "General Oshanina, just before you came to me, my scouts reported to me that the Germans had occupied the starting position of Rotmistrov's attack. In other words, in order to have a decisive tank battle, our tanks must first attack the enemy's positions. At this point, he took out a map and unfolded it, pointed to a position on it, and said to me, "General Rotmistrov's troops have to pass through an open field to attack the Germans, and this is just the right time for the Germans to use the long-range lethality of the 88mm guns of the Tiger tank and the 75mm guns of the No. 4 tank, the No. 3 assault gun, and the Weasel destroyer." At the same distance, the 34-mm guns on our T-76 tanks did not do much damage to the German tanks. ”

"Then what should we do, do we watch our friendly forces being annihilated by the enemy?" Although I knew the result of the decisive battle of the Prokhorovka tank, I couldn't help but panic in my heart when I heard Kravchenko say this: "Can you send a tank brigade to reinforce them?" ”

Kravchenko shrugged his shoulders and said helplessly: "I'm sorry, General Oshanina, please forgive me for not being able to complete this task." ”

"Why?" I was surprised by his answer, so I asked, "Are you really going to watch your allies get frustrated and not reach out and pull them along?" ”

"You are mistaken, General Oshanina." To my accusations, Kravchenko calmly explained: "At the meeting a few hours ago, I told you that the shells for my new tank had long been exhausted. If we don't replenish it soon, we won't be able to participate in the battle, so you can't let our tankmen drive the tanks to ram the enemy's tanks, right? ”

After listening to Kravchenko's explanation, I couldn't help but sigh at the sky, and I couldn't imagine that a tank battle that seemed to be a sure victory would have unexpected variables. However, Kravchenko can't help, and it's understandable, who made the production of matching shells for the new tank too low. It simply can't meet the needs of the troops. Ammunition is low. Directly led to numerous units equipped with new tanks. Unable to perform normal combat missions, or can only use the previous T-34 tank to compete with the better Tiger tank.

Seeing my depressed look, Kravchenko suddenly said again: "By the way, General Oshanina, in fact, if you want to help General Rotmistrov, it is not impossible at all. ”

"What, Comrade General." I excitedly grabbed him by the shoulder and asked in surprise, "Do you think of any good way to help General Rotmistrov?" ”

Kravchenko nodded, and said: "Actually, it's very simple, at present, there are quite a few new tanks in Colonel Bere's troops with sufficient ammunition, and if they participate in the battle, I think the situation in the battle will become very favorable to us." ”

"Can you get in touch with Colonel Berey here?" To contact Bere at the moment, it is necessary to use radio communications, although there is a possibility of leakage, but in order to achieve victory in the decisive battle of the Prokhorovka tank. I couldn't worry about it anymore, "I need to get in touch with him immediately." Let him send new tanks to support General Rotmistrov. ”

However, to my surprise, Kravchenko actually spoke directly to Bere on the phone here, which saved me the risk of being wiretapped by the Germans when I was using wireless communication with Bere. As soon as I heard Bere's voice coming out of the earpiece, I asked straight to the point: "Comrade Colonel, how many of your new tanks with plenty of ammunition can be drawn out now?" ”

Bere didn't know why I asked such a question, so he asked puzzledly: "Comrade commander, what are you ......?" ”

Although he was only half-spoken, I understood what he meant, and he wanted to understand my real purpose in asking this question. So I specifically explained to him: "Comrade Colonel, I have just learned that General Rotmistrov's tank corps is not equipped with new tanks at all, and that before the start of today's battle, the Germans have preemptively occupied their offensive starting positions, forcing General Rotmistrov's troops to pass through an unobstructed open field in order to attack the German armored units. At this distance of the charge, they will be hit by the German Tiger tank, tank four, assault guns, and destroyers, and they will inevitably pay a high price......"

"I see, Comrade Commander." Without waiting for me to finish, Colonel Beray understood the purpose of my call, and hurriedly asked, "How many tanks do you need me to send to support?" ”

Because I didn't know about the situation in the tank army, I didn't give an order casually, but asked for his opinion: "How many tanks can you draw out at the moment?" ”

"I can get Captain Shamrichh's 3rd Tank Battalion to lead 15 new tanks to reinforcements." Bere, presumably, was to reassure me that the tank commanders he sent were all familiar to me. After he said this, he deliberately emphasized: "Because of the urgency of time, we have no time to wait for the fuel truck, so I can only let Captain Shamrikh and them go to General Kravchenko's area and replenish the necessary fuel there." ”

After hearing this, I did not immediately express my position, but turned my inquiring eyes to Kravchenko next to me, and when I saw that he nodded in agreement, I said to Bere: "Okay, Comrade Colonel, let Captain Shamlikh and them come over as soon as possible, General Kravchenko can replenish them with sufficient fuel here." ”

As soon as I put down the phone, I saw Kravchenko call his chief of staff and ask him to arrange for a few tankers to be prepared at the foot of the hill to refuel the friendly tank battalions as soon as they arrived.

Half an hour later, someone came in and reported to Kravchenko: "Comrade commander, the tank battalion of friendly troops has arrived and is now refueling at the foot of the mountain." Now their commander is at the door, do you need to meet them? ”

Kravchenko did not answer immediately, but turned his gaze to me, meaning to let me come up with an idea. I thought that I hadn't seen Shamlih for a long time, and I just took this opportunity to meet him, otherwise he wouldn't have seen each other if he had something in the next battle.

Seeing that I agreed, Kravchenko hurriedly ordered the other party: "Go and invite the commander of the friendly army to come in." ”

Soon, the figure of Shamrish appeared at the door, and he was stunned at first when he saw that I was also in the command headquarters, but soon came back to his senses, raised his hand and saluted me, and said loudly: "Report Comrade Commander, Captain Shamrich, commander of the third battalion of the 101st Brigade of the 33rd Tank Army, reports to you, I was ordered to rush here to receive your order, please instruct!" ”

"This is General Kravchenko, the commander of the 5th Army of the 2nd Guards Tank." After returning the salute, he introduced Kravchenko, who was standing next to me, to Shamrichh, "It is the man he arranged to replenish your fuel." ”

After greeting Shamrich and Kravchenko, I called them to a simple wooden table, pointed to the map on it and said to Shamrich: "Comrade Captain, at the moment our Fifth Guards Tank Army is engaged in a major battle with German tanks in the Prokhorovka area. The task I gave your battalion was to reinforce the friendly forces. ”

Shamlich stared at the map for a while and asked tentatively: "Comrade commander, I wonder from which direction of the German army we should launch a surprise attack?" ”

"Comrade Captain, I think you misunderstood me. I asked you to reinforce your allies, not to force you to attack the enemy. You must know that although the performance of your tanks is superior to that of the German army, the number is too small, even if you exchange it according to the ratio of one to five and one to six, you will suffer in the end. In order not to make Shamrikh's head heat up and rush to the Prokhorovka region to fight a war of attrition, I also gave him special guidance: "What you have to do is to wander around the battlefield of battle, and when you see the enemy's weak points, rush up and hit them." After causing damage to them, they move on to other directions and continue to harass them. In a word, the Germans could not be allowed to concentrate their forces and engage General Rotmistrov's troops. Do you understand? ”

Shamrich hesitated for a moment, then replied decisively: "I understand, comrade commander, I will definitely beat the Germans at the expense of the other." ”

"Very well, Comrade Captain, you understand it very well." I am very satisfied with his ability to understand. I smiled and said to him: "As long as you fight this battle, I will suggest to my superiors that your 22nd Tank Brigade be reorganized again, and equip you with the best tanks and the most experienced tankers." (To be continued.) )