Red Moscow

The news of the fall of the 252.2 highland was quickly reported to Rotmistrov layer by layer. Wearing round glasses and a toothbrush beard, the general, who looked like a country schoolteacher, frowned suddenly. He asked the commander of the guards who reported the situation: "Comrade commander, as far as I know, the fortifications on the 252.2 heights are the most complete outside the city of Prokhorovka. Occupy it?"

"Comrade Commander," the army commander replied with a teary face, "according to our prior analysis, the best attack terrain should be the narrow area southwest of Prokhorovka. This area forms a very good tank passage. , which is very conducive to the German army's large-scale armored forces. Therefore, our defense focus is mainly placed in this direction. As a result, we did not expect the Banner Guard Division and Skeleton Division from the west to take the 252.2 Heights as the first breakthrough point .”

"Comrade Commander, my order to you now is to gather all the troops you can and launch a counterattack to Height 252.2, and make sure to take it back from the hands of the Germans." Rotmistrov feared The commander of the Guards ignored his proposal and specifically emphasized: "Whether we can regain the 252.2 highland is the key to our repelling the enemy."

When Rotmistrov put down the phone, he saw a group of people enter the headquarters. He couldn't help frowning slightly, thinking who would be so blind to make trouble for himself at such a time. Just when he was about to step forward to criticize the other party, he saw Vasilevsky from the crowd, and he hurriedly stepped forward to salute: "Hello, Comrade Marshal."

"Hello, General Rotmistrov." Vasilevsky held Rotmistrov's hand and said with a smile: "I came here specially to see you. affect your work."

"No, no." With the efforts of the chief of staff and a group of headquarters members, even if Rotmistrov is not in the headquarters, it will not affect the operations of the troops. Hearing Vasilevsky's politeness at this moment, he quickly said, "Even if I'm not in the headquarters, the chief of staff can handle everything."

"Since I have nothing to do, can you go out with me?" Vasilevsky asked politely, "I want to know about the frontier warfare."

"Comrade Marshal, this is not easy." Knowing that Vasilevsky planned to go to the front to have a look, Rotmistrov was startled into a cold sweat. The Holov card is sounded, and you may be in danger if you go to inspect at this time."

"Comrade General, I know that the enemy from the west is attacking Height 252.2." Vasilevsky said: "I just want to see the fighting situation there with my own eyes, so as to determine whether our upcoming counterattack can achieve the desired result." results."

"Comrade Marshal," hearing Vasilevsky mentioning the 252.2 Heights, Rotmistrov showed an embarrassed expression on his face: "Half an hour ago, the German Banner Guard Division had already occupied the 252.2 Heights... ..."

"What, the 252.2 highland has fallen?" Vasilevsky did not expect that when he left Vatutin's headquarters, he got the news that the defenders repelled more than a dozen German attacks. After the 5th Army Headquarters, he personally praised this tenacious unit to Rotmistrov. But he didn't expect that the troops he saw actually lost their position. A hint of anger appeared on his face: "Then what about the defenders on the high ground, have they all withdrawn?"

"No," said Rotmistrov, shaking his head, "not a single one has been withdrawn."

"Not one of them was withdrawn?" Vasilevsky asked with some surprise, "Could it be that they were all captured by the Germans?"

"No, Comrade Marshal, none of them were taken as prisoners." Rotmistrov couldn't help being a little angry when he saw that Vasilevsky doubted his subordinates. He raised his voice and said, "According to the observations from the rear observation post, When the enemy rushed into the position, they detonated the explosives buried in the trenches, and died together with the enemies who rushed up."

After listening to Rotmistrov's narration, Vasilevsky was silent for a long time, finally nodded slowly, and said: "They acted very bravely. In order not to let them die in vain, I think that the 252.2 Heights should be implemented. Counterattack and recapture the position from the Germans."

"Comrade Field Marshal, my troops are already doing this." Rotmistrov replied: "The 26th and 28th Airborne Regiments are gathering to retake positions from the enemy."

"Comrade General, since your troops are preparing to launch a counter-offensive, I think it is even more necessary for us to go to the front." Vasilevsky urged Rotmistrov, "hand over the work here to the Chief of Staff." , you and I go to the frontier."

Seeing that Vasilevsky had made up his mind, Rotmistrov couldn't refute it anymore, so he could only hand over the work of the headquarters to the chief of staff, and then took a guard platoon, plus Vasilev The guard fighters brought by Ski moved towards the fighting area in three jeeps and two trucks.

When the convoy was driving on the road, Vasilevsky saw a convoy full of fuel and ammunition driving on the right, and an oncoming ambulance convoy full of wounded on the left. Seeing this situation, Vasilevsky said with emotion: "Comrade General, it seems that the battle ahead is fierce, and so many wounded have been transported down."

After driving forward for a while, Rotmistrov saw that the road ahead was covered with large and small bomb craters, and wrecked trucks and other means of transportation could be seen everywhere, so he said to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Marshal, if we continue to drive forward along the road, we will easily become the target of the Luftwaffe, why don't we go another way?"

"Yes." Regarding Rotmistrov's proposal, Vasilevsky did not object: "You are familiar with this place, so it is up to you to decide."

Soon, the convoy changed direction and headed for the distant forest through a field of ripe wheat.

When the convoy entered the forest, Rotmistrov felt much more at ease in his heart. With the cover of trees, even if there were German planes in the sky at this time, he didn't have to worry about being attacked by air. He introduced the situation to Vasilevsky with great interest: "North of the forest is the offensive starting position of the 29th Tank Army, and on their right flank is the 18th Tank Army..."

While listening to Rotmistrov's report, Vasilevsky observed the situation outside through the car window. According to the smoke rising in the distance, he knew that the distance from the fighting site was only a mere Two or three kilometers away.

At this moment, he heard the roar of a tank engine from near to far, and quickly ordered the driver: "Stop!" As soon as the car stopped, he immediately opened the door and jumped down. Rotmistrov didn't know When something happened, he quickly opened the door on the other side and got out of the car, looking at Vasilevsky in surprise.

The convoy was at the edge of the forest and could see the situation outside. Vasilevsky walked to the side of the road, raised the binoculars in his hand, and carefully observed the situation outside. After watching it for a short time, he put down the binoculars, turned his head and got angry at Rotmistrov: "Comrade General, what's going on with these tanks?"

Seeing Rotmistrov's bewildered expression, Vasilevsky continued on his own: "Didn't Comrade Vatutin greet you before the counterattack begins? You must not let the enemy You know that a large number of our tanks have entered the attack position? But you are lucky, so many tanks are marching swaggeringly in broad daylight under the eyes of the enemy, do you think the enemy is blind or deaf?"

Rotmistrov quickly took the binoculars in Vasilevsky's hand and looked towards the group of tanks moving outside the forest. He quickly saw clearly that these tanks stopped and fired from time to time while driving, and they were basically equipped with short-barreled artillery. It took only a few seconds for him to understand in his heart that the tanks that appeared in front of him at this moment Tanks are not their own tank army at all, but enemy tanks.

He hurriedly turned around and reported to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Marshal, I think it is necessary to explain to you that the tanks you have seen are all German..."

"What, is it a German tank?" Upon hearing what Rotmistrov said, Vasilevsky quickly grabbed the telescope in his hand and observed it carefully again. The tanks of the Soviet Union and Germany are still quite different. Not long ago, Vasilevsky was too excited because of this, and he didn’t see the model of the tank clearly. Now when he saw clearly that they were all German tanks No. 3 and No. 4, his expression could not help but change. Lide: "Comrade General, it seems that the situation is not good. If there are enemy tanks here, it means that the starting position where you ordered the attack has been occupied by the Germans."

"Yes, Comrade Marshal, the current battlefield situation seems to be worse than we expected." Rotmistrov said to Vasilevsky: "I think it is necessary to formulate a new offensive plan."

After listening to Rotmistrov, Vasilevsky only considered for a dozen seconds before announcing without hesitation: "Let's go, let's go back to your headquarters and make a new plan to prevent the situation from escalating." developing in an uncontrollable direction.”

After the two returned to the headquarters, Vasilevsky immediately called Vatutin through a dedicated line. And Rotmistrov called his chief of staff to the front, pointed to the map and told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we found a large number of German tanks here, probably more than 50."

The chief of staff only glanced at the map, and immediately showed a shocked expression: "Comrade Commander, the starting position for our attack that we set in advance has been occupied by the Germans, what should we do?"

"In order to prevent the situation from deteriorating further, we must take corresponding measures." Rotmistrov gave orders to the chief of staff: "You immediately call General Kirishenko and ask him to send two tank brigades to fight against the enemy. These German tanks penetrated into our defenses and prevented them from advancing further into the depths of our defenses."

After Vasilevsky and Vatutin got on the phone, they said to Rotmistrov with serious expressions: "Comrade General, the 1st Tank Army, which was scheduled to launch a counterattack with you tomorrow, has now been killed by the German 1st Army." The 48th Panzer Corps was entangled and could not reach the specified starting point of the attack within the specified time. This means that tomorrow's attack on the German army can only be completed by your 5th Guards Tank Army alone."

What Vasilevsky said had long been expected by Rotmistrov, so he did not show any excitement. After Vasilevsky finished speaking, he immediately expressed his opinion: "Comrade Marshal, since the German army has occupied our offensive starting position, then we have to readjust the offensive deployment, especially the artillery selected in advance. Positions and offensive routes must all be adjusted."

While Vasilevsky and Rotmistrov were discussing how to change the deployment, Vatutin, who had just put down the phone, said bitterly to Zhukov who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Marshal, this is really strange. It stands to reason that Sokov's troops blocked the Banner Guard Division and Skeleton Division. It would take at least two or three days for the enemy to break through their defense line. How could they rush from the west to Prokho in such a short period of time? What about outside of Lovka? I think there might be something wrong with it."

"Is there a problem?" Zhukov raised his eyebrows and asked vigilantly, "What's the problem?"

Vatutin thought of the friendship between Sokov and Zhukov, and knew that if he analyzed the reasons, he would definitely offend others, so he couldn't help hesitating. And the deputy commander Apanashenko who was sitting next to him said without hesitation: "It goes without saying, it must be that Sokov's troops made way for the Germans, otherwise how could the enemy attack in such a short distance?" How about arriving outside the city of Prokhorovka in less time?"

Although Apanashenko expressed his true thoughts, Vatutin deliberately blamed Zhukov in front of Zhukov and said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you can't say that. I believe that in the face of the ferocity of the Germans The offensive, General Sokov's troops should have carried out tenacious resistance, but because the troops were not strong enough to hold the entire position, the defense line was torn open by the enemy. The German troops that broke through the defense line were able to drive straight in and rushed directly to Prokhor Outside Lovka."

Zhukov didn't think Sokov would let the Germans open the passage at all, but the speed at which the Banner Guard Division and Skeleton Division advanced to Prokhorovka City was too fast. It was so fast that even the paratroopers defending the city had no time to further consolidate their positions. In order to find out what was going on, he called the director of the communications corps and told him, "Comrade director, please connect me to Sokov's headquarters. I have something important to talk to him about."

Fortunately, the director of the communications corps knew that Sokov was now staying at the headquarters of the 188th Division, so he did not contact the headquarters of the 27th Army, but directly connected to the headquarters of the 188th Division. When someone answered the phone, the director of the communications corps said politely: "I am the director of the communications corps of the Voronezh Front Command. Comrade Marshal has something important to talk to General Sokov."

After a while, Sokov's voice came from the receiver: "I am Major General Sokov."

"General Sokov, please wait a moment." Hearing Sokov's voice, the director of the communications corps hurriedly said politely: "I will ask Comrade Marshal to talk to you immediately."