Red Moscow

"Oh, you killed a German ammunition convoy?" Sokov is not on the battlefield for the first time, so he naturally knows how big the movement will be when the ammunition convoy is wiped out. As long as a truck explodes, the surrounding vehicles They will all be affected by the fish in the pond, and as for the soldiers escorting the chariot, I am afraid that they have long been wiped out. "Comrade Colonel, when this battle is over, you must remind me to award honors to Holol and his squad."

Knowing that his subordinates can get medals, Colonel Chuvashov naturally beamed with joy: "Don't worry, Comrade Commander. Even if you don't ask me to remind you, once the battle is over, I will apply for Sergeant Holol and the others." Awarded."

Sokov's last phone call was to Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin. Sokov felt that since the other party was his old subordinate, it had long been common practice to carry out some sabotage operations behind the enemy. Putting him last might give him an unexpected surprise.

"Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin," Sokov asked straight to the point after the call was connected, "What kind of results did the team you send achieve?"

"Comrade Commander," Goryachkin said emotionally after hearing Sokov's voice, "I just received a telegram from the squad and I was about to report to you. Call first."

Hearing what Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin said, Sokov immediately realized that his guess was correct. The team sent by the other party had achieved considerable results, so he smiled and said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, don't be fooled." , tell me about your situation."

"The one in charge of commanding the squad is the fourth company commander, Captain Griza." Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin knew that Griza was from Khimki's garrison platoon and was one of Sokov's earliest subordinates. The results of the battle must satisfy Sokov: "They were operating far away from the 658th Regiment's line of defense. Although their numbers were a little smaller, the results they achieved were not small. They destroyed 15 enemy tanks one after another. An equal number of armored vehicles and trucks, and killed more than two hundred enemies?"

If other squads reported such a battle report, Sokov would definitely think that the other party lied about their military information. But since the team is led by Griza himself, it seems reasonable to achieve such a record. However, just to be on the safe side, he still asked cautiously: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is everything you reported true?"

"It's true, it's completely true." According to the usual practice, the troops must go through several channels to repeatedly verify such results. However, Lieutenant Colonel Goryachkin, out of trust in Grisa, believed that he would not lie to himself about military information, so he endorsed Grisa in front of Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I believe that Grisa The results reported by Captain Sa are all true. If you find something wrong afterwards, you can remove me from my post."

Sokov wrote down the results of the statistics on paper, and found that the best performing team was Grisa's team; followed by Sergeant Holol's team. He stared at the content on the paper, thinking silently in his heart: It seems that the tactics used by his subordinates who have been with him for a long time are gradually far from the rigid tactics of the Soviet army in the past, so that those who think they have mastered the tactics of the Soviet army The German commander suffered a big loss.

When he thought of the German commander, he couldn't help but think of the already annihilated Imperial Division. Due to the appearance of his little butterfly, the 2nd SS Panzer Army involved in the attack on the city of Prokhorovka lacked an important Imperial Division, which greatly reduced the pressure on the defenders who defended the city.

But what makes Sokov worry about it is that because the German flag was not captured and the division commander Tansen was captured, even if the Imperial Division was basically wiped out, this unit would not be revoked by the German Command. On the contrary, they can rebuild this force in the shortest possible time.

"Comrade Colonel," Sokov raised his head and saw that Koida had been staring at him intently, so he couldn't help asking him: "We have basically wiped out the Imperial Division, but we haven't caught their division commander, what do you say?" , where did he go?"

"Comrade Commander, as far as I know, German commanders are very afraid of death." Koyda said: "Taking the division command as an example, our division commanders are generally placed very close to the front. The enemy is even only 300 meters away. Not to mention the division, the command post of the regiment is usually more than ten or twenty kilometers away from the front. I think that the commander of the Imperial Division, Tan Sen, must have seen the situation. escaped early."

"Seeing that the Imperial Division is in danger, it is entirely possible to escape early." Sukov frowned and said thoughtfully, "But where is he now?"

"I don't know." Although Keida is the commander of the division, his troops have not fought against the Imperial Division after all. It is basically impossible to find out Tansen's whereabouts. He replied cautiously, "Perhaps he was killed in the battle."

"The Imperial Division is an elite unit of the German army. It was wiped out by us twice in a row. Even if the person in charge of the division did not fall into our hands, life would probably be difficult." Sokov said with a faint smile, "If I were tank Sen, maybe he would commit suicide in embarrassment, so as not to embarrass himself when he returns to Berlin."

Sokov said this because he remembered that during the Battle of Kursk, the commander of the 17th Panzer Division of the German Army, General Senger Ond Etling, because the tanks in his division were in the Battle of Prokhorovka. He was completely lost in the middle of the war, and was ashamed for a while. After returning to report the situation to Manstein, he shot himself outside the command cabin.

The Imperial Division has the second number in the SS Division, second only to the Banner Guard Division, and it can be said to be the face of the German army. But they were almost wiped out twice, which made the top German army embarrassing. In this way, even if Tansen escaped back by chance, no one would give him any good looks.

Sokov guessed right. On the day the Imperial Division was destroyed, Tansen fled back to Manstein's headquarters. Unexpectedly, after Manstein heard the news of Tansen's arrival from his subordinates, he just said to his adjutant lightly: "Mr. Tansen must be tired, you should find a place to arrange for him to rest. Send more guards to ensure his safety."

The adjutant understood that Manstein did nothing more than save face for Tansen when he didn't see Tansen, so as to avoid embarrassment when they met. In addition, Manstein specifically mentioned that more people should be sent to protect Tansen's safety, which is to imply that he will put Tansen under house arrest, and he cannot be allowed to leave before the Berlin High Command makes a decision on punishment.

After Tansen found out that he was under house arrest, he immediately made a fuss, clamoring to see Manstein. But settled his adjutant, and after he calmed down, he said coldly: "Mr. Tansen, Your Excellency the Marshal is deploying to attack the city of Prokhorovka, and I don't have time to see you. You can take a good rest here, if If you need anything, you can tell the guards who protect you, and they will provide you with the necessary help."

Tansen, who was under house arrest, was able to learn something about the outside world from the soldiers guarding him. Originally, he had already resigned to his fate, and was going to honestly return to Berlin to accept the trial after the battle was over. Unexpectedly, I heard two guards chatting at the door during the day: "Have you heard? The troops of the Banner Guard Division have rushed into the city of Prokhorovka. The Russians in the city suffered heavy losses and are retreating in a hurry."

"Really?" Another guard exclaimed, "This means that by tomorrow, the Banner Guard Division will be able to take the city of Prokhorovka?"

"Tomorrow?!" The guard who spoke first said disdainfully: "As the Banner Guard division rushed into the city, the Russians have fallen into chaos. Do you think they can persist until tomorrow under such circumstances? In my opinion, the best As soon as it gets dark today, the Russians in Prokhorovka will be completely wiped out."

As a commander who participated in many battles, Tansen naturally understood that there were many exaggerated elements in what the guards said. Coupled with some erroneous news, the news said by these people is far from the actual situation. But when he thought that if his troops hadn't been completely wiped out, then among the troops attacking Prokhorovka at this moment, there would be his own imperial division.

Tansen thought that it was because the head of state trusted him that he made himself the commander of the Imperial Division, and he mobilized elite troops from various aspects to re-establish the Imperial Division. Unexpectedly, I did not serve as a division for a long time, so I ruined this unit. Thinking of this, Tansen felt ashamed to go back to Berlin, so he began to look for things in the house, ready to make a deal.

When the guard guarding Tansen came to deliver the meal in the dark, he was surprised to find that Tansen was hanging on the window frame. He hurriedly stepped forward to put him down, checked his breath, and found that he had been dead for a long time.

The guard felt that this was a serious matter, and quickly notified Manstein's adjutant. After the adjutant got the news, he hurried to the place where Tansen was under house arrest. Before entering the door, he angrily asked the guard, "What did he use to hang himself?"

"He tore up the bed sheet and rolled it into strips." The guard replied tremblingly, "He used the rolled bed sheet to hang himself on the window frame."

"Idiots, you are simply a bunch of idiots." The adjutant continued to curse: "If he wants to hang himself, there will definitely be a lot of noise. Why didn't you hear it?"

"Mr. Officer," replied the guard, shaking his head hastily, "we didn't hear anything outside the door."

The adjutant walked into the room and saw Tansen's body lying on the bed with his hands folded on his chest, looking suddenly, as if he was sleeping. The adjutant stepped forward, first stretched out his hand to sniff, wishful thinking that maybe the next moment, Tansen would come back to life. The guard hurriedly said: "Mr. Officer, we have checked, and he is really dead."

After confirming Tansen's death, the adjutant returned to Manstein's command cabin and reported to him: "Your Excellency Marshal, I have an unfortunate incident that I need to report to you."

"What is it?" Manstein asked curiously.

After a moment of silence, the adjutant said, "Mr. Tansen hanged himself with a twisted bed sheet in the room where he was held."

"What, Tansen hanged himself?" Manstein was surprised by this bad news, and he asked in surprise, "Why did he hang himself suddenly? Did something happen?"

"Nothing should have happened." The adjutant replied in an uncertain tone, "I asked the two guards guarding him carefully. When Tansen committed suicide, there was no movement in the room..."

"I didn't ask you if there was a lot of noise when he committed suicide." Manstein said impatiently: "I just want to find out what is it that is so serious that it stimulates him to choose the path of suicide."

After thinking for a while, the adjutant said thoughtfully: "Your Excellency, Marshal, I talked to the two guards, and they didn't say anything, except that they occasionally mentioned that our army had advanced to Projo. What happened in the city of Lovka."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Hearing this, Manstein seemed to have guessed the reason for Tansen's suicide. He lit a cigar, took a puff, and said to the adjutant, "I think the reason for his suicide must be It is related to the news that our army has advanced to the city of Prokhorovka."

The adjutant was confused by Manstein's words, and he asked puzzledly, "Your Excellency, Marshal, I don't understand. Is there any relationship between our army's advance to the city of Prokhorovka and Commander Tansen's suicide?"

"Tansen is a face-saving person," Manstein said with a sigh, "If he didn't know that other troops had advanced to the city of Prokhorovka, I'm afraid he wouldn't have made any drastic reactions. But he But he heard the news that the friendly army was approaching the city, which hit him hard..."

"It was a big blow?" The adjutant asked curiously: "Your Excellency, Marshal, why is that?"

"If his imperial division had not been annihilated, the troops attacking from the west of Prokhorovka at this moment would not have been two divisions but three divisions, and the Russian resistance would have collapsed faster." Manstein Yin shook his head and said: "He probably thought that because of his mistakes, the troops were annihilated by the Russians, which weakened the force to attack Prokhorovka from the west. He couldn't think about it for a while, so he chose to commit suicide .”

"Your Excellency Marshal, it's already dark outside." The adjutant waited for Manstein to analyze the cause of Tansen's death, and then changed the topic in time: "Should our troops continue to attack, or should they stay in the occupied area to rest?"

"I would like to let the troops rest, but the Russians will choose to counterattack at night, so our offensive cannot stop for a moment." Manstein said to his adjutant: "When they put all their energy on how to block Regarding our army's affairs, they will not be able to spare the strength to fight back. In this way, our army can firmly grasp the initiative on the battlefield."

"Your Excellency Marshal," the adjutant dared not object to the decision made by Manstein, but he still said cautiously: "Our troops are not familiar with the terrain in the city. If we continue to attack at night, we will definitely be attacked by those who are familiar with the terrain." The heavy blow of the Russians."