Red Moscow

While Sokov and Marankin were studying how to stick to the existing defensive area, in the headquarters of the Voronezh Front Army, two marshals, two generals, and two lieutenant generals were studying how to implement a counterattack outside Prokhorovka.

The chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ivanov, was the first to speak. He pointed to the map and introduced the current situation to everyone: "We are going to launch a counterattack against the German army outside the city of Prokhorovka. This is not an easy task.

First of all, in our original plan, Rotmistrov's 5th Guards Tank Army and General Katukov's 1st Tank Army jointly launched a counterattack against the enemy. However, General Katukov's troops were entangled by the enemy during the battle and could not participate in tomorrow's counterattack at all. In other words, the 5th Guards Tank Army could only complete the attack alone.

The problem we are facing now is that the original starting position of the attack has been captured by the German army. The 2nd Tank Army, which was originally scheduled to play an important role in this offensive, suffered heavy losses during the daytime battle, with less than 100 tanks left, and the army's positions are very scattered. It was impossible to regroup, so they could only take on the task of covering the flank of the 5th Guards Tank Army, and did not directly participate in the counterattack.

After negotiating with Lieutenant General Rotmistrov, we finally decided to use the 18th and 29th Tank Corps to attack the German Banner Guard and Skeleton Division from the front, and use the 2nd Guards Tank Corps to attack the German right flank. The 5th Guards Mechanized Corps, with 212 tanks, will serve as the general reserve, but they will be thrown into battle when the going gets tough.

At the same time, General Rotmistrov's deputy, General Trufanov, the deputy commander of the army, will lead a combat group consisting of 100 tanks to the 69th Army on the left wing of our army to help them consolidate the existing defense line . "

After Zhukov finished listening, he could only say "hmm" lightly, and then turned to Vasilevsky and asked: "Comrade Vasilevsky, what do you think of the latest combat plan of the Voronezh Front Army?"

"Comrade Marshal," Vasilevsky replied respectfully, "I think the plan is very good. It will definitely smash the enemies gathered near the city of Prokhorovka."

"Two Marshal comrades," said the deputy commander Apanashenko, who has always had a low presence in the headquarters: "The enemy has no more than four or five divisions in the Prokhorovka area, and all of them have been attacked to varying degrees. As for us, we have several group armies, and we have an absolute advantage in terms of strength. No matter how strong the enemy's fighting power is, we cannot beat them one-on-one, but we can always win with two or even three divisions. Therefore , I think tomorrow's counterattack will definitely win."

"Comrade Deputy Commander," Vatutin has fully realized the strength of the German army's fighting power in the past few days. He thought to himself, if he hadn't spent several months building a strong position and a complete defense system built by the entire front army, I'm afraid that the defeat in March would repeat itself. Seeing Apanashenko's disapproving look at this moment, he was worried that the other party would offend Zhukov and others, so he came out quickly and said: "As commanders, when we make plans, we must take into account the earliest situation. Although we In terms of strength and equipment, we have an advantage, but we must not take it lightly when counterattacking the enemy, otherwise we will easily suffer losses."

Apanashenko's tone really made Zhukov very unhappy. You know, from the outbreak of the war to the present, Apanashenko has basically stayed in the Far East far away from the war. Maybe his logistics work is very good, but it does not mean that he is an excellent commander, because he has no experience in fighting the Germans at all. If his thoughts affect the commanders below and treat the Germans lightly, it must be It will be a big loss.

I wanted to say a few words, but when I saw Vatutin come out to smooth things over, I turned my head and looked at Rotmistrov who was sitting next to him silently: "Comrade General, you will play the leading role on the battlefield tomorrow. Do you have anything to say?"

Hearing Zhukov call his name, Rotmistrov stood up quickly, straightened his waist and replied: "Comrade Marshal, my troops have made all preparations for battle. They will fight tomorrow for Germany. A lesson that people will never forget."

Zhukov was not at all interested in these cliches from Rotmistrov. He frowned and asked, "Comrade General, can you tell me how long it will take you to drive the enemy from Prokhorovka?" How about driving away?"

There is a reason for Zhukov to ask this question. The daytime counterattack on the 252.2 highland and the October Farm on the north side of the highland did not drive the enemy away from the above-mentioned areas after paying huge casualties. Zhukov is worried that the same will happen in the counterattack launched during the day tomorrow.

Seeing Zhukov's furrowed brow, Rotmistrov immediately realized the seriousness of the problem. He stared at the map on the wall, thinking seriously in his mind, there must be no problem for his troops to drive the enemy out of Prokhorovka, but it is hard to say how long it will take. .

Seeing that Rotmistrov remained silent for a long time, Zhukov was a little unhappy: "Comrade General, what's going on, didn't you hear what I was asking you?"

"Comrade Marshal," replied Rotmistrov hastily, "I'm thinking about it."

"Then tell me," Zhukov asked, "how long will it take?"

"I think it will take at least three to five days to completely defeat the enemies outside Prokhorovka." Rotmistrov didn't know Zhukov's true thoughts, so he could only say cautiously: " This is our limit."

"In the enemy's rear, here, here." Zhukov got up and walked to the wall, picked up the explaining stick, tapped twice on the map, and said: "There are also Sokov's troops and a division of the 69th Army. , it is because of their presence that the enemy's 6th and 19th Panzer Divisions did not appear outside Prokhorovka. If you need three to five days to drive the enemy out of Prokhorovka Let's go, what about these two troops?"

"Yes, General Rotmistrov." Vasilevsky waited for Zhukov to finish speaking, and then echoed: "While these two troops contained the enemy, they were also caught in the encirclement of the German army. Contact is also lost. I think they may not be able to hold out for three to five days, so you must attack faster."

Rotmistrov had long heard that Sokov had friendship with Zhukov and others. Now that Zhukov was trying to speak for Sokov, he realized that what he knew might not be rumors, at least Judging from the current situation, Zhukov is very worried about Sokov's safety. He rearranged the vocabulary in his mind, and then said cautiously: "Comrade Marshal, I feel that if the battle goes well, we can drive the enemy out of Prokhorovka within 48 hours."

"Drive the enemy away within 48 hours?" Regarding the deadline proposed by Rotmistrov, Zhukov hesitated for a moment, then nodded and replied straightforwardly: "Okay, then I will give you 48 hours." , I hope you don't let me down."

"Don't worry, Comrade Marshal." Rotmistrov reassured bravely, "We think we will drive the enemy out of the city within the stipulated time."

Zhukov nodded slightly, then waved his hand at Rotmistrov, and said: "Comrade General, since the combat mission has been clarified, then you should go back to the army as soon as possible. Check the preparations of the troops carefully, so as not to worry about the situation tomorrow." After the battle started, if something unexpected happened, it would be too late to deal with it.”