Red Moscow

At dawn the next day, two hundred tanks of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps formed a huge wedge and advanced rapidly along the railway line, trying to break through the defense line decisively and rush into Hall before the Germans could react. Kov joined Sokov's 27th Army.

Whether it is Rotmistrov or the commander of the 2nd Tank Army, they all feel that with the current strength of the Germans, they cannot stop such a huge armored assault group. Even if there are losses of tanks along the way, most of them Most of the tanks were still able to break through the enemy's positions and enter the city to meet Sokov's troops.

But what happened next slapped Rotmistrov in the face. When the Soviet tank group passed through the sunflower field, it once again encountered an armored group composed of Tiger tanks, Leopard tanks and assault guns. Behind them was the German anti-tank weapon-the 88mm anti-aircraft gun.

The Soviet tanks on the move were not named by German tank guns or anti-aircraft guns, and they stopped and burned on the open ground, but the remaining tanks rushed forward without hesitation, or fired at the German tanks approaching them.

The German army that deployed defense here was the 394th Panzergrenadier Regiment under the 3rd Armored Division. They used 88mm anti-aircraft guns to cooperate with their own tanks to destroy the Soviet tanks that tried to approach the position. Shells landed in the Soviet attacking queue, and tanks were destroyed from time to time. After driving forward for a certain distance with strong fire and thick smoke, they stopped in place and burned blazingly.

But the Soviet army had too many tanks. One tank was destroyed, and another tank appeared in the gunner's field of vision, making the German gunners very busy.

As soon as the Soviet tanks approached the German positions, the front-mounted machine guns began to spit out flames, killing those exposed infantry or gunners. Due to the close distance to the German positions, the tank soldiers had a high shooting hit rate. As long as those strong infantry or artillery were targeted by the tank soldiers, they were either shot to death by random guns, or they were blown to ashes by a single shell.

This tank decisive battle lasted until noon, and the 2nd Guards Tank Army had to withdraw from the battlefield again after suffering huge casualties. During this encounter, the corps lost more than 150 tanks.

Knowing that the assault of the tank group failed again, Rotmistrov dropped his teacup in anger, and he said loudly to Solomatin: "This is a hell, no matter which direction we go When we launch an attack, we will encounter German Tiger tanks, Leopard tanks and assault guns. Did the enemy obtain our attack plan from within us in advance?"

"Comrade Commander, you don't worry too much." Solomatin knew very well in his heart that except for a few main commanders who knew about this attack, the rest did not know the specific attack time and route at all. I'm afraid there is no way to report the news. "I think this attack failed for many reasons..."

"Then tell me, what aspects are there?"

"The offensive formation of two hundred tanks is too large. No matter how we hide our whereabouts, it is obviously impossible not to be discovered by the enemy's scouts." Solomatin said to Rotmistrov: " I think our tanks should have been discovered by German scouts just after leaving the starting position of the attack, and the enemy could use this information to deploy defenses on our way forward in advance."

"General Konev's order to us is to break through the enemy's defenses, rush into Kharkov and join Sokov's 27th Army, and continue to expand the results." Rotmistrov said with a dejected expression: "I don't know how to explain to General Konev that our troops are now smashed before even approaching the main road of Kharkov."

"I think it's better to tell the truth." Solomatin sighed and said: "We have lost a large number of tanks during the two-day attack, and we must report the truth to the superiors so that the leaders of the front army can grasp the real situation on the battlefield. .”

Rotmistrov took off his glasses, heaved a sigh of relief, took out a white handkerchief and wiped it, put it on again, nodded, and said to Solomatin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are right." Yes, we have to report our failures to our superiors in time so that they can have a more accurate grasp of the situation on the battlefield."

Just when Solomatin picked up the phone and was about to contact the headquarters of the Front Army, Rotmistrov stopped him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I am very responsible for the failure of the offensive these two days. Let me report to the chief of the front army."

After the call was connected, Konev learned that Rotmistrov's attack had failed again, and his face was immediately covered with frost. He gritted his molars and asked, "General Rotmistrov , explain to me, how did you lose more than 500 tanks in three days?"

Hearing Konev mention the number of tanks lost to the bombing the day before yesterday, Rotmistrov realized that the other party was really angry, and quickly explained with a red face: "Comrade commander, please listen to my explanation. The Germans The clever use of sunflower fields as cover prevented our attacking troops from finding them on the way, which led to the enemy's ambush and the loss of a large number of tanks."

Now that the matter had already happened, Konev knew that it was useless to say anything, so he asked with a straight face, "General Rotmistrov, what are your plans for the future?"

"Comrade Commander," Rotmistrov breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Konev's tone slow down: "I plan to wait until after dark before launching an attack on the enemy. There is a saying that the night is A league of the brave. The Germans won by day, but they never dreamed that we would strike again at night."

Konev has no interest in whether the night is an alliance of the brave. What he is most concerned about at the moment is whether the remaining tanks in Rotmistrov's hands support him to launch another attack? He coughed twice, cleared his throat, and asked, "How many tanks do you have in your hands? Can they break through the German defenses?"

Before Rotmistrov called Konev, he counted how many tanks were left in the army. At this moment, when Konev asked about this matter, he replied confidently: "Comrade commander, we still have 160 tanks left in the reserve team, which are fully capable of breaking through the German defense line."

Seeing that Rotmistrov spoke so confidently, Konev couldn't say anything more. After all, the Supreme Command makes several calls every day to urge him to capture Kharkov as soon as possible. Since Rotmistrov said he intended to attack again at night, let him try.

Since Rotmistrov's troops failed to break through the German defenses, Sokov should be informed of the news as soon as possible, lest he rush to attack the Germans without the cover of friendly troops, thus causing the troops of the 27th Army to in danger. He pointed at Zakharov with his hand and ordered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you call Sokov immediately and tell him that General Rotmistrov's tank unit encountered an enemy during the assault." Some troubles, unable to join forces with them in the city according to the original battle plan, let Sokov have a mental preparation."

But what happened next surprised Konev. When Sokov received his call, he was not surprised. On the contrary, he said calmly: "Comrade commander of the front army, please rest assured that no matter what the enemy initiates, Against an attack of this magnitude, our forces are able to firmly hold the occupied areas."

Sokov put down the phone and said to Tsvetayev who was sitting beside him: "Comrade General, it seems that my judgment yesterday was correct. More than 200 tanks of the 2nd Guards Tank Corps only took one morning , 150 vehicles were reimbursed, which directly caused the army to lose its combat effectiveness."

Sokov's words made Tsvetayev flustered, and he asked Sokov nervously: "General Sokov, what should we do next?"

"What else can we do?" Sokov shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "Naturally, order the troops to repel the enemy's counterattack, continue to stick to the occupied area, and launch a new counterattack after the friendly troops enter the city."

"Then when do you think our friendly forces will be able to enter Kharkov?"

"Hurry up, General Tsvetayev." Sokov comforted the other party, "In two days at most, we will be able to rush into Kharkov with the main force." He was afraid that the other party would not believe what he said Then he added, "As far as I know, General Katukov's 1st Tank Army is attacking the German positions. I believe that in the near future, they should be the first troops to rush into the city."