Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko pointed at the map in front of him and gave clear orders to his crew members.

After two consecutive days of high-intensity battles, plus staying up all night last night and maneuvering all night, Malashenko, who has always boasted that he is in good health, now feels a little ecstatic, as if he can't hold on any longer. Those battles The crews and soldiers under his command in more dangerous environments estimated that the situation would be even worse.

But there is no other way to deal with the current situation. I feel tired here, and the Germans are also rushing to help in the direction of Prokhorovka. I guess they haven't slept all night, so they won't be any better.

So at this point, there is nothing else to say. It is to compare who has stronger endurance, who can grit his teeth and hold on to this last breath, and see whether it is the SS who bears the name of the Führer who is more powerful or the one who is compassionate. The Guards in the Name of the Father are stronger, and the secret battle between ace and ace has actually begun.

Malashenko speculated that the situation of the Fifth Guards Tank Army may have reached the final moment of life and death, but the real situation was obviously more terrifying than Malashenko expected.

In the early battle that lasted for a whole day yesterday, the 5th Guards Tank Army invested a total of more than 300 T34 and T70 tanks towards the main part of the SS Guardsmen Division entrenched in the protrusion of the October State Farm. and the Imperial Division support force launched a fierce attack.

Tanks loaded with infantry launched a sweeping attack on the German positions. The Guards Division deployed its most elite armored grenadiers at the forefront of the position to build a position, and the few armored units were placed further back in the position, such as horseback. As Rashenko had done before, it served as a fortified position to fire direct anti-tank fire.

Even though the Guards Division fighting at the October State Farm was far from its peak condition, their division commander still led the main force of the division that day to make a last attempt at a frontal breakthrough in the direction of Oboyan, deploying the guard at the October State Farm. The flag force division only has about 40% of its troops and half of the heavy weapons of the complete division.

And because there were some casualties in the previous fierce battle, if you just look at the number of people and the number of technical equipment, it can be said that they are no match for the Fifth Guards Tank Army.

But fighting a war is not just about showing off one's wealth. Since Hausser, who has his own unique command style, dares to place the Guards Standard Division in such an important position, he naturally has his own absolute confidence in it. .

The SS Division was equipped with a large number of Tigers, Panthers, and a large number of Ferdinand heavy tank destroyers. Compared with the corresponding SS Division in the existing historical timeline, the SS Division was simply cruel and ordinary. The difference in difficulty is huge.

The Black Panthers and Tigers, who were entrenched in the position and remained motionless, kept firing. The T34 and T70 who stepped on the accelerator and rushed towards the German position suffered heavy casualties.

Due to the excellent long-range shooting accuracy and powerful armor-piercing power of the Tiger and Leopard tanks, most of the T34s and smaller T70s were smashed into pieces before they could even get close to the German positions. The beer bottles were usually destroyed one by one on the path of attack, igniting a raging fire.

At first there were more than a dozen, then twenty or thirty, and at the climax, there were even seventy or eighty Soviet tanks full of tank knights charging.

The soldiers of the Guards Division guarding the position have never seen such a large battle, and the concentration of tanks invested by the Russians is simply unprecedented!

Hubao, who was responsible for carrying out anti-armor combat missions, fired desperately, but still could not withstand the opponent's large numbers and fast running. The numerical disadvantage was too great. The Guards Flagship Division was opened up only an hour after the battle began, and was defeated by T34 and T70. The tank knights rushed in and rushed into the position.

The two-pronged Guards Division had no available reserves to plug the gap. The commander of the Second SS Panzer Corps, Paul Hausser, saw that the situation was about to get out of control. He had no choice but to quickly end the battle in the October National War. The Guards Division of the farm and the Imperial Division located in the south were transferred over.

The Imperial Division equipped with Ferdinand heavy tank destroyers rushed to the scene before the situation got out of control. They marched at full mechanized speed and rushed to fight. They immediately organized a fast and fierce counterattack in conjunction with the retreating armored units of the Guards Division.

The Soviet army, which had not yet had time to establish a foothold on the newly captured position, could not withstand such a powerful armored offensive.

A bunch of T34 and T70 ping-pong balls hit the German tank, all of which were useless. The shells flying one after another were worse than mosquitoes biting elephants. Several roundabout attempts were made and all were driven away. The improvised SS armored units pushed back.

Under the huge losses and casualties, they had no choice but to withdraw again. The infantrymen who attacked the position with the vehicles suffered more than 70% casualties and were almost wiped out. The Guards Standard Division, which had already been breached, once again After regaining control of the battlefield, the situation of both sides once again returned to the state before the attack was launched.

This scene that happened at the October State Farm is not an exception. It was basically the same scene at No. 6 Heights where the Left Skeleton Division was stationed, and another No. 6 Heights where the Guards Division was stationed. Prokhorov Most of the Soviet troops in the direction of Kazakhstan returned without success and suffered only more casualties during the day-long attack.

The Second SS Armored Corps did not have many troops, but it was able to overwhelm the Soviet army by relying on the huge gap in the quality of technical equipment. In addition, it was in a favorable defensive position to achieve victory with less.

Vatutin, who was shocked by the huge casualties suffered by the Fifth Guards Tank Army, realized that if the consumption continued like this, the blood of the Fifth Guards Tank Army would be drained in at least one day.

The quality and quantity of tanks are far inferior to those of the southern troops of the Kursk Northern Soviet Army Group. Almost all of them are T34 and T70. The latest IS1 and a small number of IS2 heavy tanks that came off the production line were all transported to the north and put into battle.

Vatutin wanted to invest a decisive force in Prokhorovka to determine the outcome with one blow. With such a large front army, only Malashenko and his Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade could do the job.

This is the most elite and special tank force under the entire front army structure. It uses almost all the latest heavy tanks. It has shown extremely powerful power in the position defense battles in the past two days, giving it the original plan. The SS wanted to open up the situation on the frontal battlefield and gave them a heads-up.

Vatutin did not want to throw Malashenko immediately into the blood pit of Prokhorovka. The 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, which had fought hard for two days, had already suffered heavy losses.

However, looking at the entire front army, we can no longer find even one fully-organized heavy tank unit that can be used. The transfer of more T34s and T70s will only be a waste of lives and will not play a substantial role. Moreover, Vatutin's hand There are not that many tank reserves in China now.

Taking two newly replenished infantry divisions and adding a medium tank brigade to replace Malashenko with Prokhorovka, this was the final decision made by Vatutin.