Monthly tickets!

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While Hot was having a headache for the discord between the SS and the Wehrmacht, the Soviet side was shocked by the attack launched by the 4th German Armored Army in the direction of Belgorod.

The staff officer hurried into the office of General Voronezh Front Commander General Vatujing, and handed him a telegram to him and reported: "Comrade Vatujing, both German armored troops arrived at the second line of defense before dark!"

Watujing took the telegram and glanced at it, put it aside, then frowned and looked at the map.

Lieutenant General Kazakov, the chief of staff next to him, couldn't help but say: "They will definitely rest when it's dark, prepare for the offensive at night, and then launch another attack until the early morning!"

"I know this, Comrade Kazakov!" Vatutin replied distressedly: "But we seem to have nothing to resist their attack now. All our equipment cannot penetrate the armor of their tanks! In just one day, we lost more than 200 tanks under the attack of the Germans, but their losses were minimal!"

Lieutenant General Kazakov couldn't help but pick up one of the telegrams saying that the Soviet army destroyed 19 German "elephant" tanks.

(Note: The Soviet army did not know the name of the "Tiger" tank at first. Because it is thick in skin, flesh and huge in size, it is called "elephant")

Vatujing shook his head and said, "Forget it. I just got the information. A German armored division only had 11 'elephants' and only about 33 in the army. If we really destroy 19 of them, then we don't have to worry about it at all... because we can destroy another 14 tomorrow!"

At this time, the Soviet army lied about military achievements and became popular.

In this regard, the senior Soviet army leaders turned a blind eye.

The reason is that the Soviet army needs some "war record" to boost the morale of the army, and sometimes they even intentionally exaggerate it.

On the other hand, the cost of falsely reporting military achievements is very low.

Several shells were fired on the battlefield to hit the target. Even if they did not destroy it, who could deny that he had hurt him?

Or just make a fuss out of nothing, saying that you have blown up a "tiger" at a certain location, and this location was occupied by the German army, who can verify it?

Even if it proves that this does not exist, you can easily bypass it with the excuse of "I read it wrong".

As a general, Vatujing certainly knew the truth and did not believe these so-called "results".

He said to Kazakov with a self-deprecating voice: "If we believe in these results, then you will have some illusion... The Germans are going to be finished, and we will win in a few days!"

Lieutenant General Kazakov wanted to laugh, but he couldn't laugh.

After pausing for a while, Kazakov said, "Comrade Vatujing, should we withdraw the troops between the enemy's two lines?"

General Vatujing remained silent.

Even though Vatuting knew that the Germans would launch a counterattack, and that they would counterattack from the Belgorod area, he never expected that the Germans would launch an attack at two points on the defense line at the same time.

In this way, after the first line of defense was broken, the Soviet army was immediately in a passive state... The troops 15 kilometers wide between the two highways were at risk of being surrounded at any time.

This can be said to have completely disrupted Vatujing's combat plan... Vatujing's original plan was to put the German army in, and then send troops to surround and annihilate it.

But now...

The German army's attack method made it impossible to encircle it at all. In other words, before the Soviet army launched a counterattack, the German army would encircle and eat the Soviet army in the middle, so the German army was connected with its rear.

In order to stop this situation, the Soviet army had to organize troops to encircle and block the German army at the forefront of the German army, and it was completely in chaos.

Retreat, or not?

withdraw.

This means that the German army was given a very ideal logistics... The gap of 15 kilometers wide, plus the width of a few kilometers opened by the German armored troops themselves, was more than twenty kilometers wide. The German army could transport supplies in this gap with confidence and speed. It would be even more difficult to drive the German army out at that time.

Don't withdraw.

There is an elite army in the middle, which is the 22nd Guard Infantry Army, and also strengthened a 245th Tank Regiment with 50 tanks.

If they were surrounded, not only did the Soviet army suffer heavy losses, but the gap would still be formed.

After thinking about it, Vatujing said, "No, we can't withdraw!"

"But Comrade Vatutin!" Kazakov expressed concern about this: "If we do not retreat, we will only block the Germans. But we have tried all kinds of methods..."

"There are also things we haven't tried!" Vatuting interrupted Lieutenant General Kazakov.

Kazakov looked at Vatujin in confusion. He didn't understand what Vatujin said was that he had never tried.

"I believe that the German army in the direction of Bhutov does not have 'elephant' tanks!" said Vatuting.

"It's true!" Kazakov replied: "Because Bhutov is directed by the German National Welfare, and in Tomarovka is directed by the German SS, they usually equip the advanced equipment to the SS first!"

“So why don’t we take advantage of this?”

"You mean..."

"We can't stop the 'elephant' tank, so don't stop it!" Vatutin said: "We just need to block it. On the other hand, for the Germans without the 'elephant' tank... we can concentrate our efforts to block it, so that the two German troops will not merge on the Yakovrevo Highway to form an encirclement!"

Kazakov nodded when he heard this, and then said, "It's a solution, Comrade Vatujing, so that we can continue to use the 22nd Army to threaten the Germans' rear and divide and surround them with the two armors!"

"Yes!" said Vatuting: "So, not only can we not withdraw our troops from the middle, but we should also strengthen their strength. Only in this way can we not be defeated by the Germans and contact each other!"

"But..." Kazakov continued: "How can we block the 'elephant' tank? Our tank is simply a target in front of it!"

After thinking about it, Vatujing replied: "Hide the tanks, I mean... build fortifications for them, exposing only the turrets. In this way, it will be difficult for enemy tanks to penetrate our tanks from a distance! At close range, our anti-tank guns may be able to play a role!"

Kazakov immediately understood what Vatujing meant.
Chapter completed!