Another significance of the 21st Armored Division meeting the "Tiger Style" in Malivo Village is that the German army has completed the encirclement of the middle area, and the SS 2nd Armored Army has thus escaped the entanglement of Soviet troops.

This situation shocked Stalin very much. He immediately ordered Zhukov, who was commanding the attack in Orel, to come to Moscow to report to him.

But even so, Stalin still acted extremely calm... He always gave people a calm feeling, even if sometimes he was actually very anxious.

"Comrade Zhukov!" Stalin asked: "Are you still planning to continue this battle?"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!" Zhukov replied: "We did suffer heavy losses in Prokorovka, but I believe the enemy is not easy either. This can be seen from their inability to launch a counterattack against the 5th Armored Army of the Guards!"

"Maybe you are right!" Stalin said: "The 48th Armored Army of the Germans may not be able to attack, but have you considered the 2nd Armored Army of the SS? Although they were once entangled with our 'fire pocket' and could not advance, because of the investment of new heavy tanks... we have never been able to cause effective damage to them! In other words, the 2nd Armored Army of the SS also has many tanks, which are even much more and much stronger than the 48th Armored Army."

After pausing, Stalin continued: "What's more important is their 'tracking rockets'. The Germans probably equipped them to two different troops in order to test the performance of these two new equipment. The facts also prove that both equipment are very effective... The 'tracking rockets' can easily penetrate the frontal armor of our tanks from a long distance, and the 'elephant' can withstand any of our artillery attacks. And now, they are going to form an army! Are you confident to block them?"

Zhukov couldn't help but speak out. If it could be blocked, it would definitely be a lie. The heavy casualties of the 5th Tank Army of the Guards were a clear proof. Although they seemed to have found a tactic that could suppress the "tracking rockets", Zhukov knew the most about the damage of this equipment... Its heaviest thing is that it is simple and convenient to be equipped in batches and deployed quickly in infantry. As long as there are enough numbers, it cannot be suppressed at all.

Simply put, the Soviet Union hoped to flood the enemy with tank torrents, but the "tracking rocket" in the enemy's hands could form a rocket torrent, and it was an accurate rocket torrent that destroyed Soviet tanks one by one.

After thinking about it, Zhukov said: "Comrade Stalin, we ordered the 5th Tank Army of Guards to block the armored troops south of the Germans. At the same time, we invest more troops in Orel's direction, and we will win in a few days!"

What Zhukov said actually makes sense.

Because the armored forces rely heavily on highways and railways, a large part of the reason why the 48th Armored Division was allowed to attack Prokorovka in a few days was that the Soviet army did not expect that the 48th Armored Army had such strong combat effectiveness and could easily defeat the 5th Army of Guard Tanks that intercepted them.

So there was no damage along the way.

But now, the 48th German Armored Army and the 2nd SS Army are temporarily blocked south of Prokorovka, so the 5th Soviet Guards Tank Army can retreat while burying mines and breaking the road, just like the Germans withdraw from Stalingrad.

In this way, there is actually no need to fight at all. The marching speed of the German 48th Armored Army and the SS 2nd Armored Army will definitely be greatly affected.

So the Soviet army could continue its plan to enforce a large-scale encirclement of the German army.

Stalin shook his head slightly and replied: "Comrade Zhukov, since we knew that the Germans had the 'tracking rocket', our attack was doomed to fail, do you understand?"

"Comrade Stalin..."

"This is the information on 'tracking rockets'!" Stalin said and placed a document in front of Zhukov: "We estimate that it weighs only 20 kilograms, which means that it can be quickly transported to any place by air transportation. So this kind of 'tracking rocket' is everywhere on the high ground, in the grass, and in the woods, but we hope to cover the infantry with a large number of tanks to intersperse the German logistics..."

Stalin shook his head: "Before our tanks are interspersed to the destination, our tanks have been destroyed or lost most of the losses by such 'tracking rockets'. Our interspersed troops will only be sent to the Germans to surround them, because they will be massacred by German armored troops, just when our tank troops are completely lost!"

Zhukov couldn't help but sweat because he could not refute the deduction made by Stalin.

What Zhukov didn't know was that Stalin's deduction seemed to be fine. The characteristics of ME63 were here. You can exchange cheap and convenient rockets for much more expensive tanks. If ME63 is infinitely expanded, the war will definitely continue if the party using the tanks will eventually collapse because they cannot bear the losses.

The problem is that ME63 does not mean that everyone can use it. As mentioned before, its training is not simple. If it has not been trained for a long time and effective training, it is difficult to even control the ME63 to fly smoothly without hitting the ground, let alone control it to hit the target.

However, neither Stalin nor Zhukov knew this, so he misjudged the so-called "tracking rocket".

"So..." Finally Stalin concluded: "It is necessary to delay the German armored troops in the south, but not for attack, but for retreat!"

Although Zhukov was unwilling to do so, he still had to stand up and answer: "I obey unconditionally, Comrade Stalin!"

"We cannot give way to the troops in Kursk to the same fate as the middle ground!" Stalin said: "We are surrounded by two divisions and a tank regiment in the middle ground. If the Germans occupy Kursk, our entire Central Army will be trapped in their encirclement. We will never be able to bear such losses anymore!"

"Yes, Comrade Stalin!"

After Zhukov left, Stalin took out his pipe and started smoking it.

In fact, Stalin had been struggling for a long time to issue the order like that, because it meant admitting that the battle had been defeated, not only that, but also like the whole world declared that the Soviet Union had failed... The inability to retake the Baku oil field meant that the Soviet Union was powerless, and it also meant that the Soviet Union would be in absolute passive strategically.
Chapter completed!