Chapter 1089 Emergency Situation (Part 2)
Malachenko pointed at the map in front of him and gave clear orders to his crew members.
After two days of high-intensity battles, plus a sleepless night and overnight maneuvers, Malachenko, who always boasted of his reliable body, now felt a little ecstatic and seemed to be about to collapse. The crews and soldiers under him who were fighting in a more dangerous environment were probably in a worse situation.
But there was no other way in the current situation. He felt tired, and the Germans were also rushing to help in the direction of Prokhorovka. They probably didn't sleep all night and were definitely not much better.
So at this point, there was nothing else to say, just to see who had stronger endurance and who could grit their teeth and hold on to the last breath, to see whether the SS, which was named after the head of the country, was stronger or the Guards, which was named after the father, was stronger. The secret competition between the ace and the ace had actually begun long ago.
Malashenko guessed that the situation of the Fifth Guards Tank Army might have reached the final moment of life and death, but the real situation was obviously more terrible than Malashenko expected.
In the initial battle that lasted for a whole day yesterday, the Fifth Guards Tank Army deployed more than 300 T34 and T70 tanks in total, and launched a fierce attack on most of the SS Guards Leibstandarte Division and part of the Imperial Division support force entrenched in the October State Farm salient.
The tanks were loaded with infantry and launched a sweeping attack on the German positions. The Guards Leibstandarte Division deployed the most elite armored grenadiers at the forefront of the position to build a position, and deployed the few armored units at the back of the position, acting as a position with strong armor defense to directly fire anti-tank fire as Malashenko did before.
Even though the Guards Leibstandarte Division fighting at the October State Farm was far from its peak state, their division commander was still leading the main force of the division to make the last attempt to break through in the direction of Oboyan on that day. The Guards Leibstandarte Division deployed at the October State Farm had only about 40% of its troops and half of the heavy weapons of the entire division.
And because of the previous fierce battles, there were still some casualties. If we only look at the number of people and the number of technical equipment, it can be said that it is not the opponent of the Fifth Guards Tank Army.
But fighting is not a simple comparison of who has more quantity for the rich to show off their wealth. Since Hausser, who has his own unique command style, dared to put the Guards Leibstandarte Division in such an important position, he naturally had his own absolute confidence.
The Guards Leibstandarte Division, which is equipped with a large number of Tigers, Panthers, and a large number of Ferdinand heavy tank destroyers, is a world of difference between cruelty and ordinary difficulty compared to the Guards Leibstandarte Division at the corresponding time in the existing historical timeline.
The Panthers and Tigers, who were entrenched in their positions and remained motionless, kept firing. The T34s and T70s, who were rushing towards the German positions with their accelerators on, suffered heavy casualties.
Due to the extremely excellent long-range shooting accuracy and powerful armor-piercing power of the Tiger and Panther tanks, most of the T34s and smaller T70s were destroyed one by one on the road of attack like smashed beer bottles before they even had time to rush to the distance close to the German positions, and ignited a raging fire.
At first, there were more than a dozen tanks, then 20 to 30 tanks, and at the climax, there were even 70 to 80 Soviet tanks full of tank knights launching a charge.
The soldiers of the Guards Flag Division guarding the positions had never seen such a large battle. The density of tanks deployed by the Russians was unprecedented!
The Tigers and Leopards responsible for anti-armor combat missions fired desperately, but they still couldn't stand up to the opponent's large number and fast running. The Guards Leibstandarte Division, which was at a huge disadvantage in numbers, was broken through only one hour after the battle began, and was rushed in by the tank knights of the T34 and T70.
The Guards Leibstandarte Division, which was divided into two groups, had no available reserve troops to plug the gap. Paul Hausser, commander of the Second SS Panzer Corps, saw that the situation was about to get out of control, so he had to quickly transfer the Guards Leibstandarte Division fighting at the October State Farm and part of the Imperial Division in the south.
The Imperial Division, equipped with Ferdinand heavy tank destroyers, marched at full speed and rushed to the battlefield before the situation got out of control. It immediately organized a quick and fierce counterattack with the armored forces of the Guards Leibstandarte Division, which was retreating step by step.
The Soviet army, which had not yet had time to gain a foothold on the position it had just captured, could not withstand such a powerful armored offensive.
A bunch of T34 and T70 ping-pong hit the German tanks, but all of them were useless. The shells flew one after another, which was worse than a mosquito biting an elephant. Several attempts to make a flanking attack were all blocked by the SS armored forces that were mobile and adaptable.
Under the huge losses and casualties, they had no choice but to withdraw again. The infantry that followed the vehicles to attack the position suffered more than 70% casualties and were almost annihilated. The Guards Flag Division, which had been opened up, regained control of the position again, and the situation between the two sides once again returned to the state before the offensive was launched.
This scene in the October State Farm was not an isolated case. The No. 6 Highland where the Left-wing Skeleton Division was stationed and the No. 6 Highland where the Guards Flag Division was stationed were basically the same. Most of the Soviet troops in the direction of Prokhorovka returned without success and suffered casualties in the one-day attack.
The 2nd SS Panzer Corps did not have many troops, but it was able to overwhelm the Soviet army with the huge gap in the quality of technical equipment, and was in a defensive position to achieve victory with fewer troops.
Shocked by the huge casualties of the 5th Guards Tank Army, Vatutin realized that if he continued to consume like this, the blood of the 5th Guards Tank Army would be drained in at most one day.
The quality and quantity of tanks were far inferior to those of the southern troops of the Soviet Army Group in the north of Kursk. Almost all of them were T34 and T70. The latest IS1 and a small number of IS2 heavy tanks were all transported to the north to fight.
Vatutin wanted to invest decisive forces in Prokhorovka to decide the outcome with one blow. After searching for such a large front, only Malashenko and his Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade were competent.
This most elite and special tank unit under the All-Front Army uses almost all the latest heavy tanks. It has demonstrated its extremely powerful power in the positional defense battles in the past two days, giving a wake-up call to the SS who originally wanted to open up the situation on the front battlefield.
Vatutin did not want to throw Malashenko into the blood pit of Prokhorovka immediately. The Stalin Guards First Heavy Tank Brigade, which had fought hard for two days, had suffered heavy losses.
But looking at the All-Front Army, there is no more organized heavy tank unit available. More T34 and T70 can only be sent to the front for free and can hardly play a substantial role. Moreover, Vatutin does not have so many tank reserves at present.
Take two newly replenished infantry divisions and a medium tank brigade to exchange Malashenko for Prokhorovka. This is the final decision made by Vatutin.