Chapter 171 Expectations
The outbreak of the Battle of Kursk brought great relief to the Soviet Supreme Command. For the Soviet army, this was a major battle they had been longing for. Once the German army really launched an offensive in this direction, the next thing the Soviet army needed to do was to defeat the enemy.
This was the battle in which the Soviet army had been most fully prepared, most fully deployed, most fully equipped with weapons and equipment, and most confident since the outbreak of the war. Behind the front line, the Soviet army even deployed an entire front as a reserve. If they could not win such a battle, then there is no doubt that the Soviet Union would have been completely defeated.
The battle officially started on July 3. In the following days, the German army launched a comprehensive and large-scale offensive against the Soviet army's tightly defended positions on the north and south wings.
In the north of Kursk, the German Orel Group under Model's command launched a swift offensive against the Soviet Olkhovatka defense line from the first day. The assault corps consisting of 500 tanks and assault guns launched continuous operations in this direction, trying to break through the defense line of the 13th Army under the Soviet Central Army Group. But when Rokossovsky sensed the danger, he quickly ordered the Second Tank Army deployed behind the front to reinforce and stabilize the defense line again.
Model was a master of defense who was good at fighting defensive battles, but his shortcomings were obvious in commanding attacks. After the setback on the first day, he did not quickly adjust the battle deployment, but continued to increase troops in the direction of Olkhovatka, trying to tear open the Soviet defense line by strengthening the assault force. However, this tactic of adding fuel to the fire was exactly what the Soviet army wanted. The two sides fought fiercely in Olkhovatka, and each other's supporting aviation dropped a large number of bombs on the front line, which was a fight that was mutually devastating.
The breakthrough in the direction of Olkhovatka failed, and Model did not adjust his tactics until four days later. He invested all the basic forces he could use and launched an offensive in the direction of Ponyri. But what Model did not know was that Rokossovsky had accurately predicted his plan. He boldly withdrew the 3rd Tank Army and part of the 19th Tank Army from the direction of Saborovka and deployed them to Ponyri. In response to the situation in the previous battle, he deployed a large number of tanks in the form of anti-tank artillery positions on the German offensive route.
In just a few days of attack from July 8 to July 12, the German 41st and 46th Tank Corps suffered heavy losses at Boneri and lost the ability to continue the attack.
On July 14, Model, exhausted and threatened in the rear, abandoned his offensive plan and withdrew his basic forces to the front line three days ago, switching from offense to defense. The German offensive on the northern line of Kursk officially failed. By this time, Rokossovsky had not yet used the reserve assigned to him by the headquarters.
On the southern front of Kursk, the German offensive started slightly later than on the northern front, but also on July 3.
In this line, the German army chose two assault directions, Berezov and Belgorod, with the goal of breaking through the three lines of defense built by the Soviet army in these two directions and advancing towards Oboyan and Korocha. The attack in the Oboyan direction was to join forces with the Orel Group and thus encircle the Soviet army in the Kursk direction, while the attack in the Korocha direction was to prevent the Soviet army's follow-up troops from supporting the Kursk direction.
The Germans launched a full-scale assault on the Oboyan line from Berezov to Butovo. On the first day, the Germans advanced very smoothly along the line, advancing all the way to the Beskov line, but here, the German offensive forces encountered stubborn resistance from the Soviets. After two days of continuous attack, the line only advanced less than 8 kilometers.
In order to quickly break through the Soviet defense line, the German army mobilized more than 400 tanks and assault guns to form a powerful assault corps and launched an offensive from the southwest of Beskov. However, during this offensive, the assault corps encountered heavy bombardment from the Soviet artillery on the west bank of the Volskla River, and then encountered the impact of the Soviet 9th Tank Army and the 9th Guards Tank Army. This battle took place in the southern region of Beskov. In the two-day battle, the Soviet and German sides successively invested more than 1,200 tanks. Although the German Tiger tanks had an absolute advantage in the confrontation, facing the situation of ants biting elephants to death, the German army was eventually forced to retreat to the rear after paying a heavy price.
In the Belgorod direction, the German offensive was even worse. The Kempf Combat Group, which was responsible for launching the offensive on this front, was very passive from the beginning. Opposite them was the Steppe Front commanded by Konev, who had long lost his temper. The two sides fought desperately in Melekhovo and other places, and neither side was willing to retreat.
July 13, Moscow, thunderstorm.
In an independent two-story building at No. 112, Upper Taganka Lane near Taganka Square, Yuri was sitting in front of a large floor-to-ceiling window covered with curtains, his back leaning against a soft sofa, holding a cigarette in his mouth. He looked through the gaps in the curtains at the street outside the window in the thunderstorm.
On the large classical-style bed behind him, the two sisters, Kaya and Olya, with rosy cheeks, were curled up together with their heads touching, sleeping soundly. Perhaps because they had moved to a new place , the two sisters had smiles on their faces even in their sleep.
This house actually belongs to Angelica, or more precisely, to her father. But now, Yuri has used it to hide his mistress. Using his father-in-law's house to hide his lover, I guess only Yuri would do such a thing.
However, for Angelica, this was a very fitting thing for her, for a very simple reason. With this place to live, the sisters would not appear in front of her, let alone go to the apartment where she and Yuri lived. She could avoid seeing them and not be bothered by them.
For politicians, marriage is a symbolic decoration that is shown to others. No one cares how the decoration is attached to the wall, and no one cares how dirty and rotten the back is. All people notice is the bright and brilliant side that is displayed.
The cigarette in his hand was about to burn out. Yuri reached out for the ashtray and put out the cigarette. Then he turned his head to look at the floor clock in the corner of the room: it was almost seven o'clock, and another night had passed.
Yuri stood up lazily and walked back to the bed.
The two sisters' states of mind when they sleep are completely opposite to their states when they are awake. The extroverted Kaya sleeps very soundly and may not change her position all night long, while Olya is very restless and always likes to toss and turn, sometimes even rolling over.
At this moment, Olya kicked off the quilt again, and Kaya was also implicated and curled up naked like her, like a poor punching bag.
The young bodies of girls are always full of temptation. Under the dim light of the bedside lamp, their skin appears a light golden color. Leaning over to take a closer look, the light layer of fluff seems to be full of temptation.
Yuri, who had just gotten up, was full of energy. The scene in front of him made him feel uncomfortable. After hesitating for a while, he finally came forward and leaned on the back of Olya who was lying face down...
"Kerala..."
The huge thunder seemed to sound right under the window. Yuri, who had just had a good time, climbed up from Kaya's limp body, casually took the nightgown from the bedside, put it on, and stroked Olya who was murmuring non-stop. Then he jumped off the bed, slipped on his slippers, and walked towards the bedroom door. Just before the thunder sounded, he heard the ringing bell. If nothing unexpected happened, it should be Arseni who came to pick him up.
Going out and downstairs, Yuri walked to the stairs and gestured to the guard at the entrance. The latter understood and stepped forward, opened the door, and welcomed Arseni in with an umbrella.
"General, this is the battle report delivered last night," Arseni handed the umbrella to the guard after entering the room, and walked over with a document in his arms, saying to Yuri who had just walked downstairs, "In addition, Comrade Zhukov called the General Staff last night and said that he was going to order the troops to launch a counterattack at 4 pm today."
Zhukov was still very disciplined. When he requested permission to launch a full-scale counterattack, he first notified the General Staff and then called Stalin so that the General Staff could be prepared and not be caught off guard.
Yuri nodded, took the documents handed to him by Arseni, turned and walked towards the living room on the first floor.
"There is one more thing, General," Arseni followed him and continued, "Last night we received a notice from the Military Committee saying that the committee has passed a resolution to award you and Comrade Chuikov the 'Medal for the Defense of Stalingrad' and notified you to take time to go there to receive the medal and badge."
Yuri smiled. This was truly a belated medal. The Battle of Stalingrad had ended several months before the Military Commission came up with the final regulations. It seemed that if something went wrong in the Battle of Kursk, he would lose this medal.
Well, having a medal is better than having nothing, and better late than never. However, Yuri is more concerned about whether he can get a "Victory Medal" after the victory of the Battle of Kursk.
Two weeks ago, Stalin had submitted the proposal to establish the Order of Victory to the Soviet Supreme Presidium for discussion. According to Stalin's idea, this medal is different from ordinary medals. It is a real commander's medal. Those who can receive this medal must be the highest-level commander of the Soviet army. The prerequisite for awarding the medal is that the recipient must win a large-scale battle in which one or more fronts participate, and make the strategic situation turn in favor of the Soviet army.
The importance of this medal can be seen from the definition of it alone. To be honest, Yuri really wants to get one of these.
