Chapter 1061: Zhukov's Insistence

A rumbling sound echoed across the farmland of the Kursk region in the early morning. German tanks, painted in camouflage, started their engines in the bright sunlight. These terrifying tanks had been silent in Kursk for a long time. Today, having received a massive resupply of fuel, they were finally able to move out in large numbers.

The German G Army Group, which had been resting and refitting in the southeastern corner of Kursk, had finally switched from a strategic defensive posture to a strategic offensive. Hundreds of tanks fanned out across the vast Kursk plain. Just like the first Battle of Kursk not long ago, the second Battle of Kursk had once again begun with the advance of tank formations.

A King Tiger tank’s tracks crushed a section of fence blocking its path. Swarms of German grenadiers, shouldering their weapons, crossed the farmland and villages. The German offensive, after weeks of careful preparation, showed its immense power from the very beginning.

The opening barrage of the general offensive inundated several positions held by Soviet defenders. Most of the Soviet resistance, in the face of this overwhelming numerical superiority, seemed pathetically weak. However, the Soviet defenders still put up the most tenacious resistance they could. In some key areas, the German soldiers were met with a head-on blow from the Soviet soldiers. After all, the Soviet soldiers were also the elite of the elite. The two sides fought frantically for the Sontsevo region, but with limited reserves, the Soviet forces began to lose steam after a day. The Soviet army was finally surrounded and annihilated.

Yastrebovka and Tim were soon captured by the German army. With the loss of these two cities, the defense line on the flank of Kursk was on the verge of collapse. If the German army could continue to advance north, then the Soviet troops left behind in Kursk and other cities would eventually be completely surrounded.

Gorshechnoye was subsequently occupied by German armored forces. The local garrison of 4,000 men was completely wiped out by the German panzergrenadiers. Although the troops here had chosen to die rather than surrender, and had indeed resisted to the very end, once their town’s defense line had been cut off and surrounded by the German army, they had been unable to fight on effectively. They had instead tried to break out, and as a result, had been hunted down by the German armored forces and surrounded in the open field.

Guderian’s offensive plan was aimed straight at Shchigry. The advance of the 1st Panzer Corps seemed completely unstoppable. The collapse of the Soviet defense line was even faster than Zhukov had anticipated. The flank of the Kursk line, which had seemed impregnable, had been easily torn open with a huge gap.

In the suburbs of Voronezh, a city that had been captured by the Germans and then retaken by the Soviets, large numbers of German infantry appeared once again. These infantry, responsible for covering Guderian’s G Army Group, were from General Küchler’s N Army Group. Under the cover of the 9th SS Panzer Division, they began to try to attack this city, which Stalin had called “great and unyielding.”

The heavy artillery units that the German army had assembled during the attack on Saint Rudolph (that is, Stalingrad) were committed to this sector. Dozens of large-caliber cannons had easily turned the streets of Voronezh into a pile of rubble. German tanks had easily broken through the Soviet defense lines from both sides of the city. The defending Soviet troops had counter-attacked bitterly, holding the city until the seventh day after the start of the Second Battle of Kursk.

The loss of Voronezh had caused the defense system in the region south of Moscow to completely collapse. The German army was hunting down the already-disarrayed Soviet infantry everywhere in the open field. There were swarms of Soviet prisoners everywhere. By June 30th, the entire Voronezh Oblast had been completely occupied by the German army. At the beginning of July, Guderian’s armored forces advanced north along the border of the Voronezh and Kursk Oblasts, capturing Olymsky and Kastornoye one after another. Finally, the 3rd Panzer Division, under the cover of some panzergrenadiers, had captured Kshensky in one fell swoop.

The Soviet defenders had never expected their defense system to collapse so quickly, and even less had they expected the German army to attack them from behind. Therefore, the bridges to the west of Kshensky had not even been blown up, but had been handed over to the German vanguard on a platter. And so the German tanks had quickly crossed these rivers. In just three hours, they had, getting ahead of the routed Soviet troops, captured Cheremisinovo.

Zhukov had already transferred his main forces to the area north of Kursk. He was trying to secretly withdraw towards Moscow, but the speed of the German attack was simply too fast, and his attempt at a concealed withdrawal had been completely thwarted. And so he had ordered the main forces of the 1st and 3rd Guards Fronts to move north quickly, while he himself led the remaining troops to buy as much time as possible for the main Soviet forces that were heading north.

He was not preparing to die with the rearguard, but was hoping that by being the last to leave, he could encourage the troops who were left behind to fight to the last moment. And so, while the German vanguard had already begun to attack Cheremisinovo, Zhukov was still in Kursk, presiding over a military conference, demanding that his troops hold all their current defensive sectors as long as possible.

The hundreds of thousands of Soviet infantry could not be easily withdrawn from the Kursk theater, because if they were to rashly begin a retreat, then with the German army’s offensive speed, the Soviet army would soon reenact the tragedy of the Leningrad group being annihilated in the open. So Zhukov’s idea was for all units to counter-attack on the spot, to rely on the fortifications they had built, to delay the German army’s capture of Kursk for as long as possible.

To put it bluntly, since to retreat was to collapse, and to defend to the death was also to collapse, it was better to defend the existing positions to the death, to annihilate more of the German enemy. However, because they had lost the support of a large number of armored units in their defense, the Soviet infantry’s resistance was not as solid as Zhukov had imagined.

“Comrade Marshal!” A staff officer handed the battle report that had just come in to Zhukov, who had been speaking less and less recently. He had just received news that the main defense line, under the influence of the collapse of the flank, was also beginning to waver. The frontline key town of Oboyan was already surrounded on two sides by the German army. The garrison was struggling to hold on and was requesting reinforcements. “A message from the defenders of Oboyan. They are requesting that we support them with tank units to counter-attack the enemy’s armored forces.”

“Where do I have any tank units left…” Zhukov said, his lips a little dry. “I have already sent the last anti-tank unit to Shchigry. You know that. And that unit doesn’t have any good equipment either. Most of them are 76mm anti-tank guns converted from T-26 tank chassis. They have a hard time dealing with Panther tanks, let alone the German Tigers and King Tigers.”

“If the German tanks capture Oboyan, then our main defense system will be in jeopardy…” The staff officer, of course, knew that the reserves had already been sent to the flank by Zhukov, but he still wanted to try and get some reinforcements for the defenders of Oboyan, even if it was just some infantry. Because he knew that once Oboyan fell, then the next place that could stop the German advance was Medvenka, the southern gateway to Kursk.

The number of Soviet tanks was already severely insufficient. Most of the recently replenished tanks were self-propelled guns. This dispersed force, which had been hidden in various parts of the front line, did not have a great impact on the local balance of power. Although the German tanks had suffered some losses, their speed in capturing their strategic objectives had not been delayed.

It should be known that to the west of Guderian’s troops was General Kluge’s F Army Group. This unit had already pushed its vanguard into the Oryol Oblast. Although due to the drag of the Moscow front, the advance speed and momentum of these German troops were not very good, it had indeed put a great deal of pressure on Zhukov’s rear.

Zhukov glanced at the arrows on the map that represented the German lines of attack, let out a helpless sigh, and for a moment, forgot about the request for reinforcements from the Oboyan sector. He asked a completely unrelated question, “Comrade General Konev’s 1st Guards Front, where are they now?”

“Comrade Marshal! General Konev’s 1st Guards Front has already entered the southeastern part of the Oryol Oblast and is continuing to move north,” an officer quickly answered Zhukov’s question.

“Then, General Vasilevsky’s 3rd Guards Front, have they already reached Yelets?” Zhukov asked his second question. No one knew what he was thinking now. These two fronts had originally been the core of Zhukov’s southward-advancing group, but now they had been placed in the safest position.

“Very good! As long as these two fronts can continue to move north safely, then everything we have held out for here will have been meaningful,” Zhukov nodded, his mood seeming to have improved a little. He stared at the map with his hands behind his back and finally said, “Send a telegram to the defenders near Oboyan. Tell them that for the honor of the motherland, they are to hold out to the last man! No retreat! And no surrender!”

He then shifted his gaze to the several officers in the command post office and then ordered, “You are to set out immediately and go to Medvenka! Strengthen the defenses there, and supervise the garrison! You must make them hold out until the last moment!”

“Yes! Comrade Marshal!” The several officers saluted at attention and hurried to carry out the marshal’s orders. They were all from the most elite and most loyal parts of the Soviet army, so they were also more resolute and more reliable in carrying out their orders. Watching them turn and leave, Zhukov found a chair and sat down. He then looked up at the portrait of Stalin hanging on the wall and muttered, “I have already done my best to buy you time. I hope you can hold on in Moscow until the moment of victory.”

The sun outside the window was still bright. The last few days had been clear and fine. Zhukov hated this good weather, because he could see far into the distance, where the German planes were circling in the sky.

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