In 1995, the multinational joint large-scale documentary "Battle Front" was officially released on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. In one episode, the host interviewed Zyuganov, an academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and a famous biologist: "Hello, Dr. Zyuganov. We know that you are
You were a member of the glorious Soviet Red Army and participated in many battles in World War II. Can you talk about your career in World War II?"
"Okay. My name is Boris Zyuganov. I am 74 years old, and it has been 49 years since I retired from the Red Army, but I still clearly remember my fighting career - and I will never forget it until my death.
I won’t forget it!”
"When the war started in 1941, I was a freshman in the Biology Department of Lomonosov University in Moscow, and I was a member of the Communist Youth League. At that time, a group of our classmates volunteered to sign up for the army. In 1942, we completed the training and I became a
The Red Army tank crew drove the T34. As everyone knows, our batch of recruits who had just completed training - because they were college students, directly became tank commanders and commanders. We participated in the later stages of the Moscow Defense War and participated in
The counterattack in the great Battle of Stalingrad. I was commanding the T34 battle at the time, and my classmates participated in the Battle of Kharkov and died there. What I want to talk about today is the Battle of Kursk that impressed me most.
Although I have participated in larger battles than this battle in the future, and I have also participated in fierce battles attacking Berlin, but the one that I will remember most deeply is the Battle of Prokhorovka!"
"I remember it very clearly - every time I close my eyes, it's as clear as yesterday. The heavy fog on the morning of September 12th is something I have never seen in my life. It is so thick and weird. I still remember it.
In my 74 years of life, I have never seen such a thick fog... You can't even see the shoulder of the highway on the road. The sky is so dim that you can't see the sun at all. This huge fog seems to be able to hear even sounds.
Isolated, half of my body was exposed outside the turret, and I heard the intermittent voices of the infantry below... The usual sound of the huge engine also became much softer. We were completely unable to move forward quickly, and could only move tightly.
Guided by the taillight of the car in front. At that time, I remembered that the order from my superiors was to search the apple orchard area. We started from the railway and drove towards the road. The enemy's artillery opened fire, but we could not see where it hit, and could only hear bursts of explosions.
I heard the sound of an engine and voices speaking in German, but I couldn't be sure where they were. The sound seemed to come from all directions. At 9 o'clock in the morning, the fog had not disappeared. Everyone should be vigilant and slow down.
Drive in."
"Until now, I still can't explain the strangeness of that heavy fog, nor can I describe the weirdness of that moment. In just a few seconds, the fog with visibility of less than 10 meters disappeared completely! Germany
The distance between people and us was only 100 meters! Everyone started shooting in a hurry. My tank was relatively far behind. At that time, I had already transferred to a js2 tank. We were fighting bloody battles with the Germans! Their tanks were Tiger tanks, and there were some
It was the Ferdinand tank that I only learned about a few days later, as well as many Panthers and Panzer IV tanks. Our brave T34s fought with Tigers and Panthers, and even used their own cars to ram enemy tanks. At that time
I commanded the tank to fire desperately at the Tiger tank... I remember that Tiger tank! There was a tiger skull pattern on the front deck of that tank! I was a student in the biology department, and I recognized that pattern! The one with the
Tiger Skull's No. 223 Tiger Tank destroyed one of our tanks one after another, and avoided our shooting again and again! It moved forward, retreated, and the shooting seemed unstoppable... Our friendly forces kept firing from the rear.
Come, by 11 o'clock in the morning, we had more than 400 tanks - I didn't know this until after the war. The German front was constantly retreating due to our beatings. My surviving companions and I were at 11 o'clock
When we were in need of supplies, we retreated about 2 kilometers. While we were resupplying, new Red Army tank units and infantry were constantly passing by us and heading to the front line. We also kept receiving reports that the enemy was retreating and that the enemy was being attacked.
News of our defeat."
"At 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the fighting was still going on. We heard a huge explosion about an hour ago, but we didn't know what happened. I was reinforced to a js2 tank regiment that had just arrived. Everyone's morale was very high.
Because at that time we heard that the Germans had begun to retreat, and we were going to outflank them, drive them away, and destroy them! At 2 o'clock, we arrived at the battlefield, but the Germans had already started to counterattack. I don't know how they
We fought from 9 am to 2 pm...because I saw the No. 223 Tiger again! It seemed that it had never been on the battlefield. From the telescope, I saw that its body was covered with scars, but until now I still remember it as if it were a demon.
We were fighting the same. It was elusive, appearing here and there, shooting constantly, and our comrades were injured and disabled by it. I was hit by another Tiger at 2:43 in the afternoon.
After turning off the engine, my comrades and I evacuated the immobile vehicle, escaped the enemy's fire and returned to our covering position. I later learned that the No. 223 Tiger with the tiger skull painted on it was the German fascist at that time and in the future.
The No. 1 tank killer: Sergeant Major Rudolf "Skeleton Tiger" Heinz Fafnir. I have never seen his tank since then, but my comrades have encountered it many times...
"
On September 12, 1943, the Soviet Red Army had invested more than 1,200 tanks and assault guns in the small area of Prokhorovka, and the Germans had also invested more than 400 tanks and assault guns. Both sides were here
There was a fierce battle, and by the time the battle reached 4 o'clock in the afternoon, both sides could no longer bear the huge casualties. What's more important was that there were no extra troops nearby to invest... The result was that before dark, both sides began to leave.
After contact, everyone except some security guard troops and search and rescue troops began to withdraw from the battlefield and returned to the place where they started in the morning.
The Germans lost more than 170 tanks and assault guns. In particular, the SS who made contact first lost almost all their Tiger tanks. The 503rd Battalion also lost one-third of its Tiger tanks, and the Panthers and No. 4 also lost many.
A total of 40 Ferdinand assault guns, which had high hopes before the war, were put into the battlefield, but only 17 were withdrawn from the battlefield. Most of them were abandoned and destroyed due to running gear and engine failures. Fafnir
The No. 223 Tiger was also seriously injured - two rows of road wheels were incomplete, the body was full of craters, the observation system was almost completely damaged, and oil began to leak. The engine and gearbox were severely worn, and it could just barely move. Fortunately, the entire vehicle
The team members were safe and sound. The Germans could be said to have won Pylos on the battlefield - "the victor loses nothing".
The Soviet Red Army lost more than 550 tanks, and the battlefield was full of wreckage of Soviet tanks...even the huge KV5 and "Great Soviet" GS1 super-heavy tanks. But the Soviets won! They successfully stopped Germany.
The Germans launched a desperate flank attack and dealt a devastating blow to the main German armored force. After September 12, the German armored force has been weakened to a tragic point. Now the Germans can only choose a path between annihilation and retreat.