"The troops of the second battalion have come up and will soon be able to take over our defense." Guchakov said to Narva: "I have an important task now that I want to leave to you to complete."
Narva knew that when the situation was so critical, Guchakov called him to the command post. He thought that the task that had to be completed was extremely arduous, so he quickly asked: "Comrade Battalion Commander, what is the task?"
"Not long ago, the division called me and said that there was a destroyed German tank in front of your company's position, and there might be some important German figures inside." Guchakov said: "I gave it to you.
The mission is to find a way to get close to that tank and find out who the big shot is inside?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Narva became a little excited when he learned that there were big figures from the German army in the destroyed tanks. But after a moment, he frowned again: "Many vehicles were destroyed in front of our position.
tanks, which one do you want us to scout?"
"According to reliable intelligence, the big shot was in the destroyed Panther tank."
"Panther tank?!" Narva thought for a moment and frowned more tightly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, I remember that tank was about 120 meters away from our position."
"It's more than 120 meters away from your position, that's really far away." In normal times, this 200 meters is nothing, but at this moment the enemy is attacking like crazy, more than 50 meters away from the position.
At the beginning, there were traces of the Germans. At this moment, sending a troop to carry out reconnaissance deep into the midst of the enemy, despite the hail of bullets, was simply asking them to die. But since it was an order from a superior, even if you knew the difficulty had been completed, you still had to work hard.
Go give it a try. "I will organize machine gun fire and cover your approach there."
"What should we do if we find the body of a big shot in the German army?"
"If you really find the body of a big shot in the German army, you have to find ways to drag the body back. Do you understand?"
"Understood, Comrade Battalion Commander." Narva asked with a solemn expression: "Do you allow me to carry out the mission now?"
"Wait a minute, Comrade Captain." Guchakov happened to see Kopetu come in from the outside, so he stopped Narva and added: "Your company has too few troops. I will take Kopetu's
The security squad is placed under your command."
When Narva returned to his position with Copetuo's guard squad, the troops of the second battalion rushed over to take over the defense. Captain Grisa, the commander of the fourth company, stepped forward and held Narva's hand and said enthusiastically
: "Narva, from now on, your company's position will be officially handed over to us. You have worked hard, please withdraw and rest first."
"Grissa," Narva and Grissa are old comrades in arms, so they naturally spoke more casually: "The position can be handed over to you, but we can't withdraw for the time being?"
"Why?" Grisa asked in surprise.
Narva did not immediately answer the other party's question, but pointed to the tank a hundred meters away: "Have you seen that Panther tank that is still smoking?"
"I saw it." Grisa nodded and asked in confusion: "But what does this have to do with you not being able to retreat to the rear for the time being?"
"I just received an order from the battalion commander, Captain Guchakov, to take people to conduct reconnaissance at the Panther tank. Only after completing this task can we withdraw to the rear to rest."
Grisa looked around the Panther tank and suddenly said in shock: "Narva, are you crazy? Didn't you see that there were at least dozens of Germans near the tank? Are you planning to bring them with you?"
Are your people going to die?"
"This is an order from my superiors, and I can only carry it out. Please provide us with the necessary fire cover when we leave the position."
"Don't worry, I will immediately organize all the machine guns in the company to provide you with fire cover."
With the fire cover provided by Guchakov and Grisa, Narva was confident that he could lead his men to approach the tank and figure out who the German big shot was who died inside. During the attack, Narva stayed behind
All the wounded, with only 16 people including the guard squad, crawled towards the wreckage of the Panther tank on their hands and knees.
From the moment Narva led the men out of the trench, the machine guns organized by Guchakov and Grisa began shooting at the German officers and soldiers entrenched near the tank. The Germans did not expect that the battle would progress to this point.
There was such fierce machine gun fire on the position that some were killed on the spot, while others quickly moved their positions and hid in safer places.
Seeing that the enemies near the Panther tank were driven far away by machine gun fire, Narva couldn't help but feel secretly happy and quickly accelerated his advance. When he was less than twenty meters away from the tank, he stopped.
Then he shouted to the back: "I need one person to follow me, and the rest will stay here to cover."
Copetuo immediately crawled to Narva's side and volunteered: "Comrade Captain, I will go with you."
The two approached the Panther tank cautiously. Coppetto was impatient and couldn't wait to get in through the hole at the bottom of the tank. Unexpectedly, as soon as his hand touched the body of the tank, it was immediately burned to the point of grinning. He bit the back of the tank.
Molao said to Narva: "Comrade Captain, the temperature on the surface of this tank is too high, and there is no way for people to get in."
Knowing that he could not enter the tank, Narva couldn't help but feel anxious. If he could not enter the tank, how could he complete the task assigned to him by the battalion commander? When he was worried, he suddenly heard Copetto say in surprise: "Comrade Captain, please hurry up."
Look, there seem to be several corpses of German tank soldiers in the open space behind the tank."
Narva looked in the direction of Copetto's finger, and sure enough he saw the bodies of three tank soldiers in the crater not far away. Judging from the posture of the three lying on the ground, it should be two tank soldiers supporting the middle one.
The man tried to stay away from the destroyed tank, but was killed by bullets flying from the position.
"Is the big shot we are looking for among these three corpses?" Narva thought, crawling towards the corpses. When he crawled in front of the corpses, he pushed away the corpse on the left
Afterwards, he turned over the corpse in the middle and found that it was a corpse with its chest blown to pieces. When Narva saw the other party's military rank clearly, he couldn't help but be surprised. He never thought in his dreams that he would see it easily.
A German general who died in battle seemed to be the person the battalion commander asked him to find out.
"Oh my God." Copetuo, who crawled over later, couldn't help but said in surprise after seeing the rank of the corpse clearly: "The big shot our superiors asked us to find must be this German general."
"I think it must be." Narva said hesitantly: "But how are we going to get his body back? You know, there are Germans all around. If they see us carrying the body and running towards the position, they will definitely
They will shoot at us. No matter how fast we run, we can't outrun the enemy's bullets."
"Comrade Captain, I have a way." Copetuo said, took off his poncho, spread it on the ground, turned the body over, put it on the poncho, and then said to Narva: "We
One person grabs one end of the poncho and drags him to crawl towards the position, so that the chance of being discovered by the enemy is very small."
In this way, the two of them dragged the body on the poncho and moved little by little in the direction of the position. When the two of them climbed with difficulty to the position where the troops were waiting, they were already exhausted. A soldier ran over and asked Na
Erva said: "Comrade Captain, this is not far from the trench. As long as we run faster, we can return to the position soon."
Before Narva could speak, the soldier called a companion to take action first. After the two stood up, they each grabbed a corner of their ponchos, bent their waists, and ran wildly in the direction of the position. But their actions soon changed.
They were discovered by the Germans not far away, and several guns were immediately fired at the two men. The two men ran forward for less than ten meters before being shot and fell to the ground one after another.
Seeing that his soldiers were sacrificed so costlessly, Narva quickly said to those soldiers who wanted to get up and continue dragging their ponchos: "Everyone is here, follow my order, no one is allowed to get up, we all take turns dragging the bodies.
Climb back to your position."
The Germans noticed something strange about this small unit, and immediately concentrated their firepower to block their retreat. At the same time, there was a group of enemies that circled around from the side, trying to eliminate them. Fortunately, the machine gun firepower on the position was relatively powerful, and they saw the enemies that were turning around from the side.
He was so pressed that he couldn't move.
In this way, after sacrificing five more soldiers, Narva's small force finally successfully dragged the body back to the trench. Grisa, who came up to meet him, looked at the body placed on the ground of the trench and asked curiously:
"Narva, whose body did you snatch back?"
"I don't know." How did Narva know Hornerdorf? He could only shake his head and said: "He should be the big shot in the German army that his superiors are looking for."
After learning that the body had been snatched back, Guchakov quickly came out to check. He knew some German, and through the dog tag hanging around the body's neck, he immediately determined the identity of the deceased. He stood up and patted Narva on the shoulder.
He said excitedly: "Comrade Captain, you have done a great service. If I am not mistaken, this is the body of General Hornerdorf, commander of the German Sixth Armored Division."
"What, he is the commander of the German Sixth Armored Division?" Narva stared at the corpse on the ground with an expression of disbelief on his face. He did not expect to kill a German division commander so easily. At the same time,
He suddenly realized why the Germans launched an attack like crazy. Could it be to get back the body of their division commander?
The body was quickly sent to the division headquarters. After confirming Hornadorf's identity through the body's uniform and dog tags, Sokov ordered Koida: "Comrade Colonel, order someone to find a coffin."
"Comrade Commander, where can I find a coffin for you at this time?" Koida said with a wry smile: "We are marching and fighting, and it is impossible to carry a few coffins with us. And all the people in the collective farms in the nearby villages have fled.
, let alone find a coffin.”
"If you can't find a coffin, immediately cut down the wood to make one." Sokov said in a stern tone: "Although General Hornadorf is our enemy, the dead man is the most important, so he should be buried in peace.
.”
"Okay, Comrade Commander." Koida thought that there were carpenters in the army and it would be no problem to ask them to make a coffin, so he readily replied: "I will arrange for someone to customize the coffin immediately."
After confirming Hornadorf's identity, Sokov felt that he should report the matter to his superiors immediately, and quickly ordered the telegraph operator he brought with him: "Send a report to the front army headquarters, saying that our 562nd Regiment of the 188th Division is holding on.
During the battle at the position, General Hornerdorf, commander of the German 6th Armored Division, was killed."
After Konev received the telegram from Sokov, he was shocked. He said to Susaikov and Zakharov who were sitting at the table: "Major General Sokov telegraphed that his troops were on the defensive.
During the battle, General Hornerdorf, commander of the German 6th Armored Division, was successfully killed."
Susaikov took the telegram and asked cautiously: "Comrade Commander, do you think the credibility of this telegram is high?"
"I believe Major General Sokov." Konev said without hesitation: "It is absolutely impossible for him to joke about this kind of thing. And at the end of the telegram, he also specifically mentioned that the body of General Hornadorf was in
In his hands."
"So, the inner days in Major General Sokov's telegram are all true?" Susaikov said in surprise: "This is an amazing victory. I suggest reporting this matter to the Supreme Command immediately."
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Zakharov agreed: "We should report such results to the Supreme Command."
Seeing that his two partners were eager to report Sokov's results to the Supreme Command, Konev only thought for a moment and nodded in agreement: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, then you will report it to the Supreme Command in person.
Antonov Report."
Antonov received Zakharov's report and repeatedly confirmed that the results of the battle were correct before reporting the matter to Stalin. At the same time, he notified Vatutin of the news.
After listening to Antonov's words, Vatutin asked in an unbelievable tone: "Comrade Chief of General Staff, did General Sokov's troops really kill Honorov, the commander of the German Sixth Armored Division?"
"Of course it's true." Antonov replied affirmatively: "How can such a thing be a joke?"
"The strongest attack in the Prokhorovka area now is the German Sixth Armored Division. Their division commander was killed, which will have a fatal blow to their morale." Vatutin asked anxiously:
"When does the Supreme Command plan to launch a counterattack against the enemy?"
"Don't be anxious, Comrade Vatutin." Antonov replied: "The time for counterattack is not yet mature. Our army's current strategy is to rely on the existing defenses and consume a large amount of the German army's effective strength. Wait until the enemy becomes
When we are exhausted, our army will choose the right time to launch a comprehensive counterattack."