For the Soviets, the real danger was not the enemy on the battlefield, but the two German troops behind them.
The tank assault troops of the Southern Army Group had already entered the battlefield from the southeast of Kursk, and Guderian had also entered the battlefield from the northwest at almost the same time.
The difference was that Manstein's troops went straight for Kursk, while Guderian's 18th Armored Corps 'target was the Pena River!
"Quick, move quickly, don't fall behind!”
Sitting in his command vehicle, Guderian was excited and nervous as he watched the tanks line up in a straight line under the night sky!
Yes, it was!
He felt nervous!
This nervousness wasn't because he was worried that he would lose the battle, but because he was worried that the head of state would give him such excellent tank equipment. If he couldn't get any decent results on the battlefield, how would he meet the head of state when he returned?
Small skirmishes were not attractive to Guderian, even though the Second Guards Tank Army was stationed at Kursk, and the fuel and ammunition of this army had been destroyed by more than half of his 18th Armored Corps.
Although the Soviets had urgently mobilized a lot of supplies from other places, it was still difficult to gather so much in a short period of time.
Therefore, the Second Guards Tank Army couldn't have gone too far. They should be right under Kursk City.
If Guderian's target was smaller, then his 18th Armored Corps could take advantage of this opportunity to attack the Second Guards Tank Army.
This army belonged to the backbone of the Soviets. If they could wipe out this army at Kursk, then for the German army, the next battle would be much easier!
However, Gordian did not do so because he was Gordian!
He did not even look up to this small Second Guards Tank Army!
Gordian's ambition had already reached the limit. He decided to repay the head of state's trust and love with an even bigger gift!
And this gift was a total of 12 corps, 46 corps, 217 divisions, a total of 1,320,000 soldiers from the Central Front Army and the Southwestern Front Army!
This number was the total number of troops that the Soviets had already crossed the Pena River!
As long as Guderian could break into the Pena River from the Oboyang area and destroy the 30 pontoons on the Pena River, especially the nine steel pontoons!
Then the Soviets on the south bank of the Pena River would become turtles in a jar for the German army!
However, the Soviets were not completely defenseless. They naturally knew the strategic value of these pontoons on the Pena River!
Therefore, from the Oboyan area to the Soviet position on the south bank of the Pena River, the Soviets had a total of five lines of defense along the 350-kilometer straight line!
As long as the German army approached any of the defense lines, the Soviets would immediately receive the news and make adjustments!
By then, even if the German army broke through the first line of defense, the other Soviets would have already received the news and rushed to the battlefield to provide reinforcements!
The only way to succeed was to compete in speed!
Competing with the speed of the Soviets 'reinforcements!
The German assault troops needed to use the shortest amount of time to break through the Soviets 'defense line, and then use the fastest speed to attack the next defense line. Before the Soviets' reinforcements arrived, they had to jump out of the Soviets 'blocking area, thus disrupting the Soviets' deployment!
Moreover, it was not enough to succeed once. He needed to break through five lines of defense, which meant that the German army had to succeed at least five times in a row!
It was extremely difficult to succeed once, let alone five times!
Therefore, in theory, Gordian's plan could not succeed!
However, there were exceptions to everything. For the father of armor, Guderian, he trusted the speed of his troops very much!
Under the cover of the night, the 72nd Armored Division appeared in the northwest of the first line of defense.
When the Soviets were about a kilometer away from their position, they discovered the German tanks!
Flare after flare shot into the sky as if they were free, completely dispelling the dark night!
When the night was dispersed, the Soviets at the front line were surprised to find: In front of them, the dense and endless tanks were like waves on the sea, charging towards them layer by layer!
"Enemy attack!"
The ear-piercing alarm immediately sounded on the position. At the same time, the discovered German armored forces no longer hid their whereabouts and immediately began to attack!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The 105mm caliber artillery equipped by the Tiger King tank had an overwhelming advantage over the firing points of the Soviets on the front line.
The German tanks moved at high speed while aiming at one firing point after another, using fixed-point elimination to send them to the sky!
The Soviets had never expected that the German army would have such fierce firepower without artillery. The Soviets on the front line were unprepared and were caught off guard.
Before they could react, the Tiger King Tank, which had been equipped with a new engine and its mobility had been greatly improved, had already charged forward aggressively!
For the infantry, it was a disaster for the enemy's armored forces to charge into their positions, especially when the German armored forces were equipped with a large number of infantry.
Although the Soviets tried all sorts of methods to get close and destroy the German tanks, it was very difficult for them to get close. The German infantry protected their tanks very well. Before the Soviets could get close, they were shot into a sieve. By the time they sent out the second batch of explosives, the Tigerking tanks had already left.
When the first line of defense of the Soviets was broken in by the German armored forces, it was already declared lost.
The front line of the Soviets were surrounded by the German tanks and quickly wiped out. The rest were captured and sent to the rear of the motorcycle division to watch over!
The German armored division had no intention of stopping after the assault. They headed straight for the second line of defense!
Guderian's stance was to destroy all five lines of defense of the Soviets overnight!
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