Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko did not have specific statistics on how much ammunition and fuel he left on the position. He only left as much as needed for the retreat based on the statistics reported by Karamov according to the minimum needs of the surviving tanks and vehicles. , and then kept all the remaining excess ammunition and fuel that would delay the retreat.

The 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade is an extraordinary force with a size and organization that far exceeds its level. The supply of ammunition and fuel is also extraordinary.

The subsequent intentional explosion of ammunition and oil on the position was a loud noise in the sky. The huge fireball devoured the earth, and the strong roar almost turned the land upside down. The flames and mushroom clouds that rose instantly were so high that even Malashenko, who had withdrawn ten kilometers away, could look back and see that the ground beneath his feet was shaking like an earthquake.

Standing on the turret, Malashenko looked at the scene that was not too far away. He raised the telescope in his hand and looked around, but he could only see the black smoke that dissipated after the flames devoured everything. The whole world is filled with the smell of destruction.

"This explosion is at least as strong as ten tons of TNT, or even more. How much did you ask Karamov to leave behind? You must have left behind all the remaining supplies of our brigade.

Iushkin, who leaned his upper body out of the turret together with Malashenko, could not help but sigh and look half-jokingly surprised when faced with this scene.

It is true that Malashenko, who had just learned the bad news about his political commissar, was in a bad mood, but for now, he was here. Seeing that the trap he ordered to lay out was actually triggered, Malashenko still raised the corners of his mouth because his plan succeeded.

"It's enough, both for us and those bastards. This can buy us some time. The SS will have to spend more time gathering troops if they want to catch up again. We have every chance Chance to get out of the siege before they finish."

Since the battle started, Malashenko has been able to clearly judge the German's tactical layout in Prokhorovka.

The German army, which has always been unscrupulous in strategic and tactical thinking, is as usual. They not only want to capture Prokhorovka, but also intend to encircle and annihilate all Soviet troops in the Prokhorovka theater. This is a typical counter-defensive and strategic-level counter-assault operation. The entire three SS divisions in Prokhorovka were arranged and prepared for this from the beginning.

Malashenko guessed that Huot or Manstein might be dispatching more follow-up troops to rush towards the Prokhorovka battle area, intending to expand the results in this area and fight it as a decisive battle.

The Imperial Division and the Skeleton Division were racing against time, relying on their high mechanization advantages to complete the encirclement before the Soviet troops jumped out, dividing the entire Prokhorovka theater into two and closing the pocket. And Vatutin was not idle in a daze. The reinforcements requested from his loving father, Comrade Stalin, were already on the way.

The key depends on how many troops can be withdrawn before the German encirclement is completed. If enough troops are withdrawn, plus the support troops that have been confirmed to arrive as soon as possible, then Vatutin will still have the capital to make a comeback. Not only is the Prokhorovka theater safe, it even has the ability to continue to play against the Germans and spar.

But if the main force, headed by the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, could not withdraw, it would be trapped in the encirclement.

Then the next thing Vatutin should consider is not how to play against the Germans, but how to use the pitiful forces at hand to separate the other side of the cut battlefield, separated by the two SS troops of the Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division. The main force was rescued.

Oh, and what's worse is that at the bottom of the pocket, on another level, there is the big trouble of the SS Division. If you think that the Soviet troops in the encirclement can cooperate with the friendly forces outside the encirclement, you are totally wrong. The real enemy is the Soviet troops trapped in the encirclement. The Guards Division will be the pursuit executioner in the final execution.

By that time, it was already foreseeable that the Soviet troops would end up in an encirclement circle where they could not break out from the front and were still being chased by the Guards Division on the back.

Racing against time is a relatively common saying in later generations. It can be said that Malashenko is experiencing the true meaning of this statement as never before.

Malashenko had no way of knowing where the Skeleton Division and the Imperial Division had progressed, and at which expected coordinate point they would launch an encirclement and close their pockets.

Malashenko, who ordered the troops to march at full speed, also had to be wary of the Imperial Division and Skeleton Division troops that might run into them and suddenly appear in front of them. You also have to be careful when there may be pursuers from the SS Division behind your butt. It is necessary to maintain communication with the rearguard troops at all times. Even in the dangerous sky, there is a possibility of Kraut flies appearing at any time.

After traveling to this era that did not belong to him, Malashenko had fought many battles, but this was the first time in history that he encountered such a disgusting and terrible situation.

It was a real crisis-ridden situation, and troops on the move could encounter Germans in any direction at any time.

Although orders have been given to throw away all the burdens that can be thrown away, the Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade, which has a high mechanization ratio, still cannot get up fast.

The 9th Guards Airborne Division, which had suffered serious losses in technical equipment, had basically no trucks left, but there were a lot of lightly and seriously injured people who needed care.

It was simply unrealistic to expect these wounded to keep up with the large troops on foot. Malashenko was forced to use the freed-up fuel and bomb-carrying trucks to support the wounded, specifically used to transport the wounded from the 9th Guards Airborne Division. Infantrymen carrying heavy equipment such as mortars and machine guns also crowded onto the tanks first, while only the most basic riflemen and submachine gunners marched on foot.

But even so, after doing everything he thought he could do, Malashenko still sadly found that the troops were still moving at a snail's pace. The purely mechanized vanguard force had already left the rear-guard infantry force, which had almost no tanks or cars, several kilometers behind.

The retreating troops of the two Guards divisions were stretched out on the grassland as slender as noodles. Under such circumstances, if they suddenly encountered the enemy, they would be defeated and severely damaged, but Malashenko would not be able to do it for the sake of the formation. And ordering to slow down is a contradictory dilemma, and there is no other option.

Even if Malashenko, half of his body hanging outside the turret, was so anxious that his butt was on fire, it was the same.