On the Kursk Plain, the T-34 tanks of the 6th Tank Division of the Soviet Guards were firing desperately to attack the German Leopard tanks that were attacking their defensive positions head-on.

The performance gap between the two sides is not huge. Although German tanks have the advantage in performance indicators in various aspects, Soviet tanks are fighting defensive warfare, so they can make up for a certain degree of disadvantage.

"Fire!" In the narrow tank space, the German commander urged his men to destroy the target as soon as possible.

Even the most elite German tank crew will become nervous in this combat environment. This is a tank cemetery, and this is the hell of tank soldiers.

"Boom!" While the German tanks opened fire, a ball of flame was also ejected from the Soviet tank muzzles in the distance. The shells flew across the open space between the two sides, and then hit the armored steel plates on the tanks of both sides.

On this side, the heavy armor of the German tank was finally penetrated, and a leopard tank caught fire and exploded on the spot.

On the other side, Soviet tanks were also hit by another Leopard tank, and the turrets were blown to the sky ten meters high.

Next to the exploded Soviet tank, another German tank had already burned and caught fire, and directly in front of the German tank that burned and caught fire, there were more scrapped Soviet tanks.

Some tank wreckage was charred, the burning flames had been extinguished, and there was only a heavy and cold feeling left; some tanks were still burning, and even charred bodies could be seen lying on the hatch.

The Leopard tank is more appropriate than a plagiarist of the T55 tank.

In fact, in addition to using tilted armor to strengthen the front armor defense, the Leopard tanks have greatly weakened the armor on their sides and the rear armor.

These parts of the Leopard tanks have always relied on reducing the area of ​​the shot and using glove boxes and accessories to make up for the embarrassment of insufficient defense.

If it is in defensive operations, the troops use frontal armor to face the enemy most of the time, and the defense of the Leopard tank is actually stronger than that of the Tiger tank.

But now the German army is attacking. The 80mm thick armor on the side of the Tiger tank brings an offensive and defensive advantage that is not comparable to the fragile armor on the side of the Leopard tank.

After all, the Tiger tank is a "position breakthrough tank" and is a heavy tank taken for granted! The Leopard tank is just a "main battle tank" and is a compromise solution for heavy tanks to compromise maneuverability and reliability.

Therefore, on the battlefield where Kursk, the Soviet Union had been preparing for two months, the attacking German army was facing the same situation as in the Battle of Kursk in another time and space:

Their attacks face the defensive positions dug by the enemy's infantry and the enemy's tank counterattack, and the losses are inevitable.

This battle can be regarded as the first formal confrontation after the gap between the two sides narrowed, and it is also a large-scale collision between the Soviet and German troops when the local battlefield is evenly matched.

The battle became very tragic from the beginning. In order to prevent the Luftwaffe from interfering with ground operations, the Soviet Air Force dispatched all the fighters they could find to participate in the battle.

Originally, most of the Soviet fighter jets had been destroyed, but this time, the desperate Soviet Air Force collected about 200 fighter jets of various types, took off and fought desperately, and interfered with the German bomber troops.

This was really a desperate air battle. The Soviet Union even took off the i-16 fighter, which had already lagged behind in performance, which shows how firm the determination was.

Although the massacre in the sky was one-sided, the German Air Force temporarily lost its ability to support the ground. Therefore, on the ground, the fierce fighting made Guderian's heart bleeding.

The 1st Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division, which was responsible for the attack, lost 22 Leopard tanks on the first day of the attack. The 1st Battalion of the 1st Regiment of the 255th Infantry Division, which covered the attack, had as many as 70 soldiers killed.

The next day's advance was still full of hardships. In the morning, the 1st Regiment lost 19 Leopard tanks. The entire 1st Battalion and the 2nd Battalion of the 1st Regiment lost their combat capabilities and had to hand over the main attack mission to the 2nd Regiment.

The largest battle began in the afternoon of the same day. The German army replaced new troops and replaced the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division on the position.

The 2nd Regiment, which had been raising energy, used 70 tanks to launch a fierce attack. The 6th Soviet Guards Tank Division, who had been exhausted from dealing with it, was caught off guard and the defense line was broken down one hour later.

The entire battlefield was full of burning and exploding tanks. In just one hour, 100 tanks on both sides were damaged on the battlefield less than 2 kilometers.

The 2nd Regiment was destroyed 30 tanks, and the Soviet Union lost about 70 tanks of various types. The two armies were killed in the infantry on these 2 kilometers of positions, with more than 1,500 people!

Before the Soviet 6th Guards Tank Division was defeated, the two sides invested at least 500 tanks here to compete, and the total of more than 200 tanks were destroyed.

However, the position was indeed penetrated by the German army, so the Soviet defense line had to move backwards. The Soviet commander Zhukov, who had already achieved the goal of delaying, was able to take it and retreated the defense line to the vicinity of the prefecture city of Kursk in one breath.

Relying on Kursk, he planned to stick here until September. This time was to ensure that the Soviet army could seize time to plunder the grain produced in the huge granary of the Ukrainian plain!

Even when retreating, Zhukov only planned to abandon an empty Ukraine to the German army, so that the damned head of state would get nothing.

His plan was very clear: Kursk delayed the attack of the German troops southward, and retreated south after achieving the purpose of the battle, and extended the German supply line as much as possible before winter came.

The only thing that made Zhukov feel extremely stressed was his retreat area, including Odessa, which is now destined to become a supply node for the German army.

The intelligence obtained by the Soviet Union from the United States showed that the German army had the ability to quickly repair the port's conversation ability and the exact information obtained in the Battle of North Africa, and the German army had the technology to quickly build large port terminals.

Once Odessa falls, the German army will soon be able to obtain supplies from the Mediterranean. In this way, the actual benefits of extending the German army's supply line will be pitifully low.

The inability to create pressure on the German army's logistics means that it is not worth the loss to give up the Ukrainian plain for nothing.

"Comrade General!" Just as Zhukov was staring at the map, an officer walked in, looked at Vatujing who was standing beside him, and spoke regretfully: "I just received the news that Marshal Konev died for his country...Moscow... has completely fallen!"—
Chapter completed!