Aware of the danger, Guderian took defense to deal with the upcoming Soviet attack. He also sent the 2nd Regiment of the 3rd Armored Division to support the 1st Cavalry Division.

"Build a line of defense as much as possible. I want to figure out whether the Soviet army is really crazy or they are bluffing." Guderian said to his chief of staff by following the map.

The troops of three Soviet divisions have been discovered, which appear in three different directions. The other party obviously wants to attack the G cluster and is ready to eat Guderian's troops when possible.

Thinking of this, Guderian found it ridiculous. He had 5 divisions in his hand! And behind him, the German army heading south was not only 5 divisions!

Despite repeated reductions, the heavy artillery units, rocket launchers, and self-propelled artillery units that are affiliated to the Guderian Cluster Command have not been changed!

This time, the troops followed the south, including a reorganized independent heavy artillery regiment, which was under its jurisdiction of 36 150mm caliber howitzers.

This regiment has been completely mechanized, with a complete range of tractors, and the shells are mechanized and carried, and the command is very advanced.

There is also a self-propelled howitzer battalion, equipped with 30 105mm caliber self-propelled howitzers modified from tank No. 2, and 15 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns.

In addition, there is also a battalion of self-propelled rocket launchers, 15 trucks equipped with organ rocket launchers, as well as supporting loading trucks and ammunition transport trucks.

In addition to these troops, the third heavy tank destroyer battalion, 501st, 504th and 505th, were temporarily commanded by Guderian, equipped with 135 Leopard tanks.

If we include the 88mm caliber anti-aircraft artillery units, logistics support units, and maintenance units under the cluster, the strength of this cluster is really comparable to that of a small group army.

Eating German troops of this size in one breath is simply an impossible task for the Soviet army.

Guderian said that the Soviet army was crazy, and that if the German army could not be annihilated in a short period of time, the Soviet army's counterattack would inevitably be frustrated.

The German air force would constantly consume the Soviet army from the sky and destroy the Soviet army's logistics supply routes. The German army would only increase and increase in the south, and the Soviet army would have to be forced to retreat.

As expected, at that time, the German army entered the pursuit war mode that was best at. The Soviet army that was unable to advance and retreat would be largely annihilated in the field by the German army, and then Kursk would be occupied by the German army in an instant.

"Prepare the artillery! As long as the Soviet army launches a large-scale attack, let them taste the artillery shells!" While setting up their own defense circle, Guderian was preparing to deal with the Soviet army's large-scale attack.

On the other side, Guderian's opponent, General Zhukov, was also deploying troops to deal with the possible subsequent attacks of the German army.

"Did the opponent stop in Bonetri? Although he destroyed more than 20 German tanks, the opponent held the position..." After hearing the feedback on the battlefield, Zhukov fell into deep thought.

He never thought of eating the famous German G cluster. His battle goal was very clear, which was to nail the Germans to Kursk as much as possible before winter came.

For this purpose, he organized a counterattack. The purpose of the counterattack was not to eat the German army, but to expel the German army from Kursk.

Originally, he speculated that the German army was insufficient and would take the initiative to give up Bonetli and retreat under his attack on three sides.

As long as the German army retreated, it would be equivalent to confirming the speculation that the German army was insufficient, and at the same time achieved Zhukov's strategic goal of expelling the German army from Kursk.

However, the situation is very subtle and strange: the German army's battlefield performance is very similar to insufficient troops, but the opponent's decision to defend Bonetli does not seem to be insufficient troops.

This is worth Zhukov's weighing: should he continue to strengthen his counterattack, or to decisively withdraw his troops and give up this temptation.

Although Zhukov has a little eagerness for quick success and instant benefits, he is sometimes more willing to pay attention to the price of victory, but he is not a reckless man.

In his opinion, since he was not ready to eat the G cluster from beginning to end, there was no need to take the risk of competing with the German army for Ponetri.

Once the German army reacted and began to fight positional warfare, the German air force would play a role, causing his troops to continue to bleed and consume, increasing losses.

"Let the 6th Guards Tank Division retreat... If you continue to fight like this, there is no point!" In the end, Zhukov issued a retreat order two hours after the counterattack began.

On the one hand, Zhukov was afraid of the movements of the German army, and on the other hand, he did not intend to waste his elite.

It was already afternoon at this moment, and even if the Luftwaffe was dispatched, there would not be much time to operate.

At night, the German army generally did not take the initiative to seek war, so the Soviet troops had a whole night to escape from the battle and hide their whereabouts.

By the next day, the Soviet army disguised on standby was twice as likely to be severely injured by the Luftwaffe.

Just when Guderian deployed a defense circle, was about to drag down the Soviet army, and then consumed the Soviet army's vitality, the Soviet army took the initiative to stop the attack.

The 6th Tank Division, which was attacking the front, quickly escaped from the battle. Despite the interference of German planes in the sky, they still retreated without hesitation.

After destroying about 40 German tanks of various types, the Soviet tank division dropped the wreckage of more than 70 tanks and fled.

The threat from the flanks of the 1st Cavalry Division was also lifted almost at the same time. The Soviet troops attacking the German army pretended to be a fierce decisive battle, but they withdrew from the battle without looking back.

After receiving the news that the Soviet tank troops were retreating on the front line, Guderian received a report from the 1st Cavalry Division before he could find out whether the opponent was reorganizing the attack or actually retreating.

The Soviet army on both fronts retreated at the same time, which made Guderian realize that he might have been deceived.

Ten minutes later, the 10th Motorized Infantry Division called and confirmed the Soviet retreat. Guderian knew that he had been set up by Zhukov.

The opponent's simple local counterattack made the German army wasted a day's advancement time on the spot and exposed the weakness of insufficient troops.

What's even more annoying is that Guderian dared not pursue easily because the other party took the initiative to retreat, so he might turn over and fight back again.
Chapter completed!