Chapter 77
In 1995, the large-scale documentary "War Front" was officially released on the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II. In one episode, the host interviewed Academician of the Soviet Academy of Sciences and famous biologist Zhuganov: "Dr. Zhuganov, hello. We know that you were once a member of the glorious Soviet Red Army and participated in many battles during World War II. Can you talk about your experiences during World War II?"
"Alright, my name is Boris Zhuganov. I'm 74 years old now and it's been 49 years since I retired from the Red Army, but I still remember those combat days clearly - and I won't forget them until I die!"
"When the war began in 1941, I was a freshman at the biological faculty of Moscow Lomonosov University and a member of the Komsomol. At that time, our group of students all volunteered to enlist. In '42, we completed our training, and I became a Red Army tanker on a T-34. Due to well-known circumstances, our batch of newly trained soldiers - because we were university students - immediately became tank commanders and officers. We participated in the latter stages of the Battle of Moscow, and took part in the counterattack during the great Stalingrad defense battle. At that time, I commanded a T-34 in combat, while my classmates fought at Kharkov and perished there. Today, I want to talk about the most memorable battle for me - the Battle of Kursk. Although later I participated in battles larger than this one, and took part in the fierce fighting during the assault on Berlin, but... the one that is etched in my memory forever is that battle - the Prokhorovka fight!"
"I remember it very clearly - every time I close my eyes, it's as clear as if it were yesterday. The thick fog on the morning of September 12th was something I had never seen before in my life, so heavy and eerie. In my 74 years of life up to now, I have never seen such dense fog again... On the road, you couldn't even see the shoulder of the highway, the sky was a dull yellow, and the sun was completely invisible. This massive fog seemed to be able to isolate sound as well, with half my body exposed outside the turret, I heard the voices of the infantry below speaking in a disjointed manner... The usual loud engine noise had also become much softer. We were unable to advance quickly, and could only follow the tail lights of the vehicle in front of us closely. At that time, I remember our superior's order was to search the area around the apple orchard, we set out from the railway towards the highway. The enemy's artillery opened fire, but we couldn't see where they were falling, we could only hear the explosions. I heard engine noises and German voices, but it was impossible to determine where they were coming from, these sounds seemed to be coming from all directions. At 9 o'clock in the morning, this thick fog still hadn't cleared, everyone was on high alert, advancing slowly."
Here is the translation:
"Even now, I still can't explain the strangeness of that big fog back then, nor can I describe the eeriness of that moment. It was just a few seconds, and the thick fog with visibility less than 10 meters suddenly disappeared! The Germans were only 100 meters away from us! Everyone started shooting in confusion, my tank was relatively behind, at that time I had already switched to the JS2-type tank, we were engaged in a fierce battle with the Germans! Their tanks were Tiger tanks, and some were Ferdinand tanks that I didn't know about until a few days later, as well as many Panthers and 4th-numbered tanks. Our brave T34s tangled with the Tigers and Panthers, even using our own tanks to ram into the enemy's tanks. At that time, I was commanding my tank to desperately fire at the Tiger tank... I remember that Tiger tank! The front armor plate of that tank had a tiger skull pattern! As a biology student, I recognized that pattern! That 223-numbered Tiger tank with the tiger skull pattern destroyed our tank one after another, and dodged our shots again and again! It advanced, retreated, fired as if unstoppable... Our friendly forces kept coming from behind, by 11 am, we had over 400 tanks - this was something I only knew about after the war. The German line was constantly retreating under our attack. My surviving comrades and I retreated about 2 kilometers at 11 am to resupply, during which time new Red Army tank units and infantry kept passing us by heading towards the front lines, while we kept receiving messages that the enemy was retreating, being defeated by us."
At 1 pm, the battle was still going on, and about an hour ago we heard a huge explosion, but we didn't know what happened. I was reinforced to a JS2 tank regiment that had just arrived, everyone's morale was high because at that time we heard that the Germans had already begun to retreat, we were going to encircle them, drive them out, and eliminate them! At 2 pm, we reached the battlefield, but the Germans had already started their counterattack. I don't know how they fought from 9 am to 2 pm... because I saw that old Tiger No. 223 again! It seemed like it never left the battlefield, its body was covered in scars from what I could see through my binoculars, but even now I still remember how it seemed to be fighting like a demon. It appeared and disappeared, shooting non-stop, our comrades were constantly being hit and losing their combat effectiveness. At 2:43 pm, I was hit by another Tiger's shot in the engine, my comrades and I abandoned the immobile vehicle, escaped from enemy fire, and returned to our own defensive position. Only later did I find out that the Tiger with a tiger skull painted on it, No. 223, was the German fascist number one tank killer of that time and afterwards: "Skull Tiger" Rudolf Heinz von Fafnir, Sergeant Major. Since then, I have never seen his tank again, but my comrades encountered him many times...
On September 12, 1943, the Soviet Red Army had committed over 1,200 tanks and assault guns to a small area around Prokhorovka, while the Germans had committed more than 400 tanks and assault guns. The two sides clashed fiercely here, and by 4 pm, both sides were unable to withstand the heavy casualties - mainly because there were no longer enough troops nearby to commit... As a result, before nightfall, both sides began to disengage from contact, except for some security guards and search and rescue teams, all of whom began to withdraw from the battlefield and return to their starting positions in the morning.
The Germans lost over 170 tanks and assault guns, especially the first to make contact, the SS Panzer Corps, which lost almost all of its Tiger tanks. The 503rd Battalion also lost a third of its Tigers, while the Panthers and IVs also suffered losses. Of the 40 Ferdinands that were deployed, only 17 withdrew from the battlefield, with most being abandoned and destroyed due to mechanical failures. The 223rd Tiger of Fahnrich was severely damaged - two rows of road wheels were missing, the hull was riddled with shell holes, the observation system was almost completely destroyed, it began to leak oil, the engine and transmission were heavily worn, and it could barely move. Fortunately, all crew members were safe. The Germans can be said to have won a Pyrrhic victory on the battlefield - "the victor has nothing".
The Soviet Red Army lost more than 550 tanks, the battlefield was littered with the wreckage of Soviet tanks... including the massive KV-5 and "Big Soviet" GS1 super-heavy tank. But the Soviets won! They successfully stopped the Germans' desperate flank attack and delivered a crushing blow to the German armored forces, after September 12th, the German armored forces had been weakened to a pitiful state, now the Germans could only choose between annihilation and retreat - the Germans had already lost the war...
