Metal Gods - The Battle of Kursk at Ponyri Station (1st Edition)

Ponyri Station, Russia, 0645 hours 7 July 1943: The 18th Pz Division had hit the west side of Ponyri Station and breached the wire and mines, but at a high cost in men and materials. A company was pushed forward using the terrain as cover, a gully which ran up to the hill with the cemetery on the north side of Ponyri Station. The battalion commander led his men forward, accompanying his second company. Looking through his binoculars the Major determined the ground had been untouched by the massive artillery and bombardments; quietly he motioned to his officers the hand signal to advance. The Soviet entrenchments were elaborate, the Major thought, but not insurmountable. He could see his soldiers weaving through the gully and brush. There were miles and miles of trenches, and wire and the mines. "Damn mines" he muttered to himself. "Yes, Herr Major" his radio operator asked. "The mines had taken over two of every three tanks lost" the major went on as he turned to talk to his operator. As the Major turned he rose slightly from behind his cover, he felt a bullet blast past his ear and hit his radio operator causing the left side of his head to explode. The bullet was meant for me he thought. The radio operator slumped back. The major crouched down, instinctively and turned to see the source of the sniper's bullet. As he turned the gully area erupted in small arms, and machine gun fire on his men. He could see tracers coming from well concealed positions, then explosions; mines! "Damn Mines!" The Major yelled, "Sergeant, get me another radio operator, right now!"