After failing on the left flank of the "corridor" between the river and the railroad, the Germans concentrated their attention to advance towards Prokhorovka through a relatively narrow passage along the railroad. Here the main pocket of resistance was the state farm "Komsomolets." This farm was right between the villages of Vasilevka and Ivanovskii Vyselok. This 11km sector was occupied by the 285th RR of the 183rd RD with the support of the 2nd battalion of the 623rd Artillery Regiment. The defense covered the edges of the deep ravines (balkas), which ended some 300-400m from the railroad; access to the village was possible only after the capture of the state farm.
At 1330 the 2nd SSPzGrenR, reinforced by a company of "tigers" and a battery of heavy assault guns, with the support of all the artillery of the "Adolf Hitler" division, as well as the 55th Werfer Regiment (without the 3rd battalion) of six-barreled mortars started the assault on the "Komsomolets." At the same time, a shock group of the "Totenkopf" division attacked the villages of Vasilevka and Anreevka. Using the carefully prepared defensive positions, the 1st and the 2nd battalions of the 285th RR managed to withstand this blow. For some time the Germans stopped the attack and retreated. But this was done to avoid being bombed by their own air force. The night of July 10th was rainy and cloudy - this did not allow to use the aviation until the next morning. In the afternoon the weather improved, and the Germans used the 8th Air Corps fully to their advantage.
The "devil's circle"
started rotating above our positions. This is how our soldiers called the German
method of tactical bombardment. At first, about 30-70 planes gathered above
a narrow sector of the front. After that, the bombers delivered blows one after
another. This lasted from 30 minutes to 2 hours. A few minutes before the end
of the bombardment a large group of armor was brought forward, at the front
were the heavy "tigers." When the bombardment was over, the tanks
were literally a few dozen of meters from the trenches. The infantry still stunned
by the bombardment was forced to fight the tanks. In practice it is very difficult
to withstand such a blow without having a second line of trenches, as was the
case at the "Komsomolets." This tactic of "ramming" the
defenders was used by the Germans for the first time at Kursk to overcome our
well-prepared defenses. After a three-hour long battle the units of the 285th RD were forced to abandon the positions. "Well-entrenched enemy, - the "Adolf Hitler" headquarters reported to the corps commander, - defended ferociously, but after the capture of some positions the resistance slackened. Numerous Russians fled." The fighters of the 1st battalion in groups and individually
under the overwhelming enemy pressure retreated to the positions of the 11th MRB at the village of Vasilevka. The 2nd battalion, which received the main blow at the farm, was dispersed, and its command gathered troops who exited this battle near Prokhorovka. The 3rd battalion with the support of the 169th TB of Colonel I.Y. Stepanov of the 2nd TC continued to defend the village of Storozhevoe against the attacks of the panzergrenadier regiment, which after capturing the farm and Ivanoskii Vyselok attempted to exploit towards Prokhorovka through Storozhevoe-Iamki. However, after meeting strong resistance, the Germans postponed this the advance and turned the shock group towards Vasilevki and Andreevki. At 1700 the enemy tried two consecutive attacks with infantry, tanks and assault guns. They were supported by groups of 25-30 planes.
Regardless of the power of the blow, our defense stood firm. The enemy was more successful in the bend of the river Psel. At 1830 the grenadiers of the 6h SSPzGrenR of the "Totenkopf," having crushed the defenses of the 151st RR of 52nd GRD, continued to advance northwards toward the village of Veselyi. The Germans captured the first and the second lines of trenches and reached the village. But at 2100 a counterattack by the 151st RR and a tank training battalion the enemy was ejected from the second line. During the night fighting raged over the first line. By 0400 on July 11th the 52nd GRD managed to expel the enemy form the first line of trenches in the region of the village of Kluchi, but had not succeeded to fully clear the bend of the river. The Germans dug in at the bridgehead near Krasnyi Oktiabr at the hill 226,6.
By 2100 the climax of the battle was over. Such was the end of the battle's first day. The enemy did not accomplish his mission to reach Kartashevka and capture Prokhorovka, but captured a key point of our defense -"Komsomolets," as well as created a bridgehead on the right bank of the Psel, which allowed him to start the construction of a bridge for the heavy armor.
After the failure of July 10th, the mission of the 2nd SSPzC remained the same: Totenkopf to cross the river and reach the Kartashevka; "Adolf Hitler" to attack along the railroad and in the direction of Storozhevoe-Iamki towards Prokhorovka; Das Reich to support the right flank of "Adolf Hitler" and to fight towards Belenikhino, in case of success to strengthen the former's efforts.
According to the plan of our command, the region of Veselyi, Vasilevka, Storozhevoe since the morning of July 11th was supposed to be defended by two divisions of the 33rd GRC under the command of Major-General I. I. Popov of the 5th GA in cooperation with the defending here 52nd GRD, 11th MRB, 183rd RD and the 2nd TC. These were the 95th GRD of Colonel A.N. Liakhov in the bend of river, and the 9th Guards Airborne Division of Colonel A.M.Sazonov on the line of Vasilevka-Prelestnoe-Iamki.
The lead units of the 95th GRD reached the defensive sector on dawn of July 11th and immediately started to engineer fortifications behind the lines of the 52nd GRD and 11th MRB.
