Although Sokov gave the troops an order to stop the attack and switch to defense on the spot, some troops still did not carry out his order. More than a dozen tanks from the 3rd Battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade were following the 11th Guards Tank Corps
The rear of the 65th Brigade rushed towards Ketong, a small town more than ten kilometers away.
The first company commander, Lieutenant Kawachuk, rode a T-34/85 and rushed to the front of the entire battalion. According to the instructions of the battalion commander, Captain Kupala, they kept a distance of three to four kilometers from friendly tanks to avoid being damaged during the battle.
Difficult to identify and fall into confusion.
There are five people in the tank. In addition to Kavachuk, there are driver Sergeant Sorokin, gunner Sergeant Asan, loader Sergeant Yakushev and electromechanical operator Corporal Blova.
When the tank was still four or five kilometers away from Kotung, it was intercepted by German artillery fire. Kavacchuk saw through the observation hole that the friendly tanks in front were continuously destroyed by German artillery fire and were burning on the road.
Looking at the scene in front of him, he could not suppress the fear in his heart. You must know that among these burning tanks, there were comrades who fought alongside him not long ago, but now they have turned into charred corpses.
"Lieutenant Kawachuk, what happened in the front?" The voice of the battalion commander Captain Kupala came from the radio: "Why do I see a lot of thick smoke rising?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Kawachuk hurriedly reported to the battalion commander: "The advancing friendly tank group was bombarded by German heavy artillery. Many tanks were destroyed and were burning on the road. What you see
What you see is the thick smoke rising from these burning tanks."
After a moment of silence, Kupala's voice came from the earphones: "Keep going, Comrade Lieutenant, keep going! Only by continuing to advance toward Kotong can we avoid the fate of the tank being destroyed by enemy artillery fire."
"Yes, keep moving forward to avoid the fate of being destroyed by German artillery fire." After Kawachuk repeated Kupala's order, he told the driver Sorokin sitting next to him: "Sergeant Sorokin, speed up!"
Sorokin agreed and drove the tank as fast as possible, and not in a straight line, so as not to be hit by German artillery fire. The tank traveling at high speed trembled violently, bumped, and undulated with the ups and downs of the tracks.
It swayed from side to side. But Kawachuk, regardless of the bumps of the tank, still observed the movement ahead through the observation hole.
At this moment, they saw that they were approaching a small town. Kawachuk saw two German tanks parked next to the collapsed building on the roadside on the right, with the muzzles pointed at the location of his tank, and he quickly issued a command
: "Load armor-piercing rounds!"
"The armor-piercing ammunition is loaded!" Sergeant Yakushev, the loader, replied in a hoarse voice.
The tank stopped abruptly and locked onto one of the German tanks in the shortest possible time. Upon seeing this, Kawachukko immediately ordered to fire. The armor-piercing bullet whizzed out of the barrel and accurately hit the observation hole of the tank. A moment later, from the turret,
In the open hatch at the top, fire and gunpowder smoke surged up like an erupting volcano. Two tank soldiers covered in fire got out of the bottom of the car. Regardless of the danger of being shot by machine guns, they turned around and headed towards more.
Escape far away.
Another German tank saw that its comrade was destroyed by the speeding Soviet tank. It hesitated for a moment and quickly reversed back behind the building to avoid possible attacks.
At this time, the IS-2 tank of the battalion commander Captain Kupala rushed up and rushed directly towards the collapsed building. The tank parked next to the building and fired at the German tank hiding behind, killing the enemy with just one shot.
The turret was blown away.
In the subsequent attack, the battalion commander's IS-2 rushed to the front of the battalion, and at the same time became the target of anti-tank firepower hidden nearby. The German anti-tank guns fired very accurately, time and time again.
The target was hit. This heavy tank was hit by shells repeatedly, and fireballs splashed from the turret from time to time. However, the armor of the IS-2 could withstand the attacks of the German small-caliber anti-tank guns, and these attacks did not slow down its progress at all.
speed.
Seeing the battalion commander rushing to the front, Kavachuk pointed forward with his hand and said to Sergeant Sorokin: "Comrade Sergeant, keep up with the battalion commander's tank, and don't fall behind!"
"Understood, comrade company commander." Sorokin replied loudly: "Wherever the battalion commander's tanks are, I will appear there."
The German long-range artillery fire had stopped due to being bombarded by Soviet bombers. The Soviet tank troops that rushed into the town were engaged in a battle with the town's defenders.
Compared with the iron-walled fortifications that defended the city, the poor defense in the town was not worth mentioning. The German soldiers who were hiding in the buildings and shooting were locked by Soviet tanks after just a few shots.
If a shell hits, even if you are not killed on the spot, you will be buried by the collapsed masonry and rubble.
In less than forty minutes, the entire town was occupied by Soviet tank troops.
The newly arrived 36th Tank Brigade and the 12th Motorized Infantry Brigade took over the offensive mission of the 65th Tank Brigade and continued to rush in the direction of Toon, preparing to capture the city.
However, the Third Battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade under Sokov stopped planning to continue the attack due to lack of ammunition and fuel. The battalion commander, Captain Kupala, reported the battle situation of his battalion to the brigade commander through the vehicle-mounted radio and reported
The troops were short of fuel and ammunition and reported to the other party.
He finally said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if our battalion is replenished with enough ammunition and fuel, I am confident that I will lead the troops to be the first to rush into Kotong City."
"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Unexpectedly, the brigade commander said angrily after hearing this: "Comrade Commander has issued an order to stop the attack and switch to defense on the spot. How dare you disobey the order and lead the troops to attack the enemy's position without authorization?
If you launch an attack on a city and suffer heavy losses to your troops, just wait to be court-martialed."
"Comrade Brigadier," Kupala was frightened by the brigade commander's words and broke into a cold sweat, and then said, "I will immediately count the casualties of the troops and then report to you."
After ending the call, he got out of the tank and asked his three company commanders to come over and report the damage.
Soon, the statistical results came out. The battalion originally had 27 tanks of various types, but 7 were lost when seizing Sedelce, leaving 20 tanks left. In the battle that ended not long ago, another 3 tanks were lost, and now
There are 17 cars left.
After listening to the statistical speed of each company commander, Kupala felt a little more at ease. Although his troops suffered a lot of losses in today's battle, most of their strength was still preserved. In other words, his battalion's
The combat effectiveness did not suffer much loss in today's battle.
While everyone was talking, some ordinary people appeared on the street. These Polish ordinary people looked at the Soviet troops on the street and showed no joy at all. It can be seen that they did not welcome the Soviet troops who appeared in the town.
At this time, a young woman wearing a headscarf quickly walked up to Kupala and Kavachuk and asked in Russian: "Comrade commander, which unit are you from?"
Hearing the woman's question, Kawachuk asked warily: "Why are you asking this?"
The woman said with a smile: "I just want to know which part of the Soviet army that liberated this town belonged to."
Kupala stared at the woman for a while and felt that she did not look like a bad person. He thought that telling the number of his unit would not be considered a leak, so he said carelessly: "We are a tank brigade affiliated with the 48th Group Army."
"The 48th Army?!" Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the woman's eyes widened in surprise: "Are you Misha's subordinate?"
The woman's words stunned Kupala: "Who is Misha?"
"Misha is General Sokov." The woman said emotionally, "Are you the troops under his command?"
Hearing the woman's affectionate address to her commander, Kupala asked tentatively: "Girl, can you tell me, what is your relationship with our commander?"
"Comrade Captain," the woman glanced at Kupala's rank and asked tentatively, "Can the radio in your tank contact the army headquarters?"
"Although my radio cannot directly contact the Army Headquarters, it can contact the brigade headquarters first, and then the brigade headquarters will contact the Army Headquarters." After Kupala said this, he continued to ask: "But in
Before that, I must know your identity, girl."
"Okay, if Misha asks, just say my name is Agelina, and he will know who I am." Perhaps to increase her persuasion, she also pointed to the tank parked next to her and said, "I remember
Misha installed a telephone on the back of the tank so that people outside could communicate with those inside the tank."
Kupala was still a little doubtful about Agelina's identity at first, but after hearing what she said, he immediately realized that what she said might be true. Although there are many tanks equipped with telephones in the tank brigade, he knew that this was a matter of fact.
But there were not many people who invented it. He quickly and politely said to Agelina: "Comrade Agelina, please wait a moment, and I will contact the commander for you immediately."
While Sokov was talking to Ponedelin and Sidorin in the headquarters, discussing how to solve the weapon problem, the phone on the table rang.
Sidorin picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the tank brigade said that one of his battalion commanders named Kupala was in a military camp a few kilometers west of Sedelce.
I met an acquaintance of yours in the town."
"An acquaintance of mine?" Sokov asked in confusion, "Who is it?"
"Captain Kupala said that the girl called herself Agelina." Sidorin said to Sokov: "The other party specifically emphasized that as long as you say her name, you will know who she is."
"Yes, I do know a girl named Adelina." When Sokov heard Adelina's name, he couldn't help being secretly surprised. The last time he met her was in the underground opposite Lubyanka.
How could she appear in Poland when she was recuperating in the hospital? But if you want to figure out this matter, you have to wait until Agelina comes here, so he said to Sidorin: "Tell the tank brigade commander to arrange for someone immediately
Send that girl Agelina here. Remember, you must ensure her safety."
Sidorin nodded and said into the microphone: "Comrade brigade commander, the commander said that the girl is indeed his friend and asks you to send her safely to the army headquarters as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
When Sidorin put down the phone, Ponedelin curiously asked Sokov: "Comrade Commander, who is this girl named Agelina? I feel that you seemed very nervous when you heard her name."
"How should I put it, he can be regarded as a friend." Sokov considered that Adelina would be here soon, and it would be impossible to completely avoid Ponedelin and Sidorin in some conversations with her, so
Then he told the two of them the process of getting to know Agelina and her identity.
After learning Agelina's identity, Ponejelin nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, if this Agelina is responsible for lurking inside the enemy to collect intelligence, she may appear here for
What important information should I send personally? Do you think we should contact the front army headquarters first and let them be responsible for arranging this matter?"
"Don't worry yet." Sokov waved his hands and said: "Although there is a high chance that she will pass on important information when she appears here, it is best to understand the specific situation first and then report it to the superior."
"Okay then." Ponejelin felt that what Sokov said made sense, so he agreed with him: "Then we will decide whether to report it to our superiors after Agelina arrives."
Although Sokov knew that Adelina was coming from a small town to the west of Sedelce, it would definitely take a lot of time on the way. But he did not expect that he would have to wait until early in the morning before Adelina appeared in front of the army commander.
department.
After seeing Sokov, Agelina stepped forward and gave him a warm hug: "Misha, I'm so happy to see you here. When I was trapped in the small town, I thought
I couldn't leave the town alive at all, but I didn't expect that your troops rushed into the town with tanks and wiped out the defenders inside, which gave me hope again."
Sokov gently patted Agelina on the back, comforted her and said: "Agelina, you will be completely safe when you come to my place. You must be very tired. Why don't you go and rest first? What's the matter?
, we’ll talk about it after daybreak.”
Unexpectedly, Agelina let go of Sokov after hearing this. She took two steps back and said to Sokov: "No, Misha, I can't rest now. I have important information and need to report it to my superiors immediately.
"
"Important information?" Sokov asked tentatively: "What is it about?"
Hearing Sokov ask herself, Agelina hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "This information comes from the German headquarters in Warsaw. It is related to the next combat deployment of our army and needs to be reported to the superior immediately."
"Since it is important information," Sokov heard that it was an important situation, and asked with some confusion: "Then why don't you use the radio to send the report, but take the risk to send the information?"
"Our intelligence system in Warsaw has been destroyed by the Germans because of the betrayal of the traitors." Ajelina said with a solemn expression: "Because I have always had a single line of contact, and the comrade responsible for contacting me was captured by the Germans.
I died during the arrest, so my identity was not exposed. Because the information I obtained was extremely important, and there was no radio station to send the report to, I had no choice but to leave Warsaw in disguise and prepare to deliver the information myself."
Sokov did not ask any more questions, because he knew very well that the content of the intelligence involved confidentiality. No matter how close he was to Agelina, she would not tell him: "Agelina, I will give it to Luo right now."
Marshal Kossovsky called to see how he plans to arrange for you."