Chief of Staff Lucas answered the phone call from the headquarters of the 249th Division and said to the division commander: "Colonel Bandeleyev, the commander of the army orders your division to immediately attack Erbin, and it is imperative that in the shortest possible time, crush the enemy's resistance and plant our flag on the municipal building in the center of the city. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Chief of Staff." Ever since he learned that there were only 500 German regular troops west of the city, Bandeleyev had been eager to attack immediately, but since he had not received orders from his superiors, he had to stay in his current territory and wait patiently. Hearing the chief of staff say this at this moment, he immediately said cheerfully: "The attack of our division will begin in five minutes. ”

As soon as Bandeleyev put down the phone, he said to the three regiment commanders standing in front of him: "Comrades regimental commanders, the army commander gave us the order to attack Erbin. I now announce: the 751st regiment, with Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, as the first echelon, will take the lead in the attack on the city. ”

Lieutenant Colonel Ajik, who had medals all over his chest, and Bandeleyev were old subordinates for many years, so he naturally knew what his old superiors were thinking. Therefore, after accepting the task, he said with a smile on his face: "Comrade division commander, please rest assured that after our regiment storms into the city of Elbin, it will be the first to plant the red flag on the roof of the municipal building." ”

Everyone knows very well that the troops attacking Erbin today are not only the 8th Estonian Infantry Corps, but also the 48th Army to the south of the city, the 10th Tank Army to the east, and a friendly unit to the north that also belongs to the 2nd Shock Army. The other two regiment commanders looked at Agik with envious eyes, and secretly sighed in their hearts about his good luck.

Rokossovsky was very concerned about the situation on the side of Elbin, and after arranging the details of the reorganization of the tank company, he personally called Fedyuninsky to find out about the situation with the attack on the city. After the phone was answered, he asked bluntly: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, have all your troops reached the offensive position?" When will an attack on the city be launched? ”

"The offensive of the 22nd Infantry Brigade and the 185th Tank Brigade from the direction of the northern outskirts was not successful because of the lack of artillery support." Cautiously reporting on the offensive from the north, Fedyuninsky continued: "At the moment the 8th Estonian Infantry Corps of Lieutenant General Pern is ready to attack and ready to storm the city. ”

After Rokossovsky waited for Fedyuninsky to finish speaking, he casually asked: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, did General Pern tell you which division he plans to send for the main attack?" ”

"Colonel Bandeleyev's 249th Infantry Division." Fedyuninsky said in a hesitant tone: "The 7th Infantry Division, as a reserve of the whole army, will not be put into battle for the time being. ”

Although Rokossovsky was a little surprised when he heard Fedyuninsky's answer to the horse's mouth, he did not think about it carefully, but ordered him with a normal expression: "General Fedyuninsky, when the offensive battle begins, report to me at any time on the latest progress, I am waiting for your good news." ”

After Rokossovsky put down the phone, he smiled and said to Su Bojing, who was sitting next to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, I asked Fedyuninsky which division of General Pern he was going to send as the main attack, and he said that it was the 249th Infantry Division, and then he said thoughtlessly that the 7th Division, as an army reserve, would not participate in the offensive. I don't know why he said that and confused me. ”

And Su Bojing's reaction was greatly unexpected by Rokossovsky. His eyes widened and he asked with a shocked expression: "Comrade Marshal, did Fedyuninsky really say that the 7th Division did not participate in the offensive, but only served as a reserve?" ”

"Yes, that's what he said." Rokossovsky asked in confusion: "Comrade Military Commissar, what the hell is going on?" Why did you react so strongly when it came to the 7th Division of the army? ”

"Comrade Marshal, let me introduce this matter to you." Without waiting for Su Bojing to finish speaking, Bogolyubov next to him preemptively said: "When our army attacked Velikiye Luki in 42, the main attack task was the 7th Division of the army, and a battalion of the 300th Regiment under the leadership of the battalion commander actually shamefully surrendered to the Germans, resulting in huge losses for our army......"

Bogolyubov's explanation made Rokossovsky understand why Fedyuninsky was so cautious when talking about the 7th Division. Although he did not participate in the attack on Velikiye Luki, it is not clear what the final victory will be, but the nature of a unit openly surrendering to the enemy on the battlefield is quite bad. However, the division was not canceled because of this, which can only be explained by their overall performance in battle.

As soon as Rokossovsky waited for Bogolyubov to finish speaking, he immediately continued: "Even if the 7th Division had a disgraceful history, it was all in the past after all, and I believe that in the next battle, the division will achieve even more brilliant results." ”

At this moment, the 751st Infantry Regiment, which launched an attack on Erbin, successfully occupied the position outside the city after more than ten minutes of fierce fighting, and routed the people's stormtroopers holding here, killing more than 100 people and taking more than 200 prisoners.

Seeing the members of the stormtroopers in civilian clothes fleeing in a hurry, the regimental commander Ajik decisively gave the order to pursue. According to his idea, as long as his troops followed behind these men, the enemy in the city would not dare to shoot casually, so that he might be able to easily break through the German defense line and enter the city smoothly.

Despite the fact that the besieging Soviet troops were not supported by tanks and artillery, they were armed with light and heavy machine guns, submachine guns and rifles, and still had a great advantage over the People's Stormtroopers, who were only armed with Mauser rifles. The stormtroopers who were running in front saw the Soviet commanders and fighters who had caught up, some accelerated and continued to run along the street, some got into the alleys next to them, and some simply threw away their weapons and surrendered to the Soviet troops with their hands raised. Seeing the captives standing on the side of the road, some warriors immediately stopped, took them in, and escorted them out of the city.

Neither the stormtroopers who fled for their lives nor the Soviet commanders and fighters who were in hot pursuit, did not notice that there were countless black holes in the muzzles of the guns, sticking out of the window of a tall building at the end of the street, aiming at the wide street. The captain of the 2nd SS commando group, who commanded the western part of the city, stood by one of the windows, holding up his binoculars to observe the movement below, and beside him, a young communications corporal with a freckled face, holding a microphone in his hand, was about to convey the captain's orders to the combat units.