Rokossovsky did not express his opinion, but asked rhetorically: "Where are the units of the 1st Guards Engineer Brigade currently located." ”

"They have just reached the east side of Boneri," Kalanin asked honestly, not knowing the purpose of Rokossovsky's question, "Comrade Commander, what we need now are combat troops, and units like these fortifications can play a limited role. ”

"Comrade Galanin," Rokossovsky immediately said in a stern tone, "I tell you, this engineer brigade is not the kind of engineer you imagine who can only build fortifications and lay mines, but an assault engineering unit dedicated to urban street fighting, and they once made great achievements in the battle to defend Stalingrad. As soon as they entered the Boneri, the Germans had no way to take the city. Do you understand? ”

Kalanin did not expect the engineer brigade that Rokossovsky sent to him, and after staying for a moment, immediately replied loudly: "Understood, comrade commander, now I understand everything." ”

The battle in the city of Boneri ended in less than an hour. After verification, it turned out that the Germans who stormed the city had only one infantry company, and because they cut off the connection between the front-line troops and the city headquarters, the number of Germans storming the city was exaggerated.

As soon as the battle in Boneri turned from inside the city to outside the city, Malinin came over and put a telegram in front of Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade commander, according to reconnaissance information that the Air Force has just received, the enemy has concentrated about 150 tanks and a large number of motorized infantry in the valley near Boneri, preparing for a new offensive against our troops. ”

"150 tanks!" Repeating this figure, Rokossovsky instructed Malinin: "Call General Rudenko and order him to send bombers to bomb the German troops in the area." ”

As soon as Malinin walked away, he called Kazakov, who was sitting on the side, and said to him: "General Kazakov, the Germans have gathered a large number of tanks and infantry in the valley near Boneri, ready to carry out a new assault on our troops, and I order you to immediately launch intensive artillery bombardment of the area as soon as the bombardment of the air force begins." ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." After listening to the order, Kazakov replied with the usual expression: "I'll arrange it immediately!" ”

The German commanders never dreamed that they had just completed the build-up of troops in the valley, and before they could launch an attack, they were indiscriminately bombed by 120 Soviet attack planes and bombers. While they were busy with air defense, hundreds of Soviet artillery pieces of different calibers also began to bombard the valley. The German troops, caught off guard, suffered heavy losses, and the attack they were preparing came to naught.

While the Soviet air force and artillery were striking hard at the still assembled troops, the German 656th Heavy Panzer Regiment was advancing along the railway line towards the north of Boneri. The regiment consisted of three battalions, armed with Petdinand self-propelled guns and Grizzly assault tanks, which, with the cooperation of engineering units, successfully passed through the minefields laid by the Soviets and rushed to the trenches held by the Soviets.

Because the self-propelled guns and assault tanks equipped with the regiment were heavily armored, the 45-mm anti-tank guns and 76.2-mm cannons equipped by the Soviet army could not penetrate their armor. In the face of the approaching steel monsters, the Soviet commanders and fighters could only adopt the tactics of fighting and walking, and retreated step by step.

When General Yanshen heard that German armored units had appeared in the north of the city, he immediately called the battalion commander who was holding that area and ordered them to resolutely hold their positions at all costs.

Seeing that the German self-propelled guns and tanks were blocked by wide anti-tank trenches, the Soviet battalion commander, who was holding this position, was thinking about where to retreat his troops, but after receiving a call from the division commander, he could only temporarily change the deployment. He personally ran to the front line, made several company commanders anxious, and said with a serious expression: "Comrades, the division commander called me and ordered us to resolutely hold our positions at all costs, and absolutely not let the Germans move forward. ”

As soon as the battalion commander's words were finished, the commander of the third company immediately opened his mouth to retort: "Comrade battalion commander, don't you still understand the situation? The armor of the Germans' self-propelled guns and assault tanks was so thick that our anti-tank guns and cannons were just a blank mark, and they couldn't penetrate their armor at all. I think that while the enemy has not yet come up, we should withdraw as soon as possible. ”

"Withdraw, where to withdraw?" The battalion commander looked at the somewhat panicked company commander and asked sternly, "Don't you know that if we withdraw against it, the enemy's tanks will be able to rush into the city from the north?" Do you know what the consequences would be if the Germans were allowed to occupy the city? ”

The battalion commander's words suddenly made the company commander speechless. The battalion commander turned to the other two company commanders and said, "Comrade commanders, I beg you to do everything possible to stop the German advance towards the city. ”

The commander of the first company took a step forward and said to the battalion commander without hesitation: "Comrade battalion commander, please rest assured, unless we all sacrifice, we will never let the enemy's tanks pass through the positions of our first company." ”

"Me too." Seeing that the commander of the first company had already expressed his position, the commander of the second company was not to be outdone: "We will do everything possible to block the attack of the German army." ”

"Very good," after listening to the statements of the two company commanders, the battalion commander nodded with satisfaction and said, "You all go back to your respective positions, I will stay in command of the third company and continue to keep in touch with you." ”

After the two company commanders left, the battalion commander looked at the third company commander and said with an expressionless face: "Comrade Captain, since you have been frightened by the German tanks, from now on, I will remove you from the post of company commander, and I will take over your position." ”

"So what do I do?" As soon as the commander of the third company waited for the battalion commander to finish speaking, he immediately asked.

"Well," the battalion commander stared at him for a while, and said, "From now on, you will go to the company and become an ordinary soldier." I hope that when the enemy attacks later, you will not be a deserter, otherwise I will personally enforce battlefield discipline on you. ”

"Yes!" The commander of the third company reluctantly agreed, walked to the gun carriage by the wall, took out a rifle and put it on his shoulder, and left the company command post without leaving his head.

As the German sappers erected a bridge with rails in the anti-tank trench, tanks and self-propelled guns, which were originally trapped on the other side of the anti-tank trench, passed through the bridge one after another and continued to attack the depth of the Soviet defense.

German tanks were the first to rush into the positions of the third company, and when the German self-propelled guns crossed the trenches, the commander of the third company, who had just been demoted from company commander to soldier, took the lead in throwing two anti-tank grenades. After two loud bangs, the self-propelled guns did not pause at all and continued to rumble forward.

Seeing this, the fighters next to them were stunned, they never dreamed that at such a close distance, anti-tank grenades would not be able to destroy the German self-propelled guns. A corporal asked the third company commander: "Company commander, what should we do?" ”

"What else can I do?" The commander of the third company bent down and grabbed two more anti-tank grenades from the bottom of the trench and ordered: "Keep blowing me up until it blows up!" With that, he crawled out of the trench with his hands and feet, and went to chase the German self-propelled guns in the distance. Before he could get far, he was hit by a machine gun from a tank behind him. His body thumped, spun in a circle, and fell to the ground without saying a word.

"Avenge the company commander and destroy the fascist invaders!" The fighters could not help but red-eyed when they saw their company commander die in front of them, and quite a few fighters with anti-tank grenades and burning/burning flasks rushed towards the approaching German tanks and self-propelled guns. Although the explosions were heard one after another, except for one tank that was destroyed, the damage to the rest of the armored vehicles launched by the Soviet army was almost negligible, and there was even a self-propelled gun that was hit by a burning/flask, which continued to rush forward with whirring flames.

One of the fighters rushed into the command post and reported in a loud voice to the battalion commander who was directing the battle here: "Comrade battalion commander, the German tank is so powerful that our anti-tank grenades cannot destroy it at close range." The company commander died. With that, he turned and ran out of the command post.

After listening to the soldier's report, the battalion commander was dumbfounded. The German tanks were difficult to destroy, and he knew this for a long time, otherwise he would not have thought of retreating just before the division commander called. More importantly, he heard the news of the sacrifice of the commander of the third company, and he must know that the other party was removed by him, and it took less than half an hour to die on the battlefield.

After much deliberation, he decided that he should still call the division commander, General Yanshen, and tell him the actual situation here, so that the troops would not immediately stay here and make unnecessary sacrifices.

But before he could get his call, the phone line was cut off. The German heavy armored regiments had broken through the defensive lines of the first and second companies one after another and rushed to the depth of the Soviet defense. This Soviet battalion, which was still holding its ground, fell into the encirclement of the German army.

However, the commanders and fighters of the battalion did not stop fighting, and they still used the anti-tank weapons they could find, and engaged in fierce battles with the German assault troops. The 2nd Company used flamethrowers at close range to attack German tanks, achieving some success, eliminating two German tanks and killing one of the German commanders.

After breaking through the Soviet lines, the German heavy armored regiment regrouped in order to strengthen the assault force.

Rokossovsky, who was far away in Svoboda, heard that the German heavy armored regiment had broken through the Soviet defense line north of Poneri, and hurriedly called the 307th Infantry Division in person to inquire about the specific battle situation. When he learned that the anti-tank weapons equipped by the Soviet army could not destroy the German assault tanks and heavy armor, he called Orel over and asked: "Comrade Chief of the Panzer Corps, something unexpected has happened now, the German heavy armored regiment is north of Boneri, breaking through the positions of our troops. The existing anti-tank weapons of our army are ineffective against them, do you have any good solutions? ”

Orel thought for a moment, then replied: "Comrade commander, not so long ago, we grouped the 122nd self-propelled artillery regiment armed with SU-1454 into the 129th tank brigade, which should be able to deal with the heavy armored regiments of the German army. ”

After hearing Orel's words, Rokossovsky hurriedly said to Yanshen: "You heard everything, General Yanshen? The 129th Tank Brigade was immediately moved to the north of the city, where they were to deal with the German heavy armored regiment. ”

While the 129th Tank Brigade was heading north of Boneri, the German heavy armored regiment had successfully broken through the second line of Soviet defense and was regrouping to continue the assault on the city of Boneri. But they never dreamed that their end was near.

The 129th Tank Brigade did not continue to advance to the north of the city, but set up an ambush ring on both sides of the road, waiting for the German armored units to break into it on their own.

Shortly after the Soviet tanks entered the designated position, they saw smoke and dust rising in the distance, which was the German tank moving towards their position.

However, the commanders and fighters of the battalion did not stop fighting, and they still used the anti-tank weapons they could find, and engaged in fierce battles with the German assault troops. The 2nd Company used flamethrowers at close range to attack German tanks, achieving some success, eliminating two German tanks and killing one of the German commanders.

After breaking through the Soviet lines, the German heavy armored regiment regrouped in order to strengthen the assault force.

Rokossovsky, who was far away in Svoboda, heard that the German heavy armored regiment had broken through the Soviet defense line north of Poneri, and hurriedly called the 307th Infantry Division in person to inquire about the specific battle situation. When he learned that the anti-tank weapons equipped by the Soviet army could not destroy the German assault tanks and heavy armor, he called Orel over and asked: "Comrade Chief of the Panzer Corps, something unexpected has happened now, the German heavy armored regiment is north of Boneri, breaking through the positions of our troops. The existing anti-tank weapons of our army are ineffective against them, do you have any good solutions? ”

Orel thought for a moment, then replied: "Comrade commander, not so long ago, we grouped the 122nd self-propelled artillery regiment armed with SU-1454 into the 129th tank brigade, which should be able to deal with the heavy armored regiments of the German army. ”

After hearing Orel's words, Rokossovsky hurriedly said to Yanshen: "You heard everything, General Yanshen? The 129th Tank Brigade was immediately moved to the north of the city, where they were to deal with the German heavy armored regiment. ”

While the 129th Tank Brigade was heading north of Boneri, the German heavy armored regiment had successfully broken through the second line of Soviet defense and was regrouping to continue the assault on the city of Boneri. But they never dreamed that their end was near.

The 129th Tank Brigade did not continue to advance to the north of the city, but set up an ambush ring on both sides of the road, waiting for the German armored units to break into it on their own.

Shortly after the Soviet tanks entered the designated position, they saw smoke and dust rising in the distance, which was the German tank moving towards their position.