The attack on the city by the 1st Guards Tank Army and the 105th Infantry Army met with stubborn resistance from the defenders of the city. In order to stop the Soviet attack, the commander of the city defense, General Gaman, even ordered artillery to carry out a heavy shelling of the south of the city.

Under the heavy artillery fire of the German army, the south of the city turned into a sea of fire, and the buildings collapsed in the explosion. In the face of such heavy artillery fire from the Germans, the Soviet troops could only temporarily withdraw outside the city. When the shelling stopped and the smoke cleared, the crater-ridden streets were covered with the mutilated corpses of Soviet soldiers and the wreckage of tanks still burning.

Hearing the heavy sound of artillery coming from the direction of the city, as well as the red light that reflected half of the sky, Batov, who was staying at the rear observation post, could not help frowning, and he said to Glebov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, listening to the sound of artillery coming from the city, the resistance of the German army seems to be very stubborn. ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander." Glebov pursed his lips and said: "The Germans know that they have fallen into the encirclement of our army, and they are not willing to be annihilated, and they will definitely put up a stubborn resistance. ”

"Chief of Staff, call the two army commanders and order them to withdraw their troops first, reassemble them, and then launch a new attack." Batov walked up to the map of Bobruisk, pointed his finger and said: "Tell them that, in addition to a frontal assault, it is better to send troops to detour from both flanks." ”

The battle continued into the early hours of the morning, and the 105th Infantry Division of the 356th Army managed to make a detour to the northwest of the city and built simple fortifications here to prevent the Germans from escaping from this direction.

The main forces of the 105th Army and the troops of the 15th Guards Tank Brigade also managed to gain a foothold in the ruins south of the city, and the commanders and fighters advanced step by step towards the city center in a steady and steady manner.

After reading the stack of results, Batov lay down on his desk and studied the map for a long time, and then said to Glebov: "Chief of Staff, call the commander of the 105th Army and order him to immediately send a division to the northwest of the city to occupy the railway station there, so that the enemy does not escape by train." ”

"Comrade commander," Glebov hurriedly reminded him when he heard this order from Batov, "the strength of the 105th Army is only three divisions, and now one of the 356th divisions has been transferred to the northwest corner of the city, and if one more division is removed, then their forces for frontal attack will be weakened." ”

"We currently have only one division northwest of the city, and if the Germans break through from this direction with all their might, our troops will not be able to stop it at all." Batov decisively ordered: "Chief of Staff, immediately call the commander of the 105th Army and order him to transfer another division to seize the railway station, as fast as possible!" ”

After receiving a call from Glebov, the commander of the 105th Army said to his chief of staff: "What is the matter, why did Comrade Commander give such an order to let us transfer another division back to the northwest of the city." In this way, won't our offensive strength be greatly weakened? ”

"Comrade commander, I think the commander's decision is correct." As soon as the commander's words fell, the chief of staff retorted: "We currently have only one 356th Division in the northwest of the city, and if the Germans concentrate their forces to break through from here, our troops will not be able to stop them at all." ”

The commander stared at the map for a long time before nodding and saying: "Comrade commander is right, if the Germans want to jump out of our encirclement, they can only choose the northwest direction." At present, the defense there was weak, and the chief of staff immediately ordered the 354th Division to seize the railway station northwest of the city, leaving only the 75th Guards Division of Colonel Goryshny to continue the offensive towards the city center. ”

After giving the battle order to the 105th Army, Batov felt that it was unrealistic to completely liberate Bobruisk by relying only on their existing strength, and hurriedly instructed Glebov: "Chief of Staff, in order to take Bobruisk as soon as possible, I order the 15th and 336th Infantry Divisions, as well as the 115th Infantry Brigade, to be put into battle. ”

Although Batov committed half of the army group in Bobruisk and was supported by the 1st Guards Tank Army, they fought fiercely with the Germans until dark, and only occupied the south and southwest of the city, and their attacks in the center of the city ended in failure due to the heavy German army group and strong defenses.

When Moder learned that Ruttsov's 35th Infantry Corps had been surrounded and annihilated by the Soviets southeast of Bobruisk, and fearing that the defenders in the city would suffer the same fate, he called the city defense commander Gaman again. This time, he did not ask the other party to wait for any more troops, but ordered bluntly: "General Gaman, your current situation is very dangerous, you have fallen into the encirclement of the Russians, and you must break through immediately. Do you understand? It is necessary to break through immediately. ”

"Understood, Your Excellency Marshal." Garman hurriedly replied respectfully: "I will immediately organize troops to carry out a breakthrough." ”

After putting down the phone, Garman gathered several of his men to briefly sum up the breakout. A colonel said with an embarrassed expression: "Your Excellency, the Russians have surrounded us, in what direction should we break through?" ”

"Needless to say, we are going to break through from the northwest and rush to join the troops of the 4th Army." Pointing to the northwest of Bobruisk, Gaman said: "Immediately concentrate artillery fire, carry out heavy artillery shelling on the Russians occupying this place, and after destroying their simple defenses, then the tanks will lead the troops to carry out the assault, and we must break through in the shortest possible time." ”

After Gaman's words were finished, another officer asked, "Your Excellency, I don't know whether to break through overnight or wait until tomorrow after dawn." ”

"Of course it was a breakthrough overnight," Garman glared at the officer, "If you break through during the day, you will be bombed by Russian planes." The reason why General Ruetsov's 35th Army was wiped out so quickly was because they were heavily bombarded by the Russians, and we cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes. ”

The officer continued to say worriedly: "Although it is already summer, the summer nights in Russia are too cold,......

Without waiting for him to finish, Gaman preemptively said, "I order that all the wine be distributed to the soldiers, so that they may drink to keep out the cold." Also, when we withdraw from the city, we must burn everything that can be burned, and we must not leave the Russians with an intact city. ”

At one o'clock in the morning, the Germans launched a heavy artillery bombardment of the positions of the 356th Soviet Infantry Division with artillery and mortars. The flames tore through the darkness that enveloped the city. After the bombardment, before the smoke of the guns cleared, the Germans dispatched large groups of tanks, followed by a straggler line of fanatical Nazi officers, followed by ordinary infantry.

Drunken soldiers and officers, despite Soviet mortar fire and machine-gun fire, rushed forward one by one. In the hour-long battle, in the face of the ferocious attack of the German army, the commanders and fighters of the 356th Division fought very tenaciously and withstood the onslaught of the enemy. However, the Germans, having paid the price of huge losses, gained a foothold in some sections of the 356th Division.

Immediately after receiving reports of the battle in the north-western direction, Batov sent a telegram to the 354th Division, which was advancing in the north-western direction, telling them that the enemy was trying to break through from the north-west, ordering them to speed up the march, rush over as soon as possible to occupy the railway station, and join the 356th Division.

At dawn, the vanguard of the 48th Army, under the cover of artillery, crossed the Berezina River and launched an attack on the city from the east of Bobruisk.

The 354th Infantry Division, which had marched rapidly in the middle of the night, also launched an attack on the railway station where the Germans were entrenched at six o'clock in the morning. After two hours of fierce fighting, they finally succeeded in capturing the railway station and cutting off the railway lines from Bobruisk to other cities.

Garman panicked when he learned that new Soviet troops had attacked from the east of the city, and that the railway station to the northwest was also occupied by Soviet troops. After a short period of thought, he ordered the Germans to concentrate their forces, break through to the northwest again, and once again attack the defensive positions of the 356th Infantry Division.

After the preparation of strong artillery fire, the tanks of the German 41st Tank Army managed to break through the defense line of the Soviet 356th Division. Seeing that the Soviet defense line was broken, the commander of the 41st Tank Army, General Gofmeister, personally drove the tank and rushed out, and behind him, more than 5,000 German soldiers flooded over the Soviet defense line like a tide.

"Hell, what the hell is going on?" Hearing that thousands of Germans had broken through their own defensive line in the north-west direction, Batov could not help but be annoyed, and he angrily asked: "Why don't our troops hold back the enemy?" ”

"Comrade commander, the enemy's artillery fire is fierce." Seeing that Batov was about to get angry, Glebov hurriedly explained to him: "And our 356th Infantry Division has only built simple fortifications, let alone reinforced with logs, because the time is too tight, and even rattan reinforcement cannot be done." ”

Batov knew that what Glebov said was the truth, and that the commanders and fighters of the 356th Division had done their best, but they still couldn't stop the enemy who had become frantic in order to flee for his life. After a moment of silence, he then asked, "Are we in the northwest, or are we some other troops?" ”

Glebov looked at the small notebook, raised his head and said to Batov: "Comrade commander, our army also has a 251st tank regiment in the north-west direction, the 193rd Infantry Division and the 69th Guards Division ......"

After listening to Glebov's explanation of the number of troops in the northwest, Batov decisively ordered: "Let them encircle and destroy the enemy who has successfully broken through from the northwest, and not a single one of them is allowed to escape." ”

Batov's troops, with the cooperation of the 48th Army, fought another night, and finally in the early morning of June 29, they completely took control of the city of Bobruisk and annihilated the defenders of the city. The 5,000 German troops who escaped were either killed or taken prisoner.

Hearing that Bobruisk had been liberated, Malinin asked Zhukov and Rokossovsky for instructions: "We have liberated Bobruisk, you see, are we going to have a ceremony to enter the city?" ”

"I think it can," Zhukov nodded in agreement with Malinin's proposal. He turned his head to look at Rokossovsky and said: "Comrade Rokossovsky, you will be in charge of the ceremony of entering the city, and I will not enter Bobruisk for the time being." ”

"Well, Comrade Marshal!" Rokossovsky knew in his heart that since Vatutin was attacked and wounded, Zhukov had always been vigilant enough against such a newly liberated city, so he took the initiative to take charge of the entrance ceremony: "Leave this matter to me." ”

Since the troops that liberated Bobruisk were Batov's 65th Army, they naturally became the ones that took part in the entrance ceremony. After the ceremony began, the first to enter the city were the tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Army. Behind them were trucks towing artillery, and the gunners in the carriages were all sitting upright.

Rokossovsky's jeep followed the artillery convoy, and behind him were four columns of infantry. He looked at the welcoming crowds on both sides of the street, and saw that there were women, old people, and children, and there was hardly a single male young man, who must have been killed by the Germans, or fought guerrilla warfare elsewhere, and some even died heroically shortly after the outbreak of war.

When the car was facing the front situation, Rokossovsky suddenly saw a group of people standing next to a turn in front of him, and standing in the front was an elderly man, who seemed to be waiting for an important person to appear.

Rokossovsky hurriedly ordered the driver to stop, and as soon as the car came to a stop, he strode towards the old man. When the old man saw a general walking towards him, he hurriedly greeted him and bowed to the other party: "Hello, comrade general! ”

"Hello, old man!" Rokossovsky shook each other's hands and said with emotion: "You have suffered! ”

"Not bitter, not bitter!" The old man shook his head and said, "As long as you can drive the Germans away, we will soon be able to live a good life." After saying that, he turned around and took a huge round bread from the hand of a young girl standing behind him, and a small dish of salt was placed on the bread, and after the old man respectfully handed the bread and salt to Rokossovsky, he asked carefully, "Comrade General, will the Germans come back?" ”

"There will be no return," Rokossovsky replied confidently, hearing the old man's question: "they will never come back, and we will soon go to attack Minsk and completely drive them out of our country." ”

"It's wonderful, it's wonderful!" With tears in his eyes, the old man said, "After three years, the day we have been waiting for is finally coming. As long as the Germans are driven out of our land, we will be able to live happily ever after. ”

"Don't worry, old man." Rokossovsky said with a smile: "The day is not far from when we will completely defeat the fascist invaders." ”