The Germans attacking the settlement of Studjiangji were the elite 19th Panzer Division. In order to quickly take the settlement, they dispatched a battalion of the 27th Panzer Regiment with Leopard tanks and launched a fierce attack on the settlement.

Sticking to the settlement was a battalion of the Soviet army, and the battalion commander used the buildings in the settlement to build a complete defense system, which, according to his idea, could support even a German onslaught for several days.

Unexpectedly, the German armored battalion stopped at a distance of five hundred meters from the settlement, aimed at the buildings that might have hidden the heavy Soviet troops, and carried out artillery shelling. After a round of fire from more than 20 Leopard tanks, more than a dozen buildings on the outskirts of the settlement collapsed, and the commanders and fighters in the buildings were buried in the rubble.

Before the smoke cleared, the three battalions of the 117th Panzergrenadier Regiment, which followed behind, rushed into the settlements in droves. In the face of the tide of German troops, although there were still surviving commanders and fighters in the ruins, there was sporadic resistance, but it could not slow down the speed of their attack in the slightest.

The outskirts of the settlement were lost in just a few dozen minutes. The German officers and soldiers who rushed into the residential area and the Soviet commanders and fighters fought for each floor and floor by floor. Fortunately, the German tanks were afraid of accidentally injuring their own people, so they did not shell the buildings in the residential areas again, so that the commanders and fighters who were sticking here could continue to fight with the enemy based on the buildings.

However, the situation in the settlements was not optimistic, so the battalion commander called the division headquarters for help. Shugaev was not at the command, he took people to Khodkuv to counterattack the Germans. The chief of staff of the division who answered the phone had no troops to send, so he could only say to the battalion commander: "Comrade Major, I order you to be sure to hold the settlement of Studjiangji, and you are not allowed to retreat a single step, and we will send troops to reinforce you as soon as possible." ”

After Shugaev received the news from the chief of staff of the division that the situation in the Studjanji settlement was critical, he was also helpless and had no choice but to ask Chuikov for help. Fortunately, Pankov's 88th Guards Division also reached the west bank of the Vistula, so Chuikov ordered this unit to rush to the settlement of Studjiangki and repel the German troops there.

By the time the troops of the 88th Guards Division arrived at the settlement of Studjanki, the Germans had already occupied three-quarters of the settlement. The Soviets immediately launched an attack from the flank of the German troops, forcing the already dominant German troops to temporarily withdraw from the settlements.

However, before the Soviet troops had time to catch their breath after a long journey, the German tanks that had stopped a few hundred meters away opened fire again, and the settlements were suddenly enveloped in gunsmoke. Seeing the fierce artillery fire of the German army, the battalion commander of the Soviet army hurriedly called the division headquarters again and said in a crying voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the German tank artillery fire is too fierce, which has caused our army to suffer huge losses, can you send us tank troops to support?" ”

"Tank troops?" The chief of staff of the division said angrily: "Our army has just erected a pontoon bridge on the Vistula River, but it was bombed by German planes, and heavy weapons can't cross the river, where can I find a tank for you?" ”

At this moment, Shugaev hurriedly walked in from outside, saw the chief of staff on the phone, and hurriedly asked: "Chief of staff, who are you calling?" ”

"It's the battalion commander who is holding the settlement of Studjiangji." The chief of staff of the division hurriedly replied: "He said that the German army attacking the residential area had more than 20 Leopard tanks, which were parked 500 meters away and bombarded the residential area, and our commanders and fighters did not even have the strength to fight back. So he asked us to send tanks to support us so that we could hold the settlement. ”

"Without tanks, you can't hold the settlement?" Shugaev snorted heavily, and said dissatisfiedly: "Besides, the troops holding the settlement of Studjiangji are not one of their battalions, and aren't there also troops of the 88th Guards Division?" ”

The chief of staff of the division hurriedly covered the microphone with his hand and said to Shugaev: "Comrade division commander, don't look at the fact that we have quite a few troops holding on to the settlements, but they lack heavy weapons and are helpless against the enemy's tanks. If the enemy launches a fierce attack, we are bound to suffer heavy casualties. ”

Shugaev sat down in his seat and said angrily: "The point is where I go now to find him a tank?" I have deployed a tank company assigned to us by my superiors in the Khodkuv settlement, so we can't transfer them to the Studjiangki settlement, right? In this way, the defense of the Khodkuv settlement, isn't it weakened? ”

"Didn't a group of tanks cross the Vistula?" The chief of staff of the division cautiously reminded Shugaev: "If you make a request to Comrade Commander, I am sure he will definitely agree." ”

"Okay!" Hearing the chief of staff say this, Shugaev nodded and said: "Our division is the main force in the defense of the Magnushev landing field, and if a request is made to the commander, he will definitely agree." After saying this, he pointed his finger at the chief of staff and ordered, "Let them give me the settlement of Studjiangji, and there must be no situation where it is occupied by the Germans when our tanks arrive." ”

The chief of staff of the division agreed loudly, then let go of the hand covering the microphone and said into the microphone: "Comrade Major, the division commander will immediately contact his superiors and ask for support from the tank troops. The division commander said, you must hold your positions no matter what, and you must not give up the settlements to the Germans, understand? ”

Knowing that his superiors were ready to send tank units to him, the battalion commander immediately said happily: "Don't worry, Comrade Chief of Staff, I assure you that as long as there is one person left in our battalion, we will never let the enemy occupy the residential areas." ”

Having received a call from Shugaev, Chuikov immediately asked his own chief of staff, Belyawsky: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how many tanks have we crossed the Vistula?" ”

Belyawsky thought for a moment and replied: "More than forty tanks and twenty artillery pieces of various calibers, all crossed the Vistula. Do you want to equip all this technical equipment with the 47th Guards Division? ”

Chuikov thought for a moment, shook his head and said: "No, we don't know when we will be able to re-erect pontoon bridges over the Vistula, so we can't hand over tanks and artillery to the 47th Guards Division." I think I'll give them a portion first. After saying that, he said into the microphone, "Colonel Shugaev, I will immediately transfer ten tanks and five artillery pieces to you, and you immediately transfer these heavy equipment to the Studjanki settlement, and hold there no matter what, understand?" ”

"Understood!" Shugaev immediately replied loudly.

Ten tanks from two tank companies immediately went to Studjiangki to support the Soviet troops who were holding there. As soon as they came to the vicinity of the settlement, they were intercepted by German tanks. The first battalion of the 27th Panzer Regiment of the German army had more than 60 Leopard tanks, and originally only more than 20 were dispatched to cooperate with the infantry to attack the fortification. However, with the arrival of Soviet reinforcements, the German plan to seize the settlements was frustrated. In order to prevent more Soviet troops from arriving, the German battalion commander transferred the remaining 40 tanks and deployed them in the north and south directions of the settlement to prevent possible Soviet reinforcements.

As soon as the tanks in the south were deployed, ten Soviet tanks arrived. The Germans lined up their tanks on the road, and when the distance between the two sides was still 1,500 meters, they preemptively opened fire on the Soviet tanks.

The shell landed in the Soviet tank platoon and exploded, setting off columns of mud that soared into the sky. The commander of the Soviet tank company who rushed to the front saw clearly that it was the German Leopard tank that was blocking the way, and he couldn't help but chuckle in his heart, saying that the German tank could effectively penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 tank at a distance of 1,500 meters, while his own tank needed to enter at least 500 meters to effectively penetrate the armor of this tank. Therefore, he could only order his subordinates: "Advance quickly, rush in front of the German tanks and engage them in close combat." ”

Although the Soviet tank crews wanted to rush to the front and fight the German tanks, the Germans did not give them this opportunity. The first round of firing failed, and the Germans fired a second salvo, this time due to the closer proximity of the two sides, resulting in two Soviet tanks being hit directly. The tank that was hit by the bullet exploded in an earth-shattering explosion, and the turret was thrown into the air by the detonated ammunition and fell down again.

The remaining eight tanks, on the way to the charge, were destroyed by German artillery fire one after another. Before his death, the commander of the tank company shouted to the tank brigade commander by radio: "Comrade brigade commander, we have been intercepted by more than 20 Leopard tanks, we have suffered heavy losses, heavy losses, and request ......for support." Before he finished shouting, the tank was directly hit by several German tanks, and the body was enveloped in flames in an instant.

In a tank encounter between the Soviet and German sides, ten T-34s burned on the road, while the Germans only had one tank slightly wounded. When Shugaev heard about such a disparity in exchange ratio, his jaw almost fell to the ground. It took a long time for him to recover from the shock, he dialed the headquarters of the group army, and said in shame: "Comrade commander, our tank unit has been completely annihilated. ”

"What, the tank corps is wiped out?" Hearing that his tank unit was wiped out by the Germans so quickly, Chuikov couldn't help but be shocked, and hurriedly asked: "What the hell is going on?" ”

"The German panzer battalion has a large number of Leopard tanks," Shugaev said with a sad face, "and our tanks are hardly able to fight against them." Comrade Commander, could you please ask the Marshal to send the Air Force to provide us with air support. ”

"The support of the Air Force cannot be counted on in the short term." Chuikov said somewhat helplessly: "Due to the lack of fuel and ammunition, most of our fighters cannot rise into the air for combat. The only fighters that do not have air supremacy on the battlefield. ”

"So what are we going to do?" When Shugaev heard Chuikov say this, he was dumbfounded, "Without the support of tank troops, we simply cannot hold the settlement." ”

"Didn't you have an artillery battery in addition," Chuikov said into the microphone, "you have to find a way to use these artillery pieces to repel the German attack." ”

…………

Although the German tank units succeeded in annihilating the Soviet tanks that came to their aid, they did not realize that the Soviet artillery had entered the settlement from the east.

The Germans thought that they had annihilated the Soviet tank forces, and it would be difficult for the Soviet troops, lacking heavy weapons, to hold the settlements. Therefore, when a new offensive was launched, twenty Leopard tanks from the south were the first to rush into the settlement, ready to cooperate with the infantry attacking from the other side to seize the settlement of Studjiangki.

But they did not notice that at the southern entrance, the Soviets had just set up an anti-tank position, in which an anti-tank gun was hidden. When the German tanks lined up and drove past the road a hundred meters away, the commander of the anti-tank artillery, Sergeant Zarov, decisively gave the order to fire.

With a loud bang, the Leopard tank that rushed to the front burst into flames. When the roof of the turret was opened, two tank crews covered in fire crawled out, running around with their hands dancing around, rolling on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies, but soon lay on the ground and did not move.

Seeing that the tanks that were opening the way in front were destroyed, the tanks following behind hurriedly stopped, slowly turned their guns, and prepared to destroy the anti-tank fire points of the Soviet army. While the German tanks were looking for anti-tank gun positions, the gunner, Corporal Caspar, decisively fired two more shots in succession, and successfully destroyed a German tank.

Seeing the destruction of two German tanks in a row, the Soviet artillery hurriedly dragged the anti-tank guns to transfer their positions, so as not to be retaliated by the German tanks. Fortunately, the smoke from the ruins obscured the view of the Germans, allowing Sergeant Zarov's anti-tank gun group to successfully move to a new position and again open fire on the enemy's tanks. The effort was not great, and the third German Leopard tank also stopped in place and burned.

The Soviet commanders and fighters who were holding on to the buildings saw that the anti-tank artillery had destroyed three German tanks in a row, and the commanders and fighters in the buildings closest to the tanks rushed out with anti-tank grenades and cluster grenades and successfully blew up two of them.

Over the next half hour, Sergeant Zarov's artillery group fired one after another, successfully destroying five German tanks; And the infantry commanders and fighters were not to be outdone, blowing up four tanks in front and behind.

The German tank men panicked when they saw that the tanks were constantly being destroyed by the Soviet troops, and hurriedly asked the infantry for help by radio, hoping that the infantry could help them, and the commanders and fighters who rushed out of the building after eliminating the Soviet tank gun positions.

Not long after, with the arrival of the German infantry, the Leopard tanks continued to drive into the settlement, trying to completely drive the Soviet commanders and fighters out of the area. The commanders and fighters who were stuck in the building did not panic in the slightest, they let go of the tanks in front of them, and fired at the German infantry behind with machine guns and submachine guns, knocking them down in pieces. When the Germans behind the tanks were almost cleared, the Soviet soldiers rushed out with anti-tank grenades to blow up the tanks that had no infantry cover.