Ten minutes later, Rokossovsky heard Novikov's voice again from his headphones, and he excitedly reported: "Comrade commander, about three kilometers ahead, there is a dense sound of gunfire, it is estimated that our troops are exchanging fire with the Germans. ”

When Rokossovsky heard Novikov say this, his tense nerves finally relaxed, and he secretly said in his heart that it was finally not too late. Then he ordered Novikov: "Comrade division commander, immediately order the tanks to form an offensive formation and storm the flanks of the German troops. ”

"Yes!" Novikov replied loudly, and then Rokossovsky heard him give orders to his men: "Sergeant, you immediately go outside, signal all the tanks with signal flags, and let them form battle formations." ”

Hearing Novikov's order, Rokossovsky couldn't help but think in his heart: Relying on the flag language to command the tank battle, and the battlefield was covered with thick smoke covered by various artillery, where could the tank soldiers clearly see what kind of message was being transmitted. The tank has very high mobility, very fast combat speed, large range of movement, and the distance between the front and rear of the troops is also very long. It seems that if conditions permit, each tank should still be equipped with a radio station, so that the entire tank unit can be organically coordinated and the combat efficiency of the unit can be multiplied.

Just as he was thinking about how to effectively improve the combat efficiency of the tank troops, he suddenly heard a burst of angry scolding from Novikov in his headphones: "Damn, damn it, these Germans who deserve to go to hell." ”

"What's going on?" Rokossovsky knew that Novikov was a mature and steady commander, and suddenly began to curse people like this, there must be some reason, and hurriedly asked: "Comrade division commander, what happened to you?" ”

Soon Novikov's voice gritted his teeth came from the headset: "Comrade commander, the Germans are attacking a high ground defended by our army. Perhaps not so long ago, our cavalry had just fought a battle with the Germans here, and because they could not withstand the German tanks and armored vehicles, they were all wiped out. And at this moment, the German tanks, which were covering the infantry to attack the high ground, were crushing over the corpses of our dead cavalry soldiers and horses......"

Rokossovsky from Novikov's description, as if he had seen with his own eyes the German tank tracks, recklessly running over the corpses of soldiers and horses lying on the ground, thinking of this, he could not help but be angry, so he gritted his teeth and ordered Novikov: "Comrade division commander, order our tanks to be ready for battle, as soon as they enter the firing range, they will open fire decisively, and we must completely and cleanly destroy all these fascist bandits." ”

"Understand, I'm not going to let any of these damn robbers escape." Novikov then gave an order to his signalmen, "to prepare all tanks for battle and to open fire decisively as soon as they are in range." Shelling at a distance, machine-gun fire at a distance, and a single German must not slip through the net. ”

At this moment, on the hillside, because the machine-gun fire points were destroyed one after another under the blow of German tank fire, the German infantry quickly approached the Soviet position with their skillful tactical movements, and the first line of trench fire also became sparse under the repeated blows of the German army. Perhaps in a minute or two the Germans would be able to take the trench and, after a short rest, continue to pounce on the position at the top of the slope.

Just when the Soviet defense line was in danger, a dazzling fire suddenly rose from the body of a tank that was firing at the hillside, and in an instant, the entire tank was surrounded by billowing smoke. Then a tank and two armored vehicles next to it suffered the same fate.

The commanders and fighters who were struggling to support themselves on the hillside saw that the German tanks and armored vehicles at the foot of the hill suddenly turned into flaming torches, and after being stunned for a moment, they found tanks in the distance that were rapidly approaching the battlefield.

"Reinforcements are coming, our reinforcements are coming!" I don't know who shouted first, and then the shouting became a whole in the trenches, and the originally sparse shooting became dense again. A dozen German soldiers who approached the trench, after being hit by bullets, either fell headlong or clutched their chests, and then rolled down the sloping hillside.