"How much the 1st Tank Battalion has already lost, I suggest that the 2nd Tank Battalion try it." After Polisius expressed his opinion, he couldn't help but glance at the Soviet soldiers who were hiding behind nearby buildings or sandbag fortifications, and said with some hesitation: "But the number of infantry cooperating with the tank attack is too small, I wonder if the friendly forces can help us?" ”

"Don't worry, Colonel Polisius." Lieutenant Colonel Alitai, who served as the liaison officer, heard Polisius say this, and hurriedly responded: "I am responsible for helping you find the infantry that cooperates with tank operations." ”

After Alitai finished speaking, he turned his head to look at the staff officer and asked: "Comrade staff officer, this is the defense area of your division, I wonder if you can send a unit to assist the comrades of the Polish tank brigade to launch an attack on the enemy?" ”

"No problem, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." In response to Alitai's request, the staff officer replied very cheerfully: "I will immediately help you contact the participating troops." ”

Soon after the staff officer left, he came over with a lieutenant and introduced Alitai: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, this is the commander of the 2nd Battalion, Captain Starley, whose unit will assist the Polish tank brigade in the battle. ”

After looking Starley up and down, Alitai asked tentatively: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, is your unit familiar with the situation here?" ”

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Starley, although he did not know what Alitai's identity was, saw that the staff officer of the division headquarters was very polite to him, and guessed that it might have been sent from above, so he replied respectfully: "Our battalion is the first to arrive here in Nagato. The reason for the delay in progress was that our battalion did not have heavy weapons, so it was temporarily unable to break through the enemy's defenses. ”

Knowing that the battalion had been in this place for an endless time, Alitai felt somewhat relieved, so he said to Mei Rican: "Comrade General, the next step will be Captain Starley's troops, in cooperation with your second tank battalion, to continue to advance towards Long Square. ”

Ten minutes later, an attacking force, consisting of Polish tanks and Soviet infantry, advanced along the street in the direction of Long Square. They used two tanks in groups of two squads of infantry, and their task was to eliminate the German anti-tank crews and clear the roads of obstacles. The distance between each group of tanks is 100 meters, which can both avoid crowding together and become a target for the enemy, and also provide timely fire support when the tanks in front of them are attacked.

The Germans found that the attacking troops had adjusted their tactics and did not act rashly. The Soviet-Polish forces, after bypassing several burning tanks, were blocked by a bunch of anti-tank barricades. Without waiting for the tankers to come out to say hello, the Soviet soldiers bent over and trotted over, and in pairs, carried the half-human-high tripods to the side of the road in turn, preparing to open a passage for the tanks.

Seeing the Soviet commanders and fighters moving away the obstacles on the road, the German commander was worried that the Polish tanks would take the opportunity to rush up, and hurriedly sent a signal to let the fire points hiding in the buildings on both sides of the street open fire. As soon as the guns rang out, several fighters who were moving obstacles fell down, and the remaining fighters hurriedly lay down on the spot and fired back at the enemy's exposed fire points.

Unfortunately, the Polish tankmen were not as well-trained as the Soviet tankers, and they hesitated for a long time to open fire when they saw the exposed fire points on both sides of the street. High-explosive shells flew in through the window and exploded in the room, but the enemy usually moved to another room after a shuttle, and the shell hit only an empty room. The German soldiers soon poked their heads out of other windows and fired at the Soviet soldiers in the street.

Since the Polish tank guns could not effectively suppress the German firepower, the soldiers who left the tank cover to move the obstacles fell in a pool of blood in just a few minutes. Seeing that the infantry covering the tanks was killed, the Germans repeated the same trick and sent anti-tank men to try to destroy the Polish tanks.

Fortunately, the infantry of the second group spotted the anti-tank men coming out of the building and immediately rushed forward to strafe and drop bombs, killing them all on the side of the road, so that the Polish tanks were not blown up. Seeing that the infantry had rushed up, the second group of tanks also accelerated and joined forces with the first group of tanks, and together destroyed the fire points on both sides of the street with artillery fire.

Alitai, who was observing from the rear, found that the coordination of Polish tanks and Soviet infantry did not seem to be so harmonious, and the battle had been carried out so far, with a lot of casualties, but it was not able to effectively break through the enemy's position. He hurriedly found a walkie-talkie and reported the situation here to Batov.

After listening to Alitai's report, Batov asked rhetorically: "Why, the tanks involved in the street battles are all from the Polish army, what about our tank brigades, where are they located?" ”

"I don't know, Comrade Commander." Alitai hurriedly replied: "After I arrived here, I found that only the infantry was fighting, and I did not see the shadow of our tanks at all. ”

"Hell, what the hell is going on." Confused, Batov said: "We have several tank brigades, all of which took part in the battle to seize positions on the outskirts of the city, how can you say that if you don't have it, it's gone?" ”

"Comrade Commander," the chief of staff hurriedly leaned into Batov's ear and whispered, "Comrade Commander, did the marshal not give an order that heavy artillery should not be used in the city of Danzig. At that time, some commanders proposed that the use of tanks could also cause great damage to the city, so all the tanks of our army stayed in place and did not participate in the street battles in the city. ”

"Nonsense, this is nonsense." When Batov learned that the tanks that were supposed to be on the task of street fighting were actually staying outside the city, he immediately became angry: "If there is no cover from tanks, what will our commanders and fighters pay in the city?" ”

"However, Comrade Marshal said that heavy artillery is not allowed to be used in the city in order to ensure the integrity of the city." The chief of staff explained to Batov: "If we use tank units without authorization, Comrade Marshal will blame it, and then it will be difficult to give an account." ”

"If Comrade Marshal wants to blame, I will bear all the responsibility." Batov said to the chief of staff with a big grin: "Now, you immediately give orders to the tank brigades that are staying outside the city, let them enter the city as soon as possible and assist the infantry in capturing the city." ”

Without the assistance of the tank brigade and relying only on the infantry to attack, the battle was quite humiliating. Seeing that Batov was willing to take the initiative to take responsibility, the chief of staff hurriedly agreed, turned around and called the tank brigade. After Batov waited for the chief of staff to walk away, he said into the microphone: "Lieutenant Colonel Alitai, you will stay in your current position, and when the tank brigade outside the city enters the city, you will be responsible for guiding them in the direction of the attack." ”