The commander of the tank company, Diachenko, did not know that the disappearance of the two tank crews had alarmed the commander of the Front, and he was still directing his tank company to continue to rush to Elbin in the west along the road of East Prussia.

Due to the occasional encounter of groups of refugees along the way, the speed of movement of the tank company was affected. So much so that it was not until about four o'clock in the afternoon that they arrived at a small town south of Elbing. Here they encountered a traffic jam that had never been seen before, and countless anti-tank trenches had been dug south of Erbin, through which only a road was not wide, and tens of thousands of refugees and countless vehicles of all kinds were blocked on this road.

Seeing that the refugee team was moving slowly forward in a unit of rulers, the deputy company commander at the front was a little anxious. He reported to Diachenko by radio: "Comrade Company Commander, the road ahead is almost blocked, are we going into the city from other directions?" ”

"No, Comrade Deputy Company Commander, we can't take a detour." Diachenko immediately rejected the proposal of the deputy company commander, and he said to the microphone: "We crowded into the city in the ranks of refugees, and even if the Germans found out, they did not dare to open fire casually for fear of accidentally injuring civilians." As soon as we are spotted by them on a detour, they immediately concentrate a large number of anti-tank weapons against us. We now have only seven tanks, and we are deep behind enemy lines, and if we are attacked, we are in danger of annihilation. Continue on the current path, and in a few hours it will be dark, when the night will cover our successful sneak into Elbin. ”

However, after the seven tanks of the tank company entered the road one by one, due to the congestion of the road, no one gave way to them this time, and they could only move forward at a slow speed like other vehicles. The tankers in the car, all of whom were in combat mode, held their weapons tightly and prepared to open fire as soon as they were discovered by the enemy.

After a long wait, the tank company finally passed through the congested road. The deputy company commander sitting in the first tank was about to ask Diachenko for instructions on where to go next, when he suddenly heard the driver exclaim: "Comrade deputy company commander, there is a track ahead, are we driving to the railway station?" ”

Hearing what the driver said, the deputy company commander hurriedly looked out of the lookout hole and saw that there were two railroad tracks on the road in front of him, but the strange thing was that he only saw the rails but not the sleepers. After a brief hesitation, the deputy company commander said loudly: "Hell, this is not a railroad track, but a tram track...... and immediately after saying this, he excitedly reported to Diachenko, "Comrade company commander, the tram track has appeared in front of us, that is, we have successfully entered the city of Elbin. ”

"Great, that's great, Comrade Deputy Company Commander." After listening to the report of the deputy company commander, Diachenko immediately ordered him: "We will move forward along the tram tracks." ”

After the tank company's tanks drove forward along the tram track for three or four hundred meters, the deputy company commander saw a tram parked at the station in front of him, and the residents on the platform were boarding the tram in an orderly manner. When he saw that among the passengers who were boarding the train, there were elderly people and women holding babies, and the deputy company commander thought to himself: We will follow this tram later, hoping that the defenders of the city will not find us, otherwise a large number of civilian casualties will be caused.

As the tank followed the tram, the deputy company commander saw a steady stream of people on the streets on either side, some hurrying to their homes, others lining up outside the shops, waiting to buy food and necessities. Seeing this scene, the deputy company commander thought to himself: How good it would be if there was no war. As soon as the guns are fired, countless people will die in the battle for the residents who are living an ordinary life on the side of the road.

The tank kept a distance of fifty meters from the tram in front, the tram stopped, and so did the tank; Trams and tanks followed. A few children sitting in the back saw the tank following the tram and pointed at the tank through the glass.

When the tram came to an intersection, a local traffic police officer spotted the tank following the tram. Seeing the tank moving on the tram tracks, he immediately frowned, because the weight of the tank could crush the tram tracks, and in order to stop this violation of traffic rules, he walked down from the guard box where he was on duty and walked towards the tank.

The deputy company commander, who was sitting in the first tank, had never seen a German policeman, saw a man in uniform coming towards him, and raised his hand to signal himself to stop, thinking that he had been discovered, and hurriedly and decisively gave the order: "Fire!" ”

With an order from the deputy company commander, the pilot decisively pulled the trigger of the heading machine gun. In the sound of "da-da-da" gunshots, a series of bullets flew towards the German traffic police, causing him to shake like an electric shock, and then after turning in a circle in place, he fell to the ground softly.

A group of patrolmen passing by nearby, when the gunfire rang out, happened to witness the traffic police being shot and falling, and also saw the tanks parked on the tram tracks. Someone in the patrol immediately recognized those tanks as T-34 tanks belonging to the Soviet army, and immediately shouted at the top of their voices: "Russians, Russians, hurry up and shoot!" ”

Although these patrolmen had not participated in much combat, their long-term training enabled them to hide behind street trees, telephone poles or cars at the first opportunity, and shoot at Soviet tanks parked in the middle of the road.

The sudden sound of gunfire startled Diachenko, who was in the middle, and he hurriedly asked the deputy company commander by radio: "What happened, why are there gunshots?" ”

"Comrade Company Commander," the deputy company commander said hurriedly over the radio, "we have been discovered by the enemy." Repeat, we were discovered by the enemy. ”

Hearing the sound of gunfire outside, Diachenko knew that it was impossible to move forward in concealment, so he decisively radioed and ordered the rest of the tanks to immediately return fire.

Pedestrians on both sides of the street were stunned when they saw the patrol and a tank unit exchanging fire, and they couldn't understand why the patrol was firing at their tanks. But soon someone was heard shouting: "The Russian tanks are coming, everyone run!" ”

Knowing that it was a Russian tank parked on the street, the citizens of Erbin immediately began to flee in all directions, some hiding in the nearest store, while others rushed into a nearby alley in a panic to avoid being accidentally injured by stray bullets.

The deputy company commander saw that all the civilians on the street had escaped, and the heart that was originally hanging was put back in his stomach, so that even if he used artillery fire, he would not accidentally injure the civilians. So he ordered the gunners to turn their guns around and open fire on the patrols that were firing. The street trees and telephone poles where the German soldiers were hiding, although they could block bullets, they could not block shells. After only two shots, a dozen soldiers of the patrol were killed and wounded.

Seeing that the enemy on the side of the street had been destroyed, Diachenko gave the order again to speed up all the tanks and drive at full speed to the north of the city, where he set up a defensive position to wait for the arrival of the main forces. When the tanks sped up and rushed forward, Diachenko also asked the operator to send a telegram to the battalion headquarters, saying that his troops had rushed into Erbin and were exchanging fire with the enemy, and asked the main force to come to support as soon as possible.

There were quite a few German patrols in the city, and when they heard the movement, they immediately rushed towards the place where the guns were fired. Several of the patrols also carried anti-tank "iron fists", but after they encountered the galloping Soviet tanks, the anti-tank fighters did not care to dodge at all, and stood on the side of the road and prepared to fire iron fists.

When the anti-tank men with "iron fists" appeared in the sight of the Soviet tank crews, they concentrated their machine-gun fire and continued to strafe. The first groups of anti-tank crews were swept away by machine guns without exception. But as the tank continued to move forward, more and more anti-tank fighters appeared on both sides of the road, and one anti-tank man was knocked down by a machine gun, and immediately the man next to him bent down and picked up the iron fist. Countless iron fists flew towards the tanks that were speeding in the middle of the road, and although most of them missed their targets, two tanks were unfortunately shot and stopped in the middle of the road.

When the tank company rushed to the northern outskirts of Elbin, the tank of the deputy company commander broke down again. In order to block the pursuers behind, he took the initiative to say to Diachenko: "Comrade company commander, my tank has broken down, I will leave cover, you can continue to advance." ”

Diachenko knew that the defenders of Erbin had been alarmed, and those who stayed behind were unlucky. But for the sake of the overall situation, he could only agree to the request of the deputy company commander, but he still told the other party by radio: "Deputy company commander, we will establish a defensive position in the front, and once the fault is solved, your car crew must catch up immediately." Do you understand? ”