Just as Batov's troops were making final preparations for the attack, the landing ground of the 50th Army was attacked by the Germans. The target of the German attack was a bridge over the Sozh River, and they attempted to cut off the connection between the two banks of the Sozh River by occupying the bridge. They dispatched a battalion of infantry, and under the cover of five tanks, rushed violently towards the river, trying to break through the Soviet positions in one fell swoop.

The troops holding the bridge were an artillery company and an infantry battalion under the 50th Infantry Division of the 413th Army. After a long period of fighting, the formation of these two small units was incomplete: the artillery company had only three cannons and twenty commanders and fighters; The infantry battalion numbered a little more, and it was only one hundred and thirty people.

In the face of the rushing Germans, the infantry battalion commander rushed out of the command post with a submachine gun after calling the division commander for help, and stayed in the trench to personally direct the soldiers to block the attack.

The commander of the artillery company, seeing the German tanks rushing out of the forest, stopped from time to time to fire two shots at the defensive positions of the infantry, and hurriedly shouted hoarsely: "Listen to my command, put on armor-piercing shells, aim at the German tanks and fire!" ”

With the order given, all three guns concentrated their fire on the German tanks that were on the move. After two volleys, a tank that rushed to the front, was hit directly by a shell, stopped in place and burst into flames.

The battalion commander, who was directing the battle in the trenches, could not help but applaud when he saw that a German tank had been hit. He shouted to the fighters beside him, "Brothers, aim at the infantry and fire at them, isolating them from the tanks. As long as their tank does not have the cover of infantry, our anti-tank men can easily destroy it. ”

Although the Soviet artillery was firing desperately, the German tanks advanced very quickly, and after losing one more, the remaining three rushed into the Soviet defensive positions. By this time, the artillery company had run out of shells, and the soldiers had to take up small arms and fight the German tanks. German tanks spun around the trenches at full speed, trying to crush the fighters hiding inside. One artillery piece, under the tracks of a German tank, turned into a pile of scrap metal.

The anti-tank fighters, who had been on standby, saw the German tanks rushing up, rushed out of their hiding places, held anti-tank grenades alof, and prepared to bomb the German tanks. The German tankers had long been put on the side of the Soviets, and they fired wildly with machine guns, knocking down the anti-tank fighters who showed up one by one.

The battalion commander saw his fighters fall under the enemy's guns one after another, and he couldn't help but blood welling up on his head, he bent down and grabbed an anti-tank grenade in the trench, and prepared to rush up to blow up the tank himself. But he was pulled, and when he turned his head, it turned out to be a company commander under him, and the captain had half of his face wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage, and it seemed that the injury was not light. He yelled at the company commander, "What are you pulling me to do, let me go." ”

The company commander shook his head and said, "Major, you are the commander of a battalion, and you have no right to take risks. After saying that, he snatched the anti-tank grenade from the battalion commander's hand, climbed out of the trench with his hands and feet, and rushed towards the tank dozens of meters away.

The company commander had barely gone far when a scream was heard in the air, and then a tank shell landed next to him and exploded. When the smoke cleared, the battalion commander saw that his subordinates had fallen on their backs. Seeing this, he was so angry that he slammed the mound of dirt in front of him with his hand, and hurriedly ordered a soldier next to him: "You go and blow up that tank." ”

Without waiting for the fighters to climb out of the trench, the company commander, who had been lying motionless on the ground, suddenly moved his body, then turned over, and took advantage of the cover of craters and other obstacles to run towards the enemy's tank step by step.

The enemy tanks did not notice the soldier who was crawling towards them, and stopped at a distance and bombarded the area where the Soviet fire was most intense, shelling the area with tank guns, and strafing the Soviet soldiers who were exposed in front of them with machine guns.

The company commander climbed to a place only a dozen meters away from the tank and stopped, stood up with the help of an anti-tank tripod next to him, raised his hand vigorously, and threw out the anti-tank grenade he was holding in his hand. After a loud bang, the German tank turned into a fireball, and the company commander was also swept away by the blast of air, fell heavily to the ground, and could no longer move, and a wisp of blood flowed down the corner of his mouth.

The scene where the company commander blew up the tank and fell was seen by the battalion commander, and he hurriedly gave an order to the soldiers next to him: "Hurry up and carry your company commander back!" Hearing his order, several fighters immediately quickly ran out of the trench and, bent over, quickly ran to the place where the company commander fell.

As soon as the fighters left the trenches, they were spotted by two other surviving German tanks, and the machine-gun bullets swept at them, splashing the ground more than two feet high, and one unlucky soldier immediately fell to the ground with a pop of more than a dozen bullets. However, fortunately, several other fighters were able to risk their lives and drag the body of the company commander back to the trench.

The battalion commander saw the company commander lying in the trench, took off the steel helmet on his head, paid a minute of silence to him, then put the steel helmet back on, and instructed the soldiers: "Brothers, we must hold our position, behind us is the bridge of the Sori River, once this place is occupied by the enemy, the connection between the troops on both sides of our banks will be cut off......

As soon as he finished shouting, the communications soldier hurriedly came to his side and shouted at him: "Comrade battalion commander, the division commander asked you to answer the phone. ”

"Comrade Major," the battalion commander had just returned to the command post and picked up the phone, when he heard the impatient voice of the division commander: "How is the situation there with you, has the enemy broken through your positions?" ”

"Report to Comrade Division Commander," the battalion commander hurriedly replied: "At the moment on our positions there are only two German tanks, and their units are blocked by us and do not enter our positions at all. ”

"Comrade Major, I remind you of one thing." The division commander said anxiously: "Behind you is the bridge of the Sozh River, once the Germans occupy it, then our several divisions on the right bank of the Sori River will be isolated and helpless." Do you understand? ”

"Understood, comrade division commander, I understand perfectly." The battalion commander said in a hoarse voice: "Due to the lack of artillery shells, we can only rely on infantry to fight tanks, and I ask for reinforcements......"

"Reinforcements," the division commander muttered when he heard the battalion commander say this, "Where am I going to find reinforcements for you now, we don't have enough troops." But considering the importance of the bridge, he finally made up his mind and said to the battalion commander, "Major, tell your fighters to hold on, and I will immediately call the 196th Tank Brigade and ask them to send a tank company to support you." ”

When the battalion commander put down the phone, he whispered: "I don't know if we can hold out until the tanks arrive!" He admonished the communications officer, and then returned to the trench with his submachine gun.

At this moment, the situation on the battlefield changed again, and the two tanks that had been tossing and turning in the Soviet position for a long time saw that their infantry was intercepted by Soviet fire, and they could not get closer to themselves for a long time, and they were afraid that they would be attacked by Soviet anti-tank fighters, so they hurriedly turned around and fled back.

The battalion commander came to the artillery position, found the company commander and asked: "Comrade lieutenant, do you still have shells?" ”

The artillery lieutenant first nodded, and then shook his head: "We still have a dozen high-explosive shells left, which can be used against the German infantry." But there is not a single armor-piercing shell, and even if you want to hit the enemy's tank, you can't hit it. ”

The battalion commander put his hand on his shoulder and patted him lightly twice: "Comrade lieutenant, hold on a little longer, and the superiors will soon send us tanks." He turned his head to look at the bridge behind him and continued, "No matter what the cost we pay, we must resolutely hold our positions and never allow the enemy to occupy this bridge." ”

"Comrade Lieutenant, are you a member of the regiment?" The battalion commander looked at the company commander and couldn't help but ask curiously: "Do you still have members in the company?" ”

The artillery lieutenant turned his head to look at the surviving comrades, raised his hand and saluted the battalion commander, and then replied loudly: "Report to Comrade Major, all of us present are regimental members." The instructor was a member of the party, but he had withdrawn from the battle because he was seriously wounded. But rest assured, we'd rather die in our entirety than take a step back. The Germans will only be able to occupy the bridge behind us if they step on our corpses. ”