Immediately after receiving Batov's order, General Panov gave orders to the 19th, 157th, 216th tank brigades, as well as the 14th motorized rifle brigade, to immediately turn around and rush to the west of Lechtsa.

At the forefront was the 1st battalion of the 157th Tank Brigade, and the battalion commander, who personally drove the tanks, ordered all the tanks to rush to the enemy's line at full speed. Hearing the order given by the battalion commander, the battalion instructor immediately questioned: "Comrade battalion commander, we have no infantry cover, and if we advance too quickly, we will be easily eliminated by the German anti-tank men. ”

The battalion commander waited for him to finish speaking, and said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade instructor, have you forgotten that the troops of the 1st Ukrainian Front a few days ago have successfully liberated Kyiv. And what about us, what are we doing? We have been wandering around Loyev for so long, and we have not achieved anything at all. If we don't hurry up and build up merit, this war will be over. ”

When the instructor heard the battalion commander say this, he immediately obediently shut his mouth. The news of the liberation of Kyiv by friendly forces was heard by all the commanders and fighters, and everyone was ashamed that they had stayed in the Loyev region and had nothing to do all day. Now that we finally have a chance to fight, it is natural that everyone is eager to fight, and it is not surprising that the battalion commander has done this. Thinking of this, the instructor said in a deep voice: "Okay, comrade battalion commander, since you have made a decision, then I will resolutely obey your orders. ”

Seeing that the instructor had figured it out, the battalion commander also showed a pleased smile on his face: "Comrade instructor, that's right." If we have achieved great results, the honor does not belong only to the individual, but to our glorious collective. Got it. ”

"Understood." When the instructor finished answering, he shouted at his driver: "Speed up, assault the enemy's position at full speed." ”

As the battalion commander's order was conveyed to each tank, more than two dozen tanks let out a powerful roar, shaking the water surface of the nearby swamp as well.

The battalion commander's tank rushed to the front, and he observed the road ahead with the help of lights, carefully bypassing craters and tree stumps, and rushed towards the enemy's position as fast as possible.

As his tank broke the barbed wire on the stake and quickly approached the enemy's position, he suddenly saw a German soldier in a steel helmet leaning out of the trench and preparing to mount a machine gun on the wall of the trench. The battalion commander hurriedly shouted loudly: "There is a German machine gunner in the trench, kill him." ”

As soon as his words fell, there was a rush of machine-gun fire from the side, which turned out to be a communications soldier who couldn't hold back and knocked down the German soldier with a machine gun.

The battalion commander's tank quickly crossed the trench and crushed one of the anti-tank guns behind the trench, and the German soldiers who had been standing next to the anti-tank guns immediately scattered and fled. Along with the battalion commander, five other tanks rushed through the trenches, and they also achieved certain successes, killing several rising enemies with machine guns, crushing German anti-tank guns, and destroying German civil and engineering fire points.

Just as the entire tank battalion was rushing into the German positions, the battalion commander's voice suddenly came over the radio of the battalion commander: "Hey, what the hell, where are you?" ”

"Report to the brigade commander," the battalion commander said excitedly, hearing the voice of the brigade commander, "our battalion tanks have successfully stormed the positions of the Germans and are preparing to continue to advance." ”

After hearing this, the brigade commander said dissatisfiedly: "Comrade Major, who ordered you to lead the tank troops to advance?" Don't you know that tanks, without infantry cover, can be easily destroyed by German anti-tank crews? I now order you to stop the attack immediately and return the way you came. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Brigadier." The battalion commander said helplessly: "I will order the troops to retreat." ”

In this way, this tank unit, which was attacking the German defense in depth, had to stop the offensive and reluctantly returned to the original starting point of the attack. When the battalion counted the number of people, the battalion commander found that four tanks of the tank platoon commanded by Lieutenant Palansky were missing.

He had thought that the four tanks had been destroyed by enemy anti-tank fire during the attack. But when I asked several tank commanders, they all said that they did not see any tanks hit by bullets and caught fire. One of the commanders also swore solemnly: "Comrade battalion commander, I am absolutely not mistaken, we have absolutely no tanks destroyed." You know, it's night, and if any tank catches fire, you can see it from afar. ”

When the battalion commander heard this, he took off the tank cap on his head, scratched the back of his head with his hand, and said with a puzzled face: "Hell, where did their tanks go to Palansky?" ”

Just when the battalion commander was having a headache about the unknown whereabouts of Palansky's tank platoon, the tank platoon had already scuttled through the direction of the Germans and was advancing in depth with the enemy.

When the artillery commander in Palansky's tank accidentally discovered that the large force was missing and there were only four tanks left in the advance, he couldn't help but be surprised, and hurriedly said to Palansky: "Comrade platoon commander, the large force is gone, and only our platoon's tanks are left around." ”

Palansky hurriedly stood up, pushed open the roof of the turret, leaned out half of his body and looked out, and found that as the gun commander said, there were only four tanks around, including his own tanks, and the main force of the battalion was missing.

Seeing Palansky retracted into the tank, the gun commander immediately nervously asked: "Comrade platoon commander, what should we do now?" ”

Palansky thought for a moment and said to the gun commander: "Give a signal to the rest of the tanks and tell them to stop immediately, and we will study what to do?" ”

A few minutes later, four tanks stopped beside a forest. Palansky summoned all the tankmen to himself and said to them: "Comrades, because we are advancing too fast, we have lost contact with the main forces of the battalion. You say, 'What should we do now?' ”

After the deputy platoon commander waited for Palansky to finish speaking, he immediately spoke: "Comrade platoon commander, it is too dark now, and we don't know where we are. I suggest that we rest here for the time being, and wait until dawn before deciding whether to advance or retreat. ”

Regarding the proposal of the deputy platoon commander, Palansky immediately nodded in agreement: "It seems that this is the only way." Okay, comrades, let's go back to their tanks and rest, and when it gets daybreak, we'll decide what to do. ”

…………

After daybreak, Palansky got out of the tank, stood on the hull and raised the telescope to grasp it around, and found the outline of a town due north. He hurriedly shouted into the open turret, "Show me the map." ”

Just as Palansky was squatting on the body of the tank and studying the map, the deputy platoon commander climbed out of another tank, came to Palansky's side, and asked: "Comrade platoon commander, do you know where we are now?" ”

"Here," said Palansky, pointing his hand to a location on the map, "we are less than five kilometers south of the town of Gorodok. I suggest we go to the town first. ”

"Comrade platoon commander," the deputy platoon commander cautiously reminded him, "we don't know the situation in the town, and for the sake of safety, I suggest that we withdraw it." ”

"Withdraw?" Palansky looked around, then spread out his hands and said helplessly: "Comrade Deputy Platoon Commander, we are now behind enemy lines, even if we retreat, we may encounter the enemy, it is better to go to Gorodok Town and take risks." ”

Hearing Palansky say this, the deputy platoon commander, who knew his character, knew that it was useless to say anything, so he could only nod reluctantly and said helplessly: "Okay, comrade platoon commander, since you have already made a decision, then I will obey the order." I will then alert the troops to the battle, and tell them to immediately set off for the town of Gorodok. ”