In the continuous shelling, the German fortifications were almost destroyed, and the captured citizens could only hide behind bomb craters or masonry rubble, trembling at the Soviet tanks driving towards them and the crowds of soldiers following behind.

A German corporal hiding in the crater saw that the Soviet tank was still seventy or eighty meters away from his hiding place, so he pushed the old man lying next to him and urged: "What are you still doing lying here, don't you see that the Russian tank has come up?" Hurry up and blow him up. ”

The old man held an iron fist in one hand and crawled out of the crater with his hands and feet. As soon as he stood up straight, he was discovered by the Soviet tank driver, who saw the anti-tank man emerging from the ground, and the driver pulled the trigger without hesitation. With a series of crisp gunshots, the old man, who had been shot more than a dozen times in a row, spun around in place with an iron fist and fell softly to the ground.

The German soldiers who were hiding in other places saw someone rushing out to try to blow up the Soviet tanks, and they also drove the citizens around them to blow up the Soviet tanks. But these old people and children, who had not undergone any training, were knocked down by a barrage of bullets as soon as they were exposed to Soviet tanks and infantry.

"Stop, stop!" The commander of the tank that rushed to the front, seeing that all the people in civilian clothes who fell under the muzzle of the gun were old men and children, hurriedly ordered the driver to stop, and at the same time shouted loudly: "Hell, these people we killed are all ordinary people in the city." ”

The first tank stopped, as did the infantry and other tanks that followed it. Someone asked aloud, "What's going on, why did it all stop?" ”

The tank commander hurriedly reported to Lieutenant Colonel Paul, who was commanding the battle in the back, through the radio: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, on the way we are advancing, all that appears are some old people and children in civilian clothes. As a soldier, I can't shoot at civilians. ”

"I see." Lieutenant Colonel Paul heard the commander's report and said to him: "You guys stay where you are first, and I will report the situation here to Comrade Division Commander." ”

Lieutenant Colonel Paul's report was soon reported to Fedyuninsky, layer by layer. Seeing this report, Fedyuninsky was so angry that he slapped the table hard and said viciously: "Damn *** elements, they actually sent unarmed civilians to try to stop the advance of our army." ”

"Comrade Commander, what should we do?" After the chief of staff waited for Fedyuninsky to finish speaking, he hurriedly asked: "If the Germans continue to block our troops with civilians, what should we do?" ”

Fedyuninsky thought for a moment, then handed the telegram to the chief of staff, instructing: "Immediately report this matter to the command of the front and listen to what Comrade Marshal has to say." ”

As soon as the Front Command received the telegram from Fedyuninsky, there was a great deal of emotion, and many commanders condemned this bad behavior of the German troops. Bogolyubov, who gritted his teeth, came to Rokossovsky with a telegram and asked: "Comrade Marshal, what should we do next?" ”

"What else can I do?" Rokossovsky knew that in the next battle, the Germans would arm the civilians and let them fight with the Soviets more and more, so he said coldly: "Chief of staff, immediately convey my order: all non-ours personnel with weapons are our enemies, and they must be wiped out cleanly and completely." ”

After saying this, Rokossovsky saw that Bogolyubov was still standing in a daze, so he waved his hand at him and said: "Chief of staff, what are you still doing there, why don't you hurry up and convey my order." Only by ending the war as soon as possible can the German people be freed from the catastrophe. ”

With the order given, the attacking troops, which had been stagnant, launched another attack on the city. Although during the offensive, many civilians with anti-tank weapons were driven out of hiding places by German soldiers and tried to blow up Soviet tanks advancing along the streets. But this time, whether it was the tank crew or the infantry following behind, they would not be merciful to these people, as soon as the opponent appeared in their field of vision, they immediately opened fire.

Little by little, the attacking forces advanced towards the city center, and the resistance became more and more stubborn. On the edge of the city, the defenders fighting the Soviets were nothing more than a few defeated soldiers and a large number of civilians. But the closer you get to the city centre, the more elite the defenders in this area become, with a significant number of SS troops in addition to the formed Wehrmacht.

The SS soldiers were more tenacious than the Wehrmacht in battle, and they knew very well that the SS captured by the Soviets usually had the fate of being shot, and the reason why they fought stubbornly was to a large extent to save their lives.

But in the face of the flood of Soviet troops, their resistance was nothing more than a final dying struggle. In particular, after hard fighting, Gusev's troops succeeded in filling in a number of passages for tanks in the continuous anti-tank trenches south of the city. The 48th Army, supported by tank units, easily broke through the German defenses south of the city and launched a fierce attack on the city center.

The German army was a little stretched in terms of troop deployment just to resist the attack in the west of the city, otherwise the commander of the city defense, Colonel Schepfeld, would not have ordered so many civilians to be used as cannon fodder to resist the Soviet attack. Now that the west and south were under attack at the same time, he had to order the line to be tightened in order to continue holding on.

When the Soviet troops approached the city center from the south and west of the city, only five or six hundred meters away from the garrison headquarters of Shepfeld, the 7th Tank Army, which had stayed in the east of the city and had not taken any action, also launched a surprise onslaught, and in a very short time, broke through the defenses in the east of the city, echoing the friendly forces close to the city center.

After receiving the battle report from the city, Fedyuninsky immediately instructed his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, now that our army has made good progress in the east, south, and west, can the troops deployed in the north move?" ”

"Comrade Commander," said the chief of staff with some hesitation in response to Fedyuninsky's order, "but we now have only one regiment in the north of the city, but they do not have such heavy weapons as tanks and artillery, is it appropriate for them to attack?" ”

"Nothing out of place, Comrade Chief of Staff." Pointing to the map, Fedyuninsky said: "The resistance of the German army has become weaker and weaker, and it is almost impossible to hold it." This regiment in the north, when it was thrown into battle at such a time, could be the last straw that broke the camel's back. ”

As soon as the fund was over, the chief of staff immediately came to his senses, and quickly nodded and said: "Understood, comrade commander, I immediately understood that the infantry regiment in the north was put into battle in order to speed up the course of the battle. ”