The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly, and the ensuing battle soon proved that the information obtained by Vinogradov was also outdated. In addition to a grenadier division, the Germans who joined the defense of Tsopott also had part of the 4th Panzer Division, most notably a tank company of only five Tigers.

Knowing that Panfilov's 3rd Guards Tank Corps was coming, Pern decisively ordered the tank battalion directly under the corps to launch an attack on the outskirts of Tsopot, together with the infantry.

Unexpectedly, when this tank battalion passed through a small uninhabited village, it was ambushed by a German tank company. After a fierce battle, 35 Soviet tanks were destroyed and 75 infantry were killed, while only one German Tiger tank was shot and slightly wounded.

When the surviving infantry watched the five German tanks march away, they hurriedly reported the situation here to the division through the radio. The division commander was shocked to learn that the tank battalion had been completely wiped out by the Germans, and hurriedly called Pern and told him the bad news.

When Pern heard the news, he was also stunned, and he sent a tank battalion and two infantry companies, but all the tanks were destroyed by the Germans, and dozens of infantry were killed and wounded. In order to prevent the 3rd Guards Tank Army, which was about to arrive, was also subject to the same order, he hurriedly reported the situation to Fedyuninsky.

"Hell it, it's hell." After listening to Pern's report, Fedyuninsky said with some annoyance: "General Pern, how did you do it, the enemy annihilated one of your tank battalions with an infantry company with just five tanks?" ”

The reproached Pern blushed with shame, and he muttered: "Comrade commander, our troops are rushing to the area of engagement, and who knew that when passing through uninhabited villages, they would be attacked by the enemy suddenly, and the result would be so bad......"

"That's enough, no more." Fedyuninsky didn't wait for the other party to finish speaking, and then interrupted him viciously: "Do you know how big a blow to the morale of our army will be in this matter?" You immediately write a detailed report and send it to me. As for what to do with you, I'll talk about it after I read the telegram. ”

After Fedyuninsky put down the phone, the chief of staff on the side hurriedly came over and whispered: "Comrade commander, this is very strange, the Germans only have five tanks, and they actually beat them to almost all annihilation without any casualties, you see, will there be any problems in it?" ”

"Questions?" When Fedyuninsky heard his chief of staff say this, an expression of surprise appeared on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what problems will they have?" ”

The chief of staff said tentatively: "Do you think it is possible that among them, someone colluded with the Germans and deliberately leaked the course of action of our army, so that the Germans could calmly ambush our army's march route?" ”

"No way, absolutely impossible." Fedyuninsky very simply rejected the chief of staff's statement: "If someone really leaked the secrets, then the Germans who ambushed our army would not have sent only five tanks, but more troops." ”

"I always felt that something was wrong." The chief of staff seemed to be biased against Pern, so he took the initiative to suggest to Fedyuninsky: "I propose to report this matter to Comrade Marshal, and it is up to him to decide what to do." ”

Fedyuninsky hesitated a little about the proposal of the chief of staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, isn't this okay?" In any case, Lieutenant General Perne's troops are the main force attacking the Tsopot area, and if our suspicions affect the morale of the troops, it will be very disadvantageous to read the battle we are going to fight next. ”

"Comrade Commander, I don't think we can take this matter lightly." Seeing Fedyuninsky's hesitation, the chief of staff reminded him: "You must know that the Estonian 8th Army has had disgraceful things in the past, and who knows that there are still people in the army today who are yearning for the Germans." ”

"Do you want to say that when our army was attacking Velikiye Luki, there was a battalion of the 300th regiment that surrendered to the enemy?" Fedyuninsky asked with a straight face: "At that time, it was reasonable to say that there were people who colluded with the Germans, after all, the situation of the war was still unclear. But now it is different, the Germans are not far from the day of final defeat, how can anyone still collude with the Germans? ”

Without waiting for an answer from his own chief of staff, Fedyuninsky picked up the phone and dialed the command of the Front. The person who answered the phone was Bogolyubov, who heard that Fedyuninsky was looking for Rokossovsky and hurriedly helped him get the phone in. Rokossovsky had just communicated with Katukov, who was commanding operations on the left flank, and was in a particularly happy mood knowing that the direction was going well, and when he learned that Fedyuninsky was looking for him, he asked with a smile: "General Fedyuningsky, you called me, is there any good news to tell me?" ”

"Comrade Marshal," Fedyuninsky replied with some embarrassment, "I'm sorry, I may have bad news for you." Then he reported to Rokossovsky that Pern's tank battalion had been ambushed by the Germans and that it had been almost completely destroyed. In conclusion, he said, "My chief of staff believes that this German ambush was completely premeditated......

What Fedyuninsky said later, Rokossovsky did not hear clearly, he just recalled in his mind that he had watched a movie, and he did not remember the name, and there was a plot in which a Tiger tank killed a dozen or so T-34s on the move. Now the Germans have killed a tank battalion of the Soviet army with five Tigers, which is perfectly normal.

Thinking of this, Rokossovsky said to Fedyuninsky: "Comrade General, don't make a fuss, maybe the enemy's tanks happened to pass by there and found our tanks that were advancing rapidly, so they took advantage of the favorable terrain and hit us in an ambush. This is the end of the matter, so don't waste any more time tracking down it, lest it affect your normal work. Do you understand? ”

"Understood, Comrade Marshal." When Fedyuninsky heard Rokossovsky say that he would not pursue the matter, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief in his heart, and hurriedly replied: "I will immediately convey your meaning to the commanders below." ”

"Comrade Fedyuninsky," Rokossovsky thought that the war would soon be over, and if his troops were still dragged by the Germans in the East Pomeranian region, then the Battle of Berlin would not be able to catch up, so he said in a little hurry: "General Panfilov's tank corps will soon enter the battlefield from the breakthrough, and I hope that you can take Tsopot as soon as possible with their cooperation." How, do you have faith? ”

"Confidence is there, Comrade Marshal." Fedyuninsky hurriedly replied: "With the cooperation of General Panfilov's tank army, I believe that the speed of our army's breakthrough through the German army will be greatly increased." ”

Rokossovsky put down the phone, sat down in his place, lit a cigarette, and quietly thought about a question in his heart: it seems that the Estonian troops are really not welcome. If other troops had encountered such a situation, the superiors would have criticized them harshly at most, and there would have been no other moves. Now, people, including Fedyuninsky, believe that there is something wrong with Pern's troops, and there are even people who secretly collude with the Germans, and it seems that it is necessary for them to go to Pern's troops with Su Bojing in the near future to ensure the stability of the military spirit.

The phone on the table rang, and he grabbed the microphone and put it to his ear, saying: "I'm Rokossovsky, where are you?" ”

"Hello, Marshal Rokossovsky." Vasilevsky's hearty laughter came from the earpiece: "I called you to ask for guilt." ”

"Xingshi asks for guilt?!" Rokossovsky heard what the other party said and asked puzzledly: "Comrade Marshal, I don't understand what you mean. Why do you want to ask me about my teacher? ”