Before the Soviets entered Danzig, Rokossovsky had ordered his troops not to use heavy artillery in the city in order to ensure that the historic city of Danzig was preserved intact.

Rokossovsky's intentions were good, but some of the commanders below misinterpreted his order. From the moment they entered the city of Danzig, they forbade their men to use any heavy weapons other than heavy machine guns and small-caliber mortars, lest they destroy the integrity of the city.

The wrong order cost the Soviet commanders and fighters who were besieging the city dearly. Facing the German fire points in the buildings on both sides of the street, they had a feeling of powerlessness, and wanted to suppress the fire with heavy machine guns, but the machine guns swung towards the center of the street, which was the target of the enemy's shooting; And mortars are curved guns, which are simply not able to destroy enemy fire points.

In order to break through the German defenses, the Soviet commanders and fighters could only rush forward along the streets with their weapons in hand, only to face the dense fire network of the German army, and they fell into the streets in pieces like cut wheat. In this way, the Soviet army launched several attacks in the Nagato area, but because they could not break through the German fire blockade, they had to withdraw in disgrace.

Just when the commanders and fighters were anxious, they suddenly heard the roar of the tank engine and the rapid rotation of the tracks behind them. A Soviet battalion commander turned his head to look behind him and saw a dozen T-34 tanks coming down the street towards his location, and he couldn't help but have a surprised expression on his face.

After the tank driving in front of the front stopped in front of the Soviet battalion commander, a tank crew leaned out of the turret and asked loudly: "Hey, comrade captain, who of you is in charge here?" ”

"It's me." After the captain and battalion commander agreed, he asked rhetorically: "Which part of you are from?" ”

"We are from the Polish tank brigade." The loud tank soldier said to the captain: "We are going to Long Square, can you show us the way?" ”

Knowing that it was a comrade from the Polish tank brigade who came, the Soviet captain immediately said enthusiastically: "Hello, Polish comrades, I have come to look forward to you." Wait a minute, and I'll send someone to guide you at once. As saying, he turned around and called a corporal and instructed him: "Comrade corporal, you go and act as a guide for the comrades of the Polish tank brigade and lead them to the long square." ”

The corporal, who was named, said yes, and without waiting for the Polish tankmen to speak, he climbed onto the tanks parked on the side of the road with his hands and feet, and said to the tankmen who were half-leaning out: "Drive, I'll show you the way." ”

The Soviet captain standing on the side of the road was about to ask the tank crew if he needed to send infantry to assist, when he suddenly heard a rush of footsteps, and followed the sound, only to see a group of Polish infantry in brown uniforms appear at the other end of the street. He pointed with his hand in the direction where the infantry appeared, and asked the tank soldier curiously: "Comrade tank soldier, is that the infantry who is fighting with you?" ”

"That's right." The Polish tankman nodded, gave the Soviet captain an affirmative answer, and then bowed his head and shouted at the tank driver: "Keep going!" ”

The tactics adopted by the 1st battalion of Polish tanks after entering the battle: it was a tank that led a squad of infantry to rush forward along the streets. But soon, the commander of the Polish tank battalion discovered that this tried and tested tactic in seizing the enemy's position caused the troops to suffer a big loss in the street battle.

The enemy, who was hiding in the buildings on both sides of the street, saw the Polish tanks coming, and usually let the tanks pass first, and then used machine guns and submachine guns to strafe the infantry following behind, and even threw a few grenades. Tanks that have lost infantry cover are dealt with by specialized anti-tank fighters.

This defensive tactic of the German army made the Polish army miserable. In less than five minutes, half of the tanks were destroyed in the streets, and the infantry suffered nearly a hundred casualties. Polisius, who arrived later, saw this situation and immediately ordered the troops to stop their advance by radio, so that greater losses could be avoided.

Alitai, the liaison officer who came with him, said to him in a serious voice: "Comrade Colonel, have you seen it? Your tactics may be able to achieve victory in field battles, but in street battles, it is easy to suffer big losses. ”

Facts speak louder than words, not long ago, Polisius scoffed at the tactics proposed by Alitai, but at this moment, the bloody facts told him that if he still used the same set of tactics in the field to fight street battles, it is estimated that even if he exhausted the troops, he would not be able to complete the task assigned to him by his superiors.

After thinking about this truth, Polly Sius said to Alitai sincerely: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, it seems that you are right. As soon as the follow-up tank units arrive, we will attack the enemy again, using the tactics you mentioned. ”

Alitai bowed slightly, and then asked the staff officer sent by the division commander Sheyko: "Comrade staff, when the Polish tank brigade launches an attack later, can you send infantry to assist them?" You know, there were quite a few anti-tank men in ambush on both sides of the street, and their tanks would not have been able to advance without the assistance of infantry. ”

"Don't worry, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." The staff officer replied cheerfully: "If necessary, our entire division will have no problem with Polish tank brigades for combat." ”

Half an hour later, Mei Rican rushed to Nagato with the second echelon, and when he saw that the troops of the first echelon were still standing still, he asked Polisius with some displeasure: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's the matter with you, why haven't you launched an attack yet?" ”

"Comrade Brigade Commander." Seeing that Mei Rican was angry, Polisius hurriedly explained to him: "The attack we launched failed, and in just a few minutes, we lost half of our tanks and hundreds of commanders and fighters. Now a regrouping is underway, preparing for a new offensive. ”

"What, lost more than half of the tanks?" Although the 1st Tank Battalion had less than 20 tanks, it lost half of them at once, which was still very painful for Mei Rican. He frowned and asked, "Is the enemy holding on to this area so strong in defense?" ”

When Polisius arrived at Nagato, he carefully observed the German defenses on both sides of the street, and when he heard Mei Rican's question, he hurriedly replied confidently: "The enemy's strength is not much, at best only about a company. But they are very cunning, they all hide in buildings, first knock out our infantry, and then use anti-tank men to take out our tanks without infantry cover. ”

After listening to Polisius's words, Mei Rican was silent for a long time, and finally spoke: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that we should try the tactics mentioned by Lieutenant Colonel Alitai to see if we can reverse the unfavorable situation in front of us. ”