Before the main force of the 6th Guards Cavalry Division arrived, the Germans thought that it was only a small Soviet army occupying the station, and as long as they attacked from both sides, they could easily recapture the station, so they were very careful during the shelling, deliberately avoiding the important buildings in the station, and several military vehicles parked on the tracks could be safe and sound.

But when their offensive failed in the blows of the 23rd and 28th Cavalry regiments, the German commander finally discovered that the Soviet troops occupying the station were not a small force, but the main force, and the intensity of the shelling intensified, making the defense of the Blicory Cavalry Division extremely difficult.

The commander of the German garrison in Aaronstein knew very well that Rokossovsky's troops were rushing to their own defenses, and if the enemy occupying the railway station was not eliminated as soon as possible, then it would become a starting point for the Soviet attack. As soon as the main forces of the Soviet army arrived, it was unknown whether the city could be defended.

To the northeast, the Germans were the 299th Infantry Division and the 18th Panzer Division, which had just been transferred from the east, and their task was to close the gap opened by the Soviets. However, the German army suffered from the different distances of each unit from the battlefield, coupled with a series of problems such as roads and transportation, so that they could not arrive at different times, and could not be put into battle at the same time, so they could only use refueling tactics to put themselves into the attack on the station.

After the German shelling, the entire building inside the station was burning, and even the fortified station hall was half destroyed by artillery fire. When Brikori came out of his headquarters, he saw that his men were killed and wounded, and he couldn't help but feel like a knife, and he hurriedly ordered the commanders and fighters of the 23rd and 28th Cavalry Regiments who remained in the station to immediately rescue the wounded and extinguish the fire; And the troops of the 25th Cavalry Regiment all entered the defensive positions outside the station to resist the imminent attack of the Germans.

In the shelling just now, almost all the fortifications outside the station were destroyed by artillery fire, and Yegor personally took the first battalion to replace the second battalion, which suffered heavy casualties, and hurried to repair the fortifications that had been bombed beyond recognition. After digging for a while, suddenly a soldier shouted, "The enemy has come up." ”

Yegor couldn't help but frown as he stared at the enemy that appeared in the distance. The enemy from the northeast is obviously more skilled and tactically advanced than the enemy from the east, and at the same time has a wealth of combat experience. More than 20 tanks of various types opened the road in front, while the infantry formed a loose formation more than a hundred meters behind the tanks.

Considering that his troops did not have anti-tank weapons, if he still followed the method just now, put the enemy's tanks into the station, and let the infantry in the station destroy them, it would inevitably cause a lot of casualties to the friendly troops in the station. Yegor called the commander of the first battalion and instructed him: "Commander of the first battalion, you send a few fighters to hide in the craters in front of the position, and when the German tanks pass by the craters, blow them up with cluster grenades." ”

"Understood, Comrade Regiment Commander." The commander of the battalion, whose face was blackened and whitened by the smoke of gunpowder, assured Yegor: "We will never let the enemy tanks rush into the station." ”

Fortunately, when the station was seized, a large number of grenades were captured, and it was not a problem to make a batch of cluster grenades. In less than two minutes, the commander of the first battalion sent a platoon of fighters, one carrying two cluster grenades, to leave the position and hide in a crater seventy or eighty meters from the trench.

Several tanks in the first row rumbled past the crater where the fighters were hiding, and the fighters hiding in the crater straightened up one after another and threw the cluster grenades in their hands at the galloping tanks. In a series of explosions, two hapless tanks were blown off their tracks and stopped in place. The remaining tanks, continuing to rush towards the defensive positions of the 25 th Cavalry Regiment.

The fighters who blew up the German tanks were exposed, and the infantry, who were following the tanks, immediately turned their guns and opened heavy fire on them. Several fighters who had not had time to retract their bodies after dropping their bombs were suddenly sieveed by the dense bullets, and then fell headlong into the crater.

In order to avoid a similar fate, the tanks that followed behind stopped about 200 meters from the fortifications and shelled the exposed Soviet firing points with artillery fire.

Yegor, who was staying in the observation post, saw that one machine gun fire point after another had been destroyed under the fire of German tanks, the machine gunners were blown to pieces, and the machine guns were blown to scrap metal, the muscles on his face could not help twitching violently, and he thought happily in his heart: "If there were one or two anti-tank guns on the position, then the German tanks would not dare to be so rampant." ”

The fighters who survived the crater had the intention of rushing out to blow up these threatening tanks, but because they were so far apart, they were often knocked down by a dense barrage of bullets as soon as they got up from the crater. But it was not safe to stay in the crater, and the German infantry, when they rushed over the tanks, they would first throw two grenades to kill the Soviet fighters hiding inside, and then continue to charge towards the Soviet positions.

Seeing that the firepower of the first battalion, under the blow of German tank fire, gradually weakened, Yegor was also in a hurry. Just when he was about to order the three battalions in the east to attack from the enemy's flank, the third battalion commander's phone call came first: "Comrade regiment commander, the enemy probably has a battalion of troops, under the cover of tanks, rushed towards the defensive zone of our battalion, we ask for support, ask for support~!" ”

"Third battalion commander," Yegor said loudly into the microphone, "the current situation of the first battalion is also very difficult, I can't send you reinforcements, you can only rely on your own strength, resolutely block the enemy, understand?" ”

As soon as he put down the phone, a soldier ran in from outside with a gun and hurriedly said: "Comrade regiment commander, the enemy's tanks are rushing towards us, it is too dangerous here, let's move quickly." ”

Yegor recognized the fighters who reported to him as belonging to the regimental guard platoon. He looked out from the lookout and saw that five or six tanks had crossed the trenches of the first battalion and were rushing along the road towards the station. He said to the soldier: "Go back immediately and tell your platoon commander that the German tanks have no infantry cover, so there is nothing to be afraid of, and blow them all up with cluster grenades." ”

With the order given, the fighters of the guard platoon, rushing out of the buildings on both sides, threw cluster grenades in their hands at the enemy tanks. Some grenades were thrown over, landed on the body of the tank and exploded, causing the tank to be wrapped in gunpowder smoke and flames, and stop in place and burn; But there were also grenades that hit the turret of the tank and were bounced off, falling to the ground and exploding, kicking up a cloud of dirt.

After paying more than half of the casualties, the guard platoon finally blew up all the tanks that broke through the defensive line. Yegor raised his binoculars and looked outside, only to see that the German infantry had approached the trench and was hiding in the trench and firing at his own soldiers. As soon as the Soviet machine guns appeared, they were often destroyed by German tank fire in the distance.

Seeing this situation, Yegor felt that his troops might not be able to support it for long, so he ordered the communication soldiers around him: "Give me the division commander." ”

As soon as the phone rang, he shouted into the microphone: "Comrade division commander, the enemy's firepower is too fierce, and the casualties of our regiment are too large, I am afraid that it will be difficult to support it anymore, I ask you to send troops to support!" Come on! ”

"I've seen the situation in your regiment." Blicory said into the microphone: "Don't worry, I will immediately order the comrades of the 23rd Cavalry Regiment to support you." ”