The news of the total annihilation of the cavalry regiment was soon informed by the commander of the infantry regiment on the high ground to the chief of staff of the corps, General Tamruch, by telephone in the command post.

Hearing this, Tamruch couldn't believe it was true, and he asked in surprise: "Comrade Regiment Commander, there is no mistake, right?" You must know that it has been less than twenty minutes since the cavalry regiment received the order to attack, how could it be that the whole army was wiped out in such a piece? ”

"That's right, that's right, Comrade Chief of Staff." The regimental commander, who was dozens of years old, cried like a child and said: "Our cavalry was completely annihilated by the combined strangulation of German tanks and armored vehicles. They behaved bravely, and although the enemy was stronger than us, they still did not hesitate to wave their sabers and rush towards the enemy. ”

Tamruch didn't know when the head of the regiment put down the phone, he just held the microphone in a daze. It wasn't until General Mareyev, who came in from outside, called him a few times that he woke up from his musings.

"Comrade Chief of Staff, what are you thinking?" Seeing Tamruch's dejected look, Maleev couldn't help but ask curiously: "What happened to make you lose your temper so much?" ”

Tamruch put the microphone on the telephone, beckoned Mareyev to sit down, and then said in a tactful tone: "Comrade division commander, I have something to tell you. ”

"What's the matter?" Mareyev asked with a big grin.

Tamruch struggled to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "The forward positions have just called to say that your 158th Cavalry Regiment has launched a charge against the Germans......"

Mareyev didn't wait for Tamruch to finish speaking, and said proudly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it's not me to brag, Lieutenant Colonel Brovchenko's cavalry regiment is the strongest regiment in our entire Fifth Cavalry Army. With them, they will definitely be able to beat the Germans to the ground. ”

After the elated Mareyev finished speaking, he found that Tamruch's face was not only not happy, but buried his head deeply. From Tamruch's reaction, he sensed a hint of bad omen, and hurriedly asked: "What's the matter, Comrade Chief of Staff, is something happening to the cavalry regiment?" ”

Tamruch looked up at him for a moment, then nodded vigorously and replied, "That's right, Comrade General. The 158th Cavalry Regiment was annihilated by a combined fire of tanks and armored vehicles when it charged the Germans. ”

When Maleyev heard the bad news, it was as if all his strength had been drained. He leaned limply back in his chair, his eyes staring ahead in a daze, unable to believe that he had heard it to be true. After a long while, he raised his head and looked at Tamruch, and asked in a skeptical tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are all what you said true?" It can't be a fake message deliberately spread by German spies to cause confusion, right? ”

"It's a pity, Comrade General." Tamruch said with a serious expression: "The commander who reported this bad news to me is my old subordinate for many years, I know him very well, and he will definitely not be a panicked person, so this news is reliable." After saying that, he walked over, raised his hand and gently patted Mareyev on the shoulder a few times, and said: "The commanders and fighters of the cavalry regiment are all good, they behaved heroically. ”

At the same time, Rokossovsky was leading the 35th Tank Division towards the defense zone under Tamruch. Although the speed of the march of the tank division had been raised to the maximum, he still felt that it was too slow, and kept urging Novikov with a radio station: "Comrade division commander, order the troops to speed up the march, we must rush to the defense area of the 22nd Mechanized Corps as soon as possible." ”

Hearing Rokossovsky's urging, Novikov really couldn't laugh or cry, he could only say euphemistically: "Comrade commander, we are already the fastest speed, and no matter how fast we are, we can't do it." ”

Although Rokossovsky understood that what Novikov said was the truth, he was anxious, although Tamruch was reinforced by the cavalry division, but in front of the German army with strong armored forces, they only faced the fate of being slaughtered, he hoped that his tank division could arrive on the battlefield as soon as possible, and could slightly reverse the disadvantage of the battlefield and deal a severe blow to the arrogance of the German army.