The smoke of the explosion of dozens of shells raised a cloud of smoke in front of the position, covering all four or five tanks led by the Germans. Because it had not yet entered the effective range of the infantry, there was still silence on the position.

Before the smoke was blown away by the wind, the second and third batches of shells fell mercilessly on the German attacking ranks, enveloping them in a sea of fire.

I picked up the microphone and asked for Major Sedulin of the 1075th Regiment, and I ordered him loudly: "Comrade Major, hurry up and move your regiment to the front, and the attack will depend on your regiment to sing the leading role." ”

"Understood, Comrade Division Commander!" Major Sedulin replied loudly: "I will arrange the troops right away." ”

Then I gave another order to Major Panishev of the 1077th regiment: "Comrade Major, your regiment, as a reserve, remains in the second line of defense for the time being. ”

"But, Comrade Division." Major Panishev complained to me: "The commanders and fighters of our regiment can do more, they have participated in every battle, and now let them participate in the battle passively, I am afraid that everyone's mood will be problematic." ”

"Comrade Major," I said in a tone of lesson, "you are the one who has emotions, right?" You have to know that in a war, no matter what division of labor is equally important—whether it is the main attack force or the reserves. I regret that I have to remind you of this. Do you understand what would have happened if the two regiments, 1073 and 1075, had failed to stop the enemy's frantic attack and allowed them to break through the lines of our army? Who will stand in their way? ”

Although my tone was stern, he continued to pester, wanting to receive an important task from me, and he said with a hippie smile: "Comrade division commander, even if you can't take part in the attack, then even if you send a company to participate in the counterattack?" ”

I'm so angry and funny, you think this is a vegetable market, you can bargain casually. So I also said politely: "Comrade Major, obey the order." When it's time for you to join the group, I'll let you go. Without waiting for him to speak, he hung up the phone.

The political commissar said with a smile on the side: "The fighting mood of the soldiers is quite high, it seems that the 1077th Regiment will be a reserve in the back, and let them watch the other troops teach the Germans a lesson, they will feel very uncomfortable." ”

Chief of Staff Serebryakov also said: "Yes, because yesterday the 1077 regiment was on foot, and by the time they arrived at the battlefield, the battle was already over." The fighters were holding back their strength, wanting to teach the fascist bandits a good lesson. ”

The political commissar, the deputy division commander, and the chief of staff gathered around and began to chat, and I did not participate in their conversation, but stood in front of the lookout hole and watched the enemy situation in front of me.

The smoke that filled the battlefield was blown away by the wind, and the effects of the shelling just now were clearly visible in my telescope. Nine of the enemy's tanks were directly destroyed and were standing in place and burning. And the other two tanks, which were moving quickly towards our positions, were also constantly emitting billowing smoke.

When it was still seventy or eighty meters away from the position of our troops, the tank completely lay down, and from the cockpit of the tank, several pitch-black figures came out, and they fell on the charred snow one after another. Rolling and crawling, suddenly falling down, suddenly standing up, stumbling backwards, running towards the armored transport vehicle in the distance.

Several German armored transports were also blown up, and the rest drove up quickly. Except for the two tankers who had fled back from the front, the rest of the armored vehicles drove to a distance of several dozen meters in front of our position, and the soldiers on the vehicles also jumped from the cars to the ground one after another, and launched an attack on our troops in a straggler formation.

A dense burst of gunfire rang out, and machine guns roared with a clatter. The whole regiment of the 1073rd Regiment opened fire, and the German soldiers in front of the charge were immediately knocked down by a dense barrage of bullets, and the rest hurriedly lay on the ground and fired at our troops. And the armored vehicle still relied on its thick armor, and slowly approached our positions while firing.

But before the armored vehicles could get closer, several rockets dragging white smoke flew out of the trenches of our troops, hitting the armored vehicles impartially, blowing through the armor that bullets could not penetrate, and turning the vehicles into burning scrap metal.

Chistyakov, who came to my side, happened to see this exciting scene and couldn't help but say with emotion: "It's better to have weapons supported by American allies, with this kind of bazooka, our fighters can knock out the enemy's tanks by hiding in the trenches, this thing is much better than anti-tank guns." ”

I turned my head to look at him, and I very much agreed with his statement, in the case of a large-scale relocation of the arsenal to the rear and not yet put into normal production, without the large amount of weapons assistance provided by the United States, whether the Soviet army could hold back the German attack is a question.

I was about to speak, when Chistyakov suddenly pointed ahead with a telescope and shouted: "Look, our tanks are coming, and the leading tank is still with a military flag." ”

When the political commissar and chief of staff squeezed over to grab the binoculars with him, I also saw clearly that the tank troops in the distance were advancing rapidly in a line formation, all of which were Soviet-style T-34 tanks, and behind the tanks, there were large groups of cavalry in black cloaks. There is no doubt that it was the troops of the 16th Army that followed and caught up.

I rushed to the table, picked up the microphone to get through Major Sedulin's 1075th regiment, and ordered him in a loud voice: "Comrade Major, it's time. Our troops are pressing up from behind the enemy, and your regiment will attack at once, and you must annihilate all the enemy in front of the position. ”

A loud trumpet sounded, and the charging troops leaped from their trenches and charged at the enemy. Some fighters even rushed forward with straight bodies, trying to rush in front of the enemy as quickly as possible and engage them in a face-to-face battle.