When Sokov saw the soldiers of the second company climbing on the tanks that had started up one after another, he nodded to Vasiuk, who was half exposed from the turret, indicating that they were ready to attack. Vasiuk immediately shouted into the microphone: "Tank brigade, move forward!" Following his order, more than twenty tanks that were already ready to go immediately formed a battle formation and carried the soldiers into the distance. Speeding away from Popkovo.
Although there was knee-deep snow on the offensive road, it was not a problem for the T-34 tanks and KB heavy tanks with wide tracks. In just five minutes, the tank group rushed to a place less than 500 meters away from Popkovo.
Seeing the Soviet tanks rushing towards the villages and towns, the German assault artillery, regardless of the fact that the Soviet bombardment had not stopped, came out from their hiding places and fired at the tank brigades from above.
The shells fired by the German assault artillery landed in the queue of tanks and exploded. The air waves lifted the black soil mixed with snow high into the air and scattered it down like heavenly flowers. A T-34 tank rushing at the front was directly hit by German artillery and immediately burst into flames. The soldiers sitting on the tank were either killed or injured. There were also several soldiers sitting on tanks who were hit by shrapnel flying in all directions and fell off the vehicles one after another.
Sokov stood in the observation post, using his binoculars to look at the tank rushing forward, braving enemy fire, and at the commanders and soldiers sitting on the vehicle. From time to time he saw soldiers being hit by shrapnel and falling from the body of a speeding tank, which made him feel like a knife.
The tanks of the tank brigade rushed down the slope one after another and entered the blind spot of the assault artillery. The tank crews adjusted the direction of the tank and rushed towards the village along the slope. German soldiers hiding in bunkers and fortifications hurriedly opened fire. Bullets fired from machine guns, submachine guns, and rifles hit the tank's turret and splashed a series of sparks, but they did not slow down the advancement of the Soviet tank's tracks at all.
The T-34 tank rushing at the front stopped on the slope, slowly turned the turret, and aimed its 76mm cannon at the soldiers who were shooting wildly in the fortifications. After a loud bang, a gap was opened in the sandbag fortification blocking the road ahead. The German soldiers who were hiding behind and shooting were blown to pieces.
After the tank crew finished shooting, they continued to drive forward. The weapons in the hands of the soldiers on the tank and the directional machine guns fired at the broken sandbag fortifications of the German army at the same time, knocking down the enemies who appeared one by one.
Seeing the long queue of Soviet tanks driving up the slope, some of the German soldiers behind the sandbags saw that the situation was not good, dropped their weapons, turned around and fled towards the villages and towns. The soldiers who continued to resist were crushed to pieces by the high-speed rotating tracks.
At the end of the slope was a platform. Chernyshev, who was observing the battle situation from his headquarters, saw that the tanks of the tank brigade had arrived at the entrance to the village of Popkovo. He was afraid that if he continued the shelling, he would accidentally injure his own people. He quickly ordered the artillery to stop firing.
After the tanks drove onto the platform one after another, they drove towards the villages and towns in a row of three tanks. The soldiers of the second company also jumped off the tanks one after another, followed the tanks in the blind spot, and followed suit along the streets towards the villages and towns.
A German machine gun team hid in a half-exploded building at the entrance to the village, trying to shoot at the infantry following the tank. But they had just fired a few rounds when they were discovered by the tanks opening the way ahead. The three tanks stopped at the same time, turned their muzzles, aimed at the location of the machine gun, and fired a shot. Three artillery shells hit the target at the same time, and the brick wall that had long been blackened by gunpowder smoke collapsed, burying the machine gun team hiding behind it among the broken bricks.
Seeing the Soviet artillery fire stop, the German soldiers who had escaped the shelling came out of their hiding places one after another. They were startled when they spotted Soviet tanks approaching along the street. But they were all veterans who had experienced many battles. After a brief panic, they returned to normal, immediately entered their defensive positions, and began to fight back with various weapons.
The three tanks that opened the way were successively destroyed by German assault artillery hidden in the ruins of the building, and burned on the street. Standing at the entrance of the village, Andre, the second company commander, saw through the smoke of the burning tank that at the other end of the street, a German tank was slowly driving over. Behind it, there were dozens of bent men. German soldier. The German assault artillery was firing in this direction non-stop. He quickly shouted at the top of his voice: "Spread out, all the infantry, go to the ruins and take cover, prepare to destroy the enemies who are coming."
But his shouts were muffled by the sound of gunfire, and few people heard what he was shouting. Fortunately, the two platoon commanders of the first and second platoons saw the enemy infantry rushing towards the entrance under the cover of artillery bombardment and tanks, so they took the initiative to lead their men to find a hiding place in the ruins.
Under the attack of German artillery, two more T-34s were hit by bullets and caught fire. Even the tank of the tank brigade commander Colonel Vasiuk was hit by two shells. But fortunately, the shells only made two white marks on the heavy tank he was driving, and did not penetrate the tank's front armor at all.
Seeing that the German gunner had hit the target, he was secretly proud. When the smoke dissipated, the hit heavy tank not only did not catch fire, but instead turned the muzzle to aim at himself. Just when they were about to fire again, Vasiuk's tank had already fired first. The 152mm heavy artillery shell hit the German artillery without any bias. After a loud bang, a huge crater appeared on the spot. In addition to the broken artillery parts on the edge of the crater, several German artillerymen had been blown away. No bones remain.
After completing the shooting, Vasiuk continued to look for the target, preparing to eliminate the assault artillery hiding in the ruins one by one, and then lead the infantry to charge into the town.
Belkin, who was in the distant observation post, saw that the second company charging with the tank brigade was engaged in a close battle with the German army at the entrance of the village. He quickly asked Sokov for instructions: "Comrade Battalion Commander, we are Shouldn’t the machine gun battery also be put into battle?”
"Wait a minute, comrade deputy battalion commander." Although Sokov had long wanted to lead the cannon battery to the high ground to eliminate the enemies in the villages and towns, but considering that the two companies that had detoured back to the German flank, there was no news until now. None, so he could only stand still for the time being: "After we see the signals from the 1st and 3rd companies, we will put the machine gun company into battle."
