You clearly see the enemy right in front of you, and if you block them, it will be a great achievement. However, due to the rugged and difficult roads, only one platoon and two machine guns arrived here. To suppress the German machine gun fire from the church bell tower, the remaining firepower of more than 20 rifles and submachine guns could not be suppressed at all. Unable to stop the fleeing German troops, Vanya was so angry that fire shot out of her eyes.
Sokov, who was leading his troops through the village, saw from a distance a company of soldiers arriving one after another. They were all suppressed by the German machine guns on the church bell tower and unable to move in the cemetery. So he quickly ran to a parked car. Next to the T-34 tank on the roadside, he hit the tank with the butt of his gun several times.
The tank crew inside heard someone banging on the tank outside, and quickly opened the top cover of the turret and leaned out. Sokov saw a tank soldier emerging from the tank. He quickly pointed to the German firepower point on the top of the church and shouted at him: "Tank crew, knock out the machine gun on the bell tower of the church."
The tank soldier nodded and then retreated into the tank. The tank slowly turned its turret and aimed at the church in the distance. After a loud bang, the shell accurately hit the bell tower. In the rising black smoke, the broken machine gun parts and human body parts were mixed with the flying rubble and thrown around.
Seeing that the machine gun on the church was killed, Vanya stood up from behind the tombstone where he was hiding and shouted to the surrounding soldiers: "Comrades, follow me and kill every fascist gangster you see. Move forward~~ !" After shouting, he took the lead and rushed out of the cemetery with a submachine gun.
Although Vanya decisively led a company of soldiers to launch an attack, it was too late. Most of the enemies had already fled along the trail. They only killed a dozen German soldiers who were behind.
After more than four hours of fighting, the Istrian Battalion, with the cooperation of the 146th Tank Brigade, successfully occupied Popkovo. In this battle, more than 300 German troops were wiped out, and fifteen heavy artillery pieces, five tanks, two assault artillery pieces, and a dozen anti-tank guns and mortars abandoned by the enemy were captured, as well as a large number of weapons and ammunition. .
However, the losses of the Soviet army were also very heavy. The Istria Battalion suffered more than 200 casualties. The 146th Tank Brigade, which cooperated in the battle, also lost nine tanks of various types. Coupled with the two infantry battalions lost in the previous day's battle, the battle to capture Popkovo can only be regarded as a tragic victory.
After learning that Popkovo had been occupied, Rokossovsky immediately drove to the headquarters of the 11th Guards Division. As soon as he saw Chernyshev, he said enthusiastically: "General Chernyshev, I congratulate you! Congratulations on taking the important stronghold of Popkovo. By the way, which one is responsible for the main attack? group?"
"It's Major Sokov's Istria Battalion." Chernyshev replied: "With the cooperation of the 146th Tank Brigade, they took over this important German stronghold in just over four hours. .”
"This Sokov is not easy." Rokossovsky learned that it was Sokov's troops who had made contributions again. He showed a pleased smile and said with appreciation: "No matter how difficult the battle is, as long as he Once the troops are deployed, they can defeat the Germans and defeat them."
"Comrade Commander, there is another situation I want to report to you." Chernyshev said to Rokossovsky with a serious expression: "According to Major Sokov's report, the enemies in the villages and towns are, at most, not More than six hundred people, a far cry from the two thousand we knew in advance.”
"What, there are no more than 600 enemies in the village?" Rokossovsky frowned and asked, "Is the intelligence reliable?"
Chernyshev nodded vigorously and said with certainty: "This was reported to me personally by Major Sokov."
"Report!" The two were talking when suddenly a loud voice came from the door. Before Chernyshev could speak, Sokov had already walked in from the door and asked with a smile on his face: "Comrade Division Commander , can you come in?"
Chernyshov and Rokossovsky looked at each other and saw a smile in each other's eyes. Chernyshov smiled and cursed at Sokov: "Major Sokov, you have come in, can I still kick you out?" He paused for a moment, then continued, "Comrade Commander, too Here, say hello to him."
After adapting to the light in the room, Sokov discovered that Rokossovsky was also here. He quickly took two steps forward, stopped and raised his hands to salute, and said loudly: "Comrade Commander, Commander of the Istria Battalion." Major Sokov reports to you that I have been ordered by the front division to accept a new combat mission, please give me instructions!"
Rokossovsky nodded and said with a smile: "Major Sokov, please express my gratitude to your soldiers for their bravery and tenacity in the war to defend the motherland. spirit, and the tremendous results achieved.”
Although Rokossovsky said all clichés, Sokov waited for him to finish and replied loudly: "I am willing to serve the Soviet motherland!"
"You have served well." Rokossovsky praised again and turned the topic to the aspect he was interested in: "It is said that there are less than 600 enemies in the village of Popkovo?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander." Sokov replied quickly and affirmatively: "After the battle, I ordered people to count the bodies of the German soldiers and the number of people who escaped, and they found that there were less than 600 people."
After receiving the exact answer from Sokov, Rokossovsky held the edge of the table with both hands and leaned over the map spread out on it. After watching for a while, he pointed to a location and said to Chernyshev: "Comrade division commander, come and see. Maklaki, a village fifteen kilometers southwest of Popkovo, is another German army. Important stronghold. If this stronghold is also occupied by us, then the entire German defense in the direction of Zizdra will be shattered. Our remaining tasks are only to clear out the villages stationed in Burren and the vast areas without woods. The enemies in the small villages on the plains should not retreat towards Zizdra..."
When Rokossovsky assigned tasks to Chernyshov, Sokov, who was standing aside, thought to himself: It seems that the superiors want my troops to continue to participate in the battle, but they are planning to let us attack Maklaki. , or should we eliminate the enemies occupying the surrounding villages?
The answer was soon revealed. Chernyshov waited for Rokossovsky to finish and then immediately continued: "Comrade Commander, I plan to leave a regiment to stick to Popkovo and consolidate the defense of the surrounding areas. This prevented the enemy from shelling Sushinich from this direction. The other two regiments and Sokov's Istrian battalion rushed to the southwest overnight to capture Maklachi and crush the German army in the direction of Zizdra. overall defense."
Regarding the plan proposed by Chernyshev, Rokossovsky replied readily: "Okay, just implement the plan you said. The four divisions currently fighting on the right wing will wait to repel the German attack. After that, I will immediately mobilize them to support you."
After receiving Rokossovsky's reply, Chernyshov immediately ordered Sokov: "Major, gather your battalion immediately, rush to the southwest as soon as possible, and establish an offensive starting position near Maklaki .”
