After the German army occupied the town, they found that there were no defenses on the north and east sides. If the Soviet army launched a counterattack from these two directions, it would be impossible to resist it. Therefore, Captain Becker issued an order to the commander of the fifth company, asking him to direct his men to build fortifications in these two directions.
According to the fifth company commander's idea, the best thing is to dig trenches and fortifications. His soldiers can hide in the trenches and shoot at the attacking Soviet troops. But since it was the season when the ice and snow melted, the trench was filled with melted snow water as soon as it was dug less than a foot deep. Seeing that it was impossible to dig trenches, the fifth company commander had to change his mind and let the soldiers pile up sandbags fortifications.
Stacking sandbags fortifications is naturally much faster than digging trenches. In less than an hour, the German soldiers built a sandbag defense line 200 meters long and more than one meter high. Seeing the formed fortifications, the fifth company commander immediately felt more relieved. According to his idea, as long as his soldiers hide behind these sandbag fortifications, the attacking Russians will not even think about rushing over.
But not long after, the fifth company commander discovered that he was wrong, and he was very wrong. After the Russian attack started thousands of meters away, the infantry did not line up in skirmish formations as before, holding guns and striding to their own positions to die. Instead, a group of tanks lined up and rumbled towards their position.
Seeing the tank getting closer and closer to him, the fifth company commander couldn't help but panic. He waved his pistol and shouted: "Machine gun, machine gun fire, you must block the Russian tank."
Upon hearing the company commander's order, the two latest MG42 machine guns on the position began to shoot wildly at the approaching tanks. The bullets hit the front armor plate of the tank like hail, making the armor clank. But it did not affect the forward speed of the tank at all.
A German machine gunner who was shooting thought with great fear: As soon as the Russian tank stops, I will immediately drop the machine gun and run away. Otherwise, it will definitely be blown to pieces.
Then before the advancing tank could stop, there was the scream of artillery shells piercing the air. The machine gunner stopped shooting and looked at the sky in astonishment, wondering where the strange sound came from. He only saw a black dot flying towards where he was, but it was getting bigger and bigger. When he saw clearly that it was a cannonball flying over, the cannonball had already landed five or six meters in front of him. explode.
With a loud noise that could shatter the eardrums, the smoke cleared, and there was a huge crater in front of the fortification. A gap was opened in the continuous sandbag fortification. The shooting machine gunner, as well as the deputy shooter and ammunition hand disappeared. There was no trace, only some machine gun parts still smoking in the distance.
The Germans didn't understand that the Russian tanks had not stopped, but where did the shells come from? Could it be that it was a Russian tank that could fire while moving? At the thought of this, all the German officers and soldiers were frightened out of their wits. Seeing the Russian tanks getting closer and closer to them, the soldiers knew that they could not be stopped with a layer of sandbag fortifications, so they left their combat posts one after another, bent over and ran towards the center of the town.
A soldier came to the fifth company commander and shouted to him: "Mr. Lieutenant, everyone is fleeing towards the town. Can you retreat too?"
"Bastard!" The German lieutenant stepped forward and gave the soldier a slap in the face, yelling loudly: "The order given by the battalion commander is to hold on to the position. It's better for you. The enemy started to turn around and run away before they could get in front of them. Let everyone Everyone return to their fighting posts, or I will shoot them."
The soldier stood there in a daze for a while, not knowing whether he should follow his companions and flee toward the town, or whether he should follow the company commander's order and return to his combat post to continue fighting.
Fortunately, the Soviet tanks quickly helped him make his decision. A T-34 tank rushing at the front easily collapsed the German sandbag fortifications and crushed the German soldiers hiding behind the fortifications into pulp. The hesitant soldier saw that his companions were killed under the tracks of Soviet tanks. He dared not return to his combat post. He turned around and fled towards the town.
The fifth company commander saw his soldiers abandoning their positions and fleeing towards the town. He was so angry that he waved his pistol and shouted loudly. He even grabbed the collars of soldiers passing by and ordered them in a stern tone to go back and continue fighting. But the other party ignored him at all, pushed him away, and ran away towards the town without looking back.
Just when the fifth company commander raised his pistol, aimed at a fleeing soldier and was about to shoot, the machine gun on the Soviet tank opened fire. A series of bullets hit the fifth company commander in the chest and abdomen. He threw away the pistol in his hand, covered the wound, turned around twice, staggered one step forward, and then fell softly. on the ground.
The shell that destroyed the German machine gun firepower point came from a 122mm self-propelled gun parked a few hundred meters away. The gunner saw the German machine guns in the distance firing continuously at the advancing tanks. He became angry and aimed there and fired. But he never dreamed that just such a shot would disrupt the German army. Before the tanks could break through the sandbag fortifications, the enemies had begun to flee one after another.
The Soviet infantry was more than three hundred meters behind the tanks. Seeing that the tanks in front had broken through the German sandbag fortifications and were rushing towards the town, their morale was immediately boosted. They first changed from brisk walking to trotting, and soon from trotting to sprinting. Less than twenty meters away, hundreds of soldiers carrying weapons rushed through the sandbag fortifications that had been smashed to pieces by the tanks, and bravely rushed towards the town.
Sokov originally thought there would be a fierce battle outside the town, but now he saw that breaking through the enemy's position was as childish as acting, and he couldn't help but be shocked. After a long time, he picked up the phone and said to Second Battalion Commander Golia: "Comrade Captain, your vanguard has rushed into the town. I now order you to lead the remaining troops to charge immediately. You must charge as soon as possible." Take back the town.”
The shell that destroyed the German machine gun firepower point came from a 122mm self-propelled gun parked a few hundred meters away. The gunner saw the German machine guns in the distance firing continuously at the advancing tanks. He became angry and aimed there and fired. But he never dreamed that just such a shot would disrupt the German army. Before the tanks could break through the sandbag fortifications, the enemies had begun to flee one after another.
The Soviet infantry was more than 300 meters behind the tanks. Seeing that the tanks in front had broken through the German sandbag fortifications and were rushing towards the town, their morale was immediately boosted. They first changed from brisk walking to trotting, and soon from trotting to sprinting. Less than twenty meters away, hundreds of soldiers carrying weapons rushed through the sandbag fortifications that had been smashed to pieces by the tanks, and bravely rushed towards the town.
Sokov originally thought there would be a fierce battle outside the town, but now he saw that breaking through the enemy's position was as childish as acting, and he couldn't help but be shocked. After a long time, he picked up the phone and said to Second Battalion Commander Golia: "Comrade Captain, your vanguard has rushed into the town. I now order you to lead the remaining troops to charge immediately. You must charge as soon as possible." Take back the town.”
