After a fierce battle, the Belko Battalion finally occupied the German position. Leaving a few soldiers to support the troops behind, Major Belko led the soldiers to pursue the fleeing enemies.
However, less than a kilometer after chasing them, they encountered the German troops who came for reinforcements, and the two sides immediately started a fierce battle. The machine guns in the sidecars of the German motorcycles spit out tongues of fire, and soldiers with weapons followed closely behind. They shot as they advanced, and from time to time they threw grenades, using the smoke of the explosion to advance quickly.
For a moment, there were gunshots, explosions, and painful screams. People kept falling, both Germans and Soviet soldiers. Captain Belko picked up a rifle with a bayonet from the ground, bravely rushed forward, and fought with the oncoming enemy with bayonets.
The German army, which has always focused on firepower output, was naturally no match for the Soviet army in terms of stabbing. They withdrew from the battlefield one after another, hiding in the distance and firing machine guns and mortars at the mixed crowd, regardless of whether the machine guns or mortars would accidentally injure their own people.
A mortar shell with a screaming sound fell next to Bierko, who had just stabbed a German soldier. The soil stirred up by the explosion air wave was scattered on Bierko's body like a goddess scattering flowers. His body shook twice and fell softly to the ground.
"Battal Commander," seeing Bierko fall, a soldier next to him hurriedly rushed forward, shook his body vigorously, and shouted anxiously: "How are you, how are you?"
After Belko regained consciousness, with the help of the soldiers, he stood up staggeringly. A stream of blood dripped from his forehead down his cheeks, but he still shouted loudly to the soldiers around him: "Comrades, don't do it." Stop, charge for me, and keep charging forward!" In order to set an example, he rushed towards the enemy not far away without even having time to bandage the wound on his head.
Seeing the battalion commander leading the charge, his soldiers were naturally not to be outdone and followed him closely with weapons in hand, rushing towards the enemy bravely.
After rushing to a place that was still more than ten meters away from the enemy, the soldiers took out grenades one after another, pulled the string, and threw them towards the location where the enemies were gathered, causing smoke to billow from the enemy's location.
The battle ahead quickly reached Popov's ears. He asked the chief of staff: "How is the situation ahead? Have you broken through the German defense line?"
"Reporting to Comrade Commander," the chief of staff replied: "Captain Bielko's battalion launched an attack on the defense area of the 61st German Motorcycle Battalion and has successfully broken through the enemy's first line of defense. However, due to the reinforcements from the second line When they arrived, their advance was blocked and the troops suffered heavy casualties.”
"Chief of Staff, send reinforcements to them immediately. We must break through the three lines of defense of the German army before dawn." Popov was deeply afraid that the Chief of Staff would not take his opinion seriously, and specifically emphasized: "We do not have air superiority on the battlefield. Once At dawn, enemy aircraft will appear in the sky and bombard our attacking troops indiscriminately. If we try to break through the enemy's defense line at that time, we will inevitably pay a huge price."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." The Chief of Staff replied: "I will send reinforcements to them immediately."
Popov sent reinforcements to the leading battalion that was fighting fiercely in front, and General Balck, the commander of the German 11th Armored Division deployed to their south, was also gathering the 111th Panzer Grenadier Regiment, intending to order them to rush to the 61st Motorcycle The defense area of the car camp was reinforced to block the Soviet breakout troops.
This time Balck and Chief of Staff Colonel Wenke reached an agreement. The Soviet army attacking the 61st Motorcycle Battalion was not to conduct a test operation, but to prepare for a breakout from that direction. While they were gathering their troops, they called Manstein.
Originally, Manstein had already fallen asleep, but when he heard the adjutant say that Balk had an urgent report, he quickly sat up from the bed, took the phone from the adjutant's hand and asked: "General Balk, you called me so late. , is there anything important?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Balk said respectfully after waiting for Manstein to finish speaking, "Have the Russians begun to break out to the east?"
"What, the Russians broke through to the east?" Manstein asked in surprise: "General Balk, who told you this news?"
"It's my subordinate, the commander of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion stationed in the east." Balk reported respectfully: "The Russians launched an attack on his defense area two hours ago. Now the first line The defense line has been breached, and the troops holding the second line of defense are resisting tenaciously."
When Manstein heard this, he covered the microphone with his hand and told the adjutant standing nearby: "Go out and find out whether the Russian armored forces are still at their original positions?"
After the adjutant left, Manstein let go and continued to ask: "General Balk, since the Russians broke through your defense zone, have you taken any measures?"
"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal." Balk replied: "I have ordered the 111th Panzer Grenadier Regiment to assemble and be ready to reinforce the areas under attack at any time."
"Our troops are mainly concentrated in the north, south and west, but the defense in the east is the weakest." Manstein said with some regret: "Even if we have to mobilize the troops, it will take at least a day. In order to prevent the Russians from us To escape from the encirclement, it is not enough for you to just send one Grenadier Regiment there. You should immediately send the 15th Armored Regiment in that direction as well."
"But, Your Excellency, Marshal." Regarding Manstein's proposal, Balk said with a wry smile: "Our tanks lack fuel and may fall asleep halfway through."
"You are short of fuel, and the Russians are also short of fuel." Manstein said on the phone: "But you still have to drive the tanks to their retreat route, which is a victory. When their tanks appear, When you are in sight, your tanks can destroy them all like target practice. Do you understand?"
After listening to Manstein's explanation, Balke felt that it was very reasonable. As long as his tank was placed on the only way for the Soviet army to break through, even if the tank ran out of fuel, it could be used as a fixed fort to destroy passing Soviet tanks. Or infantry. After thinking about this, he nodded quickly and said: "Understood, Your Majesty Marshal, I will immediately order the 15th Armored Regiment to assemble."
When it was just dawn, Popov and his group headquarters appeared at the place where the Berko Camp had fought fiercely. Popov, who was sitting in the jeep, saw corpses lying on the roadside, both German and Soviet. The blood flowing from their bodies dyed the snow on the road red, turning the road into an out-and-out bloody road.
