When the commanders and soldiers rushed to the village entrance, which was still 70 to 80 meters away, sporadic gunfire rang out in the village.
Colonel Ruhle, who was watching the battle from behind, heard the gunshots coming from the village, which were basically the sounds of rifle shooting. There were two sporadic submachine guns firing, but no machine guns. He immediately judged that there could not be more than two classes of Germans in the village.
The chief of staff standing next to Ruhle also discovered this problem and quickly suggested to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, judging from the sound of gunfire, there are not many enemies in the village. In order to resolve the battle as soon as possible, I suggest that the entire brigade be involved fighting."
"There is no need." Ruhlie rejected the chief of staff's suggestion: "There are more than 400 people in the vanguard battalion, and they are enough to deal with this enemy. If all the troops are put into battle, I am afraid it will cause unrest. Necessary chaos.”
The battalion commander of the vanguard battalion is still very capable. Although there are not many enemies in the village and the firepower is not strong, he still deployed several machine guns outside the village to suppress the exposed shooting positions in the village and cover the soldiers. their attack.
The three companies of the vanguard battalion rushed into the village from different positions. Soon, the sound of gunfire, the explosion of grenades and the screams of those who were shot were intertwined in the village.
The German troops in the village were the remnants of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion. They fled here after being defeated by the breakout troops. Unexpectedly, not long after they stayed, they were attacked by a tank brigade. Although they put up tenacious resistance, due to the difference in the number of troops and weapons, the entire battle only lasted less than half an hour and ended.
The results of the battle were quickly tallied. The tank brigade lost 16 people and injured 29. 17 German soldiers were killed, and 2 submachine guns, 14 rifles, 1 pistol, and 6 three-wheeled motorcycles were seized.
As for prisoners, there were none. Even though Ruhle did not explain anything in advance, the soldiers knew very well that the ensuing breakout battle would be extremely difficult, and it was unrealistic to march with prisoners. Therefore, in battle, even if the enemy puts down their weapons and surrenders, they will still shoot at the opponent.
Ruhelie was overjoyed by the accidental seizure of the motorcycle. He said to the Chief of Staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, put all our seriously injured soldiers into the sidecars of motorcycles. Although the march is a bit bumpy, it is better than walking."
"Should we set off now?" the chief of staff asked tentatively: "It's almost dark. I think it's better to rest in the village for one night and set off again tomorrow."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Ruhelie said: "Although the scale of the battle taking place here is small, it may have alerted the enemy. If we don't move as soon as possible, we will be entangled by the enemies following behind. agreed."
Through the attitude of the chief of staff, Ruhlie realized that there should still be a lot of commanders in the brigade who had similar ideas, so he ordered, "Gather all the company-level commanders together, and I will explain to them the reasons for the overnight march. "
Ruhelie's judgment was accurate. The commanders and fighters in the brigade participated in two battles today and traveled such a long distance. They finally occupied a village. Although it was a bit small, everyone hoped to rest here for a night. , and we will set off after dawn tomorrow.
Unexpectedly, after cleaning the battlefield, the order received was to move overnight. Not only did the soldiers not understand this, but even the commanders at all levels also had strong opinions. After receiving the notice from the chief of staff, everyone did not dare to neglect and immediately appeared in front of Ruhelie as quickly as possible, trying to find out what was going on.
"Comrade commanders," Ruhelie said when he saw that most of his company-level commanders had arrived: "I know that you all don't understand the order I gave to march overnight, so I made you anxious. Let me explain it to you. I hope that after you return to your respective units, you will truthfully tell the soldiers about this matter so that they will be aware of it."
The commanders who came to attend the meeting originally wanted to put forward their opinions to Ruhelie, hoping that the already very tired troops could rest in this village for a night and wait for dawn before setting off. But when Ruhelie said this, no one spoke. Instead, they looked at Ruhelie quietly, wanting to hear what he would say.
"I know that after two battles today and traveling such a long way, most of the officers and soldiers have become exhausted. Many people hope to have a good night's rest in this village tonight and wait until dawn tomorrow Let's set off again." Ruhlie said: "But it won't work, comrades, you must know that we are still surrounded by the German army. The reason why the commander chose to break out to the east is simply because of the enemy's defense in this direction We are weak, and there are friendly forces supporting us in Luhansk. But now the enemy has discovered our intention to break out, and the troops originally deployed in several other directions have already pressed towards us.
If we stayed in the village for one night, we might be surrounded by the enemy who were chasing us by daybreak. Therefore, in order for everyone to successfully jump out of the enemy's encirclement, we must come overnight and throw the pursuing enemies as far away as possible. "
The commander, who was still resistant to Ruhelie's order, realized after listening to Ruhelie's detailed explanation that his troops were still under siege. If they stayed in a certain place for too long, they would indeed be attacked. The possibility of enemy encirclement. Kogor, the second battalion commander who had recently joined the tank brigade, walked out of the crowd, straightened his body and said to Ruhle: "Comrade Commander, you are right. We are still surrounded by the Germans. If we don't do it as soon as possible, Consider the friendly forces. The fate that awaits us in the end is either to be completely annihilated or to become prisoners of the enemy. I will immediately return to my troops and convey your words to the soldiers to let them understand our current situation."
Since someone expressed their attitude first, the other commanders also realized that it was not appropriate to rest here, and they all expressed their opinions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, we resolutely obey your order and move the troops overnight. We will never give the enemy a chance to surround us."
Seeing that all the commanders realized the seriousness of the problem, Ruhelie couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then waved his hands to everyone and said: "Now that everyone understands the meaning of traveling overnight, let's return to their respective units. . Remember, in the current situation, the faster we move, the greater the chance of successfully jumping out of the enemy's encirclement."
After the commanders at all levels had left, the chief of staff asked Ruhle for instructions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, should we follow the original plan and move closer to the main force?"
"No, if we want to break through successfully, we must not move closer to the main force, but should try to move as far north as possible." Ruhle said: "In this way, we can get rid of the enemies coming from different directions, as well as those living in Donetsk. The defenders in the city.”
"Comrade Brigadier," the chief of staff became a little uneasy after hearing Ruhle's order: "You changed the breakout route without authorization. If your superiors blame you in the future, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the responsibility."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to remind you one thing." Seeing that the Chief of Staff did not understand what he meant, Ruhlie explained to him: "As long as we can escape the enemy's encirclement and choose which route, we can completely decide according to the situation on the battlefield. We will make the final decision based on the specific situation.”
