The troops that attacked the Soviet positions were repulsed in a short period of time. One of the tank companies was wiped out, and an infantry battalion suffered heavy casualties. Such a defeat made General Fen Hornerdorf, commander of the 6th Armored Division, particularly embarrassed.
He called the two commanders of the 11th Armored Regiment and the 114th Grenadier Regiment to his headquarters and scolded them: "What did you do? Not only did you fail to break through the Russian defense lines, but on the contrary... The troops paid such a heavy price."
"Your Excellency, Division Commander," the commander of the 11th Armored Regiment said tremblingly after waiting for Hornadorf to finish speaking: "Maybe the Russians have received reinforcements, thus strengthening their combat effectiveness."
"Even if the Russians received reinforcements, they wouldn't have beaten you so badly?" Hornadorf said angrily: "The Russians' supplementary troops are basically new soldiers, and their tactics are dull and outdated. One of our battalions We can defeat one of their divisions. Colonel, immediately mobilize another tank company and follow me to the front. I want to see what is the difference between these Russians and the Russians I encountered before?"
"Your Excellency, Division Commander, this is not possible." After hearing that Hornadorf said that he wanted to go to the front in person, the division chief of staff quickly hugged him and persuaded him hard: "The front is too dangerous, you can't go."
"My men have just lost the battle, and their morale must be very low." Hornadorf said plausibly: "As long as they see me appearing on the front line, they will regain their morale and continue to fight the Russians."
Seeing that Hornerdorf had gone so far as to talk, the division chief of staff knew that nothing he said would be of any use. He could only watch helplessly as Hornerdorf picked up a tank cap hanging on the wall. , left the headquarters together with the commander of the 11th Armored Regiment.
When Hornerdorf wants to ride a tank to the front, the tank regiment commander will definitely not arrange an ordinary tank for him, but will personally arrange a Panther tank for him. The commander of the armored regiment said to Honadorf: "Your Excellency, division commander, the Russians may have strong anti-tank firepower, and our Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks are easily destroyed by them. I think you should still ride in this Panther tank Well, it is the nemesis of the Russian T-34."
Even though Hornerdorf showed a fearless look when he was at the headquarters, he thought that the Soviet army could easily destroy one of its own tank companies in a short period of time. Since all the officers and soldiers of the tank company were killed, he could not accurately figure out what kind of anti-tank weapons the Soviet army used.
If the tank commander really arranged an ordinary tank for him, maybe he would be happy. At this moment, when he saw that the tank arranged for him was actually the T-34's nemesis, the Panther tank, a proud smile appeared on his face. He nodded, and with the assistance of two tank soldiers, got into the Panther tank.
After closing the hatch, he ordered the other tanks over the radio: "Form into a wedge formation and advance towards the Russian position."
Although the attack failed within an hour, launching the attack again at this moment seemed extremely hasty. But at this time, the division commanders were riding in tanks and rushing towards the Russian positions. Then could the other German officers and soldiers stay in the fortifications and rest peacefully? As a result, groups of infantry followed the tanks at a distance and advanced towards the Soviet positions.
Sokov, who was staying in the observation post, saw another group of German tanks appearing. He smiled and said to Koida: "Comrade Colonel, it seems that you haven't hurt the enemy just yet. Otherwise, they will It’s impossible to attack again so soon.”
"Then we will teach them a lesson this time and make them cry." When Koida said this, he suddenly let out a sigh, then raised the telescope to his eyes and stared at the approaching car. German tanks.
"Comrade Colonel." Sokov felt that Koida's reaction was a bit strange, so he asked curiously: "What did you see?"
"Comrade Commander," Koida pointed at the German tanks in the distance and said to Sokov: "The tank at the front of the German wedge formation is a Panther tank specially used by the German army to deal with our T-34 .”
"I can see it." Sokov just nodded slightly and said with disapproval: "Don't talk about Panther tanks, even if Tiger tanks appear, our rocket launchers can still smash them into a pile of scrap metal."
"No, Comrade Commander, you misunderstood me." Koida said with some rapid breathing: "I know how powerful the rocket launcher used by the anti-tank crew is. I just want to tell you that the Panther tank There are two antennas on it. It must be a command tank, and the person inside is probably a relatively high-ranking officer. Maybe the commander of the 11th Armored Regiment is in this tank."
Sokov felt that if the commander of the 11th Armored Regiment was really sitting in the Panther tank, if he was killed, it would definitely severely damage the enemy's military morale and morale. Then he ordered Koida: "Comrade Colonel, immediately notify the 562nd Regiment and ask them to send a few more anti-tank fighters to hide in the position where the German tanks will pass and resolutely destroy the tank in front."
Seeing that Sokov had the same idea as himself and believed that there was a big shot in the Panther tank, Koida did not dare to neglect and personally called the commander of the 562nd Regiment: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, have you seen Germany?" Is it a human tank?... Very good. I didn’t expect you to find that the first tank is not simple. Then immediately send a few more anti-tank fighters to find a suitable location to ambush. You must try to kill it in the shortest possible time. Kill this enemy tank."
Honerdorf, who was sitting in the tank, did not know that he had become a target of the Soviet army. He kept observing the situation outside through the lookout port in front of the tank. While watching, he muttered: "The Russian position looks very ordinary. Why did our first attack fail?"
The other tank soldiers sitting in the tank heard what Hornadorf was talking to himself, but because their level was too low, no one dared to answer his words and could only choose to remain silent.
The German tanks arrived more than a hundred meters away from the position. The trenches were still silent. No one could be seen and no gunshots were heard. Hornadorff was even muttering in his heart: Did the Russians see it? We renewed our attack and fled in terror?
At this moment, he saw a Soviet soldier leaning out of the crater not far away, carrying a chimney-like object on his shoulder, aiming towards his position. Before Hornerdorf gave the order to fire the machine gun, a long, white smoke tail flew out of the chimney and flew towards his tank.
Immediately afterwards, Hornadorf heard a loud "boom", and he felt that his body hit a very sharp and hot object. This was the last feeling in Hornerdorf's life. The rocket hit him exactly where he was, blowing his chest to pieces on the spot. He threw his head back and completely left the place he was attached to. world.
