The 122nd Brigade commanded by Victor successfully attacked Baranovichi. The main force of the city's defenders was restrained by the attack of Batov's troops, so that in the direction they attacked, the defense could be described as riddled with holes.
First, during the attack, one or two platoons of commanders and fighters passed through the gaps in the German defenses, went around behind the defense line, and attacked frontally and back with the troops attacking from the front, easily capturing these positions.
In this way, the commanders and fighters of the 122nd Brigade quickly seized the German defensive positions outside the city at a speed visible to the naked eye, and advanced step by step towards the city.
Ponejelin was worried and came to Victor's temporary headquarters in person and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, how is the progress of your troops?"
"Pretty smooth, Comrade Deputy Commander." Victor replied confidently: "I originally thought that even if the main force of the defenders was transferred to General Batov's side, we would definitely seize the enemy's peripheral positions. It will also take a lot of time and pay a lot of money.
But after the attack really started, I found that the enemy was not as strong as I thought, and their defense line was full of loopholes. Our soldiers could easily enter their defensive positions through these loopholes and cooperate with their comrades in the frontal attack. to eliminate the enemies on the line of defense. "
"Lieutenant Colonel Victor, according to your judgment, how long will it take for you to rush into the city?"
Victor thought for a moment, and then replied decisively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I really want to tell you that my troops can rush into the city and start street battles with the enemy within an hour. But consider that there may be some uncontrollable factors, so I think there should be no problem if we enter the city in three hours."
Just after reporting the situation to Ponejelin, the radio operator sitting in the corner suddenly said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I received a call from the Army Headquarters. Comrade Commander wants to speak to you."
Hearing that Sokov wanted to talk to him, Victor hesitated for a moment, and then turned his questioning eyes to Ponejelin to see if he would agree to answer the phone.
Ponejelin naturally understood what the other party meant, and nodded slightly, indicating that he agreed to answer Sokov's call.
"Hello, Comrade Commander." Victor put the earphone to his ear and asked respectfully into the microphone: "What instructions do you have?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Victor," Sokov said, "I just received a telegram from the deputy commander, saying that your infantry brigade will be responsible for the main offensive mission. How is it? Is the current offensive going well?"
"It went very well, Comrade Commander." Victor said with a smile: "The soldiers have broken through many of the German defensive positions outside Baranovichi. It seems that the enemy can no longer hold it. I estimate that if it continues, In two or three hours, my troops can smoothly rush into the city."
"Well done, Lieutenant Colonel Victor." After listening to Victor's report, Sokov said with satisfaction: "When Baranovich is captured, your military rank will be promoted to another level. I will look into the matter personally."
Knowing that he would be promoted to military rank after the battle, Victor suddenly became excited: "Comrade Commander, please rest assured that I will never disappoint your expectations. My troops will be ready in the shortest possible time. Breaking through the German outer positions outside Baranovichi, rushing into the city as quickly as possible to engage in street fighting with the enemy."
In the army headquarters, Sokov put down the phone and said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the attack in the direction of Baranovichi is going more smoothly than we imagined. Now Comrade Deputy Commander is sending Lieutenant Colonel Victor The 122nd Brigade is responsible for the main attack, and it seems that they are expected to be the first force to rush into the city."
"Comrade Commander, our troops in Baranovichi are still too weak and cannot be compared with General Batov." Sidorin said to Sokov: "If they launch an attack with all their strength, they should be the first to attack. The troops entering the city should belong to the 65th Army."
"Comrade Chief of Staff," Sokov disagreed with Sidorin's statement: "Victory or defeat on the battlefield cannot only depend on the strength and equipment of the troops, but also on the commander's use of tactics. If the strength of the troops is When the equipment and equipment are equal, it depends on which commander has greater ability.
Victor is my classmate at the Frunze Military Academy, and I know his abilities. Since he said he hoped to be the first unit to rush into Baranovichi, he must have thought carefully about it, and I believe he will do it. "
Sidorin was full of affection for this group of students from the Frunze Military Academy, and at the same time recognized their abilities. Now that Sokov said that Victor had the ability to command the troops to enter the city first, he also No more objections. However, he still reminded Sokov: "Comrade Commander, I am thinking about a question. If our troops are really the first to rush into the city, will they offend General Batov?"
Sidorin's concerns were justified. In order to eliminate the heavy German army group in the Baranovich area, Batov invested a large number of troops and launched a fierce battle with the enemy. If you get to the end of the fight and find that your troops, which are far inferior in strength and equipment, actually achieved the greatest results, you will definitely feel unbalanced.
But Sokov's worry only lasted for a minute or two, and then disappeared. He waved his hands and said to Sidorin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, you are worrying too much. General Bartov is an old soldier who has been in the army for more than 20 years. His mind is broader than you and I imagined." . He should know that the capture of Baranovichi is based on his own strength, so he will never be resentful towards us just because my troops entered the city before him."
"Comrade Commander," Seeing that Sokov was not worried about getting into trouble with Batov, Sidorin stopped mentioning the matter and changed the subject in time: "Since the German army is no longer attacking Minsk, do you think we can mobilize troops?" , to reinforce the troops attacking Baranovichi?"
It must be said that Sidorin's suggestion is very tempting. With the addition of new troops, the process of capturing the city can be greatly accelerated. But Sokov still rejected Sidorin's proposal: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we have two infantry divisions and an infantry brigade in the Baranovichi area, and our strength is sufficient."
Seeing that Sidorin wanted to say something more, he raised his hand to stop him: "Although the Germans have temporarily stopped their attack on Minsk, we still need to maintain a sufficient number of troops in this direction. In this way, we We can advance, attack, retreat or defend, firmly holding the initiative on the battlefield in our hands."
"Comrade Commander, you are right." Sidorin thought about Sokov's words carefully and felt that he was very reasonable. "Now we have launched a partial attack on the German army and have enough reserves in hand. When the Germans are about to lose their support, we can give them a hard blow and completely defeat them."
He pulled the map in front of Sokov, pointed to the schematic diagram of the situation between the enemy and ourselves and said: "Comrade Commander, now our 284th Infantry Division and 109th Brigade are attacking the German army's flanks and rear, causing them a certain amount of damage. Loss. Do you think we should invest in new troops and increase our attack intensity?"
Sokov did not express his position immediately, but asked thoughtfully: "Comrade Chief of Staff, which troops do you plan to put into battle?"
"Comrade Commander, this is what I think about." Sidorin said: "I plan to put the 211th Division and the 118th Brigade into battle. The artillery will provide them with artillery support, and the tank regiment directly under the group army will guide them in the new area. Attack."
After seeing the attack location envisaged by Sidorin, Sokov nodded and said with satisfaction: "The attack location is well chosen. Once the assault is effective, the enemies outside the city can be further divided, thus providing the opportunity for our army to annihilate them all." The enemy creates favorable conditions. I have no objection, just go ahead and assign the mission."
Besides, in the Baranovich area, the siege battle is continuing.
Victor, who had learned a lot from Sokov, actively used his brain and tried every means to speed up the siege. When he received a call from the commander of the third battalion saying that the unit had captured five Panzer IV tanks when it broke through the enemy's defenses, a bold idea suddenly came to his mind.
"Comrade Major," Victor asked into the microphone: "Can those five German tanks still be used?"
"I asked someone to see them. These five tanks are all in good condition." The third battalion commander replied on the other end of the phone: "But the fuel and ammunition have been exhausted, otherwise the Germans would not abandon them easily."
After learning that the five captured No. 4 tanks were still intact, Victor said: "Comrade Major, I will give you a difficult task now. Immediately send people to the nearby area to find fuel and ammunition to replenish these tanks. "
"Replenish fuel and ammunition for these tanks?" The third battalion commander heard what Victor said and asked with some confusion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you still plan to let us drive these tanks into Baranovi?" Is it strange?"
"Why not?" Victor said with a smile: "Think about it, if the Germans defending the city saw a few of their own tanks slowly driving into the city, what would they do?"
"Needless to say, the roadblocks must have been moved to allow the tanks to enter the city."
"Yes, that's exactly what it is." Victor continued: "Comrade Major, think about it, our soldiers drove captured German tanks into the city in a big way, and then took advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness to attack from What effect will they have if they launch an attack from behind?"
"The enemy's defense line will collapse immediately." The third battalion commander said with a smile: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is a good idea. Our soldiers can drive German tanks and enter the city of Baranovichi in a swagger."
But the next moment, the third battalion commander became frustrated again: "But, comrade brigade commander, if there is no infantry to accompany the attack, these tanks will soon be destroyed by German anti-tank crews."
Hearing what the third battalion commander said, Victor couldn't help laughing and scolding: "Comrade Major, I said you were smart before, but now you are stupid. Who told your tanks to attack the enemy as soon as they entered the city? They must have waited for us. The infantry can attack the city, reach a distance where they can join up with these tanks at any time, and then attack the enemy unexpectedly, and achieve good results."
"I understand, Comrade Brigade Commander." After the third battalion commander waited for Victor to finish speaking, he said with a smile: "I understand what you mean, and I will follow your instructions to attack the enemies in the city."
Ponijelin, who was sitting aside, waited for Victor to finish the call and said with a smile on his face: "Victor, I didn't expect that you learned a lot from Comrade Commander. If it were anything else When troops attack a city, they consider how to successfully break through the enemy's defense lines and rush into the city smoothly in one or two charges. However, the consequences of doing so often lead to a large number of casualties in the troops.
According to your tactics, let the commanders and fighters driving the tanks sneak into the city and choose a suitable location to hide. After the infantry approaches the enemy's defense line, they then rush out unexpectedly and attack the enemy. In this way, maximum results can be achieved with minimum casualties. "
The order was given, but it was very difficult to carry it out. You know, the reason why the German army abandoned these five tanks was because they had run out of ammunition and fuel, and they could not find a suitable supply location nearby. Now after the soldiers sent by the third battalion searched around, they still couldn't find the fuel and ammunition needed for the tank. Without fuel and ammunition, these captured tanks were nothing more than scrap metal.
Victor had no choice but to ask Ponejelin for help: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder if you can provide us with a batch of fuel and ammunition, otherwise these captured tanks will be just a pile of scrap metal."
For Ponejelin, this is also a difficult task. But for the sake of victory, he thought he should give it a try, so he called Onupryenko and asked directly: "General Onupryenko, are there any enemies in the area you occupy?" Warehouse? Is there any fuel or ammunition for tanks stored in it?"
But unexpectedly, as soon as he finished speaking, Onupriyenko began to complain to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, where is such a thing in the area occupied by our division? Our division has been resting for a long time. I wonder when we can get back into the fight?”
Ponejelin ignored Onupryenko's complaints and said to himself: "If you can get the fuel and ammunition needed for the tanks within an hour, I can consider reorganizing your division." Get into the fight.”
Hearing Ponejelin's words, Onupriyenko suddenly became excited: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I immediately sent people everywhere to look for fuel and ammunition for the tanks. You are waiting to hear my good news. Bar."
Seeing Ponejelin hang up the phone, Victor asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, can they really find tank fuel and ammunition?"
"It's hard to say." Ponejelin shook his head and said, "In addition to them, I can also contact the 1st Guards Division to see what the situation is like there."
When Tolstikov received the call from Ponedelin, he thought that the other party was going to assign him a combat mission, and he suddenly became excited: "Comrade Deputy Commander, have you informed our division to re-enter the battle?" ?"
"General Tolstikov, don't be anxious." Ponedelin said calmly: "It's not impossible to get your division into battle, but we need to wait until the infantry brigade breaks through the German defense line and opens the door. Let’s talk about it after we find the passage into the city.”
"Then when will the infantry brigade break through the German lines?"
"It's hard to say," Ponejelin said in a difficult tone: "The batch of German tanks captured by the infantry brigade now have no fuel and ammunition and cannot help them break through the enemy's defense line. I guess I have to wait for these tanks to be replenished. Only with fuel and ammunition can we have a chance to break through the enemy's defenses."
"Comrade Deputy Commander," Tolstikov finally saw a glimmer of hope and would not give up easily. He quickly assured Ponedelin: "I will immediately arrange for people to find the fuel and ammunition needed for the tank. I will inform you of the good news as soon as possible."
