Under the huge trend of interests, Tolstikov sent people to deliver the found fuel and ammunition to the 122nd Brigade's position in less than an hour. The tanks, which had been replenished with fuel and ammunition, started with a rumble and drove in a line along the road towards Baranovichi.
When the German officers and soldiers at the entrance to the city saw five of their own tanks approaching, they hurriedly moved the iron tripods placed on the road so as not to block the tanks' path.
After the five tanks entered the city through the road opened by the German soldiers, they did not continue to drive towards the city, but stopped in a small square nearby. After the tank stopped, because the tank soldiers inside did not come out, the enemy who was close to Chichi did not know that the tank soldiers in their own tanks were actually Soviet commanders and soldiers in disguise.
Through the telescope, Victor saw five tanks successfully entering Baranovichi. He couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Then he reported to Poniejlin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the tanks have entered the city. We have Is it possible to launch an attack now?"
"Okay, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Ponejelin nodded and said, "Let your troops immediately launch another attack on the city."
As the order was issued, the Soviet troops staying in the outer positions launched an attack on Baranovich. The troops participating in the attack included Victor's 122nd Brigade and Tolstikov's 1st Guards Division. The two troops quickly rushed towards the city from different directions.
Seeing the Soviet commanders and fighters approaching the edge of the city, the German troops who stood here opened fire decisively, trying to use machine gun and mortar firepower to block the attacking troops outside the city.
The Soviet army, which was hit by machine guns and mortars, suffered some casualties, but the remaining commanders and fighters were still approaching the German positions. The fastest warrior was only a hundred or ten meters away from the first trench.
An officer came to the tank parked in the square and rapped the tank's body with the handle of his gun, trying to attract the attention of the tank's crew.
Soon, the hatch of a tank opened, and a tank soldier wearing a black jumpsuit and a tank crewman emerged from inside. He asked the officer who was knocking on the tank: "Lieutenant, what's the matter?"
"Mr. Captain," the officer raised his head and said to the tank soldier who leaned out of the tank: "The Russians have launched an attack on our city. Please immediately support the defenders in front with artillery fire to prevent the Russians from rushing into the city."
"Don't worry, I will immediately order all the tanks to fire." After the tank soldier finished speaking, he retracted into the tank and closed the top hatch.
Soon, several tanks slowly turned their turrets and pointed their muzzles at the fighting area. The next moment, five tanks fired one after another, and the shells that escaped did not hit the Soviet offensive line, but landed on the German machine gun fire points or mortar positions. The first round of shooting directly destroyed two machine guns and a mortar.
The German lieutenant who had not gone far saw that the tank's gunfire failed to hit the Soviet army, but destroyed his own fire point. He quickly ran back and shouted to the tank that was about to fire: "Stop, stop quickly, you guys You hit one of your own."
The top cover was opened again, and the tank soldier just came out again and said to the German officer: "Yes, it's you we're going to fight." After saying that, he raised his pistol and fired three shots at the officer.
The officer who was caught off guard was shot immediately. He covered his wound and slowly turned half a circle on the spot, then fell softly to the ground.
When the surrounding soldiers saw this, they immediately understood that the people in the tank were not their own, but Russians, and they came up from all around with weapons in hand. But how could the Soviet commanders and fighters in the tanks succeed in their plot? They used vehicle-mounted machine guns to shoot in all directions, knocking down the charging enemies one after another.
While the tank soldiers were firing with machine guns, they also did not forget to bombard the German positions in front with artillery fire, destroying those firepower points that posed a threat to the attacking troops one by one.
With the support of tanks, the attacking Soviet commanders and fighters broke through the German positions and rushed into the city one after another. The Soviet tank soldiers who were staying in the German tank were worried that the troops rushing in would mistake them for the enemy, so they quickly stretched a submachine gun with a red flag tied out of the tank and told the rushing commanders and soldiers that this was their own tank. rather than the enemy.
The raised red flag was indeed effective. The Soviet commanders and soldiers who rushed over saw the red flag and knew that the tank was their own, so they bypassed the tank and rushed deeper into the city along the street.
Seeing the troops rushing into the city, Victor couldn't help but be overjoyed and said repeatedly to Ponijelin: "Comrade Deputy Commander, rush forward, rush forward, my troops rush forward."
"I saw it." Ponejelin nodded and said calmly: "Your brigade fought well this time, but you can't be proud. But as far as I can see, there are still many problems in it. Wait for the battle After it’s over, organize the commanders and fighters to discuss the gains and losses of this battle.”
"Understood, Comrade Deputy Commander." Victor nodded and said: "After the battle is over, I will organize the commanders and soldiers to conduct a summary, find out the shortcomings in this battle, and correct them in future battles. "
After a pause, he asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, look, my troops have already rushed into the city. Can we report our victory to Comrade Commander?"
"Don't be anxious, Lieutenant Colonel Victor." After Ponejelin rejected the other party's proposal, he continued: "The troops rushed into the city. This is only the first step to liberate the city. Next, our troops will be in the city." There will be a street battle with the enemy here. As for the victory, I think we can wait a little longer."
"Okay," since Ponejelin said this, Victor could only say helplessly: "Then wait until our brigade has planted its flag on the highest point of the municipal building, and then it will not be too late to report the victory to Comrade Commander."
However, things are unpredictable. Just when Victor was regretting that he could not report his victory to Sokov in time, Sokov called first: "Lieutenant Colonel Victor? This is Sokov. You What's the situation there, and when will we rush into the city?"
"My vanguard has rushed into the city and is engaged in fierce street fighting with the enemy."
"Oh, the troops have already rushed into the city." Sokov did not expect that Victor's troops would break through the German city defenses in such a short period of time and rush into the city to fight with the enemy in the streets: "What an order. It’s exciting news, but why didn’t you report it to me in time?”
"This is all my idea." Ponejelin took the microphone from Victor's hand, put it to his ear and explained to Sokov: "There are always many uncertainties in siege warfare. I am worried that the battle will There was a lot of back and forth, so Victor was not asked to report to you immediately. Comrade Commander, you don’t blame me for making my own decision, do you?”
"How could it be, deputy commander." Sokov said reasonably: "Since I have given you command of the assault force, you have the final say in everything there."
"Comrade Commander, how is the situation in Minsk?" Ponedelin asked: "Is the enemy still attacking?"
Sokov heard the other party's words and said to him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, the enemy's attack on the German troops in Kiev has completely stopped. It is probably that Model has changed his strategy and does not intend to continue attacking the city. Instead, he is trying to Use the troops at hand to rescue the 4th and 9th armies that are besieged near Minsk."
"By the way," before Sokov put down the phone, he suddenly remembered something important and asked tentatively, "What's going on with General Bartov?"
"From the observation post where we are, we can hear intensive gunfire from the other side of the city." Ponejelin replied: "But I don't know how they are progressing and whether they have broken through the German fortifications. ”
"I will directly ask Comrade General about this matter later. If there is any latest news, I will inform you in time." Sokov said: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please tell Lieutenant Colonel Victor that he and His men are all good."
After Sokov finished calling the assault force, he ordered the director of the communications corps to answer the phone at the front army headquarters. Sokov took the phone and Rokossovsky's voice came from the earphone: "Hey, it's Mi Sand?"
"Yes, Comrade General, I am Sokov."
"What's the situation like there?" Rokossovsky asked with concern: "Have the troops rushed into the city?"
"That's right, Comrade General, your news is really fast." Sokov waited for Rokossovsky to finish and said jokingly: "I just learned that my troops have rushed into the city. I wanted to report this good news to you, but I didn’t expect you to know it first.”
"Where did I get any information?" Rokossovsky replied with a smile: "I just made a bold assumption based on the battle situation and your combat characteristics."
"Comrade General, I wonder what the situation is like with General Bartov?" Sokov said cautiously: "My subordinates reported to me that when they were attacking the city, they heard a fierce roar from the other end of the city. The sound of gunfire and explosions suggests that General Batov’s troops are also attacking the city.”
"You guessed it right, they are indeed attacking the city." Rokossovsky said to Sokov: "Originally, General Bartov felt that after successive battles, the army's troop numbers were greatly reduced, and the remaining The commanders and fighters also became exhausted and found it difficult to continue fighting, so they decisively ordered the troops to suspend the attack and prepare to launch an attack on the city after completing their rest.
Unfortunately, as soon as he issued such an order, Marshal Zhukov went directly to his headquarters and ordered him to resume the attack on Baranovichi as quickly as possible. In this way, General Bartov issued new orders to the troops, allowing them to continue attacking the city. "
When Sokov heard what Rokossovsky said, he thought to himself: after the troops received the order to stop the attack and rest on the spot, they would definitely relax the tight string. Unexpectedly, not long after the break, the attack would be resumed. The commanders and soldiers had not yet adjusted their mentality and rushed into battle, fearing that their combat effectiveness would be greatly reduced.
But just think about this kind of thing in your heart. If you say it out, you will inevitably offend many people. So he said with regret: "That would be such a pity. If we had continued the attack in one go, the troops might have broken through the German defenses and rushed into the city."
"Yes." Rokossovsky unexpectedly agreed with Sokov's statement: "If I were in Batov's army, there are only two ways. One is what you just said It is very possible to break through the German fortifications in one go and liberate our troubled city.
Another option is to extend the rest period so that the commanders and fighters have enough time to recover their physical strength. Although this gave the Germans time to reinforce their defenses, it would not take long for the recharged troops to defeat the enemy after they rejoined the battle. "
The two chatted for a long time around the topic of Baranovich. Rokossovsky remembered that Sokov was now commanding the troops to hold on to Minsk, and asked curiously: "By the way, how is the situation there?"
"My troops have rushed into Baranovichi and are engaged in fierce street fighting with the enemy." Sokov said hesitantly: "If General Batov's troops can enter the city quickly, then the liberation can be shortened." The time Baranovic needs.”
"No, no, no, Misha, you are mistaken." Rokossovsky interrupted Sokov's words and explained to him: "I am asking how the enemy situation is near Minsk?"
"The enemy has completely stopped attacking Minsk." Sokov hurriedly replied: "But since they have attacked my defense area, it is not disrespectful to go back and forth. I sent two divisions and two brigades to attack the German army. Implemented a fierce counterattack."
"Well done, really beautiful." Rokossovsky said: "I was originally worried about whether Minsk could hold on, but now it seems that my perspective of thinking about the problem was not appropriate.
There are hundreds of thousands of our troops surrounding the city. It is impossible for the German army to devote all its troops to capture Minsk from our army. What they can do now is to rescue the encircled 4th and 9th Group Armies to avoid being completely annihilated by our army! "
"Comrade General." Sokov knew very well that his mission of defending Minsk had been completed. Now sending two divisions and two brigades to attack the German army was nothing more than a sigh of relief in his heart. The next thing to do is to hand over the city so that he can lead the main force of the group army and rush over to report to Ponejelin: "I want to ask, who do you plan to replace my defense?"
"I have already called Lieutenant General Gorbatov of the 3rd Army." Rokossovsky explained to Sokov: "Since the army lacks the means of transportation to transport troops, they can only use March to Minsk on foot. I think we should be able to reach Minsk at noon tomorrow at the latest. By then, you can safely and boldly hand over the city to friendly forces."
Hearing that friendly forces would not arrive until noon tomorrow, Sokov couldn't help but frown slightly. If we followed normal procedures and waited for the troops of the 3rd Army to arrive before conducting a comprehensive defense change, at least another half day would have passed. When the main force of the group army rushes to join Ponejelin's troops, it will have to wait until the day after tomorrow at the earliest. This means that Ponejelin's troops will not receive any reinforcements for two days and can only rely on themselves. Use the existing troops and equipment to capture this city occupied by the German army.
