Although Sokov gave the troops an order to stop the attack and switch to defense on the spot, some troops still did not carry out his order. More than a dozen tanks from the third battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade were following the 65th Brigade of the 11th Guards Tank Corps, rushing towards the small town of Kotong, which was more than ten kilometers away.
Lieutenant Kawachuk, the commander of the first company, rode a T-34/85 and rushed to the front of the entire battalion. According to the instructions of the battalion commander, Captain Kupala, they kept a distance of three to four kilometers from friendly tanks to avoid confusion due to difficulty in identification during the battle.
There are five people in the tank. In addition to Kavachuk, there are driver Sergeant Sorokin, gunner Sergeant Asan, loader Sergeant Yakushev and electromechanical operator Corporal Blova.
When the tank traveled four or five kilometers away from Kotong, it was intercepted by German artillery fire. Kavacchuk saw through the observation hole that the friendly tanks ahead were continuously destroyed by German artillery fire and were burning on the road. Looking at the scene in front of him, he couldn't suppress the fear in his heart. You must know that among these burning tanks, there were comrades who fought alongside him not long ago, but now they have turned into charred corpses.
"Lieutenant Kawachuk, what happened up front?" The voice of battalion commander Captain Kupala came from the radio: "Why do I see a lot of thick smoke rising?"
"Comrade Battalion Commander," Kawachuk hurriedly reported to the battalion commander: "The advancing friendly tank group was bombarded by German heavy artillery. Many tanks were destroyed and were burning on the road. What you see What you see is the thick smoke rising from the burning tanks."
After a moment of silence, Kupala's voice came from the earphones: "Keep going, Comrade Lieutenant, keep going! Only by continuing to advance toward Kotong can we avoid the fate of the tank being destroyed by enemy fire."
"Yes, keep moving forward to escape the fate of being destroyed by German artillery fire." After Kawachuk repeated Kupala's order, he told the driver Sorokin sitting next to him: "Sergeant Sorokin, speed up!"
Sorokin agreed and increased the speed of the tank to the fastest speed, and it was not in a straight line to avoid being hit by German artillery fire. The tank traveling at high speed trembled violently, bumped, and swayed from side to side as the tracks rose and fell. But Kavacchuk ignored the bumps of the tank and still observed the movement ahead through the observation hole.
At this moment, they saw that they were approaching a small town. Kawachuk saw two German tanks parked next to the collapsed building on the right side of the road. The muzzles were pointed at the location of his tank, and he quickly issued a command. : "Load armor-piercing rounds!"
"The armor-piercing ammunition is loaded!" Sergeant Yakushev, the loader, responded with a hoarse voice.
The tank stopped suddenly and locked onto one of the German tanks in the shortest possible time. Upon seeing this, Kawachukko immediately ordered the gunfire. The armor-piercing bullet roared out of the barrel and accurately hit the observation hole of the tank. A moment later, from the open hatch on the top of the turret, fire and smoke suddenly shot up like an erupting volcano. Two tank soldiers who were on fire got out from under the vehicle. Regardless of the danger of being shot by machine guns, they turned around and fled further away.
Another German tank saw that its comrade was destroyed by the speeding Soviet tanks. It hesitated for a moment and quickly reversed back behind the building to avoid possible attacks.
At this time, the IS-2 tank of the battalion commander Captain Kupala rushed up and rushed directly towards the collapsed building. The tank parked next to the building and fired at the German tank hiding behind. Just one shot blew away the opponent's turret.
In the subsequent attack, the battalion commander's IS-2 rushed to the front of the entire battalion, and at the same time became the target of anti-tank firepower hidden nearby. The German anti-tank guns fired very accurately, hitting the target again and again. This heavy tank was hit by artillery shells repeatedly, and fireballs splashed from time to time on the turret. However, the IS-2's armor could withstand attacks from German small-caliber anti-tank guns, and these attacks did not slow down its advance at all.
Seeing the battalion commander rushing to the front, Kavachuk pointed forward with his hand and said to Sergeant Sorokin: "Comrade Sergeant, follow the battalion commander's tank, and don't fall behind!"
"Understood, comrade company commander." Sorokin replied loudly: "Wherever the battalion commander's tanks are, I will appear there."
The German long-range artillery fire had stopped shelling because it was bombed by Soviet bombers. The Soviet tank troops that rushed into the town were fighting with the town's defenders.
Compared with the copper and iron fortifications that defended the city, the poor defense in the town was not worth mentioning. Those German soldiers who were hiding in the building and shooting just fired a few shots before they were locked by the Soviet tanks and bombarded by the Soviet tanks. Even if they were not killed on the spot, they would be buried by the collapsed masonry and rubble.
In less than forty minutes, the entire town was occupied by Soviet tank troops.
The newly arrived 36th Tank Brigade and the 12th Motorized Infantry Brigade took over the offensive mission of the 65th Tank Brigade and continued to rush in the direction of Toon, preparing to capture the city.
However, the Third Battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade under Sokov stopped planning to continue the attack due to lack of ammunition and fuel. The battalion commander, Captain Kupala, reported the combat situation of his battalion to the brigade commander through the vehicle-mounted radio, and reported the troops' lack of fuel and ammunition to the other party.
He finally said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if our battalion is replenished with enough ammunition and fuel, I am confident that I will lead the troops to be the first to rush into Kotong City."
"It's nonsense, it's nonsense." Unexpectedly, the brigade commander said angrily after hearing this: "Comrade Commander has issued an order to stop the attack and turn to defense on the spot. How dare you disobey the order and lead the troops to attack the enemy's position without authorization? We launch an attack on the city, and if the troops suffer heavy losses, you can expect to be court-martialed."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," Kupala was frightened by the brigade commander's words and broke into a cold sweat, then said, "I will immediately count the casualties of the troops and then report to you."
After ending the call, he got out of the tank and asked his three company commanders to come over and report the damage.
Soon, the statistical results came out. The battalion originally had 27 tanks of various types, but 7 were lost when seizing Sedelce, leaving 20 tanks remaining. In the battle that ended not long ago, three more vehicles were lost, and now there are still 17 vehicles left.
After listening to the statistical speed of each company commander, Kupala felt a little more at ease. Although his troops suffered a lot of losses in today's battle, most of their strength was still preserved. In other words, the combat effectiveness of our own battalion did not suffer much loss in today's battle.
While everyone was talking, some people appeared on the street. These Polish people looked at the Soviet troops on the street and showed no joy at all. It can be seen that they did not welcome the Soviet troops who appeared in the town.
At this time, a young woman wearing a headscarf quickly walked up to Kupala and Kawachuk and asked in Russian: "Comrade commander, which unit are you from?"
Upon hearing the woman's question, Kawachuk asked warily: "Why are you asking this?"
The woman said with a smile: "I just want to know which part of the Soviet army that liberated this town belonged to."
Kupala stared at the woman for a long time and felt that she did not look like a bad person. He thought that telling the number of his unit would not be considered a leak, so he said carelessly: "We are a tank brigade affiliated with the 48th Group Army."
"The 48th Army?!" Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the woman's eyes widened in surprise: "Are you Misha's subordinate?"
The woman's words made Kupala stunned: "Who is Misha?"
"Misha is General Sokov." The woman said emotionally, "Are you the troops under his command?"
Hearing the woman's affectionate address to her commander, Kupala asked tentatively: "Girl, can you tell me what your relationship is with our commander?"
"Comrade Captain," the woman glanced at Kupala's rank and asked tentatively, "Can the radio in your tank contact the army headquarters?"
"Although my radio cannot directly contact the Army Headquarters, it can contact the brigade headquarters first, and then the brigade headquarters will contact the Army Headquarters." After Kupala said this, he continued to ask: "But in Before that, I must know your identity, girl.”
"Okay, if Misha asks, just say my name is Agelina, and he will know who I am." Perhaps to increase her persuasion, she also pointed to the tank parked next to her and said, "I remember Misha installed a telephone on the back of the tank so that people outside could talk to the people inside the tank."
Kupala was originally a little skeptical about Agelina's identity, but after hearing what she said, he immediately realized that what she said might be true. Although there are many tanks equipped with telephones in the tank brigade, not many people know that this was Sokov's invention. He quickly and politely said to Agelina: "Comrade Agelina, please wait a moment, I will contact the commander for you immediately."
While Sokov was talking to Ponedelin and Sidorin in the headquarters, discussing how to solve the problem of weapons, the phone on the table rang.
Sidorin picked up the phone and listened for a moment, then turned to Sokov and said: "Comrade Commander, the commander of the tank brigade said that one of his battalion commanders named Kupala was stationed a few kilometers west of Sedelce. I met an acquaintance of yours in town.”
"An acquaintance of mine?" Sokov asked in confusion, "Who is it?"
"Captain Kupala said that the girl called herself Agelina." Sidorin said to Sokov: "The other party specifically emphasized that as long as you say her name, you will know who she is."
"Yes, I do know a girl named Adelina." When Sokov heard Adelina's name, he couldn't help being secretly surprised. The last time he met her was in the underground opposite Lubyanka. How could she be in Poland while she was recuperating in the hospital? But if he wanted to figure this out, he had to wait until Agelina came here, so he said to Sidorin: "Tell the tank brigade commander to arrange for someone to send the girl Agelina here immediately." .Remember, you must ensure her safety."
Sidorin nodded and said into the microphone: "Comrade brigade commander, the commander said that the girl is indeed his friend and asks you to send her safely to the army headquarters as soon as possible. Do you understand?"
After Sidorin put down the phone, Ponedelin asked Sokov curiously: "Comrade Commander, who is this girl named Agelina? I feel that you seem nervous when you hear her name."
"How should I put it, he can be considered a friend." Sokov considered that Adelina would be here soon, and it would be impossible to completely avoid Ponedelin and Sidorin in some conversations with her, so Then he told the two of them the process of getting to know Agelina and her identity.
After understanding Agelina's identity, Ponejelin nodded and said: "Comrade Commander, if this Agelina is responsible for lurking inside the enemy to collect intelligence, she may appear here for Send some important information in person. Do you think we should contact the front army headquarters first and let them be responsible for arranging this matter? "
"Don't be anxious yet." Sokov waved his hands and said: "Although there is a high chance that she will pass on important information when she appears here, it is best to understand the specific situation first and then report it to the superior."
"Okay then." Ponejelin felt that what Sokov said made sense, so he agreed with him: "Then we will decide whether to report to our superiors after Agelina arrives."
Although Sokov knew that Agelina was coming from the small town west of Sedelce, it would definitely take a lot of time on the way. But he didn't expect to wait until early in the morning before Agelina appeared at the army headquarters.
After seeing Sokov, Agelina stepped forward and gave him a warm hug: "Misha, I'm so happy to see you here. When I was trapped in the small town, I thought I couldn't leave the town alive, but I didn't expect that your troops rushed into the town with tanks and wiped out the defenders inside, which gave me hope again."
Sokov gently patted Agelina on the back, comforted her and said: "Agelina, you will be completely safe when you come to my place. You must be very tired, why don't you go and rest first? What's the matter? , Let’s wait until daybreak.”
Unexpectedly, Agelina let go of Sokov after hearing this. She took two steps back and said to Sokov: "No, Misha, I can't rest now. I have important information and need to report it to my superiors immediately. "
"Important information?" Sokov asked tentatively: "What is it about?"
Hearing Sokov ask herself, Agelina hesitated for a moment, and finally said: "This information comes from the German headquarters in Warsaw. It is related to the next combat deployment of our army and needs to be reported to the superior immediately."
"Since it is important information," Sokov heard that it was an important situation, and asked with some confusion: "Then why didn't you use the radio to send the report, but took the risk to send the information?"
"Our intelligence system in Warsaw has been destroyed by the Germans because of the betrayal of the traitors." Ajelina said with a solemn expression: "Because I have always had a single line of contact, and the comrade responsible for contacting me was captured by the German army. I died during the arrest, so my identity was not exposed. Because the information I obtained was very important, and there was no radio station to send the report to, I had no choice but to leave Warsaw in disguise and prepare to deliver the information myself."
Sokov did not ask any more questions, because he knew very well that the content of the intelligence involved confidentiality. No matter how close he was to Agelina, she would not tell him: "Agelina, I will give it to Luo right now." Marshal Kossovsky called to see what arrangements he was going to make with you.”
(End of chapter)
