In the evening, the belated tank brigade and artillery regiment finally arrived at the designated position.
In order to make up for the time lost on the road, after the artillery regiment set up its artillery positions, it launched a fierce artillery bombardment towards the German defensive positions. After half an hour of shelling, the tank brigade led thousands of commanders and fighters to launch a charge.
The German army did not expect that the Soviet army would suddenly attack their position when it was getting dark, and they were caught off guard. In less than ten minutes, the German army's first line of defense was occupied by the Soviet army.
The troops' attack went smoothly, and the two infantry division commanders had knowing smiles on their faces. They felt that they had not waited in vain for several hours. They were covered by artillery fire, tanks opened the way, and the infantry charged, and the position was easily captured. Next, , it depends on how much time it takes to completely annihilate this enemy.
But neither Yinsmeilov nor Liujikov realized that their progress was so smooth and there might be some conspiracy hidden in it. The two even began to discuss whether to report the progress of the troops to the army headquarters.
But Yinsmeilov thought about the problem further: "Colonel Liukikov, I don't think it is necessary to report our achievements to the group army headquarters yet."
After hearing this, Liu Jikov asked with some confusion: "Why?"
"The reason is very simple." Yinsmeilov pointed to the area where the fighting was still taking place in the distance and said to Liukikov: "According to the progress of our troops, it will take another hour at most to completely break the German encirclement. By then It’s not too late to report to the commander.”
When Liujikov heard that what the other party said made sense, he nodded and agreed to his proposal, preparing to wait until the troops broke through the German encirclement and rescued the Guards Cavalry Army that was trapped in the fortification area, and then they would attack the Soviet Union. It is not too late for Kove to report.
What they didn't expect was that while they were waiting for the arrival of the tank brigade and artillery regiment, the German army had urgently transferred an infantry division and two armored regiments from other areas. The troops and equipment in local areas were Already far beyond them.
When the Soviet army launched an attack on the German second line of defense, the newly arrived German infantry, under the cover of tanks, unexpectedly launched a counterattack. In less than a quarter of an hour, more than 20 Soviet tanks were destroyed and caused considerable casualties to the infantry following them.
Moreover, German bombers appeared in the air. They attacked Soviet tanks and infantry in the direction of the signal flares launched by the ground infantry.
Just as the Soviet offensive troops fell into chaos, Captain Kupala, the commander of the third tank battalion, discovered that the German infantry was indicating the bombing direction for the bombers in the air. He quickly sent a message to the tanks under his command through the vehicle-mounted radio. signal, ordering them to fire signal flares in the direction of the German tanks and infantry, in order to confuse the audience and confuse the judgment of the German pilots.
As the order was given, about twenty green flares flew towards the place where German tanks and infantry gathered. It was getting a little dark now, and the German bombers in the air couldn't tell whether the tanks and infantry on the ground were their own or the Soviets. They all attacked according to the direction guided by the green signal flares.
Now that I saw so many flares flying towards the same place, I thought it was where the Soviet troops gathered, so I immediately lowered my altitude and bombed the place indiscriminately. By the time they received the telegram from the ground troops and knew that they had bombed the wrong person, the Soviet army, which had suffered considerable losses, had already retreated to their starting position.
The failure of the attack made Yinsmeilov and Liugekov blame themselves. They jointly sent a telegram to Sokov explaining the failure of the attack and requesting punishment.
Sokov received a telegram and was surprised to learn that the troops relieving the Guards Cavalry had suffered heavy losses during the attack. But then he thought about it, now several troops were fighting together, but he did not assign a unified command to them. Therefore, when they saw that the troops were progressing smoothly, the two were greedy for success and inevitably made mistakes in tactical command.
Seeing that Sokov remained silent after reading the telegram, Ponedelin thought that he was considering how to deal with these two incompetent division commanders, so he quickly said: "Comrade Commander, I feel that the failure of the offensive cannot be entirely blamed. After all, these two division commanders had many troops participating in the war, but they did not have a unified command. Therefore, when the troops were progressing smoothly, they were eager to destroy the enemy and did not think of leaving enough troops to consolidate and occupy the area. As a result, after the attack was frustrated, the area originally occupied was also lost."
"You are right, Comrade Deputy Commander, I did not consider this matter carefully, and I am also responsible for the failure of the attack." Sokov agreed with Ponedelin's statement, "I plan to I’ll send you over to take unified command of the troops relieving the siege. If you feel the troops are not enough, I can transfer two more infantry brigades to you.”
"The existing troops are enough." Ponejelin said: "Although we have occupied Brest, there are still remaining enemies nearby, and we must leave enough troops for defense."
"Okay." Seeing that Ponejelin was unwilling to send more troops, Sokov did not force him. He just told him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, you have the final say on all matters at the front. If there is anything If necessary, please feel free to call us and we will fully support you.”
Just after Ponedelin was about to leave, Sokov remembered something and quickly stopped him: "Comrade Deputy Commander, please wait a moment, I have one more thing I haven't said."
Ponedelin stopped and asked curiously: "What's going on? Are you dealing with the two division commanders Yinsmeilov and Liukikov? Comrade Commander, now that the war is imminent, I think the treatment of them can be postponed for a while. time."
"Comrade Deputy Commander, you misunderstood." Seeing that Ponedelin had misunderstood what he meant, Sokov quickly explained to him: "I am not talking about how to deal with the two division commanders, but for another matter. thing."
"Another thing?" Ponejelin asked, "What is it?"
"This is the case," Sokov said: "When our troops were bombed by enemy planes and counterattacked by ground troops, it was Captain Kupala, commander of the third battalion of the 202nd Tank Brigade, who stayed calm in the face of danger and decisively ordered his men to move towards the enemy. He fired signal flares at the enemy's gathering area and guided German aircraft to attack his own troops, thus making a great contribution to our army's smooth withdrawal from the battlefield. I plan to commend him. Do you have any objections? ?”
"No, Comrade Commander." After Ponejelin said this, he realized that he answered too quickly, and quickly added: "Although it is not the right time to award medals at this moment, I think it can still be done to promote him to military rank. Arrived."
After hearing this, Sokov nodded and said cheerfully: "He is now a captain. When you arrive at the front, you will announce in public that in recognition of Captain Kupala's heroic performance and witty behavior on the battlefield, he has been promoted to the rank of captain." Rank of Major."
After hearing this, Ponejelin nodded and said: "I think it is quite appropriate to promote him to the rank of major. After all, he is only a battalion commander now. When he serves as the tank brigade commander one day, he will be promoted to lieutenant colonel. It’s not too late to be a colonel.”
"Any merit must be rewarded, and any fault must be punished." Sokov continued to say to Ponedelin: "When you arrive at the front, after commending Captain Kupala, you should commend the two division commanders Yinsmeilov and Liukikov. We must not let them go and severely criticize their behavior of underestimating the enemy.”
“Do I need to ask them to write a check?”
"There is no need to write an inspection." Sokov waved his hand and said: "You tell them that in the next battle, it depends on the performance of the two of them. If they perform well, then forget about it; but if there is still disappointment, , then their punishment will definitely be indispensable. I understand, Comrade Deputy Commander."
"I understand what you mean, Comrade Commander." Ponejelin nodded and said, "We must put some appropriate pressure on them, so that we can force them to maximize their potential."
Ponejelin came to the front and immediately called a meeting of commanders above the battalion level. After everyone gathered, he announced in public that Captain Kupala had been officially promoted to major because he was not afraid of danger and protected the main force from the enemy's attack, successfully withdrawing from the battlefield. At the same time, after the battle, he will also receive a medal matching his merits.
As soon as Ponijelin's words came out, there was an uproar in the room. Everyone envied Kupala's good luck. He fired a few signal flares and was promoted from captain to major. At the same time, after the battle, he would also receive a medal matching his merits.
After praising Kupala, Ponedelin began to criticize Yinsmeilov and Liukikov, saying that they underestimated the enemy on the battlefield and did not leave enough manpower to consolidate the enemy's position after occupying it. As a result, after encountering a crazy counterattack by the enemy, not only did the captured positions fail to be captured, but they even almost fell into an encirclement by the German army.
Yinsmeilov, who was sitting on the staff, thought that after Ponedelin criticized the two of them, he would announce the order to remove him in public. But unexpectedly, after the criticism, Ponejelin actually began to assign combat tasks to various units, as if he had forgotten the two of them.
Yinsmeilov finally waited for Ponedelin to finish speaking, and quickly asked tentatively: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I wonder what the superiors plan to do with us?"
"How should I deal with you?" Ponejelin said with some surprise: "Didn't I just criticize you severely? What kind of punishment do you want?"
Yinsmeilov replied with some embarrassment: "Due to our command errors, the troops suffered such serious casualties. We were not at ease, thinking that even if we were not sent to a military court, we would probably be demoted. No. It's really surprising to think that he was criticizing us in public."
Ponejelin sneered and said: "Do you think the punishment is too light? If so, I can announce the dismissal of both of you now and send them to a military court."
Ponedelin's words startled Yinsmeilov. He waved his hands hurriedly and said, "Comrade Deputy Commander, don't worry. We will never let you down in the next battle."
Ponejelin snorted coldly, and then said: "Although we won't do any organizational processing for you this time, don't be too happy too early. If the next attack goes well and your performance is good, that's it. Until then. But if you make any mistakes again, I'm sorry, Comrade Commander and I will deal with your official business."
Next, Ponejelin continued to arrange combat tasks, but a staff officer came in from outside, quickly came to Yinsmeilov's side, bent down and leaned close to his ear, ready to say something.
Upon seeing this, Ponijelin coughed heavily, and then asked in a stern tone: "Who is this? Why didn't you shout a report before entering the door?!"
When the staff officer heard what Ponejelin said, he quickly stood up straight and reported to the other party: "Comrade Deputy Commander, I am the staff officer of the 284th Infantry Division. I just received a notification that traces of German troops were found nearby. I think It was necessary to report to the division commander, so I hurried over."
When Yinsmeilov learned that there were traces of German troops nearby, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. He instinctively looked at Ponedelin, hoping that he would announce the adjournment of the meeting immediately, so that he could lead people to the place where the traces of German troops were found to investigate. What is going on and formulate corresponding disposal measures.
But Ponedelin's next performance greatly exceeded Yinsmeilov's expectations. Ponejelin looked at the staff officer and asked: "Comrade staff officer, please tell me how many troops and what kind of equipment the enemy has appeared nearby?"
Ponejelin's words stopped the staff officer. It took him a long time before he replied: "It was a company commander below who called the division headquarters and said that Germans appeared near his defense area. I think it is necessary." Report……"
"Aside from the report, did you take any other steps?"
The staff officer was stunned and thought to himself that after something like this happened, according to the regulations, shouldn't it be reported to the superior, who would then decide what to do? What else can we do without orders from our superiors?
Seeing that the staff member was silent, Ponejelin couldn't help but feel a little angry. He said to the staff member: "Go back and contact the company commander immediately and let them understand the size of the Germans and the weapons and equipment they possess. Hurry up. Go, I'll give you ten minutes. Once the time is up, I will hear an accurate answer."
After hearing Ponedelin's order, the staff did not immediately execute it. Instead, he stood there and looked at Yinsmeilov for help.
Yinsmeilov said: "Comrade staff, didn't you hear the deputy commander's order? Hurry up and carry out the order." After saying that, he gently pushed the other party's shoulder with his hand to urge him. Hurry and carry out Ponejelin's orders.
After the staff left, Ponejelin continued: "Next, I will continue to assign your combat missions to each unit. I hope everyone can listen clearly..."
When Ponedelin spoke, Yinsmelov had no intention of listening. He kept glancing at the door, wanting to see if the staff officer had completed his task, reappeared at the door, and came in to report to Ponedelin.
The strangeness of Yinsmeilov was quickly noticed by Ponedelin. He tapped his hand on the table in front of Yinsmeilov and said displeasedly: "Comrade Colonel, what are you thinking about? Be attentive and careful. Listen to the tasks I assign."
