After assigning combat missions to his subordinates, Panov called Batov and told him his plan. Finally, he said: "Comrade Commander, before our army attacks, we hope to receive artillery fire from the group army's artillery." support."
In response to Panov's request, Bartov readily agreed: "No problem. Before your tank attack begins, I will carry out artillery bombardment on the enemy's defensive positions for an hour, destroying as many enemy defenses as possible. To reduce the resistance you encounter when attacking."
The Don Tank Army's designation is the 1st Guards Tank Corps. The army was established in Moscow Oblast in July 1942. Its initial designation was the 26th Tank Corps.
Soon after its formation, it was incorporated into the 5th Tank Army. Before mid-November, it was transferred to the Stalingrad area to prepare for the offensive. On November 19, 1942, the 2nd echelon of the 5th Tank Army entered the battle, broke through the German defensive positions in the Blinovsky and Korotkovsky areas, and headed south towards Perelazovsky. , Karachi direction of rapid development of offensive. On the night of November 21, Lieutenant Colonel Filipov of the army led the detachment and drove swaggeringly on the road with the car lights on, entering the Don River crossing in the Karachi area. The German army mistook it for its own retreating tank column and allowed it to rush towards the only bridge over the Don River without any obstruction. It was precisely because of the carelessness of the German army that they were completely wiped out by the advance detachment. The advance detachment then established a ring defense and controlled the bridge until the main force of the army arrived.
The tank corps participated in the battle to encircle and annihilate the German army under the city of Stalingrad, and achieved brilliant results, thus winning the title of Guards and was renamed the 1st Guards Tank Corps. Later, he again won the honorary title of Don River Tank Corps for his repeated outstanding achievements in the Don River battle.
The offensive battle officially kicked off the next day. Hundreds of artillery pieces from the 65th Group Army fired at the enemy's defensive positions. The rising smoke soon enveloped the German positions.
Seeing that the bombardment was about to end, more than 80 tanks of the 19th Tank Brigade took the lead in rushing towards the German positions that were still covered by artillery fire and smoke. In order to shorten the impact distance of the infantry, before the tank brigade attacked, the brigade commander Colonel Filipov asked the accompanying infantry to ride in tanks to participate in the charge.
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When the tank brigade was still five or six hundred meters away from the German position, the group army's artillery fire began to extend, and the German observation posts in the trenches also discovered the Soviet tank group. They immediately blew their whistles and fired towards the Soviet tanks hidden in the anti-gun holes and shelters. The companions issued a battle alarm.
The German officers and soldiers who received the alert responded quickly. They rushed out of the shell-proof holes and shelters where they were hiding and entered their respective combat positions. After a while, two mortars were already firing at the rushing Soviet tanks.
Due to the hasty firing, the shells had no accuracy at all. The two shells in the first round both landed a hundred meters away from the Soviet tank, and did not cause any casualties at all.
Seeing that the first round of attacks was ineffective, the German mortar crews immediately readjusted their firing angles and fired at the approaching tank group again. The shells fired this time were accurate. One of them missed, and the other one landed next to the tank and exploded. The flying shrapnel hit the two soldiers sitting on the tank, causing them to fall headfirst from the tank. Come down.
Colonel Filipov, who was driving a tank in the middle, saw this and quickly informed his subordinates through the vehicle radio: "Everyone pay attention, everyone pay attention. The enemy is about to start shelling us. In order to reduce unnecessary casualties of the infantry, let all the troops be fired immediately." The infantry should dismount and walk. Repeat, immediately have all the infantry dismount and walk."
After hearing Filipov's order, all the tanks slowed down. The tank commanders opened the hatches one after another, telling the infantrymen sitting on the tanks to get off and follow the tanks to attack.
Filipov's order was issued promptly, and the next moment, the machine guns on the German position began to fire. Fortunately, the infantry had already disembarked from the tank and were advancing behind the tank towards the German position. Most of the bullets fired from the machine guns hit the tank, splashing countless sparks, but they posed no threat to the infantry behind the tank. , but it is almost negligible.
When the tanks were still fifty or sixty meters away from the trenches, they stopped one after another, bombarded the exposed fire points with tank guns, and used machine guns to shoot at the emerging German infantry to cover their own infantry charges forward.
This method of fighting by the Soviet army quickly blinded the Germans. According to the experience of the German commanders, didn't the Soviet army all charge with infantry, and the tanks followed behind to cooperate? How come in the blink of an eye, the tanks opened the way in front, and the infantry followed behind.
In this way, under the cover of the tank brigade, the commanders and fighters of the 304th Infantry Division easily captured the German first line of defense. In addition to leaving the necessary troops to eliminate the remaining enemies and consolidate the fortifications, the remaining troops rushed deep into the German defenses.
Panov saw that the 19th Tank Brigade, covering the infantry, had captured the German first line of defense, and quickly called Batov to report the good news to him.
Bartov was indeed overjoyed after hearing this, and said repeatedly: "Well done, General Panov, your men are really well done. Let them keep up their efforts and strive to reach the bank of the Narew River as soon as possible."
The Soviet commanders and fighters who captured the German position were full of momentum. Under the cover of the tank brigade, they quickly launched an attack on the German second line of defense. Although they encountered stubborn resistance here, after two hours of fierce fighting, they successfully occupied the German second line of defense.
Both directions leading to the Narew River have been breached by the Soviet army. Bartov is very excited, which means that he may transfer more troops to the Narew River and launch a forced crossing operation.
Rokossovsky learned from the Air Force that Soviet troops had appeared on the banks of the Narew River. He couldn't help feeling ecstatic, and quickly called Bartov himself to verify the authenticity of this information.
Hearing Bartov's voice, Rokossovsky asked straight to the point: "Batov, how is the situation there? When can you reach the bank of the Narew River?"
"Comrade Commander, I am preparing to report to you." Bartov reported to Rokossovsky excitedly: "My troops have continuously broken through two German defense lines, and now the leading troops have arrived. On the banks of the Narew River.”
Knowing that the leading troops had arrived at the bank of the Narew River, Rokossovsky was overjoyed. He said into the microphone: "Batov, you have to be quick with your troops. You have to take advantage of the Germans." When you regain your senses and launch the river crossing operation in time, the chance of success will increase."
"Understood, Comrade Commander." Batov replied on the phone: "I have given an order to the director of the engineering corps to immediately transport the river crossing equipment to the Puutusk area, where we are preparing to cross the Narew River. .”
"Batov, you did a good job." Rokossovsky said approvingly: "I believe that your troops will be able to complete the task of forcibly crossing the Narew River and establishing a landing site on the left bank of the river within the specified time. "
"Don't worry, Comrade Commander." Now that our leading troops have arrived at the bank of the Narew River, we can definitely complete the task by immediately ordering the troops to launch a cross-river operation in a short period of time before the Germans have recovered. An order given to oneself by a superior. Batov assured Rokossovsky: "We will complete the task on time."
After putting down the phone, the high-spirited Batov called his chief of staff Glebov and told him: "Comrade chief of staff, immediately give the order to the 304th and 311th Infantry Division to cross the river and ask them to speed up their actions. Attack on the other side before the Germans recover."
But Glebov reminded Batov: "Comrade Commander, our river crossing equipment will not be transported to the river until the evening at the earliest. I'm afraid it is too early to launch the river crossing operation now, right?"
Unexpectedly, Bartov glared and said: "Chief of Staff, if we wait for the river crossing equipment to arrive at the river before launching the cross-river operation, the Germans will definitely be prepared by then, and our troops will definitely make sacrifices during the forced crossing. Huge casualties. Notify the troops who arrived early to cut wood and make rafts by the river. Without special river crossing equipment, we can successfully reach the left bank area even with rafts."
Seeing that Batov had made a decision, Glebov knew that no matter what he said, he could not change the other party's mind. He could only nod and agreed to the other party's proposal: "I will immediately notify the vanguard and let them cut down the wood and make it on the spot." raft, and initiate a crossing operation as soon as possible.”
Two hours later, the 304th Infantry Division took the lead in launching a cross-river operation.
At first, there was still silence on the other side of the river. When the raft reached the middle of the river, there was still no movement on the other side. Just when the division commander in the observation post on the shore thought that the crossing was about to be successful, the opposite river bank seemed to come to life again, with various light and heavy weapons shooting at the commanders and soldiers on the raft at the same time.
Since there was no obstruction on the raft, most of the commanders and combatants were standing. As a result, when the gunshots from the other side rang out, they became the targets of the enemy's shooting. Immediately, many people were shot. Some fell into the river and were floated downstream; some fell directly on the raft. The remaining commanders and fighters hurriedly squatted or lay down, using the bodies of their comrades as cover to shoot at the firepower points on the other side.
The division commander in the observation post saw his men falling under the hail of German bullets. He immediately shouted to the chief of staff behind him: "Chief of staff, fire! Hurry up and order the artillery regiment to fire. We must destroy the German troops on the left bank." Firepower to cover the landing of our troops crossing the river."
Five or six minutes later, a dozen 76.2mm artillery pieces from the division's artillery regiment opened fire, successfully destroying part of the firepower points on the left bank, allowing some rafts in the area to dock smoothly.
But at this moment, two machine guns that had been muted by artillery fire came back to life. They fired wildly, forming a crossfire net with dense bullets, knocking down the soldiers who had just jumped off the raft in pieces, and the river water was dyed red with blood. .
Although the artillery observer at the rear discovered the fire point of the resurrected machine gun, he was worried about accidentally injuring his own people due to the obstruction of the soldiers who landed ashore, so he could only watch the two machine guns wreak havoc.
When the division commander saw this, he was so angry that he cursed: "What the hell, what's going on with this artillery? Looking at our officers and men falling in pieces under the enemy's machine gun fire, why don't we fire to suppress them?"
"Comrade division commander, don't be anxious." The chief of staff on the side explained to him: "Our soldiers and the enemy are all mixed together. If we fire rashly, the enemy's firepower may not be hit, but it will cause greater damage to the attacking troops. casualties."
"What should we do?" the division commander asked angrily: "Are we just going to watch the enemy's machine guns wipe out all our troops?"
"Comrade Division Commander, the current situation makes it impossible to provide effective artillery support." The Chief of Staff suggested to the Division Commander: "It is better to withdraw the troops first, and then order artillery fire towards the other side to destroy all the marked fire points. "
After listening to the advice of the chief of staff, the division commander thought for a long time, and finally sighed and said helplessly: "Okay, comrade chief of staff, just as you said, withdraw the troops first, and then launch an attack after clarifying the situation."
The forced crossing was unsuccessful, and the remaining troops crossing the river withdrew to the right bank, preparing to regroup before launching a new attack on the enemies on the left bank. When Colonel Filipov saw the infantry starting to retreat, without understanding what was going on, he drove the tank directly outside the headquarters of the 304th Infantry Division.
The soldier in charge of guarding the division headquarters saw a tank approaching the division headquarters. He quickly stopped it and asked loudly: "Hey, tanker, which unit are you from and what are you doing here?"
After the tank stopped, the top hatch was opened. Filipov got out of the tank and shouted to the soldiers blocking the road: "I am Colonel Filipov, commander of the 19th Tank Brigade. Where is your division commander?" place?"
Fortunately, the soldier knew that the troops were following the 19th Tank Brigade. After hearing the other party's identity, he quickly said politely: "Comrade Colonel, the division commander is in the nearby observation post. I can take you there to find him. But your tank …”
"I understand." Filipov jumped off the tank and said to the soldiers: "My tank will stay here. Please take me to see your division commander quickly."
Arriving at the observation post at the division headquarters, Filipov met the commander of the 304th Division and asked straight to the point: "Comrade Division Commander, your troops have clearly boarded the left bank, why did they retreat again?"
"Colonel Filipov," the division commander explained with a grimace: "The enemy's firepower on the left bank is too strong. Even if our troops successfully land, they will not be able to develop in depth. Instead, they will continue to suffer casualties. After careful consideration, I decided First, withdraw the troops to regroup, and use this time to use artillery fire to destroy the exposed fire points. After confirming that the threat is eliminated, launch another forced crossing operation to the left bank."
"So that's it, I understand." After Filipov figured out the reason why the infantry division retreated to the right bank after the failed landing, he took the initiative and said to the division commander: "Comrade division commander, I can order the tanks of the tank brigade to stop by the river. Directly use tank fire to bombard and destroy the German firepower points on the other side, and cover the infantry comrades to successfully cross the Narew River."
"Thank you so much!" The division commander stretched out his hand to Filipov and said in a friendly tone: "Comrade Colonel, with your fire support, I believe that the German defense line will be broken by us."
"Don't be so polite, comrade division commander." Filipov said with a chuckle: "The mission of our brigade is to assist you in breaking through the German defenses. Now that we have broken through two defenses on land, the next step is to We have broken through their defense line on the water. Don’t worry, we will definitely assist you with all our strength.”
