The heavy tanks led by Captain Michel Wittmann rushed to the front, three companies of H-4 tanks rushed out and followed, and at the back of the attacking line were three companies of Panzergrenadiers.

Useless bullets flew out of the woods south of town and hit the tank with the familiar clanging sound of Captain Wittman.

The Tiger tank returned fire with coaxial machine guns on the turret, and when the Tiger tank in front of the tank was only two or three hundred meters away from the woods, the tank group stopped one after another.

High-explosive shells and machine-gun bullets rained down into the woods, and the explosion of the shells kicked up puffs of smoke and dust, and the flying shrapnel and bullets hit the trees, bringing up countless stumps and leaves, and the bark on the trunks was shattered by large pieces and bullets, revealing white marks.

The "Wolf" infantry fighting vehicle picked up speed, and the 20-mm anti-aircraft gun threw out a slick of shells, and the muzzle of the machine gun also spewed tongues of fire, charging all the way to the edge of the forest, the rear door wide open, and the panzergrenadiers jumped out of the compartment, and rushed into the woods with a charge.

With an assault rifle in hand, the ferocious fire of the Panzergrenadiers fell on the Soviet infantry, and the Soviet infantry, which was already overwhelmed by the Germans, collapsed at the touch of a button.

Since Major General Pushkin transferred the SU-122 self-propelled artillery regiment ambushed in the woods, the Soviet infantry in the woods lacked anti-tank heavy weapons.

The destruction of the "Katyusha" self-propelled rocket artillery battalion, which was originally intended to aim at the town of Serbsiki, was destroyed by German artillery, which made the Soviet infantry here lose its last reliance, and when faced with such a fierce armored force, the Soviet infantry with only light weapons could not raise the courage to resist at all, and quickly retreated to the depths of the forest.

The Panzergrenadiers followed closely behind and pursued them all the way, and the forest did not cover a large area, and it took less than half an hour for the Panzergrenadiers to take control.

The Wittmann battle group then split in two, with two tank companies No. 4 turning to the right flank (west) under the command of the battalion headquarters to outflank the Soviet medium tank brigade that was fighting the heavily armored battalion, with a panzergrenadier company following behind to provide cover.

The Soviet medium tank brigade in the west, with the T-34 medium tank in the front, the SU-122 self-propelled guns in the rear, and the infantry in the rear, was fighting with the Tiger tank battalion in full swing, and a group of No. 4 H tanks suddenly rushed from behind, leaving the exposed rear to the enemy.

The infantrymen were the first to perceive the danger behind them, but they could do nothing in this open area, so they could only lie behind the ridges or use the craters on the ground as cover to avoid the threat of German tanks.

The SU-122 self-propelled guns, which were hiding in the car and were engrossed in the battle with German tanks in the northwest, could not react in time.

The KWK40 75mm L48 tank gun opened fire violently, and the armor-piercing shells easily tore through the fragile tail or side armor of the SU-122 self-propelled gun.

With only one salvo, the remaining 122 self-propelled guns of the SU-11 self-propelled artillery regiment were wiped out, leaving the wreckage of destroyed tanks in the vast fields.

The No. 4H tank rumbled past and rushed towards the T-34 tank group further away, firing armor-piercing shells at the T-34 tank with precision.

Flanked by the Tiger Heavy Tank Battalion and the No. 4 H Tank Group, the remaining T-34 tanks did not last long, and died tragically under the guns of the 75mm and 105mm tanks.

To the east of the village of Smilley, southwest of the town of Sherbsiki, the wreckage of nearly two hundred Soviet tanks was left on the vast ground.

Billowing black smoke flew diagonally into the sky, and the paint and rubber on the tank body melted and dripped to the ground as the flames burned.

The corpses lay next to the tanks, and the battlefield was filled with a bloody smell.

To the southeast of the town of Serbshiki, in the village of Dovje on the Donets River, Major General Pushkin set up the battlefield command.

From here, he can see the movements of the battlefield in the west, which is convenient for him to dispatch combat troops at any time.

Major General Pushkin was not too clear about the situation on the battlefield at this time, and all his energy was focused on scolding.

"Where is your brigade, according to the time, you should be in front of me now." Major General Pushkin shouted loudly.

A train would certainly not fit a single army, and the 23rd Tank Army arrived in Voroshilovgrad in batches, and Major General Pushkin questioned the last medium tank brigade to load and depart.

"Comrade Commander, we have arrived at the battlefield, we are fighting the enemy."

At this time, Major General Pushkin, who was furious, noticed a faint explosion on the phone.

"The German Air Force is about to blow up Voroshilovgrad, and it is difficult for us to drive every kilometer. I'm calling you just to tell you that we'll be arriving at the battlefield later. ”

"I need you to be in front of me right now." Major General Pushkin shouted.

"I can't do it unless I give us wings, Comrade Commander."

"I don't care, you ······ as fast as you can"

"Boom ······" Major General Pushkin's words were interrupted by a violent explosion, and the major general's hands trembled and he almost threw the phone out.

A series of explosions, the firing of light and heavy weapons, came to the ears of Major General Pushkin one after another, and they were close at hand.

Just as Major General Pushkin was arguing with the late medium tank brigade, the guard unit of the 23rd Tank Army Headquarters west of the village of Dovje suddenly noticed black smoke rising from the sparse woods in the northwest corner of the village.

"Tanks, tanks for the Germans." Shouts rang out through the alert troops.

At the edge of the woods, a tank suddenly rushed out, and when they saw the tank's oversized, dreamy turret, the soldiers of the alert unit immediately recognized the identity of the tank.

By this time, the German tanks had rushed to a distance of less than a kilometer from Dovje, and panic immediately spread in the village of Dovje.

The defenders opened fire, and the advancing German tanks returned fire.

When they saw that the powerful 85-mm anti-aircraft guns could not stop the advance of the German tanks, the fighting spirit of the defenders of Dovje village dissipated little by little.

An 85-mm anti-aircraft gun had just opened fire, and immediately a 105-mm anti-aircraft shell returned fire.

In the explosion, the anti-aircraft gunners were covered with blood, the smoke cleared, and the four gunners lay in pools of blood.

Before the surviving gunners could muster up the courage to fight again, a barrage of machine-gun bullets flew in, and a soldier who had just stood up and squatted next to the corpse of his comrade to check on his head burst into a ball of blood and fell to the ground.

The freshly baked corpses completely broke the will of the gunners, and the gunners scattered in a hurry.

The German mortars were on SD KFZ 251 half-tracks, and the open-top compartment provided convenience for the gunners, and they could use mortars in the compartment to fire without getting out of the car during the battle.

A volley of 81-mm mortar shells fell into the village of Dovde, and a shell fell from the sky with a whistle and was falling on the roof where Major General Pushkin was located, bursting with a bang.

Broken pieces of wood, along with dust, and fragments of masonry fell into the room with a clatter, and smashed into the face of Major General Pushkin and his men.

With most of his body covered in dust, Major General Pushkin rushed out of the room with his men, jumped into a Gas-64 jeep, rushed out of the village, and fled in the direction of Voroshilovgrad.

As soon as Major General Pushkin's jeep escaped from the village of Dovde, behind him, the Wittman battle group rushed into the small village.

Approaching eleven o'clock in the afternoon, with the flight of Major General Pushkin, the 23rd Tank Army, as a force, had completely lost its command.

Captain Michelle Wittman did not know at this time that he was occupying the temporary command post of the 23rd Tank Army, and his goal was all on the orders he had just received.

His battle group was to serve as the vanguard of the heavy armored brigade of the 104th "Polish Doge's Guard" of the SS, the first to rush to Voroshilovgrad, not giving the enemy time to build a new line of defense around the city.

After arriving in Voroshilovgrad, do not enter the city, go north with all your troops, occupy the bridge over the Donets River north of the city, and open the passage for the crossing of the river by the follow-up troops.

Captain Wittmann left a platoon of Panzergrenadiers to clean up the battlefield in the village of Dovje and led the rest of the troops to continue their march to Voroshilovgrad to the east.

From here to Voroshilovgrad is less than twenty kilometers away, and it takes less than a lunch time to get there.

Captain Weitman pulled out a compressed biscuit from his military satchel and ate two pieces of cold water from the kettle for lunch.

However, less than five kilometers along the road, Captain Wittman suddenly received a radio warning from an artillery observation post flying overhead, a FI-382 helicopter.

Opposite in the direction of Voroshilovgrad, an armored unit is approaching you at a distance of about five kilometers.