The division commander suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Beware, comrades commanders! Our artillery regiments and tank battalions lagged behind. There is not enough ammunition. The situation is not in our favor. We need to be faithful to our duties. ”

The officers hurried to separate up for their respective tasks, leaving only the division commander, Kazantsev and Toltkin next to the car.

Colonel Sheplechenko looked at Toltkin and his sweaty mount, smiled and nodded: "Good Cossack." ”

"Semenov in my platoon hung flowers." Toltkin was embarrassed and reported to the colonel for no apparent reason.

The division commander did not answer, he gave Kazantsev the last instructions and went to the regiments.

The staff officers began to scramble around Kazantsev. He had become unrecognizable. He shouted, "Kazantsev smells the Germans." That's what people talk about at times like this.

"Go find your warriors! Nail the Germans, send a correspondent! He shouted to Toltkin.

"Yes!" Toltkin replied in a loud voice, and flew back on his horse.

At this time, the scouts who came with him handed Semenov over to the hygienist, led a horse that no one was riding, and rendezvous with the lieutenant.

Toltkin met a waitingly anxious Bolasov at his original location. He jumped off his horse, absentmindedly drank the vodka that Bolasov had handed him, and indicated to him on the map where the division headquarters was located.

"Then there will be another war," Bolasov said, glancing into Toltkin's serious eyes.

Two scouts gallop on their horses on spurs to meet the unknown.

As the sappers hit the road, they whispered that the battles were about to begin again, and that they would not end until one day.

Toltkin was soon joined by his soldiers, who were waiting for him on a wooded hill near the unknown river, on the other side of which were German trenches.

Markov, who observed the Germans from the treetops, climbed down and reported to the lieutenant: "These Germans, with tanks and self-propelled guns, went around here for half an hour, and then turned around and slipped back. ”

The scouts climbed to the river, lay down in the bushes and hid. Toltkin sent a teenager to send the horse back.

"You follow this path all the way. Don't take all the horses with you, two of them will be left with me for one day and returned tomorrow, or you won't be able to deliver any information. ”

Then Toltkin climbed over to the fighters and began to observe the German defensive positions. The trench had not been dug for a short time and had not yet been completed. The Germans ran inside, the trenches deep only to their shoulders. In front of the trench were two barbed wires. A narrow stream of reeds separated the scouts from the Germans. A man stood upright on the breast wall of the trench, looking out at the east bank with a telescope.

"I'll send him to Hitler's wife at once!" Pyshkov whispered.

"Don't mess around!" Toltkin glared at him.

He looked at the German line and measured it. Yes, the faintly recognizable gray strip was the second trench. The Germans picked a good defensive area - the west bank was much higher than the east bank, and it was covered with dense trees. Near the farmhouse is the high ground, which is represented on the map by the number 262. There were quite a lot of Germans in the trenches. A self-propelled gun was parked at the east end of the village.

Pyshkov said softly: "Look, comrade lieutenant, the fascists have come out for a walk. ”

About 50 Germans came out of the woods and went to the river. They spread out by the river, watching the other side with fear.

Toltkin said to Markov, who had the best marksmanship in the platoon, "Scare them. ”

Immediately after that, the submachine guns fired a shuttle in succession, and the Germans hurriedly ran back to the shore, hurriedly looked around, clucked like geese, and lay down on the ground to hide. The men in the trenches also began to stir, and they scurried around, giving guttural commands, and bullets whizzing through the air. The self-propelled guns that stopped at the end of the village suddenly shook and fired three shells in quick succession. In the blink of an eye, the German artillery rang out. There were at least 10 cannons, which were aimed at the hill for three or four minutes. The cannonballs burst through the ground with a powerful blast, shaking the secluded forest with a strange howl.

Toltkin's eyes widened in surprise when he saw the new German tanks.

This time the German tanks that appeared in front of him were not 20, but more than 100!

When Pishkov saw this scene, he was also a little dumbfounded.

"Radio! Fast! Report the situation to the divisional headquarters! ”

The 117th Tank Platoon arrived at the battlefield the next morning, by which time the Germans had broken through the Soviet defensive line, and although the Soviets resisted bravely, they suffered heavy casualties under the attack of the German armored forces, and some units had already begun to retreat.

When they saw the brigade of German tanks pouring out of the woods, Sun Hui and the girls gasped.

"Good fellows! So many German fascist tanks! On the radio, the crew of the Hammer tank was shouting.

"We have to stop them from going! Otherwise, the left flank of the fortress will be completely breached! Then they can go into the city! ”

"'Mother of the Motherland', do you have any plans?" Sergeant Yurkin, commander of the Scythe, asked.

"The enemy has not yet discovered us, tell them that we are advanced into the woods and attack them from the flank." Sun Hui quickly judged the situation and said to Ye Chuchu.

Ye Chuchu said Sun Hui's plan, and the commander of the "Iron Hammer" Ansakov and the members of the "Scythe" had no opinion, so the three tanks turned in unison and rushed into the woods.

The excellent mobility of the "T-34" tanks was manifested at this time, the "Scythe" and "Hammer" entered the woods ahead of the "KV-1" tanks, because the speed was relatively slow, the "Motherland" lagged behind, and the three tanks advanced in an inverted "Pin" formation.

Soon, three tanks came to the side of the woods, hidden in a natural barrier of pine, fir and bushes, and German tanks were passing in front of them.

"Fire! Free Fire! Ye Chuchu shouted loudly.

Sun Hui took the lead in locking on to a "No. 4" tank that was moving rapidly at the head of the German army and opened fire, probably because of tension, his artillery shot missed, and the shell grazed directly through the turret of this "No. 4" tank, but hit a "No. 3" tank next to it, and directly hit the opponent.

After the "KV-1" tank opened fire, two "T-34" tanks also opened fire, the "Hammer" hit a German armored vehicle, and the "Scythe" missed the first shot and failed to hit the enemy, but the sudden fire of the three tanks immediately caused confusion in the German ranks.