When the commanders and soldiers rushed to the village entrance, which was still 70 to 80 meters away, sporadic gunshots rang out in the village.
Colonel Ruhle, who was watching the battle from behind, heard the gunfire coming from the village, which was basically the sound of rifle shooting. There were two submachine guns firing sporadically, but there were no machine guns. He immediately judged that there would be no more than two Germans in the village.
class.
The chief of staff standing next to Ruhelie also discovered this problem and quickly suggested to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, judging from the sound of gunfire, there are not many enemies in the village. In order to resolve the battle as soon as possible, I suggest that the entire brigade be involved
fighting."
"There is no need." Ruhle rejected the chief of staff's suggestion: "There are more than 400 people in the vanguard battalion, and they are enough to deal with this enemy. If all the troops are put into battle, I am afraid it will cause unrest.
Necessary chaos.”
The battalion commander of the vanguard battalion is still very capable. Although there are not many enemies in the village and the firepower is not strong, he still deployed several machine guns outside the village to suppress the exposed shooting positions in the village and cover the soldiers.
their attack.
The three companies of the vanguard battalion rushed into the village from different positions. Soon, the sound of gunfire, the explosion of grenades and the screams of those who were shot were intertwined in the village.
The German troops in the village were the remnants of the 61st Motorcycle Battalion. After they were defeated by the breakout troops, they fled here. Unexpectedly, they were attacked by the tank brigade not long after they stayed. Although they put up tenacious resistance, due to the strength of their troops and the
Due to the difference in the number of weapons, the entire battle lasted less than half an hour and ended.
The results of the battle were quickly tallied. The tank brigade lost 16 people and injured 29 people. The Germans were killed 17 times, and seized 2 submachine guns, 14 rifles, 1 pistol, and 6 three-wheeled motorcycles.
As for the prisoners, there were no prisoners. Even if Ruhle did not explain anything in advance, the soldiers knew very well that the subsequent breakout battle would be extremely difficult and it was unrealistic to march with prisoners. Therefore, during the battle, even if
Even if the enemy puts down their weapons and surrenders, they will still shoot at them.
Ruhlie was overjoyed at the accidental seizure of the motorcycle. He said to the Chief of Staff: "Comrade Chief of Staff, put all our seriously injured people into the sidecars of the motorcycle. Although the march is a bit bumpy, it is better than walking."
"
"Should we set off now?" the chief of staff asked tentatively: "It's almost dark. I think it's better to rest in the village for one night and set off again tomorrow."
"No, Comrade Chief of Staff." Ruhelie said: "Although the scale of the battle taking place here is small, it may have alerted the enemy. If we don't move as soon as possible, we will be entangled by the enemies following behind, and we will not be able to escape if we want to."
agreed."
Through the attitude of the chief of staff, Ruhlie realized that the number of commanders in the brigade who had similar ideas should be very large, so he ordered, "Gather all the company-level commanders together, and I will explain to them the reasons for the overnight march.
"
Ruhelie's judgment was accurate. The commanders and fighters in the brigade participated in two battles today and traveled such a long distance. They finally captured a village. Although it was a bit small, everyone hoped to rest here for a night.
, we will set off again after dawn tomorrow.
Unexpectedly, after cleaning the battlefield, the order received was transferred overnight. Not only the soldiers did not understand this, but even the commanders at all levels had strong opinions. After receiving the notice from the chief of staff, everyone did not dare to neglect and immediately
He appeared in front of Ruhelie as quickly as possible, trying to find out what was going on.
"Comrade commanders," Ruhelie said when he saw that most of his company-level commanders had arrived: "I know that you all don't understand the order I gave to march overnight, so I made you anxious.
Let me explain it to you. I hope that after you return to your respective units, you will truthfully tell the soldiers about this matter so that they will be fully aware of it."
The commanders who came to attend the meeting originally wanted to put forward their opinions to Ruhelie, hoping that the already very tired troops could rest in this village overnight and wait for dawn before setting off. But after hearing what Ruhelie said, everyone
No one spoke, but looked at Ruhleh quietly, wanting to hear what he would say.
"I know that after two battles today and traveling such a long way, most of the officers and soldiers have become exhausted. Many people hope to have a good night's rest in this village tonight and wait until dawn tomorrow.
Let’s set off again.” Ruhle said: “But it won’t work, comrades, you must know that we are still surrounded by the German army. The reason why the commander chose to break out of the encirclement to the east is simply because of the enemy’s defense in this direction.
We are weak, and there are friendly forces supporting us in Lugansk. But now the enemy has discovered our intention to break out, and the troops originally deployed in several other directions have already pressed towards us.
If we stay in the village for one night, we may be surrounded by the enemy who are catching up to us at dawn. Therefore, in order for everyone to successfully escape from the enemy's encirclement, we must come all night long and throw off the enemy who is catching up with us.
The further away the better.”
The commander, who was still resistant to Ruhelie's order, realized after listening to Ruhelie's detailed explanation that his troops were still under siege. If they stayed in a certain place for too long, they would indeed be attacked.
The possibility of an enemy encirclement. Kogor, the second battalion commander who had recently joined the tank brigade, walked out of the crowd, straightened his body and said to Ruhle: "Comrade Commander, you are right, we are still under the influence of the Germans."
The encirclement, if we do not consider the friendly forces as soon as possible, the fate that awaits us in the end is either to be completely annihilated, or to become prisoners of the enemy. I will return to my troops immediately and convey your words to the soldiers to let them understand our current situation.
"
Since someone expressed their attitude first, the other commanders also realized that it was not appropriate to rest here, and they all expressed their opinions: "Comrade Brigadier, we resolutely obey your order and move the troops overnight.
We will never give the enemy a chance to surround us."
Seeing that all the commanders realized the seriousness of the problem, Ruhelie couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then waved his hands to everyone and said: "Now that everyone understands the meaning of traveling all night, let's return to their respective units.
.Remember, in the current situation, the faster we move, the greater the chance of successfully jumping out of the enemy's encirclement."
After the commanders at all levels had left, the chief of staff asked Ruhle for instructions: "Comrade Brigade Commander, should we follow the original plan and move closer to the main force?"
"No, if we want to break through successfully, we must not move closer to the main force, but should try to move as far north as possible." Ruhle said: "In this way, we can get rid of the enemies coming from different directions, as well as those living in Donetsk.
The defenders in the city."
"Comrade Brigadier," the chief of staff became a little uneasy after hearing Ruhle's order: "You changed the breakout route without authorization. If your superiors blame you in the future, I'm afraid you won't be able to bear the responsibility."
"Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to remind you one thing." Seeing that the Chief of Staff did not understand what he meant, Ruhelie explained to him: "As long as we can escape from the enemy's encirclement, we can choose which route to take according to the situation on the battlefield.
We will make the final decision based on the specific situation.”
