Chapter 15 5.Insufficient troops

The deep wedge of enemy tank groups in the direction of Lutsk and the further advance of the fascist tank columns from Ladzechov to Dubno posed a great danger. There were many reasons for the success of the Hitlerites in these territories.One of the reasons is that we regard the Krakow-Lviv direction as the most important direction when we formulate the national border protection plan in peacetime.We believed at the time that in this direction, there was a strong railway line from the Polish interior to Lviv, and a well-developed network of roads and dirt roads, where the fascists would first concentrate their forces.We also regard this area jutting westward, with large cities like Lviv, as a favorable base should we move into a large-scale offensive operation.It is no accident that our two mechanized corps, which are the most fully staffed and most combat-ready, the 4th and 8th mechanized armies, are pointing in this direction.

However, we did not pay due attention to another important campaign direction, that is, the Lubsen-Lutsk direction.Although a portion of Hitlerian-occupied Poland bordering me juts out here far to the east, threatening Lwów from the north, there is no good approach to the west of this salient.It was hardly conceivable at the time that the Fascist High Command would use precisely this area to concentrate its heavily armed attack groups.Therefore, in our border protection plan, it is stipulated that the tactical density of the first echelon here is smaller than that in the direction of Lviv.In addition, at the junction of the 5th and 6th armies in this area, there is a long section of the national border that is only covered by some border guard units.

This is not to say that we are not concerned about cover in the Lublin-Lutsk direction.In addition to the 22nd Mechanized Army of the 5th Group Army deployed near the border, the head of the Front Army also plans to call in the 15th Mechanized Army of the Front Army when necessary. Stationed in Brod, Baikamen, Kremenets).In addition, two more mechanized armies can be transferred from the second echelon of the military region within three to four days: General Rokossovsky’s Mechanized 9th Army from the Vronsky Novas area, and transfer from the Zhytomir area General Krenko's Mechanized 19th Corps.

However, the reader already knows that the war did not develop as we imagined.The attack of the Hitlerites was so sudden and rapid that not to mention the second echelon armies, even the infantry divisions under the jurisdiction of the 5th Army, had no time to advance to the border and deploy in order to counterattack the aggressors. Powerful tank wedge assaults are getting deeper and deeper into our territory.Do whatever it takes to stop these raids. On the evening of June 23, the Military Committee of the Front Army met to formulate a counter-assault plan.At the beginning of the meeting, Purkayev made a brief report.He summed up the combat actions of the army in the first two days of the war and made a judgment on the situation.According to his calculations, only the 15th and 22nd Mechanized Army will be able to participate in the counterattack tomorrow morning, and not all of them (only one division of the 22nd Mechanized Army can reach the designated area).They were supported by the 135th Infantry Division and the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade, already engaged in hard fighting.Other armies can't count on it: the 8th Mechanized Army has traveled a long way under the constant harassment of enemy aviation, and is still on the march (starting from the Lviv area); the 4th Mechanized Army has been transferred to fight against the enemy's direction of Lviv attack.As for the mechanized 9th and 19th armies, it will take at least two days and nights for them to arrive at the battlefield.The 31st, 36th, and 37th Infantry Corps are still 130 to 150 kilometers away, and it will take a few days to arrive.

From this point of view, the counter-assault force is now too small. "If we mobilize the mechanized army slowly like this," Vashugin said angrily, "then after two or three days and nights, there will be nothing left in the cover divisions." "We are taking all measures within our power," Purkayev said. "We've been fighting for two days, but we haven't had a decent raid on the Fascists yet. Beat them! And before they come to their senses..." "Wish alone is not enough," retorted Pulkayev coldly. "Beat the enemy reasonably, not recklessly. Well, let's use a mechanized army to carry out the assault first, and not all of its corps at the same time." Execute. We rescue one of the encircled divisions (if we succeed), and the corps is crippled. Then the next corps goes on the offensive, and another infantry division is rescued. But what next? The enemy is hoping That way, we can defeat our army one by one."

"We can't just sit back and watch those divisions die," Kirponos said darkly. "How can you not understand this, Maxim Alexievitch?" "I understand." Pulkayev's voice was distressed. "But you can't lose the big. Those divisions should be ordered to break through. And in two days' time we can build up some strong groups in the depths, and then we can attack the enemy from all sides and make him suffer. You know, five Mechanized army, this is a lot of power! And throwing them in one by one is tantamount to boosting the enemy's momentum."

"We're not sending mechanized armies into battle one by one." Kirponos used the other end of the pencil to move on the map, explaining that the corps of the 22nd and 15th mechanized armies have now rushed to the enemy's wedge and entered the battle.Tomorrow, the 22nd Mechanized Army will join the 135th Division of the Synchronized Army, with the support of the 1st Brigade of Anti-Tank Artillery, to carry out an assault on the enemy's North Road Tank Group in the direction of Vladimir-Volynsky, and join the 87th Infantry Division; At the same time, the 15th Mechanized Army launched an assault on the enemy's South Road Tank Group from the southeast and joined the 124th Infantry Division.The commander said, this is our first echelon.Later, after the 4th and 8th Mechanized Armies and the 9th and 19th Mechanized Armies arrived one after another, the assault force tripled.

"In short," he concluded, "there is no other way out: we cannot stand back and wait for all the mechanized forces to concentrate." Pulkayev said nothing sadly.Kirponos' case sounds convincing.Indeed, passively waiting for the full concentration of all mechanized armies could cause considerable annoyance.Can the small covering army survive?Can the entire northern wing of our army not move eastward? Vashukin unwaveringly supported the commander's determination not to wait for the concentration of the entire mechanized army.Tomorrow, June 24, counterattack the enemy's advancing tank and motorized divisions with only those forces that have reached the war zone.

General Kirponos dictated the combat tasks of each department: the 5th Army used the 22nd Mechanized Army and the 135th Infantry Division to carry out a counterattack in the general direction of Vladimir-Volynsky, smashing the enemy wedged in the direction of Lutsk. Enemy units joined the encircled regiments of the 87th Infantry Division; the 15th Mechanized Corps defended with a force close to Radzekhow and Brod, and attacked with basic forces in the direction of Berestetschko, smashing The enemy's tanks and motorized troops advancing from the Sokali area, and then joined the encircled troops of the 124th Infantry Division; the commander of the 6th Army should immediately withdraw the 4th Mechanized Army from the battle while holding on to the front. Make it turn to Razerhov to support the 15th Mechanized Army.The commander ordered the 8th Mechanized Army to enter the Brod area in the early morning of June 24, preparing for an assault on Berestecko to support the 15th Mechanized Army.The task of the rest of the army remains the same, that is, to stick to the occupied area.

General Pulkayev asked me to draw up the battle orders for the ministries immediately.I went to the commander with the drafted papers, because the chief of staff was in his office.B. C. Zhukov and H. C. Khrushchev, who had just returned from the army, were also there.The chief of staff looked gloomy.He nodded silently in response to my greeting.I knew from the conversation that Zhukov believed that the actions of the chief of the front army were not strong enough and the purpose was not firm enough.In his words, most of the attention was focused on completing secondary tasks, and the armies were too slow to concentrate.The main danger should be identified and the main efforts should be concentrated on eliminating it.The main danger is the enemy's tanks and motorized groups, which are deeply wedged into the depths of our defenses.Therefore, the basic forces of the front army, with the support of all aviation forces, should go in these directions.Only in this way can we strive for a turning point in the process of fighting on the border.Zhukov believed that Kirponos was wrong to allow the commander of the 6th Army to transfer the 4th Mechanized Army from the right flank of the enemy's main assault army to the left flank, and let it enter the battle in this secondary direction.

On June 24, our counter-assault began.Unfortunately, counter-assault is far from developing as we planned.The 1st Brigade of Anti-Tank Artillery and the units of the 135th Division of the 27th Infantry Corps that arrived, struggled to stop the enemy's onslaught in Lutsk.Although the enemy put another tank division into battle here, it finally failed to break the heroic resistance of these regiments.The artillery fought to the death.Every battery sacrificed cost the enemy dearly.For example, the artillery squad commanded by Sergeant H. A. Moskalev destroyed twelve enemy tanks before being wiped out by the fascists.The artillery squad commanded by Komsomol Corporal Pavel Ivanovich Tukin fought to the last shell.All the soldiers were killed.In the end, only the squad leader was left next to the artillery.With the last direct fire, he damaged the fifth fascist tank.No more shells were fired from the sixth car.So, the fascist tank crushed the artillery and the brave squad leader.The same happened to Grigory Ivanovich Malyuta and Ivan Ivanovich Gaidaenko, the aimers of two friendly artillery.Maliuta destroyed four German tanks before he died, and Gaidayanko destroyed seven before dying.In front of the artillery of the young Communist Corporal Vasily Platonovich Lazarev, seven fascist tanks smoked.Six tanks were set ablaze by the precise fire of communist Ivan Vasiliev.As the rest of the tanks turned and fled, a Hitlerite jumped out of the nearest burning tank.He stood for a while shaking his body like a drunk, and then walked towards our army's firing position.General Moskarenko ordered the captives to be brought to him.The prisoner was a major tank battalion commander.After a long silence, he said he did not expect the Russians to fight back so violently. "It's not easy to defeat soldiers like that." "Are you still expecting to win?" the general sneered. "No, your Führer cannot see victory. You yourself are convinced of it." The enemy's onslaught did not stop.My artillery has lost a lot.The threat of fascist tanks rushing to Lutsk became more and more realistic.At this critical juncture, the units of the 135th Infantry Division that had not yet entered the battle, as well as the units of the 215th Motorized Division of the 22nd Mechanized Army and the 19th Tank Division that had rushed here, transferred to the counterattack on the afternoon of June 24. . The 19th Tank Division only had some old light tanks.We pinned our main hopes on another division of the corps, the 41st Tank Division, equipped with thirty-one KB tanks.But the division was too late to arrive.Three divisions of our army clashed with five fascist divisions.The Soviet commanders and fighters were full of high spirits and beat the enemy back.The Fascist High Command put a large number of aviation forces into battle.The German dive bombers bombed our army violently, causing our army to suffer even greater losses.The advancement of Soviet troops was blocked, but the fascists also failed to break through this strong barrier.As a result, Hitler's high command transferred most of its tank forces to implement a detour.Since we have no continuous front and the fascist corps has high flexibility, the enemy's maneuver succeeded.The counterattack divisions of my 5th Army were in trouble: the enemy was advancing towards their lines of communication. In the south, in the direction of Sokali-Dubno, the strength of the 15th Mechanized Army was getting smaller and smaller when it was engaged in fierce encounters with General Kleist's Southern Tank Group.What counter-assault could be considered?Our mechanized army can only attack with a part of the tank divisions, and the rest of the troops are very tense all day long to resist the enemy's assault, because the enemy's 11th and 16th tank divisions are in the field. Down, keep rushing towards the army. The tasks facing the units of the 15th Mechanized Corps were clearly beyond their capabilities.Whenever I think of the corps trying to stop the onslaught of enemy tanks and motorized columns, a familiar image from my childhood comes before my eyes. We little rascals love to build cisterns in small rapids after a heavy rain.At first it was possible because the earth clumps held back the flow, but the water soon filled up and surged up and over the earth dam.After a while, the turbulence that has accumulated a lot of momentum will wash away the reservoir without a trace. Today, mechanized 15th Army units blocking the enemy's approach look like earth dams like this.The army is still struggling to hold off the enemy, but is it strong enough to hold out for long? This thought made us very uneasy, so we kept asking the commander of the 6th Army: When will the 8th and 4th mechanized armies arrive? Although the counter-assault on the right wing of the front army could not be fully launched, the various corps of our army still severely damaged the advancing enemy troops in the encounter battle.As a result, the enemy's northern tank group was stopped before the end of the day, and its advance to the south was significantly slowed down. Thus began the largest tank engagement of the first phase of the war, which intensified towards the end of June in the Vodimir-Volynsky, Radzekhow, Dubno triangle area, forcing the enemy to a full square in the southwestern strategic direction. Weeks are stagnant. A total of more than 1,500 tanks from both sides participated in the battle one after another. When West German historians talk about these days, they praise the combat skills of the fascist army and the academics of the German High Command, insisting that the German High Command defeated the so-called superior tank force of the Russians.This fallacy is used to fool simple minds.The reader can already be convinced of the unfavorable conditions in which our troops fought in the first few days of the war and the enormous advantages the aggressors had.The enemy army is not only in a relatively favorable deployment, but also has a large numerical advantage in the main assault direction, especially the tank advantage. We can only use 133 T-34 and KB tanks to fight against the 600 to 700 modern tanks of General Kleist's four tank divisions.The rest of the tanks of the 22nd and 15th Mechanized Corps, as I have already said, are old and worn out T-26 and KT light trainer battle tanks, a large part of which were unable to moved, so did not actually participate in the engagement. It is not easy to make sense of this complex and worrying situation.I remember that General Zhukov asked the commander of the Fifth Army long and very carefully via the direct line on the evening of June 24.He asked the commander of the army group how to judge the situation in the area. General Potapov reported that the enemy attacking frontally in Vlodava and Ust-Lug consisted of about five infantry divisions, 2,000 tanks and rifles equipped with submachine guns. There are about 2,000 motorcycles.The enemy's main tank group attacked on the front lines of Dubinka and Gorodlo; the auxiliary tank group attacked in the Dorogursk area.There are five to six infantry divisions and one tank division attacking frontally from Ust-Lug to Sokal. Later, it was found that this judgment was very inaccurate: the number of enemy tanks operating in the Wlodava and Ust-Lug areas was obviously exaggerated, while the number of enemy tanks operating in the Ust-Lug and Sokali frontal The number was significantly reduced again, because in fact not one tank division was attacking here, but four tank divisions and two motorized divisions. According to the commander of the army group, the enemy's main assault on Lutsk was carried out by Vladimir Volynsky, and the auxiliary assault was carried out by Brest on Kovel.The purpose of these two assaults was to encircle the main group of the 5th Army. This speculation of the commander of the army group is not in line with the actual situation.But it's not his fault.As early as June 23, the Front Army Command mentioned in its reconnaissance report that the enemy tank column was moving southeast from Brest.General Potapov concluded from this report that the enemy forces brought from Brest were advancing from the north towards the rear of his army.Even the Military Council of the Front Army was inclined to this conclusion.After learning of this information, the Chief of the General Staff asked Potapov to turn the right wing of the army towards Brest in order to firmly cover Kovel's approach to the ground.In fact, this threat does not exist.This mistake paid a high price: the commander of the army group only paid attention to the so-called enemy army group moving from Brest to the Kove army, but could not find out in time the situation on his left wing and the junction with the Muzichenko army group .It was there that the enemy carried out his main assault. On the whole, however, the chief of the general staff's conversations with the army headquarters were serious and very specific. B. C. Zhukov inspired Potapov and made valuable suggestions.For example, when the Army Commander complained that the KB tanks (of which he had about thirty) had run out of armor-piercing shells, B.C. Zhukov reminded him that the 1930-type shells used by my field artillery were suitable for the cannons of these tanks.This type of concrete destruction bomb should be issued to tank soldiers, so that KB tanks can successfully fight against German heavy tanks. The third day of the war is almost over.The Military Council of the Front Army repeatedly considered what to do tomorrow: whether to allow General Carpezzo's 15th Mechanized Corps to continue the counter-assault, or to turn to the defensive before the 8th Mechanized Corps and the 8th Mechanized Corps Tank Division were fully concentrated. The brigade Petukhov, who had just returned from the unit, reported the serious situation of Calpezzo's corps, which needed immediate support, otherwise the enemy tank columns would overwhelm it.The enemy can only be supported by a new assault immediately upon it.Therefore, it was decided to continue the counterattack.All units of the 4th and 8th Mechanized Corps that could arrive before then should join Carpezzo's army in this counter-assault.The combat order requires these units to occupy the starting position at night, switch to the assault at 7 o'clock the next morning, smash the enemy tanks and infantry units before the end of the day, go out of the Vojnica, Miliaten, Sokali area, and the 87th Infantry , The besieged troops of the 124th Division rendezvoused.The Front Military Council allocated all three of our aviation divisions here to support the assault corps.A large part of the aviation force was used against the German Brest mechanized group, and our aerial reconnaissance continued to report information about this group.The 22nd Mechanized Army, which was actually the main assault force to prevent the Hitlerites from rushing to Lutsk, should move from the direction of Lutsk to the vicinity of Kovel in front of the group. The 6th and 26th Army areas also continued to engage in intense fighting. The tasks they received were: to stop the enemy with counterattacks and destroy their troops wedged into the hinterland of our country. Only the area of ​​operation of the 12th Army on my left was still calm.On its front, like the front of the 9th Army of the Odessa Military District, the invaders were still waiting.It turned out later that what it was waiting for was the moment when the main assault group of the enemy attacking at the junction of the 5th and 6th armies began to advance far behind me.It seems that the base camp guessed the enemy's attempt.Because of this, Moscow boldly reduced the composition of our 12th Army. On this day, the 17th Infantry Army and the 16th Mechanized Army of the Army were drawn out to form the 18th Army, which was incorporated into the Southern Front that was being formed on the border of Suluo. Orders have been sent to the ministries.Another sleepless night was spent observing the movement and concentration of the various mechanized corps. However, maneuvering forces under constant assault by enemy aviation is not an easy task.Seeing morning and noon, the army is still marching.The tenacity shown by the various units of Calpezzo's 15th Mechanized Corps is amazing.The enemy has stepped up their onslaught here hour by hour, but they have persisted, and they have been able to counterattack the enemy in individual areas.In the north, judging by intelligence, there have been no major changes for the time being.General Potapov reported that the 45th and 62nd Infantry Divisions of Colonel Fejuninsky's corps once again successfully repelled the entire attack of the Fascist troops in the direction of Kovel. The 135th Infantry Division of General O. H. Smekhotvorov and the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade of General Moskalenko also stopped the enemy tank group at a distance west of Tolchin in Lutsk. advance.Therefore, the commander of the group army unswervingly transferred the main force of the 22nd Mechanized Army from here to the direction of Brest.As should be expected, the fascists took the opportunity to transfer a new tank division to the exposed area in front of our army.Units of the 135th Infantry Division and the 1st Anti-Tank Artillery Brigade were under threat of being encircled and smashed.Generals Smekhotvorov and Moskalenko had to fight hard while withdrawing their corps to the east bank of the Stry River, but the German troops also broke through the river. Fortunately, at this time General K. K. Rokossovsky's Mechanized Ninth Army The main force of the 131st motorized division and the advance detachments of the tank division have arrived here.When we saw the report later, we couldn't believe our eyes.How could Rokossovsky do this?Because his so-called motorized division is going on... on foot.It turned out that on the first day of the war, this decisive and decisive commander had boldly removed all the reserve vehicles of the military district at Shepetovka (about 200 vehicles).He put the infantry in the car and marched in front of the army in a comprehensive march.His troops reached the Lutsk region and saved the crisis.These units held off the advancing tanks and thus greatly aided the retreating corps in a serious situation. The organized retreat of our troops is also due to the decisive actions of General Moskalenko.When he and his headquarters came to the Stry River and saw that the road bridge had been damaged, he quickly tried to make the railway bridge near Lutsk suitable for cars and artillery, and organized retreating troops to cross the bridge. The road is covered by a strong anti-tank artillery screen team. Indeed, the situation in the direction of Lutsk has deteriorated sharply for us today.However, neither the commander of the group army nor the command of the front army knew about this situation.Regular interruptions in communications and army command continued to hamstring us.The chief of the front army is still most disturbed by the fighting in the Radzekhov and Berestichko areas as before.The Minister of Intelligence of the Front Army reported to General Kirponos without knowing the situation: the enemy Radzekhov Group has increased to three to four tank divisions and motorized divisions.With the support of the infantry regiments of the German Sixth Field Army, the group rushed to the Dubno and Brod areas, causing the danger of going out of the main line of communication of the Front Army.As for the fact that an equally powerful group of the enemy has broken into Lutsk, unfortunately, our reconnaissance department does not know yet. The commander of the front army was very disturbed after hearing the report that the enemy's powerful tank group had rushed to the Dubno and Brod areas, and ordered the basic forces of our right-wing army to be concentrated in front of the group.Therefore, the mechanized 9th and 19th Army units that had begun to concentrate before this were also ordered to go to Dubno.The commander of the Front ordered General Potapov to organize the two armies to carry out a counter-assault.The onslaught of all forces was to begin at 9:00 am on June 26. In this way, the head of the front army made up his mind to attack the enemy Ladzekhov Group with the main force.This determination is quite tempting: first deal with the enemy to the south with a violent assault, and then smash the enemy approaching Lutsk with equal determination. But can this attempt be realized? General Zhukov returned from the 5th Army.When he learned that Kirponos planned to deploy the 36th and 37th Infantry Corps from the depths to defend the front lines of Dubno, Kremenets, Novopochayov, and Gologultsy, We firmly oppose the use of the second echelon of the Front Army in that way. "Since the counter-assault is being carried out, it must be carried out with all our strength!" Before B.C. Zhukov flew to Moscow on June 26, he again asked Kiev to Erbonos mobilized all the troops he could mobilize to carry out a resolute counterattack. We first got up on the morning of June 26 to participate in several mechanized counterattacks He contacted the army headquarters and insisted that they move in as quickly as possible.We kept thinking about the besieged divisions.We understood how difficult it was for them to fight surrounded and with little ammunition.How can they support it?All attempts to supply them were in vain, for the forward route was cut off by the enemy. We spent the night by the telephone and telegraph.The first report received at just after three o'clock in the morning was from General Ryabyshev.The corps commander reported that his 34th Tank Division was approaching Radzekhow, that the 12th Tank Division was approaching Brod, and that the 7th Motorized Division was still near Busk, on the banks of the Westburg.The tank divisions will not wait for the division to arrive, and carry out combat missions within the specified time limit.Ryabyshev requested aviation support for the corps and cover for its right flank. At about the same time, General Carpezzo requested a postponement of the start of the offensive, pending the arrival of the 8th Tank Division.He said his corps had suffered heavy losses in three days of intense fighting and that the attack would be extremely difficult. The corps commander asked when the 8th Tank Division would arrive.He has high hopes for the division.We had to let him down.General Muzichenko told us that the 8th Tank Division has just set off from the area west of Lviv, and it will take a day and night at the earliest to arrive. After hearing the information, Kirponos did not intend to change his determination, and ordered to send a wireless telegram to Calpezzo: "Execute the order." In the early morning of the same day, General Potapov, commander of the 5th Army, reported that not all divisions of the 9th and 19th Mechanized Corps could concentrate after fatigued marches and be ready to attack Dubno at the appointed time.According to his estimation, the two armies will not be able to switch to the offensive until the afternoon. The commander of the front, well aware of the full urgency of the situation, had to ask Potapov to take all measures to bring the mechanized corps on the offensive in good time.It is understandable to the commander, because otherwise, he could only use part of his troops to carry out counter-attacks against the tanks and motorized divisions of General Kleist who committed crimes in the East. In the early morning, General Ryabyshev's Mechanized Eighth Army took T.A. Misha The 12th Tank Division under the command of General Nin and the 34th Tank Division under the command of Colonel A. B. Vasilyev charged the enemy.The enemy of these two divisions was the elite corps of the German Motorized 48th Army, including its 16th Tank Division.Although the enemy had the superiority in strength, they could not withstand the assault of Soviet tanks and retreated. General J.A. Ryabyshev, H.C. Popel, political deputy commander of the brigade political commissar level, and the two division commanders all visited the fiercest part of the battle that day.They commanded the army to drive the fascists back ten kilometers, captured the town of Leshnevo from the march, and seized a large amount of German luggage there.The Fascist High Command quickly mobilized heavy air forces and all the reserves in their hands to deal with the Soviet army.Our tanks went straight to the vicinity of Berestecko, but could not go any further. It is a pity that the assault of the 8th Mechanized Army was isolated and helpless.Its neighbors to its left cannot support it.General Carpezzo's corps struggled against the continuous onslaught of the enemy.The enemy aviation also determined the location of the army's command post.The army headquarters suffered heavy casualties in the violent bombing.General Carpezzo was badly wounded.Colonel B. C. Yermoyev, deputy commander, assumed command of the corps.Although the advance unit of the 8th Tank Division had begun to arrive in the Busk area before this, it still could not be put into battle because the new command post of the army had not yet organized the army command. It was not until nightfall that we learned the impact of the mechanized 9th and 19th armies attacking from the northeast.Generals Rokossovsky and Feklenko ordered the tank division to launch an attack without waiting for the concentration of all the troops of the army after receiving the order to carry out the assault in the general direction of Dubno as soon as possible.Although the enemy's advance troops of the rapid corps attacking in the direction of Lutsk threatened the flanks and rear of our troops, the two army commanders did not entangle with them, but devoted all their forces to fulfilling the tasks assigned by the commander of the army group.The most successful operation was the 20th Tank Division of the 9th Mechanized Army, which had penetrated deep into the enemy's battle formation.During the night, the fighting calmed down a bit.Rokossovsky and Fekrenko assured Potapov that they would strike again tomorrow morning, but requested that their troops be protected from the enemy air assault which was taking their toll .