Outnumbered by Soviet tanks, the Germans pulled back, pursued a short distance by a company of KV tanks. The rest of the 24th Tank Regiment resumed its attack on Leshnov. At the village’s edge, German gunners stayed as long as they could at their guns, attempting to stop the attack. The heavy Soviet tanks rolled right over the German cannons. Popel described an incident in which his T-34 tank rammed an antitank cannon: “I notice that one soldier still stayed at his gun, frantically working behind the shield. There is no salvation for him. Instinctively, I close my eyes. The tank tilts sideways and straightened out again. It left behind what a second ago was an antitank gun with its gunner or gun commander.”[15]
Soon thereafter, Popel’s tank suffered a hit which knocked off a tread. As the rest of the regiment moved forward, Popel’s crew had a chance to climb out of the tank and catch their breath:
Our faces are bloody. When the German shells dented the frontal armor, on the inside, small steel slivers flaked off and imbedded themselves in cheeks and foreheads. We are deaf, poisoned by gun smoke, worn out by turbulence…. It seems that if enemy tanks or infantry would suddenly appear from around the corner—we wouldn’t be able to move.[16]
As the fight raged on Leshnov’s outskirts, Popel and his crew worked frantically to replace two damaged tracks. While they were working, Lieutenant General Ryabyshev’s KV-1, with “200” painted on it, pulled up next to them. In another interesting anecdote, Ryabyshev told Popel that his own KV-1 tank had a breakdown: “The brake track failed, and KV spun like a top near the edge of the river.”[17]
The fight for Leshnov must have been much fiercer than Popel described in his memoirs. He briefly tells of an encounter with a crew of a T-34 tank that pulled out of fighting and attempted to slink away. Popel returned it back into the fight.
After a bitter fight, the 12th Tank Division took Leshnov, losing at least fifteen tanks near the village and further ten irretrievably stuck in the swampy ground near the river. These loses are even more significant because they were suffered mainly by battalions equipped with the precious new T-34s and KV-1s.
When the VIII Mechanized Corps went into attack, the 12th Tank Division was in the center, the 34th Tank Division on the right, and the 7th Motorized Rifle Division was on the left. Despite being roughly on line with each other, these three divisions operated independently of each other, without coordination or assistance.
While the fight for Leshnov raged on, the 7th Motorized Rifle Division under Colonel A. V. Gerasimov had its own tough fight, attempting to cross the Styr River. Gerasimov’s infantrymen went into the offensive without promised contact with the XV Mechanized Corps. After bitter fighting, Gerasimov was able to bring two battalions of riflemen across and hang on to a small beachhead on Styr River. However, this was the extent of its progress in the face of stubborn German resistance.
Advancing to the right, the 34th Tank Division under Colonel I. V. Vasilyev also managed to cross Slonovka River, but was pinned down on the other side by a determined German counterattack.
During this fight, Ryabyshev, instead of directing the battle from his command post, chose to follow the forward echelon. During the fight for Leshnov, Ryabyshev lost contact with his divisions, as clearly stated by Popeclass="underline" “We did not have a clear picture of the situation, units’ locations. It was necessary to immediately return to corps headquarters.”[18]
Popel was honest enough with himself about his and Ryabyshev’s role in the attack: “I asked Ryabyshev a question that was gnawing at me—were we right in going into the attack? The regiment gained two tanks, but the corps ended up without leadership.”[19] Ryabyshev feebly assured him that they were correct, stating that in this fight it was necessary for the common soldiers to see that their commanders were sharing dangers with them. It is apparent that Ryabyshev, like Popel, noticed hesitation and reluctance among his green tank crews.
In late afternoon after Leshnov was firmly secured, Colonel Volkov sent a company of KV tanks to cut the Dubno-Berestechko road. Reaching the road and attacking from ambush, this company caught a small German unit unawares and practically wiped it out.
In the Soviet rear, the town of Brody suffered heavily from German air attacks, and some portions of it were on fire. When Ryabyshev’s tank made it to the area where the corps’ command post was supposed to be, it wasn’t there, delayed in the chaos. Only the chief of communications, Colonel S. N. Kokorin, was in place with a mobile radio station. Soon several more officers dribbled in, Commissar Popel among them. They got together to tally up events of the day.
Despite fighting admirably, the VIII Mechanized Corps did not make significant progress. The 12th Tank Division advanced the farthest, but even that amounted to less than eight miles. For these eight miles, division paid dearly in men and equipment. Its artillery regiment was almost completely destroyed, and division headquarters was hit hard. The 34th Tank Division, while making less progress, also suffered lesser casualties. The 7th Motorized Rifle Division hardly advanced at all.
As their meeting broke up, the poorly camouflaged corps command post was spotted by German aircraft and underwent a heavy attack. Ryabyshev, Popel, Chief of Staff Colonel Tsinchenko, and an enlisted radio operator were inside the radio truck when German bombs began falling on their position. A near hit flung the truck sideways, spilling out the men and destroying precious radio equipment.
Lieutenant Ryabyshev was quickly back on his feet, attempting to restore order. Popel, suffering from a minor scalp wound and a light concussion, was able to move around in a little while. Colonel Tsinchenko received a more serious head wound and severe concussion, but refused to go to a hospital. The young radioman was killed.
As Popel, leaning on a makeshift cane fashioned from a tree branch, hobbled around the command post, he was presented with a nightmarish view:
Fifteen meters away the overturned frame of the radio truck was still smoldering. The woods were on fire. The flame ran along the bronze bark of the elms. Up, down, along the branches to the neighboring trees. The burning trees were falling, setting on fire trucks, tents, motorcycles…. Bodies of dead and wounded were at every step. There weren’t enough medical personnel. Healthy and lightly wounded men were helping their comrades.[20]
After a while, the remaining men resumed operations:
The headquarters were slowly returning to normal after the attack. I did not yet know how misleading the first impression was after an air attack. It seemed as if everything was destroyed, ground into dirt. But an hour goes by and picture changes. The dead are removed, wounded are evacuated, and the survivors pick up their interrupted tasks.[21]
Scattered reports continued coming in. Positions of the 12th Tank Divisions were still undergoing heavy air attacks, and the two beachheads established by the 7th Motorized Rifle Divisions were being counterattacked. Communications were finally reestablished with command of South-Western Front’s Air Force, but there were no aircraft available to assist the VIII Mechanized Corps.
During the fight for Leshnov communications with Col. I. V. Vasilyev’s 34th Tank Division were lost. There were reports that there was still fighting on his flank of corps’ deployment, but nothing clear. Lieutenant General Ryabyshev tasked Popel with visiting the 7th Motorized Rifle Division, while he himself set off to Colonel Vasilyev’s 34th Tank Division.