German Command decided that instead of waiting for reinforcements the German tanks would counter attack. The Tigers had moved round onto the Panthers left flank and had engaged a couple of SU-85s along with a Katyusha multiple rocket launcher. The Germans called them “Stalin’s organ” due to the visual and aural resemblance to a church organ. They could deliver multiple rockets much quicker than conventional artillery. However, they were less arcuate and took longer to load. Which each salvo of rockets taking around 50 minutes to load. They had a range of between 4.5 and 13 miles depending on the many rocket variants used during and after the war. The rockets were mounted in parallel on the back of various truck types such as a ZiS-6, six wheeled truck.
One Tiger had been lost in the short exchange of fire between the SU-85s and Katyusha. Although the SU-85 was a capable tank, the 85-mm gun was not adequate enough to penetrate the armour of the larger German armoured fighting vehicles such as the Panther, Tiger and King Tiger at long range or head on. The 76mm gun on the original T-34s could not penetrate a Tigers armour from the front and only the side at a very close range.
The two Panthers pushed forward with German infantry in support. The plan was for the two Panthers to follow the tree line at the edge of the village and descend onto the lower ground where they could isolate and attack enemy tanks. The only issue with this plan was if the Panther had to fire on the move, as the gunner did not have a periscope sight for general observation during travel and relied on the commander for targeting instructions. If the Panther was static and looking for targets, it was not an issue. However, on the move the firing cycle slowed to 20-30 seconds. On receiving the commander’s instructions, the gunner first had to search for the target using the 2.5x power magnification, switch to 5x magnification for the actual engagement. The gunner flipped the reticule to the correct ammunition type depending on the commander’s instructions. The gunner used the commander’s range estimate to make the necessary elevation adjustment. The gunner had two foot operated controls for the hydraulic turret traverse and a backup wheel if the hydraulics failed or the engine was not operating. Gun elevation was undertaken by using a wheel by the gunner’s left hand. The gun trigger was also located on the elevating wheel and was an electric trigger. When the gun fired, it ejected the round against a deflector plate and into an automatically opening and closing bin.
Once the Panthers had engaged targets, the Tigers would act as a cutoff and flank protection for the Panthers. The area was quite undulating, which gave opportunities for the Panthers to hide and pop out to attack Red Army tanks. The Panthers began their attack with dawn light and early morning mist offering some cover. Although sparks coming from the exhausts on the Panthers could easily be seen. German infantry followed close behind using the two tanks for cover. As the Panthers moved down the line of trees, the commander spotted an incoming Ilyushin that let off a volley of fire in completely the wrong location. It roared over the Panthers before turning sharply for a second pass. The second pass was no better than the first and completely missed the Panthers. After the second pass, the infantry reappeared from the trees where they had taken shelter. One Panther moved forward and the other turned left towards a mound. As the Panther got to the mound several trucks, containing infantry came into view. The Panther changed to HE rounds before firing at the first truck. The single round obliterated the truck and parts of it scattered in all directions. A second round was quickly loaded and fired at the second truck. The truck was torn apart as the HE round impacted with the truck. Three trucks were now ablaze. The Soldiers that had been on the back of the trucks were jumping and scattering in all directions. Many of them were on fire, screaming in pain as they burnt to death. The Panther fired another round at the next truck. The HE round it the truck in the centre blowing it apart into two pieces. The driver and passenger were thrown into the air by the force of the blast before their lifeless bodies it the hard frozen ground.
The commander of the second Panther spotted a KV-1 moving up towards the first Panther. One of the Tigers on flank protection had also seen the KV-1. Both the commander of the Tiger and the Panther lined up their sights and let off two AP rounds almost instantaneously. The first round it the side of the KV-1 and appeared to do nothing. The second round from a Tiger hit the rear of the KV-1 and blew the rear end of the KV-1 apart. Acrid black smoke belched out from the KV-1, which had now stopped moving. The round from the Panther had entered the side of the KV-1 taken out half the crew before exiting out the other side.
Three T-34s were moving towards the Panthers. One T-34 got a round that disabled the main gun of the second Panther. German infantry began to fire their heavy machine guns at the approaching T-34s. The other Panther was hit several times by small anti-tank guns. After the huge noise and echo their shots bounced off the Panthers angled armour. What Tank crews feared more were the shoulder mounted ant-tank weapons. The Germans had the ‘Panzerschrek’ (‘tank-terror’), because it had a shaped charge projectile that did not need to even pierce the armour. On impact, the warhead caused a shock wave to travel through the steel plate, which blew a big scab of plate off the inside, which immediately cut through anyone or anything it struck inside the tank. The Panther had now become exposed to enemy fire and needed to get onto a better position as did the Panther just behind, three 75mm rounds had hit the frontal armour and bounced off. A round finally penetrated the side and caused the turret to jam. As the Panther tried to turn, its transmission failed as well and could no longer turn or move. Its engine was juddering and oil smoke was pouring from its vents. The Panther was pitted and scarred from multiple hits by AP rounds, its hatches partly blown off and three wheels missing on one side. Inside the crew had felt the impact and fragments of shattered steel had shot around inside the tank. The gunner had a large laceration to the head. The commander a cut to his leg with blood almost spurting out. The driver had lost a fingernail and suffered a cut to his hand.