Attack on Modellbaudorf - Part V : The Soviet Flanking Move

The Soviet commanders have now declared the initial attack a 'diversionary move' and they have launched a second flanking attack through the southern part of town. This is where the restaurants and shops lining the square are located. It is is also where the oldest houses in the town used to be. Some of them date back to the 1300s. Much of it is now big piles of rubble…

The Soviet attack is two-pronged. A couple squads are moving through the inside of the buildings...

...while a third squad attempts to rush through the alleys next to them.

The Panther stationed at the corner of the square is in a difficult situation. Unable to turn or fire sideways, it is vulnerable to an attack from behind or from its right side.

The Panzer's infantry escort steels itself for what’s coming.

The Soviet officer leading the charge through the alley suddenly comes up behind the Panther. Sensing his presence, one of the German Panzergrenadiers escorting the tank turns around and, in a reflexive move, empties his clip at the Soviet. After almost 4 years of surviving the eastern front, this officer's luck has finally run out.

Trying to not sound too startled, the young Panzergrenadier alerts the rest his comrades about the danger behind them.

In a nick of time, just as the rest of the Soviets were about to reach the Panther, the Germans manage to get a machine gun team into position to lay down enfilading fire through the alley.

As the Soviets advance through the inside of the stores, they station additional riflemen in them. This dilutes the flanking attack, but increases the pressure on the Germans fending off the initial attack across the square.

A brave Soviet soldier rushes forward with a Molotov cocktail trying to take out the MG team covering the alley.

He is so focused on the threat in front of him that he neglects to see the dangers lurking on either side.

The situation has become chaotic. In some places only the thickness of a wall separates friend from foe. From a distance, the commanders perceive the situation as relatively stable and balanced, but for the men on the ground it feels grave and desperate.

The battle is now an exchange of grenades and fire at point-blank.

One of those grenades lands next to the Panther and busts its right track.

For now, despite the heavy casualties, the Germans seem to have contained the Soviet surge. The Soviets however, have now consolidated their attacks into a single, unified front and occupy two thirds of the town.