"In the Soviet army it takes more courage to retreat than advance." - Joseph Stalin 

The Russian Tankovy Batalon advance to retake Virskoje Selo, defended by the 6th Panzerdivision.

On the stage a desk had been set up. At the desk sat the men who would determine Polkovnik Vladimir Pietrovich’s fate. Pietrovich sat in the accused seat looking decidedly nervous. He knew that this was a kangaroo court merely designed to show the troops that even higher ranking officers were not exempt from Soviet justice.

One of the panel member’s stood up :
“The tribunal calls it’s next witness, Comrade Commissar Ivan Demetrov of the 427th Rife Regiment.”

Commissar Demetrov hobbled up to the witness seat. Despite his cast leg requiring him to walk on crutches, he held himself with pride and dignity.

“Comrade Demetrov, could you please outline what happened on the morning of the 23rd of June, 1942 at Virskoje Selo?”

“Our regiment had been ordered to provide support to the 365th Tank Regiment who were launching a breakthrough attack against German forces in the greater Virskoje forces. My own company was to provide support to the 2nd Tankovy Batalon led by Colonel , along with the 875th Heavy Assault Gun Regiment."

"We weren’t aware of any German presence in the area.

Polkovnik Pietrovich ordered our company to guard the approaches outside the village while he sent his tanks and the assault guns forward. I did not understand his plan. It seemed stupid. The assault guns and 2nd Tankovy Company would progress through the village while Pietrovich’s own T-34 company would try to ford the river.

The tanks moved forward while we dug in. Then the facists opened fire on us. It appeared that they were using the village as a staging area for tank forces. There was a number of armoured vehicles based there including a number of Panzer III’s and IV’s, a Hummel battery and a Tiger. The only infantry appeared to be a motorcycle based reconnaissance unit."

"A number of Panzer IV’s hidden in a forest opened fire on Pietrovich’s T-34’s destroying one. The 2nd T-34 company were engaged by a Tiger backed up by 3 Panzer III’s but the T-34‘s managed to cross the bridge."

"Pietrovich ordered his tanks forward. The German Tiger place itself at the cross roads blocking the 2nd T-34 company. German fire from the two Panzer units and the Tiger took a toll on the T-34’s. Then came our first catastrophe. The Hummels destroyed both Su-152’s of the 875th Heavy Assault Gun Company!"

Both the T-34 companies continued to move forward and fire at the Germans. Only a single Panzer III was destroyed.

This did not deter the Germans who continued to blast away. In a single volley the German Panzer IV’s annihilated the almost the entire 1st Tankovy Company. Only a single T-34 remained and it withdrew towards our lines with haste. I later found out that Polkovnik Pietrovich was in this machine.

The 2nd Tankovy Company continued to struggle valiantly. Kapitan Tarkovsky and I decided that we need to act and sent the infantry forward. But it was too late. The Hummels, Panzer III’s and Tiger annihilated the 2nd T-34 company.
It was when the Germans counterattacked that I was injured. “

“Thank you Commisar. You have done the Motherland a great duty.”

The panel members turned to each other and whispered between each other. After a minute of deliberation, the most senior of them stood up.

“Polkovnik Pietrovich’s actions at Virskoje Selo are the best proof of his treachery against the Motherland. He split his forces in two and proceeded to lose an entire tank battalion to a much more inferior enemy. He then ran from the scene of the battle while his troops were ground under the tracks of enemy tanks. His actions resulted in a German breakthrough against our forces whose containment required the involvement of several Guards units required elsewhere. His actions saw the loss of not only seventeen tanks and 70 men under his own command, but the resulting German breakthrough resulted in the loss of thousands more brave patriots and the loss of valuable equipment such as the 963rd and 1028th Field Kitchens.

This panel therefore sentences Polkovnik to death and his execution is to be carried out immediately. Take this scum out of my sight!"