2. Tanks Rampaging on an Airfield
When the T-34s ran low on ammunition, they simply rammed the airplanes, smashing through their aluminum frames and crushing them and their engines beneath tons of armor. German pilots and crews desperately raced to their airplanes in an attempt to get them airborne and away to safety, only to get ruthlessly cut down or ran down and ground into pulp beneath Soviet tank treads. Once the raid had accomplished its goal, however, the attackers were cutoff, and found themselves encircled and unable to breakout back to Soviet lines. They suffered heavily: the 24th Tank Corps lost most of its tanks, was nearly destroyed, and had to be reconstituted. The task however had been accomplished, and the result was a Soviet strategic victory: the attackers claimed 300 aircraft destroyed, while the Germans admitted to the loss of 72 irreplaceable Ju 52 transport planes.
