On March 2, 1943, Lieutenant Shironin's platoon, performing a combat mission, took up defense at a railway crossing near the village of Taranovka, Kharkiv region. For 5 days before the main forces arrived, the platoon held the position. On March 5, 1943, the Nazis threw 35 tanks and armored vehicles into the platoon positions. In the hardest battle, a platoon under the command of Shironin held the position, destroying 16 tanks and more than 100 enemy soldiers. The soldiers of the platoon, sacrificing themselves, rushed with grenades under enemy tanks. Lieutenant Shironin was seriously wounded in this battle