Chapter 47

After receiving a call for help from Dietrich on the ground, the German attack aircraft group, which carried enough aviation fuel to stay in the air for a long time on the battlefield, immediately dived straight towards the Soviet tank troops on the ground again. Down.

Various types of aerial bombs fell directly into the Soviet tank group with whistling sounds, and the horrifying explosions came one after another. The Soviet tank group was originally beaten to the ground by the Soviet tank group with its absolute mass advantage and almost the same numerical balance between the two sides. The German armored forces in the attack finally felt elated as if they had grasped a life-saving straw.

"Those Soviets are retreating. Start the car and intercept them from both sides! We must eat them up!"

With the help of the Stuka dive bombers and BF109E3 fighters in the air, the German armored forces, which had barely gained any advantage against the Soviet tanks, now had support.

Immediately, under the order of the armor commander who led his team, he began to use the pincer offensive that the German army most often used and was best at to encircle, trying to cut off Malashenko and his group of Soviet 20th Tank Division offensive troops in two ways. The retreat route is to encircle and destroy it, or to force it to surrender after losing morale in the encirclement, thereby achieving a true macro-strategic victory.

Facing the enemy in front of them, the SS Guards Standard Division's skillful, fast and fierce pincer-shaped intersecting offensive had been beaten to pieces under the three-dimensional integrated air-ground attack, and it was no longer possible to organize an effective large-scale attack. The counterattacking Soviet tank troops finally could no longer hold on, and the disorderly rout after losing their command began to spread like a plague throughout the entire 20th Tank Division's offensive troops.

Holding the telescope in his hand tightly, he witnessed everything on the front line that was irreversible in the forward command post above his position. His hands were shaking and he could hardly bear such a result. He couldn't even imagine how he would explain it to his superiors. He was silent. Commander Chernyev could not say a word at this critical moment when a decision was most needed.

Looking at his partner who had never looked so glum before, Commissar Petrov, who already understood that the current war situation was doomed to be irreversible, took a step forward after sighing.

"Let the troops withdraw first, Comrade Division Commander, we are destined to be unable to win this battle."

After hearing the familiar tone next to him, Chernyaev was stunned for a moment. He couldn't imagine that these words that sounded timid and timid could come from the mouth of Petrov, who had always been strict in managing the army. He came back to his senses. After arriving, Chernyaev responded in an almost incredible tone.

"Retreat? Are you crazy? Peter!"

"Now the war situation has reached the final moment of defeat, and you are asking me to withdraw the troops at this moment!? If I didn't know your character and character, Peter, I would have thought that you were violating the oath of a party member and a soldier. of"

"enough!"

The loud roar that suddenly opened his mouth forcibly interrupted Commander Chernyaev's unfinished words. Political Commissar Petrov, whose chest was heaving violently and his face was red, looked extremely excited at this moment.

"Comrade Commander, look at it, look at it for yourself! Look at the torturous battlefield purgatory our soldiers are in now, and look at whether the blood flowing out of their gun holes is as bright red as your cap badge!"

"Both of you and I know that the current war situation is irreversible, and our troops are even in danger of being annihilated if this continues! Since the war situation has reached an irreversible point that cannot be changed by human willpower, why Can’t we temporarily withdraw our soldiers to preserve our strength?”

"Every Red Army soldier is a precious asset of the motherland and the great Soviet Union. The right given to us by Comrade Stalin is only to lead them to victory, not to push them into the abyss with our own hands! If we continue to do nothing like this, you and I will be His behavior is a crime and he is a murderer of Red Army soldiers! Don’t you understand what I mean by that? "

Faced with Petrov who in desperation even clapped his hands fiercely and loudly questioned him, Commander Chernyaev, whose mind was completely blank but had to admit that everything Petrov said was true, immediately He spoke indifferently.

"Okay, I admit that what you said is right, Peter. But the order I received from General Rokossovsky was to capture and tear apart the German defensive positions outside the town of Brod, and provide our army with the final There is no objection or doubt whatsoever about winning the final victory in this battle.”

"As you just said, of course I know that the life of each of us Red Army soldiers is extremely precious and cannot be squandered by us. But before that, the first thing I want to emphasize is my status as a senior commander of the Red Army!"

"As a soldier, the biggest taboo is not to carry out orders thoroughly on the battlefield or to disobey orders! Your opinion is contrary to the combat instructions I received, Peter! Although I also know that this is Our soldiers pushed into the fire pit, but I had to do it!"

"you!"

I never expected that Chernyaev, who was always friendly to others and often held social activities with grassroots officers and soldiers, would be so cold-blooded at such a critical moment. Gritting his teeth, he almost felt like the person he knew. Petrov, who knew his old friend and had completely changed, spoke slowly again, almost word for word.

"You have changed, old friend. Do you remember when we took rifles together to fight against the white bandits and the little bourgeoisie who surrounded our new Soviet Union? You were not what you are today at that time! Have you forgotten all this? ?”

The eyes that gradually became colder seemed to be able to follow Commissar Petrov's words back to the war-torn and passionate era. Petrov and Chernyaev, who had firm beliefs and supreme ideals in their hearts, have since Since that time, we have been comrades in life and death fighting the enemy together in the same trench.

It's just that the once young and ignorant enthusiasm has finally disappeared with the passage of time, replaced by a kind of cold-blooded emotion called rationality and choice.

With the corners of his eyes trembling, he forcibly smoothed out the momentary ups and downs on his face, and then turned around. His words were as calm as if he was talking about what should be eaten for lunch today, and then Chernyaev said softly. .