Chapter 654 Switching from offense to defense

Hearing Zhukov on the other end of the phone give him an order, Malashenko, who knew what he should do, did not respond with too many words. He simply assured Zhukov that he would complete the task and then gave up. Got off the phone.

"How about it? What should we do in the afternoon?"

As soon as Malashenko walked out of the tent, Lavrinenko, who had been waiting at the tent door, immediately leaned over like a curious baby and asked questions.

"Hold the position and stop the attack. But to be honest, I am not even sure whether we can hold the position. More than five thousand people died in one morning. If I hadn't experienced it myself, I would really like to ask is this possible?"

Counting the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment and the three infantry divisions accompanying the attack, more than 5,000 Red Army soldiers and commanders died this morning at the breakthrough point Malashenko was responsible for alone.

Most of them died in German air raids, and not even a single body was found afterwards, only scattered human body fragments and broken bones and flesh. You can't even run on the open terrain without any obstructions. If you throw it correctly, a 500-kilogram aerial bomb, which is most commonly used by the German army, can wipe out an entire battalion in an instant.

The power of heavy aerial bombs against unprotected soft targets is unmatched by any artillery attack. Even if the most powerful battleship is brought in, its charge coefficient is just a younger brother in front of aerial bombs. This morning's battle is considered to let Mara Shenke thoroughly experienced what it felt like to be pinned to the ground and bombarded indiscriminately.

After listening to Malashenko's complaints, Lavrinenko paused for a moment, then raised his head and asked rhetorically after seeming to think for a moment.

"But we must hold our position no matter what, don't we?"

Facing Lavrinenko's slow opening, Malashenko, who was slightly surprised, couldn't help but stretched out his hand to support a new tank cap that he had just taken from the regiment. Lavrinenko seemed to be concerned about what he had just said. There are some misunderstandings.

"Of course, we not only have to defend it, but also let those German corpses litter the fields. We must finish today's battle first and then talk about tomorrow's affairs."

The three infantry divisions that received the order before Malashenko took the lead in starting the construction of field fortifications.

Although nominally three infantry divisions are deployed together, it is impossible to pile all three infantry divisions together on one position. This will only make the German Air Force smile even more from ear to ear and make their blood boil.

The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment received the assistance of an infantry division with heavy losses to jointly deploy the defense. The reason for this situation was actually Malashenko's initiative to request this.

Judging from the actual situation of this infantry division, which has suffered more than half of its casualties, Malashenko estimates that it will be penetrated through the defense line if it cannot last even two hours under the German air-ground integrated armored assault offensive.

Rather than letting this infantry division, which has lost more than half of its losses, set up defenses alone, it is better to transfer it to your side to help. Firstly, it can get the support of the infantry and make Malashenko feel more at ease. Secondly, it can hand over the sole mission to those two. An infantry division with relatively sufficient strength is also more secure. The reason for such a decision is as simple as that.

The German Air Force continued bombing all morning, leaving numerous aerial bomb craters of varying sizes like the surface of the moon. Counting the already-occupied German simple starting positions, it saved Malashenko some trouble in his defense.

On the basis of the original simple starting positions of the German army, several more infantry trenches and traffic trenches were dug to connect them together. The aerial bomb craters can be used as anti-tank gun emplacement bunkers by leveling them slightly and adding some soil. A simple but effective field battle The defensive position was finally completed before the German army attacked again.

Before the Red Army soldiers who had just dug the tunnels and trenches on the position had time to take a break, smoke a cigarette and take a breath, a deep roar from the distance like an old cow pulling a broken cart suddenly came to their ears from far to near. .

"Artillery fire! German artillery fire! Get down!"

There are no tigers in the mountains, but monkeys rule the roost.

After this morning's air strike severely damaged and almost completely eliminated the Soviet field artillery cluster, the German artillery that had been standing still can finally show off its skills unscrupulously. These German artillery, whose range and power are not as good as the Soviet artillery, still have the power of destruction. , the 105 and 150 howitzers exploded on the position so much that it almost completely overturned the entire ground.

"These damn bastards! If we still had artillery, we could blow them into pieces right now!"

The commander of the infantry division commanded by Malashenko's partner was Colonel Cherchenkov, a 38-year-old Jew and Communist Party member who still wore the Order of the Red Banner on his chest for his heroic combat in the Battle of Moscow.

From Colonel Cherchenkov, Malashenko seemed to be able to see the inexplicable faint flavor of the Israel Defense Forces in later generations. But Malashenko is convinced that this faint similarity has nothing to do with the distinction between capitalism and communism.

Maybe there is some similarity between the IDF’s ability to fight and Colonel Cherchenkov’s determined character? Or was it just because Colonel Cherchenkov was a Jew that he had some preconceived subjective opinion?

Malashenko was not sure, so he could only excuse himself with an answer like "maybe" and laugh it off.

The only thing that is certain is that Malashenko does not have any preconceived prejudices or opinions because Colonel Cherchenkov is a Jew. There is no such thing as racism in Malashenko's heart, whether in the past or present. traces of its existence.

Faced with the scolding of Colonel Cherchenkov, who was obviously a bad-tempered man, Malashenko, who was packing his personal equipment and getting ready to board the vehicle to direct the battle, smiled and replied.

"Those Germans won't be rampant for long, Comrade Cherchenkov. They will soon be littered with corpses in front of our positions, I guarantee you."

As the leading offensive force, the German armored group rushed up quickly after half an hour of artillery preparations. The smell of gasoline and black smoke filled the dusty air and became increasingly thick.

"There are 38 vehicles in total for the first, second, third and fourth vehicles. It seems that these German guys can't wait to come up and play with the big ones!"

"Kirill, reload armor-piercing shells! Iushkin, aim at the long-barreled Panzer IV tanks at the front and smash them first!"

The open and open terrain with an unobstructed view prevented Malashenko from using the terrain to conceal himself in a surprise attack like he did in Nibotrikaya Village last time.

All the remaining tanks of the entire 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment were deployed on the front line by Malashenko as planned. In addition to some serving as mobile bunkers to support defense, a considerable number of the remaining tanks are used by Malashenko to carry out possible counterattacks and serve as reserves.