Although it is much smaller than the losses of the Germans, the losses on Malashenko's side are quite considerable in all fairness.
It was only after the battlefield was cleaned and the confiscated materials and losses were calculated in detail that Malashenko, who was sitting in the temporary tent at the brigade headquarters, had the opportunity to see what his losses were.
"Only eighteen tanks? That...isn't it. Are you sure this number is correct?"
Malashenko, holding the statistical report in his hand, repeatedly confirmed and looked at it again and again, but he still couldn't believe that the numbers on the paper in front of him could be true, so he turned to Political Commissar Petrov in an unbelievable tone.
Make sure again and blurt it out.
In contrast, Commissar Petrov responded with a smile.
"We are the defensive side, so it is normal for us to suffer less losses than the attacking side. We must first understand this truth."
"On the other hand, your tactical arrangements are also very reasonable. That wave of smoke bombs saved at least one battalion of our tanks. Just imagine what it would be like to be bombarded by Germans for more than ten minutes without smoke bomb cover? No one
You will feel that you can still be safe in this situation.”
"Your decision saved everyone, Malashenko. The comrades are now very grateful to their brigade commander comrade. You are a hero in their mouths. You were the same in the past, but now you have been raised to a higher level."
Even with Commissar Petrov's explanation, Malashenko still couldn't figure out what the situation was with such low battle losses.
You must know that the smoke screen bombs at that time did not immediately cover all the huge Stalin tanks. After all, it was only the size of a mortar company. The German air strikes quickly targeted those tanks that failed to withdraw under the smoke screen cover in time.
Rashenko didn't think the outcome of being focused on by the Germans would be much better under such circumstances. The low loss was indeed a bit beyond expectation.
"If you want to thank me, go to Karamov. He will tell you what he and his people did to create the miraculous number you saw in the report. My expression when I first received the report was almost the same.
You too."
Comrade Political Commissar knew why Malashenko was so surprised. In fact, to put it bluntly, the other main reason for this incident was Karamov.
The commander of the field maintenance battalion, who had made mistakes before and even held a review meeting, seemed to be a completely different person after he made a guarantee to the comrade commander and political commissar in front of the entire brigade comrades.
No matter what he does, he strives to take the lead, rush to the front, and work extremely hard. Even hard and tiring work such as repairing cars that does not require him to do it himself is indispensable to him.
Is this a kind of atonement? Maybe, but maybe not yet.
After all, the mistakes Karamov made were just a matter of style in the opinion of the brigade commander, not a big deal. So when Karamov changed his behavior, many comrades in the brigade were a little flattered and felt that they had been let down before.
Comrade Karamov, who everyone had a headache for, had simply changed.
The reason why the number of tanks lost this time was so small was largely due to the efforts of Karamov and his people to rescue the zombie tanks.
Although there is no guarantee that a severely damaged tank cannot be repaired by ordinary technicians and engineers, when it comes to Karamov, it will have a satisfactory ending in most cases.
Karamov is not used to speaking his mind to death, and he doesn't like to make promises without leaving a little room for himself, but this does not mean that Karamov is the kind of unreliable person who does things by fishing.
On the contrary, the reason why Karamov became a popular figure among Malashenko is because Malashenko really cannot do without such a general.
Karamov neither leads troops to fight nor is he a core management member of the brigade. He seems to be just an ordinary battalion commander, a marginal figure who can be replaced at any time, but in Malashenko's view, he is actually the real three
A great god that even a combat battalion commander cannot replace.
I want to replace Karamov with him. I can do it, no problem!
If you find such an awesome person to come over and do maintenance and vehicle repairs for the entire brigade, and make the field maintenance camp even better than it is now, I won’t have any problem personally holding a brigade commendation meeting for you!
What? You said you can’t find it?
I'm sorry, why don't you stay here when it's cool? I'm going to keep using Karamov. If you don't accept it, shut your mouth. If you don't want to get out of here as soon as possible, you're like a fly, beep beep.
No matter what, people have already made a written inspection report at the review meeting. What else do you want to do?
It may sound a bit arrogant and heroic, but Comrade Ma Laoshenko really thinks so. Malashenko thinks that he knows enough about this capable general who has been with him since 1941.
Be clear: Karamov is a person who, although he has some minor flaws and is prone to swelling, is absolutely trustworthy and reliable at critical moments and is worthy of entrusting him with heavy responsibilities.
Now, Karamov once again surprised Malashenko, who had just experienced a battle that should have been nerve-wracking, without making any prior guarantees.
In fact, there should have been 38 tanks lost in the battle just experienced, and most of them were destroyed by German air strikes. For example, the tracks were blown off, the power compartment was penetrated by armor-piercing projectiles, and the engine was damaged. It is also possible that
It was the penetration of the dome armor that caused the crew to suffer casualties and abandon the vehicle. Various situations occurred in an intertwined manner, and sometimes there was more than one situation on a tank.
As soon as the battle ended, Karamov led his men and rushed forward almost immediately along with the troops cleaning the battlefield, aiming directly at the heavy tanks that were paralyzed in various positions and were not on fire but could not move.
After a single operation, Karamov miraculously reduced the number of battle damage from the initial 38 to 18. The remaining 20 vehicles were reviewed by Karamov one by one and included in the "repairable" range.
According to Karamov's report to Political Commissar Petrov, these tanks can be put into battle before the battle starts tomorrow. His field maintenance battalion will have to repair these tanks even if they stay up all night.
It's almost like ten.
"Many of the damaged tanks were pierced by armor-piercing projectiles but had no ammunition to explode. The Germans installed large-caliber cannons on their aircraft instead of aerial bombs. This should be considered lucky. Of course, this is still due to
With Karamov, otherwise I think these tanks cannot be repaired, which would be equivalent to a complete loss."
Political Commissar Petrov does not often praise Karamov, and Malashenko even now feels that Comrade Comrade Political Commissar may still have some objections to Karamov, but this time it is obviously different.