Accompanied by Varosha, Malashenko personally inspected the combat engineer battalion troops equipped with brand-new equipment.
Comrade the division commander came to inspect. Naturally, the soldiers of the Combat Engineer Battalion gathered quickly without any complaints, lined up neatly, held out their chests and raised their heads in the most high-spirited manner, and had a neat military posture. They were also fully equipped with a lot of equipment.
They lined up in standard full combat gear to receive the review, while Malashenko, accompanied by Varosha, personally approached the review at close range.
Arriving in front of a tall soldier holding a batch of new rifles, Malashenko noticed that this soldier not only held the latest AK-44 in his hand, held his head high and wore a brace on the armed belt around his waist.
The holster of the Karev TT33 pistol carries two iron fists borrowed from the Germans on its back, making it look like a humanoid self-propelled tank armed to the teeth.
By the way, after the last battle of Cherkasy, the iron fists captured by Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division almost piled up into a mountain. According to Varosha, even the entire regiment's soldiers had two tanks.
There is still a surplus of more than double the amount. It is difficult to imagine how many of these things the Germans had stocked in preparation for the early stage of the Battle of Cherkasy.
Fortunately, we encountered the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, which was thick-skinned and mainly composed of heavy tanks. The strong and reliable sloping main armor belt of the IS6 heavy tank could not be broken by the early Iron Fist 60. In most cases
The following are helpless against the main force of IS6 heavy tanks. If they hit them and make a sound, it is reasonable for them to be captured in large numbers under the premise that they are useless.
Malashenko looked at the soldier in front of him from head to toe, who was only half a head shorter than him. If he said he was dissatisfied, he would be lying. Then he asked with a smile.
"With so much equipment on your body, will you feel redundant and burdened during combat?"
The young and tall soldier hesitated and did not answer directly. Varosha, who was closely following Malashenko during the review, quickly stood up and took the initiative to speak.
"Whenever comrade division commander asks you, answer truthfully. Don't be secretive or have any worries. Our regiment has never and will never fool comrade division commander."
While giving reminders and instructions to the soldiers, he also emphasized the excellent style of his regiment. Malashenko, who turned his head and glanced at Varosha, sighed in his heart at that time, "This kid is good, he has made progress!"
What followed was the young warrior's answer.
"Comrade Commander, although this equipment is heavy, my body is stronger! Our combat engineer battalion eats the best food and undergoes the most rigorous physical training in order to maintain the fullest fighting posture on the battlefield.
Destroy all enemies! So I will not feel that this equipment is redundant, and every weapon will become a weapon for me to destroy the German fascists!"
The soldier's answer was unpretentious, straight to the point without beating around the bush, but this was exactly what Malashenko wanted to hear most.
"Good, that's good! What's your name?"
"Comrade Commander, my name is Mikhail Androvich Chertenko."
The very excited young soldier said his full name in one breath, and Malashenko, who was very satisfied with this high-spirited fighting spirit, nodded repeatedly.
"Chertenko, okay, I'll remember that. If you have any suggestions on equipment and team formation, go directly to your regiment leader Varosha to talk to him. If he doesn't want to see you, just come to me directly. I'm always welcome."
!The opinions of soldiers are as precious as food and cannot be wasted!"
Comrade Commander's words should be a reminder to himself not to be self-righteous to the point of getting carried away at any time, at least that's what Varosha thought at this moment when he heard this.
Continuing to move forward, when Malashenko came to the center of the parade, he suddenly noticed that the bulletproof vest on the chest of the soldier in front of him had several bullet holes. It looked like the scratches and bullet holes were still very new. It should be from the last time.
It came out of the battle.
Malashenko, who stopped again, remained silent and raised his hand with his index finger to poke the bullet hole in the soldier's body armor.
The diameter of the bullet hole is relatively large, enough to allow the tip of Malashenko's right index finger to penetrate.
Malashenko, who did not feel any obvious obstruction on his fingernails, could have guessed that the second layer of bulletproof armor on the inside was at least impacted by the warhead, and even if it did not penetrate, it would at least be bent. Understanding this
Malashenko, who was in a situation, immediately withdrew his right hand, faced the soldier and asked questions.
"What kind of gun was this shot? When? How close was it?"
Malashenko's question went straight to the core, and the soldier in front of him replied directly without thinking too much.
"Back to Comrade Commander, during the last siege battle in Cherkasy, a wounded SS soldier pretended to be dead. When I went up to check the body, he suddenly turned over and hit me with his pistol. I reacted quite quickly.
I used the tip of the gun to push away his right hand. He originally aimed at my face, but the shot missed and hit the body armor, almost face to face."
"Without this double-layered body armor, I might have died at that time. I really want to thank her for giving me a second life."
Face to face, a large-caliber pistol penetrated the first layer of bulletproof steel plate and damaged the second layer. This result is not unacceptable. At least the double-armor bulletproof vest has achieved its due effect and saved
The life of the soldier, Malashenko felt that this was enough.
"It seems that your luck and reactions are very good! Luck is also a part of strength. Don't underestimate it. People who use their luck rationally are more likely to survive on the battlefield. Believe in yourself."
"Also, do you have any suggestions for our current bulletproof protective gear? How does it feel to use it with the newly issued ammunition equipment? Let's talk about it."
Malashenko has always believed that those who have the most say on the quality of equipment and the direction of improvement are the soldiers closest to the battlefield. The development of equipment must not be disconnected from the actual combat feedback of soldiers. This is just like him and Kotin and Moro
Zoff's partnership is like that.
"I have some suggestions, Comrade Commander!"
"The protection of the entire steel plate is very comprehensive and can cover the important internal organs of the entire upper body. However, it is too big and is a very solid piece. It cannot be bent or stretched. Sometimes it is encountered on the battlefield.
When it comes to mobility issues, such as in trenches, when squatting, or when lying down and getting up, it often restricts our movements and causes trouble."
"As for the new ammunition equipment, it is great! Everyone has been worried about how to carry and store this pre-loaded curved magazine. Some people even inserted it into the boot tube and changed the magazine.
You have to bend down to take it out, which is very inconvenient."
"Now that I have it, I can easily get the magazine by touching my belly, and I don't need to change into a new military uniform. I just need to hang it on the outside of the original military uniform. I can take it off at any time when not in use. The person who designed it is simply a genius.