The splashing mud was like churning volcanic lava, being splashed everywhere under the crazy rolling of the tank's driving wheel. The field maintenance troops of the 20th Tank Division were nervously and busy rescuing the steel behemoths stuck in the mud pit.
Division Commander Chernyayev, who was in charge of leading this unit, raised his arms and shouted loudly.
"Back! Back! Damn it, did you crew have mud in their heads? I told you to go back first, but your tank got stuck on the slope and skidded, and you stepped on the accelerator hard, right?
You want me to personally teach you how to drive a tank!?”
Before the furious Commander Chernyev finished speaking, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, political commissar of the 20th Tank Division, ran up anxiously, clutching a copy of the paper that had just been received and even smelled of ink.
.
"Comrade Division Commander, you have to take a look at this. Three minutes ago, the division headquarters just received a telegram from the advance troops. The two companies of the advance troops led by Captain Malashenko had just suffered heavy losses from bombing by the German Air Force. Malashenko
At the end of the telegram, the captain stated that he would lead the remaining troops to continue advancing according to the original plan, but the remaining troops on hand were less than ten tanks and one platoon of infantry!"
"What did you say? German air raid?"
With a face of astonishment and a tone of disbelief, he grabbed the telegram copied from Lieutenant Colonel Petrov and read it at a glance. A moment later, Commander Chernyayev, who had read the entire text, was furious.
Don't hit any place.
"Asshole! The German planes are flying above our heads like flies, but where is our air force!? Where are these damn pilots? It's been almost a week since the war started and I haven't seen even one of our planes.
, these air force division commanders should really be sent to the Gulag for reform!"
Seeing his furious partner who had crumpled the telegraph newspaper into a ball in front of him, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, who was quite helpless after letting out a long sigh, then spoke slowly.
"Stop complaining, comrade division commander. My classmate who works in the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent me a message and told me that basically all the air bases of our Western Front have been bombed by the Germans as soon as the war started.
Paralyzed."
"Countless aircraft were directly shot and destroyed by German fighter jets in the hangar and on the runway. Those poor pilots were sent to the sky by the German Stuka before they even had time to leave the barracks. My that
An old classmate specifically reminded me to pay attention to safety and beware of the German threat from the sky. At least until new planes arrive, the sky will always belong to the Germans."
After hearing the truth told by Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, I was stunned. It was hard to imagine that the air force under the Western Front, which was the most elite among the entire Soviet army and had nearly a thousand aircraft of various types, had reached such a desperate situation.
At this point, Chernyayev, who had never felt so clearly how powerful the German's cutting-edge blitzkrieg tactics could be, couldn't help but said in a voice.
"How could...this...how could this happen? We are the Western Front! Peter! We are the most powerful Western Front in the entire Red Army! Why did our planes fail to take off after the war started and were destroyed by the Germans?
Destroyed on the runway, how can we deal with those German bombers without air force support!? No, I can't accept it!"
Looking at his old partner who was uncharacteristically uncharacteristic and almost hysterical, he could imagine what impact this extremely heavy news had on Chernyaev, the acting commander.
What a heavy blow. Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, whose face was as gloomy as water and also felt that his future was bleak about the current bad battle situation, raised his head again and spoke slowly.
"The affairs of the Air Force should be left to those who should be responsible for it. Comrade Division Commander, the top priority we must do now is to find a way to send some additional reinforcements to Captain Malashenko as soon as possible. At the same time, we must try our best to
Bring more anti-aircraft guns in case the Germans try to kill you again."
After a short period of irritation and frenzy in his heart, he calmed down and realized that the air force's affairs were not a problem that he should worry about. He worked hard to adjust his state and tried to restore himself to the state that a division commander should have as soon as possible.
After taking a deep breath, he nodded slowly and responded to Lieutenant Colonel Petrov.
"You are right. Even after suffering such heavy casualties, Captain Peter Malashenko was still able to follow the oath under the red flag and lead the troops to move forward. From this point alone, Captain Malashenko is worthy of his party members and
The status of an officer is very worthy of recognition and praise, and follow-up reinforcements must be sent to support our little hero."
Before he finished speaking, he rolled his eyes and kept thinking. Knowing that Lieutenant Colonel Petrov's nephew Kirill was among the advance troops, the experienced Cherniayev naturally understood that his partner, the political commissar, was so anxious at the moment.
Another purpose of sending additional reinforcements.
Not only for his old partner, but also to prevent Captain Malashenko, the rising star, from falling, Chernyaev finally made the decision to save Malashenko from the fire and water after some careful consideration.
important decisions among them.
"Let's do it, Peter. I will transfer another company of T34 tanks from the first tank regiment and give them to Captain Malashenko to command. At the same time, I will transfer six vehicle-mounted 37 anti-aircraft guns and
Two vehicle-mounted 76 anti-aircraft guns carried a company of infantry and rushed over."
"All dispatched tanks and vehicle-mounted anti-aircraft guns will try to select units in the best condition. They will only carry necessary equipment and basic ammunition to speed up the march and join the advance troops as soon as possible. What do you think of this arrangement?"
After listening to this basically proper arrangement from Chernyaev, Lieutenant Colonel Petrov, who had been worried about the safety of his little nephew since he received the news of the attack on the advance troops, finally felt relieved.
The stone fell to the ground.
"I think this plan is feasible, Comrade Commander. Personally, I don't have any objections. Let's just follow this plan."
"In addition, today is already June 25th. According to the scheduled plan, our vanguard troops are expected to encounter those German invaders tomorrow and a conflict will break out. The German armored troops rushing towards Lutsk to Brod are making rapid progress.
, we must be fully prepared for combat to intercept them, Comrade Division Commander."