The Battle of Zero Heights is over. The last shackles blocking Berlin have been smashed. The road to victory is clear. All that is left is to go straight to the heart of Santoku and fight the last wave of stubborn enemies.
The German said something that spoke to his heart.
This should have been the long-awaited exciting moment, but at this moment Malashenko was not happy anyway.
You want to ask why?
The reason is actually very simple. Some numbers written on paper are very ugly, and just placing them on the table is enough to make people frown.
"So how long will it take for these cars to be repaired? Where is Karamov and the others? Why don't you see him come to the meeting?"
Comrade Division Commander, whose face was as dark as a scapegoat, was sitting at the head of the conference table. Night had fallen outside the fortifications. This was the first night after the successful capture of the Zero Highlands.
The large-scale underground command center left by the Germans was quite grand and magnificent. Not only was it spacious enough, but the infrastructure was complete, even bedrolls and drinking water were ready. The Germans, who were defeated too quickly, had no time to evacuate.
There is no time to destroy these things, and now it has all been taken advantage of by Malashenko. Even the conference table in front of Malashenko was "generously donated" by a German.
"Karamov is leading emergency repairs. All non-permanently damaged vehicles on the battlefield have been recovered and classified, and repaired according to different levels of damage. Karamov has formulated a detailed classified repair plan, not only for his men
All the maintenance troops, including himself, formed a temporary maintenance team and went into battle personally."
"He received the notice of the meeting, but he said that completing the maintenance task is what he needs to do most now, and on-site command cannot do without him. The person who entrusted him told the division commander that he promised to complete the task and allowed him to use the time for the meeting
at work."
"."
Listening to Comrade Political Commissar's words, Malashenko, who had an unhappy face, frowned and his eyelids twitched upward. He felt a headache and could not say anything more about Karamov's pragmatic spirit.
"There are 89 tracked armored combat vehicles and 181 wheeled vehicles. They have suffered battle damage and wear and tear. In total, there are more than 200 and nearly 300 vehicles. All of them need to be disassembled for internal parts replacement and repair."
"Today's night plus tomorrow's day, the rest time is just over 24 hours. Counting the time to clean the battlefield, regroup the troops and rush on the road, the actual time that can be used to repair the car is not even 24 hours."
"I don't doubt Karamov's ability, but the leadership division has never had the experience of repairing three hundred vehicles in the field within 24 hours before. I'm really worried that this is beyond the capacity of Karamov. The time left for us is unprecedentedly tight.
, time is probably a more powerful enemy than the Germans, especially for us now."
Everything Malashenko said was true. The loss of technical equipment caused by this bloody battle in the Zero Highlands was far greater than Malashenko had previously estimated.
Most of the losses of tracked armored combat vehicles are battle losses. The equipment in their hands may not be very good, but it is true that the Germans who resisted until they could no longer survive and chose to surrender did give the heavy armor to the leader division.
The chariots caused quite a bit of trouble, maybe even a lot of trouble.
The track was interrupted, the engine was paralyzed, the sight was blown to pieces, the gun tube was blown out of the chamber, and the basic armor was seriously damaged or penetrated, requiring on-site welding and patching with reinforcing blocks.
The various problems and battle damage that tanks may encounter on the battlefield were almost all encountered by the leading division after the First World War in the Zelo Highlands. These require a lot of time to repair. A total of 89 battle-damaged tanks were lost in infantry battles.
, the amount of maintenance required for self-propelled artillery is enough to make any maintenance force officer scratch his head.
The fatal problem does not stop there. The wear and tear of wheeled vehicles and the need for repairs are no better than that of tracked armored combat vehicles. It can even be said to be worse.
The heavy-armored field group of the leading division fought desperately on the Zelo Highlands, using up its maximum firepower to hit all the Germans who dared to stand in front of them. They used destructive artillery fire to bombard the heavy-armored group charge, ravaging them again and again.
They followed the enemy's will and destroyed the enemy's flesh and blood until the Germans' crumbling and riddled defense line was completely defeated and penetrated.
It sounds enjoyable, powerful, and extremely ferocious. It is a fighting method that any strong-blooded old man will say is "exhilarating" after seeing it, but it comes at a price.
The price is that the logistics equipment of the leading division even borrowed the trucks of the combat troops, and in addition used their own trucks and even jeeps. Hundreds of wheeled vehicles moved from the Zello Highlands to the Zello Highlands day and night.
Transporting ammunition and supplies, of which large-caliber artillery shells and rockets account for the vast majority, are the most consumed items in battle.
Every time we go up, there are fully loaded logistics vehicles. There are no paved roads in the Zeluo Highlands. The bad roads that are purely off-road have been severely worn.
Suspension, engine, brake pads, even tires that are supposed to be durable.
Wheeled vehicles have little battle damage, which is good, but the wear and tear caused by tossing up and down the Zelo Highlands is greater than the battle damage. According to statistics from Karamov, there are as many as 181 wheeled vehicles in need of repair.
, there are more or less problems, and it is not recommended or simply cannot be forced into use.
The mechanized force is engaged in logistics. Of course Malashenko knew this and thought he was mentally prepared in advance.
However, the pressure on the logistics of the Battle of Zeluo Highlands was still greater than previously thought. If it were not for the strong foundation of the leadership and the strong family background, it might have been completely destroyed in just one battle.
The problem now is that time waits for no one. Chuikov's side will have troops to move out early tomorrow morning and press down on the city of Berlin. It is better to take into account that the leading division has just experienced a bloody battle and give Malashenko another day of grace.
Let Malashenko lead the team to follow.
But whether there is enough time in this day, Malashenko can only say "hanging", really hanging.
Even if that boy Karamov has extraordinary abilities, he is still at a loss this time, so that Malashenko, who has no idea at all, has not yet replied to Chuikov, unsure of the accurate time for the troops to depart.
Looking at Malashenko's expression as if he had eaten a fly, Lavrinenko, who also knew the problem, thought for a moment and then tentatively spoke.
"How about you call Marshal Zhukov? Ask him to coordinate and give us one more day of grace, for a total of two days."
Lavrinenko's suggestion cannot be said to be unreasonable. In fact, it is somewhat feasible from the perspective of ordinary people. But the problem is that Malashenko, who has dealt with Comrade Lao Zhu more than anyone here, knows that now
Talking about this possibility is simply impossible.
"Guess who gave the order to Commander Chuikov to let the leading division rest for only one day? Do you really think this order came from the level of the group army commander?"