Seeing the German troops carrying the corpses of their comrades on their backs and escorting the prisoners of war drifting away, the veteran who had been lurking in the snowdrifts without even daring to take a breath made sure that the German troops could no longer hear the sound from here.
He opened the pure white hood on his head and stood up from the snow all around him.
The slightly confused and complicated eyes did not reveal any anger or sadness. The veteran who had been used to life and death in the continuous war was almost numb. Even the death of his closest comrade-in-arms was nothing more to him.
It's just another partner.
Although he barely escaped this time, he might be the one who dies next time.
"We have to bring the information back quickly, time is running out..."
Being forbearing and hiding in the face of death does not mean that you do not have the courage to fight. On the contrary, sometimes those who choose to live bear more pain and devastation than the dead.
The heavy snowflakes flying all over the sky showed no signs of stopping despite the howling wind.
After opening the door curtain and taking a look at the vast snow-white frozen world with the howling cold wind outside the tent, Malashenko, who had become accustomed to the cold winter of 1941, immediately turned around and returned to the field tent.
"Is the heavy snow still not stopping? Malashenko."
Hearing the question from the political commissar Petrov next to him, Malashenko, who was in neither a good nor a bad mood, immediately shook his head and answered.
"Not only does it have no intention of stopping, it is actually going to rain harder than it did at dawn this morning. Maybe we should launch the attack as planned this morning. If this heavy snow continues like this, even the tanks may not be able to do anything."
Let’s hit the road.”
It is interesting to say that Petrov, the political commissar who performed heroically in the Battle of Kiev and also lost an arm, was reasonably promoted to the rank of colonel not long after that and took charge of the current Malashenko Regiment.
the position of political commissar.
On the other hand, Malashenko, who has been climbing up through various "routine techniques" and desperate efforts on the battlefield since the outbreak of the War of Self-Defense, has been promoted at a shocking speed that can be called a rocket, but his starting point is a lieutenant rank.
Malashenko, who was still promoted several times in just six months, is now just a lieutenant colonel commander of the tank corps, one level lower than Petrov's political commissar.
The completely opposite partnership between a colonel political commissar and a lieutenant colonel commander is probably only a special case in the entire Red Army.
Malashenko, who didn't feel any awkwardness about this, seemed to take it very seriously. The connection and affection between him and Political Commissar Petrov had long gone beyond the ordinary superior-subordinate relationship. On the contrary, he felt that such an arrangement was a bit awkward.
Political Commissar Petrov, who was not very appropriate, inquired about Malashenko in private, and after confirming that Malashenko did not care about these trivial matters but that they existed, he reluctantly felt relieved.
After listening to Malashenko's low, complaining words, Commissar Petrov, who had a frivolous smile on his lips, blurted out in a brisk tone.
"Based on the current situation, it seems that the Germans are passive now, Malashenko. The small German troops and patrols we have eliminated these days basically only have autumn singles on them, and the only few Germans wearing winter clothes
She was wearing a bloody Red Army cotton coat."
"The prisoners captured yesterday have also admitted that their infantry division has suffered non-combat casualties due to frostbite in the past few days. Although the injuries are not fatal, they are enough to make the German troops lose their combat effectiveness. All subordinates in the entire division
The troops had few decent winter clothes. One of them even told me personally that they thought they would be able to spend the winter in Moscow before winter came. At least that was what their head of state promised on the loudspeaker and radio. Oh, these arrogant people
Arrogant fool."
Regarding the words from Petrov's mouth, Malashenko, who traveled from the future world, was naturally very clear in his heart and did not feel any surprise or surprise.
German head of state Hitler's arrogant claim to "take Moscow before winter comes" has been made since the day when the German Army Group Center divided its troops into two groups to support the attack from the north to the south.
Without understanding the Soviet army's overall war strength, which had vast resources and extremely terrifying mobilization capabilities, Hitler's wishful thinking of self-satisfaction was entirely based on his own misunderstanding and the echo of those around him.
Although there are insightful people like Guderian and Marshal Bock who have realized the terrible mobilization ability of the Soviet army and made suggestions to Hitler to attack Moscow as early as possible to end everything in the autumn, they are immersed in their own ideal world and arrogance.
The arrogant Hitler obviously did not listen to these unfavorable suggestions, and incidentally classified Guderian and Bock and his party into the ranks of "people who knew nothing about war economics", which ultimately laid the hidden dangers for the disastrous defeat in Moscow.
.
Malashenko, who thought of these later declassifications with the words of Commissar Petrov in his mind, couldn't help but smile. If Hitler had really listened to the advice of Guderian and Bock and launched the Moscow offensive in the autumn,
So it’s hard to say whether the red flag or the black flag was flying on the top of the Kremlin in 1942.
"Although this is indeed the case, Comrade Political Commissar, we still have to follow the orders of the Front Army Headquarters to pull out the nails of the German army entrenched in the village of Womano. As long as it is there, the Germans who have recovered will only need winter supplies.
You can use it as a springboard to launch attacks at any time. If you don't get rid of it, it will undoubtedly be a hidden danger for our entire front army's defense in depth."
In line with the principle of rapid warfare, we should indeed launch an encirclement and suppression offensive against the enemy in front of us as soon as possible. However, the heavy snowfall that has been almost uninterrupted in recent days not only made it difficult for the German army to move forward and was forced to stand still, even the Soviet army
His own troops seemed to be frozen in this white world, unable to move.
"When I went down to inspect the preparations this morning, many crews complained to me. Basically, they were about problems such as the optical sights being frozen and not working well, the tank having difficulty starting, and parts becoming brittle and damaged.
.Although these things sound like trivial problems, they are likely to worsen into big problems if they go to the battlefield."
From the words of political commissar Petrov, I heard some suggestions to make action plans after the snow stopped. However, Malashenko, who knew that the German army's final offensive at the end of 1941 was far from over, did not intend to do so.
Continuing to wait, Malashenko, who could not remember the exact date in history when the heavy snow stopped, was extremely worried about the German offensive that might resume at any time.