The pain of losing a comrade takes an extremely long time to fade away, but the pleasure of revenge comes faster and more fiercely than anything else.
Everything was exactly as Malashenko had expected.
After learning that the vanguard force had been ambushed, surrounded and annihilated, the German Sixth Army troops following closely behind did not delay the attack at all. The first wave of large troops, several times the size of the vanguard force, quickly arrived outside the village.
And launched a forcible crushing attack with superior force.
When dealing with opponents of equal strength, the German army is good at using tactical strategies to outflank and penetrate the enemy's depth and defensive weak links at high speed to resolve the battle as quickly as possible.
But facing a weak opponent who had just been baptized by the air force and only occupied a small and insignificant village, it seemed unnecessary to mobilize troops and engage in large-scale roundabout operations.
Fierce shelling like a roaring mountain and a tsunami crazily baptized the palm-sized village in the wind and rain. Malashenko, who persisted far short of the prescribed mission goal, still led his troops to fight hard on the defense line and refused to retreat.
There are no tigers in the mountains, but monkeys rule the roost.
Without the firepower suppression of the Soviet field artillery unit, the enemy of life and death, the German field artillery unit, which was free to fight, unleashed unprecedented ferocious firepower and opened fire crazily. The 150 mm caliber heavy howitzer can be fired instantly with just one shot.
Malashenko, who blew up an entire house and turned it into dust, and even the ground beneath his feet was shaking, is standing side by side with the God of Death.
"Bah! These naughty bastards, if we had artillery we could be so arrogant like you!? Bah! Bah bah..."
Large pieces of floating soil were shaken off the roof and scattered all over the people's faces and bodies. Lavrinenko, who was cursing all this badly, wished that his own artillery would appear immediately and blow away all the Germans.
Having just been bombed by a plane and now being baptized by artillery fire, the feeling of being pinned to the ground and rubbed in turns is unbearable for anyone.
Before Lavrinenko could finish his curse, Malashenko, who had been standing in front of the window with a telescope and staring closely at the movement outside the village, suddenly strode to the command table.
"The artillery fire has been going on for almost 30 minutes. It is estimated that the artillery preparations of these Germans should have stopped. Everyone who is not dead should pick up their guns and prepare to fight! We need more German corpses piled in front of the position!"
About half an hour ago, when the next battle plan was being laid out, the death of Lieutenant Vasily brought Malashenko a very difficult problem. The main infantry unit responsible for defending the position lacked a commander who could take charge of it alone.
Although there were not many surviving infantry soldiers after the air raid, only about 200 people could barely hold a gun. If we consider the injured who still have the ability to take care of themselves but have difficulty walking and raising a gun to aim,
If the troops are counted, Malashenko still has less than 300 infantrymen who can fight the Germans.
After counting among the three hundred people, the one with the highest position was a platoon leader, and he was also the militia platoon leader who had previously served under Lieutenant Vasily.
After giving the defensive position to the command of the militia platoon leader, Malashenko thought it was too crazy to do so and gave up the unrealistic idea.
Just when Malashenko was worrying about the infantry commander, political commissar Petrov, who had not been to the front line for a long time to fight, made an eye-catching move.
"You and Lavrinenko will command the tank battle. I will be responsible for leading the men to resist the battle here in the village. If we act separately, we will definitely be able to block the German offensive!"
Political Commissar Petrov personally led people to fight on the battlefield? Malashenko was so surprised that he even thought his ears had heard wrongly.
But Political Commissar Petrov, who repeated what he had just said, was very resolute.
When it comes to commanding infantry in battle, no one is more professional than myself who was born in an infantry unit and worked her way up to where she is today, at least in the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment.
According to Political Commissar Petrov, if he had not happened to catch up with the promotion of the new political commissar and went to the party school to receive systematic professional knowledge training, he should be an infantry regiment commander or division commander now. Becoming a political commissar would be more important.
It's like an unexpected coincidence.
Look at me and I look at you. Malashenko and Lavrinenko, who were looking at each other, had nothing to say. At this point, there seemed to be no better choice except to believe Commissar Petrov.
It's just that with the departure of Political Commissar Petrov, the regiment headquarters is completely empty. At most, there are only a few auxiliary personnel such as communications staff, and there is no one who can take charge of the overall situation in the rear.
The regiment commander, deputy regiment commander, and regiment political commissar all went to the battlefield to fight. The entire regiment headquarters was empty and there was not even a person in charge. Malashenko couldn't help but sigh just thinking about it.
"If you can't even win this fight, there really isn't much to say."
Political Commissar Petrov, who only had one right arm left, could barely complete his daily rear work independently, but he was really unable to command the battle on the front line.
Only one arm is left to maintain balance when running, which makes Commissar Petrov still uncomfortable with his incomplete body and rarely runs. On weekdays, he is also in a hurry to send telegrams or inform Malashenko.
Run as slowly as possible, if you run any faster you will lose your balance and fall to the ground.
Once you are on the front line and personally commanding a battle, running is indispensable. This is true whether you are directing soldiers to charge or retreat.
Thinking that he might fall on the battlefield while running after a while, Commissar Petrov, who had already drawn his gun from his waist and had not used it for a long time, couldn't help but laugh at himself.
"Maybe I'm really old."
As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the German offensive troops, who had already been prepared, rushed forward very quickly.
Political Commissar Petrov, who was fighting side by side in the trench with the soldiers around him, could clearly see through the telescope that the first seven or eight German tanks were rushing towards him menacingly with a large group of German infantry following them.
.
"Get ready to fight, comrades! The great leader Comrade Stalin is with us!"
It was the first time for many bandaged Red Army soldiers in the trenches to fight side by side with the political commissars of the Guards Regiment. The obvious improvement in morale was enough to overwhelm the timidity and fear of battle to a certain extent, even in the face of
Those German tanks that were roaring towards them could also muster up the courage to raise their weapons.