It is now 11 o'clock in the middle of the night, and many Red Army soldiers who have been fighting for a day have fallen asleep amidst the loud snoring. But in one of the few remaining small wooden houses in the village that is still barely intact, the horse
Rashenko, Commissar Petrov and the entire regiment continued to be busy and could not sleep.
"Isn't it fixed yet? What is the problem?"
Being questioned by the comrade leader and political commissar who were supervising the work at the same time, the platoon leader who was already busy and sweating profusely in the cold wind blowing late at night couldn't help but turn around and spoke helplessly.
"It's probably hopeless, comrade leader and political commissar. The shell pierced the telegraph box, and several electronic components inside were broken. We have no spare parts to replace and repair them. The antenna was also blown off.
There is also no backup, the phone is useless at this time, and we have completely lost the ability to communicate with the outside world."
Such bad news was obviously something Malashenko was unwilling to accept. Thinking that similar things had happened before but were eventually resolved, Malashenko reluctantly continued to move toward the remaining regimental communication company in front of him.
The last platoon leader asked.
"But just about ten days ago, we had our telegraph machine blown up by the Germans during our retreat. You repaired it at that time, why can't it be repaired now?"
Malashenko's repeated questioning did not bring him the ideal answer he had hoped for. What awaited him was an even more helpless look from the communications platoon leader.
"Captain Shekovsky is the one who is most proficient in telegraph and radio maintenance. He was still alive during our retreat ten days ago, but now he has been buried in the ground. I am in charge of sending and receiving telegrams, Comrade Commander
, I can only say that in terms of maintenance, I am slightly better than the average person.”
When the situation was at its most critical during the day, all non-combatants in Malashenko's regiment rushed to the position with whatever tools they had at hand, including the regimental communications company led by Lieutenant Shekovsky.
The list of casualties compiled in the evening included the name of Lieutenant Shekovsky. An M24 long-handled grenade thrown by a German killed him. The entire regiment communications company also suffered more than half casualties. The platoon leader in front of him
He is the highest-ranking person alive in the entire regimental communications company.
Hearing the helpless reply from the only remaining platoon leader in front of him, Malashenko, who felt as if he had been abandoned by fate again, couldn't help but take a deep breath.
After complete statistics, the battle damage casualties of the entire Guards 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment were close to 80%, and the remaining strength was less than 20% of the time when the entire regiment was fully loaded.
The equipment was extremely poor and lacked parts, and the medicines were almost exhausted. Although the soldiers had strong morale to support them, they were almost too tired to even stand up after retreating all the way and fighting hard for a whole day.
Once you sit down, you will start to purr within ten seconds.
What's even worse is that the telegraph machine at the regiment headquarters has now been damaged by German shelling. The people who know how to repair this thing have been buried in the ground and there are no spare parts.
After retreating all the way and then fighting immediately, there was no need to connect any phone lines. The wireless communication station on the tank had a limited distance and could not reach any surrounding friendly forces.
The extremely realistic and incompetent situation silently told Malashenko a fact.
The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which suffered heavy casualties, is now unable to contact any friendly forces, including superiors. This means that Malashenko has no chance to request assistance, let alone accept any orders from superiors.
.
Survival or destruction, this is a question worthy of careful consideration for Malashenko at this moment.
The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which has been completely disabled, can no longer fight any tough battles. Eight tanks plus hundreds of light-armed infantry that are so small that they barely have the strength to stand up. Such a small force can be said to be like a beach.
With the small sandbags on the ground, the Germans only need one round of artillery fire preparation at dawn tomorrow morning to completely kill themselves.
According to the order he originally received, Malashenko was to stay in this small village, which he didn’t even know its name, until 12 o’clock at noon tomorrow, to buy time for the retreat of friendly forces and the deployment of the new house line. In short
That's the end.
But the biggest problem is that Malashenko can't contact any friendly forces or higher-level front army headquarters at all, and he doesn't know whether he still needs to meaningfully hold on in the village.
The situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. Malashenko doesn't even know if his surroundings have been completely broken through by other German troops. If this is the case, he is now a pebble thrown into the ocean and no one cares about him, completely trapped.
Surrounded by the German army, the big waves rolled over and not even a single wave was created.
The period from now until dawn is Malashenko's last chance. If he does not take advantage of the cover of night to evacuate as soon as possible, what will be left for Malashenko at dawn is likely to be destruction.
Thinking of this, Malashenko, who was determined to evacuate from the village overnight, immediately spoke to the political commissar Petrov beside him.
"Comrade Political Commissar, I have decided that we must retreat immediately tonight! The situation of the troops cannot support another tough battle now. If this continues, all that will be left for us tomorrow morning is to be wiped out."
Although the words may sound unpleasant and somewhat negative, objectively speaking, they are facts that cannot be denied.
Political Commissar Petrov also knew very well that what Malashenko said was not false in the slightest. If he continued to stay in the village, he would not be able to leave at dawn tomorrow morning.
"It's time to retreat tonight. I agree with you. Since we can't contact the front army headquarters, we can only make our own decisions. It's unrealistic to stay in the village. But there is a problem. If we really plan to retreat, where should we go?
In which direction is it moving?”
The dim kerosene lamp illuminated the small room, and Malashenko stared intently at the war zone map hanging on the wall in front of him.
"Long-distance maneuvers are inappropriate. Comrade Political Commissar, we currently lack the ability to carry out long-distance maneuvers. All kinds of supplies are approaching the critical point and are very scarce."
"There are fightings everywhere on all fronts now. The 62nd Army is surrounded by Germans, and the 64th Army is almost in despair. The entire Don Bend has been burned into a sea of flames. And this is the news I received yesterday. I don’t know anything else now.
The situation on the front has deteriorated to what extent."
There was a pause before he finished speaking. After thinking for a moment, Malashenko raised his head and spoke firmly.