The heroic battles of Lieutenant Aleryukhin and other Soviet pilots spilled blood in the sky, and indeed played a very important role in covering Malashenko on the ground.
If it weren't for these brave and fearless fighter aircraft to help him control the situation, Malashenko estimated that the list of losses he held in his hand would have been super doubled, or even directly exploded.
"14 tanks... Haha, to be honest, I kind of want to laugh. I am used to seeing the heavy losses in recent times, but now I feel that the loss of 14 tanks is nothing at all."
Malashenko, who was holding a list of losses in his hand, smiled awkwardly as if he was suffering from mental illness. The two political commissars Lavrinenko and Petrov on either side of him unexpectedly did not show any surprises.
Indeed, as Malashenko said, compared to the horrific battle losses that have often occurred in recent times, including more than half of them, the destruction of 14 tanks is really enough to be called a "very small loss."
He handed the list of losses in his hand to Lavrinenko next to him for safekeeping. Malashenko, who had his battle-scarred car on his back, sat on the ground with a half-full lunch box in his hand and asked questions.
"What are the casualties of the friendly forces? Are the losses of those infantry heavy?"
In the turbulent battle just now, the three Soviet infantry divisions that were originally following Malashenko to accompany the attack were turned upside down in the end. They somehow rushed to Malashenko's side.
Ahead, they were fighting with the German motorized infantry units that were speeding towards them. The sound of killing was loud and loud.
What was originally a tank encounter became more and more confusing, and in the end it turned into a chaotic battle between two huge groups of enemies.
Malashenko, who was too busy to take care of himself, could not spare any troops to support the infantry battle. The German armored soldiers, who were tightly suppressed by Malashenko, also did not dare to show any contempt for the fierce opponent in front of them, and invested all their superior forces into the battle.
During the battle, focus your firepower on the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which has a mass advantage.
It wasn't until the battle came to an end with the temporary retreat of the German army that Malashenko, who had some free time, remembered to ask the three infantry divisions how they were doing, but Commissar Petrov looked solemn.
His expression already revealed the answer even before the words were spoken.
"It's very bad! I just went to the back to meet with the three infantry division commanders and briefly asked about the situation. Their losses were so great that they were close to half of them. The German bombers inflicted them on the open terrain without any bunkers.
Huge damage."
"The troops fighting with the Germans at the front escaped unscathed, but the large troops, division artillery regiments and division agencies in the rear movement suffered. Those German aircraft were afraid of accidental damage and did not dare to fly too far forward.
They dropped bombs at close range, but all the bombs were concentrated in the rear."
"Two of the three divisional artillery regiments have been bombed and have lost their combat capabilities. The remaining one moved its position relatively quickly, and it happened to be covered by a group of fighter aviation. The losses were not great. All the artillery combined now only have one full strength.
The size of the division's artillery regiment, and the overall loss of infantry is close to half, what are you going to do? Malashenko."
The noncommittal Malashenko did not directly answer Petrov's political commissar's question. He stirred the thick bean soup in the lunch box and took a spoonful of it into his mouth. Apart from the salty taste, there was no other delicious taste at all. Marashenko
Ke forced himself to swallow it and then replied.
"What did the front army headquarters say? Are there any more specific orders?"
Faced with Malashenko's question, Commissar Petrov shook his head. Apart from a simple telegram inquiring about the battle situation, no other update orders came.
He already knew the answer from the unanswered face of the political commissar Petrov. He leaned his head high on the tank wheel behind him and looked up at the sky feebly. Malashenko felt that the morning that had just passed was simply worse than the previous week.
More lengthy.
"Inform the troops to prepare for battle. It has been almost half an hour since the Germans withdrew. I estimate that it will take another ten or twenty minutes at most for these bastards to charge forward again."
Malashenko's order was not clear, as if he was deliberately avoiding some cruel topics that must be faced. Lavrinenko, who pouted, hesitated slightly but finally asked.
"How should we fight in the afternoon? Continue the attack? Or just block or repel those Germans?"
Among the two possibilities of deliberately avoiding and forgetting to answer, Malashenko almost accounts for half of both. The contradiction is so contradictory that even Malashenko himself cannot explain why he avoided the key topic intentionally or unintentionally.
When asked by Lavrinenko, Malashenko, who did not give a direct answer for a while, thought about reality for a moment, and after a fairly intense psychological game, he finally gave a specific order based on the actual situation.
"Let's defend first. As for whether to attack...it depends on the situation."
The order Malashenko received from Comrade Lao Zhu was to cooperate with the 24th Army as the main forward counterattack, but this morning's battle has ruthlessly proved how ineffective this counterattack is with the fact that it was so bare.
The devastating air raids of the Luftwaffe almost blocked the progress of all Soviet counterattack forces. The German troops on the ground were also not rotten fish but the main force of the elite Sixth Army of the Wehrmacht.
Are you going to continue to counterattack under such circumstances? Malashenko doesn’t believe that Zhukov’s strategic insight can’t even see this problem. If he really wants to continue to play against the Germans like a fool, Malashenko estimates
Most of the Red Army units involved in the counteroffensive may be reduced to zero tonight.
No one, including Commissar Petrov, expressed any objection to Malashenko's decision. To be precise, the temporary decision made by Malashenko is already the most correct arrangement at the moment. If we really want to continue like this morning
If you hit hard like that, you may be close to complete destruction.
Malashenko, who still felt something was wrong after issuing the order, could not sit still in the end. With some uncertainty and trepidation, he came to the temporary regiment headquarters tent and called Comrade Lao Zhu at the front army headquarters.
.
What Malashenko didn't expect was that he was still thinking about how to say what he had said in a more tactful way, but Comrade Lao Zhu on the other end of the phone seemed to have guessed what he was thinking.
Usually the first to get the upper hand.
"I understand the situation, Malashenko. The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment stopped attacking and assisted the infantry to defend the captured positions on the spot."