When the brigade chief of staff gave the order to blow up the tanks and move immediately, several tank soldiers reacted violently. They blocked their comrades who were about to blow up the tanks with their bodies and shouted at them: "If you want to blow up the tanks, just step on it."
Let’s carry our bodies over there.”
Seeing their comrades who got along day and night standing up in front of the tank, the soldiers on the mission couldn't help but hesitate. They turned to look at the chief of staff behind them, hoping to get some tips from him.
The chief of staff had just asked Ruhlie for instructions on whether coercive measures could be taken against those tank soldiers who were firmly opposed to blowing up the tanks, so as not to affect the overall situation. However, his proposal was rejected by Ruhle.
Ruhle told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our soldiers all have feelings for their tanks, and it is difficult to accept the fact that the tanks were blown up psychologically. Therefore, we cannot use drastic measures against them, but
You have to work hard to persuade.”
It was precisely because he accepted Ruhle's order that the chief of staff did not use simple and crude methods and ordered the soldiers to pull away the tank soldiers blocking the tanks. Instead, he pushed aside the soldiers blocking him and walked to the tanks.
In front of the tank soldiers, he said to them earnestly: "Comrades, I understand your mood at this moment. To be honest, I don't want to blow up these tanks, and I also want to drive them to destroy more enemies.
But no, comrades. Now that the fuel and ammunition of these tanks have been used up, and we will not get any replenishment in a short period of time, these tanks will no longer be of any use in our hands. Rather than keeping them
If they are captured by the Germans here, why not take the initiative and blow them up."
Everyone understands what the Chief of Staff said, but they just can't get over this hurdle in their hearts. A tank soldier with a bandage on his head murmured: "Comrade Chief of Staff, we have blown up all the tanks.
Can he be called a tank soldier?"
"Don't worry, comrade." The chief of staff looked at the wounded and said: "I assure you, as long as we escape the German encirclement, our superiors will soon replenish us with new tanks. As long as people are alive, there will be no new tanks.
Technical equipment?”
The chief of staff's persuasion made the tank soldiers who were trying to stop the tanks from being blown up waver. Seeing that the time was ripe, he struck while the iron was hot and said: "Comrades, our time is tight. If we don't blow up these tanks as soon as possible, we will wait for the enemy to rush in."
Come up here, if you want to explode it, it will be too late."
Hearing what the Chief of Staff said, the tank soldiers were no longer stubborn and walked away from the tank. At this time, the Chief of Staff ordered the soldiers carrying gasoline: "Let's do it."
A few minutes later, the tanks that had fought with the Germans not long ago were all wrapped in flames. The tank crews looked at the burning tanks, all of them were heartbroken. They knew in their hearts that if it were not for the logistical supplies,
Cut off by the Germans, they were fully capable of fighting the enemy.
Even though the chief of staff was calm and composed in front of the soldiers just now, and promised them that as long as he jumped out of the enemy's encirclement, he would soon be supplemented by his superiors, but in fact he was also unsure. During the march, he whispered
Asked Colonel Ruhlie: "Comrade Brigadier, do you think that after we break out of the encirclement, our superiors will replenish our equipment, or will we be directly converted into infantry?"
There is a reason why he asked this. During the Battle of Stalingrad, a large number of tank troops and tank brigade tank troops were directly transformed into infantry after losing all their tanks.
Although Colonel Ruhle did not know how his superiors would arrange this unit in the future, in order not to affect the morale of the army, he still said seriously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's wrong with you? Don't you know that to train an excellent tank soldier, you need to
How long will it take? Using tank troops as infantry is a waste."
In order to prevent the other party from saying anything that could shake the morale of the army, he continued: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, how to place us is a matter for the superiors to consider, so don't worry about it. Order the troops to speed up their march and strive to arrive at the designated location as soon as possible.
assembly point."
The sudden fire and thick smoke in the forest were seen by the German troops in the distance, and they immediately reported it to the commander of the armored regiment.
After receiving the report, the regiment leader immediately came to the forward observation post, raised his telescope and looked at the fire spot in the forest for a long time, then put down the telescope and asked his adjutant: "Captain, tell me, why did the Russian defense area suddenly catch fire?"
"
The adjutant thought for a moment and replied tentatively: "Mr. Colonel, not long ago, we had a firefight with Russian tanks in that area. I think it was the tanks that we destroyed that were burning."
"I don't think so." The commander of the armored regiment shook his head and said, "If it was a tank destroyed by our army, the fire should be gradually getting smaller at this moment, not getting bigger."
"Maybe the burning tanks ignited nearby trees, making the fire bigger and bigger."
"That's even more impossible. You must know that the Russian tanks are parked in the birch forest. Birch trees are the least likely to burn. Not to mention winter, even in summer, it is not easy to catch fire."
"Mr. Colonel," a company commander standing nearby said cautiously: "Could it be that the Russians set fire to their own tanks?"
"Why did they burn their tanks?" the adjutant asked dissatisfiedly: "Are they suffering from brain damage?"
"Our army's tanks lack fuel and ammunition." Seeing the adjutant retort, the company commander still said bravely: "The Russians also lack ammunition and fuel. Maybe these tanks have fired all the shells, and because they have no fuel, they
Unable to move, the Russians decisively set fire to these tanks in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of our troops."
"Captain," the commander of the armored regiment heard this and felt that what the company commander said was very reasonable, so he nodded and said approvingly: "Your analysis is very reasonable. The fire in the forest should be the Russians burning down their incompetent people."
Tanks taken away.”
"Mr. Colonel," when the company commander heard the regiment leader praising himself, the company commander was immediately surprised and asked quickly: "What is our next mission?"
"Captain, take your troops immediately and go over to check." The regiment leader told him, "Remember to bring a radio so that you can report the situation there to me at any time."
The German company commander immediately set off with his company to check out the blazing location. An hour later, he reported to the regiment commander through the armored vehicle's on-board radio: "Mr. Colonel, it is indeed the Russians who set fire to their tanks. I have already
We sent people to search the forest carefully and found no trace of the Russians. They should have moved away long ago."