Steel Soviet Union

"Got work? Hey, wait, you mean that explosion just now? What was that about? It didn't look like a German bombardment.

"I understand, you can go and leave the division headquarters to me. The brigade headquarters is being set up in Varosha, and the first two battalions of his vanguard have arrived with all their equipment. Although they are in poor condition, You can still go into battle at any time, and you can call for reinforcements in time if you need reinforcements. In addition, the division's artillery is also available."

boom--

Boom boom boom boom——

Boo hoo hoo hoo——

"Damn! Is it starting now!?"

That is, Artyom was asking Iushkin what was going on, but Iushkin hadn't had time to say anything. Comrade Political Commissar was also explaining to Malashenko the latest situation of his absence during the short period of time, and Malashenko had not yet had time to answer.

The orange-red fire that tore through the night, accompanied by the roaring and trembling thunder-like sound, suddenly struck without warning, breaking all the silence.

This was not a sudden artillery attack by the Germans. All the movement and fire came from our own rear.

Malashenko, who hurried out of the camp with his political commissar comrades, suddenly looked up, and in an instant he saw overwhelming orange-red firelight sweeping across the sky roaring past his head, heading straight towards the German-occupied area in the distance. , almost lit up the entire night sky and filled half of the sky with red. It was a movement that only large field artillery groups and groups of rocket launchers firing salvos could create.

Looking at the situation, there is only one artillery unit that can make such a big noise: the field artillery unit directly under the front army, and other field artillery units that jointly participated in this artillery feast after coordination.

It's just that Malashenko couldn't figure out one thing. Why didn't the major general and division commander of his own unit directly under the front receive any advance news about the artillery strikes at the front level? Even if the leading division does not participate in the bombardment, it should at least send out the bombardment plan to let people know and prepare for it, right?

"Have you received the message? Are you aware of the plan?"

The roaring barrage of heavy artillery and the rain of rockets trailing orange-red flames were still whizzing past overhead as the words were spoken. Comrade Comrade Political Commissar was speaking to Malashenko while standing under this rain of fire with a parabolic trajectory. .

"Same as you, I don't know, I haven't received any news at all, I just..."

"Comrade division commander, comrade political commissar, urgent call from the front army headquarters!"

Before Political Commissar Petrov finished speaking, the communications staff officer who rushed out from the division headquarters camp behind him interrupted his speech and handed the telegraph newspaper in his hand to the two of them.

Without saying a word, Malashenko snatched the telegram with his hands, spread his hands in front of his eyes and looked at it. It can be said that the situation that was not surprising and had been expected became instantly clear.

"Sure enough, the artillery fire counter-preparations at the front level have been carried out. Comrade Commander has already predicted that the Germans are going to take action. He wants to treat these beasts to an artillery feast before the Germans do it. Now he wants to see how these Faschies take action. What to do later?”

The explosion in the minefield of the 267th Infantry Division was only one of the reasons. There was more than one reason that prompted Vatutin to launch this massive artillery counter-preparation.

The situation explained by the German soldiers who defected and surrendered an hour ago, the results of the interrogation of the living tongue captured by the Red Army scouts in the dark, and the last telegram sent a few hours ago by the intelligence agent of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who had been lurking in East Prussia.

All the confirmed situations illustrate one thing: a massive battle-level offensive is about to come. The strategic prediction based on the worst-case scenario was correct. The entire German army group entrenched in East Prussia is indeed crazy. When a big wave comes, try to come back from adversity and turn defeat into victory.

As one of the most famous and top-ranked Red Army generals, Vatutin definitely has the ability to strategize. As a staff officer, Vatutin has a meticulous control of the macro-level battle situation and can keenly capture every change on the battlefield. and respond promptly.

A counter-preparation for army-level artillery fire with an urgent order to open fire was the card Vatutin finally played. The overwhelming artillery fire suddenly rose from the ground just two minutes after Vatutin gave the order, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami. The force rushed towards the already marked coordinates of the German position.

It is not required to achieve many results or kills, but it is necessary to disrupt the German offensive deployment, interrupt their rhythm arrangement, and create as many battlefield advantages as possible for one's own side, so as to achieve "forcing the German offensive cluster" as soon as possible. The tactical goal is to retreat and transition into a counterattack state.

As for the order issued to Malashenko, it was not complicated. Vatutin simply explained the situation and informed the basic situation that "the leader division does not need to participate in this artillery preparation because it is not yet fully organized."

There is only one thing that Malashenko is really asked to do: wait for the order from the front army headquarters to be ready to go out at any time, and win no matter what the situation is.

"The situation is clear, so let's do what we just said. I'll leave it to you. I'll lead the team to Kulbalov's side. Now only his side is ready to move at any time. Varosha's side Leave it to Lavrinenko, he happens to be over there and can be contacted anytime if anything happens."

Staying at the division headquarters and taking command is not Malashenko's style. Staying with the soldiers where you can witness the artillery fire is the way for a leading division commander to do things.

Malashenko, who had not been away for long, led the fully equipped guard tank company responsible for protecting the safety of the division commander on the battlefield and returned again to the location of Kulbalov's brigade headquarters.

Compared with the situation when he left just now, the Kulbalov brigade headquarters seems busier now.

There are those who draw lines and mark coordinates on maps, those who answer phone calls and copy telegrams without stopping, and those who hold the latest situation they just received and put it there for analysis and discussion.

The Kulbalov Brigade, which has not yet really fought against the Germans, is already operating at full capacity. There are many friendly forces that may need support at any time. The task schedule is so busy, and communication must be maintained at all times. Confirm the latest situation.

"How's the situation? Is there any movement from the German guy opposite?"

Malashenko, who strode into the brigade headquarters in a hurry, got straight to the point, holding the warm telegram he had just received. Kulbalov, who was standing in front of the map with the chief of staff to analyze the situation, saw this and immediately put down the telegram he had just received. The work turned to Malashenko and he opened his mouth to report.

"The call came from the 267th Infantry Division. They eliminated a small group of German infantry that penetrated the front line of the defense zone. They killed all of them without capturing any prisoners, so I can't figure out what they were here for."

"However, a man-portable radio was found from the corpse, and it is speculated that it may be an artillery guidance team. This further confirms the judgment that the Germans are about to launch an attack. The unlucky Fascist team that hit the mine before may be another team. Double insurance for one set.”

"So far, there has been no movement of the German army. In other words, the entire German offensive starting position is now a sea of ​​fire and is being bombed. They should at least wait until our shelling is over before they take action. Our artillery fire The enemy was successfully suppressed, comrade division commander. As expected, the assembled attack group must have suffered heavy losses."