Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko, who had a face-to-face conversation with Zhukov, knew very well that all the ammunition required by all the counterattack forces had arrived in succession on the evening of September 4, the day before. Judging from Zhukov's quick-talking way of doing things, Malashenko simply doesn't believe that Zhukov will skimp on the supply of ammunition. This kind of thing is simply ridiculous.

Malashenko estimated that the scene Iushkin saw carrying a whole box of artillery shells into the car was probably because he had unloaded the shells on the car and arranged them in order to cope with the inspection or to go through the process, pretending not to shoot the shells. Just show some people the desperate posture of never leaving the line of fire.

As soon as the inspection is over or the attack is about to begin, immediately load all the artillery shells into the vehicle and prepare for escape.

Malashenko could guess that if the battle in Stalingrad ended like this, some frontline commanders would definitely be discouraged and pessimistic about the future. In Malashenko's view, this was a perfectly normal and reasonable situation.

But the most unexpected thing is that when the war is about to begin, I am busy going to the front line to fight, but there is such a cowardly guy behind me who plans to run away in advance. This kind of thing is not a good feeling for anyone, and of course that includes right now. Malashenko was a little angry.

"Coward, coward! Such a guy commands an artillery regiment. Why doesn't he go to Siberia to participate in labor reform!?"

Malashenko, who was almost furious and had smoke coming from his forehead, began to curse loudly in his car without hesitation. Iushkin, who had been silent all this time, seemed extremely calm at the moment, and could even attack Malashenko. Open your mouth to persuade.

"There are people like this everywhere, Comrade Commander. I heard last year that artillery troops who are always in safer places in the rear always use lack of ammunition as an excuse when they want to retreat when they encounter danger. . But such people are only a minority. Many comrades are still determined to fight and just don’t care.”

Malashenko, who had lost his temper and yelled a few times with a cigarette in his hand, gradually began to calm down. After all, yelling and yelling could not solve the problem and it would not help. Malashenko, whose anger gradually calmed down, vowed that after this battle is over, he will report this bug to Comrade Lao Zhu in real name, but only if he can really survive this battle until then.

The brief interlude did not last long. Malashenko, who was chatting with Iushkin in the car, soon waited for the last moment.

When the hour hand accurately pointed to the number 5, the Soviet artillery cluster deployed behind the offensive position sounded the time on time and began to thunder at the sleeping German troops on the opposite position.

The thundering artillery bombardment was unstoppable. Although this counterattack was a local counterattack to achieve a tactical goal at the beginning, Zhukov, who was responsible for commanding the operation, did his best to mobilize all the artillery firepower he could muster. , only seeking to achieve a decisive breakthrough at the key breakthrough point in the shortest possible time.

The divisional artillery regiments of each Soviet infantry division participating in the counteroffensive gathered all the heavy artillery. The loud salvos of 122-gun and 152-gun guns connected into a blaze of flames on the artillery position.

The few BM-13 Katyusha rocket launchers that had suffered considerable losses in previous battles were also put into preparation for this sudden artillery attack in an organized manner.

Most of the German troops who were still asleep in the early morning were just woken up by the loud noise and sat up. The barrage of the roaring Soviet heavy artillery cluster hit the top of their heads. The German troops who had previously been deployed out of state simply The starting position for the attack was enveloped in a sea of ​​fire within less than half a minute of the cannon firing.

At the forward offensive starting position of the Soviet 24th Army, it was rare to see Malashenko, covered by army-level artillery firepower, leaning his upper body out of the turret to admire the beautiful scenery in front of him.

The deafening sound of the gun barrel and the explosion of the German position were so beautiful that Malashenko, who leaned out of the turret with his upper body to admire the scene in front of him, could even feel an inexplicable blood boiling.

The unparalleled sense of conquest and strong visual impact that large-caliber artillery brings to people is indeed unparalleled. Even people like Malashenko who do not worship "caliber is truth" can be deeply attracted by the scene in front of them. Heavy artillery clusters of bullets The scene of destruction when the curtain hits the enemy's head can best inspire the violent gene buried deep in a man's heart.

"Poor those Germans who were blown to pieces before they even had time to put on their pants, comrade commander. I guess those Germans were so arrogant that they didn't even dig holes for shell protection. They will suffer now."

What Iushkin said casually based on his previous combat experience was unexpected but hit the mark. At this moment, the German soldiers who were bombed on the offensive starting position were indeed miserable and miserable, and even a few people could hide. I can't find it anywhere at all.

The fierce advance for many days made the German army gradually paralyzed and careless. The leading German troops, which were advancing almost every day, stayed in a fixed place for hours.

Under such circumstances, quite a few German forward troops ended up not having to dig anti-artillery holes on the offensive starting position to save trouble.

With the average position changing every few hours, it would obviously be unrealistic to dig bomb-proof holes every time we arrived at a new place, and it would be quite tiring if we didn't tire people to death. Moreover, from the perspective of the increasingly arrogant German army, how could the remaining Soviet troops, which were almost wiped out, still have the courage to launch a large-scale counterattack? It would be nice not to shiver in their bombed-out city.

Such thoughts not only existed among the German front-line troops with high morale, but even Paulus, the commander of the Sixth Army who was in command at the headquarters, also believed so with optimism.

boom--

A loud bang on the door suddenly woke up Paulus from his sleep. Last night, he and the chief of staff, Major General Schmidt, discussed the battle plan until one o'clock in the middle of the night. Paulus, who was very sleepy, had just laid down. Less than four hours later, I was woken up completely and violently.

"General Paulus, it's bad! The Russians are attacking! The position is now a sea of ​​fire, and the headquarters' phones are almost buzzing!"

The staff officer on duty who opened the door stood at the door of the room and yelled at Paulus who had just sat up from the bed. Paulus, whose eyes were bloodshot, sat on the edge of the bed and blinked with his eyes half open. His jaw was a little dazed for a moment, and only he could hear the subconscious murmurs that came out of his mouth.

"How dare? How dare they? Are these damn Ivans crazy!?"