Steel Soviet Union

Now with Malashenko's personal promise and invitation, Second Lieutenant Igor naturally had no reason to refuse.

On the way, he picked up a team of more than 100 people, including Second Lieutenant Igor, to strengthen himself. Malashenko, who felt that he had taken another step forward towards the grand goal of holding the train station, was quite satisfied.

In the past, when cleaning the battlefield, apart from asking Karamov, the collector, to pick up some rare treasures, Malashenko would rarely want other dispensable German small weapons to be broken. Carrying these things was inconvenient, not to mention of no practical use. Almost all the light weapons obtained from cleaning the battlefield were given away by Malashenko as gifts and favors.

But this time, considering that he had to defend the No. 1 train station that was about to be turned into a pot of porridge, Malashenko, who estimated that he would encounter supply difficulties, decided to take away some of the German small weapons obtained from cleaning the battlefield.

Of course, the credit for annihilating and forcing the remaining German troops to surrender did not belong entirely to Malashenko. In addition to the assistance of Second Lieutenant Igor, who had become one of Malashenko's own, the group stationed in the east block blocked the German troops. The infantry who firmly attracted attention also played a big role.

Considering that the next urban battle will be extremely brutal, the infantry will also face a shortage of ammunition and require more supplies. In the end, Malashenko did not monopolize the seized property from cleaning the battlefield, and distributed nearly half of the guns and ammunition to the Red Army soldiers in the eastern neighborhood.

For Malashenko's generosity, the leading Red Army captain was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly. He bluntly said that with them defending the German army, they would not be able to reach the train station.

After hearing these words, Malashenko just smiled and said nothing more. He reminded the captain to make more use of street bunkers and building defenses and not to fight head-on with the superior German troops on the streets.

But as for how effective his advice and reminders can be, Malashenko, who is well aware of the cruelty and bloodyness of the Stalingrad street battles, has no idea. It all depends on the understanding and execution ability of the captain who leads the team.

The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which was back on the road, slowly advanced on the dark streets filled with ruins.

Most of the city in Stalingrad has lost power, and the ruined city that was bombed by the Germans is in darkness.

Malashenko ordered the general manager Karamov to collect all the flashlights and lighting equipment that the entire regiment could use, and then uniformly distributed them to each crew so that they could barely move forward in the dark.

The large searchlight tied directly to the muzzle at the front end of the main gun barrel with an iron wire is also connected to a battery placed on the side of the turret. If any area is too dark to see clearly, Malashenko can directly let Iushkin shake it. It is quite convenient to turn the height controller and steering wheel to aim the light and illuminate it. This idea that Karamov gave to Malashenko is indeed a very good one.

Malashenko, who was still hanging half of his body outside the turret and smoking, looked at the dark night city illuminated by lights in front of him, and couldn't help but sigh in his heart how great it would be if there were night vision equipment.

The original heading light on my car had been completely destroyed by German artillery shells in that battle. Now, thanks to the large searchlight tied to the gun barrel, I can barely see the things in front and around me clearly. , although the effect is extremely limited, it is still much better than moving forward in the dark without sight.

Malashenko raised the last cigarette butt in his mouth and flicked it away. His head was filled with the smell of cigarettes. He retreated into the turret and planned to ask how the situation was.

An oil lamp hung on the ammunition rack at the rear end of the turret illuminated the narrow internal space. Iushkin, who also had a cigarette in his mouth, was leaning on his position and playing with the war zone map in his hand.

"How far is it from the train station? Where are you now?"

Hearing the question from Malashenko who had returned to the turret next to him, Iushkin, who was about to finish the cigarette in his mouth and smoked his eyes a bit, then took off the cigarette butt and stuffed it at his feet. After putting the 85mm armor-piercing grenade shell in the ashtray, he moved sideways towards Malashenko.

"We are roughly at this location now, less than a kilometer away from the train station in a straight line. The detour we fought when it was dark was a bit far, so we need to spend more time now. The nearby blocks are not very good. Let’s go, the ruins blown up by the German planes have blocked a lot of the road. If the road conditions are a little better, we can reach the train station in forty minutes.”

"Why is it taking so long? I feel like we've been walking around for several blocks. I thought we could do it in ten minutes."

Click——

Before Malashenko could finish his words, the sudden braking caused the steel tracks to grind against the gravel-covered road, instantly making a tooth-piercing friction sound.

Before the puzzled Malashenko could ask what was going on, the driver Seryosha, who could clearly see the road conditions a hundred meters ahead through the large searchlight tied to the barrel, took the lead.

"Comrade Commander, there are people in front, some citizens have blocked our tank."

"Stop a tank??? Damn it, that idiot is so brave and dares to try to attack a heavy tank in the middle of the night?"

Malashenko, who was quite surprised, then stretched his upper body out again along the roof of the turret that had not been closed. The road ahead clearly illuminated by the large searchlight was indeed as Seryosha said, an old man A woman and a young woman holding two children blocked the path of Malashenko's entire column.

"Please help us, please help us, please help us."

""

Before Malashenko could ask questions, two women, an old man and a young woman, ran over with their children in their arms and cried loudly for help.

The confused Malashenko blinked his eyes and didn't know where to start. Several figures rushed out from the side of the street, interrupting Malashenko's train of thought again.

"Alexei, take them back quickly. How could you let them escape?"

"I'm sorry, comrade squad leader, I went to the toilet and they slipped out without me noticing."

Holding on to the turret, Malashenko watched the two Red Army soldiers hurriedly running next to his car, taking away the two women and children, an old man and a young man. The scene was a bit chaotic for a while, and Malashenko's head was filled with questions. Finally, Malashenko Stop being silent and ask questions.

"You two, wait a minute. Why should they be taken away? Can two women and two children make any mistakes?"

The squad leader, who was tripped by Malashenko's loud words and felt that the situation might be a bit troublesome, turned around and spoke back to Malashenko.