Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko, who had led his troops to the area in the early morning and started preparing defensive measures, had actually thought about it seriously for a long time on how to defend this unknown small village with a crucial geographical location.

If this battle is fought according to traditional defensive warfare methods, then building a circular fortification defense network, infantry communication trenches and various temporary defenses outside the village overnight is undoubtedly the best choice at the moment.

However, after comprehensively considering the pitiful remaining defensive forces in his hands and the endless flat grasslands surrounding this small and undefeable village, Malashenko realized that his situation was not optimistic. After repeated arguments and considerations, Malashenko finally made the decision A seemingly bold decision was made - to play the empty city strategy.

"Lieutenant Diakov, the small village we have to defend now is not as easy as it seems on paper. Compared with the Germans who play the offensive role, we have fewer troops in our hands to defend and establish positions. Various light and heavy weapons for defensive warfare are also insufficient.”

"If we insist on holding on to our position, it will play into the hands of the Germans. It is estimated that the few troops we have in our hands will be wiped out by the Germans with their superior forces in just an hour. Therefore, I decided to abandon the traditional defensive battle of trench positions and no longer build obvious Peripheral defenses. Let's wait and use some tricks to kill these Germans. "

Regarding what Malashenko said, the acting battalion commander Diakov, who also graduated from the military academy and was quickly promoted to the rank of lieutenant after the Great Purge, did not fully understand what Malashenko wanted to express.

"Comrade Captain, I don't quite understand something. You just said not to build a peripheral defensive position. If that's the case, how will our infantry fight this battle?"

"It's simple, Lieutenant Diakov."

With a slight snap of his fingers, he spoke again under the bright moonlight in the sky, but Malashenko's current tone sounded extremely confident to Lieutenant Diakov.

"After the battle begins, I will use my own T34 tank to attack the German forward troops first. After destroying a few of their tanks, I will try to lure them into taking the bait, and at the same time, I will reverse back to the depths of the village."

"At that time, I estimate that the Germans, who have been fighting smoothly all the way, will definitely take advantage of my T34 tank, which is attacking on a bicycle, to catch up and try to eliminate me. When that time comes, the infantry ambushing various houses and bunkers in the village will be able to start from Ambush attacks were launched against the Germans from all directions!"

"As long as those German infantry are killed, their tanks are useless in such a complex environment like the village! Even if your infantry throws incendiary bottles on the engine compartment of their tanks, you can kill the Germans in these tanks. Frederick the Great sent them to meet them. These German tanks all use gasoline engines. The burning liquid in the combustion bottle only needs to bring the open flame into the engine compartment, and the rest is to wait for the fireworks show. "

After listening to Malashenko's battle deployment arrangements, the more he thought about it, the more Lieutenant Diakov felt that this was an excellent solution, but at the same time he also thought of some crucial additional issues.

"But Comrade Captain, if the Germans dispatch too many tanks, our infantry will not be able to cope with it. After all, we only brought two 76mm anti-tank guns this time, which cannot withstand too many Germans." Tank’s.”

Regarding Diakov's concerns, Malashenko, who had already made relevant preparations and plans in this regard, immediately spoke.

"You don't have to worry about that, Lieutenant Diakov."

"Except for my own command vehicle, the remaining three T34 tanks of our army will be arranged in suitable civilian houses in the village to wait for opportunities to perform anti-tank missions. You and your infantry only need to help these few vehicle crews to carry out large enough tanks. Empty the houses and arrange concealment measures, and then leave them to the German tanks to take care of them.”

After completing such detailed and thorough tactical and defensive arrangements, Malashenko, who was hiding his No. 177 command vehicle in a broken stable with a half cigarette in his mouth, turned to his commander While he was quietly waiting for the moment of war to begin, the small German single-engine plane flying at low altitude with a huge roar and facing the rising sun quickly caught his attention.

"There are German planes in the sky, Comrade Commander, are they not here to bomb us?"

Regarding the slightly frightened question from the driver Seryosha's mouth, Malashenko, who put out the cigarette butt in his mouth on the bulkhead of the tank beside him, took a deep breath and then spoke.

"When have you ever seen those Germans flying a single-engine old plane to bomb us? That is the German artillery observation plane, and it is preparing for the large-scale bombardment of the German artillery later to detect the situation of our army's positions. and record the location.”

After hearing the answer given by Malashenko, Seryosha seemed even more worried after thinking about it in a blink of an eye.

"Wouldn't it be worse if this were the case? Comrade Commander. The German observation plane flew over our heads. Does this mean that our place will be covered by German artillery fire later?"

"You kid, you don't have much knowledge and you still have a lot of questions in one day. But since you have asked me all the questions, I will test you in turn. If you were the pilot of the observation plane in the sky, would you care about even a decent peripheral defense? A small, dilapidated village that has not been fortified yet and has been completely deserted?”

Regarding Malashenko's rhetorical question, the driver Seryosha, who had never thought about the answer to such a question, couldn't help but hesitate for a moment.

Before Seryosha, who was thinking for a moment, could reply, Malashenko, who knew he was taking a big gamble, spoke immediately.

"In the same way, those German artillerymen will not waste their limited artillery coverage on a small village where no one exists. Compared with the artillery supremacy of our Red Army, those frugal German artillerymen will live a much better life. ”

It was exactly as Malashenko had guessed.

During the artillery preparations for the German offensive that followed less than half an hour later, accompanied by the roar of artillery shells, most of the artillery barrages covered the main defensive positions of the 20th Tank Division and the 131st Motorcycle Division on the left and right sides of the village. On the defensive position of the infantry division, on the contrary, this unknown little village located at the junction of the two divisions only received a dozen or so artillery shells in total, which made it interesting. It did not give the villagers who had prepared in advance and waited for the hit. Malashenko and his party caused too many casualties.

Not long after the bombardment ended, his commander saw in the periscope the German mechanized battle group consisting of infantry, tanks, half-tracks and assault guns, and carefully concealed the vehicle in the stable. Malashenko immediately gave orders to the crews under his command who were also preparing to go.

"Okay, comrades, get ready to fight. Kirill is loading armor-piercing ammunition, Seryosha is waiting for my order and is ready to reverse and retreat at any time. Nikolai is checking the machine gun and preparing to deal with the German infantry. First, smash a No. 2 tank. Take some pressure off Diakov and the others!”