Steel Soviet Union

After several attempts, he was still unable to cross this death platform, and instead suffered heavy casualties and heavy losses.

Realizing that they could not create an immediate breakthrough, the Germans quickly decided to withdraw. The Germans, who came and left so quickly, did not even have time to restrain the corpses of their fallen comrades on the platform. The bloody corpses almost turned the entire platform into gray. red.

Malashenko, who couldn't remember how many times he had repelled the German attack, was temporarily relieved, and his tense combat nerves could take a break and relax.

Seeing that the battle had come to an end, Political Commissar Petrov immediately called Malashenko aside to indicate that he had something to say. Malashenko, who was originally directing the deployment of defenses on the platform, saw this and immediately handed over the work at hand. Lavrinenko then turned and stepped forward.

"What's wrong? What do you want to say?"

Facing Malashenko's straight-to-the-point statement, Commissar Petrov, who said nothing, just raised his finger and pointed to the guard room at the edge of the warehouse in front of him, indicating that Malashenko should go inside to talk.

After arriving at the empty guard room with Malashenko, Political Commissar Petrov immediately took out the war zone map he carried with him from the satchel on his waist and placed it on the table. He stretched out his hand and spread it out, already holding it in his hands at the same time. The pencil then marked a small oval area on the map and spoke.

"Look here, Malashenko. Now we have less than 20% of the actual control area left in our hands. The entire front area, south, and southwest of the train station are now occupied by the Germans. , the only defensible area left in our hands is the four warehouses on the east side of the platform, which are our last line of defense."

Although Malashenko frowned slightly as he listened to Commissar Petrov's words, he did not immediately interrupt the other party's speech and just listened quietly. Malashenko, who was familiar with Commissar Petrov's way of dealing with people, knew that he must There is more to say.

"Once we lose the east platform and these four warehouses, it will mean the complete fall of the entire train station. Although now we have almost lost control of the train station and can only partially defend it."

"The actual control of the train station has basically fallen into the hands of the Germans. What are you going to do? Malashenko."

Facing the difficult problem thrown to him by the political commissar Petrov, Malashenko, as a military officer, held the table with both hands and stared at the small area on the war zone map spread out in front of him that represented the area under his actual control. With no good countermeasures and no clue, a subconscious and indifferent word suddenly blurted out.

"Perhaps we will be featured in the Pravda headlines tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment heroically sacrificed their lives for the motherland. They all died in the battle of Stalingrad. What do you think of this answer?"

""

"Are you really ready to sacrifice your life for your country? I mean immediately."

"I'm kidding, what will happen to Natalia if I die? I don't want to give her advantage to other men."

The grinning Malashenko did not say these words meaninglessly. Huge pressure always needs a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere to relieve it under special circumstances. Malashenko, who has a sense of self-entertainment, is exactly what he said. Use this method to forcefully decompress yourself.

"I am indeed ready to sacrifice at any time, but not now to be precise, at least not in Stalingrad. The Germans have not yet produced armor-piercing bullets and tanks that can kill me, I am sure of this. ”

After listening to Malashenko's confident words, Political Commissar Petrov curled his lips and seemed a little noncommittal. The words that followed immediately brought the topic back to the right track.

"If you sacrifice, there will be a lot of young men waiting to take advantage of your fiancée. Now let's talk about your plan. You shouldn't have no plan, right?"

Political Commissar Petrov believed that Malashenko, who was prepared for a rainy day, always had a plan to save the troops from danger. After all, all the previous tragic battles that seemed to be about to annihilate the entire army ended with this result.

But this time, Malashenko, who was holding the table with both hands, stared at the war zone map spread out in front of him for nearly a minute and was still silent.

It wasn't until Commissar Petrov couldn't help but want to ask Malashenko what the results were, Malashenko, who had been silent like a gourd, finally raised his head and spoke quietly.

"How many troops do we have available now?"

"Not too many. According to preliminary statistics, there are less than 500 people left, and there are still more than 20 tanks. With such a small number of troops, even four warehouses cannot be completely defended. Our current defense line is almost full of loopholes."

While listening to Commissar Petrov's report, he rolled up his dirty sleeves and glanced at the trophy watch on his wrist. The precise hour hand was exactly pointing to the number 3 area.

"It's three o'clock in the afternoon, and it's still a long time before dark. The Germans' troops are more than ten times ours. Just using wheel tactics can tire us to death. We can't abandon the train station and retreat because of the order. . If we don’t get reinforcements, we will all die before dark. Uncle Peter, I’m serious this time, I’m not joking with you.”

Malashenko frankly expressed his true thoughts to Commissar Petrov.

To be honest, Malashenko did not receive an order to defend a certain place in the previous battle.

Even in the previous battle when defending the unknown village, which almost cost the entire army the last fortune, Malashenko's order was to defend the village to buy time for the friendly troops to evacuate. Strictly speaking, this can even be understood. Because it is an ambiguous command with great flexibility in subjective decision-making.

However, this time, the order Malashenko received from Chuikov was to defend Stalingrad No. 1 Railway Station and not give up the railway station to the Germans under any circumstances.

The group of stubborn German soldiers were still like flies that smelled fishy smell. They invested more than ten times the force of Malashenko to launch a desperate attack on the railway station, which did not occupy a large area.

On the one hand, there is the absolute defense of Order 227 by the loving father Comrade Stalin, and on the other hand, there is the harsh reality that the German army is almost riding on his face.

Malashenko, who deeply experienced the powerlessness of tactics in the face of absolute strength, suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of desolation in his heart.

If you retreat, you will be shot and killed by military law. If you don't retreat, you will be crushed to pieces by the Germans' tracks and beaten to pieces.

Malashenko, who pretended to be smiling on the surface, was actually panicking.