Steel Soviet Union

Wound your prey and place him in an open trap. Make him bleed, make him howl in misery, make him summon his friends to come to the rescue, and then use the dragnet set up in advance to catch them all.

This tactic can be classified as despicable.

But, it works.

The greatest significance of a sniper's existence on the battlefield is not how many enemy soldiers he kills, but the powerful mental pressure and deterrent effect his elusive cold-gun killings bring to the enemy.

A terminally ill patient who doesn't know when he will die will be in panic all day long, but a prisoner who knows that he will be taken to the execution ground tomorrow can look away and happily accept the coming destruction.

Many times, human beings are not actually afraid of death, but are just afraid of the unknown darkness.

The Germans, who did not dare to act rashly, retreated again after paying the price of hundreds of casualties. Two Panzer IV tanks that were stuck in a muddy pond and could not move became the direct cause of the retreat. Under the cover of armored troops, they launched an attack on the Soviet defensive positions waiting for work. The Russians' ferocious firepower was not so easy to break through.

The corpses of the German soldiers who fell dead in the rain in front of the position were washed away by the rain with increasingly thin blood. Even the heavy rain could not extinguish the burning remains of the tanks, which were still releasing blazing heat. The battlefield at this moment was not so much. It was cooled by the rain, not to mention like a pot of boiling water that had just been boiled and then softened slightly and stopped bubbling.

Malashenko, who opened the top of his turret, leaned out of the tank.

From dawn to the present, none of the three German offensive waves seemed to be serious and serious. The three consecutive waves of small fights made Malashenko even somewhat doubt whether the German army was planning something new. conspiracy.

But the fact is that this unexpected torrential rain has made the German army feel unprepared and helpless. Everything, including material mobilization and pre-war preparations, has become exponentially more difficult.

What's more, a relatively narrow railway station full of ruins and complex terrain is not an easy place for large troops to deploy. The armored assault blitzkrieg that the Germans relied on is completely useless here.

Three small-scale attacks were the best that the German army could do under the current conditions.

After these three attacks ended in failure, the German commanders had to face an unknown problem worth thinking about.

"How much support did that group of Russians across the way get? Why did everything become so difficult overnight?"

The frontline soldiers did not know the answer to this question, and the staff officers around them could not give an exact result.

After just one night, almost all objective factors, including the right time, place, people and people, had changed to the disadvantage of the German army.

The German commander, who was in a very bad mood, raised his head and looked at the hazy sky with continuous rain above his head. He couldn't help but feel that the battle situation he was facing at the moment was probably nothing more than this. It was basically the same as the sky above him. Sample.

"Cancel the next wave of attacks. We need a new offensive plan and countermeasures, and not now."

The German commander's order to postpone the attack gave Malashenko a breather. Even though this breather was obviously only temporary, it was still extremely precious to Malashenko.

Malashenko, who left his car and came to the temporary headquarters, was also looking at the sky above him through the window in front of him.

Objectively speaking, this heavy rain is indeed beneficial to the Soviet defense to a certain extent, and it can also play a certain role in containing and delaying the German offensive preparations and actual effects.

However, relying on the protection of the weather, they could only escape for a while. Maybe the German army could not even wait for the rain to stop and would once again gather a larger offensive force to kill them. Before that, Malashenko must seize this limited time to make complete preparations and a thorough combat plan to deal with it.

"You've been standing here looking at it for thirteen minutes. That's the direction of Moscow. Do you miss Natalia?"

""

Political Commissar Petrov came forward quietly and suddenly spoke, startling Malashenko who was originally concentrating on something.

"Although it's not what you said, if possible, I really want to go back and see Natalia. I almost forgot when I last took a vacation."

Political Commissar Petrov, who was looking at the battle report that had just been sent to him on the table, smiled and glanced at Malashenko, who was sitting at the table with a look that seemed a little lost. Then he blurted out the casual words half-jokingly.

"Your last vacation was more than half a year ago. After the Moscow front stabilized, General Zhukov personally approved it for you. I heard that you even went back to see Comrade Kotin in Moscow. Isn't that how you got your current tanks? ?”

Political Commissar Petrov's relaxed words brought back a trace of memories in Malashenko's mind. It had indeed been almost a year since he last returned to Moscow. It had been such a long time and he didn't know that his beautiful wife had been there all day long. What are you doing?

"After the battle of Stalingrad is over, I must take a leave as soon as possible to go back and have a good rest. Now as soon as I rest, there is no part of my body that is not in pain, even the joints are ringing. It’s like it’s rusty.”

Malashenko's unintentional words caught the attention of political commissar Petrov. To be precise, it was more like an interest in a certain topic of discussion.

"When do you think the battle of Stalingrad will be over? Will it be about the same time as the defense of Moscow last year?"

Just as he reached into his coat pocket to take out the cigarette case and lighter, and before he could put the cigarette into his mouth, Malashenko was suddenly asked such a question by Commissar Petrov and felt a little unexpected. He held the cigarette in his hand. The lighter didn't know where or how to answer this question.

Holding the cigarette case in one hand and the lighter in the other, he thought for a long time. Malashenko, who thought it would be better not to predict the exact time in advance, finally spoke slowly after thinking about it.

"With the current situation, I estimate that it is basically impossible to end the Battle of Stalingrad within this year. So far, we have not shown any signs of regaining the strategic initiative. The Germans are rushing in like crazy bulls. The china shop is running rampant throughout the city."

After lightly lighting the cigarette in his mouth, he took a deep breath and exhaled a stream of rich smoke. Malashenko, who estimated that the specific time of the Battle of Stalingrad would not be too much affected by him, continued to speak softly.

"Maybe we can end this battle early next year. Anyway, the final victory will definitely belong to us."