USSR 1941

The tank battalion arrived at the station of the 333rd regiment at 3:30 in the morning, but it did not actually arrive at the station.

After Katukov heard about the situation, he rushed to the tank battalion one step ahead.

"Good job!" Katukov said. "The situation is very favorable to us. Now is the time to beat up these invaders!"

"Colonel!" Shulka stopped, "I think we should wait until dawn..."

"I know it's better for us to attack after dawn, Shulka!" Katukov said.

This is unquestionable. The T34 can easily destroy the German "No. 3" and "No. 4" tanks at a distance of 500 meters, but the German "No. 3" and "No. 4" tanks must be able to attack the armor of the T34 within 100 meters. threatening.

That is, the T34 has a long-range advantage.

But if you attack in the dark... this advantage basically doesn't exist.

On the other hand, only a small number of tanks in the 1941 version of the T34 were equipped with communication equipment, which also made it necessary for the tanks of the 4th Tank Brigade to arrange several followers on the rear armor of each tank to communicate by telephone, as Shulka proposed. Contact the tank.

And the commanding of these followers is the semaphore and hand gestures... The diesel motor of the T34 is very noisy, and it is impossible to hear each other shouting.

"We can't hide the noise of tanks!" Katukov said. "Even if we fire at the enemy, enemy scouts may still notice that we have tank units following us, which will scare them away!"

Katukov’s words made the officers at the meeting burst into laughter, not only because of Katukov’s humor, but also because of his pride... When all the Soviet troops and even Moscow were worried that they would not be able to stop the Germans from attacking, The 4th Tank Brigade was worried about the Germans fleeing.

Shulka didn't smile. He pointed to the map and said to Katukov: "Comrade Colonel, ten miles from our garrison is an open field, and the soil is dry and suitable for tank operations! If we place the tanks on the 333rd Regiment's defense line Ambush in the last ten miles or so..."

"And what about the 333rd regiment?" asked Katukov.

He understood what Shulka meant. The problem was that the 333rd regiment had to face the enemy's one-man tank division with infantry.

"Of course we will be defeated, we already have experience!" Major Gavrilov continued: "We have fled here from the Brest Fortress,

isn't it? "

The officers laughed again.

Katukov thought for a while, then nodded and said: "I agree, let's do this, we will wait for you ten miles away... To be exact, our encirclement will start to deploy around five miles away, but there we will see We won't do it while the Germans are after you, understand?"

"clear!"

Major Gavrilov and Shulka answered in unison.

But it's easier to plan than to do.

"Rout"... Even if you retreat, you have to take a big risk, let alone "rout".

To be precise, it is not difficult to achieve a "routine". A failed retreat will develop into a rout. The problem is that it is difficult to do a fake "routine" that does not want to suffer too many casualties.

In particular, the counterattack of the Fourth Tank Brigade must be planned, so too many landmines and anti-tank mines must not be laid on the road.

But this was a headache for Major Gavrilov, and Shulka believed he could organize and plan it.

The fact is that Major Gavrilov can indeed do it. The method is to accurately draw a map of the minefield after laying the mines, and then send the map to Katukov in advance and let every tank soldier know where the minefield is... The enemy I don't know this, so the minefield still has a deterrent and blocking effect on the enemy.

When Shulka returned to the army, the soldiers had already hid in the trenches to rest. Although some people still couldn't sleep, they had to close their eyes even if they pretended to be under the order of the instructor.

The instructor handed Shulka a cigarette, a Mahe cigarette rolled with old newspapers... After the 333rd Infantry Regiment went to Stalingrad for a tour, the whole pack of German cigarettes soon ran out of stock.

It is said that its price has also risen with the tide, from the original that one cigarette can be exchanged for three Mahe cigarettes on the battlefield to one can be exchanged for ten.

But actors will never do this business.

"I must be crazy if I exchange ten Mahe cigarettes for one!" said the actor, "Think about it, when someone else is holding a thin and small toothpick in their mouth, I can smoke ten at the same time." !"

In the smoker's mind, of course, quantity is paramount. As for quality... that's something that can only be considered on the basis of ensuring quantity.

"There's going to be a big fight soon, isn't it?" the instructor asked.

"Yes!" Shulka nodded: "A battle of tanks against tanks!"

The instructor was silent for a while, and asked: "Do you think we can win? Or, the expected victory?"

Shulka understood what the instructor was thinking.

In fact, this is also the thinking of most people in the Soviet army... Soviet tanks have always been not inferior to German tanks, and they even have advantages in some aspects, but they are still defeated by the German army with a huge disparity. One beat.

Therefore, many people, including the instructors, would worry about a question before this organized tank battle: Can the Fourth Tank Brigade really defeat the enemy?

"We'll find out soon!" Shulka said, and then hid with the instructor under the rain poncho in the trench and lit a cigarette... so that the rain would not get wet, and at the same time, the German snipers would not see the fire .

What Shulka thinks is: If he cannot win tomorrow, then everything will be over, Moscow will soon fall, and then the defense of the entire Soviet Union and the morale of the troops will be fatally hit.

Zhukov, on the other hand, was equally worried about this problem.

Immediately after he received the battle plan explained in the telegram from Katukov, he immediately realized that tomorrow's battle might be a decisive one.

"We made a mistake!" Zhukov said to the staff: "On the one hand, we pinned all our hopes on the 4th Tank Brigade, but on the other hand, we did not give them enough equipment! They don't even have cars!"

"Comrade General, we lack cars and equipment..." the staff officer said.

"Yes, I know!" Zhukov interrupted the staff officer: "It is true that we lack cars and other equipment, but we should never let the fourth tank brigade lack equipment. This almost caused a big mistake. Fortunately, the 333rd regiment Stop the attack of the enemy armored division, otherwise we will not even have a decisive battle tomorrow!"

"Yes, Comrade General!"

"Prepare the equipment of the 4th Tank Brigade immediately!" Zhukov ordered: "The other troops are already short of equipment, and they don't care about having less!"