Chapter 1066 "Change Personnel"

What Malashenko didn't know was that the German troops in front of him had actually changed their lineup and were no longer the same as yesterday.

The Guards Division, which received the urgent transfer order from the Second SS Panzer Corps, can be said to have traveled day and night and rushed all the way.

This group of Waffen SS fanatics who claimed to be "the closest soldiers to the head of state" were still full of fighting spirit and seemed tireless even after a whole day of fierce fighting with the Soviet army. The enthusiasm jumping in their eyes seemed to ignite the grass.

The Guards Division, which had just finished a whole day of fighting, received a transfer order from the headquarters of the Second SS Panzer Corps at sunset.

The division commander Theodor Wieser did not hesitate at all about the order assigned by his superiors. He immediately asked his soldiers who had just been sitting on the grass eating dinner to drop their lunch boxes, pick up their weapons, and rush at full speed in the direction of the friendly army's Skeleton Division.

Although ordinary Wehrmacht troops will execute orders, they are likely to delay, be extremely reluctant, and complain along the way, which is understandable under human nature.

But for the Guards Flag Division, for these humanoid war machines that seem to be tireless and never rest, executing orders without complaint has almost been engraved in their bones.

The Guards Flag Division, whose troops are no weaker than the Skeleton Division, spent a night to rush to the designated location. After a short rest, they were ready for the artillery attack before dawn. The tanks of the Guards Flag Division with black and white key symbols printed on the body were the ones rushing to the front.

Whether it is fighting will or tactical literacy, they are no worse than the Skeleton Division. This group of troops formed by the "pure Germans" in the words of the Führer are not just fanatics.

The well-organized attack was carried out step by step. Knowing that there was a group of terrible steel monsters on the opposite side, the Guards Flag Division's offensive front was stretched wide. It didn't seem like they were going to eat up the opponent in one go, but more like they were testing firepower to some extent. The scattered and sparse offensive formation made Malashenko frown when he saw this scene.

"Something is wrong. What are these Germans planning? This doesn't look like an offensive posture that really wants to tear open the position."

Malashenko couldn't understand what the opponent was singing, and even thought about it for a short time and hesitated a little. He was a little unsure about how to arrange his next orders and tactical arrangements. Only the SS tanks on the opposite side were constantly firing and pouring shells.

Just when Malashenko firmed his eyes and picked up the transmitter at hand again, ready to give orders to the radio channel and say something, the reason why the Guards Flag Division's offensive formation was so sparse and scattered finally ushered in the moment of disclosure.

The first thing Malashenko waited for was not the agreed planes, but a large group of steel wings rushing from the rear of the German army in the distant sky.

"Damn, I was fooled! These German bastards are deliberately fishing!"

Malashenko suddenly realized the reason for everything in the terrible scolding.

The SS troops on the opposite side had no intention of taking real action from the beginning. This seemingly paddling attack was just to attract the Soviet troops on the position to expose more firepower points. The more heavy tanks on the position were exposed, the better. The first wave of probing attacks was just a probing attack with Panther as the auxiliary and Panzer III and IV as the main ones. Even if all these tanks were folded in, they would not be seriously injured.

The SS troops jumping around in the range of 700 to 500 meters in front of the position had no intention of getting closer. Malashenko originally thought that the Germans' broken cars were too bad and could not withstand the loss of the charge, so they were almost killed halfway.

But now it seems that I was just overthinking. These SS lackeys who fanatically believe in the Führer are really not stupid.

"All crews retreat! Retreat quickly! Retreat to the starting position, quickly!"

Malashenko, who had had enough of the German air raids, was not completely unprepared for this. Major Valosha, who was deployed in the infantry trenches, led the infantry battalion and was Malashenko's backup.

The roar of the enemy's fighter planes and the retreat of their own tanks came at the same time. Major Valosha, who witnessed this scene in the trenches, immediately grabbed the phone at hand and shouted at the microphone tightly in his hand.

"Smoke bomb! Fire smoke bombs at the predetermined position, and fire them according to the method mentioned before! Quick!"

Without air superiority, any ground force can only be slaughtered in the face of the enemy's fierce air raid. Even with the cover of the field air defense force, it is only a difference of better than nothing. The fierce attack from the sky will not give up because of a small setback.

Malashenko, who knew this well, never expected to rely on anti-aircraft guns to protect himself. In this era of air strikes relying purely on the naked eye, there are better options for him to choose, such as using smoke bombs to create a wall of smoke to block the sight of the German pilots.

The artillery position that received the call from Major Varosha immediately turned the muzzle and set up the gun mount according to the direction that the battalion commander pointed out on the map. The captain who had just hung up the phone personally took the lead and handed over his hand, and immediately spoke loudly to the soldiers beside him.

"Bombs! Bring them!"

A 16-kilogram 120mm mortar shell is not light, but in the hands of this sturdy mortar company commander who is no shorter than Malashenko, it is as easy to hold as an ordinary person holding a bottle of mineral water.

He slid the shell into the chamber along the muzzle steel wall. After the gun body shook, a fierce muzzle fire was ejected immediately, and a loud roar of firing suddenly sounded.

The shells that whistled to the designated position in a standard parabola were not lethal ammunition. After a series of bumps and shattering sounds, a thick white smoke suddenly swept up like a sandstorm.

The mortar smoke bombs that spread rapidly with the pleasant grassland breeze, just like Malashenko's earlier idea, soon set up a smoke screen wall much higher than a tank at the designated position planned earlier.

The Stalin heavy tanks, which reversed much faster than the annoying Black Panther, engaged all reverse gears and reversed rapidly, almost retreating into the cover of the smoke screen as the iron wings suddenly whistled in the sky. The German fighter planes, which were already close at hand, dropped bombs almost on their tails and at the same time.