Chapter 167 Temporary Escape

Without thoroughly exploring the enemy situation, blindly attacking the open square and the enemy's strong firepower points, which may cause heavy losses, is obviously something that Malashenko is unwilling to accept.

Commanding the siege team led by him to temporarily withdraw to the corner of the block, in order to temporarily avoid the direct firepower of the German anti-armored army by relying on the blind spot of vision, Malashenko opened the top cover of the turret above his head and jumped out of the car holding a Suomi submachine gun.

"Major Malashenko, Captain Garininbov reports to you, please give instructions."

Looking at the battalion commander of the infantry battalion in front of him who was responsible for leading the team to coordinate the attack, Malashenko blurted out after thinking for a moment.

"Comrade Captain, have you and your people cleared the entire street?"

Faced with the question raised by Malashenko, Captain Garininbov, whose face was red and black due to blood stains and black smoke that were not his own, spoke up.

"Except for the two rows of houses on the left and right sides of the street entrance, there are about a dozen houses. All the houses behind us have been searched. All the houses where the Germans are hiding have been completely cleared out. There will be no fish that slip through the net."

Looking at the captain's affirmative look in front of him, Malashenko, who was holding a Suomi submachine gun with two drum bags hanging behind his butt, nodded.

"Very good, take your people, let's go to the front to clear out the buildings at the street corner. Several houses there must be captured. There is no better place than this to observe the specific situation of the German stronghold."

Hearing this almost crazy proposal from Malashenko, Captain Kalininbov, who was surprised, spoke out after a slight pause.

"But, Major Malashenko. You are the commander of our siege column. There is no reason for you to rush to the front line in person. I will lead the team, and you can come in person after we capture the house."

"There is no time to wait any longer, comrade captain. Every minute of delay in the current battle situation is beneficial to the German defense. They can use every minute to deploy reinforced positions or even mobilize reinforcements. We must do everything possible to end this battle as soon as possible."

Seeing Malashenko's insistence, Captain Kalininbov, as his subordinate, simply stopped persuading him. He turned around and waved his hand to the infantrymen behind him.

"Follow me, the first company, and the rest of you stay where you are and guard this street corner!"

The street, which had been flattened by Soviet tanks a few minutes ago, was silent. More than a dozen German bodies killed by vehicle-mounted machine guns sank on the roadside steps or in the middle of the road, still warm.

Holding their weapons tightly in their hands, Malashenko and his group crouched and carefully moved forward on the far right side of the street. They soon rushed to the wreckage of the KV1 tank that had been blown to pieces at the intersection.

"That's it, Captain, tell your people to stop."

After receiving Malashenko's signal, Captain Kalininbov immediately raised his right arm to the Red Army infantry behind him. The team immediately stopped moving forward and quietly waited for further orders. After finding the answer from the expression on Malashenko's face beside him, Captain Kalininbov immediately waved his hand towards a small building facing the street at the outermost side of the intersection next to him.

Bang——

The wooden door of the small building kicked away by the wide-soled military boots flew backwards instantly like a toy thrown away by a naughty child. A tall and strong Red Army assaulter with a height of more than two meters took the lead with a DP28 light machine gun in his arms. The Red Army infantrymen who entered in a line instantly captured the first floor of the street building that looked like an ordinary residential house.

Although the slender Mosin-Nagant rifle was not easy to use in such a cramped indoor environment, and even a little lame, the Red Army infantrymen who only had this old-fashioned rifle on hand still held their weapons tightly, and carefully searched every corner of the room with an expression that was so nervous that their eyes were about to pop out.

"Safe! There are no Germans on the first floor!"

Hearing the loud shouts from the small building, Malashenko, who was waiting for news outside the small building, immediately looked at Captain Kalininbov beside him.

"It's time."

The two men understood each other's meaning from each other's eyes and then walked into the first floor of the small building with a brisk and steady pace.

A squad of Red Army infantrymen who were on the vanguard mission had already begun to move towards the second floor. Malashenko, who still wore the black leather tank cap unique to Soviet tank soldiers on his head and did not take it off, noticed a corner of the room. The shadow that flashed in the closet just now did not escape the eyes of Malashenko's gunner.

"In the closet, at least one, be careful."

Patting Captain Kalininbov on the shoulder and gesturing to him, the captain understood and then waved to the other Red Army soldiers who were on guard beside him to surround them. A dozen Red Army infantrymen who were calm and expressionless quietly pointed more than a dozen black guns at the closet at the same time.

"Should we open fire? It's very likely an ambush by the Germans. I'm worried there might be booby traps or something like that."

After hearing Captain Kalininbov muttering to him, Malashenko thought for a moment and quickly shook his head at him.

"It's unlikely. Have you ever seen a German setting a booby trap and locking himself in a closet to die together? They are not those Japanese."

After hearing this, he thought about it and felt that what Malashenko said was not unreasonable. After he was determined, Captain Kalininbov immediately gave a look to the Red Army soldier closest to the closet.

After receiving the order from his battalion commander, the infantry squad leader immediately put his index finger on the trigger of the Popod submachine gun, which was very rare in the Red Army, and stretched out his other left hand, which was not good at holding a gun, to gently pull the pull ring of the closet door.

Mumble——

The young squad leader, whose heart was beating wildly, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and instantly pulled open the left half of the wooden door of the closet, but what appeared in front of him immediately surprised all the Red Army soldiers who were facing a great enemy.

"Don't kill me, please! At least let my child go. Irina is innocent. I just ask you not to hurt her."

Although the invading German soldiers may not understand the Russian spoken by the young mother, fortunately, Malashenko, Captain Kalininbov and the Red Army soldiers present can understand this mother tongue of their motherland.

Looking at the young mother in front of him who was kneeling on the ground in panic, hugging her child tightly for fear of losing her and begging constantly, Malashenko sighed and then turned off the safety of the Suomi submachine gun in his hand and stepped forward.