Chapter 2405: Gaining a Firm Foothold
"I thought these Nazis would fight to the death until they were annihilated, but it seems I thought too much.
For a moment, Malashenko even mistakenly believed that these Germans on the top of the Zelo Heights, who were smelly and hard, and even harder than stones in the toilet, would really fight to the death under the violent offensive of the leader division until the last moment and until they were annihilated.
Theoretically, the Germans do have reasons to do so.
This is the last line of defense to Berlin, the last chance to defend their so-called beliefs and prove their so-called loyalty. Everyone knows that if the Russians break into Berlin, there will be no hope of victory, and they will be annihilated to the point where there is not even a glimmer of hope.
Even the miracle of the Russians defending their capital was achieved by blocking the German army under the city of Moscow and preventing it from entering the city.
Could it be that now The German army, which has reached this point, can be confident that it is more capable and can do better than the Soviet army back then?
Some fanatics may think so, but at least most of the German army with normal brains will not think so, so holding the Zelo Heights, a place that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, is the last chance to turn defeat into victory. This is definitely worth betting your life on to fight to the death, which is also the reason why Malashenko expected to encounter crazy resistance from the Germans.
But Malashenko seems to have overestimated the madness of the Germans and the degree to which these Germans are not afraid of death. At least the fighting will of these people is not strong enough to "annihilate the whole army without a single one left". Compared with the madness of their Asian bow-legged "spirited" allies, it is still a little worse.
"Please no, stop firing, we surrender, surrender! All surrender! "
The first German soldier, with his helmet crooked, clothes torn, blood stains all over his body, and no clean place at all, walked out of the trench holding a small white flag in his hand, and shouted in a trembling voice to the enemies who were still pointing their guns at him in that poor and difficult-to-understand Russian.
"Please don't hurt us, we are prisoners of war now, we lay down our weapons and surrender to you, surrender immediately!"
The isolation zone blown up by the blocked artillery barrage was still a scorched earth state. There were no groups of Germans coming to support, nor were there any terrified Germans running away in groups.
This artillery barrage has undoubtedly become the dividing line between life and death.
The German soldiers in the non-frontline firefighting areas behind the dividing line are still fine for the time being. Although they cannot support their comrades, at least they have not lost their lives, but this is only temporary.
The German soldiers in front of the dividing line suffered countless casualties, Most of them were either blown into pieces or shot into a hornet's nest by random gunfire. There might even be some unlucky ones who were told off in close combat.
Even the German soldiers who survived were all trembling with fear, fearing that these bloodthirsty Russians would rush up to add to their achievements. Being alive at this time was like living in hell, only slightly better than being dead, indeed.
"Let the infantry go up, seize the weapons of these Germans, and quickly take them down! Clean up this position and tidy it up. This is our landing site and assembly point, which will be of great use later. ”
At this point, Malashenko has completed the first step of his plan: to gain a foothold on the top of the Zelo Heights.
Yes, Malashenko’s plan has never been to rely on the brute force of the leader division to launch a strong attack from the middle of the slope, flatten the entire top of the Zelo Heights in one breath, kill all the fascists, and plant the red flag on the top of the heights to declare a light-speed and complete victory.
It sounds awesome and beautiful, but Malashenko knows clearly that it is impossible to do so. Even if it is really done, it will definitely not make people happy. If the leader division can still participate in the Battle of Berlin at that time, it will be a blessing if it does not suffer heavy losses and retreat to the second line.
Malashenko asked his superior commanders to resolutely not build victory on huge casualties in the process of commanding the battle. Those soldiers and grassroots commanders who are good at fighting and have rich combat experience are the real leaders of the leader division who are invincible and stronger with each battle. The magic weapon for victory.
At this point, Malashenko, who has the support of various mountains and strong connections and networks, has no shortage of equipment. The only thing he lacks is people. No matter how advanced and rare the equipment is, as long as Malashenko wants it and it is for the army, then Malashenko will definitely get it. It’s nothing more than sending a telegram, making a phone call, or even more difficult, it’s just a matter of face-to-face talks. Anyway, he will definitely get it.
But those brave and combat-savvy soldiers and experienced grassroots commanders are not available. They are not war weapons that can be produced like a flow of water once the production line is turned on.
In the process of receiving subsequent supplementary troops, Malashenko gradually discovered some problems that were not anticipated in advance.
One of the most noteworthy problems is that the newly added grassroots commanders lack too much, have too much to learn, and don’t understand too much. Malashenko secretly abbreviated it in simplified Chinese as "Mao Sanduo".
These grassroots commanders who were transferred from ordinary troops, even from the Guards, have a common problem that they cannot avoid: they do not understand what is the synthesis of arms. They do not understand how to master and call upon their own superior technical weapons as a grassroots commander of synthesis, and do not know how to combine these technical weapons with arms and cooperate tacitly to improve combat effectiveness.
The only thing they know is to fight according to the old methods, old routines, and old experiences, and to fight like traditional tank divisions and infantry divisions. It is the best that they can know the coordination of infantry and tanks. As for the coordination of three infantry, tanks and guns, and four infantry, tanks and guns, they are even more blind - it is all bullshit.
Although these people have experience in leading troops and a certain learning ability and cognitive foundation, Malashenko still thinks it is a waste of time to teach them a whole set of theoretical knowledge, tactics and methods of synthesis, and to learn from the most basic to understand more advanced things bit by bit.
Instead of teaching these people new things, it is better to find a way to keep the existing ones.
Even if you can teach the former, it is a quick lesson. Theoretical knowledge that has not been put into practice will cost lives and blood when it goes to the battlefield. The status of grassroots commanders determines that it is not only themselves who will die, but also more soldiers.
Based on the above, Malashenko did not intend to take the huge risk of casualties to do something that seems to be awesome but is actually basically useless except for showing off.
First, take a "landing site" to gain a foothold. The position taken is the starting position for the subsequent attack of the assembling offensive forces. Starting from here is much stronger than climbing up from the half-slope waist where it is difficult to assemble troops, and attacking in waves.
Of course, this is only one of the reasons. Malashenko actually has a crazier idea in his mind, which is not sure whether it can be put into practice. This requires the cooperation of the Germans on the opposite side to complete it.