Chapter 2408: The Willing Ones Take the Bait

It is true that the things whizzing in the air are indeed artillery shells, and what the Germans are doing is indeed a serious artillery bombardment.

But Malashenko, who is used to the roar of heavy artillery, now has a hard time getting interested in mortars, especially the Germans whose mortars are generally small in caliber.

No matter how you look at it, the place where they are now is a semi-buried geotechnical shelter. Even if half of it is blown down, the remaining half of the roof is still usable. Malashenko thinks that this level of protection is enough, and he doesn't plan to stay in this ghost place for too long. After raising the telescope and taking a casual look, he spoke again.

"The Germans have started to prepare, and we are almost ready. Let's pack up and get ready to get on the car to work."

"Get on the car to work?"

It's not that Kurbalov didn't understand what Malashenko meant, or it was because he understood that he continued to talk.

"Are you sure this is a German attack? Is it possible that they just fired a few shots or created some illusion to lure us in?"

Lavrinenko's worry was justified. It is wise not to underestimate the opponent's IQ at the tactical level at any time, just as Malashenko never underestimated the Germans on the opposite side.

"Don't worry, we are using an open plot, we can show it to the Germans."

"Either they stop us from sending reinforcements to the top of the high ground, or we wait for our troops to gather and kick their asses. The Germans can only choose one, and if the person in charge there is not crazy, he will definitely know what to choose."

"Time and initiative are on our side, Lavri. We just need to keep our troops in place and guard this place. My intuition tells me that the Germans will lose their patience before we do. They will definitely do something before we act. Just wait and see."

Malashenko's analysis was well-reasoned and well-planned. Lavrinenko, who was standing by, also felt that this was basically the case. It seemed that there was nothing he could think of that was different from what Malashenko described.

"So what are you going to do? Wait for the Germans to come up, or give them a hard time first?"

Lavrinenko had no doubts about holding the position under his feet, and firmly believed that he was fully capable of doing so.

The only question is what to do specifically. Should we start with a smacking attack on the Germans now, or wait until the Germans gather in a large group and rush up before doing something? This depends on how Malashenko wants to fight.

Lavrinenko, who was waiting for orders to be carried out, did not wait too long. Seeing from the telescope that the bombardment was not that big, Malashenko breathed a sigh of relief. As long as the intelligence that the German heavy artillery group had been completely lost was confirmed to be true, the following related matters would be much easier to handle.

"There is no need to scare them away, let them come. With their current ability, they can gather the largest number of troops and bring all the fascists. I won't have time to catch Nazi deserters all over the mountains and plains."

There is no doubt that Malashenko is determined to win this battle. The plan that has entered the execution stage as expected must be completed step by step. He must not let these lingering Germans ruin his good deeds.

Time passed by minute by minute in the bombardment. The mortar shells fired by the German army on the opposite side did not cause the Soviet army to retaliate. This was the most surprising, confusing and puzzling thing for the German commander who was watching the battlefield in the front observation post.

"It seems unusual that those Russians did not retaliate against us with their artillery. What do you think, Stauffing?"

This Stauffing is not the same Stauffing. The one who almost killed the mustache was called Stauffenberg, and the tall and straight colonel in front of him was called Stauffenberg.

The Wehrmacht major general who asked the question seemed to want to get some suggestions or answers from him for reference. Colonel Stauffenberg, who thought a little, quickly gave his answer.

"I'm not sure, but it seems that the Russians on the opposite side are not well prepared."

"Our position is so close to them, almost two interconnected positions separated by a fire blockade that has just been blown up. The Russian artillery cluster below may lack accurate strike coordinates, and they are worried about accidental injuries and did not fire in retaliation. The Russians in front of us are still not stable. In short, this should be an opportunity that must be seized. This is my personal opinion."

"Hmm"

The colonel's analysis seems reasonable, but the major general always feels that there seems to be something wrong because of reasons he can't explain, so that he is still skeptical about the seemingly reasonable judgments and inferences.

"But the Russians showed destructive firepower in the attack just now. What do you think it is? Some kind of direct-aiming close-range strike firepower? Or have the Russians pushed their artillery to the high ground?"

The major general obviously still remembers the destructive destructive power shown by the enemy in the attack just now. That kind of powerful and invincible firepower looks particularly scary in the telescope, but the Russians are not using it to fight back now.

If I don't understand the reason, I can't find a reason to feel at ease, and I'm not so confident about the next battle.

"I don't know, General."

"In the past year or so, I have seen almost all the new weapons of the Russians on the Eastern Front. I think this is incredible. The speed of updating and replacing new weapons and equipment of the Russians seems to be far beyond ours, at least in terms of battlefield performance. Their new gadgets always make me drop my jaw, and the soldiers are forced to fight against war machines they don't understand."

"I have never seen Russian equipment that can project such strong firepower as just now. We have suffered a loss once, and we must pay attention to this. The Russians are likely to repeat the same tricks on our attacking forces and bring that destructive purgatory to our heads again."

The colonel said what he had seen and heard on the battlefield, which would have played a role to some extent, but another key word in his words was grasped quite sharply by the major general.

"Are you trying to say that you support continuing the attack? After this limited artillery fire is over?"

The colonel shook his head with a wry smile after hearing this, and the answer he gave immediately afterwards was just pale and powerless.

"I think we have no choice, General. If we do nothing and continue to wait, all we have left is a matter of seconds before the destruction. The Russians will gather what they think is enough troops and come to kill us. Their losses may be more or less, but the result will not change in the slightest."