Chapter 2698 Attack Order

The story with Jill can only be regarded as a brief episode in Malashenko's busy day.

No matter what the result is, Malashenko has his own responsibilities and things to do, just as the political commissar came here specifically for this purpose.

"Are you okay?"

The political commissar asked, and Malashenko, who had just smashed the ashtray, also stopped closing his eyes and concentrating, and then raised his head to ask back.

"Fortunately, there is no impact. Tell me, what's the matter?"

For Malashenko, who has long been accustomed to self-adjustment, the episode that just happened is actually not a big deal, far from the extent that Malashenko can lose his composure because of it.

Seeing this, the political commissar also nodded and chose to believe in Malashenko's self-judgment, then picked up the folder next to him, took out a report from it and held it in his palm.

"Well, there is one thing I want to confirm with you first."

"At the end of the battle in the evening, there was a sudden sound of artillery fire in the city, which lasted for about ten minutes. What happened?"

"Artillery fire? Oh, you mean that."

Malachenko certainly knew what the political commissar was referring to.

The American journalists who were somewhat in the way were driven out of the area near the front line because of this shitty thing. Malachenko had to arrange special people to protect these guys who came here for money and fame to make big news. Thinking about this now still makes me uncomfortable, but it doesn't affect Malachenko's mission.

"It's nothing serious, just a little bit of an unexpected incident."

"In a small square close to the front line, there are several surviving German artillery vehicles, open-top self-propelled artillery. The Germans used this artillery to fire in order to resist the attack of the siege team. The first one to hit us really made our people a little confused. To be honest, we didn't expect to encounter a well-organized German indirect artillery at this time."

"Fortunately, the divisional artillery position on the high ground outside the city was on standby. At that time, the situation was urgent, so I bypassed the division headquarters and directly issued an anti-artillery combat order. It happened that the Germans had seized it before. The city defense map, according to the direction of the artillery attack, quickly determined the location of the enemy artillery position and obtained the coordinates. "

"You probably know what happened afterwards. It was not even an artillery battle, but a one-sided artillery massacre, and then the Germans' broken guns were destroyed. The captured German prisoners did admit that a small-scale self-propelled artillery unit was deployed in the small square hit by the artillery fire. It seems that we were lucky this time and caught a good one. "

The situation described by Malashenko basically completed the general situation that Comrade Political Commissar had learned in advance, which was consistent with Comrade Political Commissar's guess.

After confirming this trivial matter, Comrade Political Commissar nodded, and then handed the prepared documents in his hand to Malashenko, and then continued to speak.

"Look at the latest combat order issued by the army headquarters. Comrade Commander requires us to prepare for the attack tomorrow."

"Prepare for the attack? So soon? I thought they would start the real thing in two days."

The so-called "prepare for the attack" does not refer to the series of "small fights" that Malashenko is currently organizing with the divisional organs, and the scale of the participating troops is only the regiment-level battles at most.

Obviously, the action that Chuikov calls "prepare for the attack" can only be the whole army at the army level, confronting the Germans head-on and taking real action.

The actual result is just as Malashenko expected. It is indeed good. The combat order issued by the army headquarters is concise and to the point.

In short, it requires Malashenko's leading division to make full preparations for the attack tomorrow, invest in combat troops at the division level, and make a decisive breakthrough in the main attack direction.

Because among all the participating troops in this operation, Malashenko's leading division is the best in geographical location, the best starting position for the attack, and the absolute main force with the strongest combat effectiveness and the richest combat experience. As the number one spearhead of the attack, it is natural to take the lead.

This situation is not surprising, and even Malashenko, who has been mentally prepared, knows that this day will come.

As the executor, Malashenko does not feel repulsive to this, and even has some expectations of rubbing his hands and preparing to do a big job, but there are indeed some questions that need to be solved.

"The time of the attack has not been mentioned. The army group headquarters, no, should it be said that the front army headquarters has not decided yet?"

Such a large-scale offensive will definitely not be a move by Chuikov's army group alone. This kind of large-scale battle that affects the whole body. Looking at the entire Berlin city, there is only one person who has the right to make this decision and issue orders, except Zhukov, who is in charge of the front army headquarters.

"It has not been announced yet, probably because of the confidentiality regulations, but it may also be that it has not been finalized yet, and we are just preparing for war first."

"The rumor is that the war preparation materials have been transported to almost the same place in the past two days, and the participating troops in the Battle of Berlin have basically arrived at their respective preset positions and deployed their offensive starting positions."

"If we consider that it is impossible to stuff all the troops into the city and fully launch the siege street battle at once, in fact, the first phase of the outer siege operation does not require 100% of the complete force. So I guess the time of the battle may be the next two days, and it should not be later than the day after tomorrow. If it is delayed, the gains brought to the attack will also have a marginal effect and become less and less."

Comrade Political Commissar's words make sense, and Malashenko nodded slowly after hearing it, responding with a look of approval.

However, how to complete the specific preparations for this battle and how to fight a real battle are another matter that needs to be carefully considered.

"Let's do this. I will take Kurbalov back to the town in the evening. You gather other people over there, and we will have a meeting to talk about this matter specifically."

Malashenko, who was talking and reading, was still flipping through the other documents that Comrade Political Commissar had just handed over, while Comrade Political Commissar remembered another realistic problem that needed to be finalized, and then asked Malashenko again.

"Will you continue to expand the attack tomorrow? Or will you cease fire for a day to prepare for the attack?"

"Cease fire? Well, maybe it's not necessary."

Cut the document on the table. Malashenko, who has already tested the Germans' strength in today's battle, now has a lot of experience.

"The game is in full swing now. The Germans are very willing to fight for every inch of land with us, which is a good thing."

"It is a good thing to block these scum in the outer urban area where the defense system is relatively weak, and to kill and eliminate them as much as possible, which will also reduce trouble for ourselves. The effect of slicing sausages today is quite good. The number of Germans killed is no less than yesterday, and our casualties are also lower than yesterday. It not only expands the control area but also kills the enemy's living forces. The important thing is that the cost is not high. Why should I refuse such a good thing?"

"Let's continue to fight tomorrow. I want to make these Germans panic all day long and nervous every day. I will hit them with a small hammer every day and then hit them with a big one. The deployment of combat troops at the regiment level will not affect our offensive preparations. The remaining large forces can do what they should do and proceed as usual. From another perspective, this can actually be regarded as paralyzing the enemy, which is beneficial in all aspects."

"Besides, if you suddenly stop attacking and take the advantage and stop, then I think the neurotic Nazis on the opposite side will be more cautious now."