Chapter 446 Refugees
I had repeated communications and exchanges with Marshal Bock on the phone, and I knew that this attack was most likely the last chance for me and the German army to capture Moscow.
Guderian, who was commanding the gathering of Tula siege troops, immediately ordered the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment to push forward. No matter what, he must assist the 4th Armored Division in resisting the Soviet counterattack that was heading south all the way towards Tula. .
At least before gathering the troops to launch a roundabout, Guderian never wanted his last chance to be ruined by a group of Soviet counterattack troops who did not know the truth.
Although the conflict between Hitler, the head of Germany, and the frontline Wehrmacht generals had been irreparable due to mutual suspicion and distrust from the moment his orders were not implemented in this way, Guderian could no longer care about it at the moment. These.
The Fourth Armored Division, which was supposed to be able to hold the line of defense on its original historical trajectory, was now directly defeated by the flapping wings of Malashenko, a little butterfly. As a result, the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment was mobilized for reinforcements and the decision was made to abandon the siege of Tula City in advance. What the outcome of all this will be cannot be predicted according to the original historical trajectory.
Of course, as an indigenous person of this era, Guderian himself had no way of knowing all this.
While the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment was desperately repairing the earth on the frozen tundra, Malashenko, who had once again commanded the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, had returned to his original vehicle. In any case, the KV85 heavy tank with strong armor and sharp guns is much stronger than the T3457, which Malashenko looks down upon.
Since the injured Kirill was still lying in a field hospital bed recuperating and could not be discharged from the hospital, he felt that there was no need to temporarily transfer a loader Malashenko to his car, and directly ordered machine gunner Nikolai to temporarily replace him. He took up the loader position that Kirill failed to fill.
Anyway, after replacing the turret, the vehicle-mounted radio box has been moved behind the commander Malashenko. Nikolai, who has been freed from operating the radio, can be temporarily transferred to the loader's position. Then In Malashenko's view, the 62mm DT light machine gun that supports the vehicle body has a limited range of fire and is of little use, especially on the battlefield where large groups of tanks operate.
Once again, there was no train available. Malashenko was so bored that he hung his upper body outside the turret and watched the snowy scenery along the road. Ever since he learned that Kirill was okay, a big stone in his heart seemed to have completely fallen to the ground, and he was almost completely free of it. After seeing the shadow of Yakov's sacrifice, Malashenko is now only thinking about how to deal with the next battle.
"It would be nice to have more air support. Those bastards from the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment are not easy to deal with."
Dong dong dong——
Malashenko, whose upper body was hanging half-suspended outside the turret and was thinking about something, was suddenly interrupted by a sudden sound of knocking on the armor from the turret below him.
Before the somewhat puzzled Malashenko could ask what happened, a big rough hand like an animal's palm was handed to Malashenko's eyes.
"Comrade Commander, have a cigarette, I've finished mine."
"Have you smoked all the cigarettes you took from the corpses of those Germans? I remember there were dozens of packs!"
Facing Malashenko's question, Iushkin's voice seemed very natural, with only one big hand hanging in the air.
"Of course, that was all in Leningrad. How could it be possible that the cigarette hasn't been finished after such a long time?"
""
Being somewhat speechless by Iushkin's straightforward reply, Malashenko had to reach into his coat pocket to take out the cigarette case after a while of silence.
"I don't have much inventory myself, so be careful. I don't know when I will get supplies next."
"Last time you said that, I found several boxes in your coat pocket that evening."
"But I didn't lie to you this time."
"Yes, you said the same thing last time."
""
Iushkin happily took the exclusive cigarette issued by the Red Army's school-level officer from Malashenko's hand, and lightly swiped it under his nose, feeling this higher level like an addict. It had a mellow taste. He had just put the cigarette holder into his mouth and was about to take out a fire to light it. Iushkin's eyes accidentally crossed the high-magnification main gun sight in front of him, but then he stopped moving.
"Comrade Commander, there is someone in front who looks like a civilian, one o'clock direction."
He held the main gun sight in front of him and looked carefully for a moment. Iushkin, who was a little unsure of the identities of the figures, immediately spoke to Malashenko.
"Huh? Civilian?"
Iushkin was a little surprised by the sudden report. After being stunned for a moment, he touched the binoculars hanging around his neck and looked towards the one o'clock direction of the car body as mentioned by Iushkin. When I went to Malashenko, I saw a few figures trudging slowly in the snow.
"Looking at the clothes, it seems that he is really a civilian Seryozha. Turn your head and see a few suspected civilians in the one o'clock direction, about a kilometer away. Let's go that way."
After receiving Malashenko's order, the driver Seryosha immediately switched the joystick gear in his hand to change the vehicle's forward direction. The KV85 heavy tank with a combat weight of nearly 50 tons roared towards the one o'clock direction like a giant beast in the snow. The other tanks following Malashenko's leading vehicle also changed direction and followed.
A few minutes later, when Malashenko, who had already jumped down from the turret, looked at the people in front of him who looked like Soviet rural civilians, the last trace of vigilance in his heart disappeared.
"Where are you from? Where are you going? This is the front line now, and fighting may break out at any time. Why don't you hide in a safer place for refuge?"
After asking three questions in a row like checking the household registration, the only young and middle-aged girl among the four civilians took the initiative to step forward and spoke to Malashenko.
"Comrade, we just escaped from a nearby village. Everyone has already fled, but I still have parents and a younger sister to take care of at home. They can't walk too far in this weather, and I just want to escape. But I didn't expect a group of German soldiers to come to the village and drive us out. They only gave us a little food and asked us to leave the village as far as possible."
At first, he was a little surprised when he heard the sincere words of the girl in front of him, who didn't seem to be lying. Malashenko, who was a little speechless, immediately asked back in surprise.
"You said that the Germans drove you out of your home and let you go? And gave you some food?"