Chapter 644 Interlude

Iushkin is right. Every puff of cigarette smoked on the battlefield may become the last puff. No one can guarantee that he can come back alive to refill one. This is even for Malashenko. The same is true.

Malashenko, who was completely sleepless, rolled up his sleeves and glanced at the watch on his wrist that he had taken off the corpse of the previous German colonel. There was only the last hour and twenty minutes left before the scheduled attack.

The troops have already arrived at the starting position and are ready. They can launch an attack immediately after the rapid artillery fire has covered them.

There was no sound in the entire offensive starting position except for the chirping of insects in the summer night. But almost everyone who could sleep was seizing the last moment to take a nap to rest their strength, thinking that there would be nothing wrong with going out now. Malashenko simply went along with Iushkin and took out a cigarette case and lighter from his pocket and started operating them.

"When the attack starts later, aim at the German anti-tank guns and knock them all out, Iushkin. If we are not lucky, there may be German tanks waiting for us on the opposite position, if there are any. Give priority to those who can move, remember to keep your eyes open to see clearly.”

According to Malashenko's expectations, the German troops on the opposite side who were in an offensive deployment state and stayed at the offensive starting position would not be easy to deal with.

It is easy to break through the offensive starting position of this group of Germans, but the real difficulty lies behind. It is almost foreseeable to confront the German offensive troops.

Malashenko lit the cigarette in his mouth and took a deep breath. He closed the flame of the lighter with his hand and just put it into his pocket. At the gunner's position, he gave another cigarette to Iushkin who had finished smoking. Then he replied.

"I won't say this in front of others, Comrade Commander. But I personally feel that there is little hope of winning this counterattack, or in other words, this is a counterattack with no intention of winning."

There were only two people in the crowded tank, Malashenko and Iushkin. The words they spoke softly would not be heard by a third person in the closed space. I did not expect that Iushkin could say this at all. After saying this, Malashenko couldn't help but be slightly startled.

"Did someone say something to you? Iushkin, this doesn't sound like your speaking style."

In Malashenko's eyes, Iushkin, the most important member of his crew, is a young communist fighter with firm beliefs. In his early years at the Tank Corps Academy, Iushkin was selected to be sent to the Party School for one year of training because of his excellent grades. After returning to the Tank Corps Academy, he took advanced courses on tank commanders before graduating.

If Iushkin himself was not willing to leave the No. 177 crew and refused to leave, Malashenko, who had suffered too much earlier, even considered making Iushkin the battalion commander and almost took action.

Iushkin, who has strong faith, is a bit informal and loves to joke with Malashenko on weekdays, but after going to the battlefield, he can transform into a war machine that kills Germans and has no eyesight.

This completely opposite and hugely contrasting personality seems to Malashenko to be the best candidate to serve as a grassroots commander. To be honest, the words "you can't win in counterattack" from Iushkin's mouth are enough to make Marashenko Shenke was very surprised. This was not at all like Iushkin's usual style before a big battle.

A considerable degree of surprise could be seen on Malashenko's face. For a short moment, even Iushkin himself felt that the words just now did not seem to come from his own mouth.

"Just now when we were on our way to the attack starting position, we passed an artillery regiment that was deploying its position. Did you see it? Comrade Commander."

Malashenko, who was still absent-minded at first, immediately changed his mind and thought after hearing this. After thinking about it carefully, it seemed that he had indeed passed by a regiment-level artillery position that was deploying positions overnight.

"I remember, I remembered it, but what does it matter?"

Iushkin, who saw Malashenko being led on the road, smiled slightly, lit a new cigarette in his mouth, blew out smoke rings, and then spoke slowly.

"When we passed by just now, I kept my upper body hanging outside the turret, so I could see it more clearly."

"When I passed behind their artillery position, I saw many people carrying boxes to the car. It looked like an artillery shell box. It was very heavy and required two people to lift it. It was obviously not empty."

"I was very curious at the time why the people behind the artillery positions deployed in front were carrying artillery shell boxes to the car. This was abnormal. But after leaving for a few minutes, Kirill and Seryosha happened to want to make it easier. We We parked for a while. You were sleeping on the seat, and I got out of the car to smoke a cigarette and chat with someone nearby. "

Iushkin spoke vividly, and Malashenko listened attentively. Telling an interesting story can indeed offset the last tense moments before the war.

"While I was smoking, there was an artillery guard very close to me, so I walked over and had a brief chat with him. I jokingly asked him how long it would take to prepare for the artillery bombardment later, and he replied that his regiment's We don’t have enough ammunition to fight for long, maybe only for a short time.”

"I was shocked when he said that, because I saw with my own eyes that the group of people behind were loading artillery shells onto trucks. There were so many that they had already filled more than a dozen trucks. I tried to give him a cigarette and asked if the news was reliable. He replied that this was the exact news he heard from the staff of their regiment, and it couldn't be wrong. It was the commander who said it himself."

If Malashenko still didn't understand what he meant after saying this, he would be an idiot. Malashenko, who had already understood what Iushkin wanted to express, frowned.

"You mean that the commander of the artillery regiment lied to his subordinates in order to prepare for the retreat in advance?"

"At least I don't think the artillery guard lied. He doesn't look like a liar, but more like an honest farmer, comrade commander."

Facing Iushkin's response without a direct answer, Malashenko, whose eyebrows were almost twisted together, suddenly remembered an idiom: lip service and veiled disobedience.

If Iushkin's inference is true, then the commander of the artillery regiment is equivalent to preparing to flee before the battle begins.

Only the minimum amount of ammunition is left on the artillery position, and most of the boxes of ammunition that have not even been unpacked have been loaded onto trucks and prepared to be transported away.

The so-called "lack of ammunition" is simply a high-sounding excuse to prepare for fleeing in advance.