Steel Soviet Union

A soldier's bounden duty is to obey orders. Knowing this, Kulbalov will naturally obey Malashenko's orders.

It's just that the use of heavy tanks for defense is indeed worthy of consideration. How to deploy the troops, whether to keep reserve teams, and how many reserve teams to keep are all issues worthy of consideration.

Although there had been a defensive battle in Kursk before, the situation at that time was completely different from now.

Not only was the overall military strength much larger than at that time, but even the vital technical equipment had been completely replaced. It seems a bit inappropriate to use the past tactics to fight today's battle. For the sake of safety, Kulbalov hopes to get more accurate and detailed orders from Malashenko.

"Uh, this is it"

Without Comrade Political Commissar, all command and tactical matters need to be decided by Malashenko alone.

Although Comrade Chief of Staff has excellent abilities and good work efficiency, compared with Comrade Political Commissar's sole responsibility, it is really far behind, not even a little bit behind.

Malashenko, who knows this clearly in his heart, understands that now is the time for him to stand up and take charge of his own affairs. Regardless of whether he is willing to do so subjectively, he must do it. Even if difficulties arise, he must catch up and push forward without failure or retreat. Reason for timidity.

"Let's do this. One of your regiments is reserved as a reserve force. The most elite troops must be reserved for the most critical moments before being used. Our division emphasizes a high degree of mobility and mechanization, and the infantry does not have many anti-tank guns at hand. Available. The positional anti-tank tasks will be handled by the second and third regiments, but you must not take it lightly just because you are given a break. "

"On the contrary, once the Germans are in decline or I need you to attack, your group must use all their strength to press me up. You can make the Germans as miserable as you can, and you must never show mercy. The troops will be placed at the back of the left wing for the time being. I will ask the 4th Guards Tank Brigade to assist in the defense at the same position on the right wing. Then you will have to cooperate. "

Malashenko gave the answer almost without much hesitation. This is a sound tactic that is not too new, but is a sure-fire way to win and rely on strength to speak for itself.

According to the usual behavior of the Germans, Malashenko estimates that the group of Germans who were defeated in the frontal attack will definitely try to encircle and encircle them by outflanking and cutting off the retreat. The premise is that the group of Germans really want to take a breath. If you eat all of yourself.

Deploying heavy tank units with high mobility, heavy armor and heavy firepower on both sides of the position can effectively contain the spearhead of the German armored forces and ensure the security of the left and right flanks of the position.

In addition, Malashenko also had to consider that once the Germans gave up the attack and began to run away, all the tank units on hand must be pressed in at one go as fast as possible and quickly pursue them. The march of a long snake formation is a taboo for military strategists at this time and must be absolutely avoided at this time.

Based on the dual considerations of tight defense and ease of pursuit, Malashenko finally made up his mind to execute this order.

Maybe this tactic is new wine in an old bottle, and there is nothing new in the soup without changing the medicine, but the victory lies in the fact that the troops and technical equipment in Malashenko's hands are definitely strong enough, and he is fully capable of fighting to the death with the German enemy in front of him. capital.

Only when you rely on hard power to speak, you often don’t need any high-end command skills. Didn’t the Americans who conquered the world in later generations say this? If your brain can kill an elephant, why would you need a shotgun?

Strength is the most essential asset of self-confidence and arrogance, nothing else.

After receiving the specific plan from Malashenko, Kulbalov quickly took the order and left. At the same time, he was also tasked with conveying combat orders to several other regiment commanders. Time is so tight that Malashenko, who is on this job, has no extra time to convey everything in place one by one or hold some bullshit combat meeting. It is undoubtedly appropriate to let Kulbalov, whom he trusts, do this.

"There isn't much time left, so get ready to get in the car and start driving."

Malashenko, who felt that he had basically taken care of all the important matters, was about to go back to his car to make final preparations. Unexpectedly, at this moment, Colonel Dudabovsky, the chief of staff who had just reported to him, suddenly ran up to him again waving the telegraph newspaper in his hand.

"Comrade Division Commander, you have to take a look at this! The friendly forces in Highland 239 sent us a contact point report. They have learned about our timely support and combat situation from the front army headquarters, and expressed their gratitude to us for this."

"In addition, and most importantly, the field artillery group on Highland 239 can provide us with long-range artillery support, but the specific artillery coordinates must be reported by us to define the scope for them in advance."

"Because we just arrived and there is no telephone line and the radio communication distance is out of reach, we can only use telegraph. There is a certain message lag, so we can only use fixed bombardment coordinates, that's it."

""

Malashenko originally thought that the brothers on Highland 239 were now like mud Buddhas crossing the river and could not protect themselves, but he never expected that he would be able to provide help at the critical moment and provide him with some artillery support. This is completely worthy of his praise. It was an unexpected surprise.

"What is the strength of the artillery on Highland 239? How many guns are there and what are their specific calibers?"

To be honest, the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division was forced to abandon the powerful combat power of traditional towed artillery because it pursued a high level of mechanization.

Judging from the actual strength of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division, such a large and elite mechanized heavy-arms unit was only supported by two battalions of artillery. This is like a Guards Tank Corps equipped with two The artillery of the battalion is the same, which is actually a bit funny.

Malashenko is very aware of the shortcomings in artillery strength.

But you can't have your cake and eat it too. If you want high mobility and a high level of mechanization, those towed artillery that are more troublesome to deploy and recover must be abandoned and trade-offs must be made.

Under such circumstances, being able to receive unexpected long-range artillery support from Highland 239 was no less satisfying to Malashenko than a long drought.

Understanding the specific strength of the field artillery group on Highland 239 is a key detail that Malashenko must know to modify his combat plan.

The chief of staff, who guessed that Malashenko might ask this question, did not hesitate much. He blurted out the words without thinking and quickly revealed the specific details.