Steel Soviet Union

After searching all the rooms on the second floor and finding nothing, Malashenko immediately shifted his focus to the tasks he had planned.

In the small room facing the square, he carefully poked out the corner of the telescope from under the curtain. Only half of his head was exposed and he was still hiding under the curtain, and he was carefully observing all the buildings on the square.

"Tsk, the gun barrel is so long that it's sticking out of the building. These German guys really just need to hang a sign upstairs saying "This is a gun building"."

After putting away the telescope in his hand, Malashenko immediately leaned against the wall under the window frame, took out the small notepad and pencil that had been prepared in his coat pocket, and immediately began to draw the entire square according to the memory that was still very clear in his mind. The layout and the location of the German fortress-like gun tower.

Turning left and right, he quickly drew out the general layout and coordinates of the entire square on the notepad in his hand. Malashenko, holding a telescope in one hand, quietly raised his head again and looked out the window to confirm that it was correct. From the fifth floor of the building, The muzzle of the 88 cannon protruding from the inside out can be seen extremely clearly at a distance of only a few hundred meters.

After completing his predetermined mission goal, Malashenko did not stay any longer in this dangerous small building in a place of right and wrong.

As a tank soldier, Malashenko preferred to stay in his reliable and safer car than in such a dangerous street-facing building that could be exposed to direct German fire at any time.

Seeing Malashenko hurriedly walking out of the small bedroom in the back room with a small notepad in his hand, Captain Kalinimbov, who didn't know what happened in such a short few minutes, immediately stepped forward. .

"Comrade Major, what should we do next?"

Hearing the question from the infantry battalion commander next to him who was cooperating with him in the attack, Malashenko turned his head slightly but still did not stop going downstairs and spoke.

"I have the precise coordinates and location of the Kraut's stronghold of the turret, and now I have a plan to destroy it! Follow me, Comrade Captain."

Captain Kalinimbov, who was as confused as a monk, still had some confusion, but in line with the duty of a soldier to execute orders as the highest principle, this young captain and battalion commander who had received a good military school education still led his men. They followed Malashenko's footsteps and left the small building.

After picking up the submachine gun in his hand for self-defense, Malashenko quickly and quietly retreated to the intersection under the protection of the surrounding infantry. Malashenko held in his hand the rough terrain map that he had drawn by himself without stopping. He hesitated, and immediately climbed back to the turret of his vehicle using his hands and feet in three steps and two steps.

After opening the turret top cover and returning to the commander's position, he immediately picked up the vehicle-mounted radio communicator located next to his seat and pressed the button.

About five minutes later, when Zhukov, who was standing in front of the battlefield map in his front army headquarters and was concentrating on the battle zone map, was thinking about how to prevent the German troops in the city from launching any possible counterattack or escaping at night, he held a ball in his hand. The chief of staff, who was looking in a hurry while looking at the freshly released electric newspaper, suddenly came to him at this moment.

"Comrade Commander, I just received an emergency telegram from the 24th Group Army Headquarters. You have to read this."

Zhukov, who had just thought of a certain key point and was interrupted by someone forcibly speaking, frowned and was obviously dissatisfied. Zhukov, who did not want to cut off his thoughts and lose any possible key factors, sighed and then turned pale. He spoke quietly with an expression on his face.

"You can read it to me, if it is not so important that I, the commander of the front army, must check it myself."

After hearing Zhukov's unexpected words, he was obviously taken aback for a moment, but when he came to his senses, he felt that there was nothing wrong with it. The chief of staff simply spoke frankly.

"That's right, Comrade Commander."

"One of the main siege columns of the 24th Group Army's siege force encountered a tall firepower stronghold transformed by the Germans in the center of the city."

"The siege column reported that this large building is five stories high and has a masonry structure. It is speculated that it has been reinforced twice by German engineers according to military fortification standards. It has complete and intensive anti-infantry firepower points from the first to fourth floors. The fifth floor A whole layer of condescending anti-armor firepower was deployed on the upper level. The number of German garrison troops in the stronghold is unknown, but it should be no less than two full companies. "

"The building is surrounded by an unobstructed central square. It is speculated that it should be the former government building of Yelnya City. Under such circumstances, if we forcefully launch an attack on this tall and solid firepower point, there will undoubtedly be heavy casualties. Leading the team The commander of the siege column ordered a suspension of the attack and proposed a solution. The 24th Army Headquarters was undecided, so he sent the telegram directly to our front army headquarters. "

After hearing this, Zhukov finally quietly turned around after putting aside all the plans in his mind.

"Solution? Tell me in detail."

"Um"

Zhukov's in-depth inquiry was naturally within the scope of his duties as the commander of the front army and was reasonable. However, the plan mentioned in this telegram was indeed a bit exaggerated in the opinion of the chief of staff of the front army.

"The commander of the siege column sent a request, hoping that the field artillery group deployed outside the city by the 24th Army could launch artillery support at the coordinates he provided. Oh, but it is not artillery bombing support. He hopes to use 122 howitzers. Artillery smoke grenades cover the entire square where the enemy's firepower base is located, causing the enemy's vision to be temporarily lost."

"Afterwards, the commander of the siege column planned to mobilize the newly assigned assault rocket launchers to deploy them before the smoke dissipated, and immediately fire in unison to clear out the German firepower stronghold as soon as the smoke dissipated. "

"Although the whole plan sounds feasible and has no major problems, the order prohibiting the bombardment of Yelniya City was issued by you, so the 24th Army did not dare to make decisions without authorization, so Rakutin simply The telegram has been sent to our front army headquarters."

Artillery-launched smoke bombs, which only release smoke through chemical reactions, do not have the destructive power of high-explosive grenades. Zhukov's previous order prohibiting shelling urban areas was out of fear that the Soviet field artillery group, which was extremely destructive, would completely Destroy Yelniya, an ancient city of our motherland with a long history.

But right now, if it's just non-lethal ammunition like artillery smoke grenades, there really won't be much of a problem.