Steel Soviet Union

Obviously, it was not just the things Malashenko described that attracted Iushkin's attention. Iushkin, who became interested in the map, began to stare at it more attentively, and soon he had new questions. .

"This is a seaport city. Are we going to rush across to the sea? Drive the Germans into the Baltic Sea?"

Iushkin almost forgot the last time he saw the sea. Launching a tank group charge close to the coast sounded good and had a different "sentiment", but the answer given by the tank commander later made people feel a little confused. There was disappointment.

"The main point of conflict is not here. Those Germans are not stupid. If the battle line is launched in Riga, these Germans will be bombarded by naval guns."

"The Baltic Fleet was ordered to cooperate with the actions of the Baltic Front. In recent days, the Germans within the range of the naval guns have been bombarded to death. Have you experienced the power of naval guns? Do you still remember the days when we were in Leningrad? ? This is the reason why the Baltic Front’s offensive is so fast and the front is advancing almost as fast as ours.”

"These German guys buried their nails outside the range of the naval guns at a location called Donau Castle south of Riga. They massed heavy troops here to prepare to firmly hold this key node."

"If we want to open up the blockade and completely cut off the land connection between the Central and Northern Army Groups, the nail of Donauburg must be pulled out. Although we have strategic initiative, this time we are indeed restrained by the Germans. They It is expected that we will not let this nail go unchecked, make strategic arrangements in advance and accumulate heavy troops.

"This must be a cruel and tough battle, but it has to be fought and fought. Do you understand what I mean?"

It is obviously unrealistic to expect Iushkin to understand such a massive amount of information at once. Looking at Iushkin’s half-informed expression, Malashenko knew that it would take more time for Iushkin to digest it. What I just said.

But it doesn't matter. Anyway, there is no rush for the moment. There is plenty of time for Iushkin to slowly understand and learn the ways and twists and turns.

The main force of the division led by Malashenko marched at high speed along the established attack direction. The difference from yesterday's battle was that today's battle had clear priorities and clear orders. The offensive direction that Vatutin asked Malashenko to be mainly responsible for is the path that Malashenko is now personally leading the team to focus on.

As for the road farther north, the other two ordinary tank divisions with insufficient auxiliary forces only cooperated with the operation, and Lavrinenko could take the third regiment and a small number of cooperating forces to deal with it.

The core combat strength of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division includes the main tank regiment 1, which is Kurbalov's troops, as well as the remaining 2nd tank regiment and most of the troops of the two divisional self-propelled artillery battalions. All are controlled by Malashenko himself.

Relying on the precious time bought by the complete destruction of the Grossdeutschland Division, the German army was able to re-build a reserve line of defense not far in front of Malashenko under the overall bad situation of continuous retreat and multiple penetrations of the defense line, preparing to attack the enemy. This blocked the Soviet offensive.

However, Malashenko, who had a large number of troops and had absolute strength, did not think that the preliminary defense line that the Germans had hastily built in half a day and one night was so impregnable that it could even stop his own offensive. If you think about it with your brain, you will know that Model's fool is just trying to make a fool of himself. Given his absolute strength, any tricks you try to play are all nonsense.

As long as the Germans' hastily established reserve defense line is torn apart and the breakthrough is completed, there will no longer be any heavy German army group with systematic defense that will stand in the way of the next course of action. The next place where the German army gathered heavily and established an effective system of defense was Malashenko's final destination: in the direction of Dula Fort south of Riga.

The armored troops deployed by the German army in the front theater had just suffered a huge loss, and it would take a long time to regroup the troops, just like a certain archbishop of Durham.

This foreseeable battle that is just around the corner should not be very difficult. Unless Model can do magic and conjure a strong enough German reinforcement force out of thin air to block Malashenko, there will be nothing. It was able to stop the rapid advance of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division.

Malashenko, who was fighting all the way to the battlefield at the fastest speed, had just come close to the sound of gunfire, but suddenly and unexpectedly ran into a group of retreating Red Army infantry. It looked like he had just experienced It was a cruel and fierce battle and failed to win. Otherwise, the morale would not be in this mediocre state. Although it was not depressed, it was not even a high state.

"Why are there still defeated troops at this time? I thought we were heading all the way to victory."

Iushkin's puzzlement did not wait for Malashenko's answer. Malashenko, who ordered the troops to pause their advance, immediately jumped off his command vehicle and came to the troops who were retreating along the dirt road. The Red Army team shouted questions.

"Who is the commander? Please come out. I am Malashenko, commander of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division. I need to know the situation."

The number of Red Army infantry who collapsed and retreated was only about half a battalion at most.

Malashenko expected that the commander of this unit would not be of a high level. The man who walked out of the queue and came to the front was not what Malashenko had expected. His military rank was a major.

"Major Borishev, commander of the 2nd Battalion, 3rd Regiment of the 211th Infantry Division, reports to you, Comrade General."

Looking at the infantry major in front of him, who was covered in rags and mud and blood, Malashenko, who frowned slightly, quickly began to take the initiative to ask questions.

"What happened? How did your battalion end up like this?"

What Malashenko learned was that the friendly forces that attacked first this morning were only a tentative attack to ascertain the firepower layout and strength of the Germans' new defense line. The real main attack mission would have to wait until the first Stalin Guards were fully prepared. Tank division to complete.

But now that he has just come over, he encounters an infantry unit that has been dealt with so badly. This is completely different from what he has learned. What bloody situation happened to lead to the current situation?

The frowning Malashenko didn't have to wait too long. The major, who was obviously depressed, quickly gave an answer.

"Our battalion received the offensive mission and launched the attack after preparing artillery fire."

"Everything went well at first. The German defense line looked like an infantry defense line with loose firepower. There were very few heavy equipment and they were basically infantry weapons, which hardly caused much hindrance."

"But just when we were approaching the middle distance, there was suddenly a loud sound of artillery firing from the German position. The sound of the artillery was very loud, it was definitely a large-caliber heavy artillery, Comrade General. They fired directly at us. , We didn’t even observe where these cannons were placed in advance, the Germans must have hidden them well.”

"Our battalion was caught off guard and suffered heavy casualties. We could not continue the offensive and had to withdraw to rest. Comrade Division Commander ordered our battalion to move to a farther position to wait for replenishment, and then we met your troops on the road. "