Steel Soviet Union

The Red Army tank crews assigned to each Allied vehicle crew are already in place, and each crew is looking for its teammates according to the corresponding grouping method on the list. Read, you ask me, I look at you, the scene looks really lively, which in Malashenko's opinion is a bit like the early morning vegetable market in China.

"General, we are actually in the same crew!? This is great! It must be the luckiest thing that can happen to me today."

When Jack took the group list and saw that he was in the same group as Malashenko, he was so happy that he was so happy that he felt like he was covered in honey.

Seeing this, Malashenko didn't say much, he just smiled. It was certain that he didn't hate the American colonel now.

This guy with a somewhat flawed personality has not reached the level of "perversion" that makes people unable to understand. Compared with this, he is more like a good person who "treats people with courtesy and will get things done."

Malashenko was quite casual when choosing his crew, but since he liked Jack, he might as well bring him in and take him with him. It is much better to have a relative acquaintance whom you have already known and confirmed to be pretty good than to contact an unknown stranger.

It is worth mentioning that Malashenko, the "senior vehicle crew", received special attention from the Allied officer corps.

Except for Jack, who was brought in by Malashenko at his own discretion, the remaining two places for a total of four members of a crew have already been reserved in advance by the Allied Officer Corps.

One of them, Malashenko, was very familiar with him. He was the leader of the military officer corps, Major General Charleson, who was born in an orthodox noble family.

As for the other person, his background is also very important. I heard that Patton personally asked him to come here by name. He was specially given a valuable spot through the back door and through connections. He is a 26-year-old major of the U.S. Army Armor Corps.

Moreover, this kid is an Italian-American, and his name is quite funny, called Nero.

But after all, he is not the Nero who shouts "Q" and wields a giant sword and turns into a demon, nor is he the Nero with stupid hair on his head who shouts "Umm". This guy looks just like the cashier at the supermarket counter who hands you out plastic bags when you pay. You can’t tell what’s so special about him despite being so embarrassed, and you don’t know how He Dehe managed to get into the position of Barton. layer relationship.

In short, this is not important to Malashenko and certainly has no interest in knowing.

"OK, gentlemen, before we start, I want to assign each of us our duties in the crew, starting with me."

"Malashenko is in charge of the vehicle commander, and General Charleson is in charge of the gunner. Jack, please excuse me and leave the loader's job to you. The artillery shells produced by our motherland are very heavy, so I suggest you be mentally prepared.

"As for Nero"

Malashenko, who was holding a pencil and a writing board, turned his attention to the young boy beside him, and the words he thought about for a moment quickly blurted out.

"The resume says that you were an armored force driver before, and you have driven several models of Seven Brothers Coffin, Hell Cat and Xie Mantou. Apart from me, you have the most driving experience. I just leave this position to you. This is a position that ordinary people cannot easily handle, so it all depends on you. Remember not to lead us into trouble. "

Malashenko half-jokingly said a series of tank nicknames that made Nero sound half-understood. Based on his resume, he could probably guess what kind of vehicle the Soviet general's nicknames referred to. It was clear that this was not the case. Unimportant, Nero then smiled and nodded at Malashenko.

"Understood, general, leave it to me."

What Malashenko received was an active IS2 heavy tank that had obvious signs of use and was not new at all. It was temporarily borrowed from a certain Red Army tank unit.

As soon as Malashenko got into the tank that did not belong to him, he saw many traces left by the original crew at a glance.

A black-and-white photo of a young man and woman with bright smiles and a happy embrace was posted on the turret bulkhead next to the commander's position, visible at a glance. Malashenko, who turned back, also saw that in the linen bag hanging next to the captain's seat, there were several pieces of bread wrapped in paper that had not been eaten or simply unopened. There were even pieces of bread inside. There was also a small half bottle of vodka lying around.

If you look more carefully, you can even find a few lemon grenades that were thrown in casually in the small storage box on the back of the turret head behind the seat but were obviously for emergencies. They are one of the most common gadgets on the Red Army infantry. First, it is one of the few self-defense items that are light, easy to carry, and powerful when tank soldiers abandon their vehicles and escape.

"It seems that the original crew left in a hurry. They were not prepared at all. All their personal belongings were left in the car. I guess their car had already been transferred as soon as they received the news. I don't know which one it was. The unlucky guy in the army had his wife kidnapped.”

Malashenko was thinking and muttering here, checking the various equipment required for the commander's position, and adjusting the height of the commander's seat under his butt, so as to adapt to his iron tower, which is basically outstanding among the Red Army tank soldiers. He is of average height, so he can sit more comfortably without being hunched over all the time.

Colonel Jack, who was standing next to Malashenko, spoke with an exclamation at this moment. His tone sounded no less than that of an ordinary American. Early in the morning, he saw the front page headline of the New York Times that read "Stalin wins the election. Taking office as the new President of the United States" is so exaggerated.

"My God, this thing is so heavy! Compared with it, our shells are like children's toys!"

Looking back in the direction where the exclamation came from, Malashenko saw at a glance that Jack was holding a 122mm projectile with all his strength. Although he looked a little struggling, he was still trying to make a projectile. The action of loading the latch seems to be to prove that he can do it and can do it.

Malashenko laughed when he saw this scene, and blurted out the half-joking words immediately afterwards.

"Handle it with care, it's a 122mm full-caliber high-explosive grenade, and the fuse is set. If you accidentally hit it head-down on the floor, bang! All of us in the car will spiral up to the sky, even No one can find that kind of thing.”

I don’t know if what Malashenko said is true. I think it may be to scare people, but I don’t dare to take it seriously and don’t believe it at all. Who knows what is the difference between Russian artillery shells? It's better to take it seriously.

After trying to simulate the loading action and confirming that it was feasible and that he had the strength to do it, Jack placed the shell on the floor at his feet and breathed a sigh of relief. Then he raised his head and asked Malashenko.

"Why are these shells so short? General, is your propellant not enough?"