Although the 9th Army has been marching day and night... this is actually very difficult for mechanized troops. It is not like what ordinary people understand, just stay in the car and have several people take turns driving the car.
A car might be able to do that, but a tank driver can't.
Firstly, it is because there are few tank drivers, and secondly, driving a tank is a physical job. To change gears, you need to hold the gear lever with both hands and press it with all your strength, and you have to press hard on the accelerator and brake.
Not long ago, Shulka saw a driver who was taken out after driving a tank continuously for more than ten hours.
Therefore, tanks are divided into several batches during the actual march. They do not advance in a stop-and-go manner like cars. Instead, they take advantage of the gaps where others are stagnant to seize the time to rest and then catch up in one go.
From this point of view, the tank driver actually still hopes that there will be mines ahead to slow down the march.
However, from a strategic point of view, this will delay the arrival of the 9th Army in Odessa by at least three days, and will also cause the loss of a large number of tanks and cars. In addition, it will also make the troops tired.
If the German army successfully captures Odessa, the Soviet army of more than 30,000 tired soldiers will still have to face more than 100,000 Romanian troops and 10,000 German troops, and they will also occupy favorable terrain... This almost means that
Shulka's counter-siege plan went bankrupt.
"It's not your fault!" Major Gavrilov noticed Shulka's guilt, and he comforted Shulka: "Your plan was obviously successful. In fact, no one expected that we would be here.
Such a brilliant victory under such circumstances!”
Major Gavrilov may be right. After all, the main force of the Soviet army was basically defeated at this time, but the 9th Army was able to launch a counterattack against the German army. Not only did it launch a counterattack, it also defeated the German army again and again...
…
Even Moscow was shocked by this bold plan and its success.
However, they are temporarily conservative about this victory.
The reason is that Moscow is worried that the 9th Army's plan will not succeed. If the propaganda starts and the 9th Army is defeated or even annihilated... it will undoubtedly be very embarrassing.
It can also be seen that Moscow is not optimistic about the results of this plan. They only sent a verbal telegram of commendation and recognition to the commander of the Southwest Front, General Kirponos:
"Your plan surprised us, although you did not retreat as ordered by Moscow, Comrade General! But we cannot blame you, because it was a heroic act, and the courage shown by you and your soldiers is something that everyone can learn from.
example!"
After seeing this telegram, General Kilponos breathed a complete sigh of relief... In this era, no one knows what will happen if you disobey Moscow's orders. This telegram is equivalent to an amnesty order, which means telling
Admiral Kilponos was free to go ahead with his plan.
But these are not Shulka's concerns.
All kinds of rationality and unreasonability, recognition or not, or extenuating circumstances, etc., are actually meaningless to the soldiers on the front line.
Because this is a battlefield, even if everything is reasonable, it is excusable and it has the recognition and support of Moscow...A battlefield is a battlefield, and if you fail, you will still get the word "die" in the end.
At this time, the convoy in front started to move again. Major Gavrilov patted Shulka on the shoulder and said: "Don't think too much, do what we should do, and let God consider the consequences!"
"
"Yes, Major!" Shulka responded and returned to the car.
The car swayed forward again, and when it turned a corner, a millstone suddenly broke into Shulka's sight.
Shulka's eyes couldn't help but light up... It was a traditional roller. There was a huge roller on the grinding plate, with a rolling column in the middle. There were pull bars on the other side of the roller, making it easier to tie it to a mule and drag it around.
, this kind of roller is also common in Northeast China.
"Major!" Shulka shouted to the barrel truck passing by: "I have a solution!"
The barrel truck stopped suddenly, and Major Gavrilov looked at Shulka with a puzzled expression.
Shulka jumped out of the car... The car was not going very fast, and soldiers often did this.
"What can be done?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"Landmines!" Shulka replied: "How to deal with landmines!"
Major Gavrilov looked at Shulka in disbelief: "What else can be done to deal with landmines?"
"Of course!" Shulka raised his head in the direction of the village: "Did you see that roller?"
"You don't want to use it to crush the mines, do you?" Major Gavrilov laughed, but his smile froze in the next second.
"Oh, you're right, Shulka!" Major Gavrilov stood up from his seat unconsciously: "We can use that thing to detonate landmines!"
"Yes, Major!" Shulka nodded.
In fact, it is not difficult to detonate landmines, tanks can do this.
The problem is that the Soviet tanks have many failures, and the tracks of the tanks cannot withstand the explosion of mines again and again, even if they are anti-infantry mines.
What's more serious is...the German army deployed anti-infantry mines and anti-tank mines together.
Therefore, it is not realistic to use tanks to roll over landmines. It will only turn Soviet tanks into scrap metal one after another.
This is also one of the reasons why the 9th Army's advance has slowed down.
But it would be different if such a roller were installed in front of the tank. The tank would push the roller from behind, and the roller would detonate the mine in the front. The tanks at the rear would not be affected at all, thus solving this problem perfectly.
Even anti-tank mines can be detonated... Anti-tank mines require a certain amount of weight to detonate, and a roller made of stone has weight.
"Great, Shulka!" Major Gavrilov quickly figured out these reasons, so he no longer hesitated. The next sentence was to order the staff officer sitting next to him: "Move quickly, order the reconnaissance troops
Stop! Bring another team of people and commandeer those rollers!"
"Yes, Comrade Major!" The staff officer paused and asked again: "How many are needed?"
"All of them!" Major Gavrilov shouted angrily: "All the rollers that can be found, understand?"
"Yes, Major!"
Then Major Gavrilov jumped out of the car, walked up to Shulka, laughed suddenly and gave Shulka a bear hug.
"I was wrong, Comrade Shulka!" Major Gavrilov said happily: "The result is not God's consideration, but yours!"