A dog rushed up with a strange saddle on its back.
"What is that?" Lieutenant Kugel asked loudly while continuing to shoot in the direction of the enemy.
"I don't know!" the subordinate replied: "Maybe it's a military dog, or a dog from the medical unit..."
But before he finished speaking, he saw the dog rushing towards the leading tank and dove under the tank's tracks.
There was a loud noise, soil was splashed in all directions like a fountain, gunpowder smoke filled the eyes of the fire, and a No. 2 tank turned into a ball of fire in the blink of an eye.
Lieutenant Kugel lay on the ground stunned for a moment, and then shouted: "Those dogs did it, be careful of those dogs!"
The answer is obvious. Although the German soldiers did not figure out how those dogs blew up the tank, the dogs rushed over, and then the tank exploded from the bottom up... There would be nothing but those dogs.
However, it was too late to realize this at this time, and several more black shadows came out of the enemy's position.
"Stop them!" Lieutenant Kugel yelled.
The German soldiers quickly turned their guns and pointed them at the black figures, which were dogs, and fired fiercely.
But on the one hand, it was dark at this time, and the dogs were very short. On the other hand, they were very agile, so it was not that easy to hit them.
So we heard several "boom boom" explosions one after another, and the tanks of the reconnaissance team were blown into the sky one after another.
"Retreat!" Lieutenant Kugel shouted, and at the same time he took out his pistol and fired "bang bang" at a black shadow that rushed in front of him.
The black shadow was hit and fell to the ground.
Lieutenant Kugel went over to see that it was still alive, struggling to get up on the ground.
Only then did Lieutenant Kugel see clearly that the problem was indeed with these dogs: these dogs carried high explosives on their backs, and a short wooden pole served as a mechanical detonator.
Kugel raised his pistol, ending the dog's suffering, then quickly jumped on the tricycle that his subordinates had already adjusted and started flying away.
Behind him, the Soviet troops had launched a charge amidst shouts.
While still on the third wheel, Lieutenant Kugel reported to his superiors over the radio: "Be careful of those dogs, sir!"
"Dog?" Major Millier, commander of the armored battalion of the follow-up force, asked in confusion: "What dog?"
"They use dogs to blow up tanks, sir!" Lieutenant Kugel said: "Tie explosives to the dogs, and the trained dogs will drill under the tank chassis..."
Major Millier burst out laughing.
"This is the craziest story I've heard in a long time!" Major Milier replied: "The Russians have no other choice, right? They actually rely on dogs to defend Moscow!"
"Sir!" Lieutenant Kugel heard the disdain in Major Milier's tone and quickly reminded: "They can indeed pose a threat, and they are difficult to defend against. Several of our tanks have already..."
"I know, Lieutenant!" Major Milier interrupted Kugel: "I will tell the soldiers to pay attention to those dogs!"
But Lieutenant Kugel's warning obviously failed to attract enough attention from Major Milier, because soon after, Lieutenant Kugel saw tanks and armored vehicles swarming up from him along the railway, and also launched an attack.
formation.
"God!" Lieutenant Kugel couldn't help but screamed as he looked at the tanks lined up in a row. They were simply sent up to let the dogs do their job.
Sure enough, amidst bursts of fierce gunfire and artillery fire, the German tanks were blown into the sky one after another... The Russians seemed to be smarter. They did not simply release the dogs as before, but used
Flares, machine guns and mortars were used to confuse the enemy, and the dogs were released only when the battlefield was filled with smoke and the German soldiers' attention was drawn.
Dogs have very keen senses of smell and hearing, so they can accurately pounce on "rumbling" enemy tanks even at night.
As for humans, in the dark night, it is difficult to spot these animals that are running fast almost close to the ground. Sometimes it is difficult to spot them even when they are right in front of them.
The Soviet camp burst into cheers.
"They work!" Tarasik said excitedly: "That's great!"
After thinking about it, Shulka ordered to his subordinates: "Go and catch all the dogs in the nearby villages and towns here. Move quickly!"
"But Major..." Tarasik was a little confused by Shulka's order: "Untrained dogs cannot complete this task. They will only run around like explosives on their backs, and even wag their tails in front of us!"
"You are right, Comrade Tushi!" Shulka said: "But the Germans don't know this!"
Tarasik still didn't understand what Shulka meant.
But it doesn't matter if he doesn't understand, as long as the Germans understand.
The intelligence reached Major General Schroeder's headquarters. Major General Schroeder was stunned when he heard the battle report.
"They used dogs to blow up tanks? And we lost dozens of tanks?"
"Yes, Your Excellency General!" the adjutant replied: "A total of thirty-two vehicles were blown up, and there were several more cars! It was difficult for us to prevent these animals from rushing towards our tanks in the dark night. The Russians even destroyed the white tanks.
The dogs are painted black or the same brown as the mud!”
Major General Schroeder was stunned for a moment, and then asked: "Maybe they don't have many such dogs..."
"I don't think so, General!" the adjutant replied: "Soldiers on the front line reported that there were many dogs barking from the opposite side. Obviously, the Russians were fully prepared for this battle, otherwise they would not have connected the barbed wire fence.
The roadblocks have been removed!”
The adjutant's words convinced Major General Schroeder, because it was indeed more common sense... To choose this open area suitable for tank operations as the battlefield, the more important thing is that the road is dry.
The Russians have no need to do this unless they are sure of victory.
The certainty is that they have many dogs in their hands, many dogs that can burrow under the tank chassis.
If the fighting continues like this, the tanks of the 79th Armored Division will be almost completely blown up before dawn.
Thinking of this, Major General Schroeder had no choice but to order: "Defend on the spot, and settle accounts with these Russians after dawn!"
So the German 79th Armored Division stopped in front of the 333rd Infantry Regiment, built field fortifications, and stretched barbed wire in front of the fortifications... These barbed wires were not used to stop the enemy but to stop the mine dogs.
In addition, they also deployed searchlights and riflemen behind the barbed wire to kill the mine dogs when they were discovered.
What the Germans didn't know was that this was exactly what the 333rd Regiment wanted, because they only had about twenty mine dogs left.
"You win again, Shulka!" said Major Gavrilov. "You are right, they stopped!"