Major Gavrilov was very satisfied with the effect of the camouflage. Each of the soldiers was painted to look like a corpse, with blood on their faces, torn and "scorched" uniforms, a bullet hole in their helmets, etc.
wait.
But Shulka thinks there is still something missing.
After thinking about it, he shouted to the tank: "Comrade Fedosiev, can you burn something in the tank?"
"No, this is very dangerous, we don't allow it!" Fedosiev replied.
Fedosiev is right. There are ammunition and other flammable things in the tank. Especially in a narrow space, if anything is ignited, it may have catastrophic consequences for the tank.
"Why do you want to burn something?" Major Zahakavich asked doubtfully.
"If it is destroyed!" Shulka said: "There should be some smoke!"
Major Zahakavich nodded, then took off the helmet from a soldier's head and threw it to Fedosiev, saying: "When you are 'destroyed', burn something inside and pour it over
Destroy..."
"Yes, Major!" Fedosiev replied helplessly.
The tank crew then spent some time getting familiar with their tanks.
Except for Tank No. 239, none of these six tanks were their own tanks.
This is an arrangement for coordination between tanks.
Tank lurking can no longer arrange to follow the infantry through tank phone coordination as before, as this can easily expose the enemy.
On the other hand, the lurking tanks need to act in unison, otherwise if they are out of sight, they will not know that the front has been attacked and they will still pretend to be wrecked and in a lurking state.
Therefore, Major Zahakawicz organized the entire battalion of tanks equipped with radio equipment to form a latent unit... There were only six tanks in the entire battalion, including Major Zahakawicz's command vehicle.
Then they replaced all the soldiers in Fedosiev's tank company... This was for better command. If the new tank crews of each company drove the tanks to form a unit, the commander might not know what to do.
Understand that these tank crews are not used to commanding.
Although they all drive T34, each T34 actually has its own small flaws or problems, so they need some time to get familiar with and try out the communication equipment on the tank.
The coordination of the infantry is not a big problem. They can look at the tanks. When the tanks move, it means it is time to fight.
On the other hand, there will also be flares, unless the "dead body" is lying there and asleep.
Later Shulka discovered that some people actually fell asleep...
Leonev was sleeping. After the war, he explained: "You can't blame me, Comrade Second Lieutenant. I just wanted to drink some wine to fight the cold, and then I lay there motionless and fell asleep without knowing it!"
Shulka couldn't help but find it funny. He remembered that this guy was so frightened by the fighting that he couldn't sleep for several days during the counter-siege in Kiev, but now he was lurking on the battlefield and could even fall asleep under the enemy's gunfire.
Of course, these are all things for later.
Then the instructor will do some ideological work with them.
"Comrades, I think you know the hidden dangers and difficulties!" the instructor said: "In fact, the greater danger lies in not being exposed, such as being injured, the enemy's fire test, and even some other emergencies. You must stay safe.
The original state remains motionless. Otherwise, our strategic intentions may be exposed in advance and the entire latent force will be put in danger..."
It goes without saying that the soldiers are all veterans, except for Antipunov.
"Is there nothing wrong with you?" Shulka asked when he saw Antipunov's face was pale and he was in a daze.
"No, there's no problem, Comrade Second Lieutenant!" Antipunov replied: "I just... I may have killed someone!"
"Oh, when?" Shulka asked.
"While attacking the building!" Antipunov said: "I'm not sure! I swear I didn't mean it, Comrade Second Lieutenant, I didn't aim and just fired casually, but I saw someone falling from above...
"
"So, what you are struggling with is whether you should kill that enemy, rather than the task you are about to carry out?"
"Yes!" Antipunov nodded.
"A good start, Comrade Antipunov!" Shulka laughed: "There will be a second time if there is a first time!"
"No, there won't be a second time!" Antipunov replied.
Shulka patted Antipunov on the shoulder and walked away. He believed that Antipunov did think so, but he could not help himself on the battlefield.
Not long after, Major Gavrilov told Shulka: "The rocket launcher battalion is in position, they are half an hour ahead of schedule!"
The reason why the rocket launcher battalion arrived half an hour early was because the engineers followed the 4th Tank Brigade to build the railway, and most of it had been repaired at this time. The rocket launcher battalion arrived here by train, and there were enough rocket launchers with them.
The battalion fired five volleys of rockets.
However, this does not seem to be very necessary, because this battle will probably only last a few minutes from start to end, and these few minutes can determine success or failure.
"Are you ready?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"Yes!" Shulka replied.
"Then let's go!" Major Gavrilov shook Shulka's hand: "I'm waiting for news of your victory!"
The battle started in the next second.
The first is artillery preparation, which is carried out by the artillery battalion of the 251st Infantry Division responsible for supporting the 4th Tank Brigade, plus the mortars of the 4th Tank Brigade... The "No. 1" bridge is only more than 300 meters, 50mm and
Mortars of the above calibers can reach the other side.
In fact, a little bit of work was done, that is, to complete the test firing of the rocket launcher.
Therefore, the initial shelling was a bit strange. Three rockets flew towards the other shore with a "whoosh", and then exploded in depth, deviating from the target range by several hundred meters.
Then there were three more shots, and they deviated by several hundred meters...
After five rounds, only two rounds were fired within the designated range. This was the result of close range firing. Then the test firing was over, and other types of artillery fire spit out tongues of flame toward the opposite side, some of which were smoke grenades.
"Set off!"
Following Major Zahakavich's order, the tanks rumbled toward the "No. 1" bridge.
Leading the way was a dissatisfied tank company with a total of eight tanks serving as cover... Needless to say what "cover" is, they are basically used to create tank wreckage and dead bodies.
And they can’t just “manufacture” them casually.
The task assigned to them by Major Zahakavich was: "You must try to get as close as possible to the enemy's bridgehead defense line, and at the same time, be careful not to block the road!"