Shulka curled up in the trench and slept for a while, but was woken up by a signal soldier in the middle of the night.
"Comrade Shulka!" the signal soldier said: "Comrade Zahakavich wants you to go to the headquarters!"
Because the reinforcements of the first battalion were on the other side of the defense line, the headquarters was a bit far away. It took Shulka more than half an hour to arrive.
When Shurka walked into the headquarters, he unexpectedly found that Major General Rokossovsky was also there, as well as the main officers of the 4th Tank Brigade.
"Comrade Shulka!" Rokossovsky raised his head when he saw Shulka coming in: "I'm sorry to call you back from the front line. I think you should be here at this time!"
With that said, Rokossovsky took out an exquisite brocade box from his coat pocket and said to Major Zahakavich and others: "I was entrusted by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union to award one to the Fourth Tank Brigade.
Order of the Red Banner, and named the 4th Tank Brigade the 1st Guards Red Banner Tank Brigade!"
Rokossovsky opened the brocade box and handed it to Major Zahakavic: "Comrade Zahakavic, on behalf of the commander of the group army, I wish you all the honors you have achieved!"
Then Rokossovsky asked the staff to hand a military flag to Major Zahakavich.
Major Zahakavich saluted Rokossovsky solemnly, solemnly took the military flag, and then unfolded it in front of everyone.
The officers cheered and congratulated each other excitedly. Only Shulka had no idea.
If it was just for this matter, Shulka believed that Rokossovsky should not call him back from the front line, he only needed to inform him.
Is it because Shulka has no sense of collective honor?
Shulka didn't think so. He had always been proud of the 4th Tank Brigade, but he believed that this honor was achieved in battle and had little to do with whether he had medals or whether he changed his designation.
On the other hand, as a soldier, he is more concerned about life and death; as a second lieutenant, he is more concerned about the company's casualties; as a member of the 4th Tank Brigade, he is more concerned about reinforcements!
As for medals and honors...does it make a big difference how many medals you wear and how much honor you wear when you lie in a coffin?
"Comrade Shulka!" Rokossovsky noticed Shulka's plainness and asked doubtfully: "Do you have anything to say?"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Shulka replied: "I think we should retreat!"
The officers couldn't help but fell silent. At this time, when the 4th Tank Brigade had just been honorably awarded the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, they said that retreat was obviously inappropriate.
Major Gavrilov winked at Shulka and shook his head slightly to signal Shulka not to talk nonsense.
"Retreat?" Rokossovsky said: "You mean abandoning Volokolamsk?"
"Yes!" Shulka replied.
"Give me a reason!" Rokossovsky's tone became serious: "Comrade Shulka, you should be very clear that every line of our defense is a barrier to defend Moscow, and every person retreating towards Moscow
Every step you take will make Moscow more dangerous!"
"I know, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Shulka replied: "But our fortifications are not suitable for defense. They lack longitudinal communication trenches, which makes us very passive in battle!"
This was a problem Shulka discovered only when he arrived at the front line.
Perhaps in order to cooperate with Order No. 270, or perhaps in order to defend Moscow, or more precisely...because of the fear of soldiers escaping, the trenches of the 316th Division and other lines of defense were basically horizontal instead of vertical.
In other words, the soldiers could only stay in the trenches face to face with the enemy, and could not retreat even in critical situations.
There are only two ways to retreat:
One is to climb into the trench and expose yourself to enemy gunfire.
The second is to maneuver laterally along the trench for a long distance and then enter the longitudinal communication trench.
But the latter is obviously unrealistic. Lateral maneuvering takes time, and the enemy will catch up and then eliminate it during this process.
More importantly, the intersections of traffic trenches are usually guarded by political workers, who usually do not allow such maneuvers.
Sulka had been following the tank brigade in mobile operations before and had not noticed this.
"This is very detrimental to our army's operations, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Shulka said: "I believe that by now, the people who are greedy for life and afraid of death have almost left, or are almost dead.
The vast majority of those who are now willing to stay on the battlefield and guard the defense line are willing to sacrifice their blood and even their lives for the motherland, the army, and the Soviet Union! But ours still uses fortifications to prevent soldiers from escaping. It lacks effective maneuverability, and even
Ammunition and equipment are difficult to replenish... We should be able to fight the enemy more flexibly on the front line instead of just defending!"
Rokossovsky turned his attention to Major Gavrilov and asked: "Is what Comrade Shulka said true?"
Rokossovsky was more in command at the strategic level. Tactical aspects such as the construction of trenches were not his concern, so it was normal not to know about this.
"Yes, Comrade Rokovsovsky!" Major Gavrilov replied: "I also discovered this. Although the engineering structures in the front line defense zone helped protect personnel and firearms from German artillery and
Mortars can kill people, but they cannot guarantee the strength of the troops. The weapons perform concealed maneuvers during the battle. Even maneuvering within the battalion defense area is very difficult. As Comrade Shulka said... there are not many deep communication trenches.
It is impossible to maneuver from depth to the front or from the front to the depth. Any movement of the unit will be exposed to enemy fire..."
"Then build the fortifications immediately, now!" Major General Rokossovsky interrupted Major Gavrilov with a stern face. He looked at his watch and said: "There is still time to complete the longitudinal communication trench before dawn.
The construction of!”
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Major Gavrilov responded.
This order was quickly conveyed to the entire 16th Army and even spread to other lines of defense.
Because Major General Rokossovsky believed that Shulka was right. This kind of fortifications lacking deep mobility may be suitable for preventing soldiers from abandoning their positions and escaping in the early stages of the war, but they are not suitable now.
But this was not Shulka's original intention.
Shulka actually wanted to find an excuse to retreat... At this time, the German army was unlikely to capture Moscow. So, why not let the front line slow down and use a little space to buy time so that more soldiers could survive?
But it is obvious that Shulka failed.
From top to bottom, even Major Gavrilov was not in favor of retreat.