There was actually another reason why Colonel Ovich was unwilling to admit that Major Gavrilov's suggestion was correct.
At this time, it was no longer a simple matter of right and wrong. Colonel Ovich considered one thing:
If one day this battle attracts the attention of superiors, that is, the information that the 333rd Regiment blocked the German attack on the front line reaches the army commander or even the group army commander, then it goes without saying what will happen...
Why was the 333rd Regiment able to stop the Germans?
Use the cabin camouflage tactic!
But why did only the 333rd Regiment use this tactic while other units of the 79th Division were defeated? Major Gavrilov did not report this tactic?
Major Gavrilov reported it, but Colonel Ovich did not accept the suggestion!
What? Such a good suggestion was not accepted? This fool! This sinner of the people, he is fully responsible for the failure of this battle!
There is no need to say more about what will happen next.
For Colonel Ovitch, this was much more serious than the 79th Division's failure to effectively block the German attack.
The reason is simple. There are hundreds of thousands of troops stationed on the defense line, and the 79th Division is just one of them. There are many troops that are the same as or even worse than the 79th Division, so this is nothing and he does not need to bear too much responsibility.
.
But he didn't accept Major Gavrilov's suggestion and didn't report it... This is a big problem.
After thinking about it, Colonel Ovich lowered his voice and said to the staff: "Major Gavrilov has never been here. There is no camouflage tactic in the wooden house. Do you understand?"
The staff officer couldn't help but be stunned when he heard this, and then replied: "Yes, Comrade Colonel!"
This further suppressed the wooden house camouflage tactic... Originally this tactic could be carried forward in the next line of defense. After all, the entire line of defense was one to six kilometers deep.
Colonel Ovitch believed that it did not, but his enemy, the German General Kleist, did not think so. However, General Kleist also did not pay enough attention to it. Although the first attack suffered
The loss surprised him.
"Interesting!" Kleist said looking at the map: "The Russians disguised the bunker as a wooden house!"
"Yes!" the adjutant replied: "So, there was no problem with our previous reconnaissance!"
"The problem is, these 'wooden houses' do cause some difficulties for our attack!" Admiral Kleist said.
"General!" said the adjutant, "we can use artillery to distinguish these cabins!"
"Maybe you are right!" Admiral Kleist agreed: "Also, bring over the assault guns!"
"Yes, General!" the adjutant responded and conveyed the order.
On one point, General Kleist had the same idea as Colonel Ovech, that is, he believed that the first failure was just because he underestimated the enemy and was ambushed by the enemy. After knowing that the enemy had hidden the bunker with a wooden house... he
You won't be fooled a second time.
So, it was time to teach these Ivans a lesson.
The whistling sound of artillery shells soon started, and the dense artillery shells swept back and forth across the position like a comb, and the wooden houses were soon blown into piles of ruins.
Then several "Stuka" bombers also joined in the bombing. They dropped gasoline barrels and bombs together as before, which caused raging fires to ignite on the position, and even many camouflages outside the bunker were burned.
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Of course, the flames could not burn through the bunker, but thick smoke continued to pour into the bunker from the perforations, making Shulka and the soldiers cough with runny noses and tears.
"Can we go out for some air?" the thief asked.
"If you want to die in the hands of the enemy, go ahead!" Shulka replied: "But remember to close the door when you go out. I don't want the Germans to throw grenades in from outside the door!"
"Okay!" the thief replied with difficulty: "They should improve the ventilation system!"
"Forget it, Comrade Fovalikov!" the veteran replied: "All the facilities here were shut down two years ago. The machine guns we use may have been added not long ago!"
"The enemy is coming!" Shulka shouted.
The soldiers all stood up and returned to their posts.
"What is that?" the veteran shouted in horror as he looked out through the perforation hole.
"It's a tank, isn't it?" the thief replied without thinking.
"No, I have never seen such a tank!" said the veteran.
"I don't see any difference between them!" the actor backed up the thief.
But Shulka knew that the veteran was right. He recognized it as the German "Assault Gun No. 3", which could be said to be a weapon designed to attack bunkers and permanent fortifications.
Its characteristic is... there is no weak side armor, and its side armor and front armor are both 50mm thick.
The M1930 37mm anti-tank gun used by the Soviet army has a penetration depth of only 34mm when firing armor-piercing projectiles at a distance of 100 meters, which is still a vertical penetration.
In other words, whether it is the front or the side, it is difficult for the Soviet army to pose a threat to the "No. 3 Assault Gun".
Artillery and assault guns seem to be enough to deal with the Soviet defense line, because the assault gun is equivalent to a mobile bunker. The German army can "bunker" to suppress the bunker, and then the German engineers who have more space and freedom outside can display their full potential.
Its function is to blast Soviet bunkers.
However, it would be a mistake for the Germans to think that "cabin camouflage" is just that simple.
"Comrade Major!" Shulka called Major Gavrilov:
"I think it's time to use Plan 2!"
"Do you recognize those tanks?" Major Gavrilov asked.
"No, I've never seen them!" Shulka lied. He could only say this, because at this time, the number of "Assault Gun III" of the German army was not large and the investment was not much. As a
Of course, as a soldier, he couldn't know more relevant information.
Shulka gave a reason: "But if the Germans use them, it means that we will probably not be able to pose a threat to them!"
"That's right!" Major Gavrilov agreed.
This actually exposed a fatal weakness of the Soviet army... The "No. 3 assault gun" has been used in other parts of the "Stalin Line of Defense" and even posed a great threat to the Soviet army.
If it were other armies, such as the British Army and the US Army, then of course they would notify the entire army of the threat of this equipment and even possible countermeasures as soon as possible.
But this is not the case for the Soviet army. This is not only because their communication equipment is extremely backward and information dissemination is poor, but also because the quality of their officers is generally low. The officers and soldiers on the front line use tanks to describe "assault guns", while the commanders at the rear are confused.
They also thought it was just a tank, so many bunkers were breached in this "ignorance" situation.
Of course, this situation will not happen in the defense area of the 333rd Regiment.