Shulka curled up in the trenches and fell asleep, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by the communications corps.

"Comrade Shulka!" The signal soldier said: "Comrade Zakhakavich asked you to go to the headquarters!" ”

Because a battalion reinforced to the other side of the line, the command was a bit far away, and it took Shulka more than half an hour to arrive.

When he walked into the headquarters, Shulka unexpectedly found that Major General Rokossovsky was also there, as well as the main officers of the various divisions of the 4th Tank Brigade.

"Comrade Shulka!" When Rokossovsky saw Shulka coming in, he raised his head at him: "I'm sorry to call you back from the front, I think you should be there at this time!" ”

As he spoke, Rokossovsky took out a delicate brocade box from his coat pocket and said to Major Zakhakavich and others: "I was entrusted by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to award the 4th Tank Brigade with the 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 Zakhakavich: "Comrade Zakhakavich, on behalf of the commander of the army group, I wish you all the honor!" ”

Rokossovsky then asked the staff officer to hand Major Zakhakavich a military flag.

Major Zakhakavich saluted Rokossovsky in a dignified manner, solemnly accepted the flag, and unfurled it in front of everyone.

The officers cheered, then excitedly congratulated each other, only Shulka had no idea.

If it was only for this reason, Shulka thought that Rokossovsky should not call him back from the front, but only need to inform him.

Is Shulka without a sense of collective pride?

Shulka doesn't think so, he has always been proud of the 4th Tank Brigade, but he thinks that this honor is won in battle, and it has little to do with whether there is a medal or not, whether it is renumbered.

On the other hand, as a soldier, he is more concerned with life and death; As a second lieutenant, he was more concerned with 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 many honors you lie in a coffin?

"Comrade Shulka!" Rokossovsky noticed Shulka's flatness and asked suspiciously: "Do you have anything to say?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Shulka replied: "I think we should retreat!" ”

The officers couldn't help but fall silent, at this time, when the 4th Tank Brigade had just been honorably awarded to the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, it was obviously inappropriate to say that it was retreating.

Major Gavrilov glared at Shulka and shook his head slightly to signal Shulka not to talk nonsense.

"Retreat?" Rokossovsky said: "You mean to abandon Volokolamsk? ”

"Yes!" Shulka replied.

"Give me a reason!" Rokossovsky's tone became serious: "Comrade Shulka, you should be well aware that each of our lines of defense is a barrier to defend Moscow, and every step of retreat in the direction of Moscow will make Moscow a little 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 that Shulka only discovered when he went to the front.

Perhaps in conjunction with Order No. 270, or perhaps for the need to defend Moscow, or more precisely...... Because of the fear that the soldiers would flee from the battle, the trenches of the 316th Division and other defensive lines were basically horizontal rather than vertical.

That is, the soldiers could only stay in the trenches and face to face with the enemy, and could not retreat even in a critical situation.

There are only two ways to retreat:

One is to climb into the trenches and expose yourself to the enemy's guns.

The second is to maneuver laterally along the trench for a long distance and then enter the longitudinal communication trench.

But the latter is clearly unrealistic, lateral maneuvering takes time, and this process will be caught up and then eliminated by the enemy.

What's more, the intersections of the trenches are usually guarded by political workers, who usually do not allow such maneuvers.

Shulka had been following the tank brigade in mobile operations before, and he did not notice this.

"This is very bad for the operation of our army, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Shulka said: "I believe that by the time the war has been fought, the people who are greedy for life and fear of death have almost left, or have almost died. Now those who are willing to stay on the battlefield and guard the line of defense, the vast majority of them are willing to sacrifice their blood and even their lives for the motherland, the army, and the Soviet Union! However, we still use fortifications to prevent soldiers from escaping, it lacks effective mobility, and even ammunition and equipment are difficult to replenish...... We should be able to fight the enemy more flexibly on the front lines instead of holding on to the death! ”

Rokossovsky turned his gaze to Major Gavrilov and asked: "Is what Comrade Shulka said the truth?" ”

Rokossovsky commanded more at the strategic level, and tactically, such as the construction of trenches, was not his business, so it was normal not to know this.

"Yes, Comrade Rokovsovsky!" Major Gavrilov replied: "I also found this, although the engineering construction in the front line defense zone helps to protect personnel and firearms from German artillery and mortars, it does not ensure the concealed maneuver of troops and weapons in the course of the battle. It was difficult to maneuver even within the area of battalion defense. As Comrade Shulka said...... There were not many communication trenches leading to the depth, it was not possible to maneuver from the depth to the front or from the front, and any movement of the detachment was exposed to enemy fire......"

"Then build the fortifications now, now!" Major General Rokossovsky interrupted Major Gavrilov's words with a calm face, he looked at his watch and said: "There is still time, the construction of the longitudinal communication trench will be completed before dawn!" ”

"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Major Gavrilov answered.

This order was soon conveyed to the entire 16th Army, and even to other lines of defense.

Because Major General Rokossovsky thought that Shulka was right, such fortifications, which lacked depth mobility, might have been suitable in the early days of the war to prevent soldiers from abandoning their positions and fleeing, but not now.

But that's not what Shulka had in mind.

Shulka was actually trying to find an excuse to retreat...... At this point, it was unlikely that the Germans would capture Moscow, so why not allow a little space at the front to buy time for more fighters to survive?

However, it is clear that Shulka did not succeed.

From top to bottom, even Major Gavrilov was not in favor of retreating.

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