Shulka was right, because while Shulka and Major Gavrilov and others were discussing in the command headquarters, the battle at the front had already begun.

Thrown into the offensive were two tank divisions...... Tank divisions have more tanks and, of course, should take on the main attacking mission.

That's why Shulka and others get a short break.

Commanding the battle was the commander of the 9th Army, Major General Tolicka, who was in such a hurry to launch the offensive for two reasons:

The first is that the circumstances did not allow Major General Tolichka to delay.

The news of the arrival of the 9th Soviet Army in Odessa reached the city of Odessa...... This was good news, and Petrov was finally convinced that Moscow's support was true.

Because a telegram from Moscow said: "The mechanized 9th Army has arrived in Odessa, and soon there will be an attack on the outer line, please cooperate with the attack of the 9th Army!" ”

No one would lie like that, because it's easy to debunk.

"Odessa has already arrived", "an offensive will be launched soon"...... Liars don't use these words, because they only need to wait a few hours to hear whether there is an attack or not to know the truth.

But there are often two sides to the story, and the arrival of reinforcements also means that the Germans must end the fighting in the city as soon as possible.

That is, the German and Romanian armies intensified their offensive against Odessa, and they even risked bombing Odessa...... The bombers threw gasoline cans and bombs into Odessa, and in an instant the whole of Odessa was plunged into hellish flames, and then the combined forces of Romania and Germany launched a fierce attack on the Soviet army like a tidal wave.

Petrov's telegram to Moscow was: "It is better to move faster with reinforcements, otherwise they will have to collect our corpses!" ”

Moscow conveyed this phrase to Major General Tolichka word for word.

Major General Tolichka probably did not need to care about the "collection of corpses", he did not know Petrov, although they both graduated from the Frunze Military Academy.

The problem is that if Odessa is completely occupied by the enemy, its defenses will be further consolidated, that is, it will be more difficult to attack...... This is at stake in the vital interests of the 9th Army and even Major General Tolicka.

Secondly and more importantly, the earlier the attack, the less time the enemy has to prepare.

This is of course, especially since the Germans still have the Odessa Line, which was taken from the Soviets.

Obviously, the Romanians also had to bombard the line with artillery fire or bombard bunkers one by one.

So the Odessa line of defense fell into ruins when it fell into the hands of the Romanians, who did not even think that they should repair these fortifications...... It wasn't until two days ago that he received an order from Rundstedt to deploy the main forces between the two lines of defense.

Two days.

The Romanian army needed to dig almost blown trenches, lay mines in front of the positions, pull up barbed wire, repair pillboxes and arrange firepower, and even dig anti-tank trenches, etc., which obviously did not have enough time to prepare.

So it's clear that the sooner you attack, the easier it is.

So Major General Tolichka did not hesitate and immediately organized two tank divisions to launch a fierce assault on the Odessa line.

At least one thing Major General Tolichka learned: to convert a tank minesweeper with a mill.

In fact, two tanks had already learned this before that, especially the 20th Tank Division.

The 20th Tank Division, the main force of the 9th Army, was advancing along and ahead of the Kiev-Odessa railway...... Two tank divisions advanced along the railway, one in front of the other.

The reason is that for tanks, the road conditions of the railway will undoubtedly be much better than that of the road...... The railroad has a solid embankment and even sleepers, so even in this rainstorm there will be no tanks stuck in the mud and unable to move.

One thing is the same, however, that the Germans also mine the railways.

Useful tactics on the battlefield quickly spread, and one of them is the Mill Modified Demining Tank.

It is said that Major General Toliczka could not help but sigh when he learned of this method: "Unbelievable...... So many of us, so many staff officers, have been fighting for many years, but we never thought of this simple and practical method! In the end, it was discovered by this sergeant! ”

Major General Toliczka was a little annoyed, although he had already identified with Shulka, he still couldn't suppress a little jealousy in his heart...... A major general of the mechanized corps commanding tens of thousands of people is jealous of a sergeant?!

Then, naturally, this minesweeper tank was used in the assault on the Odessa line:

The dozens of tanks in front were equipped with grinders, and dozens of them were ready to be replaced, and they slowly advanced in the rain curtain, and then listened to the sound of mines "bulging" and exploding in front.

If this had been before, the Soviets would have blasted out a safe passage with shells in rows.

But now...... There is no need to waste so many shells, just a grind forward, and all the problems are solved, and even the barbed wire can be rolled into the ground one by one. (Note: If the tank runs directly over the barbed wire, it will often get stuck in the tracks, making it difficult to move or even unable to move)

Then the infantry advanced under the cover of the tanks.

At this time, the follow-up infantry behind the tank armor played a considerable role.

Normally, it is very difficult for tanks to fight in such a poor line of sight.

From an outsider's point of view, the tank looks like it's just going forward and firing at the target, but it's only known when you're actually hiding inside the tank...... Its vision is completely different from the open state of the outside world.

Tank crews rely on narrow observation holes or periscopes to observe, and things that can be easily done by the outside world, such as estimating the distance to a target, can only be guessed by tank crews who were not equipped with rangefinders during World War II...... In an open field of view, a person can locate the target according to the surrounding scenery and two eyes, and then make a large estimate, and observing inside the tank will weaken this perception to a large extent.

In addition to this, the narrow field of view inside the tank makes it difficult to detect and find one's natural enemies in time...... Anti-tank guns.

Therefore, there is a popular saying among tank gunners: "Ranging depends on blind guessing, and firing artillery depends on feeling", of course, survival also depends on luck.

But if there is a follow-up infantryman to keep in touch with the tank crew in the back moments, it is different...... Follow-up infantry can report their ranging to the tank crew at any time.

"Bunker in front, 270 meters!"

"Two o'clock machine gun fort, 300 meters!"

……

This data is obviously very important for the tank crew, because it is based on this that the gunner finds the target and shoots.

More importantly, they were able to report the location of the enemy's anti-tank guns to the tank crew at the first time.