The Sixth Guards Army is the ace unit under Rokossovsky and will play the role of the vanguard of the breakthrough in Operation Pluto. And the 4th Guards Mechanized Army, to which the 6th Guards Army belongs, is the trump card of aces, and they will be the bladed troops in the vanguard of breakthroughs.

And in this unit gathered too many of our acquaintances, such as Yevgeny, such as the armored train and Fat Ivan. And they are also the protagonists of today's story.

At this time, Yevgeny was already the deputy battalion commander, and the armored train and Fat Ivan were the company commander and political commissar, and before he knew it, Yevgeny, who came later, had completed the transcendence of his predecessors.

"Company commander, there is about a platoon of German devils in the village in front, and no tanks have been found!"

The Scout had good news for the Panzer Train, although the German Panzer had been greatly weakened in previous battles, the Panzer Train knew that even one tank was dangerous for the Germans, and they were especially good at using tanks in defensive battles.

"A platoon detours from the left flank, blocking the enemy's retreat from escaping, and if the enemy does not run, then attack them from the back. The second platoon slowly approached the enemy from the front, the third platoon took cover, and the fire platoon was in my own hands. Twenty minutes later, the action begins! ”

The armored train quickly arranged the offensive mission, but Fat Ivan had questions: "Don't you need to apply to the battalion commander for fire support?" It's better to scare the enemy with artillery fire first! ”

Every Red Army soldier had a certain degree of attachment to artillery, and the Red Army's offensive seemed to have been completely stylized, first bombarded with artillery, then charged with infantry, and then crushed by heavy tanks. That's it anyway.

But the armored train didn't like this set of tactics, and he smiled and asked: "I'm afraid that I won't be able to scare the enemy, but I will remind them that I want a surprise attack." To hit them by surprise! ”

Fat Ivan did not continue to strongly demand the shelling to open the way, because he knew very well that the armored train was much stronger than him in the matter of fighting. Soon the company of the armored train was approaching the predetermined position under the cover of darkness, and the small village of their target seemed so inconspicuous.

The attack began at four o'clock in the morning, and the second platoon, which was attacking head-on, quickly advanced into the village, unexpectedly occupying several outlying buildings and driving a wedge.

"Well done." The armored train was also pleased, "Now you can let the artillery open fire and assist the second platoon in pressing back the enemy's counterattack!" ”

Knock knock. With a dull sound, the 60mm mortar shells quickly exploded in the village, and although they did not cause much damage, they made the Germans nervous, forcing them to abandon the first round of counterattacks and hide in the anti-artillery holes to avoid shelling, which bought the second platoon valuable time to consolidate its position.

"Three rows to be fast, a little faster!"

Fat Ivan held the binoculars and kept muttering in his mouth. He let out a long breath when the third platoon finally got into the predetermined position before the German counterattack.

"I'll go to the third row." Fat Ivan yelled at the armored train, and then ran away on his short legs. Now he is much richer than he was in 1941, even if he has more and more fat on his body, he runs like waves rolling.

The armored train was holding a telescope to observe the movements of the enemy in the village, and the reason why he did not immediately order the fire platoon to move to the village was only one reason: the Germans did not have more combat power than this, and the hasty transfer of fire was likely to deprive the troops on the front line of support. Thus incurring unnecessary losses.

Even the armored train gave an order to the heavy machine-gun crew: "Pay close attention to the movements of the German troops and, if necessary, concentrate fire on them!" ”

Just while the armored train was waiting for the German counterattack. Suddenly a puff of smoke rose from the village, followed by a loud noise.

"Shelling!" The armored train's eyes widened, it was clear that it was the enemy's direct-aim artillery firing, and the target was the platoon that had just gained a foothold.

"Where is the enemy's artillery?" The armored train searched with a telescope, but could not find the hidden gun in the direction of the smoke.

It was clear that the scout's reconnaissance had made a mistake and did not find this very deadly gun. As a direct result, the second platoon in the offensive was exposed to enemy fire. It cannot even be ruled out that this was a trap set by the Germans, deliberately allowing the easily exposed outlying strongholds to be occupied by the Red Army and then destroyed with hidden artillery.

The armored train frowned, and now he had to think about the following questions: should the second platoon be withdrawn? Where is the enemy's artillery? And how many direct-aim guns does the enemy have?

As a veteran, the armored train quickly figured out these questions. He quickly ordered: "Let the second platoon continue to hold out, the artillery squad is ready to shoot, carefully observe and find the position of the enemy's artillery, and prepare to suppress the fire...... Order a platoon to attack from behind, distract the enemy, tell them to be careful with the enemy's carefully disguised fortifications, not to rush in, and to fight steadily! ”

On the orders of the armored train, a platoon quickly carried out the operation, and when they attacked from the back of the village, the Germans did look a little flustered. However, it was only a little panicked, and soon the Germans stabilized with the help of strong fortifications. At the same time, the Germans' carefully camouflaged direct-aim artillery continued to fire, and at one point suppressed the second platoon so that it could not raise its head.

"Cunning German devils, that cannon is hidden in the house!"

Yes, the Germans were well aware that they were completely inferior in armor, and in order to carry out Hitler's instructions to hold Belarus and Ukraine, the Germans invested great energy in fortifications. A large number of well-camouflaged fortifications were built. Outwardly, they can be ordinary dwellings, or even a well, a tomb.

The artillery squad of the armored train opened fire again and again at the house where the artillery was hidden, but the effect was not good, the ten-steel concrete structure of the house was quite strong, and the 60-mm mortars could not do anything about it.

"Victor, what should I do, do you want to let the comrades take down?" Fat Ivan shouted over the walkie-talkie.

"No, keep going!" The armored train categorically ordered, "Shoot smoke grenades, fire smoke grenades immediately!" ”

The idea of the armored train is simple, since it can't knock out the enemy, then it can only blind the enemy. However, the smoke grenades last for a limited time. If you can't find a way to knock out the enemy's cannon before the smoke clears, the rest of the battle will be quite passive.

"Get the bazooka crews ready, and the heavy machine gun mortars take cover, assisting them in destroying the enemy's artillery!"

The first group of bazooka riders soon set off, first slowly moving along the dilapidated houses. Try to avoid open roads. Naturally, it was not all smooth sailing, and the Germans also placed guard forces in these houses, and submachine gunners on both sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat with bullets and grenades. The Red Army relied on its superiority in strength and firepower to fight its way out.

Eventually, the Red Army's bazooka fighters managed to occupy a house on the other side of the German artillery fortifications, bringing the damned cannon into effective range. But soon the bazooka men of the Red Army were worried again, and the Germans seemed to perceive their movements, concentrated a large amount of firepower for suppressive fire, and blocked them in the house and could not get out at all!

Some comrades may say that if they can't get out, they will fight in the house. What's all the fuss. It's really not a big fuss, recoilless weapons like bazookas are basically impossible to use in small spaces, and the walls of the house will shoot back flames, so if you don't want to turn into a roast pig, it's best not to try it indiscriminately.

"Go to the roof!"

Just when the bazooka fighters were at a loss, the armored train gave the right instructions on the fly.

After a moment of scrambling, the bazooka hand climbed out of the roof. With a whoosh, a grenade was fired into the enemy's muzzle with a full deal of malice.

Boom. Billowing smoke erupted, and the disapprehensive bazooka men immediately refilled it, and only then did they retreat into the house in the face of a hail of bullets when they were sure that the cannon could no longer fire.

Don't think that the rest of the road was going to be smooth, and the loading train soon found that the small village was covered with fortifications, and all kinds of crossfire turned the village into a spider's web. Any prey that is taken lightly will be killed.

Not only are there many fortifications, but almost every building in the village is equipped with mines and traps, which can be tricked if you are not careful. For example, the fat Ivan commissar, who was very popular with the soldiers, was shot in the ass with a crossbow, but fortunately he had a lot of fat on his body and did not cause fatal injuries. Rao also made the soldiers gasp. Who knows what tricks the Germans have arranged behind them?

"Stop the offensive, let the comrades organize a defense on the spot, and be ready to meet the enemy's counterattack!"

The armored train finally canceled its original offensive plan, and he believed that he could not continue to do so brutely, otherwise he would inevitably suffer huge losses.

At this time, at the battalion headquarters, Yevgeny also received feedback from the companies, which generally reflected that the enemy's resistance was quite stubborn, and that the enemy's fortifications were almost distracted.

"We cannot continue to attack rashly, and if we do it brutally, we will probably lose the ability to continue to attack in depth...... The intention of the Germans was clear, to deplete our assault capabilities with strong fortifications, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack. ”

The battalion commander also agreed with Yevgeny's assertion that as a fist unit, consumption cannot be counted in such a meaningless pull-out operation.

"We need more tanks, preferably with heavy artillery support!"

Judging by the situation of the 4th Guards Mechanized Army, its degree of armor and firepower are relatively powerful. But this strength was reflected in the ability to assault, and in the attack on the fortification, the Red Army was slightly less prepared. Generally speaking, there was a lack of powerful heavy artillery to pull out strongholds, and it was not powerful in the face of the enemy's strong bunkers.

"Concentrate the SU-152 and make sure that every attacking unit has enough heavy artillery to support it!" Rokossovsky ordered.

It is true that the SU-152 can act as a can opener, but the number of SU-152 is limited after all, and even if it is ordered by Rokossovsky to use it intensively, it will not be possible to meet the needs of the 4th Guards Mechanized Army. At this time, it was the turn of the officers and men of the Red Army to use their brains to figure out a way.

Soon a series of local methods appeared on the stage, the most effective of which was the explosive pack. In the words of the armored train: "As long as there are enough explosives, there is no road to open a road!" ”

Take the company of the armored train as an example, they used the method of opening the way with unconscionable guns, and bombarded the "obstacles" on the offensive route, either smashing people and houses together, or shaking the Germans hiding inside to death. Anyway, it was crushed all the way, and any German army that tried to resist stubbornly had only a dead end.

As for the rest of the Red Army units. Even if you don't use an explosives pack to open the way, you will use a grenade to open the way, throw a few grenades before entering the house, the explosion can kill and stun the enemy in hiding, and can also destroy the enemy's preset mine.

For this reason, the Central Military Commission specially distributed a batch of cloudburst grenades to the Sixth Guards Army, each of which was the size of a milk powder bucket. It weighs about five kilograms and is mainly used with time-delay fuzes. The method used is very simple, smash the window and throw it in. All in all, the fortifications of the houses greeted by the cloudburst bombs were basically cleaned, and almost no living creatures survived.

This violent method of warfare, which crushed everything and was completely unreasonable, directly led to two results: the first was that the German troops captured by the Red Army in this battle were rapidly reduced, and the vast majority of the German troops were blown into powder along with the positions they were holding. The second result is the severe destruction of buildings in Belarus and western Ukraine, which has led to the displacement of a large number of residents.

"It is necessary to strengthen the resettlement work and let the logistics department transport more prefabricated houses to the front line. Winter is coming. We must not allow our compatriots to starve to death or freeze to death in the cold wind as soon as they are freed from the clutches of the German army! ”

Trotsky could only smile bitterly at Li Xiaofeng's suggestion: "Our industrial capacity is now saturated, and we do not have the capacity to produce these unplanned prefabricated houses." If you change it to a tent, it's possible! ”

"The problem is that ordinary tents simply cannot withstand the Russian winter, what is the use of producing these tents?" Li Xiaofeng still insists: "What's more, the post-war reconstruction work cannot be accomplished overnight. It can be expected that the inhabitants of this area will remain this way for the next few years. And displacing them for a long time will inevitably cause a host of social problems and breed discontent. This is extremely detrimental to the maintenance of local stability! ”

Trotsky spread his hands and asked: "Then Comrade Andrei." What are you going to do? ”

Li Xiaofeng knew that Lao Tuo deliberately kicked the ball back to him, but he still gave his own solution: "Walk on two legs." First, we turned to the United States for help, asking them to help us with more prefabricated houses that meet our requirements, our industrial capacity is saturated, but they are far from saturated. If the Americans don't agree, we can give some of our valuable foreign exchange to produce these prefabricated houses in the United States or Canada. This is a big plan to stabilize people's hearts, and it is worth investing in. Not to mention as our army continues to advance. It is conceivable that in the future, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria and even Germany will have a large number of displaced residents, and it is important to provide them with a place to live temporarily! ”

After a pause, Li Xiaofeng continued: "The second way, we still have to tap our own potential. In Siberia there are vast forests. There is an almost endless supply of wood. Although it is bulky compared to steel and sandwich panel materials, it can still be used as long as the resources are sufficient. ”

Trotsky thought about it for a moment and felt that this was also the way to go, and although it seemed to him that it would be a waste of some industrial capacity, he was still impressed by the importance of maintaining stability mentioned by Li Xiaofeng earlier.

And this also made Li Xiaofeng breathe a sigh of relief, because he knew very well that a new round of competition would start immediately after the war, and whoever could buy people's hearts would win support. And in this regard, the advantage of the Americans is too great, their native resources are rich and completely undamaged, and the country has sufficient financial resources, and it is completely possible to buy people's hearts and minds like local tyrants.

And if the Soviet Union did not follow suit, then even if the Red Army could occupy Eastern, Central and Southern Europe, it would not be able to hold these positions. Of course, to be honest, it is impossible for the Soviet Union to be like the US imperialists who waved a checkbook to buy people's hearts. But what you can must be done, and you must prepare as soon as possible.

For example, the most critical issues facing post-war Europe are: first, to have enough to eat, and second, to rebuild the homeland. These two issues are not simple at all, and if they are not handled well, they will be very unpopular. Especially in contrast to the United States' extensive sprinkling of money, if the Soviet Union could not take care of its partners, it would be immediately compared.

On these two major issues, Li Xiaofeng believes that the only thing the Soviet Union can do is to prepare early. For example, in order to cope with the famine, in recent years, he has bought farms in the Americas through North Industries and tried to buy cheap grain as much as possible. Although these grains that have been stored for more than ten years are much worse in taste and nutrition, being able to fill their stomachs is king.

On the other hand, he also promoted on a large scale in the Soviet Union the hardy, high-yielding crops purchased from the cornucopia, such as highly hardy potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn. Although these grains are not delicious, it is still the previous sentence, people are very hungry, and they will rush to eat everything.

Of course, these were emergency measures, and fundamentally, how to liberate the agricultural productive forces of the USSR after the war was the fundamental way. However, this aspect should not be rash for the time being, let's buy time with miscellaneous grains first.

As for rebuilding homes, the most important ones are cement and steel. Happily, during the war, the cement and steel industries in the Soviet Union underwent a round of rapid expansion, especially steel, which almost squeezed out the limit of production capacity. Continuing to maintain production after the war was not a big problem.

However, Li Xiaofeng was not blindly optimistic, and under the pretext of everything for the anti-fascist war, he also asked the Americans to provide a large amount of cement and steel, and even several super-large cement plants and steel mills were under intense construction in the Urals...... (To be continued.) )

PS: The author's area is out of order in the morning, sorry!

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