Chapter 120 Risk
It is obvious that if Shulka's company had charged like the others, the result would have been the same... columns of soldiers and tanks charged, and columns were destroyed.
Under the dual suppression of German artillery bombardment and anti-tank gun locks, the Soviet T26 has no protection at all like tofu.
If it can play any role, it is that the smoke emitted after being destroyed can provide a little cover for the charging infantry.
So Shulka's suggestion is correct, and the battlefield should also be able to adapt to local conditions... It's just that the war broke out not long ago, and the Soviet army was still under strong dogmatic constraints, so that frontline commanders did not have much freedom.
The German army is much better at this point. They are more strategic goals set by their superiors. As for how to do it, let them play freely. This is also one of the reasons why German officers were not held accountable for their disobedience on the battlefield, and it also made the German army's operations flexible like art.
Of course, as the battle became more and more difficult, Hitler, who thought he was a military genius, interfered more and more with his troops, especially after an accidental attack plan was leaked. Intelligence... This is equivalent to killing the command art of front-line German officers in the cradle.
These are off topic.
Shuerka believes that if it weren't for the fact that his previous suggestions were effective, Second Lieutenant Davydov would not accept his suggestions on the urgent front line.
Needless to say, there are risks in this... Second Lieutenant Davydov is likely to be blamed for this, that is, the failure of the whole battalion is because the third company did not join the ranks of the attack and chose to play dead.
What's more, even if you accept Shulka's suggestion, you may not be able to break through the German defense line smoothly. Even if you successfully break through the German defense line... Maybe you will end up disobedient.
So, why should Davydov accept this suggestion? It would be much easier and more relaxing to choose to execute the command!
It was later that Shulka learned that the reason why Second Lieutenant Davydov chose to accept suggestions instead of executing orders was not entirely because of Shulka's reputation.
"It's very simple, Comrade Shulka!" Second Lieutenant Davydov said to Shulka with emotion: "Of course, your reputation is a reason. If it was an ordinary sergeant, I would probably give him A few slaps to send him back to his unit! But it was you, our 'runaway hero'..."
"Any other reasons?" Shulka asked.
"Of course!" Lieutenant Davydov replied thoughtfully: "At that moment I knew what was going to happen, and I knew that we would all die there! In this case... I mean, anyway It's all dead, why don't I try it?"
This is indeed a very good reason, anyway, they are all dead, so what else can we worry about?
Disobedience?
It's just death!
Even disobedience can live longer.
So, if you think about the same thing from different angles, you will get two completely opposite conclusions.
So the plan started smoothly.
At the moment when the German artillery fired, Davydov ordered the smoke bombs to be fired.
Because of the cover of the smoke of the shells and the explosion, the German army didn't even realize that the Soviet army had fired smoke bombs, but felt that the smoke on the battlefield seemed thicker.
Then, Second Lieutenant Davydov led more than 100 people from the third company, plus seven tanks, to hide in the anti-tank trench...Because they had received the order before, they did not run away like other troops.
Of course, there were also losses. A tank was hit by shrapnel and stopped in place before it hid in the anti-tank trench.
Fortunately, the tank crew was more flexible, so they immediately gave up the tank and hid in the anti-tank trench with the infantry.
It should be said that the anti-tank trench is not an ideal hiding place, because it is too wide... The width of the anti-tank trench is generally about three meters, and it is too narrow to block the tank at all, and the tank can easily cross it.
The width of three meters means that more shells will directly hit the anti-tank trench.
That is, hiding in it does not mean safe.
But it can be said that no place on the battlefield is really safe. In any case, the lower part of the anti-tank trench will be much safer than other places.
Shuerka only felt pieces of muddy water rushing towards his position... which made him unable to keep lying on the ground, because the muddy water would flood his mouth and nose and make him unable to breathe.
But at the same time, Shulka didn't dare to get up, because getting up meant that he had to bear more shrapnel, that is, he had to pay the price of his life.
So, he can only prop up his upper body like a push-up, and at the same time spit out the mud splashed into his mouth... In this case, he can't breathe through his nose.
What is painful is that sometimes the mud is not just mud, it also smells of blood.
Shulka didn't dare to think too much, because he was worried that he would spit out yesterday's dinner.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the cannon finally weakened.
But Shuerka still didn't dare to act rashly, because their task was to play dead... So Shuerka carefully looked around, and when he was sure that this was a blind spot, he rolled over and let himself squat down.
Carefully rubbing his sore arm, Shulka turned his gaze around to search for his comrades.
The results of the search sent Shulka a wave of horror, for he found few survivors.
It didn't take long for Shulka to realize that this was a misunderstanding... The muddy water kicked up by the shells gave everyone a natural protective color, and it was not easy to spot them in the smoke.
This is of course beneficial to the Soviet army, because it is more difficult for the German army at a farther distance to find that there is actually a company "playing dead" collectively, and it stays in the anti-tank trench only more than 200 meters away from their line of defense... Anti-tank trenches dug by the Germans.
Even tanks are no exception.
Six tanks successfully hid in the anti-tank trench, but the anti-tank trench was not deep enough, and the entire turret was exposed. (Note: T26 is 2.4 meters high)
But this does not affect its "playing dead", because layers of mud are covered on it, and there are even blood, corpses, and broken limbs.
It can be said that as long as it does not move, everyone will believe that it is "dead".
Look at the attacking Soviet army, they have retreated... In fact, they were beaten back, leaving a lot of corpses and tank wreckage.
A "clay figurine" crawled over cautiously, and Shulka almost didn't recognize that it was Davydov.
"You're right!" Davydov whispered, "We should be dead by now!"
(end of this chapter)
