Chapter 177 Fighting in the Dark (Part 1)

When the battle that lasted for a whole day finally came to an end with the setting sun, Malashenko, who had basically been in a good situation throughout the day, could finally take a deep breath.

After leaving his car, Malashenko was in a building only one street away from the German-controlled area, enjoying this rare and short-lived tranquility with the Red Army infantrymen who had just retreated from the front line.

"Comrade Major, your tobacco tastes really good. I haven't smelled such a good smell for a long time."

Holding a half-lit cigarette in his hand, he was leaning against the corner of the wall and puffing out smoke. The words from the young Red Army soldier next to him made Malashenko's attention shift to this slightly immature face.

After just a glance, the young Red Army soldier who took the initiative to talk to Malashenko seemed to be only 18 or 19 years old at most. Even the Mosin-Nagant rifle he was holding in his arms was much taller than the owner leaning against the wall.

Eighteen or nineteen years old in peacetime is the best youth in a person's life and the time to study in higher education institutions and pursue dreams, but young people born in this turbulent war era have been ruthlessly deprived of all the beautiful things that should belong to them. Too many young people have lost their lives in this cruel war to defend their motherland and homeland.

Malashenko, who felt the same, did not have any annoyance towards the young Red Army soldier next to him. On the contrary, after giving a warm smile to the young Red Army soldier next to him, Malashenko immediately took out the pack of finished high-end cigarettes that only officers above the Red Army school level were qualified to supply from his pocket and handed it over.

"I don't have much left, but I can still afford a cigarette."

The little soldier who thought he was very lucky just to sit next to Malashenko and smell the smell, but he never thought that Malashenko, who was a world apart from his status and position, would take the initiative to invite him. This great surprise immediately made the little soldier who had been in the army for less than a year smile.

"Comrade Major, can I really take one?"

Looking at the overjoyed expression of the young soldier in front of him, Malashenko recalled that he had the same situation when he just entered the society and smiled slowly again.

"Of course, there is nothing wrong with that"

Boom--

Da Da Da--

Before Malashenko, who was smiling and holding a cigarette butt that was about to burn out, finished speaking, a huge explosion that soared into the sky immediately echoed in the night sky with the unique chainsaw-like continuous shooting sound of the MG34 general-purpose machine gun.

"The Germans are attacking!"

"Where are they? I can't see anything!"

"Damn, have they rushed into the building?"

The sudden explosion and the dense gunfire, like a full wine glass, instantly knocked the tranquility floating on the surface to the ground.

All the Red Army soldiers on the floor who were awakened by the sound of war immediately picked up their weapons and stood up. In the dark night, it was almost pitch dark and only the faint moonlight could be seen, like the fog of war that lingered.

The terrible situation of only hearing the dense gunshots and rumbling explosions not far away made these Red Army soldiers who had no idea what was happening a little confused for a while.

Malashenko, who was also disturbed by the strong explosions and dense gunshots, immediately waved his hand to throw away the cigarette butt in his hand and stood up from the wall in an instant.

Without waiting for Malashenko, who had just picked up the Suomi submachine gun for self-defense, to open the bolt safety, Captain Kalininbov, who was holding a relatively rare Popod submachine gun in the Red Army infantry, immediately ran up stumbling all the way.

"Major Malashenko, the sound of the exchange of fire came from the west of the German-controlled area, not within our defense zone! We are not under any attack now, what instructions do you have?"

In early 1941, when both individual night vision equipment and tank-mounted night vision equipment were blank, large-scale night battles were something that almost all front-line commanders tried their best to avoid, regardless of the country and the battlefield.

Once this kind of battle started, it would be a messy battle where the enemy would be injured 1,000 and the enemy would be injured 800, and the whole army would be wiped out. Even the top armies like the Soviet Union and Germany did not dare to take action on a dark and windy night.

Except for actual combat needs under certain extreme special conditions, such as a desperate gamble to turn the tide of the battle when both the troops and equipment were at a disadvantage, Malashenko really couldn't imagine what other reasons could prompt an army commander to take such a bad approach.

"Do other friendly forces have action plans tonight? Comrade Captain, I mean the siege troops in other directions of the war zone."

After being asked so suddenly by Malashenko, Captain Garininbov was slightly stunned, but after thinking carefully, he did not expect any friendly forces to inform him of the action plan, and then he shook his head quietly.

"We have not received any advance notice from any friendly forces, Comrade Major. There is no reason for our troops to launch an action at night. The entire encirclement has been shrunk in place during the day. It is only a matter of time before those Germans are crushed to death in the city."

"In that case, the only reason that can explain it is that the Germans are preparing to break out. It seems that these Germans want to escape, and we can't let them succeed!"

He pulled the bolt of the Suomi submachine gun in his hand and loaded the 9mm bullet into the chamber. Malashenko, who had already made up his mind, decided to take action on his own without receiving orders from his superiors.

"Notify all our troops to prepare for battle, Comrade Captain. The tanks will start now. We will rush in the direction where the gunfire is the most intense! We can't see clearly, and those Germans are also blind. Since they want to fight this blind battle, we will fight them. We must cut off the retreat of these Germans!"

"Understood, Comrade Major!"

The siege column that was urgently dispatched after Malashenko's order ran at a high speed like a precision machine. The sleepy Red Army soldiers, although exhausted and sleepy, still forced themselves to prepare for battle. The KV1 heavy tanks that started one after another roared like prehistoric monsters waking up from the dark night.

Just when the Red Army's siege column, located at the weak point of the encirclement, was caught off guard by the well-prepared German breakout troops.

General Zhukov, the commander who had just fallen asleep in the reserve army headquarters in the rear, was also suddenly awakened by the sudden and hasty report and a telegram.