Chapter 659: Unknown Fear

Malachenko didn't know what type of German cannons were bombarding him, and he had no way to judge from his later memories how far away he should hide to be safe from the German cannons.

According to Malachenko's guess, the Germans deployed those siege cannons to prepare for shelling the main city of Stalingrad.

If that was the case, it would be useless for Malachenko to hide with his troops anywhere now, and they would be bombed even if they retreated into the city.

The range of the German siege cannons aimed at shelling the main city area naturally covers all the suburbs outside the city. Malachenko and his troops could hide for a while, but not forever.

As long as the fierce battle with the Germans continued to break out in the wild suburbs today, being hit by the cannons would definitely be another disaster. Thinking of this, Malachenko felt even more overwhelmed and felt really tired.

Judging from the current situation, hiding in the complex terrain of Stalingrad to fight the next street battle seems to be the only feasible approach.

Malashenko, whose mind was in a mess along the way, finally stopped immediately after retreating only five kilometers with his troops and began to deploy defenses on the spot to prepare for the German attack that might come at any time.

Standing on the new temporary position where he retreated all the way, Malashenko, holding binoculars in his hand, could even clearly see the main city of Stalingrad behind him. At such a close distance, there was almost no room left to retreat further. If he was repelled by the German army again, Malashenko would have to retreat to the city with his troops.

Malashenko, with mixed feelings, stood there thinking about what to do next, but Political Commissar Petrov, who had been in charge of the construction of the field regiment headquarters, suddenly rushed over at this time.

"New news, Malashenko. The front headquarters called back!"

Malashenko, whose thoughts were interrupted, turned around and saw Political Commissar Petrov, who was trotting over with a freshly-made telegram in his hand, standing beside him.

"What does the telegram say?"

"You can find out by reading it yourself?"

""

Malachenko picked up the telegram and held it in front of him with both hands. He read it quickly at a speed of ten lines at a glance. However, the content recorded in the telegram made Malachenko look unhappy.

Zhukov's reply to Malachenko was very simple. The front headquarters had known that the German army had used huge artillery and allowed him to retreat temporarily, but he could not continue to retreat endlessly.

The current position is the last line of defense that Malachenko must hold. Before receiving more specific and clear orders, Malachenko must hold his position and do all his work.

What Malachenko didn't know at this moment was

After a fierce bombardment that drove away and repelled the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, the two K5s, whose gun barrels were still warm, turned their guns on the circular rails of the position and aimed the 21-meter-long black cannon barrels at the Soviet troops that had been stagnant in other main offensive directions. The Soviet troops in several directions were so miserable that they had to retreat tactically. The Germans' use of special siege cannons to deal with ground troops was obviously beyond everyone's expectations.

But even so, Zhukov still did not give up the plan of counterattack immediately.

First, Comrade Stalin, the father in Moscow, was still constantly asking Zhukov about the situation on the front line and waiting for good news of the counterattack. Second, the purpose of this counterattack to resolve the German offensive and slow down the attack speed of the German army's large forces had not yet been achieved.

According to Zhukov's original plan, there would still be battles to fight in the next few days. If he ended the battle hastily and retreated immediately, all the subsequent action plans would be ruined.

If possible, Zhukov wanted to try again with his own skills and all the troops he had. Not giving up easily was Zhukov's truest thought at this time.

It is conceivable that it was very difficult for Zhukov to issue such an order, but there were people who were more difficult and entangled than him at this moment, such as our comrade Malashenko who had a look of being upset.

It is easier said than done to defend the last line of defense in the suburbs where we are now.

Malashenko, who had been psychologically traumatized by the Germans' crazy siege cannon, really didn't want to taste this extremely sour "pleasure" again.

When the basin-sized shell hit, even if it was a near miss, you could feel the tank shaking. If it was a direct hit or the distance was too close to a few meters, Malashenko estimated that his crew would not even need to rescue it, and it would basically not change the result if it was restored to the state of parts on the spot.

Malashenko was so angry at the hateful German siege cannons that he even thought about how great it would be if his own air force launched a surprise attack to blow up those things, so that all the Red Army ground forces on the front line, including himself, would not have to suffer the pain of being hit by these cannons.

However, considering the current situation on the front line and the dense German Air Force fleet that was so numerous that it covered the sky this morning, Malashenko, who was only thinking about it, quickly threw this unrealistic dream behind his mind.

"Fuck! These Germans!"

This was completely opposite to Zhukov's frown and Malashenko's terrible scolding in the front headquarters.

At the headquarters of the German Sixth Army, which had just reversed the unfavorable situation this morning, Paulus, who was standing in front of the war zone map and staring at the symbol of the Soviet counterattack situation, unexpectedly received a surprising news from the chief of staff, Major General Schmidt, who ran into the headquarters excitedly.

"Good news! Good news from the front line, the two slender Berthas played a big role! The reconnaissance plane observing the Soviet positions reported that the Soviets retreated from the positions they occupied this morning after falling into chaos! Our front-line troops have taken over the positions left behind by the Soviets after their retreat, and the current situation on the front line has basically returned to the situation before the Soviets launched a counterattack!"

The two K5 railway guns were so powerful that they greatly exceeded Paulus' expectations. Being able to hold back the Soviets before dark was the result he least expected, but after changing his mind, Paulus seemed to have found a reasonable answer, and then turned around with his hands behind his back and smiled at his chief of staff.

"I suddenly remembered what a philosopher said, Schmidt, that the most instinctive fear of mankind comes from the unknown! It seems that compared to the air force planes and bombs in the sky that can be heard and seen by the eyes, these huge artillery shells that come from unknown directions and distances can make the Russians more afraid! This is very good, very good!"