Chapter 675 Night Interlude

Now that Malashenko had promised and invited him personally, Lieutenant Igor had no reason to refuse.

On the way, he recruited Lieutenant Igor's team of more than 100 people to strengthen himself. Malashenko felt that he had taken another step towards the grand goal of defending the railway station.

In the past, when cleaning the battlefield, Malashenko would hardly ask for other dispensable German light weapons and rags, except for letting Karamov, the collector, pick up some rare treasures. Carrying these things was not only inconvenient, but also had no practical use. Almost all the light weapons obtained from cleaning the battlefield were given away by Malashenko as gifts.

But this time, considering that he had to defend the No. 1 railway station that was about to be a mess, Malashenko estimated that he would encounter supply difficulties and decided to take some of the German light weapons obtained from cleaning the battlefield.

Of course, the credit for destroying and forcing the remaining German troops to surrender was not all due to Malashenko. In addition to the assistance of Lieutenant Igor, who had become Malashenko's own man, the group of infantrymen stationed in the eastern block who blocked the German army and attracted their attention also made a great contribution.

Considering that the subsequent urban battles will be extremely cruel, the infantrymen will also face the problem of ammunition shortage and need more supplies. Malashenko did not take the captured property from the battlefield alone in the end, and distributed nearly half of the guns and ammunition to the Red Army soldiers in the eastern block.

For Malashenko's generosity, the leading Red Army captain was very grateful and thanked him repeatedly, saying that with their defense, the German army would definitely not be able to reach the railway station.

Hearing this, Malashenko just smiled faintly and didn't say much. By the way, he reminded the captain to make more use of street bunkers and buildings for defense, and not to fight hard with the superior German army on the street.

But as for how much effect his advice and reminders can have, Malashenko, who is well aware of the cruelty and bloodiness of the street fighting in Stalingrad, is not clear in his mind. It all depends on the captain's understanding and execution ability.

The 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment of the Guards, which set out again, slowly moved forward on the dark streets full of ruins.

Most of the urban areas in Stalingrad have lost power, and the ruined urban areas bombed by the German army are dark and pitch black.

Malashenko ordered the chief chamberlain Karamov to collect all the flashlights and lighting equipment that the regiment can use, and distribute them to each crew so that they can barely move forward in the dark.

The large searchlight tied directly to the muzzle of the front end of the main gun barrel with iron wire is also connected to a battery placed on the side of the turret. If a place is too dark to see clearly, Malashenko can directly let Iushkin shake the elevation and steering machine to aim the light at it, which is quite convenient. Karamov's idea for Malashenko is indeed very good.

Malashenko, who was still half-slouched outside the turret smoking, looked at the dark city in front of him, and couldn't help sighing how good it would be if there were night vision equipment.

The original heading lights on his car had been smashed to pieces by German shells in that battle. Now, thanks to this large searchlight tied to the barrel, he could barely see the things in front and around him. Although the effect was extremely limited, it was much better than moving forward in the dark.

He raised his hand to flick the last cigarette butt in his mouth, and with his head full of smoke, Malashenko retreated into the turret to ask about the situation.

Using an oil lamp hanging on the ammunition rack at the rear end of the turret to illuminate the narrow interior space, Ivushkin, who also had a cigarette in his mouth, was leaning on his seat and fiddling with the war zone map in his hand.

"How far is it to the train station? Where are we now?"

Hearing Malashenko, who had already returned to the turret, ask, Ivushkin, who was about to finish his cigarette and could hardly open his eyes, took off his cigarette butt and stuffed it into the 85mm armor-piercing grenade shell ashtray at his feet, and then leaned towards Malashenko.

"We are roughly at this position now, less than one kilometer away from the train station. The battle at night took a long detour, so it will take more time now. The nearby blocks are not easy to walk, and many roads are blocked by the ruins of the German planes. If the road conditions are a little better, we can reach the train station within 40 minutes."

"Why does it take so long? I feel like we have gone around several blocks. I thought we could reach the train station within ten minutes..."

Click--

Before Malashenko, who was complaining, finished his words, the sudden brakes made the steel tracks grind against the gravel-covered road surface, making a tooth-grinding friction sound.

Before Malashenko, who was puzzled, asked what was going on, the driver Seryosha, who could clearly see the road conditions a hundred meters ahead with the help of the large searchlight tied to the gun barrel, spoke first.

"Comrade commander, there are people ahead, citizens have stopped our tank."

"Stop the tank??? Damn, that idiot is so bold to touch a heavy tank in the middle of the night?"

Malashenko, who was quite surprised, leaned out again along the turret cover that had not been closed. The road ahead, which was clearly illuminated by the large searchlight, was indeed as Seryosha said. An old woman and a young woman were holding two children and blocked the way of Malashenko's entire column.

"Please help us, please help us, please help us."

""

Before Malashenko could ask questions, two women, an old man and a young woman, ran over with their children in their arms and cried loudly for help.

The confused Malashenko blinked his eyes and didn't know where to start. Several figures rushed out from the side of the street, interrupting Malashenko's train of thought again.

"Alexei, take them back quickly. How could you let them escape?"

"Sorry, comrade squad leader, I went to the toilet and they slipped out without me noticing."

Holding on to the turret, Malashenko watched the two Red Army soldiers hurriedly running next to his car, taking away the two women and children, an old man and a young man. The scene was a bit chaotic for a while, and Malashenko's head was filled with questions. Finally, Malashenko Stop being silent and ask questions.

"You two, wait a minute. Why should they be taken away? Can two women and two children make any mistakes?"

The squad leader, who was tripped by Malashenko's loud words and felt that the situation might be a bit troublesome, turned around and spoke back to Malashenko.