USSR 1941

Chapter 202: Katukov

??Chapter 202 Katukov

??That’s all for today, continue tomorrow…

??********

?? This problem was definitely not discovered by Shulka first, because it has happened time and time again on the battlefield.

??The reason why no one brought it up... On the one hand, it is normal to have casualties on the battlefield, and on the other hand, the Soviet Army emphasized "combat spirit" and "bravery and fearlessness", so they did not think it was a "problem".

??If it is regarded as a "problem", it is a cowardly performance of deliberately avoiding the enemy's attack.

??But the colonel didn't seem to have such an idea.

?? "Do you have a solution to this problem, Comrade Sissoy?" said the Colonel.

Hisoi thought for a while, then shook his head and said: "It's hard to do, Comrade Colonel, maybe...we can shorten the length of the antenna to make it less conspicuous, or shift its position so that the enemy can't easily find it. But to It is impossible to cover it completely, otherwise it cannot receive the signal!"

??The Colonel frowned and nodded in agreement.

??Shuerka couldn't help but rolled his eyes, and said: "The solution to this problem is very simple, Colonel, we only need to install an antenna for the other tanks!"

??Sisoi couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and then looked at Shulka with a face full of surprise: "Good way, second lieutenant! And it's really simple..."

?? Of course it is very simple, because you only need to install a dummy antenna for other tanks. It's like a brain teaser.

??However, Shulka did not come up with it himself. The modern 59 tank command vehicle of our army has two antennas, one to communicate with the superior and the other to communicate with the subordinate.

??So the Vietnamese looked for tanks with two antennas to fight.

??Knowing this, all 59s are equipped with two antennas, of course one of them is fake... If the antenna cannot be hidden, then let other tanks be like it, which is also a kind of concealment.

??The same is true for the antenna of the T34 command vehicle.

?? "It is indeed a good way, Comrade Shulka!" The colonel smiled and nodded.

?? "Comrade Colonel!" Shulka was a little surprised that the colonel knew his name.

?? "I've seen your picture!" The colonel shook hands with Shulka and explained: "In the newspaper, 'Breakout Hero' Shulka..."

??Sisoi looked at Shulka in surprise: "Colonel, you mean...he is the one who thought of installing a telephone on the tank!"

?? "Yes!" The Colonel replied: "I knew he would join the Fourth Brigade, but I didn't expect him to solve a problem as soon as he came! My name is Katukov, it's an honor to meet you..."

?? "I am honored too, Colonel!" Shulka replied.

But the next second he was stunned. The seemingly ordinary colonel in front of him with a great sense of humor was actually Katukov... Katukov, known as the number one tank soldier in the Soviet Union, was the newly formed first tank soldier. Commander of the Fourth Tank Brigade? !

?? However, this does not seem to be unexpected. To form a mobile force capable of fighting the German army, of course, you need a commander with strong organizational skills and excellent military qualities.

?? Katukov certainly fits the bill.

??Due to the urgent military situation, the Fourth Tank Brigade started training the next day.

"We only have one week!" Katukov made it clear to everyone from the very beginning: "You know why, we don't have much time to train, otherwise the enemy will hit Moscow! So, with All the time you have available, you are familiar with tanks, comrades-in-arms, and everything! Only in this way can you defeat the Germans and become the backbone of Moscow defense!"

??Katukov did what he said. During this week, the tank soldiers and mechanized infantrymen trained almost non-stop except for a few hours of sleep.

??Practice tactics, practice coordination, plus repair bridges, pave roads, clear mines and design forward routes for tanks, etc.

??Practice during the day and practice at night.

?? Veterans therefore complained: "These should be the work of sappers, and we are infantry!"

?? "That's right!" The actor also expressed dissatisfaction: "If we are half dead from road repairs on the road, how can we still take up guns and fight the enemy on the battlefield?"

?? "This guy is simply a spy sent by the Germans, he just wants to exhaust us to death!"

??…

??So "Spy" became Katukov's nickname in private.

??This nickname is not pleasant, and it may even be misleading, especially for those Ministry of Internal Affairs who are always staring at their own people.

??But Katukov didn't mind when he heard the nickname.

?? "If they hate me so much!" Katukov said: "It means that I have trained enough!"

??One day Leonyev complained to Shulka: "Comrade commander! Why don't you report to your superiors?"

?? "Report what?" Shulka asked back.

?? "I think such training is meaningless!" Leonyev said: "As they say, we are about to be regarded as engineers!"

?? "I don't think there's anything wrong with that!" Shulka said.

?? "What?" The soldiers couldn't help being stunned after hearing this answer.

?? "It's like a tank man learning how to repair a tank!" Shulka said: "That's what maintenance men do too."

?? "But this has nothing to do with us..." said the actor.

?? "The war has something to do with each of us, Okunev!" Shulka interrupted Okunev: "We are an army, and if we have to face the same enemy, it has something to do with us!"

After a pause, Shulka continued: "The Fourth Brigade is a fast-moving force, comrades! The purpose of forming this force is to reach the destination in the shortest possible time and make up for the gap... If we What if there are no sappers or not enough sappers? Why don’t you go forward and wait for the sappers to arrive?”

??After hearing the words, everyone couldn't help being silent, so the training continued.

?? But Katukov's training is really a bit ruthless: what he often does is to let a few T34s drive into the mud pile and get stuck in it, so that the soldiers can find a way to get them out.

??It’s still a trivial matter to toss people so much, but those T34s are precious... Before that, the T34s that were produced and immediately shipped to the front line to rescue the field can be said to be gold.

??Because the fourth tank brigade was to be formed, all the T34s transported to the front line were cut off during this period, and even some of the T34s fighting on the front line were withdrawn.

??The price of doing this is a sudden increase in front-line casualties.

With the firepower and defenses on the front line down, it is natural to use human lives to stop the German attack, and sometimes even the use of human lives will not produce it... tanks, in some cases, it takes as many lives as possible. no good.

?? Therefore, it is not too much to say that these T34s were bought with blood and lives.

??If the soldiers on the front line knew that some of the tanks were driven by Katukov into the muddy ground, they might really regard Katukov as a spy.

??(end of this chapter)