USSR 1941

  Chapter 829 Artillery charge

The timing of the attack and the preparation of artillery fire were very tight, so tight that before the shells had time to extend forward, the signal flares would be lifted into the air, and the soldiers would jump out of the trenches and rush towards the enemy's defense line, and most of them were infantry, tanks were not Be left behind in a moment to become a cover fire unit...

  This is not what Shurka meant. Shurka generally doesn't use this tactic. Even before that, Shurka didn't know that the 51st Army would charge in this way.

   This kind of charge was called "artillery charge" by Soviet soldiers.

  The so-called "fire charge" is to charge towards the enemy under the cover of artillery fire.

  To be exact, it was our own soldiers who charged before the artillery preparations were over.

Doing this sometimes does get very good results, because the enemy is most vulnerable when the artillery preparations are not over... The enemy is still confused by the artillery fire, and most of them are still avoiding the artillery in the artillery hole. The opponent has already launched a charge.

   Obviously, at this time, the charge can rush into the enemy's trench and fight the enemy in close combat without the enemy being caught off guard.

   And the Soviet army likes to fight the enemy in close combat.

  However, the weakness of this tactic is also prominent. One of them is that the accuracy of artillery fire in this era is not high, and it is common to deviate from the target by hundreds of meters or even kilometers.

  So, it is inevitable that soldiers who charge will fall under their own shells.

As Shulka saw in the binoculars, the Soviet soldiers who rushed into the thick smoke were blasted into the sky by shells, and even soldiers from the 82nd Infantry Regiment... The second battalion of the 82nd Infantry Regiment is also " "Punishment Battalion" participated in the first attack.

   "Who gave the order?" Shulka gritted his teeth and asked.

   "What?" Andrianka didn't understand what Shulka was asking.

   "Attack time!" Shulka said, "Who sets the attack time?"

   "I don't know, Comrade Shulka!" answered Andrianka.

   Akadyevich interjected: "You should be able to guess who has the most power in the army!"

   Then Shulka understood that it was Zolotarev.

   Even if it wasn't for Zolotarev, it would be impossible to pass this offensive plan without his nod.

   "They are already hiding something from you!" Akadyevich smiled: "It seems that we have harmed you, Shulka! Sorry!"

  Although Akadyevich said he was sorry, his expression didn't mean "sorry" at all.

   Shulka understood what Akadyevich meant.

The reason why Zolotarev had any plans to hide from Shulka was because Shulka got too close to the people of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and weakened the Political Department. Trust... After all, the army is still under the command and leadership of the Political Department, so it directly affects the formulation of the battle plan.

Shulka even understood that this was actually a secret rivalry between the Ministry of Political Affairs and the Ministry of Internal Affairs: if the Ministry of Internal Affairs could use spies to "persuade" the 6th Army in Stalingrad, of course the Political Department would not allow the Ministry of Internal Affairs to take all the credit , So I tried to intervene and hoped to make some achievements on the battlefield.

   Even this can be said to be a small warning to Shulka.

  But Shulka didn't care about it. He raised his binoculars and looked towards the battlefield, and then ordered: "Withdraw the troops!"

   "But Comrade Shulka..."

   "Withdraw!" Shulka interrupted Andrianka: "Immediately!"

   "Yes!" Andrianka responded, and then passed on the order.

   Shulka's move surprised even Akadyevich.

   "Shuerka, you have to consider the consequences!" Akadyevich said, "This is getting cold feet!"

   "There is nothing to consider!" Shulka replied: "I will not let my subordinates go up to die!"

   "Then you can't do this!" Akadyevich hurriedly stopped: "If you judge that the troops can't break through the enemy's line of defense...you know what will happen, they will push all the blame on you!"

   This is what Soviet commanders often do, especially at this time Shulka did withdraw troops during the charge... So it can be said: "The reason why this charge failed is because these troops retreated!"

  Shuerka did not change his decision, he just asked: "So, Comrade Akadyevich, you mean to let my subordinates die at the hands of the enemy like this?"

   "This is war, isn't it?" Arkadyevich persuaded: "You should think more about yourself..."

   "Enough, Comrade Akadyevich!" Shulka interrupted him: "I believe I understand war better than you!"

   At this time, the battlefield really changed.

Although the Soviet army successfully rushed into the German trenches through the "artillery charge" and fought close to the German army, the German army soon organized a second line of defense... The German army is not a new recruit who has just entered the battlefield, and the Soviet army is also on the battlefield. This is not the first time they have used "charge of artillery fire", of course they know the way to deal with "charge of artillery fire": temporarily abandon the position that has been infiltrated by the enemy and enter the melee, and then organize another line of defense, and then no matter whether it is their own or the enemy, as long as they charge Shoot and kill anyone on this line of defense.

The Soviet army had almost no protection because the infantry was in the front and the tank was behind. They could only use their flesh and blood to rush at the enemy's bullets, and they undoubtedly fell under the guns of the German army in pieces... Until then, the Soviet tanks did not They came late, but because they lost the effective coordination and cooperation of the infantry, they quickly became the targets of the German anti-tank vehicles and were blown into fireballs.

   "Comrade Shulka!" Andrianka ran to Shulka's side, saying, "The Second Battalion has withdrawn!"

   "Very good!" Shulka nodded.

  The second battalion is a punishment battalion.

If it was Valery's 1st Battalion, perhaps Shulka would let them continue fighting. After all, there is such a thing as "military orders like mountains" in the army, especially in the battle. .

  But the "punishment battalion"...although they have become normal troops, most of them are psychologically fragile because of their previous experience in the "punishment battalion".

  The vulnerability mentioned here is not the fear of fighting, but the fear of being sacrificed as cannon fodder again.

   If so, what's the point of being a normal force? Wouldn't they be sacrificed as cannon fodder?

  So, this is related to the issue of whether the entire "punishment battalion" and the soldiers of the subsequent "punishment battalion" have confidence in "returning to a regular position".

   Therefore, even if Shulka risked falling out with Zolotarev or even being convicted, he still wanted to save the "punishment camp".