Steel Soviet Union

Leading the troops to move forward, Malashenko soon encountered the "final surprise" that he had prepared for himself - the huge craters left by the bombing of extra-large 5-ton gas tanks.

When Malashenko encountered the first gas tank pit, he found soldiers on the edge of the pit looking around in the pit and watching the scene.

It stands to reason that such behavior is prohibited on the battlefield, and such a situation should not occur in the leadership division, which is known for its rich combat experience and a high proportion of veterans.

But Malashenko knew the reason behind this seemingly abnormal situation, because the pit was so damn big that he could even look at it from a distance while sitting in the tank. Even if I go there, I feel that the pit is really fucking ridiculously big.

Just a rough estimate, the diameter of this super giant crater is at least twenty meters, and probably not much different from thirty meters. Compared with those Red Army heavy artillery craters that can easily be measured by one or two meters, this is simply a dad-level, no, grandpa-level pit.

There were no signs of German military activity around the pit, not even the slightest sign of German military activity. Even though Malashenko knew that there must have been German troops in this place, and that a large number of German troops had existed, there was no trace.

Everything as far as the eye can see is scorched earth, and the smell of destruction is lingering in the air along with the smell of blood and corpses. The residual smell of gunpowder silently tells that this place is not a real slaughterhouse, but a battlefield.

Malashenko ordered the car to move forward, and soon came to the edge of the pit surrounded by other Stalin tanks and soldiers. The soldiers who turned around and saw the division commander's command vehicle driving up immediately heard the sound and gave way. When the huge No. 177 IS7 heavy tank slowly stopped, a figure emerged from the top of the uncovered turret. Quietly emerged from the cover.

"Who's in charge here?"

Malashenko did not get out of the car, but leaned half of his body out of the turret to ask the soldiers under the car. Then a soldier holding an AK came forward and stood at attention to salute.

"It's me, comrade division commander. Second Lieutenant Vorokov is leading the team to report to you."

"Um"

Malashenko was noncommittal and just responded casually. Then he held the edge of the turret with both hands and scanned everything under the surrounding vehicles, taking in all the surrounding battlefield scenes.

There was no sign of any surviving German soldiers, and there was no evidence that this had once been an intact position or a trench or a traffic trench.

Floating soil, the only thing Malashenko saw was countless layers of floating soil, varying in depth and depth. Those loose particles of soil cover the surface lightly, the big ones are as big as a fist, the small ones are estimated to be only the size of fingernails, and the smaller ones are considered to be dirt level and cannot be distinguished with the naked eye.

You don't need to try to step on it with your feet. Just a glance is enough to know how it feels when stepped on. It is definitely similar to stepping on a sponge or bread.

Malashenko looked around and couldn't even find a tree, not even a branch or a tree stump.

There were obviously trees in the photo that he had an impression of, and they could be seen both near and far. Malashenko remembered it clearly. But now, not even a single trace of the vegetation or trees that once existed could be found. It was as if they had disappeared out of thin air, without a trace at all.

Malashenko looked around, looked here and there, and then looked under the car in front of him. He really didn't find anything of value and couldn't help but speak again.

"Why don't you move on, Lieutenant, and take your soldiers to stay here to see what special meaning there is in the pit?"

Malashenko was not deliberately looking for trouble. He just wanted to ask the second lieutenant about his combat situation, but he did not expect that the latter's answer really surprised him.

"We have already advanced once without orders, Comrade Division Commander. We were the first wave of troops to rush forward. Comrade Company Commander only asked our platoon to tear a hole to capture the enemy's outermost position and hold it. "

"But after I rushed up, I found that there were no enemies fighting with us, we couldn't find the target, and there were no enemies attacking the area we were defending. I felt that I couldn't wait and had to do something, so I led the soldiers to move forward. , until we walked a few hundred meters further and arrived at this big pit. "

"This is completely different from what we imagined. We don't know whether we should continue to move forward or where to go. We were about to go to the infantry fighting vehicle to ask for orders via radio when we happened to meet you coming."

""

It seems that the intelligence sent back from the frontline troops not long ago is correct. The first batch of attacking troops did not encounter any resistance at all after rushing up to the mid-level defense line. They marched through the outermost defense zone as if they were walking on the street. Not a single living German was seen.

With the previous report and the second lieutenant's personal narration, Malashenko finally believed how powerful those 18 gas tanks with the blessing of hell bombardment were. So much so that the Germans can be completely wiped out from the world, just like right-clicking on the computer desktop, emptying the Recycle Bin and formatting the disk without leaving any trace, but there is still one problem that has not yet been solved.

"From the time you rushed up to now, have you really not seen a single German? Not even a living or dead person???"

If you can't see it alive, then it's okay if you are dead.

After all, Malashenko still didn't believe that such an important line of defense could be blown up by 18 gas cans and bombarded by one hour, and the Germans' molecular structure would be completely destroyed. There would be even the slightest trace left, right? Um? You should know how to do it, right? Yes or no?

This time, Comrade Second Lieutenant’s answer did not disappoint Malashenko.

"Yes, Comrade Commander, I saw it, it's over there."

Following the direction of the second lieutenant's finger, Malashenko found something in the soil at the feet of several soldiers not far away. It looked like bamboo shoots that had just emerged from the ground. At first glance, I can't even see clearly.

"Is that a hand?"

Before Malashenko could finish his question, Comrade Second Lieutenant blurted out his answer immediately.

"Yes, Comrade Commander, one hand."

"From the time we rushed up to now, the only Germans we have seen are in this state. It is not clear whether they were killed by bombs or suffocated, but they were all buried in the soil. Just now Vasily stepped on the floating soil with his foot I almost fell down in the pit, and a human leg immediately tripped out from under my feet.”

"When I looked back, I found that it was a leg that had been blown off. Only the thigh to the calf was left. The feet were missing, and I didn't know who the owner was. There was also a hand emerging from the soil. It was almost like that. There are all kinds of postures, but not too many. I guess more Germans were buried deeper, probably hiding in the bomb-proof caves and being buried alive. "