Steel Soviet Union

That is to say, during the time when Iushkin was chatting awkwardly with Artem in the artillery hole, Malashenko, who held the positions of vehicle commander and division commander, still had not rested and was still discussing tomorrow's attack with the division's leadership team. detailed plan.

"What kind of enemies will we encounter? Is there any relevant intelligence?"

It was Malashenko who spoke, and the person who was asked about this was political commissar Petrov.

Strictly speaking, this is not the question that Comrade Political Commissar answered, but it has become Malashenko's habit to "find Comrade Political Commissar if anything happens, and Comrade Political Commissar if nothing happens". It's not so much a bad habit as it is a kind of emotional dependence. People are always social creatures who need companionship and dependence to survive.

And on the battlefield, in this purgatory of roaring artillery fire, Comrade Malashenko, the political commissar, was exactly the person Malashenko thought he could rely on. This was the case in the past and remains the same now.

"There is indeed relevant information, but it is not good news for us. Do you want to hear it?"

After hearing this, Malashenko just thought it was a political commissar comrade who was enlivening the atmosphere, and immediately smiled without thinking.

"Why bother asking?"

"I guess so."

Comrade Comrade Political Commissar, who was also smiling and nodding slightly, switched states, and soon took on a serious look and began to talk to Malashenko seriously, discussing the current situation displayed on the map on the table in front of him.

"The situation shown by aerial reconnaissance is basically consistent with what you judged during the day. When we concentrated our forces to attack the German power, there was a steady stream of German troops arriving from below on the other side of the high ground and driving up the high ground. "

"We are unable to grasp the specific number of German reinforcements, nor do we know their numbers and strength. However, the photos taken by the reconnaissance aircraft show that these Germans are very powerful, carrying large-caliber howitzers, anti-tank guns, etc. There are heavy weapons such as cannons, and there are also a small number of armored troops. They don’t seem to be many, only about thirty to fifty vehicles.”

Taking the photos handed over by Comrade Political Commissar in his hand and looking through them one by one, Malashenko quickly found the things Comrade Political Commissar said in them.

The 150mm howitzer, which is so common that we no longer like to see it again, is the PAK 43 88mm anti-tank gun with the iconic ultra-long diameter ratio gun barrel.

In addition, it seems that there are some heavy weapons of unknown model, too far away, and the photos are so blurry that it is hard to see what they are. The appearance of being towed by a truck means that even the new recruit knows that they are not What an easy thing to deal with.

In the photo, the German reinforcements coming up from the other side of the highland seem to be continuous and endless. The march of vehicles and infantry stretches for at least several kilometers. Judging from this formation, at least a division-level German army came to reinforce the high ground. The actual number of troops must be much higher than the estimated number.

This also corresponds to Malashenko's speculation during the day: The Germans dared to squander their troops and concentrate high-value technical equipment on their own territory. If they had no backers and no capital to squander, Marashenko Shen Ke would not believe it even to death.

After all, it is impossible for the Germans to run all the way on the fast lane of death and charge like the Japanese. Malashenko clearly knows that his opponents still want to win so far, and he is willing to do it for this goal. They see There is something valuable to do. The Japanese's suicidal attack is almost equivalent to "impossible" on the Germans.

Now the answer has been revealed. Malashenko did indeed guess right, and his judgment of his old opponent was very accurate.

The Germans dared to charge so hard because they really had some trump cards in their hands. Behind them, there was a steady stream of reinforcements climbing up from the other side of the high ground to support them.

Thinking from this perspective and from the perspective of a German, if too many usable defensive areas are lost, then having too many troops in hand will actually have no effect. The density of troops placed in the usable defensive area is fixed. It does not mean that you have 100,000 reinforcements and just cram all 100,000 troops into it. You cannot cram a platoon of troops into a ten-meter-wide trench. go in?

If this is really the case, the Russian guy opposite will die of joy?

Good guy, if you shoot 152, you will be guaranteed to reimburse a platoon. If you are lucky, it is not impossible to directly reimburse a company.

Superiority in force is a good thing, but that's not how wars are fought.

When you have a superior force, you must also consider the density of the force, and the resulting marginal effect problem of uneconomical investment and benefit ratio depending on how many troops are placed in a defensive area. This is the science of war, not just counting heads like playing a real-time strategy game.

After looking through the photos handed over by the political commissar, Malashenko, recalling what he had just said in his mind, and probably having a judgment in his mind, immediately put down the pile of photos and spoke immediately.

"Can you think that even after we slaughtered the Nazis all day today, the troop density of the Germans on the opposite side in the remaining controlled area is no less than before today's fighting started, and may even be more? "

Today's battle was fierce, indeed very fierce. It was so fierce that the rocket assault battalion directly under the division's fire support fired continuously until the weapon overheated and could not be reloaded. Otherwise, it was very likely to cause the ammunition to overheat, catch fire or even explode, so rapid water cooling was necessary. Only then can Malashenko’s strike order be carried out.

According to Malashenko's estimate, during the whole day today, from the foot of the highland to the top of the highland near the center, the results of the German combat troops "eliminated" by the leadership division alone, not counting the friendly forces on the two wings, amounted to If the results of the artillery directly under the group army and the long-range bombing aviation in the main attack direction of the central front are also counted against the leader division.

To be honest, even if there is not 40,000, there must be 30,000 upwards. This is the basic starting quantity. The absolute firepower kill rate of the leader division is so scary.

But a problem that arises is that this seemingly brutal work during the day may be regarded as "wasted work" in terms of the overall battle situation.

In positional offensive and defensive warfare, for the offensive side, an important indicator that determines the development of the subsequent war is the change in the density of the enemy's defensive forces. We cannot just look at the increase or decrease in the number of enemies.

Now you tell Malashenko that after a whole day of hard work, the density of the German defense forces has not decreased, but may have increased.

This is like telling a hard-core warrior that you killed two yellow men who screwed your wife today. You did a good job, but tomorrow there will be more yellow men who screwed your wife. Waiting for you to clean up.

Can you clean it up?

Yes, but it's disgusting just thinking about it, isn't it?

This is how Malashenko feels now.