When the brigade chief of staff gave the order to blow up the tank and move immediately, several tank soldiers reacted violently. They blocked their comrades who were about to blow up the tank with their bodies and shouted at them: "If you want to blow up the tank, just step on it." Let’s carry our bodies over there.”
Seeing their comrades who got along day and night standing up in front of the tank, the soldiers on the mission couldn't help but hesitate. They turned to look at the chief of staff behind them, hoping to get some tips from him.
The chief of staff had just asked Ruhle for instructions on whether coercive measures could be taken against those tank soldiers who were firmly opposed to blowing up the tanks and pulled them away from the tanks directly to avoid affecting the overall situation. But his proposal was rejected by Ruhlie, who told him: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our soldiers all have feelings for their tanks, and it is psychologically difficult to accept the fact that the tank was blown up. Therefore, You can’t use drastic measures against them, but try to persuade them.”
It was precisely because he accepted Ruhle's order that the chief of staff did not use a simple and crude method and ordered the soldiers to pull away the tank soldiers blocking the tanks. Instead, he pushed aside the soldiers blocking him and walked to those tank soldiers. In front of the tank soldiers, he said to them earnestly: "Comrades, I understand your mood at this moment. To be honest, I don't want to blow up these tanks, and I also want to drive them to destroy more enemies.
But no, comrades. Now that the fuel and ammunition of these tanks have been used up, and we will not get any replenishment in a short period of time, these tanks will no longer be of any use in our hands. Instead of leaving them here and being captured by the Germans, we should take the initiative and blow them all up. "
Everyone understands what the chief of staff said, but everyone just can't get over this hurdle in their hearts. A tank soldier with a bandage on his head muttered: "Comrade Chief of Staff, if we blow up all the tanks, can we still be called tank soldiers?"
"Don't worry, comrade." The chief of staff looked at the wounded and said: "I assure you, as long as we escape the German encirclement, our superiors will soon replenish us with new tanks. As long as people are alive, there will be no new tanks." Technical equipment?”
The chief of staff's persuasion made the tank crews who stopped bombing the tanks waver. Seeing that the time was right, he struck while the iron was hot and said: "Comrades, our time is tight. If we don't blow up these tanks as soon as possible, when the enemy rushes up, it will be too late to blow them up."
After hearing what the chief of staff said, the tank soldiers no longer were stubborn and walked away from the tank one after another. At this time, the chief of staff told the soldiers carrying gasoline: "Let's do it."
A few minutes later, the tanks that had fought with the Germans not long ago were all wrapped in flames. The tank crews looked at the burning tanks, and they were all heartbroken. They knew very well that if the logistical supplies were not cut off by the Germans, they would be fully capable of fighting the enemy.
Even though the chief of staff was calm and composed in front of the soldiers just now, and promised them that as long as he jumped out of the enemy's encirclement, he would soon be supplemented by his superiors, but in fact he was also unsure. During the march, he asked Colonel Ruhle in a low voice: "Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think that after we break out of the encirclement, our superiors will replenish our equipment, or will we be directly converted into infantry?"
There is a reason why he asked this. During the Battle of Stalingrad, a large number of tank troops and tank brigade tank troops were directly turned into infantry after losing all their tanks.
Although Colonel Ruhle did not know how his superiors would arrange this unit in the future, in order not to affect the morale of the army, he still said seriously: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's wrong with you? Don't you know that to train an excellent tank soldier, you need to How long will it take? Using tank troops as infantry is a waste."
In order to prevent the other party from saying anything that would shake the morale of the army, he continued: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, how to arrange us is a matter for the superiors to consider, so don't worry about it. Order the troops to speed up their march and strive to arrive at the designated location as soon as possible. assembly point."
The sudden fire and thick smoke in the forest were seen by the German troops in the distance, and they immediately reported it to the commander of the armored regiment.
After receiving the report, the regiment leader immediately came to the forward observation post, raised his telescope and looked at the fire spot in the forest for a long time, then put down the telescope and asked his adjutant: "Captain, tell me, why did the Russian defense area suddenly catch fire? "
The adjutant thought for a moment and replied tentatively: "Mr. Colonel, not long ago, we had a firefight with Russian tanks in that area. I think it was the tanks that we destroyed that were burning."
"I don't think so." The commander of the armored regiment shook his head and said, "If it was a tank destroyed by our army, the fire should be gradually getting smaller at this moment, not getting bigger."
"Perhaps the burning tanks ignited nearby trees, making the fire bigger and bigger."
"Then it's even more impossible. You must know that the Russian tanks are parked in the birch forest. Birch trees are the least likely to burn. Not to mention winter, even in summer, it is not easy to catch fire."
"Mr. Colonel," a company commander standing nearby said cautiously, "could it be that the Russians set fire to their own tanks?"
"Why did they burn their tanks?" the adjutant asked dissatisfiedly: "Are they having water in their brains?"
"Our army's tanks lack fuel and ammunition." Seeing the adjutant retort, the company commander said bravely: "The Russians also lack ammunition and fuel. Maybe these tanks have fired all the shells, and because they have no fuel, they Unable to move, the Russians decisively set fire to these tanks in order to prevent them from falling into the hands of our troops."
"Captain," the commander of the armored regiment heard this and felt that what the company commander said was very reasonable, so he nodded and said approvingly: "Your analysis is very reasonable. The fire in the forest should be the Russians burning down their incompetent people." Tanks taken away.”
"Mr. Colonel," when the company commander heard the regiment leader praising himself, the company commander was immediately surprised and asked quickly: "What is our next mission?"
"Captain, take your troops immediately and go over to check." The regiment leader told him: "Remember to bring a radio so that you can report the situation there to me at any time."
The German company commander immediately set off with his company to check the spot where the flames were blazing. An hour later, he reported to the regiment commander through the armored vehicle's on-board radio: "Mr. Colonel, it is indeed the Russians who set fire to their tanks. I have sent people to search carefully in the forest and found no trace of the Russians. They should It’s been transferred a long time ago.”
