USSR 1941

  Chapter 88 Tanks

   On the evening of the third day, when Shulka and Major Gavrilov went to the headquarters of Admiral Kirponos to report to him again.

"The distance between bunkers of the 89th Division is too large, and it is recommended to add field fortifications; the density of the underground fortifications of the 91st Division is not enough. Also, they allocated unorganized and disciplined troops to the basement, which is a serious mistake..." Garf Major Lilov was talking non-stop with a notebook.

   That last point is of course wrong.

  The Soviet army is used to sending soldiers who have made mistakes such as escaping and disobedience to the most dangerous places. This is not a problem at all, after all, it can be regarded as a punishment.

The problem is that the most dangerous places on the battlefield are often the most important places, and it must be a mistake to hand over these most important places to soldiers who are not organized, disciplined, or even have no unified command... some of them even have exercises They were unwilling to crawl out of the basement at all times, and Major Gavrilov had reason to believe that they would do the same after the battle broke out.

   Not only that, more people should choose to stay in the basement during the battle, because no one can do anything to them, and some of them may be ready to surrender.

  Admiral Kirponos nodded absent-mindedly, and then said: "Give these to Comrade Yeverev, he will take care of it!"

  Everyev was the staff officer of General Kirponos, and he took over the record from Major Gavrilov upon hearing the news.

Major Gavrilov and Shulka couldn't help but glanced at each other, feeling that something was wrong with the general today... He is always very interested in these things and must deal with them himself, because he feels that the most important thing at the moment is the Kyiv defense line .

  The next second, Shulka realized what had happened: Minsk.

   Sure enough, General Kirponos looked up at Shulka and said, "Unfortunately, you were right, Sergeant! The Western Front has completely retreated, and our flanks have been exposed to the German Central Army!"

   In this way, Major Gavrilov also understood.

   It is no wonder that Admiral Kirponos reacted in this way. The exposure of the flanks to the enemy's main force means that the Kyiv defense line and even the Dnieper River defense line are meaningless.

   "We have no choice but to retreat, General!" Major Gavrilov said.

   "I have already applied to my superiors, but..." Admiral Kirponos shook his head slightly.

   Everyone understands what this means.

Not to mention that the high-level orders of the Soviet army during this period were all "stick to it" and "don't take a step back", just say that Kyiv...it is the largest city besides Moscow and Leningrad, and it is a nail in the defense line of the Dnieper River At the same time, it is also an important pillar of the granary of Ukraine. Its geographical location and strategic significance are very important. It is impossible for the top Soviet army to give up this important place easily.

  So, although Admiral Kirponos asked to withdraw from Kyiv again and again, he actually knew from the beginning that his superiors would not agree.

   After being silent for a while, Admiral Kirponos raised his head and said to the two, "You haven't heard this information, do you understand?"

   "Yes, Comrade General!" Shulka and Major Gavrilov responded.

  Admiral Kirponos nodded to indicate that the two could leave, but Shulka walked a few steps and turned back.

   "Comrade General!" Shulka stood up straight in front of Admiral Kirponos.

   "What?" Admiral Kirponos's eyes flashed with joy: "Do you have a solution?"

   "No, Comrade General!" Shulka replied: "I have another idea!"

   "Oh!" Admiral Kirponos nodded disappointedly, and then said: "I believe your ideas are valuable, Sergeant! I'm listening!"

   "It's about the Kyiv defense line!" Shulka said: "I found out that the defense line tanks are used for defense together with bunkers..."

   "Is there any question?" Admiral Kirponos asked suspiciously.

This is a normal thing for the Soviet Union, because it is well known that the use of tanks in the Soviet Union at this time was to disperse the tanks into the infantry to cooperate with the infantry...normally, the infantry should cooperate with the tanks instead of using the tank as an infantry weapon. Cooperate with infantry.

This is also one of the reasons why the Soviets did not pay attention to the tank communication system, because they believed that if the tanks were scattered among the infantry, the news or orders could be conveyed to the tanks through the infantry... After all, the Soviet Union in this era still used a lot of communication soldiers and signal flags. When things like that communicate.

   Shulka knew this was wrong.

  Because obviously, a tank is a mechanized piece of equipment, and mobility is one of its important properties...and if a tank is used to coordinate infantry, it is not much different from a bunker.

  In fact, it is even worse than a bunker, because it cannot have the same protection and firepower as a bunker.

   If there is any difference, it is that it can occasionally hide behind a bunker or in a bunker to avoid bombing from shells or planes.

  Major Gavrilov winked at Shulka again and again, and reported to General Kirponos: "No, there is no problem, General!"

  Major Gavrilov actually knew what Shulka wanted to say, and they had discussed it before because of this issue.

   "We can't deploy these tanks on the defense line!" Shulka said: "It will only make them a target for German artillery and aircraft!"

   "Then how do you plan to deploy?" Major Gavrilov asked.

   "We should use them together, like the Germans!" Shulka replied without thinking.

   "You're crazy!" Major Gavrilov grabbed Shulka, then carefully looked around, and asked a staff officer not far away: "Did you hear anything?"

   "No!" The staff officer answered wittily, "I didn't hear anything!"

   Shulka was puzzled by this, but then quickly understood that it was again an internal problem.

   That is to say, Major Gavrilov has taken another risk for him just now... If the staff officer went to make a small report, Major Gavrilov would become an accomplice.

  Major Gavrilov took Shulka aside, and after handing Shulka a cigarette, he said angrily: "Can't you be careful with your words? You will hurt us like this!"

   Shulka didn't know what he said wrong, but he didn't dare to ask.

  Because, this is probably something that everyone in the Soviet Union knows, and it would be strange if they didn't know it.

but…

   "But we really need to use tanks like this, Comrade Major!" Shulka said: "The Germans have proved this!"