Steel Soviet Union

Although he immediately washed away all the blood stains on his face and clothes after ordering the execution of the Soviet captain, Colonel Horning, who still remembers that scene, can never forget the Soviet captain. A loud questioning of the soul.

"What about you? Germans, are you afraid of death?"

Recalling the cold expression on the Soviet captain's face before he died, Colonel Horning wanted to answer that the Germans were not afraid of death, and that the German soldiers were better and braver than any soldiers in the world.

But what was really happening around him now did not allow Colonel Horning to do this. The group of command post staff and officers who were relieved after receiving the news of the retreat really made Colonel Horning feel ashamed.

This lack of shame does not mean that Colonel Horning wants his soldiers to prove their worth and glory by dying, but this desire for life seems so pale in front of the Soviet captain who regards death as home. Horning asked himself It took a long time for the colonel to finally come up with the final answer that he didn't want to die here either.

"At the time, I felt that it was fate that saved these Russians. They seemed to have been favored by the goddess of luck at the most critical moment. But now it seems that there is no such thing as fate. Malashenko has used his actual actions to Proving this, even today, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, I still have great admiration for this marshal, who is known as the most dangerous man in the Soviet Union. It is this kind of bravery and perseverance that is vividly reflected in him. Saved the Soviet Union from doom."

At this moment, Colonel Horning would not have thought that what he said in an exclusive interview with a reporter many years later would become a window for Europe to understand Malashenko.

Colonel Horning, who lived longer than Malashenko, witnessed the disintegration of the Soviet Union, witnessed the deaths of Malashenko's two sons in Afghanistan and Chernobyl, and witnessed the marshal who was known as the most dangerous man in the Soviet Union. How he was tortured by the cruel reality until he was physically and mentally exhausted, bruised and almost crazy. He also witnessed the final collapse of Malashenko in Grozny after regaining his will at the age of 80.

Except for the old gunner who accompanied Malashenko in the gunner's position in the two-man turret and fought until the end, no one knew what Malashenko said at the last second before he fell headlong into the commander's position. What, the words in Colonel Horning's memoirs are the only window Europeans have into the most dangerous man in the Soviet Union.

Even at the unveiling ceremony of the monument many years after Malashenko's death, this text was still widely circulated throughout Europe.

But it is still too early to say what happened after shaking hands and making peace over the decades. The most urgent thing that Colonel Horning, who had a Soviet bayonet stuck under his nose, was how to retreat properly. It is not an easy task for the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, which is currently in close combat with the Soviet army.

The troops left behind will undoubtedly face destruction in the face of the powerful Soviet infantry-tank coordinated offensive. If possible, Colonel Horning would also like to have air support to delay the Soviet ground offensive so as to buy time for his own retreat, but The incompetent air force was as slow as their pot-bellied Marshal Meyer.

Counting on these guys to help him get out of trouble, Colonel Horning thought he might stay in a Russian prisoner-of-war camp to pray.

"Find a way to repel the attack of these Russians, otherwise we will not be able to escape! Put all the reserves into it, and allow a counterattack against the Russians if necessary, as long as they can repel their attack faster Gain time!"

After careful consideration and repeated weighing, he was ultimately unable to issue a cruel order to abandon any of his troops. The saying that kindness does not command troops may be an eternal truth, but how can a person who arbitrarily orders to abandon his comrades-in-arms be a qualified commander? .

A single thought of victory or defeat will determine whether a field commander can leave his name in history. Colonel Horning, who faced the possibility of being surrounded or even annihilated, chose the dangerous tactic with the highest probability of failure: to repel the Soviet army. After this wave of offensive, they took advantage of the opportunity to breathe and then retreated.

At this point, there was no spare time or need to persuade Colonel Horning. The adjutant who had been standing by his side immediately turned around and ran forward to convey the notice after receiving the order.

After grabbing a brand-new telescope, he stared at his own position still shrouded in direct fire from Soviet tanks. Colonel Horning, who was already devastated, finally admitted that the last words spoken by the Soviet captain were true.

"I have to admit that on Russian soil, it is those of you who have faith who are not afraid of death."

After receiving Colonel Horning's order to go all out, the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment immediately started moving like a sophisticated war machine.

The four fully-equipped combat battalions originally reserved as reserves were all thrown into the frontal battle. The 88-guns that had been feared to be blown up by Soviet artillery fire were all dragged to the forefront by trucks and arranged. The posture was turned, the muzzle was pointed at the approaching Soviet tank group, and the gunfire was fired indiscriminately.

The German soldiers, who were almost frozen into sticks in the cold wind and temperatures exceeding minus 30 degrees, resisted desperately. The tyrannical combat effectiveness of the elite troops of the Wehrmacht was fully demonstrated at this moment.

Malashenko, who commanded the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment and devoted all his resources to the battle, did not get the expected devastation. The German defense line that stood in front of him like an unyielding wall withstood the fierce impact. Wave after wave of tests.

Malashenko, who led people into the gap in the position several times, was like a rat in a bellows. The German troops who quickly surrounded him tried their best to defeat the Soviet army and fill the gap in the position.

Regardless of what they had in their hands, the German troops who were on the mission all threw bundles of M24 cluster grenades at the side of Malashenko's car. The deafening roar and explosion almost caused the eardrums of the nearest driver, Seryosha, to bleed. The barrel of the DT light machine gun was red and hot. Malashenko tried every means to penetrate the German defense line.

However, these Wehrmacht soldiers who looked upon death as if they were SS soldiers ruthlessly trampled Malashenko's plan with their flesh and blood, and even rushed under the chassis of the tank with explosive bags, which made Malashenko mistakenly believe that Did he encounter the Showa Volunteer Force of the National Defense Force?

After repeatedly trying to break into the restricted area in front of the German position, they all ended in helpless failure. After all two vehicle-mounted DT light machine guns were disabled, Malashenko finally gritted his teeth and gave the order to retreat.