As Lavrinenko said, Comrade Malashenko, the brigade commander, rushed in less than two minutes later. Just from the roar of the Willys Jeep with the accelerator pressed to the bottom, one could understand the urgency of the situation.
I know a little bit about it.
Malashenko, who stepped out of the car from the co-pilot's seat, first looked at the battalion of tank soldiers assembled in front of him, took a general glance and found no problems, then continued walking, striding to the place where Kulbalov and
In front of Lavrinenko, after simply saying the last few words, he turned around, returned to his brigade commander's special car, kicked the accelerator and drove away.
Kulbalov and Lavrinenko, who received the last few orders from Malashenko, did not dare to neglect. You were busy lecturing the comrades, and I was busy calling a car to pick them up.
The suburban training ground of the 1st Tank Battalion soon became a lively scene.
Just like the last time Malashenko came home from vacation, this time it was Iushkin who served as Malashenko's chauffeur and drove the brigade commander straight to the train station.
"Comrade Commander, I have something to tell you..."
Malashenko, who only wanted to see the new car quickly, was a little absent-minded, and even the answer he blurted out immediately came out of his mouth.
"Just say whatever you have to say, why are you suddenly acting like a woman?"
"..."
Iushkin, who was slightly hesitant, finally spoke out what he was holding back in his heart after hesitating for a while.
"Comrade Commander, can you please tell Comrade Political Commissar that you should stop picking up excrement and cleaning the toilets? I've been vomiting for the past two days and can't even eat. Kirill and Seryosha have been laughing at me all day long.
When I was eating, as soon as I saw what was in the lunch box..."
"Stop, stop, stop talking!"
Malashenko suddenly regretted why he was so idle. Before setting off, he picked up two pieces of bread and stuffed them into his mouth to cushion his stomach.
Iushkin, a bumbling star, told such a "delicious legend" carelessly, and his stomach suddenly turned upside down. He almost felt like vomiting when he said it.
"If you just fall asleep during the training meeting, I can still say a few words for you."
"You have to blame yourself. The snoring was so loud! It was louder than Comrade Political Commissar's speech in class! He drooled so much that the training materials were wet all over! Now everyone in the brigade knows about Comrade Brigade Commander's car.
The crew gunner made a fool of himself and was punished in front of so many people at the venue. Tell me, how can I help you in this situation?"
Malashenko mercilessly reproduced Iushkin's "glorious deeds" vividly in words, which made Iushkin himself extremely embarrassed and blushed for a long time.
Not a word.
Political Commissar Petrov once said that one of Malashenko's shortcomings is to protect his shortcomings, which is commonly understood as "protecting his calf."
Malashenko admitted that the political commissar's evaluation of him was correct, but who could make him so soft-hearted and unable to tolerate it?
After taking a look at Iushkin who was a little downcast, he sighed and realized that Iushkin was not entirely to blame, and Malashenko quietly spoke.
"Okay, don't put on such an expression. You don't need to clean the toilet at night. Just go there and show yourself during the day. Remember not to be seen as a problem. You are now under the supervision of the entire brigade."
Upon hearing Malashenko's words, Iushkin, who was still depressed at first, suddenly turned from gloomy to sunny, and the expression on his face was so joyful.
After all, in the opinion of Iushkin, who was fed up with the smell of the Ollie, being able to clean the toilet only once a day was already a great happiness. What more could one ask for? People should be content with what they have.
Iushkin, who was holding the steering wheel, happily drove the car to the train station. Iushkin, who still didn't know what he was doing here, only remembered to take a step forward after solving his serious problem.
Malashenko got out of the car and asked.
"Comrade Commander, what are we doing at the train station this time..."
Malashenko did not interrupt Iushkin's words, but Iushkin himself suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
As for the reason, you can know it just by looking at Malashenko's similarly stagnant expression.
The rare scene of more than forty flat-bed wagons loaded with steel behemoths covered with canvas is indeed enough to make people have such an unexpected expression.
"This...these things belong to our brigade? Are they all our new equipment?"
"Otherwise? Why do you think I'm so anxious to ask you to come with me?"
Iushkin and Malashenko were not the only ones sitting in the Willys jeep. Seryosha and Kirill also crowded in the back and accompanied them all the way to the station.
Malashenko's vehicle crew was the first to arrive at the train station from the 1st Heavy Tank Brigade of Stalin's Guards. As soon as he saw Malashenko's arrival, an old face who had been waiting on the platform for a long time hurried away.
come over.
"Comrade Malashenko, I haven't seen you for a while! How are you doing recently?"
After the first meeting in Nizhny Tagil, Malashenko certainly knew who the person in front of him was. After all, his identity as the designer of the future IS7 heavy tank is enough to make him unforgettable.
"Comrade Shashmulin, why did you come here in person?"
Faced with Malashenko's expression of joy and confusion, Shashmulin smiled slightly, shook his head and spoke helplessly.
"I can't help it. Comrade Kotin personally assigned me the task. But I still want to see the tank hero of our motherland again, so this can be regarded as my voluntary coming, Comrade Malashenko."
Shashmulin, who knew he was short of time, did not continue to greet Malashenko and went straight to the topic after briefly greeting each other.
"This way, please, come with me, Comrade Malashenko."
Malashenko and his crew members walked and chatted with Shashmulin. Shashmulin, who had already given instructions to his assistants, raised his finger and pointed to the trolley parked on the rails not far away.
, I saw that under the busy work of the platform workers, the steel giants originally covered with white canvas were slowly taking off their disguises, revealing their true colors.
"This is the first batch of improved IS1 heavy tanks produced. The firepower and protection have been fully upgraded in accordance with the details we agreed on before."
"Because it has been fully upgraded in terms of firepower and protection, Comrade Kotin decided to name this new tank the "Stalin 2" heavy tank. After Comrade Stalin learned about this, he also made a special trip to take pictures.
A telegram congratulating our design bureau."
"Although the number is not large, there are only 18 vehicles, Comrade Ke Jing and I personally inspect and accept each vehicle before it is allowed to leave the factory. The quality is absolutely guaranteed! Many parts are used by the most skilled veteran workers in the factory.
Don’t think that tool-polished parts are inferior to assembly line forged parts. Top-notch handcraftsmanship is definitely better than cookie-cutter machines.”
With Shashmulin's introduction, the mighty and domineering body on the flatbed truck had completely lost its disguise. The 122 mm thick pipe and the entire welded sloped armor on the front of the vehicle body made it difficult to breathe.
When Malashenko got up, he swore to God that the scene in front of him was so exciting!