Later generations often say that there is a kind of sympathy between heroes. Malashenko felt that he could experience such a feeling at this moment, and he was convinced that this was not his random imagination.
As for why, you can get the answer just by looking at Vatugin patting his shoulder and smiling happily.
"I asked almost everyone I could think of. When the General Staff, Marshal Zhukov, and even Comrade Stalin called me, I mentioned my request. Now it seems that my efforts were not in vain."
Vatutin, who was beaming with joy, did not hide the joy in his heart at all. He turned to all the people present in the front army headquarters and spoke loudly.
"Comrades! Warmly welcome Comrade Malashenko, hero of the Soviet Union and the elite ace of the motherland's number one heavy tank unit, who leads the heroic 1st Heavy Tank Brigade of the Stalin Guards to join us! Comrade Malashenko will lead his troops to
Use it as a heavy hammer to smash the armored blades of the German fascists into two pieces and completely break them in Kursk!"
Pah pah pah pah——
Before Vatugin finished speaking, a burst of thunderous applause instantly resounded throughout the entire front headquarters room.
Malashenko, who was the focus of everyone's attention, felt a little embarrassed. Even if what Vatutin said was true, Malashenko had rarely been warmly welcomed with such a standard of courtesy.
However, with Vatutin's introduction just now, Malashenko finally understood a question that had troubled him for a long time: why was he transferred to the Voronezh Front Army led by Vatutin instead of going to follow his old superiors Zhukov and
The German Army Group Center fought with each other.
Vatutin, who has commanded several tough battles in succession, is now a dazzling general who has risen rapidly from the ranks of the Red Army.
Although the Third Battle of Kharkov was not perfect, Vatutin cannot be blamed for this. The order to advance was not given by him. Vatutin was just a senior frontline general who faithfully implemented the order, and
I tried my best to do everything within my duties and strive for the best.
Vatutin, who was appreciated by his kind father Comrade Stalin, had the opportunity to directly communicate with Comrade Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union.
Vatutin said that he even asked Comrade Stalin to win him over to the Voronezh Front. Malashenko was basically convinced that this was the final reason why Comrade Zhu chose to let him go.
Because looking at the entire Soviet Union at the moment, the only one who can overwhelm Comrade Zhu, who is so red, and make him enforce his orders is probably the fatherly Comrade who sits on the highest throne of power in the Kremlin.
All previous signs indicate without exception that all the preparations Zhukov had made before, including using his authority to continuously mobilize additional equipment and troops to Malashenko, were all aimed at converting Stalin's 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade.
In the end, the trump card was polished to be sharper.
In the future, he would wait until the most critical moment for the Central Front Army and throw out a king bomb, blowing up all the frightened Germans on the opposite side. The plan sounded perfect and bold.
Relying on his friendship with Comrade Lao Zhu and his understanding of him, Malashenko did not think that his old superior would be the kind of person who had prepared for nearly half a year and ended up giving gifts to others as wedding dresses.
.
Just because Zhukov could promise that he would dispatch not the Central Front Army, but the Voronezh Front Army in the South, Malashenko felt that this was not Zhukov's usual style.
The final fact is just as Malashenko suspected. It seems that Comrade Father, as the highest power in the Soviet Union, played an important role in it. However, Malashenko may never have the chance to know that Comrade Father was involved in it.
What exactly was said in the phone call to Zhukov.
After a moment of meeting each other, they arrived at Vatutin's own office.
Vatutin, who had been personally making maps and planning strategic deployments before Malashenko's arrival, directly called Malashenko, who was following behind him, to the table, pointed at the traces of mapping he had just left on the map and spoke.
said.
"We are now facing an unprecedented crisis. Malashenko and the Germans have gathered an unimaginable huge wave of darkness and are trying to swallow us up. There is no doubt about it."
"In Kharkov, I lost to Manstein, who had a new weapon in his hand, so in Kursk, we have to fight a comeback and regain the honor we lost before in the hands of our old opponent.
!”
"The Front Army Headquarters has made detailed considerations on the deployment of your Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade. Your brigade will not be used to directly confront the Germans on the frontal battlefield, but will be retained as a strategic reserve for the entire Front Army.
, wait until the war begins and find the main breakthrough point of the German armored cluster, rush forward, and smash the German offensive edge!"
"Kursk has great strategic depth to play, and we still have enough troops to mobilize. We think we will have a greater strategic advantage in this battle than before. Of course, don't underestimate our opponents because of this. This strategic advantage
It’s just relative to the strategic situation we encountered in the past, not relative to the Germans on the opposite side.”
"So, don't doubt it, Malashenko, the initiative and strength advantage in the war are still in the hands of those Germans. Moscow has agreed with the combat opinions of Marshal Zhukov and Chief of Staff Vasilevsky. We will use
From a strategic defense to a strategic counter-offensive to defeat the Germans, the first thing to do is to make complete preparations."
Vatutin's explanation was detailed and thorough. Following the fingers of the comrade commander, Malashenko easily understood the entire Kursk strategic situation presented on the map.
"So our brigade is the hydraulic forging machine in the factory. When the Germans' heads are deeper than the gate and their necks are stretched far enough, we will drop straight down and chop off their most important heads."
Malashenko chose to interpret Vatutin's words in his own way, and obviously, this way of understanding was immediately affirmed and appreciated by Vatutin.
"It's a good understanding, that's it!"
"But before that, there are some things you need to know and things you need to understand. As I said just now, when we were in Kharkov, that bastard Manstein put in his latest style
A secret weapon, these amazing armored monsters are huge, heavy, powerful and extremely difficult to deal with!"
"And according to the witness reports of frontline soldiers, the Germans obviously have more than one new secret weapon, and they have very obvious differences in appearance."