Laughter echoed in the small reception room of the front army headquarters. Vatutin couldn't hold back the joke that Zhukov suddenly told.
"This...is this what Khrushchev really said? Doesn't he think about why Stalin added "Stalin" to the 1st Guards Tank Division?"
Facing Vatugin's face-to-face laughter, Comrade Lao Zhu could only slowly shake his head and grin helplessly.
"Who knows what is going on in his head. Not only me, but Vasilevsky also finds it strange and difficult to understand. It is obviously safer to recommend Malashenko and it is more likely to be in line with Comrade Stalin's wishes. Who knows?
If something was wrong, Comrade Katukov was suddenly taken out."
After talking and laughing, Vatutin, who returned to his normal demeanor after getting back to business, still faced Zhukov and slowly spoke with some understanding.
"However, Malashenko is indeed so surprising. Yes, it is a surprise! This is the biggest feeling I have had since I have been with this young man for so long."
Vatugin, who had a look of emotion on his face, obviously hadn't finished speaking yet. After thinking for a moment, he continued to speak to Vatugin.
"I have never seen such a young grassroots commander and combatant perform so well. From Malashenko's body, you can't even feel that he is a young man in his twenties or less than thirty years old."
"His battlefield experience, attitude towards equipment development and unique insights, as well as his flexible application of tactics, as well as his tenacious will and courage to fight to the end when facing the enemy. Well, this fits perfectly with a person who tends to be perfect in my mind.
He is in the form of a front-line grassroots commander and fighter. If there is such a close-to-perfect grassroots commander and fighter, then this person is Malashenko."
Including Vatutin, almost all the top Red Army generals who had in-depth contact with Malashenko agreed.
Everything about this young man does not look like what he should be at his age. He looks more like a veteran of the Red Army who is in his forties or fifties and has been on the battlefield for many years.
"However, no one is perfect, and the same goes for Malashenko. Sometimes he likes to get into trouble, and he must do what he sets his sights on, even if it seems to be almost impossible or impossible.
, he will also try his best to give it a try."
"The lone army went deep behind the enemy lines in the Cherkasy war zone, turning the Germans upside down. It also wiped out a lot of the Germans who approached and wanted to destroy their division. In the early stage of the battle in Cherkasy,
It is almost indistinguishable from the front and back in the mid-term. The Germans are being attacked from both sides and are in such a state of embarrassment that they cannot concentrate on dealing with one area."
"The fact that the war is progressing so smoothly has a lot to do with the fact that Malashenko led his troops to contain a large number of German troops. The smooth progress of the frontal war even exceeded previous expectations, regardless of the main direction of attack.
The German army was completely wiped out by us before reinforcements arrived."
"Only after receiving the telegram did I know that all the German reinforcements had been intercepted by Malashenko on the way, and had been wiped out in the encounter. I finally saw that no matter how dangerous and difficult the battle was, he could not win it without him.
Shenke doesn’t dare to fight. He only has one division and one brigade and he dares to fight like this. If you give him an army, I guess he would dare to fight Poland.”
Being brave and good at fighting is a good thing, but Vatutin, who gave Malashenko a lot of freedom in tactics, really didn't expect that Malashenko could create something in the German's belly without his own forced orders.
Such a huge battle almost completely turned the Germans' rear area upside down.
You must know that this is a large-scale front-level battle at the campaign level. Malashenko can achieve such an effect by adding a division and a brigade in his hands. Vatutin dare not say that Malashenko is absolutely unique, but at least
The vast majority of the lower-level commanders and fighters of the Red Army did not have the courage like him. Even if an order was given, it was still unknown whether they would dare to take on the job.
Zhukov, who had already read the battle report summary, and supplemented it with Vatutin's explanation just now, had basically understood the entire battle in the Cherkasy Theater under the leadership of Malashenko of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division from beginning to end.
go through.
As far as Zhukov's own feelings are concerned, Malashenko was able to fight the battle so "outrageously". In fact, this matter was not that surprising to Comrade Lao Zhu.
From the border of the motherland to Leningrad, from Leningrad to the city walls of Moscow, from the city walls of Moscow to Stalingrad, every battle Malashenko fought along the way was basically a legend. Where is the German?
The most difficult thing to do is to dig in wherever you go. In most cases, you can finally beat the Germans into disgrace and run away in panic, or they will be completely wiped out.
There are many Red Army Guards troops with good equipment, but the only one that can fight so beautifully and make the Germans cry out in pain again and again is the 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division.
After thinking for a while, Zhukov felt that he was also deeply touched. He nodded, then turned around and spoke to Vatutin.
"I will truthfully report these situations to Comrade Stalin when I return to Moscow. No less honors and commendations should be given to Malashenko and Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division. However, I have to ask Comrade Stalin for his opinion. I
Neither Vasilevsky nor Vasilevsky can make the decision alone, after all, Comrade Stalin pays close attention to the unit named after him."
As Malashenko's direct superior, Vatutin originally intended to seek instructions from his superiors and apply for the honors and awards he deserved for his favorite generals and ace troops.
Now that Zhukov had taken the initiative to speak, there was no need for Vatutin to open his mouth again.
After settling a major matter in mind, we can then talk about some detailed tactics and local issues on the battlefield.
"Oh, by the way! One more thing, Comrade Marshal."
Vatutin took out a document from his briefcase on the side table and looked through it for a while. After finding the most important document, Vatutin took it out and handed it to Zhukov.
"Malashenko reorganized the combat mode and team configuration of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division. He mentioned this to me in advance and said that he would first conduct a pilot based on actual combat conditions. Out of my trust in him, I
With permission, just let him go ahead and do it."
"Malashenko made a lot of changes to his divisional infantry regiment. Traditional single-shot bolt-action rifles were eliminated and replaced on a large scale. The configuration of medium and short-range submachine guns in the infantry squad was almost half mentioned.
.The remaining squad’s light firepower configuration consists of semi-automatic rifles and light machine guns, which has never been seen before in the infantry units of our Red Army.”