Malashenko had collaborated with Chuikov a long time ago, during the Battle of Stalingrad.
Chuikov's troops were the absolute main force and fire-fighting team of the entire Stalingrad defense force, and Malashenko at that time was the number one "fire-fighting captain" under Chuikov.
Following Chuikov's orders, he went up to the Mountain of Knives, to the Sea of Fire, to the bloody battle on Mamayev Hill, to the Stalingrad Railway Station, to the Red October Steel Plant and the heavy industrial zone, all the most difficult battles during the entire Stalingrad Campaign. Malashenko went through it all.
At the end of the fight, even Malashenko himself became an infantryman and had no use for a car. In the end, he took a boat and left Stalingrad, a city that was unforgettable for him and for which he had defended so passionately. Now that he thinks about that period It was such a mixed feeling to spend the whole day in the city either fighting or waiting for the next battle to come.
But it was a valuable experience after all, and Malashenko has always thought so.
There is a saying that goes well: What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger.
Malashenko, who has a very real understanding of this sentence, crawled out of the sea of blood and corpses in Stalingrad.
Perhaps it was when Malashenko took the last group of comrades under his command to survive the disaster and left the city of Stalingrad alive in a small boat. From that time on, a new Malashenko who was reborn from nirvana has become a better person than before. There is also an even more terrifying "German Nightmare".
If Malashenko were asked to say now, when he was sitting under the moonlight and leaving Stalingrad on a small boat, what was the most important thing he wanted to say to the German soldier, it would probably be just such a short sentence.
"Fasis, your Grandpa Ma is back!"
Meeting Chuikov again, Malashenko felt an indescribable feeling in his heart.
This feeling cannot be said to be annoying or disgusting. In fact, even Chuikov has a bad temper and loves to scold women at every turn. He once forced Malashenko to climb Mamayev's post and beat Malashenko. I was so anxious that I wanted to go to the wall.
But this guy was able to be dispatched by Zhukov when Stalingrad was most critical, and he was ordered to save the entire situation from the fire, and on the battlefield, Stalingrad, which was almost falling, was pulled back from the hands of the fascists.
Malashenko admires this "hard-core tough guy" just for this reason. Not just anyone has this ability. If someone else does it, it's really not certain, or there is a high probability that it won't be possible. Chuikov's ability and ability are directly proportional to his dynamite temper.
After all, they had fought side by side in Stalingrad as superiors and subordinates. As usual, Malashenko showed his due etiquette and raised his hand in front of Chuikov who came outside the group army headquarters and led everyone behind him to greet him. A crisp military salute.
"Comrade Commander, Major General Malashenko, Commander of the Leadership Division, and his troops are here to report to you. I wish you good health!"
To be honest, the official name of the leader's division is too long. Although he has traveled through time and become a Soviet, Malashenko still cannot be interested in the long list of complete names of the troops in the "Mao-style naming method". It was a meritorious unit with a lot of honors, but the name was so long that Malashenko could only say that he couldn't understand it, and he didn't want Luo Liba to talk about such a lot of nonsense literature.
Therefore, even if they met again after a long time, it was still in a formal occasion with so many people watching. Malashenko still only called himself "Leader" for short, but he faced Chuikov with a generous smile.
But he didn't care about it at all, he just nodded with satisfaction and said.
"I told my political commissar comrades before that it was definitely a big mistake not to ask Malashenko to stay in our army. To be honest, I regretted it for a long time. But now the situation is different. We all
The most capable tank hero of the motherland has returned to our old army with top elites in the name of leader."
"How does it feel to return to the "Stalingrad Heroes Collective"? Does it feel like going home? I guess it does, don't be embarrassed, right? Hahaha."
To say that Chuikov is really a "diode", Malashenko is now convinced of this.
But don’t get me wrong, this is not a derogatory diode, but a positive diode.
When you are angry, you can fly into a rage, your voice can be so loud that it lifts the ceiling of the command post, and you can slap the table and scold your mother if you disagree with her. It's all trivial matters.
But when he is happy, especially when he is very happy because he thinks you are a good match for him, he will become a brother-in-law to you in a very enthusiastic manner, which is just a matter of drinking, fist-fighting and sworn friendship.
Malashenko originally thought that Vatutin was already enthusiastic enough. He was a real life-and-death friend with him and never considered him an outsider. However, he did not expect that Chuikov would be even more enthusiastic than Vatutin.
. A big slap like a bear's paw slapped his shoulder joint, and at the same time, he kept talking like a machine gun, with a smile on his face.
"Okay, okay! The young man's body is as good as the leader's steel! This is good. This is what you want to crush Fascism!"
"."
Malashenko didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only stand here and let Chuikov "play with it" like a puppet, while smiling enthusiastically.
After all, not only is he more senior than me, but according to Zhukov's order, the leader's division has now been officially transferred to Chuikov's 8th Guards Army and attached to it. As the main force of the army, it will directly obey Chuikov's command and participate in the next battle.
However, nominally speaking, the Leader's Division is still a unit directly under the front level. It is only temporarily decentralized due to combat needs. If it is transferred to Chuikov, it can only be regarded as a "temporary loan."
Although Zhukov will not interfere with how Chuikov uses the dispatch leader division, he can still directly issue orders to Malashenko, inquire about the combat situation, and make direct reports when necessary.
Therefore, if Malashenko wants to deal with Zhukov, he does not need to go through Chuikov, the higher-level agency in the middle. Of course, this is not an inappropriate move beyond the level.
The leader division itself is such a special existence. If necessary during wartime, there is a precedent for delegating command authority to the army-level troops, more than once. This is to better meet battlefield needs and combat coordination. Chuikov can also understand
He happily accepted this special situation, as long as he could send the leading division to his own group army.
After all, as the commander of the main Guards Army, who can resist the temptation of joining the Leader Division? Anyone with some analytical skills knows what kind of combat effectiveness the name "Leader Division" represents.
Division? Sorry, that is just a "word game" used to trick the enemy and deceive the Allies to spy on intelligence. What will happen to the German troops who really regard the leader division as a "division"? Needless to say, anyone with eyes
It’s all there for all to see.
It was a complete surprise to be given the temporary command of the leader division. Chuikov, who had never thought of such a thing beforehand, the reason why he was so happy now is very simple and clear.
But another, more important reason involves his personal relationship with Malashenko.
Yes, Chuikov still remembers what happened in Stalingrad, and then he smiled and said again to Malashenko who was facing him.
"Although it has been so long, I still have to say thank you. It was thanks to you and the people who arrived in time when the headquarters was attacked. Otherwise, I might not be able to stand here today to prepare for such a great event.