Zhukov saw Malashenko's aggrieved face and the look on the verge of tears. He sighed and was filled with sympathy.
It is foreseeable that an erroneous counterattack has evolved into today's heavy-loss situation. An erroneous judgment of the overall situation will only lead to the current result, and there is no other possibility.
It's just that the mistakes of the superiors have to be paid for by countless ordinary people. The old people sign the attack orders and let the young people die generously, and even the death is extremely painful and unclear.
Throughout the thousands of years of human war history, there is basically nothing like this. The wheel of history is constantly moving forward, and similar tragedies have been staged time and time again without much change.
Malashenko understands this truth very well, and so does the flexible-minded Zhukov.
One of them had tears in his eyes, and the other kept a long sigh in his heart without saying a word. Neither of them showed any inquiring dissatisfaction.
Most of the time, people can only accept the result and cannot overly investigate the cause and responsibility, no matter how heartbreaking the result is.
Seeing that Malashenko was sinking into sad memories and unable to extricate himself, Zhukov, who wanted to do something to help, then took out two letters from his briefcase and handed them to Malashenko.
"I brought your letters from Moscow along the way. It is almost impossible to send letters from the outside to Stalingrad under the current circumstances."
"My letter?"
Malashenko took the two yellow paper envelopes from Zhukov with some surprise and surprise, and then cast an inquiring look at Zhukov, obviously looking for answers.
"Malokov, a major who works in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. From the look on his face when he came to me, I thought you two must have a good relationship and look familiar."
"...."
He found a definite answer from Malashenko's face, which he didn't know what to say for a while but had obviously recovered. Zhukov, who had been speaking for a while, then sat on the sofa next to Malashenko and continued to speak.
Go down.
"These people in the Ministry of Internal Affairs have very good noses. I only stayed in Moscow for one day and two nights. However, during the next day, Major Malokov drove to the General Staff Headquarters with two letters and came to see me in person."
"He told me that one of these two letters was written to you by himself, and the other was written by your fiancée Natalia and he asked me to forward it to you. He obtained it from the report of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
I learned that you are currently fighting in the direction of Stalingrad."
"To be honest, I was quite surprised at the time. The news that I was transferred to the Stalingrad Front was still highly confidential at the time, and only a few people knew about it."
"I asked this young man named Malokov why he knew that I was going to be transferred to Stalingrad. You can imagine my serious expression at the time. Unexpectedly, his answer made me speechless. Guess what he said?
Answer me?"
Zhukov, who wanted to liven up the atmosphere, deliberately asked Malashenko a question. Malashenko, who was subconsciously mobilized, immediately attracted his attention and answered in a curious tone.
"What did Malokov say?"
Zhukov smiled when he heard this and then spoke.
"He told me that he knew through some gossip that a big shot arrived in Moscow on a special plane at night. He was curious and asked a few acquaintances to quietly find out who the big shot was, and he heard my name."
"Malokov said that he has been paying close attention to the battle situation on the Stalingrad front line. He reads the reports and cables about Stalingrad in the Ministry of Internal Affairs every day as long as he has access to them. He is mainly worried about your life and death.
safety."
"Combined with the deterioration of the war situation on the Stalingrad front line and my being urgently transferred back to Moscow overnight to report, Malokov was very surprised to combine the two things, and he was fooled into thinking that I was going to Stalingrad to command the front line war.
The final answer, I really didn’t expect that there is such a slim chance that a blind guess can conceal confidential information.”
"You can predict what happened next. Malokov came to me with two letters, hoping that I could forward them to you. He even knew that the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment was a unit directly under the Front Army Headquarters.
You know everything clearly and know that you and I are bound to meet. How did you make such a friend with such an amazingly divergent thinking?"
"..."
While listening to Zhukov's narration, he blinked and looked at the two letters in his hand. Malashenko obviously did not expect that Malokov, a friend who could only be regarded as a relatively close friend, would care so much about him.
However, since it is not a bad thing to bring Natalia's letter, Malashenko does miss his long-lost lover who is as beautiful as an iceberg and a snowdrop.
The chat between Malashenko and Zhukov continued, and the two people who were chatting happily gradually shifted the focus of the conversation to more serious matters, such as how to specifically solve the upcoming problem of urban tank street fighting.
At the same time, what neither Malashenko nor Zhukov knew was that the German troops occupying and stationed on the railway line 15 kilometers west of Stalingrad were also doing something big.
"Karl, will our secret weapon really be delivered today? We have been waiting since morning and there is no sign of it. I always feel like someone is playing tricks on us."
"Is a secret weapon still a secret weapon if it arrives on time? Did your head get squeezed by a hydraulic press in a steel mill in Cologne? I heard you worked in a steel mill for two years before signing up for the army.
"
call--
The butt of the cigarette that had taken the last puff in his hand flicked away, and he mocked his comrades who were two years younger than him. As soon as Karl stood up, a clear and loud whistle sounded suddenly from the distant railway track.
To the ears.
The veteran named Karl and the recruit Martin, who had just been on the front line for half a year this year, looked at each other, and found a hint of surprise in each other's eyes. The legendary absolute super weapon capable of conquering Stalingrad seemed to have finally arrived.
to the front line.
Karl and Martin, who hurried to the temporary platform, saw a scene they would never forget.
As many as 25 carriages were lined up and parked neatly on the railway track. The thick canvas covered the roof of each carriage, making it difficult to see what was contained in the carriage.
According to the rumors and hearsay that Karl and Martin had heard before, the 25 railway trains in front of them were loaded with cargo, which was probably just for the purpose of assembling a legendary super weapon capable of conquering Stalingrad.
The two brothers looked at each other in shock. You looked at me and I looked at you. With their knowledge, it was difficult to imagine what kind of super weapon this 25-section special train skin that stretched for 1.6 kilometers could be assembled.