Steel Soviet Union

When he saw Vatutin again, Malashenko's first feeling was

"Good guy, Comrade Commander, you have gained weight again!"

Vatutin's already somewhat pudgy figure is now getting fatter, maybe because he is wearing too many clothes, but Malashenko always feels that Vatutin's unusually obvious general belly is about to cover his body. If the winter military coat he was wearing was torn, at least the buttons would fly out and there would be absolutely no problem.

Vatutin, who was leading a group of young staff to lay out plans in front of the war zone map, soon noticed Malashenko's arrival.

After reaching out to greet Comrade Chief of Staff to temporarily take over his job, Vatutin, who still had a smile on his face when he saw Malashenko again, quickly came forward, and his words came before the person arrived.

"I made a bet with Marshal Zhukov that those German bullets pose no threat to you at all, and you will be able to return to the battlefield in less than two months. Excluding your vacation time, I have obviously defeated Comrade Marshal again."

"Welcome back to the battlefield of defending the motherland, Malashenko. Oh, and congratulations to you. Now, we are both generals. You deserve this."

The way Vatutin talked with Malashenko was as easygoing as ever. Malashenko felt that this was probably one of the reasons why he subconsciously wanted to save Vatutin and fight against fate.

"To make those fascist lackeys even more frightened by the powerful power of the Red Army's heavy tanks, this is the greatest significance to me of becoming a tank corps major general, Comrade Commander.

It might be a bit bragging for others to say this, but Malashenko’s past history of climbing up to the current military rank step by step was built with the heads of Germans with one knife and one shot. If Malashenko said that he could make Germany If more people die, I'm afraid it won't be as simple as one or two.

Of course, Vatutin was as usual very satisfied with Malashenko's answer.

"If all our tank commanders and fighters could have such lofty ideals and courage as you, I can guarantee that the Germans would already be half-lying in the coffin. Unfortunately, the ideological construction of many comrades still needs to be strengthened."

Vatutin did not hesitate to praise the commanders and fighters he valued. He turned the tide in Prokhorovka and withstood the fierce attack of three armored divisions by the SS fanatics, which played a decisive role in the victory of the battle. Malashenko, in Vatutin's heart, has actually been placed in the first rank of his generals.

Faced with Vatutin's rounds of bombardment of compliments, Malashenko, who was a little embarrassed, could only smile instead and said nothing more.

"Enough with the gossip, now let's get down to business."

"You came at the right time. The commanders of the 27th Army and the 40th Army will be here soon. We are going to hold an important meeting about the next combat action. The division commanders of each main division will also come to attend. Your division It is a unit directly under the front army and will be responsible for important combat tasks in the main direction of attack, so I am going to attend the meeting later.

Malashenko came here specifically for this purpose. Now that he happened to catch up with the convening of the combat meeting, he naturally had no choice but to answer Vatugin with a standard military salute.

After the brief conversation with Vatutin, there must be a chance to "disband" temporarily and do something you want to do before the official meeting begins.

Malashenko, who called the political commissar Petrov, came to the outside of the headquarters. He found a quiet and uninhabited place and squatted against the wall. He took out the cigarette case, took out two cigarettes, and handed one to the political commissar comrade. root.

"You are a general-level smoker. I didn't expect that I would be able to make some money with you."

The supplies supplied corresponding to the military ranks are also different. When the Mahe tobacco smoked by the soldiers reaches the generals, they naturally have to be replaced by higher-end types.

Malashenko, who had just started smoking high-end cigarettes at the general level, smiled and shook his head when faced with some ridiculing words from Commissar Petrov.

"I really didn't expect that I would be the first among our group to become a general. To be honest, I was surprised. I always thought that the first person should be you, not me."

Malashenko always told the truth about what he said in front of Commissar Petrov, unless there were special circumstances where he had to tell a white lie. Of course, this was only a rare exception, and this time it was obviously the former. .

Click——

call--

Comrade Political Commissar felt the fragrance lingering between his lips and teeth, and smoke was coming out from his nostrils and mouth. For a person who was suffering from illness, the pleasure brought by cigarettes was really limited compared to the huge pain. Comrade Political Commissar relied entirely on It took a strong willpower and strong analgesics to make it to this day.

Being able to squat alone with Malashenko and smoke a cigarette, Commissar Petrov valued the artistic conception of the moment more than the numbness that he had already experienced in his life. Dispensable taste.

"The future belongs to you young people. It doesn't matter if our generation fights for this war and dies. What matters is you. You are the heirs who will take up the red flag and go further."

"Kiril is like me back then, and you are like Kirill's brother now. In other words, this can be regarded as seeing through Kirill's eyes what his father wanted to see back then. It doesn’t matter if I’m a colonel or a major general.”

Political Commissar Petrov raised his hand and took a deep puff of the mid-burn cigarette. The strong tobacco taste without filter remained in his mouth for a long time.

"Let's talk about something else. Have you studied the recent world situation? The signs of German failure are now quite obvious. The Americans and British took Sicily, stole Mussolini's ass and kicked it hard. A kick. Fascism is now forced to face a two-front situation. Do you think you are sure to end the war next year? "

Malashenko threw the remaining cigarette butts in his hand into the snow and made a hissing sound. Because of the reason for his arrival, this war has increasingly deviated from the historical trajectory and is becoming more unpredictable and unpredictable, but Malashenko always feels that everything will not be too optimistic and simple.

"It's difficult. Hitler is not the Kaiser. He knows very well that if he fails, he will definitely die, and neither his face nor his life will be saved. It is easy to force out a madman in such a situation, but Hitler himself is a madman. For him, It will only get crazier and more outrageous.”

"He will definitely drag the entire country to be buried with him. He will never give up until the entire Germany is beaten to pieces and completely destroyed. Either he will win alive or he will be defeated dead. There is no third way, but now The wall on the first road has been built so high that he can't climb over it. Death is his only end, no matter how crazy he is before he dies."

Political Commissar Petrov, who held a cigarette butt between his fingertips, thought about it for a while. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that Malashenko's analysis made sense. However, the next sentence made Malashenko quite unexpected.

"There will always be people who don't want to watch the whole country rush to destruction. Do you think there will be people who organize to assassinate Hitler and then come to negotiate peace with us and the Americans? This is almost what they did last time, but the method It’s just a little different.”

Malashenko, who was unsteady when he heard this, almost slipped and fell on the spot. I have to say that Political Commissar Petrov is a very old man. In this era of limited information, he held the position of a colonel. It was possible to predict what would happen next year, but it was a pity that Colonel Stauffenberg's plan ended in failure.

Otherwise, it is really possible to recreate the "wonderful activities" during World War I.

"Maybe it will happen, but most likely it won't succeed. If Hitler was really that stupid and easy to kill, he would have been killed before he could accomplish anything."