Steel Soviet Union

"Okay, I understand, that's it, I look forward to you sending back good news from the battlefield.

snap——

After a conversation with Malashenko that was not long, but could not be called short either.

Zhukov, who had put down the phone, was sitting behind his desk, recalling everything that had just happened. While thinking, he couldn't help but reveal a smile of unknown meaning, raised the corners of his mouth, and looked at the people who had been listening to the call in his office. The chief of staff couldn't help but smile and ask.

"No matter when, I find that you always have a soft spot for this Malashenko."

"If it had been someone else just now, I believe you would have at least used a very stern tone, and maybe even cursed."

"But for that Malashenko, you always like to be on the same level with him, talking to him more like a close friend than a superior and subordinate. Even when you talk to him about business matters in the front lines of war, in this way."

"I have observed it for a long time and found that it is only like this when dealing with Malashenko. No one else can enjoy this kind of treatment here. Is there any special reason for this? Except that Malashenko is really good at fighting. For other reasons, I think the reason why you have such a soft spot for him is probably not just this."

"Of course, this is just my intuition and guess, and I have no evidence to provide you.

The leader's division did encounter some problems in the battle, and the advancement speed in the second half was slightly lower than the front army headquarters' previous estimate.

Although this is caused by the objective reason that "the enemy is stronger than expected", it is still a dangerous signal. After all, the combat objectives will not change due to the deterioration of the battle situation caused by objective reasons. The tasks that should be completed are the same. Gotta finish.

This is not only true for Malashenko and the Leader Division, but also for Chuikov’s Army Group and even Zhukov’s entire First Belarusian Front. Everyone has a superior who needs to be accountable to them. Malashenko is responsible to Chuikov, Chuikov is responsible to Zhukov, and Comrade Zhu is directly responsible to Comrade Lao Zhu, who is far away in Moscow and is always paying attention to the battle situation on the front line.

Everyone has responsibilities that they must bear on their shoulders. The seemingly minor difficulties encountered by the leader division at this stage quickly attracted the attention of the front army headquarters.

Zhukov knew that this subtle and difficult change was like a sprouting cancer. If he was not careful, it would very likely slip into an irreversible abyss of malignancy. Moreover, the speed of this transformation process might be unprecedentedly fast, and he could not help but be careless. Regardless, the direction of the front that Malashenko and his leading division are responsible for undoubtedly dominates the development of the entire war situation.

If you play well, a comprehensive victory will begin from here.

If you don't play well, you can't escape the result from then on, and you have to admit it.

So Zhukov acted immediately. After learning the first-hand information, he immediately made a phone call to the field division headquarters of the leader division.

Coincidentally, Malashenko, who had just ordered to suspend the attack and deploy defenses in place, had just returned to the division headquarters and was discussing the next tactical strategy with members of his division's core leadership team.

The frequent situation of being unable to contact Malashenko after a phone call was avoided. Zhukov also simply changed his plan to communicate with Political Commissar Petrov and chose to talk directly to Malashenko.

Now when he heard the chief of staff next to him say this, Zhukov, who was not surprised, just smiled slightly, and then spoke again without thinking.

"Didn't I say it a long time ago? Among all the senior commanders I have met, Malashenko can be said to be the most special one. As early as when he was a small battalion commander, he could give I had many unexpected surprises, showing off highlights I had never seen before.”

"I was thinking at the time that he should be suitable to go to a bigger stage to show himself, which may bring unexpected huge benefits to the motherland and the Red Army. Under normal circumstances, this is a difficult and long process. I am here The role it plays in the process is nothing more than an accelerator.”

"To this day, I still think that I just made it possible for Malashenko to achieve the achievements and heights that he will reach in the future. The talent and talent he has shown are something I have never seen in anyone before. Even without my help, he will definitely create his own legend one day, it’s just a matter of time and process.”

"I expect better performance from him. Although he has done a lot, I feel it is still not enough. I believe he can do better. So I choose to communicate with him as a friend rather than as a superior order, I want to try my best to erase this gap that may not be completely erased.”

"In his and Vatutin's story I saw the hope of achieving this goal. It was not completely impossible, so I became more determined and decided to continue doing this."

"Everything is for the future of our motherland and the Red Army. Malashenko is a treasure, and I am trying to dig out more from this treasure in the best and most efficient way. Almost every hoe will give The Red Army has brought visible changes and gains, don’t you think so?”

Although what Zhukov said has indeed never been mentioned in such detail before, it seems that the amount of information is relatively large and requires a joke.

But how can a person who can sit down to the position of chief of staff of the front army be just an idle person?

Using the human brain as a supercomputer to process huge amounts of military information is the job that the chief of staff must complete.

In this era without computer and information technology assistance, a huge amount of military information on the battlefield is summarized and flowed through the hands and minds of the chief of staff before finally being reported and distributed hierarchically. There is no way that a person who can stay in such a pillar position as a link between the past and the future is an ordinary mortal.

So even when faced with Zhukov's words just now, the chief of staff, who had just rolled his eyes to deal with it, just smiled and spoke.

“It has to be said that this is indeed the case. Just think about the development of our Red Army from light weapons to heavy weapons, from grassroots team formation to new synthetic exploration. Malashenko’s footprints cover almost half of the most important and critical parts. "

"If it were me, I think I would also have a soft spot for him. Being able to watch him continue to show greater and higher achievements is a kind of enjoyment in itself, even as a bystander."

"By the way, when you mentioned this, I suddenly remembered something. When I went down to the unit for inspection, I overheard such a passage. It was not said by the leader, but was circulated among other units. It was called " Those Germans should be lucky that Comrade Malashenko does not know how to design airplanes, otherwise Lavochkin would be able to take the 122-gun to the sky to attack the Nazis."

——Pfft

Zhukov, who couldn't hold it back for a while, burst out laughing after hearing this. While laughing at the "innocent and cuteness" of the grassroots soldiers, he also thought of business, and the conversation changed to the topic in the next second.

"Let's get back to business. We will provide aviation support to Malashenko according to the plan we discussed before. Make adjustments from the support schedule and directly mobilize elite forces to immediately launch air strikes in the main attack direction of the Leader Division. We must prepare for the next steps of the Leader Division. Attack opens up a path of attack.”