Steel Soviet Union

At 1:38 noon, at the headquarters of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, everything was busy and performing its duties like a sophisticated war machine.

Jingle Bell--

"Hello, Comrade Commander, 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, yes, I will transfer the call right now."

In front of the theater map in the headquarters, Political Commissar Petrov was working with the newly appointed brigade chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Zaitsev, commanding several staff officers to mark the advance route and location of the offensive troops on the theater map, and discuss the next steps. exchange opinions on the next phase of the offensive line.

At this moment, a communications staff officer trotting over in a hurry interrupted the conversation between the two.

"Comrade Political Commissar, please call the front army headquarters. Commander Vatutin is waiting for you."

After hearing these words, Political Commissar Petrov turned back and glanced at the communications staff officer, and then handed the document and pencil in his hand to the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Zaitsev.

"Mark the planned advance direction and capture position on the map according to the positions we just discussed. I'll handle the phone call over there."

It is common for Political Commissar Petrov to receive phone calls from Comrade Commander of the Front Army.

Some things have to be done by someone, and once the two good brothers Malashenko and Lavrinenko went to the front line, the political commissar Petrov who stayed behind at the headquarters became the most suitable person to answer the commander's call.

"Hello? I'm Petrov, deputy political commander."

As soon as Comrade Political Commissar opened his mouth, the words that seemed to have been waiting for a long time came from the other end of the phone.

"Colonel Petrov, tell me how the first battle of your brigade's reconstruction is going."

Political Commissar Petrov didn’t know much about Vatutin and had never even met him in person. However, this did not prevent Comrade Comrade Political Commissar from talking about the situation realistically and reporting the situation.

"The enemy's second defensive position has been broken through. The leading troops have crossed the occupied second defensive position and are launching an assault on the enemy's third defensive position. However, the resistance of the Romanians is stronger than we expected. Their They have a good will to fight but they lack heavy weapons and equipment like the Germans. Good news about a breakthrough should come soon."

Vatutin, who was holding the receiver on the other side of the phone, marked the location on the map in front of him with his own hand according to what the political commissar Petrov said.

The half-moon-shaped assault direction that has been filled in with the last touch has finally been completely connected. If you look carefully, you can find that the offensive assault line that Vatutin just marked out with his own hands is better than any other line segment around it. They all come farther and deeper.

The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade is the first echelon of all offensive forces and possesses the most luxurious technical weapons configuration in almost all offensive directions.

General Zhukov's preference for the newly promoted tank colonel named Malashenko is well known to everyone. It has long been known among the commanders and fighters at the front level.

From Vatutin's personal point of view, he believed that Zhukov's vision and knowledge could promote and reuse a small tank colonel in such a way. Naturally, there were reasons and reasons for this.

However, these principles and reasons are only for Zhukov personally at best. Vatutin, who has almost zero detailed understanding of Malashenko, has his own opinions and opinions. He needs to use real results in the battle to Evaluate and judge Malashenko, the latest popular hero of the Soviet Union.

Political Commissar Petrov, holding the microphone in his hand, did not wait too long. The other end of the phone had already made a preliminary judgment about Malashenko and the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. Vatutin, who put down the pencil in his hand, quickly quietly Open your mouth.

"Colonel Petrov, I have some bad news for you."

"Aerial reconnaissance pointed out that a German tank group, after uniting with a Romanian armored force, was approaching and supporting the center of the Romanian Third Army's defense line. The direction of its movement happened to be the main assault direction of your brigade."

"At present, it is preliminarily determined that the mixed tank cluster of these two armored forces should be the German 48th Tank Corps and the Romanian 1st Tank Division. Aerial reconnaissance failed to detect the specific number of enemies and only obtained the general direction of movement. If If everything goes well, we will contact your brigade in at most an hour.”

"Before that, be ready for battle. Use your new heavy tanks to defeat this group of enemy tanks that are attacking rocks with pebbles. You must completely eliminate the Romanian Third Army before the end of tonight. Your brigade is the absolute key to achieving this goal. pioneer."

Political Commissar Petrov, who gave Vatutin an affirmative and guaranteed reply on the other end of the phone, quickly put down the phone and began to prepare for action according to the updated orders given by Vatutin.

On the other side, Vatutin, who had also just put down the microphone in his hand, the chief of staff, who was busy with the documents in his hand while holding a cigarette in his mouth and listening to the entire phone call, asked questions.

"The 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade is already the best unit in fighting so far. Is it really okay to leave all the troubles to them?"

The tone of the chief of staff was obviously half-joking. The smooth progress from the launch of the attack to the present made the front army headquarters operate in an orderly and precise manner. At the same time, it was also quietly filled with an optimistic atmosphere.

After all, all conditions and battle developments so far have pointed to the complete defeat of the enemy. The Red Army, which has been singing triumphant songs all the way, is indeed qualified to rejoice for the victory that is within reach.

"It is precisely because they fight the best that we have to entrust them with the most difficult tasks to complete. If it were troops from other directions, the probability of being able to complete all goals would be deducted by at least thirty to four percent. Ten percent.”

The chief of staff, whose mouth was smoking, pinched the cigarette butt from the corner of his mouth and put it out in the ashtray on the table. He smiled calmly and handed the compiled documents in his hand to Vatutin.

"Duplicity is still your biggest characteristic. In the morning you told me that you wanted to test the true level of Colonel Malashenko first, and now you have entrusted him with a heavy responsibility. The change is really fast."

Vatutin took the document without comment, and after briefly flipping through two pages, he slowly spoke.

"Don't just talk about me, don't you think the same thing too? Do you remember who agreed with me this morning?"

The chief of staff, who knew he couldn't argue, smiled and waved his hand, as if he hadn't taken all this to heart since the beginning.

"Yes, you are right. Comrade Commander is always right."