Steel Soviet Union

The person who came here was not very tall. He could even be considered a short man in the Red Army, where people were generally tall and strong like a bear. After Malashenko looked him up and down, he felt that the man in front of him was probably not even one meter tall. Less than eight.

Although he is not familiar with the person in front of him, the uniform he wears can at least indicate that he is his comrade-in-arms. There is no reason for Malashenko to give others a bad look when they meet him. There is no reason to do such a thing in life. .

"Hello, comrade, who are you?"

Realizing that he had not formally introduced himself to Malashenko, the visitor, who looked rather embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and smiled.

"Lieutenant Colonel Voromov, commander of the 109th Regiment of the 37th Guards Rifle Division, was ordered to garrison the tractor factory. I was told on the phone that the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment would be led by the heroic commander Malashenko. The tractor factory supports us!”

"You are the savior of our regiment, Comrade Malashenko! If you hadn't arrived in time, everyone might have died here."

With such a detailed introduction of pouring beans through a bamboo tube, Malashenko finally knew the identity of the person in front of him and solved his doubts.

"Nice to meet you, Commander Voromov. What are the specific casualties of your regiment? Can you talk to me?"

Malashenko, who came with a combat mission, got straight to the point. Instead of wasting time, he chose to go straight in. This surprised Captain Voromov, who had originally planned to continue chatting with Malashenko, but But it quickly returned to normal.

"The situation is not very good, Comrade Malashenko."

"Before you came, we had repelled three enemy group charges. This battle just now was the fourth time."

"Those German air forces bombed us endlessly, and bombs kept falling on our heads like thunderstorms. The entire tractor factory was almost razed to the ground, and even the entrance to the air raid shelter was destroyed by the bombed ruins. Buried."

"We tried our best to avoid the Germans' air attacks while fighting their ground troops. The Germans put almost all the heavy equipment they could use into the battle except artillery. They wanted to use their quality advantage to crush us."

Following the direction pointed by Captain Voromov as he spoke, Malashenko saw the remains of some German armored units even closer to the position, even a dozen meters away.

Among them were the No. 3 assault guns that were burning and emitting pungent tar smoke, as well as the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks whose corpses were separated.

Several ordinary Red Army soldiers were wandering around a seemingly intact German Panzer III tank, seemingly trying to start up the tank for their own use. After all, it lacked any technical equipment. In this situation, it would be great if a tank could provide fire support.

On the other side, Captain Voromov continued to speak.

"The Germans' attacks became more and more fierce each time, and our losses became more and more severe, and we began to be unable to sustain ourselves."

"When the sun set last night, our regiment still had 1,200 troops, but now, even if we are optimistic, there may be less than 500 people who can still hold a gun. I mean including the wounded and regiment headquarters. , Comrade Malashenko.”

Regardless of whether it was fully equipped or not, it only took a 1,200-man infantry regiment one morning to fight until less than 500 people were left who could still hold a gun. Moreover, this was a defensive battle occupying favorable terrain.

Looking at the corpses of Red Army soldiers who were being restrained on the battlefield lying scattered in front of him, Malashenko could basically figure out how intense the battle was in Commander Voromov's words.

"Until we get the next move order, our regiment will stay here to help you defend the tractor factory."

"But one thing must be made clear in advance, Comrade Voromov. The command of all the troops at the tractor factory must be centralized with me, including the armed forces composed of civilians and workers, as well as the troops of your regiment."

"Of course, I don't mean to exclude your regiment's headquarters from command authority. If we have the same opinions, we can definitely discuss it. On the contrary, I hope that my orders can be implemented with priority. I can give Commander Chuikov You can call to report the situation, or you can send a telegram, but I don’t think it’s necessary, what do you think?”

For people who met for the first time and did not yet understand each other, Malashenko's words at this moment undoubtedly seemed a bit harsh, but to a certain extent, they were the most appropriate words.

Even if he might offend someone, Malashenko hopes that he can figure everything out before fighting the Germans again, and don't wait until the sound of gunfire and gongs and drums are loud to still worry about this trivial command. Quan broke up the matter and argued endlessly, thereby delaying important events.

Like myself, the opponent is an elite force with the title of Guards on their head. Unlike the ordinary troops I encountered before, they are subconsciously shorter than me. They are also more comfortable to command. .

Most of the troops with the name of Guards on their heads, from the commanders to the most ordinary soldiers, are arrogant and a little self-respecting. This is because the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment commanded by Malashenko himself is exactly like this. This can almost be understood as a common situation among the Guards.

Therefore, it is not entirely unreasonable for Malashenko to worry about the possibility of conflicts over wartime command authority. Even if the possibility is low, it should be actively avoided before it actually happens.

There is no need to step on the minefields that have been foreseen and take risks. Even if the possibility is very low, we should try our best to eliminate it. This is what Malashenko really thinks in his heart at this moment.

The words are rough and the reasoning is not rough, and the loyal words are hard on the ears and help the deeds.

Even though Malashenko's words may sound a bit ugly, that's what he meant.

Fortunately, Captain Voromov is not an ignorant person.

To be precise, it planned from the beginning to hand over the highest command of the two forces to Malashenko, and had not considered any other plans.

In terms of troop strength, the Guards' First Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, which was rolled over by dozens of tanks, was much stronger than themselves.

In terms of identity and honor, Malashenko is a figure who can be promoted as a hero on the leaflets distributed in Stalingrad. He can directly contact and talk to Commander Chuikov and even General Zhukov, but he has never accepted the highest military level. Leader Comrade Stalin personally received them.