Chapter 1025 Personal Opinion

The eliminated KV1s were all packed up and sent away, but what happened next was somewhat unexpected for Malashenko.

The 21st and 64th armies stationed in the suburbs of Stalingrad received dispatch orders from their superiors and rushed to the Oboyan area on the southern line of Kursk to prevent the Germans who had already succeeded in the Kharkov attack from continuing to go crazy and rush forward. At all costs, the German offensive must be blocked west of Kursk.

The offensive energy that Manstein had gathered with all his strength was actually very little at this time. The victory in Kharkov was indeed huge, but the Soviet army that came to the south from Leningrad to help, and the two army groups that were urgently dispatched from Stalingrad, were not objects that could be eaten up in a short period of time.

The German army needed to take a breather, accumulate offensive energy again, and wait for an opportunity to launch a decisive offensive, while the Soviet army had just experienced a new defeat and needed a considerable period of time to regroup and unite its strength.

The German army, which had been pursuing the victory all the way in a raging storm, stopped, and the Soviet army, which had gained a firm foothold, also held on and waited for help and did not dare to act rashly.

The Kursk salient, which was 400 kilometers long from east to west and only 110 kilometers wide from north to south, was formed.

The situation of the entire Kursk salient was very unfavorable to the Soviet army. The Central and Voronezh Fronts were surrounded by the German army on three sides in the Kursk salient, and the situation was critical.

In the north of Kursk, the German Central Army Group was stationed in the Orel area, while in the south, the German war god Manstein, who had just won a great victory, was stationed in Belgorod.

The two army groups faced two fronts, one side was winning and the other side had just suffered a defeat. The entire battlefield situation that took a sharp turn was extremely unfavorable to the Soviet army.

The occurrence of the above events can be said to be within Malashenko's expectations, and basically not much different from the existing historical trend.

But what really depressed Malashenko was that the 21st and 64th armies, which were also stationed in the suburbs of Stalingrad, had now moved to the direction of Kursk and were ready to participate in the next battle at any time.

Only the 1st Heavy Tank Brigade of the Stalin Guards under his command was still stationed in Stalingrad and had not received any dispatch orders.

This not only puzzled Malashenko, but also disappointed many soldiers and grassroots commanders and fighters in the brigade.

Everyone was eager to train hard and practice various assault and defense tactics, so that they could rush to the front line as soon as possible to fight those damn Germans to the death and eliminate a lot of enemies.

But now, the only full-fledged unit in the suburbs of Stalingrad with strength is the Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade. Even the tank soldiers of the 64th Army who were happy to get second-hand broken cars have already rushed to the front line. This situation really puzzled the entire Stalin Guards 1st Heavy Tank Brigade, and they didn't know why.

"Still no reply?"

Malachenko, who was waiting and waiting in the brigade headquarters, could not wait for any valuable news, and even the telegram sent to Comrade Lao Zhu had not received any reply until now.

Malachenko, who was waiting anxiously, could not suppress his anxiety and was about to tell Political Commissar Petrov in front of him that he was going to send another telegram to Marshal Zhukov to urge him.

Unexpectedly, at this moment, the communications staff who came hurriedly appeared in front of Malachenko and Political Commissar Petrov, and without saying a word, he reached out and handed the telegram in his hand to Malachenko, the head of the brigade.

Seeing this scene, Malashenko could no longer hold back his anxiety. He snatched the telegram from the communications staff in front of him and spread it out.

Political Commissar Petrov, who was standing opposite the table, could not hold back. Without Malashenko saying anything, he hurried over to the brigade commander's side to read the contents of the telegram.

However, neither Malashenko nor Political Commissar Petrov expected that the contents of the telegram were only a very concise and short sentence.

"The time is not yet ripe, continue to wait!"

After taking in the contents of the short telegram, Malashenko and Political Commissar Petrov looked at each other with blinking eyes, and the two of them, with expressions full of astonishment, had no idea what to do next.

"What do you think? Do it as the telegram says? Or try to do something else?"

The question was raised by Political Commissar Petrov, and Malashenko only sighed as he held the telegram tightly in his hand.

"Do a good job of calming the comrades' minds. If it doesn't work, hold a meeting tonight. If necessary, I can speak on stage in person. Orders are orders. No matter how strong your desire to fight is, you have to endure it. That's it!" Malashenko, who still held the telegram in his hand, seemed a little hesitant. After thinking for more than ten seconds, he finally blurted out the words that were on his lips. "Call the military and political cadres above the battalion level to the brigade headquarters for a meeting. I will personally preside over it. Everyone must be present. There are no excuses or reasons!" Political Commissar Petrov could probably guess what Malashenko wanted to do. In fact, even the political commissar himself had the same plan. "Okay, I'll send someone to notify them right away." Malashenko, who was left sitting on the bench in the rear, was worried about how to calm the irritable troops who were eager to fight.

At the same time, Comrade Zhu, who had been promoted to marshal, was sitting at the Red Army General Staff Headquarters with Vasilevsky, making final battle arrangements for the upcoming unprecedented battle.

When the details of the conversation came to the issue of troop deployment, an important presence that could not be avoided in any case: the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, naturally became the central focus of the topic.

"Battle groups and reserves in all directions have been drawn up. Most have arrived at the planned area, and a small number are still on their way. So far, the only important force that has not been mobilized is Stalingrad. An elite Guards heavy tank brigade in the direction, your most capable general."

Vasilevsky adjusted his tone to be as relaxed as possible, hoping to liven up the atmosphere more or less, because what he was going to say next might make Zhukov, who had a bad temper, feel greatly dissatisfied.

"The recommendation given by the General Staff after study is to transfer the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade to the Voronezh Front commanded by Vatutin, but before that, I would like to hear your personal opinion."