Steel Soviet Union

Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division needs time to rest and replenish. It is not that easy to rebuild this unit that was almost completely disabled in the battle at Prokhorovka. Especially when Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division had to serve as the elite forward, details could not be careless.

There is still some time before the war begins, and both the Soviet and German armies are making final preparations for the foreseeable winter battle to the death.

Time passed unknowingly in the cold winter with snow all over the sky. Malashenko, who was either busy training troops or dealing with paper problems every day, felt as if he had not been so busy for a long, long time.

In addition to those things that must be done every day, Malashenko also has some other things that must be handled personally.

Since returning to the front line, Malashenko's visits to Dr. Karachev have increased significantly compared to the past.

It was not that there was something wrong with Malashenko's own health, but that the physical conditions of Commissar Petrov and Kirill always made Malashenko worried.

For comrade political commissar, there is no need to talk to Karachev who has nothing to hide from Malashenko anymore.

"With the knowledge I have learned and the abilities I have mastered, I don't know how long Comrade Comrade Political Commissar can last. Frankly speaking, in the few courses I had in college that dealt with pancreatic cancer in detail, I was shocked. The patients I know who suffer from this kind of terminal illness often don’t survive for more than a year, and some even die within a few months. The patients are often so miserable that they even commit suicide.”

"But Comrade Political Commissar, Comrade Political Commissar, he has lasted longer than I expected. Judging from the situation he described, he had abnormal labor pains at least more than a year ago. This is very scary and at the same time It’s also an amazing situation.”

"It has been more than a year, and I still managed to survive the first half of the journey without any medication. Do you know what this means? If my mentor knew about this, he would definitely conduct an exclusive interview with the political commissar, and even Write an academic paper on this topic, because this is simply a miracle! He even hid his illness so much that you don’t know anything about it. It’s hard to imagine how he did it. It’s incredible.”

"My mentor once told me that how long a terminally ill person can live depends largely on the person's mentality, willpower, and whether he or she has the courage to fight tenaciously and not give up in the face of the disease. This is The conclusions drawn based on statistics from long-term follow-up surveys are supported by data.”

"So how long Comrade Political Commissar can last, what I want to say is that it depends on him. I have tried my best to provide him with any feasible auxiliary treatment and drug analgesia. The entire world's medical community has no regard for the pancreas. Cancer is helpless, it is simply the rope of death.

Kalachev's answer was roughly the same as Malashenko's expected answer. The future of the tenacious fight against the king of cancer can no longer be predicted with common sense. This is different for each patient. same.

Comrade Comrade Political Commissar was still unwilling to leave the front line and go to the hospital in the rear to lie down and wait for death. After Malashenko mentioned this once, he did not make any more useless persuasion and chose to respect this man who was already dying. The choice of a veteran Red Army member, a member of the Communist Party, and someone as close as his mentor.

As for Kirill, the conclusion given by Karachev is also not optimistic.

"You have to let Kirill go to other places to work, or to fight, whichever way you want to describe it. Anyway, he can no longer continue the high-intensity manual labor of a loader. I have personally seen the new tank shells. "It's hard for me to carry even one. Kirill's current physical condition is not much better than that of an able-bodied person like me."

"This is not to say that I am giving you advice, comrade division commander, I am saying that if you don't want Kirill to die suddenly at his post, then do as I say as soon as possible. Maybe it sounds like you I don’t feel comfortable saying it, but it’s the truth.”

"Lung sounds, respiratory rate, and even colds and coughs that are nothing to us ordinary people, all of Kirill's lung-related conditions are abnormal. The bullet and foreign body have indeed been removed, and I also specifically contacted the person who was Kirill at the time. The surgeon who performed the surgery on me checked the situation and everything seemed to be fine, but this was also the scariest thing.”

"Kiril's lung function should be left with permanent trauma, which means it cannot be cured. Medication alone will not work. This requires long-term planned treatment. Do something before the situation is irreversible. Comrade Commander, the worst outcome can only be worse than you imagine. No one wants to lose such an optimistic and cheerful partner as Kirill, including me.”

Malashenko, who received no good news, finally left the field hospital alone and a little lonely.

Standing in the snow in the howling cold wind at the entrance of the hospital, with a cigarette in his mouth, Malashenko was thinking about the next countermeasures, remembering every word that Karachev had just told him in his mind. I thought about it over and over again like a single loop.

"That's all, after following me for so long, you should be able to figure out something even if you look at it, so that's it."

Forced by reality, Malashenko found Kirill's uncle, the political commissar Petrov, and informed him of the personnel appointment decision he had made regarding Kirill's physical condition.

"Are you sure? Let Kirill be the commander and go to Kurbalov to command a main tank platoon?"

"I don't know his specific situation. He has been by your side. If you think he has the ability, then I support your decision."

As long as the situation allows it, Malashenko would not want to make such a decision.

The brothers formed a tacit understanding of the car crew and fought until the end of the Great Patriotic War. This was good in Malashenko's opinion, but the problem is that the bad current situation really does not allow Malashenko to go there like this. Do.

"Let's try it first. How will you know if you don't give it a try? I'm not much older than Kirill. Why don't I still become a major general and division commander? I think Kirill is still qualified. There is no personal subjective emotion involved. Even if he has only heard and heard of me for so long, he should know how to conduct battlefield command. "

Malashenko was determined to do it, but Commissar Petrov was already thinking about another important thing.

"But you have to have a loader. After Kirill leaves, have you thought of a suitable person?"