Steel Soviet Union

Needless to say, the person who sent the telegram was naturally Vatutin himself. He was directly under the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division under the command of the Front Army Headquarters. Unless it was temporarily assigned to other armies or first-level units of the group army to participate in the battle, it was generally In most cases, they are directly ordered by the front army headquarters. Naturally, the person who most often gives orders to Malashenko is Commander Vatutin.

The content recorded in the telegram was not much, only a few lines. Malashenko, who was holding the telegram in his hand, raised his head and glanced at the correspondent who sent him the telegram. He found that there was nothing to say, and then he started reading. content.

The text in the telegram mainly explained two things to Malashenko.

First, the front army headquarters has been informed of the results achieved by Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division. According to the current summary of the battle situation, at least 40 German armored units in the entire encirclement were killed by Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division. %, and they are all independently organized heavy armored units, or powerful elite armored divisions.

This provided tremendous support to friendly forces operating on the front of the Cherkasy pocket, as well as in all other directions. This greatly accelerated the overall attack speed of the Red Army, and more German troops encountered powerful attacks and were completely destroyed before retreating. x ̸͍̘̳͂͊̂̊̀͊̕͘.̷̹̦̆̆c̶͙͈͚̽̄̈̎̒͜ó̶̧̧̝̳̠͇͕̺̲̹̔̈́ ́՝͝m̷̗͓̽̂̌̋̌̌

The second and most important point is that aviation reconnaissance planes reported that the German troops under Hill 239 had new trends worthy of attention.

There were a large number of German armored units being assembled and on standby. The total number was about the strength of an armored division. There was not enough intelligence support to determine the enemy's number. But it's not in the same direction, but divided into two large areas and two different locations. Moreover, these two groups of armored units only exist as the core, and there are a large number of German infantry gathering close around them.

Aerial reconnaissance cannot determine the more specific situation and can only take a general look at it.

The front army headquarters judged that the next specific move of the German army is likely to be to break out in two groups. If they plan to mass an attack, there is no need to disperse the precious and few remaining armored units into two groups again. This will only increase the chance of failure and is of no use. No matter how crazy the German guy is, he is still not so arrogant that he cannot recognize how much he weighs now.

Now that we are at the end of our rope, we have to divide our forces into two groups. The only reason that can be explained is to break out of the encirclement.

As for the possible direction of the German army's breakout, the headquarters' research concluded that it should be westward. The Germans who suffered a bloody blow under the 239 Hill in the north can only try to go west.

To the east is the main force of the powerful 1st Ukrainian Front. As long as the Germans are not showing off their heads, they will not hit the steel plate with their heads. Escape to the south and break out of the encirclement would be too much of a loss for the Germans because they were going in the opposite direction and the distance was too far, which would take time.

Therefore, the western position of the German Army Group, where the 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division led by Malashenko is currently located, will be the direction facing the greatest pressure from the German forces to break through, and this is very likely to be the case.

Vatutin sent this telegram with only one purpose, to remind Malashenko to stay on high alert, especially at night, to prevent the defending German troops from breaking out at night to cause trouble.

This is the general content mentioned in the telegram. It takes a little time to read them all, but Malashenko wants to complain about one thing more at this moment.

Vatutin only told him in the telegram what tasks he wanted to complete, but said nothing about sending reinforcements.

In other words, what Malashenko has to do next is to use the troops he currently has on hand: a tank division and a tank brigade to stop an entire German corps and an SS corps on the opposite side. The breakout force of the elite armored division.

Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division is certainly the most powerful tank force in the entire Red Army. It is the elite among the elite and the absolute ace in the tank force. However, such a disparity in strength still made Malashenko, who was holding the telegram, scratch his head. This is just like a good tiger cannot fight a pack of wolves. Even if the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division can fight, it will be difficult to stop such a group at the same time. Many breakout German sticks.

"You are posing a problem for me again. No one else would know how to handle such a difficult task. Trying to stop so many Germans in a night battle is simply a fantasy!"

It could be heard that there was obvious complaint in Malashenko's tone, and the action of his right hand was to take off the tank cap on his head and then scratch his head, playing with the dirty hair that was about to become a ball, and he was annoyed.

"Comrade Commander, what happened?"

Dudabovsky could tell that Malashenko must have encountered some kind of problem. The problem probably stemmed from the telegram he had just received. Malashenko before and after reading the telegram was completely different.

"It's all written on it. Take a look for yourself."

As the chief of staff, Dudapovsky was fully qualified to read the telegram and know its contents. Malashenko also pointed at the telegram on the table without reservation. Dudapovsky understood it clearly. Key then reached out and took the telegram on the table in front of him.

""

"I understand, Comrade Division Commander, this is indeed difficult to do, even for our Stalin Guards First Tank Division."

It's a good thing that someone has said something conscientious on his behalf. Even if the conscientious words may not be heard by the people who are in charge of the matter, it doesn't matter, but it doesn't matter. In short, it feels good to be able to forgive yourself.

"Comrade Commander seems to have not considered the objective situation. One division and one brigade are going to stop the Germans' armored corps of the Wehrmacht and an elite SS armored division. Ha, I can't think of such a task. How to accomplish this properly? If we divide our troops into two groups, we will inevitably have insufficient strength. If we don’t divide our troops, we can only take care of one side.”

"If you have any good ideas, just tell me. I just want to hear your opinion."

It stands to reason that as a subordinate, Malashenko should not make rash comments about Vatutin, who is his direct superior. Not only is this against the rules, but if the matter spreads, it may be taken advantage of by villains, which will be detrimental to Comrade Lao Ma. Shenke himself understands this.

It's just that this time he really couldn't bear it anymore. Malashenko really couldn't figure out what was wrong with Vatutin for giving this order. If it weren't for the fact that the German guy was so weak and wanted to run away, he would be alone on the flank with no friendly troops to take care of him. I'm afraid he would be lucky if the German guy didn't rush over and make dumplings, right?