Steel Soviet Union

"Comrade Marshal, what are you doing?"

Malashenko could predict that someone would come to pick him up, so he didn't say how awesome he was when he went to the sky, but he was also a lieutenant general and a high-ranking figure. When he got off the plane, he carried all the big bags with him and picked him up at the airport. There are no cars, which really doesn’t make sense.

But Malashenko really didn't expect that the person waiting at the airport gate and driving to pick him up would be Vatutin.

We have all heard that subordinates take over from their leaders. How can there be any reason for leaders to come and take over their subordinates?

Although my friend and I have a good personal relationship with Vatutin, this doesn’t feel like a normal thing.

Malashenko, who didn't understand what was going on, stepped forward. What was waiting for him was Vatutin's smiling face. Not only that, he even took the initiative to step forward and talk to the old man who had worked with him for a long time. The subordinate opened his arms and gave him a big bear hug.

"Flying directly from Berlin to this place, you must have suffered a lot along the way, right? Huh?"

The first sentence he said directly spoke to Comrade Ma's heart, and almost made Comrade Ma, who already suffered from back pain, burst into tears.

"It's definitely not a small thing to talk about the situation, but I really can't speak out of conscience about our relationship, Comrade Marshal. Now I really feel that there is no part of my body from my arms to my legs that is normal. It's like falling apart. It’s all light.”

"Pfft hahahaha——"

As soon as Malashenko said this, he made Vatutin, who had just finished the bear hug in front of him, laugh out loud. Before his laughter subsided, he patted Malashenko's arm and said.

"Yes, if you can tell me the truth, it means that we are not estranged from each other. That's the way it should be with me!"

"Let's go, the food has been prepared for you. I just arrived here not long ago. It happens that my motorcade is also there, so I just came to pick you up and see how our "Berlin heroes" are going to Japan this time. What surprises did the devil bring?"

After the Battle of Berlin, the name "Berlin" was added to the already long full name of the leading army.

From Moscow to Berlin, the title of the capital of the Soviet Union and Germany is undoubtedly one of the top honors in the Patriotic War.

The titles of other meritorious troops are basically "Vistula to Oder River", or even worse, "Tamanskaya" is added with some embellishments.

Like the Leader's Army, which has "Stalin" in front and "Moscow to Berlin" in the back, it is the only one among the millions of Soviet Red Army, and there is no other.

Now Vatutin says that Malashenko is the "hero of Berlin", which is also referring to the newly added title of Berlin.

After getting in the car, he and Vatutin sat side by side in the back row of the car to facilitate chatting. Comrade Comrade Political Commissar and Lavrinenko and his party sat in other cars at the back under Vatutin's arrangement and traveled with the convoy.

Facing such praise from Vatutin, Malashenko smiled and nodded at first, and was not embarrassed to say anything more. The words that followed directly got to the point.

"Comrade Marshal, how much time do we have left to prepare? You know that my troops are still on their way back from Berlin. I'm worried that if the time is too tight,"

Malashenko didn't finish his words, and Vatutin could guess what he meant next. After thinking for a moment, he spoke directly and clearly pointed out the answer for Malashenko.

"You basically don't need to worry about this. Our superiors have given us relatively ample time to prepare for the battle."

"Although our First Far East Front Army has undertaken a considerable number of major combat tasks, the transportation resources assigned to us by our superiors are equally abundant. Our army has a lot of property, and our superiors also know about it. Now this army's The wealth is already more than that of some newly formed army groups, and there is no other commander as wealthy as you in the entire Red Army. "

Malashenko's main concern is that the leader's army has a lot of tanks. If there is no transportation capacity and resources, it will be difficult to assemble the troops in a short time. The assembly speed will definitely not be as fast as a certain archbishop.

On the other hand, the facts before us are just as Vatutin said. The current leadership army is not only unique in the entire Red Army, but in terms of the size of the army-level establishment, no other company can be found in the world. .

After the Battle of Berlin, when the highly integrated leading army expanded, it did not have infantry divisions, tank divisions, or a large number of lower-level units like the traditional Red Army corps-level units.

Under Malashenko's personal drafting, there were only two combat units at the division level of the leader's army, namely Kulbalov's first division and Varosha's second division.

But don't think, "How can you be so poor with only two divisions in one army?" The two heavy synthetic divisions under Malashenko are far beyond the capabilities of ordinary Guards divisions.

To put it simply, the two main forces of the original Leader Division, the First and Second Brigades, were reorganized according to the final organization plan based on the actual combat experience of the Leader Division during the Battle of Berlin. Both brigades were all promoted and expanded into the original Leader Division. Troops of the same size.

In terms of book figures, the two combat divisions of the current leadership army, when fully equipped, should have more than 530 medium and heavy tanks, self-propelled artillery, rocket launchers, and rocket assault tanks assigned from the battalion level. Counting all the way up to the division level, the total number reaches more than 430 vehicles.

In addition, because the Leader's Army was also the first unit in the entire Red Army to be fully mechanized, it literally realized "everyone has a car and a seat"; just like its predecessor, the Leader's Division, it was also the first fully mechanized unit in the entire Red Army. Like a teacher.

Therefore, in terms of the allocation of armored combat vehicles, today's leading army also has more than 530 infantry fighting vehicles configured in a 1:1 ratio, with the same number of tanks, to achieve the ideal infant-tank coordination of "one tank with one squadron" configuration.

In addition, Malashenko, who left the TOS-1A, the ultimate killer weapon, to be assigned to the division level instead of continuing to hold it in his own hands, also has newer and stronger military fire support equipment-ISU- 203 self-propelled artillery.

Whether on the battlefield or on the parade ground, this super self-propelled artillery shocked foreigners who witnessed it with their own eyes.

In addition to the two military parades in the east and west, 24 new vehicles were received in each, for a total of 48 vehicles.

During the period after the military parade, the Leningrad Kirov Factory, which was seizing the time to continue rolling out vehicles, will also count the initial prototype vehicles that have been delivered before the start of the combat operation against Japan. 24 vehicles were collected and delivered to Malashenko.

So if everything goes according to plan, then the military support firepower of the leader army will consist of a total of 72 ISU-203 self-propelled artillery.

In terms of the specific establishment, Malashenko set it at 23 vehicles for one battalion, including the battalion command vehicle, and 72 vehicles would exactly pull out 3 artillery battalions to form a regiment-level headquarters.

Then there is Malashenko's original division-level guard tank company, which has now been expanded into a guard tank battalion. A total of 48 IS7 heavy tanks are equipped with a guard mechanized infantry battalion directly under the army for coordinated operations.

Although these two units have the title of "guard" in name, in actual combat concepts, they play the role of military standing reserves. Together with the ISU-203 self-propelled artillery regiment, they are all Malashenko's soldiers. It is a military-level combat unit directly under the control.

Another point is that although the IS7 is good, it is limited by many factors such as weight and production capacity. Therefore, the main battle heavy tank of the leader army so far is still the 50-ton IS6. The IS7 is only used as a tank at the division level. Suitable for concentrated use of breakthrough spearheads in battlefield environments.

Then there is the IS7 tank battalion directly under Malashenko's hand, which once deployed at the most anxious moment of the war, will most likely play a role in turning the tide of the war.

So all the jars, pots, and miscellaneous things are counted together. All the combat equipment of the army, divisions, and divisions are taken into account. The total number of armored combat vehicles such as tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and other armored combat vehicles has exceeded 1,100. The total number of self-propelled artillery, rocket launchers, and rocket assault tanks is 500. As above, the total strength of the combat troops has exceeded 50,000.

That's it, not counting the logistics support truck fleet, which has only a lot more vehicles than the total number of combat equipment.

It is true to say that the leader's army is "an army on steel tracks and truck pulleys."

By the end of the Great Patriotic War, the Red Army had a total of 6 Guards Tank Armies.

After the leadership army was reorganized and established, some people jokingly called the leadership army the "7th Guards Tank Army".

Malashenko heard this statement and responded with a smile, saying "it is true."

Because based on the width of the frontal battlefield that the leader's army has to face and the comprehensive combat strength at the corps level, the leader's army's powerful assault energy is only stronger than that of the traditional tank group army.

From the infantry to the artillery, everything was equipped with tracks and wheels. The huge progress made the leader's assault speed completely realize "how fast a tank can fight, other arms that cooperate with the tank can definitely keep up." breakthrough.

With tanks as the core, tanks should not be held back, and a complete combat system built around tanks that can keep up with tanks.

This is the core answer Malashenko gave to the topic of "how to enhance the efficiency of first-level assault group operations of the army\\group army".

There is another thing that Malashenko is also very lucky about.

Thanks to the timing of the expansion and formation of the Leader's Army, it caught up with the late Great Patriotic War, when the Soviet military industrial production capacity exploded to an unprecedented level. The production capacity of various required main battle equipment can be guaranteed in quality and quantity, and can be delivered in full quantity.

Otherwise, the military-level synthetic assault group adaptation plan that Malashenko has been conceiving for a long time will still have time to "wait for the equipment and equipment", but on second thought, it is better than "waiting for the equipment and the people".

All in all, in Malashenko's view, the current situation is basically in line with the expectations of the plan he has always conceived, which can be said to be quite good.

When it comes to the level of the front army, Vatutin already has a huge number of tanks under his command, and now there is a "super tank army not called a tank army" like the leader army.

The First Far Eastern Front Army led by Vatutin, with more than 2,900 tanks and self-propelled artillery, suddenly became the most powerful front-level unit in the entire combat operation against Japan, completely surpassing what should have been expected in history. The strongest Transbaikal Front has more than 500 more tanks and self-propelled artillery than the latter.

In fact, there is nothing that can be done about it. It does not mean that the superiors intentionally favor Vatutin.

It is a special experimental army-level unit like the Leader's Army. Whether it is the Transbaikal Front or the First Far Eastern Front, whoever is given it will be the first and strongest.

Even if it is given to the Second Far East Front Army, which is relatively weak among the three front armies and only undertakes auxiliary combat tasks, it can suddenly become a strong army on par with the other two front armies.

The leader of the army gives a thumbs up to someone, that's what happens.

Considering that the tacit cooperation and mutual familiarity between Vatutin and Malashenko will help the leadership army's combat operations to unfold at the actual battlefield level, and the front-level combat tasks that Vatutin is responsible for do indeed require Such a unit as the Leader Army. After comprehensive consideration, the leading army was placed under the command of Vatuking, so Vatuking's First Far Eastern Front Army suddenly became "the most powerful army in the Far East."

Cause and effect is just that, it's that simple.

If the other two front commanders are dissatisfied, then be dissatisfied. If you are dissatisfied, go to the General Staff Headquarters or go to the loving comrade who signed and approved the final plan for the Far East operations. If you are willing to go and really have the ability to go.

Malashenko led Malashenko to eat all the prepared food on the table. Malashenko, who had a big belly like a pregnant woman who was five months pregnant, patted her belly and burped one after another. On the other hand, Vatutin, who was sitting next to him, was amazed, with an expression like "I don't know if you just escaped from Africa to the Soviet Union."

"Isn't the food delicious all the way back?"

Vatutin asked in a half-joking tone. His reaction was a little slow because he was too full. Malashenko, who was sitting on a chair and stroking his belly with his hands for a moment, finally figured out what was going on.

"Oh, not really. I was shaking all the way back, and my brain was almost shaken. I couldn't sleep well, let alone eat. I didn't have much appetite when I had everything in front of me. I didn't expect that. I'm used to riding in many tanks, but this time it's like this."

After eating and drinking, he went to the local guest house in Chita and slept. When Malashenko opened his eyes, it was already 7:20, and there were only 40 minutes left before the train departed at 8:00.

Thanks to the fact that it was close to the train station, he dared to sleep until now. Malashenko got up and quickly packed up his things to leave. When he left the guest house, he saw at a glance that the political commissar who had finished packing was waiting at the roadside with a special car.

"Let's go, it's just you. If you don't come down, I'm going to go up and call you. Lavri and the others have already gone to the station first."

"In addition, while you are sleeping, Kulbalov sent a telegram. He has arrived in Khabarovsk and is setting up the division headquarters. He also said that the military headquarters has also prepared the site. Now Waiting for you to bring someone over."

"Oh, one more thing. Marshal Vatutin has already set off ahead of time. The Front Army Headquarters is also located in Khabarovsk. It will be more convenient for combat meetings and liaisons. At least you don't have to take a train to the Front Army Headquarters for meetings. "

Just like the preparations for every previous war, Comrade Political Commissar would always quietly figure everything out and arrange everything in an orderly manner when Malashenko was tired and busy.

Malashenko doesn't know how long this kind of daily life can last. There are always things that must be faced. He just hopes that such a good time can last as long as possible, even for a moment.