Steel Soviet Union

The last time Malashenko saw Vatutin was when he went to the front army headquarters for a meeting before crossing the river.

At that time, Vatutin told Malashenko to treat the enemy with caution, and not to underestimate the enemy just because of the victory in the Patriotic War and the complete destruction of the Nazis. Although the Japanese army was at an absolute disadvantage in all aspects, they still had to deal with it carefully. .

Malashenko naturally agreed and promised that he would definitely do it.

Now that the Japanese army is littered with corpses, the leader's army won the first battle and set a new record for the number of enemies annihilated in a single day. Malashenko can be considered as fulfilling his promise.

Vatutin, who arrived at the headquarters of the leading army at nightfall, immediately saw Malashenko, who was leading his team out of the city to greet him. With a congratulatory smile, he parked the car and walked straight towards Malashenko.

"In one day, one division of troops defeated 50,000 people. Stories like this have now spread throughout the Far East Military Region, and are flying to every corner of the motherland, and even the world."

Vatutin gave Malashenko a different opening speech as soon as he came up.

Looking at Vatutin with a bright smile on his face, Malashenko, who took the hand offered by Vatutin and held it firmly, also responded with a smile.

"The main thing is that Kurbalov himself commanded it well, Comrade Marshal. The military agencies under my leadership only played a coordinating role in this battle and did not involve specific combat command.

"oh?"

Such news was something Vatutin had never heard before coming.

One thing to say is that after reading various battle reports that were fed back in real time, Vatutin’s intuition was that this battle was in the style of Malashenko’s command.

Opening and closing, breaking through from the front, tearing the enemy's defense line into pieces amidst the involvement of artillery fire and steel tracks, completely extinguishing the enemy's last glimmer of hope like extinguishing a candle.

This is the iconic command style of Malashenko, who was used to being a battlefield fire brigade and running around in the early and mid-term, and then served as the absolute main force in the mid-to-late period and was used to fighting all kinds of tough and vicious battles.

It was also decided based on the various battle experiences that Malashenko had to fight and must withstand the pressure head-on.

But now, Malashenko said that he did not direct this battle, which surprised and interested Vatutin at the same time.

"Kurbalov, I have often heard you mention it before. I remember that you personally drafted his application for the Hero of the Soviet Union award. Is that so?"

Vatutin was referring to the famous battle that Kurbalov fought in Ukraine that year, the battle to encircle and annihilate the Grossdeutschland Division I.

In that battle, Kurbalov led the main force of the first brigade, took advantage of tactical mobility and gave full play to his subjective initiative, boldly predicted the enemy's next action plan, successfully intercepted the main force of the fleeing Grossdeutschland Division I, and They persisted until the large forces arrived and finally annihilated the enemy.

He made decisive contributions to the then-leading division's annihilation of this elite elite field division, the number one in the National Defense Forces.

Kurbalov also became famous with this battle and received the Hero of the Soviet Union award for the first time in his military career.

It must be said that Vatutin has a very good memory.

The position of commander-level is full of things to do every day, and there are a lot of busy things to do every day, both above and below. The fact that Vatutin can still remember Kulbalov shows that he has left a deep enough impression.

Especially since Kulbalov was only a brigade commander in the leadership division at the time, it is rare to be remembered by Vatutin, who had hundreds of thousands of people under his command.

It was also because Malashenko, who was obviously delighted to see Vatutin still remembering Kulbalov, spoke immediately.

"Yes, Comrade Marshal. It was indeed me who drafted the application for Kulbalov's Hero of the Soviet Union award. Without his subjective performance in that battle, the Grossdeutschland Division might have slipped away from the leading division."

"Well"

After hearing this, Vatujing nodded slightly, as if he understood something, then he quickly continued to speak after a second thought.

"It seems that Comrade Kurbalov has learned a lot of skills from you, and even the command style is almost exactly the same as yours. This fully proves that as the commander of the army, you have made great achievements in cultivating synthetic commanders for the Red Army. made outstanding contributions.”

The most scarce thing in the Red Army now is senior commanders who are proficient in synthesis.

Many Guards units that use the teaching materials developed and explored by the Leader's Army still don't even understand the integration of various arms at the brigade level. Division-level integration commanders like Kurbalov can prove their strength. It's even rarer.

Therefore, what Vatutin said was to the point. He was not flattering Malashenko. Comrade Lao Ma smiled sheepishly and did not deny it.

After all, not only Vatutin, but also Malashenko was quite surprised to find that Kulbalov's playing style was almost a copy of his own when he studied and compiled the battle reports afterwards.

But even so, self-taught is still a skill.

Kulbalov was able to flexibly apply Malashenko's replica style of play to actual combat and win without Malashenko deliberately teaching him. This is enough to prove his unique strength.

"In fact I intend to continue to train him further, Comrade Marshal."

"It is almost certain that after the war against Japan, Lavrinenko and I will have new arrangements. By then, the leadership of the army may be handed over to Kulbalov. At least I have this expectation. In terms of capabilities, , I am willing to recommend him as the successor to the army commander."

"Although the jump from a divisional agency to a military agency in one step seems a bit long. But imagine, wasn't it the same for me back then? Since Kulbalov is a capable and proven good comrade, I think I might as well give him a try. Opportunity."

After hearing Malashenko's words, Vatutin, who had indeed considered the successor to the leadership army's next commander, also responded in agreement.

"Because of the special nature of the leader's army, your recommendations for the commander's successor will play a big role."

"You can make a detailed report later, listing all the situations and details clearly. I will append my approval and then submit the report. How about that?"

It sounded like a question, but Malashenko couldn't tell that it was Vatutin trying to show his support for his great dignity.

Marshal's approval. P.S. It's not something you can just want.

Apart from Vatutin, Malashenko has so far only received a postscript approval from Zhukov to write in the report. That was when the upgrade plan for the integration and reorganization of various arms was implemented and the report was submitted to the headquarters. It was finally approved and directly contributed to the birth of the leader division.

Now there is Malashenko’s personal recommendation, plus Vatutin’s postscript nomination.

As long as there are no big changes, it is basically a certainty that Kulbalov will take over from Malashenko in the near future.

Comrade Comrade Father, who suffered the consequences of interfering too much in military command a long time ago, is still very liberal in the selection and appointment of military officers for front-line troops.

Thinking of this, Malashenko, who was grateful to Vatujing, then spoke, and by the way, he also gave a surprise that he had prepared.