Chapter 820: The First Guards Heavy Tank Brigade

"Guess what he will do? Will he come over and scold me? Hmm?"

Malachenko always felt that Chuikov's expression seemed a little wrong. This future Soviet Defense Minister was the first to shout about using nuclear weapons against the rabbits during the Zhenbao Island incident. Malachenko knew it.

Let's talk about the matter instead of the person. Malachenko can understand Chuikov's irritability at that particular time. After all, such a large battle loss only caused a few casualties to the other side. This matter would make anyone feel unhappy, not to mention that Comrade Chuikov was the Soviet Defense Minister at the time.

But apart from anything else, just from this incident, we can see how bad Chuikov's temper is. It is rare to see an irritable defense minister who immediately shouts about nuclearizing the opponent and is ready to take real action after dozens of people died.

To be honest, Malachenko is looking at Chuikov's old face and is really afraid that this big brother will suddenly come over and scold him.

As for why, the reason, and the excuse, Malashenko himself couldn't say it, but it didn't matter.

"Why did he come here to scold you? I think you did a good job, killing the German commandos and relieving the headquarters from being surrounded. He should praise you."

"Really? I don't expect it. It's good enough if he doesn't scold me. I'm serious."

As the two people were talking, Chuikov, who couldn't hear what Malashenko was saying to Lavrinenko, had already walked forward with big strides. The words that followed made Malashenko quite unexpected.

"If you didn't bring people here in time, Comrade Malashenko, there might be one more name on the list of sacrifices today, of course, including everyone in the headquarters."

Malashenko, who felt a little surprised at first, quickly reacted that Chuikov was deliberately exaggerating, perhaps just to praise himself as Lavrinenko said.

Of course, if that's the case, it would be great.

"I know that the 37th Guards Infantry Division was almost wiped out. Tell me about the losses of your regiment, Malashenko."

Chuikov, who had pinned the German commandos to death in his headquarters, seemed a little nervous. It seemed that continuing to move the headquarters had become an irrelevant matter. A large group of headquarters personnel who had received Chuikov's order began to busy themselves again, picking up the scattered documents on the ground, reorganizing them and starting to assume communication equipment.

Judging from this scene, Chuikov, who had temporarily solved the crisis, obviously did not intend to leave.

"Comrade Commander, forgive me for being presumptuous, but shouldn't you quickly move the headquarters now? This place has obviously been exposed. If you continue to stay here, you may wait for more German troops. This is too dangerous."

Unlike Malashenko's impatient face, Comrade Cui, who had an expression of an emperor who was not anxious, had a calm face.

"Transfer? There are German planes everywhere overhead. If you are transferring so many people in the city at this time, the German pilots will definitely see it unless they are blind. Besides, losing control and contact with the troops is the most important thing. No one can predict what will happen during the transfer. The inability to command the troops in real time is the most fatal weakness, isn't it?"

Chuikov was very confident. Hearing this, Malashenko also felt that what he said made sense. He couldn't think of any good rebuttal for a while. Only this unexpected rhetorical question made Malashenko not know how to answer.

"Okay, let's get back to the topic. How are the casualties of your regiment?"

Malashenko, who didn't intend to continue to persuade in vain, tilted his head and thought for a while, and soon poured out the numbers he remembered to Chuikov.

"Seven tanks, comrade commander. The entire First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment now has only seven tanks that can be driven, including my own regimental command vehicle, which was also lost in the battle. At the same time, we also lost all the heavy tanks. Our regiment is now just a medium tank unit."

Malachenko showed a sad expression, but Chuikov, who was just listening to Malachenko's words quietly, seemed quite calm and calm.

"Where are the remaining tanks of your regiment parked now?"

Chuikov asked straightforwardly, and Malachenko simply gave a direct answer without much consideration.

"Just outside the entrance of the headquarters, comrade commander."

"We chased the German commandos all the way here, and we heard an explosion about two blocks away, and then I led people to rush over."

"The tanks couldn't drive into the underground tunnel. We saw the bodies of the guards at the entrance of the tunnel and the gate was completely blown open by explosives, so we guessed that the Germans must have broken in. Then I ordered everyone to get off the car, split into two groups, and rushed into the underground tunnel with the remnants of the 109th Regiment who followed me. You already know what happened afterwards."

Malachenko's answer was basically the same as the whole process guessed by Chuikov.

It is obviously unrealistic to let a unit with only 7 tanks return to the front line again, not to mention that Chuikov had never told Malachenko about some things that only he knew.

General Zhukov had telegraphed the commander of the front, Yelyomenko, and then the order was passed to Chuikov's army headquarters through the front headquarters.

Moscow has decided to upgrade the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment to the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade, withdraw from the front and return to the rear, and reorganize and build new troops to re-condense combat effectiveness.

This was a decision made by the supreme leader himself after Zhukov personally told his father Comrade Stalin about the hard battles of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment in the direction of Stalingrad for many days.

The number and spirit of this heroic tank unit must be preserved and passed on, and it must not be fought in Stalingrad.

At this point, Malashenko and his 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment are no longer just a simple front-line combat unit.

From a macro-strategic perspective, it is a banner that has been established in the entire Red Army, an epic banner of heroes that will never fall.

As long as this flag remains tenacious and continues to exist firmly, the radiating light, spiritual appeal and morale-boosting effect it brings are the extremely important existences that the supreme leader and father Comrade Stalin values ​​most.