Steel Soviet Union

Zhukov was right, the Germans were about to surrender.

This is not a careless judgment that underestimates the enemy, but a matter of fact based on objective reality.

It was only after the battle that Malashenko learned that the SS had gathered the remaining troops of the two ace armored divisions "Imperial" and "Skeleton" from the direction of Crown Prince Bridge, plus all the able-bodied troops they could capture. The wave of "Thanksgiving Offensive" launched "just because the number of Red Army aviation personnel was not enough".

It turned out to be literally the last large-scale counterattack that the German army could launch during the entire Battle of Berlin.

After this battle, no German troops above the regiment level remained in the city of Berlin. The only ones left were small fish, shrimps, cats and dogs that were not even large enough for the battalion level.

Some German units look intimidating. Taken alone, they are still a battalion-level or even regiment-level organization.

But if you look at the actual number of people, let alone the battalion, anyone who can even impress the hair-washer can definitely be called the "top warrior of the empire".

As for the other "stormtrooper" weapons used to collect people's heads, let's take a look at the ingredients of those things.

Little brats, bad old men, disabled people, even mildly mentally ill idiots who have been issued "special discharge permission", and hysterical patients. If you can find a Berlin policeman among these young men, it will be a big deal. He can be regarded as a "high-quality young man" and an "elite among young men."

Malashenko thinks that if you ask the leader to deal with these ruffian-level armed forces composed of individuals, it is difficult for Malashenko to say whether it is the leader or who.

Therefore, even though the battle in Berlin is still going on and fierce fighting continues, the detailed battle reports of various siege forces should be compared with the pre-war intelligence at hand.

You can basically guess the extent of the armed casualties suffered by San Dezi, who was stuck in Berlin and beating dogs behind closed doors, and how many capable soldiers he still had on hand.

Look at the current situation of Berlin on the war zone map, which has been torn to pieces by various red arrows and cut into independent areas like a cake.

It is naturally understandable why Zhukov came to the conclusion that "surrender negotiations are imminent".

Malashenko agreed with Comrade Lao Zhu's judgment that "the German guy will send it soon", and he also felt that it was really time to prepare for the funeral of San Dezi.

Only Comrade Lao Zhu, as the party with absolute initiative on the battlefield, preset the negotiation location within his own jurisdiction, which somewhat surprised Malashenko.

After all, according to common sense, this kind of battle-level surrender matter has little to do with the division-level troops. It is all coordinated and made by the bosses at the front and group army levels. But this time Zhukov asked him by name that he, the major general, should also participate, and he also had to prepare the layout of the venue, which somewhat confused Malashenko.

"What the hell is this? Can a young general like me join this big scene? I don't understand."

"Forget it, just follow what the top asks and what the bottom will do. Let's set up the scene first."

Putting the unnecessary questions behind him for the time being, Malashenko immediately took action. The manpower of the organizer's office hurriedly negotiated matters related to the location and layout of the venue, so as not to delay the delay and miss Comrade Zhu's meeting. event.

Oh, in addition to this, there is another matter. Zhukov also made it clear to Malashenko on the phone, which is the follow-up combat order matter that Comrade Ma is most concerned about.

According to what Zhukov said on the phone, the Leading Division has no further combat orders for the time being. Sticking to the existing liberated areas and maintaining the actual line of control is the only next task of the Leading Division. To round it off and simplify it, it is to "rest and recuperate in place."

Neither continuing the fight nor withdrawing from the city, such a compromise order seemed a bit negative, but Comrade Political Commissar gave Malashenko a "little hint" in time.

"Our division has suffered a lot of casualties since the battle. According to the latest casualty report, almost every siege unit has suffered more than 30% casualties. Among them, the "Volga" siege unit has suffered the most casualties, which is close to Four percent."

"Taking it all together at the division level, it means that the current combat force reduction of our division has reached more than 30%, which is more than 6,000 comrades."

"Not only you and I, but also the entire division leadership team must be responsible for the Leader Division. Similar concerns also exist on the superior side. We all know that the Leader Division is a force with both strong combat effectiveness and important political influence. , the starting point of how the superior views and considers the leader is never a single one, but involves comprehensive consideration from many aspects. "

"We are now required to take relatively conservative actions, and I judge that political factors account for a larger proportion. Not only the motherland, but the eyes of the whole world are now staring at Berlin and focusing on the leadership division to retain enough combat effectiveness to maintain The image and deterrence of the troops are necessary, after all, the Capitol Building has been definitely captured by us."

""

In fact, Malashenko really doesn't like to get involved in political matters, but he has no choice. As the saying goes, "military and political affairs cannot be separated." As a powerful extension of politics, the military itself is destined to be impossible to break away from politics, not to mention the leadership division, a top elite whose political weight far exceeds that of ordinary conventional troops.

"Okay, it's a political consideration again, but since it's an order from our superiors, we'll follow it. But if we think about it from another angle, it's really time for the soldiers to take a good rest."

"Those of us who are standing and sitting commanding feel choked and can hardly hold on any longer. We can only imagine what happened to the soldiers in front of us who fought with guns through life and death. Let the heroes of the motherland have a good rest."

Analyzing and analyzing from a political perspective is the specialty of political commissar comrades, and it is also Malashenko's responsibility to empathize with the soldiers.

A truly qualified general can never just point his hand on the map and be qualified to make thousands of soldiers lose their lives for this finger.

It is said that "one general's success will destroy all his bones", but what happens next?

Malashenko hopes that behind the bones there will not be hundreds of thousands or millions of bones, but living soldiers who will return to their hometowns with smiles and glory, embrace warmly with their relatives and reunite with their families.

This is what Malashenko asked himself, no matter how high an official he became, he should never forget it.

With the freed-up division commander personally supervising and commanding, the arrangement of the negotiation venue was carried out quickly and smoothly.

Only a certain combat staff member who was responsible for putting things on the table suddenly encountered a small problem that he couldn't make up his mind about. For this reason, he had to ask the division commander who was not far away to lend a hand to help move things.