In the center of the city of Cowell there was a majestic church that had been closed a few years earlier, and the clergy were either executed or imprisoned in the Gulag, and the church was converted into a town hall. Recently, there were rumors that the church would reopen, so the municipal staff here were asked to move out within a week, and the church was vacated waiting for the clergy to accept it. The church, which is now temporarily empty, became the temporary headquarters of the Ninth Mechanized Corps.

As soon as the battle in the west of the city began, a staff officer walked up to Tang Shaohua and respectfully reported to him: "Comrade Army Commander, the exercise has officially begun, and the Blue Army troops have launched an attack on the defensive position of the motorized infantry regiment. ”

Tang Shaohua, who was sitting at the oak table chatting with Maslov, just nodded after listening to the staff officer's report, and said lightly: "I know, thank you!" ”

Maslov saw that after listening to the staff officer's report, Tang Shaohua was still sitting in place and did not move, and he couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Comrade army commander, don't you want to see the whole process of the exercise with your own eyes?" ”

Originally, Tang Shaohua had no interest in this kind of exercise that went through the motions, but since his chief of staff asked about it, he still had to save some face for the other party, so he had no choice but to stand up and ask a little helplessly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, since this is the case, let's go to the scene to observe the exercise." With that, he raised his leg and planned to walk outside the church.

He had barely taken two steps when he was stopped by Maslov. The latter looked at him with a surprised look on his face and reminded: "Comrade commander, if you want to watch the exercise, we can go to the bell tower of the church, where the field of vision is wide and we can see the entire battlefield. ”

The buildings in the west of the city are all three-storey flat-roofed brick and concrete buildings, and the view from the high bell tower is not affected in the slightest. Tang Shaohua and Maslov stood side by side on the bell tower, and they could clearly see the two sides that were fighting with a telescope.

Maslov explained to Tang Shaohua while watching: "Comrade Army Commander, according to the exercise plan, the Blue Army will launch at least three charges against the defensive positions of our motorized infantry regiment. After a negligible success, with the assault of the Katukov tank division from both sides, the Blues' attack on us was repulsed and suffered huge losses. ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff." Tang Shaohua didn't put down the binoculars in his hand, but said unceremoniously: "Do you think such an exercise will help improve the technical and tactical level of our soldiers?" ”

Before Maslov could express his opinion, the gunfire on the position of the motorized infantry regiment suddenly became sparse, and more than 100 officers and men of the Blue Army actually rushed through the first line of defense and rushed towards the second line of defense.

"Hell, what's going on?" Maslov couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise: "The defensive position of our motorized infantry regiment was actually broken through by the Blues?" ”

Tang Shaohua looked at the group of blue officers and soldiers who were rushing forward like a rainbow, and couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Chief of Staff, in the exercise plan, was our first line of defense broken through by the Blue Army?" ”

"Nope!" "According to the plan of the exercise, our motorized infantry regiment will easily repel every attack of the Blues and drive them out of the city before dark," Maslov wondered. And tomorrow morning, the main forces of the Blue Army, unwilling to be defeated, will attack the city again, and our troops will be completely defended, and when Fedyuninsky's infantry corps and the 19th Mechanized Corps arrive, we will begin a full-scale counterattack until the Blue Army is completely annihilated. ”

Tang Shaohua put down the binoculars and said to himself: "Strange, why was the position of the motorized infantry regiment broken through by the Blue Army so easily?" ”

Maslov turned around and took the phone from the communications staff officer standing behind him, and after dialing the motorized infantry regiment, he asked angrily: "Lieutenant Colonel Vajim, could you please explain to me why the Blues broke through your first line of defense so easily?" ”

Lieutenant Colonel Vajim, who answered the phone, replied with a sad face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, our fortifications have not yet been repaired, and the Blue Army is rushing towards us with great vigour. The vast majority of the fighters in our regiment were new recruits, had no corresponding combat experience, and may have been a little panicked, so the Blues broke through their positions. ”

"Give you five minutes to take the position back for me." After Maslov gave the order, he didn't give Vajim a chance to complain, so he hung up the phone directly.

Between the first and second lines of defense, the distance is almost 500 meters, and there are no communication trenches in between. The Blues, who had broken through the first line of defence, had to charge in the open. When they were still about 200 meters away from the second line of defense, the mortars in the trenches opened fire, and as several empty cartridges landed in the charging queue and exploded, the blue officers and soldiers who were charging forward stopped and turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

While most of the Blue officers and men were running back, a few of the soldiers who had broken away from the group were still charging forward, including the sergeant who had just been in the trench and his recruits. The commanders and fighters of the motorized infantry regiment, who were sticking to the second line of defense, saw that the blue army had fled, and jumped out of the trench with their weapons in hand, shouting and began to charge.

The sergeant and the little soldier realized that they had been left alone, and in the face of the commanders and fighters of the motorized infantry regiment who rushed up, they quickly stopped, stood in place and raised their weapons above their heads with both hands, and took the initiative to surrender as prisoners.

Maslov, who was standing on the bell tower, saw that several Blue officers and soldiers were taken prisoner immediately after the motorized infantry regiment launched a counterattack, and he couldn't help but smile on his face, and he excitedly shouted: "Comrade commander, you can see it. Our troops are on the offensive, and as long as our commanders and fighters charge, the enemy will not be able to stop them at all. ”

When Tang Shaohua saw this dramatic scene, not only did he not have the slightest happy expression, but put down the binoculars with a blushing face, turned his head to look at Maslov and said, "Chief of Staff, what is there to be happy about." Don't forget, the Blues easily broke through our first line of defense without any heavy weapons to support them. Such troops, do you think that a few shells will crush them? ”

"But they're retreating!" Maslov said unwillingly: "If it weren't for the fact that they couldn't resist the attack of our army, how could they retreat?" ”

"You also said earlier that, according to the plan of the exercise, the results they achieved in the offensive were insignificant. I think they saw that they had completed their mission, so they took the initiative to retreat. After saying these few words, Tang Shaohua waved his hand at the communications staff officer standing behind, and ordered impatiently: "Call Colonel Katukov and order him to lead the tank division to attack and annihilate the Blue Army outside the city as quickly as possible." ”

With the order given, Katukov's tank forces rushed out of the hidden part of the city and quickly detoured from the flanks of the Blues to their rear, cutting off their retreat. The Blue Army, which did not have any anti-tank weapons, had no choice but to obediently lay down their weapons in the face of the outflanked tank troops.

In this way, the first exercise outside the city of Cowell ended hastily. The Blue Army troops attacking the city, except for one company "killed", the remaining two companies were all taken prisoner.