Although the exercise had been over for a week, Fedyuninsky had never contacted Tang Shaohua. Tang Shaohua called the other party's military headquarters, but the officer on duty only said that the army commander had gone down to the unit, and his specific whereabouts were unknown, and it was not clear when he would be able to return.

Tang Shaohua understood that Fedyuninsky was deliberately evading himself, and although the other side also thought that it would be a matter of time before he would fight with the Germans, when there was no sign of the outbreak of war, he and a senior commander of the same level, the commander of the mechanized corps, who also held the post of commander of the garrison, privately discussed the coordinated operation of the two units behind the back of the superior leaders, which was originally a taboo thing. The reason why Fedyuninsky chose to avoid it again and again may be that he wanted to weigh the situation carefully before making his final decision.

Tang Shaohua, who was in a depressed mood, dressed in civilian clothes, drove the gas car alone, left the garrison headquarters, and drove aimlessly along the street.

Rokossovsky's military headquarters and garrison headquarters are located in Zhytomyr, a city located on the banks of the Tetelev River, a tributary of the Dnieper River, 165 kilometers from Kiev, and is the capital of Zhytomyr Oblast in northwestern Ukraine. The city has a population of 200,000 and has many factories for the manufacture of auto parts, linen weaving and wood processing. The local specialty is a variety of musical instruments, the most famous of which is the accordion.

Since today is the weekend, it is a rest day, and it is a rare sunny day. There are many people walking along the streets, and young girls wear the fashionable beanie round soft hats, beautiful bragi, and light flat-heeled loafers, and walk happily on the curb. And the fashionably dressed lads are constantly whistling at the girls who pass by them, or making a few innocuous jokes.

Seeing this scene, Tang Shaohua couldn't help but secretly sigh that such a peaceful life would be completely broken if it lasted for half a month at most. The sheer majority of these men and women on the streets will lose their precious lives in the war. As soon as he thought of this, his already depressed mood became even heavier.

There was a small kiosk selling flowers on the side of the road in front, and four or five young men lined up in the window, buying newly listed flowers. Seeing the flowers, Tang Shaohua remembered that today was the birthday of Rokossovsky's wife Petrovna, and his impostor husband had to buy her some gifts. Before leaving, he had privately asked a staff officer of the garrison command about Russian gifts for women, usually flowers, chocolates and cosmetics.

Just as he was trying to find a suitable spot and stop the car, a policeman suddenly appeared from the side of the road and waved to him to park the car on the side of the road. Tang Shaohua knew that this was a traffic policeman according to the gray ring on his big-brimmed hat, and said that he had not violated the rules, why did he let himself park? Although he was puzzled, he still parked the car firmly at the position designated by the traffic police.

He pushed open the car door, leaned out half of his body, and asked politely, "Comrade policeman, is there anything wrong?" ”

After the traffic policeman raised his hand and saluted him, he said with a serious expression: "Comrade citizen, why don't you turn on the lights when your car is moving?" ”

Tang Shaohua looked up at the sunny and clear sky, and said in wonder: "Comrade policeman, don't you see that it is a sunny day today?" ”

"Comrade citizens, I know it's a sunny day. But does this have anything to do with not turning on your lights when driving? The traffic police asked rhetorically. Don't you know that according to traffic rules, all vehicles must drive with their headlights on while driving? ”

After listening to the words of the traffic police, Tang Shaohua really couldn't cry or laugh, he thought: When driving on a sunny day, you must also turn on the lights, what kind of traffic rules is this? However, since the traffic police said that he violated the traffic rules, he must have violated the traffic rules, so he had no choice but to smile apologetically and said: "I'm sorry, comrade policeman, I'll pay attention next time." ”

Unexpectedly, the traffic police didn't buy it, but said sharply: "Which unit are you from, please show your ID!" ”

Tang Shaohua smiled bitterly, took out his military ID card from his coat pocket and handed it over. The traffic police took it casually, opened it and looked at it, and immediately changed his face, snapped upright, and then saluted Tang Shaohua, and stammered: "I'm sorry, I will ...... Comrade General, I ...... I'm ...... I really don't know it's you, please ...... I beg your pardon! ”

Tang Shaohua jumped out of the car, stood in front of the traffic policeman, first pulled his hand off his forehead, then took back his military ID card and put it in his pocket, and said softly: "Comrade policeman, don't be nervous, you see that I am not wearing a military uniform, you can treat me as an ordinary citizen." You deserve credit for being faithful to your job and doing the right thing. ”

The traffic police originally thought that they had offended such a big man, and the other party would definitely let his superiors teach him a hard lesson, but he didn't expect that the other party not only did not criticize himself, but also praised two sentences, and the stone hanging in his heart fell to the ground.

Tang Shaohua got back into the car and was about to close the door, when he suddenly remembered the traffic regulations, he couldn't help leaning out again, and asked the traffic police: "Comrade policeman, I want to ask, why do you have to drive the headlights when the vehicle is driving?" ”

When the traffic police heard Tang Shaohua ask, they couldn't help but show a surprised expression on their faces. However, since he had heard Comrade General ask him a question, he would definitely not be able to answer, so he could only answer honestly: "Comrade General, I don't know the specific situation, maybe because we belong to a high-latitude country, so we must turn on the lights when the vehicle is driving." ”

After listening to the traffic policeman's answer, Tang Shaohua nodded as if he didn't understand, closed the door and started the vehicle, and was about to continue driving forward when he heard the roar of a motorcycle coming later. When I turned my head, I saw a three-wheeled motorcycle, which was speeding along the road towards where I was.

Tang Shaohua recognized at a glance that the motorcycle belonged to the garrison headquarters, and guessed that there might be something important, so he stopped in the distance and did not move, quietly waiting for the motorcycle to arrive.

After the motorcycle stopped next to the gas, the officer sitting in the sidecar jumped to the ground, walked around the front of the motorcycle to the gas, raised his hand to salute Tang Shaohua, and reported: "Comrade General, the commander of the 15th Infantry Corps, General Fedyuninsky, is waiting for you at the headquarters. Comrade Chief of Staff asked me to come to you, please immediately come to the command. ”

When Tang Shaohua heard that Fedyuninsky had come to visit, his originally depressed mood suddenly became happy. He nodded at the officer and commanded, "I see." Immediately turn the vehicle around, and we go back to headquarters. ”