Tang Shaohua and Maslov stood at the three-way intersection with a group of guards, looking at the tanks and armored vehicles of the tank division with expressionless faces, and slowly drove along the narrow streets towards the city.

Seeing that the army commanders were standing on the side of the road, Katukov and his deputies could not swagger into the city, but could only get off the station and stand next to Rokossovsky and watch their troops enter the city in a stream.

Tang Shaohua inadvertently turned around, and found that Katukov, who was standing beside him, was slightly bent over, his hands were crossed on his waist, with a painful expression on his face, and he hurriedly asked with concern: "Comrade Colonel, what's wrong with you?" ”

Katukov hurriedly lowered his hands naturally, stood upright, and then replied with a wry smile: "Comrade commander, I have nephritis, and my back hurts badly. ”

"Did you go to the hospital for a check-up?" Hearing that Katukov was sick, Tang Shaohua hurriedly asked nervously: "Do you need me to arrange for you to withdraw from the exercise first to treat your illness?" ”

"No, no, comrade commander, really don't." Katukov was afraid that Rokossovsky would withdraw himself from the exercise on a whim, and hurriedly said: "I have agreed with the doctor that I will go to the hospital for surgery in early June, and now the priority is to command the troops to complete this exercise." ”

Hearing Katukov say this, Tang Shaohua suddenly understood why in the early days of the Great Patriotic War, why he couldn't find any combat records of Katukov, it turned out that he was hospitalized during that time. This sudden discovery ruined Tang Shaohua's good mood all of a sudden. Originally, it was planned to wait for the outbreak of war to use this famous tank general to teach the Germans a hard lesson in Ukraine, but now it seems that it is impossible to count on it.

At this moment, I suddenly heard a noisy shout from behind me: "Intercept them, intercept them!" Tang Shaohua didn't know what was going on, so he quickly turned his head to look, only to see a tall horse with a red red head on the dirt road in the east, galloping towards this side, and then there were several soldiers running behind him.

Before Tang Shaohua could figure out where the war horse came from, a tall guard immediately rushed up. The warrior was nimble, and when the horse rushed in front of him, he skillfully turned his body to one side, dodged the galloping horse, and grabbed the reins.

Just when Tang Shaohua thought that the overall situation was timed, the warrior was dragged down by the huge inertia of the war horse sprinting forward, and after taking a few heels, he let go of the reins in his hand. Although he did not intercept the warhorse, he managed to slow it down. Maslov shouted, and the rest of the guards immediately surrounded the horse.

By the time the warriors who were chasing the horses arrived, the horses had been tamed by the guards, but two of the guards had been kicked and were covering their injuries and moaning in pain.

Seeing the several soldiers who were in trouble with the war horses, they stood in front of Tang Shaohua and them without saying a word. Maslov pointed at them and asked, "What part of you are from?" Who's to say, what the hell is going on? ”

Standing in front of Tang Shaohua and them, several soldiers hung their heads and were silent.

Seeing that they didn't speak, Maslov became anxious, raised his voice and asked again.

At this time, one of the sergeants looked up and replied: "Comrade General, we are from the mortar company of the 32nd Motorized Regiment, and this war horse with a pack gun went not far from here and was startled by a rabbit running by the road, so ......"

"Alright, no need to say it." Before he could finish speaking, Maslov interrupted his words and asked with a serious expression: "What about your regimental commander, Lieutenant Colonel Vajim?" ”

The sergeant pointed in the direction they had come and said, "The regimental commander is still behind." ”

After Maslov glanced at Tang Shaohua next to him, he angrily ordered the other party: "Sergeant, you go and call him here immediately." ”

"Yes!" The sergeant came and stood upright, then turned and ran wildly towards the road from which he came.

After waiting for the sergeant to leave, Maslov explained to Tang Shaohua: "Comrade Commander, the 32nd Motorized Regiment departed from Sarne this morning, and according to the order, it should arrive in Cowell at four o'clock this afternoon. As he spoke, he looked up at his watch, "It's a quarter of an hour until four o'clock." ”

A few minutes later, a three-wheeled motorcycle sped up, stopped sharply about ten meters from the crowd, and then jumped an officer from the car. He straightened the big-brimmed hat on his head, pulled the hem of his military uniform, and then trotted in front of everyone, raised his hand to Tang Shaohua and Maslov and saluted and reported: "Report to the commander of the army, the chief of staff, and the commander of the 32nd Motorized Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Vajim, report to you, listen to your orders, please instruct!" ”

Tang Shaohua looked at the lieutenant colonel in front of him and asked with a smile: "Comrade lieutenant colonel, how much time does it take for your troops to enter the exercise area?" ”

After Lieutenant Colonel Vajim's gaze quickly swept over Tang Shaohua and Maslov's faces, he straightened up and replied, "Report to the army commander, in five minutes, at most another five minutes, my troops will be able to enter Cowell." ”

After hearing this, Maslov snorted and asked angrily: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you stay here and accompany us to visit your unit, is it no problem?" ”

"No problem, welcome to visit." Hearing Maslov say this, a trace of panic flashed quickly in the corner of Vajim's eyes, and he was discovered by Tang Shaohua, who had been staring at him. Originally, the 20th Tank Division had all entered the city at this moment, and Tang Shaohua also wanted to go back to the headquarters in the city to rest and rest, but he was surprised to find Wajim's unnatural expression, which couldn't help but arouse his curiosity, and he decided to stay to see how Wajim's regiment performed.

After a while, a large number of troops appeared in everyone's field of vision. If the 31st Motorized Division, which marched in the early morning, was neatly organized, then the 32nd Motorized Regiment was a group of defeated remnants of the defeated army, and the commanders and fighters were a bunch here, a group there, and there was no queue at all.

Seeing this, Maslov couldn't help but blood welling up in his head, he pointed to the loose team on the dirt road, and asked: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, is this your unit?" ”

"Comrade Chief of Staff, I can't be blamed for this." Lieutenant Colonel Wajim said with annoyance: "The superiors have allocated too few cars to our regiment, and there is not much fuel, and halfway through, the cars lie on their stomachs because they have no fuel." Our whole group walked 20 kilometers to get here. ”

Seeing that Maslov was still going to blame him, Tang Shaohua hurriedly came out to play a round: "Okay, Comrade Chief of Staff, this matter will be discussed at the summary meeting after the exercise, now let them enter the position first." ”

"Alright, Lieutenant Colonel Wajim, first take your troops into the defensive positions west of the city." Maslov waved his hand angrily and urged: "The troops of the Blue Army are probably impatient. ”