On the way to the city headquarters, Tang Shaohua kept thinking about Lieutenant Colonel Wajim's words: "You can't blame me for this." "Yes, he can't be blamed for that. At present, the country is building up new mechanized corps on a large scale, and the resources that can be allocated to each unit are very limited. During the exercise, the motorized regiment's cars ran out of fuel, and the most they could do was to get out of the car and walk, delaying the start of the exercise. But in the event of war, this force will be delayed because it will not be able to reach the designated place on time.

While thinking about it, Tang Shaohua suddenly heard Katukov beside him say in surprise: "Hey, what's going on, where did they come from?" ”

Attention was drawn to the street ahead, for there was a large crowd of inhabitants walking, strangely all of them empty-handed, except for those carried in their hands and on their shoulders, and the extra packages piled on trolleys or bicycles, all with horror written on their faces. Seeing this group of people walking along the street, Tang Shaohua couldn't help but be dumbfounded, he turned his head and asked Maslov in wonder: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what's wrong?" ”

Maslov shook his head blankly, and then rushed forward to stop the residents who had suddenly appeared to find out what was going on.

Moments later, the guards returned to the group with a middle-aged woman wrapped in a headscarf. Maslov asked curiously: "Comrade women, can you tell me what happened and where are you going?" ”

"It's a war, it's a war, it's a war......," the woman hung a large package on her left arm, hugged the guard tightly with her right hand, and kept repeating the same sentence tremblingly, "Run, run, or we will all be killed." ”

The middle-aged woman's words made everyone look at each other, but Tang Shaohua quickly came back to his senses, he walked in front of the woman, bowed his head and asked, "Comrade women, if you heard it correctly, you said that there was going to be a war?" ”

Hearing Tang Shaohua's voice, the middle-aged woman raised her head, looked at him blankly, and muttered: "Are you blind, seeing the chariots running all over the street, and our soldiers......

Without waiting for the middle-aged woman to finish speaking, Tang Shaohua had already guessed what was going on, he took off his big-brimmed hat, wiped the fine beads of sweat oozing from his forehead with his sleeve, turned his head to stare at Maslov, and asked in a serious tone: "Comrade Chief of Staff, didn't we report the matter of holding the exercise to the relevant local departments?" ”

Maslov shook his head and replied with a bitter face: "Comrade army commander, it is the responsibility of the military district to inform the local government of the exercise, and we have no right to intervene. ”

After figuring out what was going on, Tang Shaohua secretly cursed in his heart: If you don't report the matter of the exercise to the local area, it is strange that so many tanks, armored vehicles, and soldiers suddenly appear at this moment, so it does not cause panic. But now was not the time to hold him accountable, he walked quickly to the crowd that had been stopped by the guards, looked at the crowd in the street with no end in sight, coughed, cleared his throat, and said in a calm and majestic tone: "Comrades, please remain calm, there is no war, no enemy is approaching your city, but our troops are conducting exercises. It's okay, let's all go back, go back to our respective homes! ”

A noisy voice suddenly sounded in the silent crowd, as if they were discussing what Tang Shaohua said. After a while, an old man in the crowd asked in a loud voice: "Comrade commander, is there really no war, just a drill?" ”

"Yes, old man." Maslov walked to Tang Shaohua's side and shouted loudly into the crowd: "What you are seeing now is an ongoing exercise, please stay calm and do not panic, lest some saboteurs take the opportunity to spread rumors." It's getting late, let's all go home. ”

As soon as his words fell, the guards standing next to him immediately repeated his original words aloud to the residents. Seeing that it was a false alarm, the crowd on the street regained calm, and everyone turned around and walked in the opposite direction, and scattered into the buildings on both sides little by little.

When the crowd dispersed, Tang Shaohua walked around in front of Maslov and the others with his hands behind his back, originally wanting to be furious, but after thinking about it, this oolong incident really had nothing to do with his subordinates, and he was angry at them because he was looking for the wrong target. Thinking of this, he stopped, waved his hand at his subordinates, and said weakly: "Okay, Colonel Katukov will go back to the troops to command the battle." Then he glanced at Maslov again and added, "Chief of Staff, let's go to the headquarters in the city." ”

At the same time, in the Blue Army trenches on the western outskirts of the city, officers and soldiers who had been waiting impatiently for a long time were chatting. A very young soldier asked a sergeant sitting next to him, "Comrade squad leader, when will we attack?" ”

The squad leader lying next to him didn't even move his eyelids, but replied angrily: "The battalion commander is not in a hurry, what are you anxious about?" Wait until the trenches of the defenders on the opposite side are repaired. ”

The soldier straightened up, looked at the position of the motorized infantry regiment that was digging trenches in the distance, and muttered: "They are digging trenches, and they don't know when they will be able to repair the fortifications." ”

The squad leader opened his eyes, sat up straight, and said to the soldier angrily: "When the fortifications on the opposite side are repaired, we should attack." Don't forget, after you have drained the empty cartridges in your gun, you will sit on the ground and wait to be taken prisoner. ”

The soldier sat on the ground and said dejectedly: "It's really unlucky, I will be a prisoner in the first exercise after joining the army, and if my friends know about it, how can I hold my head up in front of them." ”

The squad leader laughed twice and said: "The final outcome of our Blue Army is either death or capture." You're only a prisoner for the first time today, and I've been killed at least seven times. Okay, don't look at the other side, you may have to fight a night battle tonight, so let's take a break and take a break. With that, he leaned back, leaned against the wall of the trench and began to close his eyes and recuperate.

The soldier looked worriedly at the opposite side, and finally gritted his teeth and stomped his foot, sat down again, and learned from his squad leader to lie down in the trench to rest.

As soon as they lay down, a lieutenant came to their area and shouted loudly: "Battle alert, battle alert, immediately prepare for all battles, we are going to attack immediately." ”

The sergeant opened his eyes, grabbed the lieutenant's arm and asked, "Comrade Company Commander, the fortifications on the opposite side have not been repaired, why are they about to attack?" ”

"Raid, raid, do you understand?" The lieutenant glared at his subordinates fiercely, and said dissatisfiedly: "The battalion commander has just given an order to take advantage of the other party's defenselessness and take them by surprise. With that, he broke free of his arm from the sergeant's hand and continued to walk along the trench, while shouting incessantly, "Battle alarm, battle alarm......

After the sergeant waited for the lieutenant to go away, he muttered in a low voice: "When the other party first arrived, they didn't carry out a surprise attack, but now that other people's fortifications are almost repaired, let us carry out a surprise attack." Fortunately, it was not a war, otherwise I don't know how many people would have died in vain. ”

The young soldier asked flatteringly, "Squad leader, what should we do next?" ”

"What else can I do?" The sergeant stared at him and shouted at the surrounding soldiers, "Assemble the class, get ready to attack!" ”