On the way to Cowell, Tang Shaohua couldn't help but be afraid for a while, although he inherited everything from Rokossovsky, due to the different eras in which the two lived and the cultural differences between the East and the West, it was inevitable that there would be some situations that were incompatible with this era in terms of speech and behavior. These differences may not be perceptible to oneself, but in the eyes of those who are familiar with Rokossovsky, they are all too obvious.

However, Tang Shaohua thought about it for a while, and secretly felt lucky, after all, the person who found out his flaws was Rokossovsky's friend, not a member of the NKVD, otherwise he would have been included in the list of surveillance personnel at this moment.

Maslov, who was sitting next to him, felt that his army commander was particularly abnormal today, always staring out the window without saying a word, and smirking from time to time, could it be that the fall in the morning made him stupid? He was thinking about what to talk about and talk to Rokossovsky when he heard the roar of a tank motor in front of him. Looking out of the front window, you can see a mechanized unit on the move.

He hurriedly patted Tang Shaohua on the shoulder and said excitedly: "Comrade Army Commander, look, there is our tank unit in front, which looks like Colonel Katukov's 20th Tank Division. ”

Tang Shaohua looked ahead and saw nearly 100 tanks of various types driving in a long line along the dirt road. When the gas car passed by the left side of the tank column, Tang Shaohua looked at these old antiques that he had seen in the military museum in later generations, and couldn't help but say to himself: "These tanks are really old. ”

When Maslov heard this, he didn't expect Tang Shaohua to evaluate these tanks from the perspective of later generations, and thought that he was complaining about the poor equipment given by his superiors. So he smiled bitterly, shrugged his shoulders, and said helplessly: "Comrade commander, there is no way, because there are too many newly formed mechanized corps, and the superiors cannot provide us with more tanks." At present, the two tank divisions are almost all equipped with old T-26 and BT-5 tanks, while there are only a few advanced BT-7 tanks. ”

"Comrade Army Commander," the driver who was driving suddenly turned his head sideways and asked, "Colonel Katukov of the tank division is in front, do you need to stop?" ”

Tang Shaohua looked out of the front window and saw a gas car parked on the left side of the road fifty or sixty meters ahead, and two officers standing next to the car were looking this way. After Tang Shaohua saw that the tall man among them was Katukov, he decisively ordered: "Comrade driver, park the car next to the colonel." ”

Gas, who was driving in front, drove past Katukov and them, while the second car Tang Shaohua was riding in stopped, and several cars that followed also stopped.

Tang Shaohua got out of the car, walked around to Katukov from the front of the car, and shook hands with him. At the same time, he quickly glanced at the other colonel standing next to him, and immediately recognized that it was Chernyaev, the deputy commander of the division.

"Where has the vanguard of your division marched?" Maslov asked the two.

"Comrade Chief of Staff," replied Katukov, unfolding a map in his hand and pointing to a place name on it, "the vanguard of our division has arrived here, and there are only ten kilometers left from Cowell. ”

After Tang Shaohua waited for Katukov to finish speaking, he immediately asked: "Comrade Colonel, do you know the current position of the Blue Army?" ”

Katukov was prepared for this question of Tang Shaohua, he immediately moved his finger to the left, pointed at Lyubom and said: "Comrade Commander, through the report of our scouts, the troops of the Blue Army are building field fortifications in the Lyubom area, so that after the failure of the attack on Kowill, they can retreat to the area for defense. ”

"Don't the Blues know that our troops haven't moved to Colwill yet?" Tang Shaohua was surprised that the Blues would rather stay in Lyubohm to build fortifications than move forward, "If they continue to rush along the road to Cowell, they can easily occupy the city." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, Katukov looked at him with a strange gaze, and then said to himself: "The vanguard of the Blues, although it is close to the western outskirts of Cowill. However, they strictly followed the operational arrangements of the exercise, stayed in the area and stood by, preparing to launch an attack after all our divisions had entered the city. ”

Katukov's words made Tang Shaohua really cry and laugh, and his feelings were really the same as a child's play. Before the defending troops entered their designated positions, the attacking Blues could only stay where they were, even if they could win a few steps earlier.

Tang Shaohua frowned and began to think, although he had been a soldier, his highest position was only a squad leader. Later, when he retired from the army and served as the security director of the logistics company, he had only fifty or sixty people under his command, which was equivalent to the platoon commander of a reinforced platoon at best. Now that he has become the commander of tens of thousands of people, it is really difficult for him to give orders. He thought about it for a long time, but he didn't come up with any good way, so he raised his head and looked at Katukov and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, if today is not a drill but a real war, as the supreme commander of the tank division, you don't know what measures you will take?" ”

Katukov handed the map to the deputy division commander beside him, hunched his back slightly, put his hands on his waist, and said carefully: "If it is a war, I will send a rapid assault force, quickly rush to Cowell to carry out a surprise attack on the blue army, disrupt their offensive deployment, and then wait for the main force to arrive, and then encircle and annihilate it." ”

Katukov's plan suddenly made Tang Shaohua's eyes light up, and he said in his heart that the purpose of the exercise was not to test the training effect and combat effectiveness of the troops, and if the battle was fought in accordance with the prior plan in a completely step-by-step manner, then what was the point? Thinking of this, he nodded and said approvingly to Katukov: "Comrade Colonel, you are an excellent commander, just follow the plan you just said." Hurry up and form a fast force to strike hard at the Blue Army troops on the western outskirts of Cowell and test the technical and tactical level of our troops. ”

Who knew that after Tang Shaohua finished speaking, Katukov just looked at him blankly, without the slightest reaction. Maslov, who was next to him, gently touched Tang Shaohua with his hand and asked in a low voice: "Comrade Army Commander, what are you going to do, do you want to change the nature of this exercise?" ”

In response to Maslov's question, Tang Shaohua nodded and replied affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff. Through this raid, I would like to test the results of the troops' training during this period and what level of combat effectiveness they have reached. As soon as he said this, he suddenly realized that he was not in the time and space he was familiar with at the moment, and rashly changing some things would cause a lot of trouble. However, the words had already been spoken, and any changes made would affect his future prestige, so after a moment of hesitation, he added: "Comrade Chief of Staff, simply like this, we will continue to advance towards Cowell at the same time by telegram to the head of the military region with this plan just now, and see what they mean?" ”

Maslov saw that Tang Shaohua's attitude was very resolute and he did not object, so he agreed hard. Then he called the chief of communications, who was sitting in the back car, and reported the situation of the new plan by telegram to the head of the military district.

When the chief of communications left and went to the car behind to deliver the report, Maslov cautiously reminded Tang Shaohua: "Comrade commander, is this appropriate?" ”

After Tang Shaohua issued the order, he also regretted it a little in his heart, because he knew that in the regulations of the Soviet army, the orders of the superiors could only be carried out unconditionally, let alone changed, even if there was the slightest doubt, it was not allowed. He sighed lightly and said helplessly: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is just a suggestion I made to the head of the military region, and even if it is not adopted, I believe that the head of the military region will not blame us." ”

After speaking, he waved his hand and announced loudly: "Everyone get in the car, let's move on!" ”