Our jeep slowed down and drove in the middle of the refugees. Unexpectedly, after driving more than ten kilometers, there was still an endless stream of refugees on both sides of the road.

I turned my head to look at the back row, and Chuikov was tilting his head back, leaning back in his chair and closing his eyes, while Bandurin was looking out the window. I looked back out the window, and on the dusty dirt road, the refugees were so tired and slow in their movements, as if they were frozen in the land. Seeing this scene, I couldn't help but ask in a low voice: "Comrade Bandurin, do you know where they are retreating?" ”

"Where else can I go?" Bandurin said solemnly: "Of course, evacuate to Stalingrad." ”

Stalingrad, as soon as I heard this name, I couldn't help but chuckle in my heart, and I immediately became worried about the fate of these refugees in the future. In my known history, Stalin ordered the citizens of Stalingrad not to evacuate in order to prevent panic, which ultimately led to the loss of precious lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens in vain.

After driving a few more kilometers, the refugees on the side of the road became thin. I was about to ask the driver how far he was to reach his destination, but he shouted excitedly: "Look, it's our troops." ”

I looked in the direction of his finger and saw a troop marching on the fork in the road next to me. In front was a bright red banner leading, and behind was a neatly lined four-way column, and the commanders with briefcases and pistols walked on the left side of the line.

I heard Bandurin suddenly shout from the back: "Comrade driver, drive the car to the fork in front and stop." After the driver nodded in agreement, he said to Chuikov: "Comrade commander. It is the first battalion of the 804th Regiment of our division. Thank God. They finally arrived. ”

After our jeep stopped at the intersection. Chuikov and Bandurin got out of the car one after another. Seeing that the two commanders had gotten out of the car, I could no longer stay in the car, so I had to get out of the car and stand on the side of the road with them, waiting for the arrival of the team.

The commander of the opposite team spotted us from a distance, quickly stopped the team and trotted in front of us. After raising his hand and saluting, he hesitated. It seemed that he knew Bandurin, but there was a general standing next to him, and he didn't know who to report to.

Fortunately, Bandurin relieved him of the siege in time, pointed at Chuikov and said: "Comrade Captain, this is General Chuikov, deputy commander of the group army, you can report to him." ”

After the lieutenant raised his hand again and saluted, he reported to Chuikov: "Report to Comrade Deputy Commander, Captain Fei, commander of the 1st Battalion of the 804th Infantry Regiment, reports to you that our battalion has gone on a long journey. They were preparing to rush to the assembly site to rendezvous with the division headquarters. At present, the entire battalion is fully equipped and ready to fight. Please instruct! ”

Chuikov nodded with satisfaction and said, "Good job, Comrade Captain." We're going to have a big battle ahead, and we need a new force like you. Alright, you move on with your troops, and we'll see you later. ”

The captain returned to the queue and shouted the command loudly, and the group, which had been stopped, continued to move forward with orderly steps. As they walked past us, the commanders and fighters saluted us in unison, and Chuikov smiled and raised his hand to his forehead to salute the commanders and fighters of this unit.

I stood behind Chuikov and calmly observed the warriors marching in front of me, and although they all looked tired and tired, they all walked in a neat stride with their heads held high as they passed in front of us, in order to show their high morale.

At ten o'clock in the evening, we rushed to the division headquarters of the 229th Division. Upon learning of our arrival, the division commander, Colonel Sazhen, came out with a group of his men.

After Sazhin introduced his commissar to Chuikov, he came over to shake my hand again and said in a friendly manner: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, I didn't expect us to meet so soon?" How about it, is there a chance to stay in our 229th Division this time? ”

Unexpectedly, Chuikov's ears were sharp, and he immediately heard what Sazhin said, and immediately walked over and said with a serious face: "Colonel Sazhin, I warn you, don't fight Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina's idea, she is the chief of staff of our army headquarters." ”

Hearing Chuikov say this, Sazhin hurriedly said with a hippie smile: "Comrade commander, I'm just joking, don't take it seriously." Don't stand outside, hurry up and please come in. ”

As I was about to enter the division headquarters, I overheard the shadow of Captain Lukin in the crowd welcoming us, I nodded at him, and then followed Colonel Sazhen into the division headquarters.

As soon as I entered the door, the political commissar Truning asked the orderlies to bring me and Chuikov tea and some food, and said a little embarrassedly: "Comrade commander, when I met you for the first time, I should have entertained you well to eat, but unfortunately the division headquarters really couldn't find anything good, so I had to let you pay attention to eating a little." ”

Chuikov waved his hand and said indifferently: "Comrade Political Commissar, it doesn't matter, I can understand, after all, it is the war period, and it is very good to have food." ”

While he was talking, a commander came in from outside and handed a piece of paper to Colonel Sazhin. After reading it, Colonel Sazhin pushed the paper in front of Chuikov and said: "General Chuikov, please see, this is a telegram from the headquarters of the group army, asking me to rush to the headquarters immediately, saying that there is an important combat mission. ”

Chuikov picked up the paper on the table, looked at it, nodded, and said: "Since there is a combat mission, then let's go together." ”

In this way, when he arrived at the headquarters of Colonel Sazhen, he did not even sit on a hot stool, and had to hurry to the headquarters of the army group. said that it was an important combat mission, but Shumilov had not considered that his subordinate troops had been beaten to pieces by the Germans, and he didn't know what else he could toss about.

By the time we arrived at the headquarters of the army group, all the people who should have come were almost there. Listening to their introductions, I was surprised to find that in addition to Colonel Sazhin of the 229th Division, there were also Commander Bilyukov of the 214th Division, Colonel Lyudnikov of the 138th Division, Colonel Kuropatenko of the 157th Division, Colonel Vosli Boynikov of the 208th Division, Colonel Kolobtin, commander of the 29th Division, Colonel Smirnov of the 154th Marine Brigade, and commanders of the 66th Marine Brigade and the 137th Tank Brigade.

Seeing so many heavyweight commanders attending tonight's military meeting, I immediately let go of my contempt for Shumilov. It seems about this battle. He did a lot of preparation in advance. Otherwise, it would not be possible to concentrate the forces of six infantry divisions, two marine brigades and one tank brigade at once.

When everyone was seated, it was Colonel Raskin, chief of staff of the army group, who was responsible for explaining the combat mission. He got up from the table, took off his military hat from his head, tucked it under his left armpit, used his hand as a comb to comb his hair, then put it back on and walked to the map hanging on the wall.

He picked up the baton leaning against the wall, pointed to the map and began to explain: "Comrade commander. According to the reports of the scouts and the interrogation of German prisoners, it became known that the enemy had transferred their tank 4th Army, back from the Caucasus direction, and re-engaged them in the Stalingrad direction. ”

When everyone present heard that the German 4th Tank Army had been redeployed, they could not help but look worried and began to talk in low voices.

Seeing the commotion below, the expression on Colonel Raskin's face became serious, and he tapped the map a few times with his baton and said loudly, "Quiet." Please be quiet, Comrade Commander. But his words didn't seem to have much effect. The whispering below didn't go away immediately, it continued.

"Smack!" With a loud bang, Chuikov stood up and scolded loudly: "Quiet! Don't you know that Lu Dao is in a meeting right now? You are not allowed to speak. Although Chuikov was only a deputy commander, his prestige far surpassed that of Raskin, and as soon as he opened his mouth, everyone in the room obediently shut up. Seeing that the room was quiet, Chuikov said to Raskin: "Comrade Chief of Staff, go on. ”

Ruskin glanced at Chuikov gratefully, and then continued: "At present, the troops of our army group have temporarily organized new defensive positions along the line of Reynok-Spaldanovka-Orlovka, relying on villages, and are ready to turn this area into an insurmountable obstacle for the enemy. Two regiments of the 371st Division of the 4th German Infantry Corps, which had approached the Reynolds area, had become disconnected from their main forces due to the speed of their advance, and had become a lone army. And the closest friendly unit to them was the Romanian 6th Army near Orlovka, which was separated by 40 kilometers.

Our army group will carry out a counter-assault on the enemy, and the targets of the attack are two regiments of the German 371st Division. In accordance with the intentions of the command's operational plan, we will concentrate all our forces to fight a war of annihilation, and strive to completely annihilate the German troops of these two regiments in the shortest possible time. The battle sequence of the offensive was as follows, the first echelon was Biryukov's 214th Division, Colonel Sazhin's 229th Division; The second echelon is ......"

Before Raskin could finish speaking, someone immediately raised his hand to ask questions. Raskin glanced at the other party and said politely, "Colonel Kolobutin, do you have anything to say?" ”

Kolobutin, the commander of the 29th Division, stood up, looked at the map with his eyes and asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I would like to ask, if our army is carrying out a counter-assault on the enemy, and the Romanian troops attack us from the flank, how will we respond?" As soon as Kolobutin's words came out, it was like sprinkling a handful of salt in a boiling oil pan, and suddenly the pan exploded, and the room was in chaos.

I think Kolobutin's statement is very reasonable, and although Ruskin's words are not finished, I can also guess that their deployment is nothing more than leaving a small number of troops to monitor the Romanian troops, and the rest of the troops are concentrated to attack the two regiments of the German army, and eat each other first at all costs. However, I know very well the current situation of the group army, although there are so many numbers, but how many troops can really be put into battle? What if you can't eat each other in one bite and the battle is deadlocked?

Colonel Raskin looked a little helpless in the face of the noisy scene, and just as Chuikov was about to shoot again, Shumilov stood up first. As soon as he got up, the room suddenly became quiet again, after all, he was the commander of the group army, and everyone was still very scruples about his identity.

Shumilov stood up, walked to the map, took the baton from Colonel Raskin's hand, pointed to the map where Romania was stationed, and explained his own thoughts to everyone: "Comrades commanders, I know that everyone is worried about this army of the client state. According to reconnaissance, this corps was not in full force after a long battle. There are probably just over 6,000 people left. It can be said that it is a negligible force. So you don't have to worry about being attacked by the German troops when they attack them. ”

"Comrade commander, comrade commander is right." Raskin wasted no time in adding: "We concentrate our forces against a strong enemy, and once a strong enemy is destroyed by our army, then the weak enemy will be afraid and even retreat without a fight." ”

Hearing Ruskin say this, after all, it is the consistent fighting style of the Soviet army to fight a strong enemy first and then a weak enemy. Thinking about it this way, everyone was relieved and did not express any objections.

At this time, I was thinking that the Chinese and foreign fighting styles were really different, and if I were to take command, I would definitely concentrate my forces to eat the Romanian troops first, and after settling the battle, I would turn around and fight the Germans. Thinking of this, I couldn't help but laugh softly.

My laughter was heard by Colonel Smirlov, who was sitting next to me from the Marine Brigade, who frowned and asked disapprenantly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what are you laughing at?" Do you have any different opinion about this military deployment of the commander? ”

Sitting next to him was Division Commander Biryukov. Hearing that the Colonel was counting me, he hurriedly came out to relieve me: "Colonel Smirlov." Don't be in a hurry to say that, maybe Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina really has something to say. ”

Chuikov might have heard our conversation too, and he got up and walked over to Shumilov's side, leaned into his ear and whispered a few words. Shumilov looked at me, then nodded slightly. Then he loudly announced: "Comrade commanders, now I invite Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, chief of staff of the group army, to tell you about her wonderful ideas. ”

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on me, I knew that I could not avoid it, so I stood up, straightened my uniform, and strode to the map. After saluting Shumilov and Chuikov, he turned to salute the commanders present.

After doing all this, I picked up the baton, pointed to the position of the Romanian army, and threw out my earth-shattering plan: "I think that the main direction of attack of the army group tomorrow should not be the two isolated regiments of the German army, but this Romanian army. We should concentrate two or three divisions and eat them first......"

As soon as he said this, a sentence floated up from below: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what should we do if we attack the Romanian army and the Germans send reinforcements?" It is important to know that when the Ludao army is attacked, the Romanian troops may be standing by and watching. On the other hand, when the Romanian troops are attacked, the Germans will definitely come to reinforce them, and then our retreat may be cut off by the Germans, and it is obvious that we will be caught in the front and rear. ”

"Yes! If the Germans had reinforced us, our attacking forces would have been encircled. ”

"It's too risky, and in this way, the counter-assault plan may fail."

His words immediately caused a chorus of echoes.

Instead of banging on the wall with a commentary stick like Ruskin, I put my hands behind my back and watched everyone quietly.

Chuikov stood up, pressed down to the ground, and waited for everyone to be quiet before he said solemnly: "Comrade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina is a commander with rich combat experience, and what kind of command level she has, some of the commanders present here have seen it with their own eyes, so I won't say much here." Please be quiet, listen to her full intentions, and then express your own opinions. Do you understand? ”

The commanders sitting below replied neatly: "Understood! ”

Chuikov nodded in satisfaction, turned to me and said, "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina, you go on." Rest assured, no one will interrupt you this time! ”

I smiled at Chuikov, then smiled and said, "Just now the commander questioned: What if we attack the Romanian troops and the German troops are reinforced? My answer is: I can't ask for it! After speaking, I didn't look at everyone's expressions, so I turned around and pointed to the map with my explanation stick and said to everyone: "Commanders, comrades, please see, the Reynoch area where the German troops are stationed and Orlovka in Romania are separated by 40 kilometers, and there are many hilly areas in this area, which is a good place to set up an ambush. We have laid an ambush for the next unit here, and when the enemy's reinforcements attack, we will strike decisively and destroy them.

For tomorrow's operation, my plan is as follows: 1. The 138th Infantry Division, the 157th Division, and the 137th Tank Brigade will be the main attack force, responsible for the attack on the Romanian Army, and the 66th Marine Brigade will be the reserve; 2. The 154th Marine Brigade and the 29th Infantry Division went to the line from Reynoch to Orlovka to lay an ambush and prepare to ambush the German troops who came to reinforce them; 3. The 214th and 229th Divisions continued to be deployed in the Reynolds area, which deterred the Germans in the area from sending all their forces to the rescue of the Romanians. The 208th Division, as the general reserve, was under the direct command of the army group headquarters. I'm done talking, thank you. "I saluted, put down the baton, and walked back to my place to sit down again.

One stone stirred up a thousand waves, and my battle plan immediately aroused controversy among everyone. The division commanders with whom I was well acquainted, such as Biryukov, Sazhin, Lyudnikov, Kuropatenko, and Kolobtin, all resolutely supported my plan. The commanders who were not familiar with them put forward different opinions, especially the commander of the Marine Brigade, Colonel Smirlov, who said cautiously: "Lieutenant Colonel Oshanina's plan sounds very good, but when you think about it, there are still many shortcomings. What should we do if the Germans did not only refrain from reinforcements but concentrated all their forces on the Reynolds area when the Romanian forces were attacked? You must know that in this area, we do not have any strong fortifications, and we cannot withstand the onslaught launched by the enemy. As soon as Colonel Smirlov's words came out, everyone fell silent again, and everyone knew that what he said might be completely true. (To be continued......)