Early the next morning, Hoffmann came to the headquarters in full dress and waited for Lieutenant General Fereitt to summon him.

He didn't let him wait long, and under the guidance of his secretary, he arrived at Lieutenant General Fereitt's office.

"Colonel Hoffman, please be seated."

His Excellency Lieutenant General glanced up at Hoffman and handed a document to the secretary who opened the door. "Give this document to the logistics department, let them hurry up, the supplies at the train station are almost full."

Looking at the busy Lieutenant General Fereitt, Hoffman sighed inwardly. At the commendation meeting after the end of the Balkan War, Lieutenant General Fereit was already one of the newly promoted giants in the army, and he was only a major in charge of transportation. And now that Lieutenant General Fereit has made a name for himself in this war, it is really sad that he has not been able to show the matching feats.

Lieutenant General Fereitt, who had no idea what Hoffman was thinking, picked up the kettle next to him, poured two glasses of water, and handed Hoffman one casually. Hoffman quickly stood up and took the water glass, which was a little flattered by the fact that his boss poured himself water.

Seeing Hoffman's expression, Lieutenant General Fereit said with a smile. "It seems that you don't know me well enough, but I think it's good to do it yourself."

The words of the lieutenant general, Hoffman did not know how to answer.

After taking a sip of his drink, Lieutenant Freit put down his glass and said: "Actually, I have a special understanding of the new weapon of the tank, and I have also read the training materials you wrote. Very nice pattern. In fact, I personally like to call the tank a weapon modern heavy cavalry, which is responsible for opening a gap for the army, and then the infantry expands the gap until the entire line of defense is torn off. ”

In the face of Lieutenant General Fereitt's words, Hoffman knew that this was also the correct way to use tanks at present, mainly because tanks could only be used in this way at present. And his ideal of rushing to the rear, this kind of steel torrent can't be done at present. So he could only reply: "Thank you, Your Excellency Lieutenant General, for your kindness to me." ”

"It's not love, but you're still capable." After replying, Lieutenant General Fereit picked up a box of cigarettes from the table, handed it to Hoffmann and asked, "Do you smoke?" ”

"No smoke, thanks."

Lieutenant General Hoffman's refusal didn't care, and after pulling out a branch of the point, he continued: "Actually, I meant to transfer you this time. Because I know that any new weapon needs to go to war so that I can find out what might be wrong. Of course, the use of tanks by Britain and France on the Western Front was also one of the reasons. We can't afford to lag behind the mainstream, especially when it comes to emerging weapons. ”

After chatting with Hoffmann, Lieutenant General Fereit walked to the wall where the battle map was hung. And Hoffman knew that this was to tell himself about the battle plan, and immediately followed.

However, His Excellency the Lieutenant General first told him about the current situation on the front.

"At the moment we are facing off with the Austro-Hungarian army on the long border strip, and Austria-Hungary has placed the enemy's Tenth Army to the south, with Adela as the fulcrum. However, because the two places are connected by railways and rivers, this is also the top priority of the enemy's defense, so the enemy's troops deployed on this line are 120,000. ”

Hoffman looked at the position of Lieutenant General Fereitt's finger. Adela and his own location are separated by a Carpathian Valley, with a railway connecting the two places by the Murje River.

"And to the north of the front was the enemy's Ninth Army, the fulcrum of which was Oradea. The main reason here is that there is a lack of railways and rivers as transportation routes, so we and the enemy want to deploy fewer troops than on the southern route, so there are only about 90,000 men. In addition, in Bekeshcho, not far from the enemy in the two places, there was also an 80,000-strong Sixteenth Army that could be reinforced at any time. ”

After Lieutenant General Fereit introduced the current battle situation, he suddenly said. "Which side do you think you should break through from now?"

Hoffman, who was shocked by Lieutenant General Fereitt's words, hurriedly waved his hand and said, "This should be something that the chief considers. ”

"It's okay, just talk about it."

Faced with the enthusiasm of Lieutenant General Fereitt, Hoffman said without thinking: "I think we should break through from the direction of Adela." ”

Lieutenant General Fereit asked with interest: "Why, do you know that the enemy has laid heavy troops here?"

"Because that's the only direction that suits us to play to our full strength."

Hoffman said in the affirmative, and then gave a specific reason. "Don't look at the small number of enemies on the northern front, in fact, it is not suitable for us to attack at all, because we suffer very much in terms of terrain. From Deva to Cluj on the northern front to Oradea, the enemy's key point, the road is mountainous and hilly. And Oradea to Bekeszcho to Budapest, it's all plains. This will make us lose to our opponents in terms of material delivery and personnel replenishment. In modern times, wars have been fought for morale and supplies, and our supplies on the northern front occupy an absolute disadvantage. ”

"On the southern front, on the contrary, don't look at the enemy's heavy concentration of troops to defend, but the railroad and the river can keep us from being too far behind in this regard. And compared to the enemy, we are much higher in morale and training, so the southern front is the best option. ”

In the face of Hoffmann's various reasons, Lieutenant General Fereitt nodded and praised: "That's right, it seems that you are very well prepared for this battle." ”

Faced with the lieutenant general's commendation, Hoffman replied: "It's just because of the difference, everyone can see it." I'm just going to go into more detail about it. ”

Lieutenant General Fereitt did not care about Hoffmann's modest words, he spoke directly. "Now that you've guessed our plans, let me tell you about the mission of your brigade."

As soon as he heard about the topic he cared about most, Hoffman immediately cheered up.

"As for the task of your armored brigade, after the 1st, 5th, and 19th divisions of the Praetorian Guard have opened a gap for you, they will immediately form an assault group with the 1st, 3rd, and 7th Cavalry Divisions to break into the interior of the enemy's territory, intercept reinforcements, and disrupt the enemy's deployment. In order to counter the main forces of the army group to destroy the enemy's resistance and occupy the territory east of the Tisza River. ”

Lieutenant General Fereitt's words made Hoffmann extremely excited, and this was the opportunity he had been waiting for. As long as you can complete this task beautifully, then the gossip against you will be swept away.

"Your Excellency, Lieutenant General, please rest assured that the armored brigade will be able to complete this mission excellently."

"Good."

In response to Hoffmann's answer, Lieutenant General Fereit patted him on the shoulder. He is very satisfied with this, a soldier is to have enough confidence in himself.

At this time, Lieutenant General Fereit asked him about his concerns. "How many days will it take for your armored brigade to assemble?"

Hoffman immediately replied: "According to the arrangement of the traffic management office, it will take three more days for our brigade to reach Deva with all its strength. ”

Hearing Hoffmann's answer, Lieutenant General Fereit said directly to him: "You still have some time, so make more preparations." ”

Hearing the lieutenant general's words, Hoffman knew that he should leave, but when he took it away, he couldn't help but ask:

"May you ask, what is the code name of this operation?"

"Thunder."

It seemed that it was the meaning of a thunderous blow, and Hoffman, who got the answer, left satisfied.

And after Lieutenant General Fereit left, Hofmann left, he said to himself: "The ability is good, no wonder you can get the respect of Your Majesty." ”