"This ......," Stravitz didn't expect to be the result, and he asked expectantly, "I'm promoted?" ”

"The position is still the battalion commander, and whether the rank will be promoted depends on your performance in this battle." Hu Bei looked at this subordinate, who was only three years younger than himself, and said in his heart, "Politics is not something that soldiers can contaminate, and maybe one day you will be confused and become a substitute for careerists - just like this time you were thrown out as an accomplice for doing nothing." Count Stravitz, you have a good family background, a ability to charge into battle, and the love of your subordinates, why don't you try to improve your character? The Führer values you very much and does not want to take out a promising armored commander just because you are confused. But you have to know that in the German machine, no matter how capable you are, you are only a part, and no one can replace it except the Führer, and the seven marshals include one Reich marshal - which one is not more significant and powerful than you? Where are they now? ”

Stravitz's head hung very low, he didn't live in a vacuum, of course he knew that he was in big trouble - don't look at Daddy Hube now in addition to scolding himself violently and downplaying the whole thing, it is estimated that in order to protect himself, he has a lot of trouble with the above, otherwise with such a serious incident as the "treasonous group", when the Eastern Front has been turned upside down, the Gestapo's dog nose has already come to the door, how can it be so easy to speak?

Hube sighed heavily at the end: "Go to a new place and behave well...... Don't lose the face of our teacher, there won't be so many people to speak for you in the future. ”

Stravitz, who was in his fifties, felt only a sour nose at the time. Tears almost fell.

So when he thought of this scene in the past few days, his mood was difficult to calm down, although he had just said a lot in the camp. But how should I talk to Daddy Hubei without touching a nose, he still hasn't considered maturity. In the evening, just as he was about to get into a trance, the staff of the cold division called: "Earl, the division commander asked you to go to him." ”

"What's the matter?" He asked nervously.

"I don't know!" The other party said dryly, "But the teacher's expression is very serious, you better be careful." ”

The thought of the phone call he received before the last lecture was also in this tone, and his heart fluttered. After pacing in place for three minutes, I thought carefully about my performance in the recent period and felt that there was nothing wrong with it. In the end, I decided to go to the division headquarters to report.

"I haven't heard you complain in the past few days." After the meeting, Lieutenant General Hu Bei threw a sentence with a smile.

"Well, how could it be." Stravitz did not know the depths, but was careful to accompany him - he was not afraid of Hube criticizing him. He was afraid that he would cause Hube unnecessary trouble.

"You're not telling the truth. Who is there today clamoring to petition me? ”

"What guy is so unstrict...... "Strawitz secretly slandered in his heart, and at the same time said good things with a smiling face, "I obey all commands, obey my superiors, and try to play ......"

"Don't, don't, don't talk nonsense that you don't even believe in." Hube immediately interrupted Stravitz's insincere remarks, "Tell me what you really think." ”

He snorted and said, "I just can't figure out why you don't let us attack?" Obviously, there was only one infantry corps of the Red Army in front of which was separated from the large army, and only 2 armored divisions were needed to kill it. No, even if our 16th Panzer Division is killed. An afternoon would be enough to deal with them, and it would not disrupt the marshal's follow-up plans and overall defense at all. ”

Hube suddenly laughed: "I suddenly think that it may be appropriate for you to go to the Waffen-SS, your temper, personality, and style are too similar to theirs, you know, yesterday afternoon the Guard Flag Division led by Dietrich also put forward a similar idea." But whoever wanted to attack was invariably rejected by the marshal, and then they went to pester, the new General Heinrich, only to be rejected even more outright. ”

"No to all......" Stravetz ponders what the phrase represents.

"The marshal has already figured out how to use the armored forces, why do you have to go to the trouble of thinking about the problems that only the commander of the army group needs to think about?" Hubei only raised his right hand and waved it slightly, "I'll just ask you one thing, do you want to fight?" ”

"I want to, I don't want to, I think about it in my dreams." Stravitz replied subconsciously, and suddenly came back to his senses and asked, "You agree that we are attacking?" Didn't you resolutely oppose our decisive attack and eat the 27 Infantry Corps of the Red Army two days ago? Didn't you just say that all requests for army groups to command troops to attack were vetoed? ”

"So I said that your brain capacity is pitifully small, not to mention the overall politics and strategy of the empire, you can't play with the strategy of a group army, Marshal Manstein will only stare at a mere 27th Army? Hmph, that's a sight to behold! "The marshal commanded hundreds of thousands of troops to retreat so much territory one after another, generously ceded the river meanders to the other side, desperately blocked other Red Army units upstream and downstream that wanted to cross the river, and invited General Heinrich to be the commander of the 6th Army in charge of defense - you can't see what the real purpose of this series of actions is?" ”

"This ......," Stravitz still didn't understand.

Ignoring the look of surprise on Stravitz's face, Hube walked straight to the map, and wrapped the entire Don River meanders in his arms with both hands: "He wants to eat the entire enemy 21st Army here, and even a part of the 24th Army." ”

"20 divisions? Oh my God, this appetite! Stravetz was dumbfounded, he only wanted to eat 1-2 divisions of the enemy by a quick sortie, but he did not expect that the target above was a whole army group of 20 divisions.

"To be precise, it was the headquarters of 22 divisions, 2 tank brigades, and the Red Army Group Army, and we basically figured out the enemy's situation."

He asked Hube in disbelief, "Just us?" ”

"What, scared?"

"Of course not." He straightened his chest and said proudly, "Please give the order, we are ready." ”

"According to the plan, our division will act as the left flank arrow, starting from the left flank of the line and detouring Kretskaya around the big bend, breaking through all the Red Army obstructions in front of us, and on the other side, Dietrich will command the Guard Flag Division to act as the right flank arrow, and we will launch a surprise attack on the Red Army at the river meanders with a pincer offensive, and finally join the division at the pontoon crossing of the army group and firmly grasp it to prevent the enemy from escaping." Hube outlined the general route of the march on the map with a pencil, "In addition to the three infantry divisions left behind in the frontal defense line, our four infantry divisions will serve as snipers in the upper reaches of the Don River, and seven infantry divisions will snipe in the lower reaches to eliminate all interference for us to annihilate the enemy in the meanders of the river, and the remaining eight infantry divisions will follow the armored forces to make a comprehensive attack, and cooperate with us to build an encirclement with the Don River as the boundary, and we are the sharpest spearhead of the attack." ”

Upon hearing such a large and exciting plan, Stravitz immediately became excited: "When will you go?" ”

"At 1 o'clock tonight, your battalion, as the vanguard of the whole division, will take the lead in setting off, and you must act quickly, and strive to solve the problem within 72 hours."

"Why?" He asked puzzledly, "It's still difficult to eat a group army of 100,000 people in three days." ”

"According to the weather forecast, in five days there will be a strong cold current sweeping across the Don River, when the river will freeze, if we can't destroy the enemy before the ice freezes, anyone can escape from the ice as soon as it freezes, and on the other hand, the other Red Army can send reinforcements from any location, and the blocking troops will not be able to stop them, and besides, the time will drag on longer, and the thickness of the ice will continue to increase, and I am afraid that even tanks will be able to drive over the ice - then the trouble will be too great." Hube stared at Stravitz with blazing eyes, "Count, can I trust you?" ”

"Of course, don't worry!"

"Tell the boys the good news, I guess they're in a hurry, and ......as for me," Lieutenant General Hubei, a serious person, actually smiled, "I'm going to take a nap so that I can have the energy for the night." ”

It's a terrible rule of life - being able to sleep at any time, and the more you fight, the more calm you become, which is what Stravetz admires about Hubey's father.

While Strawitz was in full swing preparing for the operation, in the Guards Flag Division on the other side, a blond-haired, handsome-faced pantry officer who could only be Stravitz's son, was making a mobilization speech, his name was Max Winscher, the commander of the SS Commando Group II, who was the commander of the first battalion of the Panzer Regiment - in the same position as Stravitz.

"Brethren, tonight our battalion will act as a division of sharp knives to strike forward and cut through the Russian lines—this is the task I have so hard fought for from above. Daddy (even the nickname is the same as Hubey) made a bet with the 16th Panzer Division on which division would rush to the Russians' canal pontoon bridge first and take effective control of it would win the bet - a new heavily armored battalion that would arrive in late November! So......" he said in an exuberant, infectious voice, "whether it is for the honor of the Führer's Division or for the sake of this heavily armored battalion, we must be ahead, tell me, can you do it?" ”

"Yes!" There was a frenzied voice all around.

"Sir, I propose that our platoon conduct pre-fire reconnaissance to find a suitable path for the whole division." Suddenly another voice rang out, and Max Winscher looked at the young man who had raised his hand to speak, and smiled, "Ensign Ribbentrop, your advice is good, I beg for permission, and the task will be entrusted to you......" (To be continued. )