Chuikov was equally surprised by the judgment of General Vostretsov, who admired this neat and even somewhat clean tall soldier, who was not like a general, but more like a strategic commander.

Chuikov only thought that this army was the Fourth Route Army, but he didn't think about why this Fourth Route Army deliberately hid their identities.

"Yes, there must be a conspiracy for this Fourth Route Army to do this."

Chuikov hesitated for a moment and said, "I'm sorry! Your Excellency, Your Keen Mind makes me sigh to myself, I have not thought about this question. But ......"

Senior General Vostretsov admired Chuikov's sharp mind and frank surname, and as a commander of an army, especially a senior officer, these were extremely important qualities, and based on his inference that the vanguard of the Fourth Route Army had reached Hailar, this major was far more clever than the generals present.

General Vostretsov looked at Chuikov, a smile could not help but appear in the corner of his eyes, looked at Chuikov and said kindly: "Comrade Chuikov, we still lack a deputy chief of staff in the Transbaikal Military District, if your inference is correct, after the end of this war, I will recommend you to serve in the Transbaikal Military District." But now you have to talk about the purpose of the Fourth Route Army. ”

The post of deputy chief of staff of the Transbaikal Military District is a major general, and at least a colonel, that is, General Vostrezov is going to promote Chuikov unusually, and everyone in the room looks at Chuikov with surprise and jealousy.

Chuikov is very grateful to General Vostretsov, if he is promoted normally, he will not be able to reach such a position in ten years, unless there is another world war. Chuikov tried his best to control his excitement and said: "I am very willing to serve under the general. ”

Chuikov tried to calm his emotions and pondered: "The Chinese are a very wise people, and they have a saying in the military: 'The real is false, and the virtual is real.'" This means that you will always let your enemies misjudge your situation, and when you are strong, hide your true strength, and make your enemies think that you are weak, so that your opponents will be less vigilant and show their flaws, and then they will see the opportunity to deal a fatal blow to your opponent; If you are weak, try your best to make your enemy think you are strong so that he will not dare to attack you rashly and easily. I think that if this brigade is really a unit of the Fourth Route Army, then his purpose is the former. That is, he is deliberately covering up the fact that they have reached the vicinity of Hailar, and when we let go of the Northeast Army in Manchuria, they will suddenly appear on the battlefield, disrupt our deployment, and give us a hard blow. ”

The more Chuikov spoke, the clearer his thoughts became, and his language became smoother and smoother, and seeing that everyone was listening carefully to what he said, he continued: "I think we should take the following measures now: First. Aerial reconnaissance of the 100-kilometer perimeter perimeter of Hailar should be intensified, and as long as they do not have a large-scale support force in this range, we will have two days to attack Manchuria and Zhalainur. That is, the main force of the Fourth Route Army had already reached the vicinity of Hailar, and they could not rush to the battlefield to participate in the battle in two days; Second. In the name of the Transbaikal Cluster Command, another telegram was sent to the commander of the Special Army Group in the Far East, General Blyukher, asking him to urge Moscow to verify the movements of the 27th Brigade of the Northeast Army stationed in Rehe as soon as possible; Third. If we decide to continue the attack on Manchuria and Zhainuoer, then I request that two days be used as the time limit for the campaign, and if we cannot take these two places after two days, we should immediately retreat to the Dauri area for active defense, avoid fighting with the superior forces of the enemy, and wait for reinforcements to arrive. ”

Chuikov's words made everyone a little unable to react for a while, how could the originally good battlefield situation suddenly become so bad, and even consider defense?

The commanders of the 35th and 36th infantry divisions present were all old subordinates of General Vostretsov, and they knew that their generals appreciated this major staff officer, and they also trusted their old superiors, and they had won many victories with General Vostretsov in many years of war, and they believed that the generals would make the right decisions.

The 21st Infantry Division was transferred from the Ural Military District, and the commanders of the two divisions, Poliukin and Niyazov, were silent, and the commander of the 21st Division, Kunizov, naturally did not express his opinion. Garchev, commander of the 5th Cavalry Brigade of Reading, was a Cossack from the Don Valley in the south, and the strong and aggressive surname of the Cossacks made him unhappy with the indecisiveness of Chuikov and even General Vostremov. He believed that the Chinese on the opposite side had poor combat effectiveness, and if it was a field battle, it would not even need the help of infantry to defeat them. It's just that his cavalry is not the main force in this campaign, and the commanders of several infantry divisions don't speak, so he doesn't have much to say.

Belinsky snorted coldly, no one else said, but he had to say it, he already knew that now the "Cheka" was investigating the relationship between General Vostretsov and his nephew, and he thought that if General Vostretsov was driven out of the army, he would probably be the one who would take over the post of commander of the Transbaikal Military District. The problem is that this battle must be won, or he will be implicated as well. If it was only defensive, it would be no different from defeat, because the military operations on the Eastern Front had already proved that the Northeast Army on the opposite side was vulnerable.

Belinsky said coldly: "I would like to remind you Major Chuikov that the military operations on the Eastern Front have proven that our enemy is vulnerable and has no combat effectiveness to speak of. Whether it is the Northeast Army or the Fourth Route Army, they are the troops of the reactionary warlords, and such troops cannot be compared with our Soviet fighters at all. Neither in terms of combat effectiveness nor will to fight, they are no match for the fighters of the Soviet Red Army who we have armed with [***] ideas, and your pessimistic arguments are dangerous. ”

Although Chuikov was very unconvinced, he licked his somewhat dry lips and sat down, knowing that he could not say any more, otherwise a political hat would be buckled on his head, and in that case, even Blyukhel, who also admired him, would not be able to help him.

General Vostretsov's expression was in his eyes, and he couldn't help nodding secretly, and said in his heart: "Yes, it is rare to know how to advance and retreat at such an age." ”

Although General Vostretsov was very disdainful of Belinsky's words, there was one thing he and Belinsky agreed on, that is, he had to win this battle, and it had to be a big victory. Only if he fought this battle perfectly, achieved a great victory, and with the help of Blyukhel, who had great prestige in the army, could he remain in the army. Not to mention defeat, even if he actively defended and saved his troops from the superior forces of the Fourth Route Army, his military career would be over.

General Vostretsov coughed majestically, and everyone knew that General Vostrezov was about to make a decision, and they all waited for him to speak calmly.

"I agree with Comrade Chuikov's inference, I think that the Northeast Army of this brigade that has newly entered Hailar is the unit of the Fourth Route Army, and it can even be determined that their large force will never be too far from Hailar, that is to say, their large force has arrived."

The words of General Vostretsov shocked everyone exactly! If this Fourth Route Army really reached the vicinity of Hailar, then their plan to destroy the Northeast Army on the Western Front would have to be terminated.

"My reason is that they deliberately pretended to be the Northeast Army, so that we were unprepared, and when we surrounded and annihilated the Northeast Army in Manchuria and other places, they suddenly appeared and caught us off guard. If we don't find out about their intentions, it's really dangerous for us. Fortunately, however, we now have a basic understanding of their intentions. Moreover, I also agree with the political commissar that neither the Northeast Army nor the Fourth Route Army will be an opponent for our well-trained Red Army soldiers. ”

Senior General Vostretsov raised his voice and said majestically: "Comrade Lermonov, your Air Force has to repeatedly and uninterruptedly search the area within a range of 100 kilometers near Hailar every day, focusing on the southwest direction of Hailar. The plan for the attack on Manchuria and Zhainuoer should be advanced, and this morning Comrade Blyukherr approved my request to launch an attack in advance. ”

"Comrades, there is not much time left for us to destroy the enemy on the front line in Manchuria, and the original order to launch an attack at 0:00 on the 16th has been cancelled, and the time of the attack has been changed to dawn on the 12th. At the same time, the original plan was adjusted accordingly, and the 35th and 36th Infantry Divisions and the Readyat-Mongol Cavalry Division attacked Zhalainor, with Comrade Poliukin as the commander-in-chief of the front, and it was necessary to take Zhalainor before dark on the afternoon of the 13th. At the same time, with a force to occupy Sagagang, to block any enemy reinforcements from Hailar and Manchuria. After taking Zha Lai Nuoer, the main force went north along the railway to attack Manchuria, and made every effort to destroy the Northeast Army in Manchuria; The 21st Infantry Division was attached to the Heavy Artillery Division and the Tank Regiment to attack Manchuria; The 5th Cavalry Brigade served as a reserve for the whole army. ”

General Vostremov glanced at everyone with stern eyes and said: "I would like to remind you that our offensive is only two days, that is, at midnight on the 14th, we must end this campaign. If we end the fighting in two days, even if the Fourth Route Army arrives in Manchuria, they will not dare to act rashly. ”

After a pause, General Vostretsov looked at the crowd and asked, "Is there any problem?" ”

The commander of the tank regiment, Nietzsche, stood up and said: "Comrade General, I have a problem. ”

General Vostrezov knew what Nietzsche was going to say, but he nodded his head and motioned for Nietzsche to continue.

"We are short of ammunition, now all the tanks in the regiment have less than a base number of ammunition, and it will take another week for the ammunition delivered in the rear to reach the Great Uri." Nietzsche said helplessly.

Seeing that General Vostretsov did not cancel the offensive plan, Belinsky was in a good mood, and he thought that according to this plan, it would not be a problem to destroy the Northeast Army in Manchuria and Zalainuoer. As for the Fourth Route Army in the future, it has nothing to do with him. He believed that as long as they retreated to the side of the border, the [***] team would never dare to cross the border to attack.

Belinsky said in a rare slowed voice: "Comrade Vostrezov has already said, 'Neither the Northeast Army nor the Fourth Route Army will be an opponent of our well-trained Red Army soldiers. 'Don't say you still have ammo for your tanks, you don't have ammo, and if you let your boys drive their tanks into their positions, they'll be scared and run away. ”

(To be continued)