From the moment the campaign began, Tukhachevsky did not go very well, first of all, he had trouble crossing the river, and due to the lack of ferries, only a few thousand troops crossed the Volga eight hours after the battle began.

This was four hours later than Tukhachevsky had expected, and according to his plan, at least one regiment was to establish a solid landing ground on the other side of the river to cover the crossing of the river.

At present, there are fewer than two battalions of troops on the other side of the river, and because of the flood season and dense fog, the troops crossing the river are scattered on several unconnected river beaches. Although the White Army has not yet organized a decent counterattack, you can't expect that there will never be any action.

"When will the follow-up troops continue to cross the river?" Tukhachevsky asked impatiently, standing on the shore.

"I'm sorry, Comrade Mikhail, the river is flowing too fast and the fog is too big. In this case, it's hard to ......"

Tukhachevsky interrupted him and angrily asked: "I don't want to listen to anything difficult, now all I want is to send the troops to the other side of the river!" There's no room for bargaining in this! ”

I have to say that Tukhachevsky is a bit unreasonable, the objective facts are not diverted from the will of the individual, and no one can let the flood season on the Volga end early, let alone dispel this fog that cannot be seen.

Therefore, his request must not be satisfied, and he can only stand stupidly on the bank of the river, staring at the white river with wide eyes.

In fact, the river crossing force was more anxious than Tukhachevsky, after all, Tukhachevsky did not have to face the threat of the White Army. And they could be attacked at any time by a white army several times their size. Especially in this foggy ghost weather. It's simply the best time to sneak up on the stuffy stick.

Malinovsky restlessly walked around the positions. From time to time, he pricked up his ears to listen to the sound behind him, how he wished to hear the whistle of the steamboat, but two hours had passed, and there was no movement at all, and one could imagine how much trouble the fog had caused.

"Herald! Heralds! Malinovsky yelled irritably.

An eighteen or nineteen-year-old soldier with a few freckles on his face walked up to him quickly, folded his legs and raised his hands in salute: "Battalion commander, your order?" ”

Malinovsky smiled bitterly in his heart, he had already sent out four or five heralds. I went to find the allies who had been separated by the thick fog, but the heralds were like pebbles thrown into the water, and they never looked back.

He didn't know if it was a good idea to continue sending people out to find him, but he knew very well that this company at hand and his guard squad alone would not be enough to hold the position!

"Ilya, I command you to search west along the forest to find the lost Second and Third Companies, find them, and bring them to me, understand?"

"Yes. Battalion commander! ”

Immediately after the salute, Elijah began to carry out the command. Let's be honest, though. He didn't have any bottom in his heart, not only because the fog was too big, but more importantly, he was just a recruit who had been in the army for less than a month.

War was still a foreign game to him, and he lacked the ability to handle tasks independently. And that's why he was the last to do anything, if he didn't really have a way, and he couldn't draw manpower, Malinovsky wouldn't have sent this recruit out to try his luck.

Indeed, Malinovsky has nothing left to do, he is just trying his luck. So what about Ilya's luck? It should be said that it is not bad.

The young herald carried Mosinagan on his back and briskly weaved through the reeds on the riverbank, his eyes wide searching for the trail of friendly troops. After a while, he felt tired and even more bored. If he had a choice, he would rather fight a fierce battle with the enemy on the battlefield than wander around aimlessly like a fool.

Maybe half an hour passed, or maybe an hour, but when Ilya was bored, he finally noticed something different. Why is the word perceptive? Because the eyes were not used at all in this mist, the only thing that was used was the ears, and he seemed to hear something, as if there was a large group of people moving in front of him.

At this time, Ilya was a little happy, he couldn't help but think that he should have found an organization, maybe the second or third company was hiding in front of him, all he needed to do was to rush up to say hello, and then convey Malinovsky's order. On the final return journey, he didn't have to walk alone in the misty reeds.

Ilya tightened the rifle on his shoulder, and his steps became so brisk that he wanted to whistle.

"Hi comrades......"

When Ilya broke through the fog and saw those so-called "comrades", he screamed in shock!

I'll take it, where are these comrades, it's simply a group of white troops!

As soon as the scream rose and fell, of course it was not that our poor lad was tied, but that he turned around and ran, as brisk as a tanuki.

Syllable...... Syllable...... Syllable......

The sound of gunfire from behind him further told him that those were indeed the White Army, because in addition to the gunshots, the group of scum was still shouting:

"Catch it alive! Be sure to catch this tongue! ”

"Catch him, pry his mouth open, this little bastard must know where the main force of the Red Bandit is!"

From the shouts of the White Army, Ilya drew two conclusions: first, he must run faster, otherwise he will be tortured if he remains in the hands of the White Army; Second, this group of white dogs also does not seem to be able to figure out where the main forces of the Red Army are, which seems to have value in use.

Elijah was a fast runner, and he was cunning, turning left and right without taking a straight line, and in a few moments he got rid of the wolf-like dog thieves.

He crouched cautiously in the reeds with his rifle in hand, even though he wanted to gasp for breath, but he held back.

After a few moments, when all the sounds had died down, he stood up. Then slowly return along the road. Of course. It's a bit inappropriate to go back along the road. Because there was no road at all in this area, and because of the escape, he had deviated far from the original route.

Ilya could only find an approximate direction, and then take it one step at a time. I don't know how long they had been gone, but when he heard that movement in his ears again, he became cautious, and no longer dared to rush out with a big bluff, but hid in place. Keep your ears up and listen to these sounds.

The voice was a little far away and a little indistinct, all in all, Ilya didn't understand a few words, and naturally he didn't know whether it was a friendly army or an enemy in front of him. For a moment he hesitated and didn't know what to do?

"Damn it!" He cursed secretly.

At this moment, there was a force behind him, and poor Ilya was knocked down before he could understand what was going on, and he struggled desperately. But it didn't work at all, just a moment's work. Not only were his hands and feet tied, but his mouth was gagged.

"Company commander, caught a tongue! We can ask something from this white dog's mouth! ”

This sentence made Ilya's heart flutter, just now he was still regretting that he was captured inexplicably, who would have thought that this was his own person. He began to struggle desperately, trying to get the other man's attention.

"Damn white dog, it's not honest!"

Ilya felt a kick in his ass, which was heavy and painful, but he couldn't care about it anymore, and he began to struggle even harder.

"Damn, Semenov, you idiot, you can't see clearly and arrest people, this kid is our own, look at the collar badge!"

The incident came and ended suddenly, and Ilya ignored the reckless scout's apology, and told the company commander what he had discovered.

"Are you sure that there are enemies in this direction?"

Ilya nodded heavily, "I'm pretty sure, there's probably a platoon, uh, at least one I can see!" ”

The company commander was a little excited, after crossing the river, he had not touched the shadow of the enemy for several hours, and now he had to him no matter what.

He gave the order: "All assemble and prepare for battle!" So saying, he turned to Ilya and said, "Young man, you are in charge of leading the way!" ”

This order made Ilya nervous again, to be honest, he really didn't remember the way when he ran away just now, and let him lead the way at this time, he really couldn't find the direction.

Walking at the front of the line, Ilya had nothing in his heart, so he could only walk hard, and he muttered in his heart: "Such a big fog, even if you can't find it, you can't completely blame me for not being it!" ”

However, Ilya's luck seems to have improved, and soon he found some traces, which should be left by him when he fled in a panic, that is, if you follow these traces, you can find the white army!

Ilya was immediately excited, from the first day he joined the Red Army, he wanted to go into battle to kill the enemy, he was eager to fight, and now that his long-cherished wish had been fulfilled, his hands holding the gun began to tremble.

"Relax, little one! You can't fight! Semenov kindly reminded him.

Ilya only smiled stiffly, though, but the nervousness was just as nervous!

The short march was soon over, and Semenov had already spotted traces of the White Army, in the words of his old scout: "It seems that there is more than one platoon ......"

"No matter, him!" After a short period of thought, the company commander gave the order categorically.

For the majority of Russian servicemen, there is an innate element of impulsiveness in the blood, which makes them always fond of brute force and adventure. Sometimes, of course, these ridiculous moves can be incredibly successful.

The grenade exploded first in the White Army, and then the gun also rang out, and the excited Ilya shot five rounds in the magazine against the white mist, and just as he was trembling and preparing to load, with the order of the company commander, the charge began.

"Ulla!"

Ilya stumbled with the crowd with the rifle that didn't have time to load the bayonet, this way of running seemed to be very long but only like a moment, anyway, Ilya was like drunk, screaming and rushing forward with his comrades, running and running, running and running, until he found that there was no comrade around him, he woke up!

"Ilya, did you find the second and third companies?"

Malinovsky appeared in front of Ilya at some point, the battalion commander who came out because he was in a hurry. Just now, Ilya, who rushed out with a gun and grinning teeth, was so frightened that she retracted her urine. Until he saw that this was his herald. He breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't care about closing the door, and he didn't even forget to put the birds back, so he couldn't wait to start asking.

Ilya was still a little confused, he remembered that he was fighting, he was charging, how could he come back in the blink of an eye?

He scratched the back of his head blankly, and began to wonder if he had a dream, until the hot barrel told him that the previous qiē was real. He hurriedly explained the situation to Malinovsky.

"What? Hiding a large group of enemies over there in the woods? You also charged with the third company of the second battalion? ”

At first, Malinovsky really thought that Ilya was talking in his sleep, and this forest was really not very big, so why didn't he hear a little gunfire and explosions?

Fortunately, he also knew that Ilya had no need to lie, so he immediately gathered his men and hurried to the other side of the woods. As soon as he was halfway through the run, the deafening sound of gunfire and shouts of killing made him change his face, and he raised his pistol and waved: "Charge!" ”

There was another tsunami of "Ula", and Ilya finally had time to fill his rifle and insert his bayonet, and once again rushed towards the enemy with the flow of people......

"Comrade Mikhail, call from Malinovsky!"

Tukhachevsky's face was dark, and he was a little anxious at the moment. As soon as the second group of troops crossing the river came ashore, there was chaos again, and there was even an accident in which the ferry ran aground. As for the first troops crossing the river. They had become a mass of scattered sand, scattered over a five-kilometre-wide area to fight the White Army, and all formations and organizations had been broken up. In other words, they can only pray to God for their blessing, otherwise they will have to be eaten clean by the enemy.

"What did Malinovsky say?" Tukhachevsky asked angrily, "Sue him, I have no way to support him, the artillery can't see the target clearly, and the ferry has a problem, so he can only rely on himself to stabilize the dìng shape!" ”

"I think you are mistaken, Comrade Mikhail. Battalion Commander Malinovsky brought good news, he, together with the third company of Battalion Commander Salikov, smashed a regimental headquarters of the White Army, killed hundreds of White bandits, and captured the enemy's regimental commander alive! ”

"What?" Tukhachevsky's eyes widened, he didn't expect that there would be such a gain today, destroying a regimental headquarters does not only mean paralyzing the command of a regiment of the enemy, but also means that he can obtain a lot of first-hand information, such as the enemy's military deployment and arrangement, which is simply too important for him to be blind at the moment.

Tukhachevsky immediately became excited, almost jumping up from his chair: "Sue sù Malinovsky, I will give him the first credit, so that he can immediately send the enemy's regimental commander over, by the way, those important maps and texts are also sent over!" ”

The first day of the river crossing was chaotic for both the Red Army and the White Army, and the sudden fog turned the battlefield into darkness, and all military deployments and deployments could hardly be carried out. It's just that the Red Army was a little luckier than the White Army and picked up a head.

But while Tukhachevsky, immersed in the information he had received from the White Corps commander, readjusted his deployment and prepared for a big fight, bad news came one after another.

First of all, Denikin, the old fox is too cunning, although he was distracted by a lot of energy and delayed due to Mironov's relationship, he still reacted quickly.

The defenders of the city of Ural quickly moved south, according to his orders, ready to join the main forces before Tukhachevsky cut off the lines of communication. And Denikin's main forces also ended the siege battle at the first time, began to retreat and adjust the deployment, although they have not retreated for the time being, but it is only a matter of time.

"Denikin seems to be running!" Even the rugged Budyonny came to this correct conclusion, but Stalin hesitated: "Is this assertion a little too early?" The enemy has only temporarily stopped the offensive, could this be a sign that Denikin is adjusting his deployment and preparing for a new, larger-scale offensive? ”

In fact, Stalin himself knew that this possibility was not high, and the State Political Security Bureau had said before that Denikin wanted to flee south, so how could it be that he stopped the offensive in order to continue the offensive? Stalin said this for only one reason, he wanted to preserve his strength, after all, it was Denikin's main force that was in front of Tsaritsyn, and he was not sure about attacking this enemy.

So Stalin wanted to wait and see, if Tukhachevsky's side was making rapid progress, he would speed up the pace and go into the counteroffensive, and if Tukhachevsky's side did not achieve much and the progress was slow, then he would slow down. Otherwise, he threw his troops into it in one fell swoop, and in the end Tukhachevsky failed to cut off the communication line, is it not for nothing?

Now, judging by the information that Stalin had received for the time being, Tukhachevsky was in trouble, his progress was slow, and it was natural that he would oppose an immediate counteroffensive.

Budyonny thought he could counterattack, but after all, he was Stalin's man, and he had to act according to the face of this boss, so after Stalin said his opinion, this man just flattened his mouth and then said nothing.

As for Kuibyshev, he preferred to carry out the counteroffensive as planned, but he was only the commissar of the 1st Cavalry Army, and he had nothing to do with the fact that both Stalin and Budyonny agreed to hold the troops.

"I have reservations that a counteroffensive is necessary. But I respect the collective resolution, and I just want to emphasize that we must prepare for a counteroffensive, if not immediately. As soon as Denikin made a more obvious attempt, we had to act decisively! (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to the travelers who follow the wind, hzwangdd and comrade Juventus!