Nakasidze lowered his hand and raised his voice: "Two days ago, in the village of Aktobe, it was such a department of Deleev tanks, which alone fought against dozens of light and heavy tanks of the enemy, completely crushing the enemy's attack!" The artillery fire of the enemy tanks hit Mendeleev like an itch - and Mendeleev's cannons, four-point-7-inch cannons from the Navy, can send a dozen small Chinese tanks into the sky with one shot! ”

"Ulla!"

"Long live our tanks!"

"Long live the Panzers!"

The enthusiasm of the crowd was ignited in an instant, and the burning morale seemed to break through the low-hanging gray clouds and compete with the long-lost sunshine......

A few minutes later, Nakasidze and his party stopped in front of a small hotel near the train station.

A small bearded general led a squad of staff officers to greet him: "Welcome back, dear Mikhail Ilyich Nakasidze, have you been to the front to see it?" ”

Nakasidze jumped off his horse and extended his hand to the warm greeter: "Yes, I have seen it, Babel Antonov, your lads are as strong as the Don hippopotamus. ”

The other side was none other than Lieutenant General Antonov, commander of the 2nd Siberian Army.

"Come in, please, there's hot tea and honey-coated bread." Antonov greeted courteously.

When the two groups entered the hotel, a long table with about twenty seats was set up in the center of the lobby, covered with clean white tablecloths, stacked with straw baskets of bread and glass jars filled with honey, a large samovar burning on the blazing stove in the corner, and the warm air mixed with the sweet smell of honey and the fragrance of tea leaves—what a beautiful battlefield paradise.

The tea set has long been neatly placed, with colorful cups, silver spoons, and white porcelain sugar jars of high-grade granulated sugar, which is shiny and white—it can be seen that Lieutenant General Antonov has put a lot of effort into it.

"Are you entertaining the king?" Nakasidze said with a smile, he was no stranger to this scene as an earl, but after all, this is a battlefield here, and it is too extravagant to pay so much attention to it.

"Isn't it enough that the king who can help us win is your servant?" Antonov thought he was very wise and responded.

"The King? Servant? ”

"There are many kings, the most powerful of them is called Mendeleev, am I right?"

"Yes, he weighs 170 tons, wears 4-inch iron armor, holds a 4.7-inch cannon, can run 20 kilometers in an hour, and he is the strongest king in the mechanical world. And, as you say, he will help us to take the victory. Nakasidze triumphantly took off his proud Cossack fur hat and sat down unceremoniously at one end of the long table.

After everyone sat down, Nacasidze clapped his hands to the sky again: "Everyone, please listen, although our kings are strong, they also have weaknesses, their armor is too tight, their vision is not good, and it is not easy to stop once they run, so please remind your subordinates, no matter what, do not rush in front of the kings, otherwise it is none of my business to be trampled into flesh by the kings' big iron feet." ”

"Long live the king—you should have brought vodka!" Captain Ivanov raised his glass excitedly.

Antonov laughed and whispered a few words to the chief of staff beside him, who immediately left his seat, and in a moment, a large map of flowers was erected in front of the counter.

Antonov got up and left his seat, picked up his horsewhip and tapped it on the map: "On the orders of the front headquarters, the morning after tomorrow, my 2nd Army will launch a full-scale offensive on the southern section of the front. ”

Everyone suddenly fell silent and listened carefully to the commander's explanation.

"The 2nd Army's plan for deployment was as follows: the 3rd Division was on the left flank, covering the right flank of the 3rd Army to the north, the 4th Division was on the right flank, and the 8th Division was covering to the south. The reserve consisted of one battalion of the 3rd Division, one regiment of the 4th Division, two artillery batteries attached to the corps, and all six cavalry companies. ”

"The task of the 3rd Division, with the support of one heavy artillery battalion attached to the group army and all the artillery forces of the division, and in coordination with the armored units attached to it, resolutely and forcefully break through the positions in front of it, attack from the south in a roundabout way to the area around the railway bridge over the Selenga River, and then, with the support of the army reserves, seize the railway bridge, cross the Selenga River, attack the city of Ulan-Ude, and join forces with the friendly forces in the encirclement."

"The task of the 4th Division is to cover the right flank of the 3rd Division, with the support of the armored forces, to cross the Selenga River from the south of Ulan-Ude, advance to the line of Tarbagatai, and cooperate with the 8th Division to the south to cut off the supply line of the enemy's troops concentrated in the Selenga River valley."

"In other words, the 3rd Division is in the most critical main offensive position of this offensive, and it should be given the fullest reinforcement."

Nakasidze stretched out his hands to Antonov without malice and said: "I have also heard this sentence from Commander Gartning of the 3rd Army, but the 3rd Division in your mouth has been replaced by his 5th Division. ”

Antonov glared: "What did Commander Valyev not tell you?" ”

Nakasidze wiped his shiny sheep's horn beard: "He wants me to deploy the troops at my own convenience, because no one here has ever commanded armored troops, and he himself is confused about these mechanical monsters. Of course, he did emphasize the importance of capturing the railroad bridge, but from his words, I sensed that he wanted the two of you to have a contest. The 3rd Army was to break through from the front to the area of the railway bridge, and yes, they were also given the task of seizing the railway bridge and attacking the city. ”

"So, do you think it's more convenient to use armored forces with me, or with Gartning?" Antonov stared at Nakasidze expectantly.

Nakasidze shook his neck, reached for the bread basket, and took out twelve croissant buns, which were neatly arranged on the table.

"You see, I have three tank companies on hand—" Nacasidzer said, pulling out three of the larger loaves of bread and piling them into a pile.

"An armored train—" Nacasidzer thought for a moment, placing a silver spoon on the largest loaf of bread in it.

"And eight companies of armored vehicles." Nacasider gestured to the remaining eight smaller loaves of bread.

"The armored train can only travel along the railway line, and the 2nd Army's combat area is south of the railway, so it can't be used to support you at first, but if you seize the railway bridge and open the railway line first, this force may be assigned to you." Nakasidze shrugged and tossed the largest piece of bread back into the basket.

"Two companies of the armored vehicle unit equipped with Austin-Keglas half-track armored vehicles have been allocated to the 14th Division to support their detour from Lake Baikal to enemy lines." Before he could finish speaking, the two loaves of bread were thrown back.

"There are 6 companies left, because all of them are wheeled armored vehicles, the road requirements are relatively high, and there is a lack of suitable roads in the combat area of the 2nd Army, so I decided to give 5 companies to the 3rd Army and only 1 company to the 2nd Army."

"What......" Antonov shook his beard unpleasantly.

"As for the remaining three tank companies." Nacasidze picked up the spoon and spread honey on the remaining three loaves of bread. "Attracted by your honey, it's all here."

"Brother, you are my best brother-" Antonov cheerfully and enthusiastically opened his arms and pounced on him......