Meng Enfan's actions during the night raid were recognized by the officers and men of the 1st Battalion. The 1st Battalion suffered heavy casualties because it was under the main pressure of the Alonda defensive battle, and Colonel Zhao Xin had already decided not to use this battalion. However, the 1st Battalion boasted of being the main force and strongly requested to participate in the attack, and the regimental headquarters still gave the 1st Battalion an order to attack. However, it was clearly required that the 1st Battalion should only draw 1 company of troops and be assigned to the 3rd Battalion to fight.

Meng Enfan decided to use Captain Baihe's 2 companies as the main company, and transferred more than 30 veterans from the other three companies (4 companies were machine gun companies) to form an assault company. He personally led the team to participate in the night raid.

The lieutenant colonel officer personally led the assault team into battle and immediately gained the favor of the officers and men of the 1 battalion. This is the case in the army, where the prestige of senior officers is achieved by victory, and the prestige of junior officers is more dependent on leading by example.

When Meng Enfan led the assault company to lurk in front of the enemy position, Bai He ordered the two soldiers to "watch" the lieutenant colonel and not allow him to go into battle in person. But after the battle began, it was chaotic, Meng Enfan rushed into the German position with a rifle loaded with a bayonet, killed two enemy soldiers with his own hands, rescued a sergeant squad leader who was pressed by the Germans, and completely won the hearts of the army. After daybreak, the 3rd Battalion of the assault company achieved its mission, killing and wounding 93 enemy soldiers and capturing six machine guns. Then he turned west with the main force of the regiment, forced a flank of the Austrian army on the western flank, and once again achieved a great victory, the 3rd battalion captured more than 140 Austrian officers and soldiers, and captured two cannons. The battle continued until dark the next day, when the exhausted troops stopped their pursuit and moved to the defensive.

At the summary and analysis meeting held late at night at the regiment headquarters. Colonel Zhao Xin praised Meng Enfan and officially appointed Meng Enfan as the commander of the 1st Battalion. At the meeting, Regiment Commander Zhao reported the exciting news that Ploiesti had been occupied by the main army.

"What's next?" Meng Enfan asked a question of concern to the officers.

"This is something that the generals are considering," Zhao Xin said with a smile, "The key is that we have achieved an unexpected victory." Division Commander Qin said that the German 64th Division was basically annihilated, and its division commander and chief of staff were captured. It's a good start, the Germans are nothing more than that, we have captured dozens of cannons alone, as well as a large number of shells. Ha ha. ”

"I don't think the battle is over. But that's just the beginning. Or the army group that marched west to fight Austria. Or eastward and the Germans to dry. It's not going to stop here. Meng Enfan pointed to the map.

"Lao Meng is right. We should get a good grasp of rectifying the troops and getting a good rest. Get ready for a new mission. Zhao Xin ended the meeting.

At the summary meeting of the 74th regiment, Meng Enfan said a problem that troubled the top management. These junior officers were just casual conversations, but the heads of the 1st Army Command of the Expeditionary Force had to quickly decide on the direction of the troops' movements, and they had to turn the strategic advantage achieved by the blitzkrieg on Ploiesti into victory.

General Brusilov's order was that the Chinese army should advance towards Bucharest and regain the Romanian capital. However, Ye Yanbing set his sights on the Austrian 1st Army, which was located on the front line of Lemni Kuvol.

Ye Yanbing thinks. Falkingham's forces are rapidly returning to reinforcements. It is estimated that he will return to Bucharest before himself. Falkingham had three German divisions in his hands. It was more difficult to capture Bucharest by relying on the 9th and 5th armies. Even if the city is captured, the casualties of the two armies will not be small. Before going abroad, the president repeatedly stressed the need to give full play to the advantages of our army's strong athletic ability to fight a mobile war with the enemy army instead of a positional war, and the attack on Bucharest was a positional attack.

The Austrian 1st Army had already occupied Remnikuvolcha. The flanks of the 9th and 5th armies were threatened, and it would take seven days for the next three armies to enter the battlefield at the earliest.

If we change our thinking, show the enemy weakness, and use the main force of the 5th Army to hold on to Ploiesti to attract the German army to attack, so as to gain about a week for the main force of the expeditionary force to assemble, the 9th Army will be transferred to a short-term rest and preparation, ready to be used as a mobile force. After the remaining three armies arrived at the battlefield, the 5th Army guarded Ploiesti to pinn down Farkinhan, and the main force moved west to fight the Austrian 1st Army, annihilating this basically Austrian army group in the field, and the enemy's two armies on the southern front would have to withdraw from Romania, and Bucharest would go down without a fight. Ye Yanbing analyzed from the standpoint of Falkingham, believing that the opponent was unlikely to give up the Romanian offensive because of the defeat of Ploiesti, and would definitely order the Austrian 1st Army on the front line of Lemnikuvol to move westward, cooperate with the German army to flank the Chinese army, and strive to annihilate the main force of the Chinese army in the area of Ploiesti.

Wouldn't the Germans be willing to look for an opportunity to annihilate themselves? Ye Yanbing firmly believed that the Germans were extremely angry with China's "betrayal of the alliance", and this sentiment would be amplified by the defeat of Ploiesti, and it was a taboo for the generals to raise troops out of anger, which gave the Chinese army the opportunity to continue to fight the war of annihilation.

After receiving General Brusilov's enthusiastic congratulatory telegram and the order to attack Bucharest in the south, Ye Yanbing did not act, did not even state his strategic vision, but communicated with his main aides on the follow-up of the campaign. Xue Xiaocai completely agreed with the commander's idea, but Xiong Xun was still on the front line and communicated by encrypted telegram, and Xiong Xun also agreed with Ye Yanbing's idea and opposed a hard-hitting position attack.

On September 24, Ye Yanbing officially telegraphed to Brusilov to oppose his southward advance strategy, and to temporarily take a defensive position in the direction of Ploiesti to gain time for the strategic assembly of the 1st Army of the Expeditionary Force, and then advance westward to seek opportunities to annihilate the Austrian 1st Army in the form of a field battle.

After the telegram was sent, Ye Yanbing did not wait for a reply, and immediately ordered Xiong Xun to build an advance airfield in Ploiesti so that the air force that had already arrived in Chernovtsi could be stationed.

On the evening of the 25th, General Brusilov personally flew to the Chernovtsey Yeyanbing Headquarters to meet with the Chinese general, whom he had not yet met, and to discuss Romanian strategy. The great success of the Chinese army in Ploiesti forced the commander of the Front, who had gained great fame as a result of the "Brushilov" offensive, to deign to come to the headquarters of the Chinese army.

General Brusilov praised the heroic actions of the Chinese troops and categorically opposed Ye Yanbing's plan. Early Brusilov thought that it would be an idiot for the Chinese army not to take advantage of the advantages it had already gained to regain Bucharest. If you change to another Russian general. It may not be so exciting, but for the attacking Brusilov, it is inconceivable and foolish to stop in front of the Romanian capital. Our main enemy is not Austria but Germany, and the capture of Bucharest by the Chinese army will cut off Falkingham's supply lines, and the Russian army will launch a counteroffensive on the eastern front, which will be enough to drive Falkingham and Mackensen out of Romania. Crush these two enemy armies, and the Austrian army on the Western Front will not retreat! What does it mean to be at ease and work in this kind of form?

Ye Yanbing was unmoved, and insisted on acting according to his own assumptions, "Your Excellency Commander." The best outcome of your strategy is to drive the enemy out of Romanian territory. But my plan is a war of annihilation. Annihilate at least one of the three enemy armies in three separate locations. The difference between the two is enormous. In the military dictionary of our army, the war of annihilation is the best way to win. ”

"No, you're cowardly! It's the act of a coward! Brusilov exclaimed sharply, "You know. The Anglo-French allies were closely watching the situation in Romania. His Majesty the Tsar wanted your army to quickly regain Bucharest. This is a matter of the war situation on the Eastern Front and even the overall situation of the war. You can't back down from the fatigue and casualties of your troops! You're here to fight, not to watch! Moreover, your army group is unequivocally under my command. ”

"Nope. Our army is not cowardly. Otherwise, they would not have launched a counterattack without waiting for the main force to assemble. Two divisions of the German-Austrian army were basically annihilated by me, and the commander of the German 64th division was captured by me. Isn't the record of destroying two divisions in two days not enough to tell the story? Regarding the command structure, Admiral Ye Yanbing clearly replied to Brusilov, "Yes, my group army should be under your command for the time being. But our military has a say in strategic issues. Your order in our language is chaos, and it has been a tradition in China since ancient times. ”

Ye Yanbing actually regarded Brusilov's order as a disorder, which shocked Lieutenant General Fan Deping, the deputy chief of the General Staff who came to Chernivtsi with General Brusilov. He has also served as the chief of staff of the expeditionary force, but Ye Yanbing has become the deputy commander and is still his superior, and this general is not only higher in seniority and rank than him, but also a close relative of the president. So he could not stop the dispute between General Ye Yanbing and General Brusilov. Ye Yanbing in Fan Deping's impression was gentle and elegant, but he didn't expect to have a hideous side.

China and Russia, having won a significant battle, clashed sharply over the follow-up.

General Brusilov came to Chernivtsi with Lieutenant General Artemeyev, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Russian army, and saw that Brusilov fell into a frenzy because of Ye Yanbing's disobedience, so he adjourned the meeting, and the two sides calmed down before discussing.

This build was recognized by both parties.

After the meeting ended, Fan Deping finally had the opportunity to discuss the battle situation with Ye Yanbing. After analyzing the enemy situation with Fan Deping again, Ye Yanbing pointed to the map and said to Fan Deping, "You must not do what the Russians demand." The President has repeatedly told me to fight both tough battles and smart battles. We are here to make money, not to be cannon fodder for the Russians. Ploiesti fought well because Xiong Xun was unexpected. When it comes to Bucharest, there is no way to take a chance. When we throw two armies under the city of Bucharest, we will not have many options, the army group will be sucked up, there will be no initiative at all! But according to my approach, we will advance and retreat freely. The westward attack on the Austrian 1st Army won, and the Germans on the southern front are estimated to have retreated, and we can recover all of Romania at a very small cost. The Russians can't take away this credit. If the Austrian army fails to fight, our army can abandon Ploiesti, take a retreat to lengthen the enemy's front, and choose its weak point to attack it all the way. You get it, right? ”

"However, it would be good if our army seized Bucharest in front of Falkingham. After the defeat of the Falkingham group, it was time for the Austrians to retreat. "The news of the victory has been received at home, and the General Staff wants us to have a complete victory in Romania, which would be more beneficial to the president's overall strategy." ”

"I certainly understand the president's strategy. But it was much more difficult to fight the Germans than the Austrians! Ye Yanbing said, "In the battle of Ploiesti, the total casualties of the 27th and 25th divisions alone reached more than 2,500 people. That was again in a melee situation in which we had an absolute advantage. However, the 26th and 25th Divisions attacked the fully formed Austrian division, and only suffered less than 600 casualties. Falkingham is vengeful, now he is a mourning soldier, and it is a dream for us to fight a battle like Ploiesti again! It's much more cost-effective for him to attack him than for us to attack him! ”

"Got it! I'll talk to Artemiev tomorrow. This man is sober-minded and has a crush on us. ”

"Don't trust the Russians." Ye Yanbing's face was gloomy.

"But don't offend Brusilov, right? Our supplies are still in his hands. ”

"How dare he make things difficult for me? I have a way to deal with him! Ye Yanbing's handsome face looked hideous and terrifying, "Old Fan, you are the chief of the general staff of the expeditionary force, please grasp the assembly of the follow-up troops, especially to quickly deploy the air force in place, I must get the support of the air force." I immediately rushed to the front, away from the front line, sitting in front of the map and directing the battle was not the tradition of the Mengshan army. I was angry at the look of the Russians, who had made a mess of the situation and were now here to point fingers. ”

The next morning, several high-ranking Chinese and Russian generals again conducted a study on the Romanian campaign. General Brusilov changed his attitude from yesterday and became calm. He admits that Ye Yanbing's tactics have merit, but he still thinks that it would be a pity not to pick Bucharest like a ripe fruit. The argument lasted until noon, when news came from the Russian army that General Falkingham's troops had returned to Bucharest. Moreover, a detachment of the Mackensen Army Group (the number of which is unknown) turned towards Bucharest. This news dispelled their differences, and General Brusilov showed a kind of generosity, agreed with General Ye Yanbing's plan, and said that the Russian 9th Army would cooperate with the actions of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and try to contain the Russian troops in front of them when the Expeditionary Force turned to attack the Austrian 1st Army, so as to provide strategic cover for the Expeditionary Force.

Ye Yanbing expressed his gratitude for this. He told Brusilov that as long as the Russian army ensured the logistical requirements of the expeditionary force in accordance with the division of labor, he would be able to win the Romanian campaign and annihilate the Allied forces or drive them out of Romania.

"That's great. You will be generously rewarded by His Majesty the Emperor. General Brusilov smiled and said, "I hope to hear as much as possible about your army." ”

In any case, with the arrival of the Chinese army, it is certain that the situation in Romania will turn around. The Southwestern Front's front would be shortened by more than 500 kilometers, which was a great consolation to Brusilov, who was shouldering the hopes of Russia.

That night, Ye Yanbing left Fan Deping in Chernivtsi to preside over the operations of the group army headquarters, and he led a capable command group into Romania by car. The main forces of the 12th Army have been ordered to enter Luo, and the 7th Army is following up. According to Ye Yanbing's instructions, the troops took the form of a night march to act covertly. Except in cloudy or rainy weather, follow-up units are not to be exposed to the Luftwaffe. (To be continued......)