Lieutenant Colonel Zhong Shi, deputy director of the Intelligence Division of the Expeditionary Force, and Lieutenant Colonel Chen Hao, deputy director of the Operations Division, took Zhang Zuoxiang's car. The rest of the contact group boarded a convoy to Zhytomyr.

This is the latest field command vehicle for officers at and above the division level, with two rows of seats, and a radio station can be arranged in the back compartment. The car was not well sealed, and the cold wind penetrated through the interface of the car body, and even if I was wearing an overcoat, I felt cold and biting. The road to Zhytomyr is lined with Hessian woods, and next to it is a frozen river, so you can't see the villages and its inhabitants for a long time.

"Commander Zhang, do you not agree with Commander Ye's handling?" Zhong Shi, who was sitting in the back row with Zhang Zuoxiang, saw that Zhang Zuoxiang had a calm face.

"How dare you." Zhang Zuoxiang looked at Chen Hao next to the driver in the row in front of him, he had just met this young officer who looked to be only in his early twenties, and Commander Shi introduced him to him, only saying that he had just returned from the Bulgarian front.

"Commander Wang mentioned the issue of military discipline twice in his telegram to Commander Ye. The 5th Army killed two, and one of the deputy company commanders also made meritorious contributions in the Battle of Bucharest. The Wehrmacht is traditionally like this, and it can't control its own little bald head, and it can't keep its big bald head. Director Chen should know about this. When he was working in the Military Intelligence Bureau, he handled a case involving Japanese spies, and spent a month in the 21st Division, and was greatly helped by Zhang Zuoxiang, who was then the commander of the 61st Brigade.

Chen Hao nodded, indicating that what Zhong Shi said was the truth.

"Thank you, brother, for telling me this. I'm worried about ......" Zhang Zuoxiang originally wanted to say that he was worried that Wang Mingyuan and Ye Yanbing's absolute descendants of the presidents were prejudiced against the 21st Army, which came from an alternative background, but he couldn't say it to the officers at the headquarters who had just met. So he swallowed the second half back.

"Commander Zhang doesn't need to worry about the background of the 21st Army," Zhong Shi said with a smile, "At least I can prove that Commander Ye and Commander Shi treat all departments equally." This is also the tradition of the Wehrmacht, which only speaks by military exploits, and does not talk about those things that have no oil and fresh water. I can leak a little secret, Commander Ye still attaches great importance to your department, otherwise he would not put your department in the forward position, Commander Ding has found Commander Shi at least twice for this, and now he can only follow you to pick up leftovers to eat. ”

Zhang Zuolin didn't believe these words. Because the 21st Army was the first unit of the 2nd Army. Naturally, the top is at the forefront. Leftovers? Think the Germans are papier-mâché?

Zhang Zuoxiang closed his eyes. He said he didn't want to talk about it anymore. He didn't care about the life or death of a company commander, he was worried about the next battle. The victory of the 1st Army in Romania put great pressure on the 2nd Army, as pointed out by Admiral Shi Dashou at a meeting of officers at and above the division level before leaving the country. But I am afraid that the kind of war in Romania will be gone, and it will be fought again. It must have been a hard shock to the Germans. The equipment of the 21st Army is better than that of the 9th Army. Not even the 12th Army. Fight positional warfare. It is not the aura of the commander that depends on it, but on the strength and firepower.

Zhang Zuoxiang didn't speak, closed his eyes and recuperated, and Zhong Shi couldn't continue. Chen Hao, who was sitting in the front seat, didn't speak, so the car quieted down.

Zhang Zuoxiang was thinking about his thoughts.

Zhang Zuolin's promotion to vice minister of national defense is actually a kind of overhead. This Zhang Zuoxiang knows it. But the throne of the commander of the 21st Army fell on his head, which still surprised him a little. In terms of qualifications. There are some people in the 21st Army system who are deeper than him, such as Yang Yuting and Wu Junsheng. In terms of the ability to lead troops, Yang Yuting is definitely above himself, even Guo Songling, who is the chief of staff of the army, is also better than himself, but the Ministry of Defense has taken a fancy to him. He was ordered to go to Beijing and was questioned by General Wang Mingyuan at the Ministry of National Defense, who, after affirming his merits, sternly pointed out that the 21st Division (which had not yet implemented military reform) had a warlord tendency! Is there such a phenomenon among the high-ranking officers who fought strictly in factional struggles, used feudal means of worshipping the subordinates to maintain the morale of the military, did not dare to openly confront the central government, but adopted the means of flattering the yang and violating the yin, did not welcome the graduates of Jinan, Huangpu and Baoding, and were only willing to use the Northeast Lecture Wutang (which had been renamed the Shenyang Infantry School after the founding of the People's Republic of China)? The officers sent by the Ministry of Defense to the 21st Division have been sidelined, and you are the best in this regard, which is the main reason why the Ministry of Defense chose you to be the division commander. The president has fully affirmed the merits of General Zhang Zuolin, but the problem of managing the army cannot be avoided......

Zhang Zuoxiang and Zhang Zuolin are brothers. Even in the army, he is mostly commensurate with Zhang Zuolin as a big brother. Minister Wang Mingyuan's conversation made Zhang Zuoxiang break out in a cold sweat, and he had a premonition that the center was going to take action against the 21st Division, a unit founded by Zhang Zuolin. So much so that he didn't dare to pay a private visit to the old prefect who had already moved his family into Beijing.

On that occasion, he was unexpectedly received by the president, during which he talked about the principle of selecting the commander-in-chief of the 21st Army, and the president bluntly pointed out that the 21st Army had warlord tendencies, and there were officers at all levels, but the Cheng dù was different. It is not good to engage in a small circle, it is a betrayal of the large circle. If you are not wary of big circles, why do you have small circles? The reason why I chose you to receive the printing is because you are good at synthesis. The army must be loyal first and foremost, and to whom is it loyal? Of course, we are loyal to the country, and we are the Wehrmacht. If personal interests are put above national interests, and if the army is treated as private property, then something goes wrong. After you take over as army commander, in addition to strengthening military training, you should especially strengthen the ideological education of senior officers, study a series of articles issued by the Ministry of National Defense on ideological and political education in the troops, and make up for this shortcoming. You can rest assured, in my place, the 21st Army is no different from the starting troops of the Mengshan Army. The 21st Army made achievements and received the same awards. In a word, I trust you, and I trust the officers and men of the 21st Army. I heard that you didn't even go to see Zhang Zuolin here? What does that mean? I have to go to meet him and listen to his views on the building of the troops, and he is the deputy minister of defense appointed by me and has the authority to give instructions to the troops. What he said is right, we must act according to Zhang Yuting's opinion.

The president's conversation was gentle, but it put a lot of pressure on Mr. Zhang.

Before leaving the country, Zhang Zuolin was assigned by the president to inspect the 21st Army in Shenyang. Zhang Zuolin said at a meeting of officers above the commander level of the 21 st Army Corps that when he asked the president to go to Shandong to fight the Japanese, the president said that the Kwantung Army should be guarded against, and the 21 st Division would bear the brunt and should not be moved lightly. Now I finally have the opportunity to fight the national war. I want to win glory for the 21st Army and win glory for me, a teacher. But avoid unnecessary sacrifices. I read a lot of information about the European war, and the casualties made my old Zhang feel terrified. The 21st Army is all soldiers of the Northeast, and they should be cherished. The president has said many times that we have formed an expeditionary force not to help the old Russians, but to serve the country. Rabbit cubs, do a good job, Lao Tzu is in Beijing to listen to your good news.

Everyone understood what the old chief meant. But does the current situation allow you to preserve your strength? Zhang Zuoxiang broke away from his eyes in the bumpy car, and glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Zhong Shi, who was napping with his eyes closed, it was not the 21st Army that avoided the battle. It's Ye Yanbing and Wang Mingyuan! If it weren't for Xiao Jiujiu. Why stop the troops in Zhytomyr for training? Why ignore the urging of the Russians and not take over the Russians' front under the pretext that the supplies and equipment of the troops are not in place? Even if it were to think of itself as the general reserve of the Southwestern Theater of Operations, the position of the troops was too far from the front line......

Zhytomyr is still hundreds of miles away from Lviv, where the headquarters of the Russian Southwestern Front is located, and send reconnaissance troops? This is the rear of the Russian army, what reconnaissance is needed?

Zhang Zuoxiang and his entourage returned to the military headquarters in Zhytomyr in the afternoon. The first thing was to convene a meeting of the main officers of the military department, which conveyed the spirit of the meeting of the Vinnitsa command. Chief of Staff Guo Songling was entrusted to form two reconnaissance teams. One is towards the Lviv line, the other in the direction of Gomel on the territory of Belarus.

Guo Songling believes that if it is judged that the German army will move in Poland. We are in the Southwestern Theater of Operations, and we should order our troops to move south, at least in the direction of Lviv. Even so, it is still far from the front line of the Russian army.

"Now there is a big gap between the Russian army and our army! Such a posture is incomprehensible. Brigadier General Guo Songling pointed to the map and said, "This is not normal." In connection with the attitude of the Russians, it can only be said that the above is sitting back and watching the defeat of the Russians. ”

The Russians had a liaison group in Zhytomyr, headed by a colonel. As soon as the Chinese troops arrived seven days ago, they asked the friendly troops to move south, and asked the Chinese troops stationed in Zhytomyr to go south of Lviv, but Ye Yanbing refused because the logistics could not keep up. The colonel named Izvarin was furious and accused the Chinese army of passively avoiding the war and ignoring the overall situation. But Izvarin's rank is too low, and talking is tantamount to farting.

Zhang Zuoxiang couldn't help but glance at Zhong Shi and Chen Hao, the two headquarters officers who were attending the meeting, "We can't say that, we really need a period of rest and adaptation when we first arrive." In addition, the above is considering the Romanian direction, if we throw there, wouldn't we take the wrong road? "Guo Songling, this guy always can't control his mouth, so it's going to be unlucky! Zhang Zuoxiang thought.

"You can't rest and recuperate, and you can't squat a thousand miles behind the battle line! If the Russians can't block it, we will be in trouble! I asked the above again, let us move with the 3rd Army, and it is safer for the two armies to be close together. ”

"Didn't the army commander just talk about the war games of the headquarters, the key is that we can't understand the strategy of the Germans." Lieutenant Colonel Zhong Shi spoke, "You have to make a few preparations. ”

"In my opinion, there should be no waiting for the Germans to do it! Now that the 9 armies of our two armies have arrived, how much strength is this? Or to play Bulgaria, or to play Austria, to force the Germans to a showdown? I really don't know what the above thinks! Guo Songlin patted the map angrily, "By the way, Lieutenant Colonel Chen, didn't you just come back from Romania?" What's going on over there? ”

"Not good. The Russians retreated, preparing to hold off the Germans by relying on the Danube. Chen Hao replied.

"The headquarters shouldn't have changed guards with Lao Maozi in the first place! It's good now, both ends collapse! The 9th and 5th armies withdrew from Romania, and neither side was needed. Guo Songling was very dissatisfied with Ye Yanbing's command.

Zhang Zuoxiang was just about to speak, when the guards came in and reported that Colonel Izvarin had come and asked to see the commander.

"Then call him here?" Zhong Shi smiled and said to Zhang Zuoxiang, "My mission with Director Chen is to go to the Russian army and see if this colonel can go with me?" ”

Colonel Izvarin, who was short and stocky with a wheat-yellow beard, entered the conference room, saluted Zhang Zuoxiang, and spoke in a whining voice. Zhong Shi spoke Russian and explained, "Mr. Colonel said that the Zhytomyr city government has received an order from the Front Command to collect wagons for the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and horses are not a problem, but the carriages are difficult to meet the requirements of the Chinese army in a hurry, but 100 wagons can be collected in three days. What he wants to know is, when will our army move to the front? ”

Zhang Zuoxiang did not answer the question of the colonel of the Russian army directly. He first thanked the Russian army for its help with transports, "Mr. Colonel. These two lieutenant colonels are officers of the headquarters of the expeditionary force, and they were ordered by Deputy Commander Ye to go to the defense line of your army's 7th Army to understand the situation on the spot, can you accompany them? ”

"Absolutely." Izvarin agreed without hesitation, and he happened to receive an order from the Front to return to Lviv, "But can Mr. General tell me when your army can move?" ”

Seeing that Guo Songling was about to speak, Zhang Zuoxiang rushed to the front and said, "According to Deputy Commander Ye's order, the vanguard of our army will march to the front line on the same day. I ask the Colonel to inform you for your assistance. ”

Since Ye Yanbing asked the 21st Army to send a reconnaissance unit but did not stipulate the number, Zhang Zuoxiang had greater autonomy and sent a reinforced infantry regiment equipped with an engineer battalion and an artillery battalion. It can also satisfy the urgent mood of the Russians. And. It is really necessary to know the road conditions in advance and set up military stations.

"That's great. I immediately reported to the Front. Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, when can you go? ”

"Anytime." Zhong Shi replied.

In the afternoon of the same day, Zhong Shi and Chen Hao led two staff officers and radio personnel to leave Zhytomyr in two trucks, accompanied by Colonel Izvarin and another second lieutenant of the Russian army, escorted by a guard squad drawn from the guard battalion of the 21st Army headquarters, and headed south for Lviv. That was their first stop.

On the way to Lviv. A few packs of cigarettes and two bottles of white dry soju from China brought Jongseki and Izvarin closer. The topic opened.

Colonel Izvarin praised the Chinese for their excellent equipment, "You are equipped with so many trucks, why do you still recruit animal powered vehicles?" ”

"We are here to support your country. All the trucks in the country were requisitioned, but it was still not enough. Moreover, the roads in your country are not in good condition, and horse-drawn carriages are more reliable. ”

The road conditions are really bad. Some sections of the road are difficult to walk due to the melting snow. Izvarin said that the climate here is warmer, and the direction of Belarus is already freezing solid, "Dear Zhong, your generals are so young. Young is enviable. ”

If you know the history of China, you won't sigh like that. The founding generals of any new dynasty will not be gray-haired old men...... "Colonel, General Brusilov's summer offensive has hurt the Germans, why worry that the Germans will attack?" ”

Izvarin swallowed a large mouthful of white stem, "The Germans are very powerful. As you surely know, we are in trouble in Bulgaria. The troops had already retreated to Romania, and General Kostenko was very worried about the German attack...... We don't have enough troops, and the front is too long. You see, they're all reinforcements, Cossacks, and now they're pretty reliable......"

Zhong Shi, who was born in the Military Intelligence Agency, keenly grasped Izvarin's last sentence, "Why do you say that?" Aren't the other troops reliable? ”

"Damn the Socialist Party, they have always preached peace against His Majesty the Tsar. They should all be hanged! "Izvarin, of course, will not say that there is a problem with the Russian army, and in November alone, the Southwestern Front captured as many as 3,000 deserters. Junior officers and soldiers, instigated by the Social Democratic Labour Party, openly defied the orders of their superiors and even caught fire and ...... The relatively stable Cossack regiments had to be used to spy on the unstable troops. General Kostenko of the 7th Army strongly demanded that the Chinese Expeditionary Force, which had won a great victory in Romania, be put on top in order to replace his troops for rest and reorganization, and to completely eliminate dangerous elements from the army. Of course, this plan could not be realized, and even less so after Brusilov transferred the 8th Army.

One of Zhong Shi's missions is to understand and grasp the actual situation in the lower echelons of the Russian army, which is one of the tasks assigned to him by Deputy Director Zhang Xiaoding, and serving as the deputy director of the intelligence department of the expeditionary force headquarters will help him implement the plan.

What Colonel Izvarin had revealed was the most truthful information he had ever heard. Naturally, Zhong Shi would not let go, and for the rest of the journey, Zhong Shi, who was good at extracting information from other people's mouths, had been skillfully revolving around the topic of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. When he learned that Izvarin had a royal background, he avoided comparing the revolution that overthrew the empire in China a few years ago with the current situation in Russia (Izvalin was keen to understand the current state of life of the Manchu royal family under the new Chinese regime), and instead talked about patriotism, believing that any peace propaganda while the war was raging was despicable treason. This was appreciated by Izvarin. Intentionally or unintentionally, Zhong Lin obtained a lot of information about the lower echelons of the Russian army that he did not know before, and felt that the situation was even more severe than expected, and some troops openly distributed Socialist propaganda pamphlets, openly playing the slogan that the tsar was beaten, the workers of the world are one, and the workers did not fight with the workers. The penetration of the Social Democratic Labor Party in the Russian army was much stricter than expected.

Victory can temporarily mask contradictions, but in the event of defeat, a crisis will inevitably erupt.

They arrived in Lviv on November 24, and Zhong Shi and Chen Hao immediately sensed the tense air in Lviv and that something must have happened. Sure enough, when being inspected at the outpost, Izvarin solemnly told Sù Zhongshi that the Germans had attacked, just this morning!

"Damn," Izvarin took Zhongshi Chen Hao to see the chief of staff of the Front Army who was in charge of the operations of the Southwest Front Headquarters for the first time, and the red-faced major general with the strange name of Guli shouted at Zhongshi, "Inform your commander immediately and ask him to send the troops immediately!" For God's sake, every minute of delay is a betrayal of our holy cause! ”

"Mr. General, I need to know the details of the battlefield before I can report to the upper peak."

Only God knows the details. The Germans lied to us, their troops from the Western Front did not enter Bulgaria! Damn, in this case, our commander is not even at the headquarters! ”

Coming out of the Russian army headquarters, Chen Hao said to Zhong Shi, "You stay here, I'll take a radio to the 7th Army." It's more important here that you find out what the Russians are doing, and that's crucial for us. ”

"Then you have to be careful." Zhong Shi held Chen Hao's hand, "You take all the guards with you." ”

"No, I'm not going to war." (To be continued......)