In the middle of the night, deep in the "wild boar" woods, backed by a heavy tank covered with branches, Captain Tukhachevsky, covered in gunpowder and scruffy hair, was sharing a slice of black bread coated with lard with the gun commander of his car, Corporal Zhukov.

"It's really calm on our side today."

Zhukov, who took the bread, sighed casually.

Tukhachevsky smiled faintly: "It's terrifyingly calm. ”

"I thought you never knew what it meant to be terrible."

Russian with a French accent, without looking closely, suddenly emerged from behind the bushes and was none other than the French adviser in the battalion - Captain Charles de Gaulle.

"Andrey, you came just in time, I just received a report from the brigade headquarters: today the enemy has put in a considerable number of 'Leopard' tanks in the battle to attack the 'pheasant' woods."

De Gaulle smiled slightly and sat down on the ground opposite the two: "It's finally here." ”

"Sounds like you're looking forward to it."

Tukhachevsky said that he was going to give up his bread to de Gaulle.

"Xie Lu Xie, I've eaten - where is the report?"

Taking the briefing document handed by Zhukov, de Gaulle read it carefully and gave a thoughtful "um".

"What? What's wrong? ”

Tukhachevsky took a bite of bread and pondered De Gaulle's expression.

"It's nothing, the frontal defense capability of the enemy's 'Leopard' heavy tank is really not inferior to the 'Shengsha Méng'M1916 equipped with our battalion - but the 47-mm anti-tank guns equipped with a large number of our army are almost impossible to penetrate at zero distance, even if the division's 76-mm field cannon hits continuously with high-explosive grenades, it is difficult to see obvious results...... Your artillery should equip 76-mm field guns with specialized armor-piercing shells as soon as possible. ”

Tukhachevsky shrugged helplessly: "Each 'St. Shah méng' of our battalion is also equipped with only 10 rounds of 75-caliber concrete-destroying shells, so don't expect artillery." ”

De Gaulle raised his chin at the tall "St. Shaméng" hull behind Tukhachevsky: "However, the side of the Leopard tank is easily penetrated by the 47mm anti-tank gun, and it cannot resist the direct grenade fire of the 76mm field gun, but it is enough to block the fire of the 37mm long-barreled gun on the British 'Greyhound' tank from 200 meters away." As for the Type 15 37mm short-barreled gun on the Renault F tank, we have long known through the shooting experiments of the captured tank that it has no effect on either side of the armor of the 'Leopard' tank at zero distance. ”

"Listen to you, maybe the enemy will use the 'Leopard' tank to attack our side next?"

Tukhachevsky chewed bread and raised his hand to flick the meter-thick side armor of the tank behind the bullet.

De Gaulle snapped his fingers: "In the past two days, the enemy must have suffered a lot in the swamps of the village of Sakmara and the 'pheasant' forest, and if they refuse to give up, they will inevitably concentrate their efforts on attacking the highland woods that are not hindered by the swamps, and it is only natural that the 'Leopard' tanks that have already been put into battle will be used." ”

Zhukov had already swallowed the last bite of bread, and when he heard this, he waved his fist in the direction of the Oren River with great ambition: "Whether it is a wolf or a leopard, no matter what kind of beast, as long as it is targeted by me, the 75 cannons of our 'Mrs. Shaméng' will definitely smash it!" ”

De Gaulle laughed and said, "Corporal, I believe in your courage, but war cannot be fought by individual bravery alone. ”

Before the words fell, he changed his face and changed his serious face again, and turned to Tukhachevsky: "Listen to me, Mikhail Nikolayevich, if tomorrow the enemy really attacks our positions in a big way, don't be impulsive, no matter how the enemy leads you, don't leave the position, our 'Mrs. Shaméng' is not suitable for attacking, and it is impossible to catch up with the enemy." ”

"The enemy will do everything possible to attack the flanks of our troops, and in the event of a flank break, we should immediately move to the reserve positions - remember, in any case, keep the enemy as head-on as possible, all our superiority is on the front!"

……

70 km west of Sakmara, at the small railway station of Perevolotsky, a rammed earth road parallel to the railway runs from the northwest, where it branches in two: the main road continues to the southeast, passing through Calgala to Orenburg; A newly built road turns northeast and turns to Sakma via Svetley.

In the brightly lit station telecommunications room, Colonel Malinov, commander of the 1st Mobile Group of the Volga Front, couldn't help but yawn.

After waiting for most of the night, whether he should have come or not, Malinov began to suspect that the trap he had carefully designed had already been discovered by the other party.

Two days earlier, a Chinese assault force had suddenly appeared on the outskirts of a small village 80 kilometers away, massacred the villagers and set it on fire, before disappearing into the night in a car.

Only one beekeeper in the village survived, and according to this survivor, the enemy was hoisted down by winches and ropes from a dozen huge aerial warships, hundreds of cars alone, each equipped with machine guns and artillery, and the soldiers carried a small repeating machine gun.

At noon on the 24th, after receiving the report conveyed by the Front, Malinov personally led the 14th Cavalry Division and the 11th Separate Armored Vehicle Battalion, with a total of more than 4,000 men and 90 armored vehicles, to form the 1st Mobile Group.

As soon as the cluster arrived in Perevolotsky, 30 kilometers west of Calgara, Malinov received information: at dawn of the same day, the Sorochinsk station was attacked by enemy troops, two trains loaded with war supplies were destroyed, and all 273 people from the station garrison and train escort were killed; Before noon, three more sections of the railway between Sorochinsk and Perevolotsky were bombed, and an armored train derailed and capsized after being ambushed, leaving no 68 crew members alive.

It was almost dusk, and Malinov, fearing that the Chinese attack force would bypass Perevolotsky at night, ordered the 1st Mobile Group to be deployed on the spot, supported by two armored trains, to stay on guard for the night.

Early the next morning, Malinov received another message: at midnight that day, a village located 30 kilometers north of Perevolotsky was attacked, more than 300 men, women and children were killed, and only one girl survived in the whole village.

Before dawn, another railway bridge was blown up, and the bridge garrison and a patrol with armored vehicles, totaling 207 officers and men, did not survive.

Malinov was furious, and while asking the front army to send planes to search for the whereabouts of the Chinese attacking troops, he also sent cavalry and armored vehicle patrols to prepare for a decisive battle with this "village slaughtering demon".

However, a full day passed, and the planes sent by the front army and the patrols sent by the mobile group either disappeared or found nothing.

Desperate, Malinov had to make another plan: since he couldn't find you, he would bring you over.

In the afternoon of the same day, Malinov finally received good news: the first reinforcements sent by the Ural Front had arrived in Sorochinsk, although only one battalion of armored vehicles plus a cavalry regiment, totaling 1,500 men and 90 armored vehicles, were formed into the 2nd Mobile Group.

Although the degree of reduction compared to the one armored vehicle brigade and two cavalry divisions requested in advance, it came at a timely time.

Malinov immediately had an idea: while repeatedly ordering a "truck convoy" to deliver gasoline and ammunition to Perevolotsky overnight by means of a clear wireless telegram, he called the Front to send an aircraft to convey a secret order to the 2nd Mobile Group in Sorochinsk.

Naturally, that "truck transport team" was the 2nd mobile group that was ready for battle, and on the way through which this "truck transport team" must pass, the armored vehicles and cavalry of the 1st mobile group also set up an ambush circle, just waiting for the fish to take the bait......

It's just that...... It's almost dawn, where are these vicious killer fish?

Could it be that the telegram is sent in clear code, which seems too contrived?

Or did something happen to the plane, the secret order was not delivered, or even fell into the hands of the other party?

Malinov scratched his head in pain, and every "tick" of the clock was beating on his heart.

"Jingle bells" ~~~

The rapid ringing of the telephone made Malinov's body flutter.

He forced himself to be calm and lifted the microphone.

"I'm Colonel Malinov."

…… RO！。