Kuster looked at the group of officers and said slowly:

"Gentlemen know that our division has been badly battered and very poorly organized, and I can feel and understand the grief of my old officers, and at the same time I have the highest respect for the arrival of the new officers."

"But we must not dwell on defeat, and we should quickly regroup our army to win a hearty victory to wash away all humiliation."

This reassuring reassuring remark did not cheer up the old officers, who still buried their heads as if they could not listen to anything.

On the contrary, the new officers were in high spirits, and they were even more excited when they heard it.

Kuster was a little disappointed when he saw their reaction, so he simply said:

"We now have a total of 10,000 men, and given the number of our officers, I intend to divide them into 10 battalions. Of course, now that you don't have specific control, I order that all the nationalities of the soldiers be counted, and that people of the same nationality be placed in the same battalion. It's going to take a long time, but you don't have to worry too much, it'll be fine in less than two days. ”

"As for whether a battalion can be allocated enough numbers, you don't have to worry too much, I will use the extra company as a reserve and place it where it is urgently needed."

"That's the end of my restructuring and it's time to talk about plans. Of course, I said you listen. ”

Kuster was very blunt, but the officers didn't react either. He brought a map and said:

"Today is September 5th, and we will go to war on September 7th."

This sentence puzzled the new officer, and Dréwal politely stood up and said:

"Yes General, but what's the use of that, what does it prove?"

"It can tell us what to expect when we go to war."

Kuster's words shocked a group of new officers, and one of the old officers raised his head and said:

"Are you having something wrong with your brain, how can we possibly know what will happen in the next two days. And this is not an ordinary time, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly, how do you know what will happen in the next second. ”

Kuster retorted to his pessimistic remarks:

"I can guess that I found that the Russians were advancing more and more slowly. After capturing Galic on 2 September, they took Lemberg, more than 40 kilometres away, in just one day, but two days later, they still could not take Gorodok, which was close at hand. ”

"Does this prove that the Russian army is very unhealthy, and we can launch a counter-charge to drive the Russian army out of Transnistria."

Without giving the officers a chance to speak, Kuster quickly unfolded the map, pointed to the Dniester River on the map, and said:

"With the offensive of the Russian army, there is a threat of outflanking on the eastern side of the Dniester, so they are constantly retreating westward. I estimate that on 7 September, we had only a few bridgeheads left on the northern bank of the Dniester River. ”

"But we don't need to be too pessimistic, while the Russian army is constantly advancing, it has also weakened their combat effectiveness. We can start a defense, and when their attack fails, we can quickly launch a counter-charge. Annihilate their living forces and disrupt their logistics and command systems to achieve a preemptive strike. ”

Kuster paused, then continued:

"If all goes well, we can even reclaim Lemberg so that General Boroyevich can better cope with the situation in the north."

Kuster's remark caused the new officers to get together and talk, and the old officers also looked at Kuster with their hands crossed, wondering what he would say next. In the meantime, Kuster sat and lit a cigarette and waited quietly for them.

After a while, Dréwal stood and asked:

"General, your plan looks very effective, and if it succeeds, then the empire will be able to resist in Transnistria for a few more days. But the northern front was still not going well, and the Russians controlled Rawa and left Gorodok threatened by a detour to the left.

General Boroyevich is also not sure whether to retreat or not, and once Gorodok's garrison is withdrawn, we will continue to fight at the risk of being outflanked.

But the top brass certainly doesn't want a division to be annihilated by the formation, and they will definitely let us retreat with us. So does this operation of ours have any effect on the General Directorate of the Battlefield? ”

Such a series of words only moved the new officer beside him, and Kuster slowly stood up and said:

"Yes, Lieutenant Colonel, we are only one division, and it is true that we do not play much role in general.

However, we can gain ourselves if we capture a series of victories and regain Lemberg. Well, there are great benefits for the empire, and for us. ”

After Kuster finished speaking, he gave everyone a subtle look, and the group of old officers understood. But in the eyes of the new officer, the look was like a stab. Dréval immediately banged his hand on the table, and said without any politeness:

"General! We should fight for honor, for the glory of the soldiers of the Empire, not just for our own interests! ”

"Yes, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I have to agree with you, but you must also understand that people have to leave a way back for themselves."

"What do you mean by that?!"

Dréval only said a few words, and then he felt that the atmosphere in the command was strange, and he had to swallow and sit down unwillingly.

Kuster goes on to say:

"On the Eastern Front, we have a total of 4 army groups. From west to east were: 1st, 4th, 3rd, 2nd armies. ”

"The 1st Army did not do much, the 4th Army suffered heavy losses from the retreat of friendly forces, the 3rd Army was even worse, and the 2nd Army, although reinforced by the Kweis cluster, was still routed."

"In general, we are not doing well everywhere, and our standing army is basically dead. Even after my plan succeeded, we would have to rely on mobilized troops for passive defense and pray that the poor Russian logistics system would drag them to death. ”

Gerstoli had not said a word all the time, but at this moment he relieved the atmosphere in the silent command and said:

"Yes, victory at the campaign level does not affect the overall situation. But we should also do our best to fight to feed our empire, and that's what we're supposed to do as imperial soldiers. ”

The atmosphere in the command headquarters did not improve because of these words, and Kuster couldn't help but look at Gerstori and sighed:

"Everyone, disperse, you prepare for yourself in the past two days, I won't have any interference, and you'd better not come to me. When the time comes, you will be assigned to your respective units, and the first thing you will do at that time is not to get acquainted with them, but to fight for me! ”

With a wave of his right hand, the people in the command also got up and dispersed unhappily.