During the march of the Tank Brigade, Ruhlei couldn't help frowning when he saw the rolling smoke rising in front of him.
When the chief of staff saw his expression, he asked curiously: "Comrade Brigade Commander, what happened?"
Ruhle pointed at the smoke from the distance and said to the chief of staff: "Did you see the smoke from the front? There should have been a battle there not long ago, but I just don't know if our army won or the enemy won."
"I think our army must have won." The Chief of Staff stared at the front for a while and expressed his opinion. Perhaps in order to make Luhre agree with his opinion, he emphasized intently: "Comrade Brigade Commander, listen carefully. There is no sound of gunfire in front of him, which proves that the battle has ended long ago."
"The troops stopped advancing and built fortifications on site." Ruhlei said vigilantly: "Send scouts immediately to go ahead to perform reconnaissance."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, let's continue walking forward." The Chief of Staff was worried that the enemy behind him would catch up, so he quickly reminded Ruhlei, "If the enemy finds that we are exploding the tank and withdrawing from the defense area, we will catch up. Our troops are limited and we cannot block the enemy's attack at all."
"The situation ahead is unclear, so we cannot continue to move forward." Ruhlei said decisively: "If we dive into the enemy's encirclement, we will be in danger of destruction of the entire army."
Since Ruhlei had already said this, the Chief of Staff knew that it was meaningless to argue with him, so he quickly conveyed Ruhlei's order to the officers and soldiers of the brigade. Taking advantage of the time when the commanders and soldiers were digging fortifications, he sent six more soldiers to take two tricycles to the front for reconnaissance.
Before the scout came back, the observation post ran to Ruhlei and reported to him: "Comrade Brigade Commander, there is a unit leaning towards our location."
The Chief of Staff, sitting next to Ruhle, was frightened to death after listening to the report from the observation post. But in front of his subordinates, he still said calmly: "How many people are there on the other side?"
"There are about seven hundred people," the observation post said, "and they are walking through the forest in front and heading towards us. In about half an hour, they will be able to reach where we are."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the chief of staff heard that the other side had 500 people, and the entire Tank Brigade and the infantrymen in cooperation with the cooperation were less than 300. He was obviously not the opponent of the other side. He hurriedly said to Ruhlei: "I think we should move as soon as possible while the enemy has not arrived yet."
"Transfer, where to move?" Seeing his chief of staff look panicked, Ruhlei said dissatisfied: "There are enemies everywhere, where to move?" After saying this, he continued to ask the observation post, "Is the enemy or our people coming?"
"It's too far away, and it's blocked by trees, so I can't see clearly."
"Which direction did they come from?" Ruhlei then asked, "Is it from our front or behind?"
"Front." The observation whistle replied: "They came from our front."
"Continue to observe," Ruhlei saw that he could not ask the answer he wanted from the observation post, so he waved his hand at him and ordered: "If there is a new situation, remember to report it to me in time."
After the observation post left, Ruhlei said to the Chief of Staff with an unhappy expression: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that you are a commander, why do you panic like a new recruit who has just joined the army?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, we have too few people and we don't have heavy weapons. Once we encounter an enemy, we may suffer a loss in firepower." The Chief of Staff quickly defended himself: "So, if we can avoid fighting, try not to fight."
"Do you think we can successfully escape the enemy without fighting?" Ruhrey sneered and said, "You know, there are enemies everywhere nearby. Maybe we accidentally bump into the enemy from the west in order to avoid the enemy from the east. Instead of avoiding the battle passively, it is better to fight the enemy with dignity. Maybe we won't lose."
Not long after, the observation post came to report again. This time his content was much more detailed: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I have seen it clearly. We are here with our own troops, and there are two tanks in the crowd..."
"What, there are tanks?" As the commander of the tank brigade, Ruhlei was overjoyed when he heard that there were tanks in the troops he came from and hurriedly ordered the Chief of Staff, "Chief of Staff, you bring people to contact them to see if you can merge the troops of both sides so that we can have a greater confidence in the next battle."
"Don't worry, comrade comrade commander." The Chief of Staff, who had been in his throat, was smiling, and he quickly said to Ruhlei: "I will immediately bring people to contact the other party's commander and strive to promote the merger of both sides as soon as possible."
However, before the Chief of Staff left, a group of scouts sent returned on motorcycles, bringing them bad news: "Comrade Brigade Commander, our army was counterattacked by the German army during the breakout to him. All the tanks of the two tank brigades were destroyed, and an infantry regiment accompanied was also defeated. Now their defeated soldiers are coming towards us."
After listening to the scout's report, Ruhlie was shocked and then asked, "Are you all saying true?"
"Of course it's true, comrade comrade commander." In order to make Luhrei believe what he said, the scouts also emphasized: "The defeated soldiers are coming towards us."
"What, what did you say?" The Chief of Staff was shocked this time, and he asked the scout in surprise: "You say the troops coming towards us are the defeated soldiers who were defeated by the Germans?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The scout nodded and replied, "I just counted on the road. They had about six or seven hundred people, two tanks and three armored vehicles, but the armored vehicles should be out of gas and broke down one after another."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the chief of staff confirmed that the oncoming troops were defeated by the German army, and asked Ruhle with a bitter face: "What should we do? Let them pass through us or leave them all behind."
"It's all right. Of course, I'll leave them all behind." Ruhle said firmly: "There are Germans behind us, and these defeated soldiers have long lost their combat effectiveness. If they encounter Germans, what kind of outcome will be? Even if I don't say it, you should know."
"I understand, comrade comrade commander." The chief of staff knew that the matter was of great importance and quickly said to Ruhlei: "I'll stop all the defeated soldiers."
Chapter completed!