As the tank brigade was marching, Ruhlie frowned when he saw the billowing smoke rising in front.
Seeing his expression, the chief of staff asked curiously: "Comrade Brigadier, what happened?"
Ruhle pointed to the smoke in the distance with his finger and said to the chief of staff: "Have you seen the smoke ahead? There should have been a battle there not long ago, but I just don't know whether our army won or the enemy won."
"I think our army has won." The chief of staff expressed his opinion after staring ahead for a while. Perhaps in order to get Ruhle to agree with his view, he specially emphasized: "Comrade Brigade Commander, please listen carefully. There is no sound of gunfire from the front, which proves that the battle has ended long ago."
"The troops stopped advancing and built fortifications on the spot." Ruhlie said vigilantly: "Send scouts immediately to conduct reconnaissance in front."
"Comrade Brigadier, let's continue moving forward." The chief of staff was worried that the enemy behind would catch up, and quickly reminded Ruhlie, "If the enemy finds out that we withdrew from the defensive area after blowing up the tank, they will chase us. Coming up. Our troops are limited and cannot stop the enemy's attack."
"The situation ahead is unclear and we cannot continue to move forward." Ruhelie said decisively: "If we plunge headlong into the enemy's encirclement, we will be in danger of the entire army being destroyed."
Now that Ruhlie had spoken to this extent, the chief of staff knew that there was no point in arguing with him, so he quickly conveyed Ruhle's order to the entire brigade officers and soldiers. While the commanders and soldiers were digging fortifications, he sent six more soldiers on two three-wheeled motorcycles to conduct reconnaissance ahead.
Before the scouts came back, the observation post came to Ruhlie and reported: "Comrade Brigade Commander, a unit is approaching our position."
The chief of staff sitting next to Ruhle was frightened to death after listening to the observation post's report. 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 reported, "they are passing through the forest in front and coming towards us. In about half an hour, they will reach our location."
"Comrade Brigadier," the chief of staff heard that the opponent had 500 people, but the tank brigade plus the infantrymen in the battle had less than 300 people. It was obviously no match for the opponent. He hurriedly said to Ruhle: " I think we should move as soon as possible before the enemy arrives."
"Transfer, where are we moving to?" Seeing his chief of staff looking panicked, Ruhelie said dissatisfied: "There are enemies everywhere, where are we moving to?" After saying this, he Continue to ask the observation post, "Are these the enemy or our people?"
"It's too far away, and it's blocked by trees, so it's really hard to see clearly."
"Which direction did they come from?" Ruhlie then asked: "From our front or from behind?"
"Front." The observation post replied: "They are coming from our front."
"Continue to observe." Seeing that Ruhelie couldn't get the answer he wanted from the observation post, he waved his hand and ordered: "Once there is a new situation, remember to report it to me in time."
After the observation post left, Ruhle said to the Chief of Staff with a displeased look on his face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, don't forget that you are a commander, why do you want to be as panicked as a recruit who has just joined the army?"
"Comrade Brigadier, we have too few people and we don't have heavy weapons. Once we encounter the enemy, we may suffer from firepower." The chief of staff quickly defended himself and said: "Therefore, if we can avoid fighting, we should try not to fight. .”
"Do you think we can successfully evade the enemy without fighting?" Ruhele sneered and said, "You know, there are enemies everywhere nearby. Maybe in order to avoid the enemies coming from the east, we accidentally and west The enemy above has hit us. Instead of passively avoiding the battle, we should fight the enemy openly, maybe we won't lose."
Not long after, the observation post came to report again, and this time his content was much more detailed: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I have seen it clearly. It is our own troops coming, and there are two tanks in the crowd..."
"What, there are tanks?" As the tank brigade commander, Ruhlie was overjoyed when he heard that there were tanks in the army, and quickly ordered the chief of staff, "Chief of staff, take someone to get in touch with them and see if you can The troops from both sides merge so that we can have greater confidence in winning in the next battle."
"Don't worry, comrade brigade commander." When he learned that it was his own troops and tanks, the chief of staff, who had his heart in his throat, suddenly beamed. He quickly said to Ruhle: "I will bring people with me immediately. Contact the other party’s commander and try to facilitate the merger of the two parties as soon as possible.”
However, before the chief of staff could leave, a group of scouts sent back on motorcycles brought them bad news: "Comrade Brigadier, our army encountered a German counterattack while breaking through to him. Two soldiers were killed." All the tanks of the tank brigade were destroyed, and an accompanying infantry regiment was also defeated, and now their broken troops are coming towards us."
After listening to the scout's report, Ruhelie was shocked, and then asked: "Is everything you said true?"
"Of course it's true, Comrade Brigade Commander." In order to make Ruhlie believe what he said, the scout emphasized: "Those broken troops are coming towards us."
"What, what did you say?" It was the chief of staff who was shocked this time. He asked the scout in surprise: "You said that the troops coming towards us were routed troops defeated by the Germans?"
"Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." The scout nodded and replied: "I just counted them on the road. They have about six to seven hundred people, as well as two tanks and three armored vehicles. However, there should be no armored vehicles. They ran out of gas and broke down on the way."
"Comrade Brigadier," the Chief of Staff confirmed that the oncoming troops were defeated by the Germans, and asked Ruhle with a grimace: "What should we do? Let them pass us, or leave them all behind." .”
"Needless to say, of course we must keep them all." Ruhle said decisively: "There are Germans behind us. These broken troops have long lost their combat effectiveness. What will happen if we encounter the Germans?" Even if I don’t tell you what will happen to you, you should know it.”
"Understood, Comrade Brigade Commander." The Chief of Staff knew that this matter was of great importance, and quickly said to Ruhlie: "I will go and stop all the defeated troops."
"I think it's better for the two of us to go together." Ruhlie stood up and said: "I think there will definitely be no generals or division commanders in the defeated army. If I come forward in person, with my rank and position, I should Can control this defeated army."
