On the banks of the Yauza River, Kalmanovo, this small town that once had a population of more than 10,000, has now been completely erased from the map by artillery fire. The town of Chareshton Forest has become a wasteland full of rubble and debris, and people can't even find a broken wall from its old site.

In the past few months, Kalmanovo’s experience was like this: In October last year, the Germans attacked Kalmanovo. The Soviets resisted here for nearly 7 days. The entire town was almost completely destroyed; the Battle of Moscow ended. Later, during the retreat of the German army, the participating buildings in the town were torched; then, starting from the end of January, the Soviet and German sides conducted a seesaw here for more than two months.

Today, this place has been bombed into the world's least valuable piece of rubble, and I believe even Satan will spurn it.

At dusk, the noise from fighter engines still enveloped the ruins. Three black German fighters and four brown-green Soviet fighters were fighting in the air. If it weren’t for the lasing traces in the dim sky, I guess Victor Everyone thinks that the aeroplane team is doing a fancy show.

On the edge of the Chareshton Forest hundreds of meters away from the river bank, Victor stood under a tent with a camouflage net and watched the fierce battle in the sky through the telescope in his hand. Although he did not understand the air battle, he could also see it. , The German army is now in a weak position.

"boom!"

A shell exploded on the edge of the jungle ten meters away from him. The explosion hit a coniferous pine with a thigh thickness. The green coniferous pine was blown up by the waist. The whole plant flew up and moved several meters in place. , Stuck directly on the grass outside the jungle, and stood alone for a few seconds before crashing to the ground.

Today Kalmanovo is the front line, from here to the northwest, Sabrovo, less than ten kilometers away, is controlled by the Germans. On this line, the Soviet and German sides did not build a solid line of defense, even without interconnected trenches, because the Yauza River was the main line of defense that the two sides were fighting for. Now the Soviet army has a small advantage.

Near the river beach, Soviet tanks were driving along the riverbank from the north. They were advancing in two parallel ways to the rear of Kalmanovo. The force was an integrated tank division belonging to Guards 8th Tank Corps. In the early morning of tomorrow, the 8th Guards Tank Corps will, with the cooperation of the Guards Cavalry 2nd Corps, launch an offensive against the Germans from Kalmanovo to Lasina on a front line of nearly 14 kilometers. The combat intention is to encircle Sabu. The German defense forces on the front line of Rovo and Vischenki.

In order to carry out this offensive plan, Zhukov, as the commander of the Western Front Army, has deployed artillery units to the rear of this front, and the first group army of the Front Air Force has also coordinated operations.

Although Comrade Zhukov is lonely and proud, has a bad temper, and has many offenders, he is indeed very strong in military command. To a certain extent, he is also the fastest growing member of the top Soviet commanders. No one can deny this. His outstanding feature is that he can command his huge forces like an arm, calmly, and at this point, Konev who cooperates with him will be far behind.

Of course, the matter of combat has nothing to do with Victor. Not only that, because of his identity and position, he even has to avoid contact with senior commanders on the front line as much as possible. This is a matter of organizational principles.

However, although contact with high-level military officials is restricted, because Victor is currently serving in the General Staff, he still has a good understanding of some of the Soviet military's strategic deployment.

Since the beginning of the new year, the frontline confrontation between the Soviet Union and Germany has actually been at a standstill. A battle in Moscow caused both sides in the fierce battle to consume too many resources, and each other was unable to continue to launch large-scale offensives. , Both sides need to redeploy their troops.

According to intelligence reports, after the terrible defeat under Moscow, the German army has shifted the focus of its offensive from the Central Army Group, which lost more than 60% of its firepower, to the Southern Army Group, which has relatively well-preserved strength and weaponry. Moreover, due to the lack of fuel, coupled with the Soviet bombers taking off from Selstopol, the Ploiesti oil field in Romania has always been threatened, and the Baku oil field is inducing greed in Berlin. Therefore, The German army transferred a large number of troops recruited by the servant states to the southern front, and its intentions were not too obvious.

In response to this situation, the General Staff Department also formulated a new combat plan and redeployed the units of the Southwest Front Army and the Southern Front Army.

As far as Victor knows, in the new combat plan formulated by the General Staff, the next large-scale offensive will be launched in the direction of Kharkov. A large number of new troops that have undergone short-term training have been deployed there, and the total force is assembled. 39 divisions have been reached, and another 6 divisions are on the move.

The plan of the General Staff is to launch a large-scale offensive in both the northeast and southeast of Kharkov. The purpose of the campaign is to defeat or even annihilate the 6th German Army in the direction of Kharkov. So as to relieve the German army's threat to the direction of the Don River, and then threaten the German forces in the Donbass area.

Victor did not know whether such a campaign plan was appropriate and reasonable, but he knew that there was a famous battle of Stalingrad in the previous life, and the German army fell under Stalingrad was the 6th Army. From this, it can be judged that the general This battle planned by the General Staff Department should not have any very good results.

"boom!"

Another shell fell on the outskirts of the jungle, and this time it was much closer to Victor's tent.

Putting down the binoculars in his hand, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and lighting it, Victor turned around and ordered the communicators in the tent to move to the embankment. It was no longer safe here.

Since the recent period of time, the German shelling on this side has not stopped. Of course, it is not a large-scale shelling, but sporadic shooting. It is reasonable to say that the possibility of bombing people is not high, but Victor is a cautious person. Who knows if the Germans got any information, in case the previous shelling was just adjusting the shooting point?

The soldiers quickly dismantled the tent and moved it to the bank of the river. The communicators were already contacting the last batch of troop radios that needed to be tested. When this batch of tests is completed, Victor’s mission here will be completed. In the next step, he will go to Nivi, Lakovo and other places to continue his inspection work.

Just as the communicators had just moved under the river embankment, a muddy jeep drove slowly across the river from the bridge, and drove straight towards Victor's location.

After a while, the jeep stopped above the embankment, and a short man with a back head jumped out of the car and walked straight towards Victor.

The man is not only short in stature, but also a bit funny in appearance. His neck is surprisingly short, as if his head is directly mounted on the chest cavity, and his chin can reach his collarbone. Moreover, his pig waist face is still long. He has a big red nose, hey, if he wants to draw a clown costume, he must be more trouble-free than others, after all, the nose does not need to be colored.

Seeing people coming by, Victor threw his cigarette **** aside and stepped forward to meet him. Don’t seem to look funny, but Victor knows him—Max Andreevich Lejter, the current commander of the 20th Army and assistant to the commander of the Western Front.

Not only did Victor know him, he even knew why he came to see himself, because less than an hour ago, he had just arrested the communications director of the Artillery Regiment under the 20th Army. This obviously negligent guy was named Alexei Andreevich Leyter.

Yes, that guy and Max are relatives, but not brothers, even though they have the same father name, Alexei is Max’s nephew, and Max’s brother uses the same name as his father.

This is how the Russians are named. The son may have the same name as the father, just like Max’s father, named Andrei Andreevich Lejter, and his brother also calls this name, many When it was written on paper, it was not clear who was right.

"Viktor Viktorovich, representative, hello," Leyter reached out and greeted as he walked quickly to Viktor's front.

"Hello, Comrade Max Andreevich," Victor shook hands with the opponent and smiled. "I was just about to inform you about the negligence of communications in the artillery regiment directly under the group army."

Victor said this first, in order to block the other person’s mouth. Alexei Leidel’s problem was that he was drunk during the shift and the communication test could not be connected within seventeen minutes. If such a thing happens In an emergency, it is a very fatal crime of negligence, and the military court will sentence him to death without hesitation.

Hearing what Victor said, a wry smile appeared on Leyter’s face. He said, “Yes, I have learned some basic information. Of course, I also know what he should accept according to the regulations. Punishment. But..."

After a pause, he continued: "However, Alexei’s situation is a bit special. He is not a person who likes alcoholism. As for this time, there are some special reasons. His brother just recently Sacrificed, just under Leningrad, his mother... was also starved to death in Leningrad, so..."

Victor didn't speak. He didn't know much about these situations. Of course, what if he did? According to the regulations, even if there is a special reason, it cannot be an excuse for negligence.