After dark, the Tank Brigade's troops quietly entered the lurking position without being discovered by the enemy.
Ruhlei stood on a tree stump, holding a telescope to look opposite, and saw a lot of oil barrels for heating in the forest in the distance. The flames illuminated the nearby trenches clearly. Around each oil barrel, there were two or three warm-up soldiers wearing military coats. They put their hands on the fire and stomped their feet from time to time to drive away the cold air.
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the chief of staff came to Ruhlei and whispered: "Why haven't you launched an attack yet?"
"Don't worry, wait a little longer." Ruhlei jumped off the stump and said to the chief of staff: "Although the enemy has not discovered us yet, it is not yet time for them to sleep. Once the gunfire sounds, the enemy can enter their respective positions in the shortest time."
"When will the war start?" the chief of staff asked anxiously.
"I think it will take another four hours to lurk. It will not be too late to launch a sneak attack after midnight." After saying this, Ruhrei was a little worried about the commanders and soldiers lurking in the snow, so he asked tentatively: "Chief of Staff, can the soldiers' bodies withstand it?"
"It should be fine," replied the Chief of Staff: "I ordered people to distribute the remaining vodka to the soldiers. If I feel cold while lurking, I can take a few sips to keep warm."
"Drink and keep warm." Ruhrey couldn't help frowning when he learned that the Chief of Staff had distributed vodka to the soldiers. He told the other party: "But tell the soldiers, don't drink too much. If they are all drunk, who will go to war?"
"Don't worry, comrade comrade comrade commander." said the chief of staff confidently: "Everyone knows what environment he is in now, and he will never miss the problem if he drinks."
While the two were talking, they suddenly heard an anxious voice not far away asking: "Who did you see the brigade commander and the chief of staff? Who did you see the brigade commander and the chief of staff?"
Hearing the original voice in the distance, Ruhreh thought that some warrior had drunk too much, and made a big fuss there. He turned his face and said sternly: "Chief of Staff, go and see who was shouting there. Aren't you afraid of disturbing the enemy opposite?" The Chief of Staff did not dare to say anything, and turned around and ran towards the direction where the sound came.
Not long after, the Chief of Staff returned with a soldier in a white camouflage. As soon as he saw the soldier following the Chief of Staff, Ruhlei asked with a stern face: "What's going on? Who allows you to yell? Do you want to expose our target?"
"Comrade Brigade Commander, don't be angry. This is the scout who just came back from the front." After the chief of staff said this with a smile on his face, he urged the scout: "Comrade Scout, quickly report the information you have found to the brigade commander, so that he can be happy."
When Ruhlei learned that the other party was a scout who had returned from the front, he slowed down and asked, "Tell me, what good news is?"
"Report to the comrade commander, our reconnaissance team went deep into the rear of the enemy's rear and accidentally discovered a secret." The scout said excitedly: "Although the enemy has about a battalion of troops, they are not Germans, but Romanian troops."
"What, is the Romanian army?" Ruhrey was shocked when he heard the news. He grabbed the warrior and asked nervously: "Are you all saying true?"
"Yes, comrade comrade commander." The scout replied: "In order to figure out what happened, a soldier and I even mingled into the enemy's position. After careful observation, we found that the positions were basically all Romanians, and only a few armored vehicles were Germans."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, if the enemy on the other side is all Romanian troops, then our attack will be much easier." The Chief of Staff said, "Do you see if you can order the troops to attack early?"
Ruhre knew that there were several divisions in the Romanian army that were particularly capable of fighting, and the Soviet troops that had once fought had a superior number of people were defeated. However, these troops were eventually annihilated together in Stalingrad and Paulus's Sixth Army. The strongest troops were killed, so the remaining troops were not worth worrying.
However, for the sake of safety, Ruhlei did not immediately give an order to attack, but stood on the stump again, raised his telescope and looked at the enemy's position in the distance. At this glance, he really saw the problem. The uniforms and steel helmets worn by the soldiers surrounding the oil barrels were indeed different from the common German troops.
"The scout is right." After confirming that the enemy on the opposite side was not a German, Ruhlei felt relieved. After he got off the stump, he said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, since the enemy in front is not a German, then our original attack time can be advanced."
"Comrade Brigade Commander, do you think the combat plan should be adjusted?" The Chief of Staff said enthusiastically: "The combat effectiveness of the Romanian army is not strong, and I think it is possible to consider annihilate them all. It is better to attack the first battalion head-on, and the second battalion and the third battalion detour from both wings to strive to annihilate the enemy."
"There is no need for this." Ruhlie waved his hand and said, "The combat effectiveness of the Romanian army is not good, but they have a battalion of troops and fortifications. If they find themselves trapped in our siege, they will definitely seek help from the nearby Germans while fighting to the death. Maybe in the end, we failed to eat the enemy, but instead threw ourselves all in."
The Chief of Staff was about to persuade him, and suddenly there was a dense gunshot on the Romanian army's position in the distance. Since the sound could be heard far at night, Ruhlei could easily tell that it was the German MG34 machine gun shooting. He turned his head and asked the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, what's going on, why are the enemy shooting, have they discovered our troops?"
"It shouldn't be." The Chief of Staff also looked confused when he heard the sudden sound of gunfire: "Our troops are lurking seven or eight hundred meters away from the enemy's position, and the gunfire is coming from the middle of the enemy's position. Could it be that our scouts had exchanged fire with the enemy?" After saying this, he turned his confusing eyes to the scouts who reported the news.
The scout quickly shook his head and replied, "No, I will definitely not be a member of our reconnaissance team. Because only I and another comrade-in-arms were in the enemy's position to reconnaise, we both retreated safely."
In order to figure out what was going on, the Chief of Staff stood on the stump with a telescope and raised it to observe the movements in the direction of the enemy's position. After a while, he exclaimed: "Comrade Brigade Commander, I see clearly that it is the armored vehicles on the enemy's position, shooting at the Romanian army, and the two sides have already started fighting."