The decisive battle against the Third Reich

While the Soviet army was making intensive preparations in the direction of Stalingrad, Qinchuan in Baku received good news...their quality of life had improved.

As mentioned before, the Transcaucasus region has very warm temperatures because of the Caucasus Mountains blocking the Siberian cold current in the north and the warm sea breeze blowing from the Black Sea. This makes the Transcaucasus region very suitable for crop growth. Among them Especially tea... 91% of the tea in the Soviet Union came from Transcaucasus.

When Qin Chuan saw green tea trees growing on the mountain, he certainly would not let go of his long-lost hobby. He picked a handful of tea leaves from the mountain and borrowed a pot from the catering class to stir-fry them.

The aroma of tea soon attracted a group of officers and soldiers to gather around curiously.

"Major, these leaves are actually food?" Werner looked at the tea leaves frying in the pot, swallowed his saliva and said, "And it seems to taste pretty good!"

"I think it's at least better than black bread!" The baker looked up at the tea mountain not far from the camp, with a puzzled look on his face: "But why...the Soviets have planted so many of these trees, but they want to eat black bread? "

Qin Chuan replied while stir-frying: "Because this is not food, it is tea!"

"Tea?" The soldiers looked puzzled.

"It's like..." Qin Chuan explained: "A drink similar to coffee!"

After saying this, the soldiers understood.

Although Qinchuan loves tea, he does not have the skills to fry tea. It is said that the processing of tea requires kneading, rolling, fermentation, drying and other operations. However, this does not seem to be a big problem. Of course, there will not be such high requirements on the battlefield, so he can just fry it. It was out of the pot after a while. Qin Chuan couldn't wait to grab a handful and put it in a cup, and then poured some freshly boiled water... Suddenly a strong aroma of tea reverberated in his nose and throat.

What Qin Chuan wants is this kind of taste, the taste from his hometown, which can remind him of the small garden in his modern home. He always sits there drinking tea and reading the newspaper. This is the most leisurely moment in his busy day. moment.

The soldiers followed suit and each made a cup of tea, then tasted it with suspicious expressions as if they were drinking pesticide, but their attitudes soon changed.

"It seems good!" The baker nodded while feeling the aroma of tea greedily: "It has a special aroma. The major is right, it does have a refreshing effect similar to coffee!"

Werner took a sip and nodded: "Although it doesn't have the strong aroma of coffee, I think it is at least much better than artificial coffee!"

Coffee was rarely rationed on the front lines, and the occasional coffee that was available was artificial.

Unlike others, Alfredo praised it highly: "I think it is much better than coffee. I am surprised that the Soviets actually drink this stuff. I thought they only drank vodka!"

"It's not from the Soviet Union!" Qinchuan replied: "It's from China!"

Qinchuan was right. Soviet tea was introduced to Russia from Mongolia in 1638, and tea cultivation began in 1901. The first tea garden was Sochi in the Transcaucasus region... The warm climate in Transcaucasus was suitable for growing tea, and it soon spread throughout the region, making it the tea base of the entire Soviet Union.

Qin Chuan decided to bring more tea with him in his spare time. One day, if he had to fight in the ice and snow like he was stationed in Holm, it would be a pleasure to drink a cup of hot tea.

Then Qin Chuan soon found that he was lagging behind, because the German soldiers had taken off their helmets one by one and ran to the tea mountain impatiently, but they didn't seem to know how to pick tea leaves, and grabbed the leaves into their helmets one by one.

In addition, the food of the German army has also been improved to a certain extent.

This part has benefited from the security forces... The reason does not need to be explained. After the security divisions are stationed, they will complete the statistics of Soviet people and then ask them to "pay taxes" to Germany.

The Transcaucasus region is not poor. In fact, they can be considered wealthy compared with other parts of the Soviet Union... They are surrounded by the sea on both sides, the Black Sea on one side and the Caspian Sea on the other, and mountains in the middle. Coupled with the pleasant climate, they can fish and plant. , breeding, etc. can all make a living.

Before that, most of the food they produced had to support the Soviet front line, so on average they could only eat black bread.

But there is not much difference now. If there is any difference, it is that the food they originally used to support the Soviet army has become to support the German army.

As a result, the troops were soon eating white bread, vegetables, citrus fruits abundant in the Transcaucasus region, and even sometimes mutton. If it weren't for the occasional Soviet submarine activity in the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea, the Transcaucasus would be like a paradise isolated from the battlefield.

But such days did not last long.

That evening Manstein called Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan to his headquarters.

Qin Chuan and Colonel Slain could basically guess why Manstein was looking for them.

Sure enough, when Manstein saw them, he stood up and walked forward, shook hands with Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan respectively, then handed over a telegram and said: "Colonel, Major, I'm sorry, this is General Rommel’s telegram!”

Needless to say, the content of the telegram was, of course, a request for the return of the First Infantry Regiment.

"I can no longer find an excuse to leave you here!" Manstein said: "Although I really want to do this, you understand that I can't do this. You are needed on the battlefield!"

"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal!" Colonel Slain stood up and said, "We understand that this is our fate, don't we?"

"No!" Manstein replied: "This is not your destiny. You have made great achievements and deserve some rest time and enjoyment. So... the empire owes you!"

After a pause, Manstein added: "Of course, I wouldn't say that in front of the troops!"

Qin Chuan understood what Manstein meant.

There is no problem in saying this in private conversations among officers, but if you say it in front of the troops... it may affect morale, because the soldiers will think: Since the empire owes us, then we are Can't we take some privileges as a matter of course or do something to recover this "debt"?

Therefore, in front of soldiers, there will never be a situation where the country owes them, although this is not the case.

Then Manstein led the two people to the map, pointed to a point on the map and said: "The 21st Armored Division is here, Zimlyanskaya, you can take the train there, but you have to do a few things Be mentally prepared to go into battle within a few days, because the battle there has just begun!”