Beiyang 1917

Tukhachevsky's tone was quite bitter. At this point in the battle, he felt a little lost for the first time. Rzhevsky of the Fourth Army used 20 artillery companies and 3 divisions to take down the opponent. In the front line trenches, I lost more than 4000 people. Adding an artillery company and 2 heavy machine gun battalions also consumes a lot of shells. If this battle is fought like this, I am afraid it will be difficult!

"Comrade Commander, tell them to withdraw? Save some fire for the cavalry division!" Political Commissar Yankov Gayi said bitterly. &&

"Withdraw? How about telling them to go east and meet with the First Cavalry Division?" Tukhachevsky said with a little hesitation.

"No, Comrade Commander, the mixed cavalry division has suffered heavy losses, and they should be separated from the battlefield and the enemy as soon as possible. They are now chasing the first cavalry division, but it is only increasing the burden on the first cavalry division. Wounded soldiers and so on It’s very troublesome, let them retreat south along the east bank of the Ural River, and look for opportunities to cross the river and withdraw.” Yankov Gayi’s suggestion is obviously quite pertinent.

Tukhachevsky thought for a while, and felt that the political commissar's suggestion was good. If the mixed cavalry division with heavy casualties went to the first cavalry division, it might expose the traces of the first cavalry division and lead the enemy there, and aggravate the situation of the first cavalry division. The burden of a teacher is not a good way.

"Then according to you, send a report to the mixed cavalry division, appoint the head of the regiment Maruski to act as the commander of the mixed cavalry division, lead the rest of the division to retreat south, and cross the river as soon as possible to return to the main force of the southern group! " Tukhachevsky couldn't help but clenched his fists while ordering!I was thinking in my heart, how strong is this Ufa defender?Why are there so many machine guns and cannons? !

"Have you contacted the 13th cavalry division on the north route? Where did the bastard Markov die?!" Tuharsky turned around and asked about the detour cavalry division on the north route!

"Always keep in touch. Maybe the radio was damaged by enemy fire. If the two armored train regiments of the enemy in Ufa Cherny encircle, the cavalry division will not be able to withstand such fierce artillery fire. The armored train is like a steel train." Monsters and fire-breathing hedgehogs!" Commissar Yankov Gayi was obviously covering up for Markov's division, and he didn't want the unlucky 13th Cavalry Division to become a scapegoat for the commander of the Southern Group to vent his anger. -

"Comrade political commissar, how do you see the battle? It's really awkward! We also send three divisions to charge like Lezhevsky? Anyway, the opponent's artillery has been almost consumed!" Tuha Chevsky had no one to discuss with, so he could only ask his political commissar with a shy face.

"Mikhail Nikolaevich, you are the commander of the Southern Group and the First Army. I am the political commissar in charge of political work. It is your idea to fight the war. Let me tell you, our The frontiers are relatively stable, why don't we go to the southeast front to see the situation at Rzhevski? Ma Xin and Rzhevski are still good at fighting!"

Political commissar Yankov Gayke really didn't dare to give Tukhachevsky, who has always been arrogant, any idea, and kicked the ball to Ma Xin and Lezhevski.

"Okay! It's up to you. I'll take someone to look in the southeast direction. You can watch this side for me. Don't attack easily. I always think Fang Ufa's commander is very unusual. We may be in a hard fight this time." !" Tukhachevsky's tone was a bit heavy, and after a few words of care, the guy got on his horse, and surrounded by the guards, he went straight to the Fourth Army in the southeast direction.

The 10-kilometer road is very fast for the cavalry. Of course, since it is only a little more than 7 kilometers away from the front-line positions, there are occasional cold shots coming from nowhere, so you have to pay attention to avoiding shells.

Half an hour later, Tu and Chevsky appeared in Rzhevsky's headquarters in a hurry. Contrary to what he had guessed, the commander of the Fourth Army, Rzhevs, who had already occupied the opponent's front line Ki was discussing something with Ma Xin and his political commissar Heveshin in the headquarters with a serious face, and he was very surprised to see Tukhachevsky appearing!

"What's so strange, hurry up and get something to eat. I heard that the Fourth Army is eating meat, unlike the First Army that just gnawed at the bones in the north, so I hurried over here!" Tukhachev Ski took off his red army cap, picked up someone's teacup on the table and drank it vigorously.

It was time for dinner at the Fourth Army Headquarters, and besides black bread and beans, there was also a large plate of steaming boiled horse meat!

Tukhachevsky felt a pain in his heart when he saw the horse meat, and heard the tragic scene of more than half of the casualties of the mixed cavalry division. The fellow sat down, waved away the orderlies with a sullen face, and looked around. Own Maxin, Rzhevsky, and Herveysin, bitterly said,

"The mixed cavalry division failed in its raid on the Hedong Highlands. The division commander Igenov was killed, the political commissar was wounded, and more than half of the troops were killed. There was only one regiment left. I have sent a telegram telling them to retreat south and find a place to cross the river and come back! "

Rzhevsky, Ma Xin, and political commissar Heveshin were shocked when they heard this, and Ma Xin couldn't help but say,

"Earlier, the sound of artillery was rumbling in the distance from the east of the river. We thought it was the mixed cavalry division's attack that had made progress. Why couldn't the opponent have heavy troops guarding the east of the river?"

"There is a regiment of White Guard infantry defending the 203 highland east of the Ural River, but the Maxim machine guns have a lot of firepower. Most importantly, the Ufa defenders have arranged artillery positions on the highland east of the river. The telegram of the mixed cavalry division said that at least There were 9 artillery companies pouring artillery fire on the charging mixed cavalry division on the high ground, and the team charged twice in half an hour, but almost all collapsed!"

"The Ufa White Guards have 9 artillery companies on the Hexi Highlands? This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! This afternoon, the White Guards fired no more than 6 artillery companies on the Hexi Highlands. How could they not strengthen under such huge pressure from us? The number of artillery in Hexi, but 9 companies of artillery were deployed in Hexi? If they strengthened these 9 companies in the Hexi Highlands, we would not be able to rush at noon, let alone occupy the opponent's first-line positions!"

Rzhevski, deputy commander of the Southern Group and commander of the Fourth Army, couldn't help jumping up and shouting.

"Comrade Rzhevsky! I don't care how many artillery companies there are on the Hexi Highland opposite you. Anyway, Igenov, the commander of the mixed cavalry division who detoured east of the river, was killed, and the casualties of the entire division exceeded 6000. Could it be that they were all themselves? It’s impossible to ride a horse and cross the river and drown!” Tukhachevsky slammed the table angrily!

Lezhevsky paused when he heard the words, and thought that it was true. If even the commander of the cavalry division was killed, he must have encountered the enemy's powerful firepower and troops. But if this is the case, the Ufa enemy is really a bit scary , Use 9 artillery companies and an infantry regiment to deal with one of our cavalry divisions, but only use the strength of six artillery companies to attack our large troops in Hexi?

"How is the situation in the position? Why did the gunfire stop?" Tukhachev honestly grabbed the largest piece of horse meat on the plate and gnawed it, while asking inarticulately.

"Everyone is eating. The White Guards are also eating. We are also eating here. Everyone has stopped! Although their artillery losses are small, they are probably half disabled. Our terrain is too disadvantageous. Fortunately, the casualties of the infantry are still there. Acceptable, the number of Maxim heavy machine guns in the opponent's second-line position is double that of ours!" Ma Xin reached out and grabbed a piece of horse meat as he replied, and gnawed at the same time!

"We don't have many shells left, we have to save them for critical moments!" Lezhevsky and his political commissar also picked up their plates and started eating. I was so hungry, once the battle started, the meat of the dead horses would turn into delicious broth!In 191, when famine was widespread in Russia, it was very rare to be able to eat meat.

For a while, in the headquarters of the Fourth Army, a group of senior generals from the Southern Group, Siri, were full of stomachs!

"How do you fight next? How long will it take to take down the second line of defense in the southeast position?" Tukhachevsky was the first to eliminate the piece of horse meat and drank half a bowl of broth before raising his head and asking Rzhevski, commander of the Fourth Army.

"If the Ufa White Guards still have 9 mobile units of artillery companies that have not entered the front-line battlefield, I suggest that the front-line military committee of the group re-examine our combat plan. It is not an option to continue fighting like this!" Rzhevski pondered After a while, he raised his head and looked directly at Tukhachevsky, the commander of the Southern Group in front of him.

"Haven't your three divisions already occupied the opponent's first trench, how about taking down the entire southeast line of defense in one go?" Tukhachevsky said unwillingly.

"Not to mention whether we can take down the remaining two lines of defense in one go, according to observations, the White Guards in the second position on the opposite side have at least two divisions of troops. They are on a high ground and we are low. They have twice as many machine guns as us. We paid a heavy price to win the position, and we fell into the attack range of the enemy's highland artillery on the east side of the river, and Ufa City is still on the other side of the Ural and Belaya rivers!"

Lezhevski frowned and expressed his opinion!