Age of Rebirth

Major General Tongbatu, the brigade commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade of the Outer Mongolia Frontier Defense Army, calculated the speed of the cavalry with precision. Under the command, it is like an arm command, and it can attack and defend freely.

The same is true for the withdrawal from Irkutsk this time. According to Tong Batu's calculations, after the Soviet army completed the final encirclement, the second brigade was at least [-] kilometers away from the Soviet encirclement. The prairie of Outer Mongolia is a paradise for cavalry. You can play hide-and-seek with the Soviet army. If you are lucky, you may be able to seize the opportunity to fight back and vent your anger.

However, Tong Batu underestimated the artillery of the Soviet Army. Most of the troops of the Second Brigade had successfully passed through the gap. The cannons, dense as raindrops, hit the gap like a blanket. It was the time when Major General Sergeyev, commander of the Third Army of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region, ordered the artillery of the No. 30 Seventh Division and the 38th Division to block the gap.

On a high hill less than ten kilometers away from the gap, Tong Batu held up the binoculars with a livid face, and looked at the area that was blasted into a sea of ​​flames. He clenched his fists and his nails almost pierced into his muscles. He acted as a guard The Second Battalion of the First Regiment was blocked in the encirclement by Soviet artillery fire.

Wherever Tong Batu looked, he couldn't see anything except the blasting points of the cannons, one after another, the diffuse smoke and dust, the whistling pieces and the flashing flames. On the trembling ground, under such intensive artillery fire from the Soviet army, the second battalion was in danger, and the possibility of rushing out was extremely slim.Those are more than 500 sturdy Mongolian men, his old subordinates for many years, he closed his eyes in pain. [

An hour later, the artillery fire of the Soviet Army gradually thinned out, and a group of remaining troops from the Second Battalion appeared in Tong Batu's field of vision. Major Battalion Commander Gao Jiri Gala was covered in blood, his left arm was empty, and his sleeve was torn.With the autumn wind dancing in the grasslands of Outer Mongolia, people and horses are like returning from hell.

Gaoji Rigala wobbled on his horse, came to Tongbatu, and cried out in a tearful voice: "Brigade Commander, I am sorry for you. There are more than 500 brothers in one battalion. Less than 100 came back. You shoot me!"

Tong Batu's eyes turned black, and he shook a few times. If it wasn't for the quick-sighted guards next to him, he would have supported him.The brigade commander will definitely fall headlong under the horse. Tong Batu calmed down, waved his hands vigorously, and said to Gaoji Rigala: "Don't cry. Like a woman, go down and bandage first, and then kill him in a surprise attack List of fighters."

The military doctor who accompanied the team hurriedly helped Gao Jiri Gala off the horse. Tong Batu couldn't bear to look at the less than one hundred soldiers of the second battalion who were wounded all over the body. He patted the horse alone. In his heart, there was a heart-piercing pain. More than 400 Mongolian men who followed him from the Chahar Grassland to Outer Mongolia all the way lost their lives on this land.

The shelling of the Soviet army did not have any warning, but the loss of the second battalion also had a lot to do with my overconfidence. If I had given the retreat order 10 minutes earlier, or had received the order After the division commander's order, he immediately withdrew from Irkutsk instead of dawdling for half an hour. Such a heavy loss would not have occurred. As the brigade commander, Tombatufa forgave himself.

The night wind on the grasslands of Outer Mongolia, with its cold air, made Tong Batu tremble all over. He woke up from his memories and looked up at Irkutsk in the north. The sound of guns and artillery had completely silenced. Covering the earth.

Colonel He Xigetu, chief of staff of the brigade, walked over with light steps. He understood the mood of the brigade commander at the moment, and handed a telegram to Tong Batu, saying: "Brigade commander, I have received the ground air finger in Kulun in the Outer Mongolia cruise area. telegram asking if my brigade is safe to evacuate?"

Tong Batu did not answer the telegram, but said coldly: "Chief of Staff, call back to Kulun's ground air finger. The second brigade has safely withdrawn from Irkutsk. Thank them for their air cover. The second brigade lost several Hundreds of horses, I, Tong Batu, can't die. In addition, I sent a telegram to the division commander to report the retreat and casualties of our troops, and explained that because of the brigade commander Tong Batu's command error, the second battalion of the first regiment suffered a huge disaster. Casualties, brigade commander Tong Batu asked the division commander to give punishment!"

The first person to receive the telegram from Tongbatu was Colonel Meng Qingpeng, the commander of the Outer Mongolia Cruise Area of ​​the Air Force Northern Flying Group. He was in the ground command post in Kulun, watching the telegram full of gunpowder, and couldn't help but smiled wryly, "Brigade Commander Tong still has an old temper. , However, the casualties of the second brigade were also partly to blame, which exposed the lack of tacit understanding between the Outer Mongolian border guards and other troops in the air and ground cooperation."

"If I hadn't cared about my own pleasure, and had only wanted to kill more of the Soviet army's vital forces, and had dispatched part of the fleet to bomb the artillery positions of the Soviet army on both sides of the gap, there would have been no casualties of the second brigade. In other words, I hadn't I know that the exact location of the Second Brigade’s retreat is still a matter of lack of cooperation, and the division commander should be informed of the situation.” Thinking of this, Meng Qingpeng ordered his staff: “Prepare the car immediately and go to the border defense army headquarters, the division commander’s place!”

Kulun, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army, the temporary headquarters of the division commander Tang Qiuli, Colonel Wang Jun, chief of staff of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army, walked in and said, "Minister, I received a telegram from the Second Cavalry Brigade and the Fifth Brigade. The Ministry has safely evacuated from the Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude areas, and is retreating towards Kulun. However, in the telegram of the brigade commander Tongbatu, it was reported that the second brigade was in the process of retreating, and there were casualties. A battalion lost about four-fifths of its troops, and Brigadier Tong asked himself to punish him!"

Tang Qiuli turned his gaze away from the map. He was not used to the smell of oily smoke from the mutton lamps in the room. He was a little dizzy. Wrinkled slightly, he asked, "Chief of Staff Wang, as for the fifth brigade, have there been any casualties? Is the current position of the two brigades safe?"

Wang Jun replied: "The brigade commander Li Changjiang of the fifth brigade reported that the troops had no casualties and had left the dangerous area. The troops were resting in a safe area. The situation of the second brigade was also yyng, but the speed of withdrawal was faster than that of the fifth brigade. Slow down."

Tang Qiuli thought for a moment and asked, "How did the casualties of the Second Brigade be caused? Did Tong Batu explain the situation?"

Wang Jun replied: "Just a brief report. During the evacuation process, it was blocked by Soviet artillery fire. The second brigade's rear battalion was blocked in the encirclement, and almost the entire army was wiped out."

Tang Qiuli raised his eyebrows. The situation was wrong. When he gave the order to retreat, there was still a big gap in the encirclement of the Soviet army, which was enough for the second brigade to retreat. How could there be troops trapped in the encirclement? What the hell is Tong Batu doing?

Just as Wang Jun was about to send a telegram to Tong Batu and inquire about the situation in detail, Colonel Meng Qingpeng, the commander of the Outer Mongolia Cruise Area, shouted loudly outside the office: "Report, Commander of the Outer Mongolia Cruise Area of ​​the Air Force Northern Flying Group Meng Qingpeng, report something important to the teacher!"

After listening to Meng Qingpeng's explanation, Tang Qiuli finally understood that the specific reason for the casualties in the second brigade was not because of Tong Batu's command error, nor was it because of Meng Qingpeng's disregard of the overall situation. Command ability, as well as the speed of Soviet artillery shelling, were the root causes of casualties in the Second Brigade.

To be precise, it was Tong Batu who underestimated the rapid offensive and defensive conversion capabilities of the Soviet mechanized troops, and overestimated the movement speed of the cavalry. It seems that when fighting the Japanese army, the role of the cavalry is doubtful. Very huge, but, in the battle against the mechanized troops, the role of the cavalry has been weakened to a considerable extent, and the horses and sabers are difficult to compete with the armored troops.[

But this does not mean that the cavalry has withdrawn from the stage of war and has been reduced to a doomsday army. At the very least, under the current situation, it will still play an extremely important role. , work harder.

Tang Qiuli said to Wang Jun: "Chief of Staff Wang, call Tong Batu back. A temporary loss will not affect your combat effectiveness. The saber of a Mongolian man will not lose its sharpness due to a temporary setback, let alone be damaged by it." Hatred blinds your eyes and makes so-called sacrifices. As for the issue of punishment, wait until you safely withdraw to Kulun, and I will wait for all the cavalry soldiers to return safely in Kulun!"

In this telegram, there was a reminder, and it was more about understanding. Tong Batu held the teacher's telegram, his heart was full of anger and blood, and he was mostly moved, and said to himself: "Master, don't worry, I, Tong Batu, am not I am an impulsive person, there are many opportunities for revenge, I am just ashamed of those brothers who died in battle!"

After reading the telegram from the teacher Tang Qiuli, Tong Batu seemed to be relieved of his painful and heavy heart. He picked up dry food and a water bottle and prepared to fill his stomach. The guards around him who had been silently watching him breathed a sigh of relief. , the main brigade commander is willing to eat, the body will not collapse.

Tong Batu took a bite of dry food, but before he could taste the taste, in the dark night, there was a rush of hoofbeats coming from far and near, and a war horse quickly appeared in front of his eyes. , jumped off the horse and ran over.

Tong Batu saw that it was Baiyin Baoligao, the captain of the brigade reconnaissance company. When he arrived in front of the brigade commander, Baiyin Baoligao said out of breath, "Report to the brigade commander, it is about [-] kilometers behind us. , I found an armored brigade of the Soviet army on the march, and based on this judgment, it was chasing us!"

Tong Batu got up suddenly, dropped the kettle, and asked Baiyin Baoli Gao anxiously, "What? There are old men chasing soldiers, tell me the details!"

(To be continued) (To be continued.)