Age of Rebirth

The sunshine in the afternoon of September on the grasslands of northern Outer Mongolia shone on people’s backs, piercing through military uniforms, and it was scorching hot, while the wind blowing through the grasslands was chilly. The soldiers of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army lying in the trenches felt the The feeling of cold face and hot back.

Second Lieutenant Chen Qingchun, the mortar company platoon leader of the 100rd Battalion of the [-]nd Regiment of the [-]st Infantry Brigade, was carrying a mortar, followed by Yaoshou. Chen Qingchun was in an excellent position. He poked his head out from the edge of the trench, but at a distance of more than [-] meters, the figure of the Soviet engineer could be seen very clearly. Even a Soviet engineer, The outline of a lunch box hanging on his body can be seen.

Chen Qingchun slowly adjusted the elevation angle of the mortar, visually measured the distance, and constantly corrected the bombardment target. The target he chose was the place where the Soviet army engineers were most concentrated. There were about 20 Soviet army engineers busy there. According to him According to my own judgment, that should be the key position connecting the pontoon bridge. Once the cannon is fired, it will be safe and blown to the vital point, and by the way, those Soviet engineers will be sent to the west.

Yaoshou Wang Xiaochuan is a young man who is only in his twenties, but he is a veteran who has joined the army for more than two years. He is also a member of the veteran troops of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army. He asked while wiping the mortar in his hand. : "Platoon leader, tell me, can we return to the team alive after firing ten rounds later?"

Seeing that Chen Qingchun didn't say anything, Wang Xiaochuan was still nagging, "It's strange, platoon leader, you said that the old Maozi's tank, how can the gun be so accurate? Xiao Liu in the second platoon is my good friend. He died in the morning. Let the cannon hit directly, everyone was blown to pieces, I rushed over. I can’t even recognize him!” [

As he said that, the 20-year-old soldier's voice lowered and he seemed very sad. Chen Qingchun turned his head and said comfortingly: "Xiao Chuan, it's okay. You're lucky. The Soviet army's shelling was so violent just now. It's not a big deal." None of them. The tank guns of the Soviet army aimed directly at the artillery fire. It wasn’t that they were able to shoot accurately, but because they saw our artillery positions, all right. Get the guns ready, the brigade commander should give an order!”

Chen Qingchun's reply just finished.On the left side.There was a shout, "The brigade commander ordered, prepare in one minute, and start shelling after seeing three red signals!"

Chen Qingchun's face suddenly became serious.Said to Wang Xiaochuan: "Xiaochuan, when you hand me the cannon, keep your hands steady and don't panic!"

Three red signals.Slowly rising in the sky, Chen Qingchun stared at the pontoon, Wang Xiaochuan steadily handed the cannon to him, and with a "boom", the mortar flew out whistling, and landed on the pontoon accurately, "Boom!" There was a loud noise, and the pieces exploded. Wang Xiaochuan saw that the twenty or so busy Soviet engineers poured out a puddle of blood, staggered and fell into the river as if they were drunk, and a big hole appeared on the pontoon bridge.

Immediately afterwards, another cannon flew over and landed on the left side of the big cave. The bridge deck was more than ten meters long, jule tumbling with a "creak", and drifting away along the torrent of the river, Wang Xiaochuan shouted excitedly: "Platoon leader, hit! Hit!"

At the same time, from different directions and angles, the mortars landed accurately on the pontoon bridge, blowing up the bridge deck to be riddled with holes. Soviet engineers and soldiers were flying with flesh and blood. Wang Qingshan was lying in the trench, holding a telescope , watching the effect of the shelling nervously, seeing the pontoon bridge of the Soviet army blown away by several shells, excitedly smashed the soil, and shouted loudly: "Good bombing! Well bombed! The first one to fire is the Which battalion? Such a soldier deserves an award!"

No one answered him. In the tense battle, no one could determine the exact position of his fighters. He fired the fourth cannon. Chen Qingchun just put the fifth cannon into the barrel when he suddenly saw three Soviet vehicles on the opposite bank. The army tank, the turret slowly rotated, and the black muzzle aimed at his position.

Chen Qingchun pulled Wang Xiaochuan up, turned around and ran into the anti-battery hole, the tank gun was aimed directly at it, with a scream, and it arrived in a flash, Chen Qingchun suddenly pressed Wang Xiaochuan under him, "Boom boom boom!" There was a loud explosion, and the mud and gunpowder smoke from the explosion covered the figures of the two people.

Wang Xiaochuan got up in a daze, shook off the dirt on his head, and saw the platoon leader laying motionless on his body. There was a warm yet on his back, soaking through the military uniform. Suddenly, there was a strong feeling in his heart. A sense of fear came over him, he sat up hastily, and hugged the platoon leader's body. Chen Qingchun's face was pale, his eyes were closed tightly, and a hideous piece penetrated his back and protruded from his chest.

Wang Xiaochuan yelled sadly: "Platoon leader!" However, the platoon leader who treated him like a brother could no longer open his eyes and look at him with a smile.

Wang Qingshan's tactics were very effective. The pontoon bridge across from the First Battalion of the Second Regiment was blown to pieces. If it weren't for a few wooden stakes standing alone on the river, and a few ropes swaying in the wind, no one would have seen it. A few minutes ago, there was a pontoon bridge tens of meters long that could pass tanks.

However, among the two mortar platoons of the Second Regiment, less than ten people, two mortars, twenty mortars, and forty soldiers could stand in front of brigade commander Wang Qingshan. During the bombardment, there were only so many people who survived, and all of them were injured. They only had time to fire four or five shots. In order to blow up the pontoon bridge, the soldiers paid a heavy price. More than 10 lives were exchanged for the results.

Wang Qingshan looked at the surviving soldiers with a heavy heart. Wang Xiaochuan, with a thick bandage wrapped around his head, cried to Wang Qingshan, "Brigade Commander, our platoon leader died so badly!"

Wang Qingshan waved his hand, stopped Wang Xiaochuan's words, patted the soldiers on the shoulders one by one, turned around and left without saying a word, the surviving soldiers did not see, the brigade commander's eyes flashed with tears.

Although they did not receive orders from the headquarters, the four brigade commanders of the forward troops all realized that the pontoon bridge erected by the Soviet engineers was the biggest wexe to themselves, and they took different ways to destroy the Soviet engineers. It took several hours of hard work to build the tens of meters long pontoon bridge. Of course, it also paid a huge price. The Soviet tanks on the other side were always wesing the lives of the soldiers.

General Kurykin, who was resting in the tent, received a report, "Comrade Commander, the pontoon bridge built by the engineering unit was destroyed by the independent division when 70.00% of the construction was completed. The bridge-building task completed before dusk cannot be completed."

The staff officer who sent the report looked at Comrade Commander with sweaty palms. General Kurykin smiled slightly and said: "Tell the commander of the engineering unit to work overnight. It seems that the commander of the independent division is a very smart person." , knowing the huge wexe of the pontoon against them, hum, struggle in vain! Staff, convey my order to the troops, organize the third wave of attacking troops, the size of six infantry regiments, launch the attack in the second wave of attacking troops three 10 minutes Then, join the battle!"

General Kurykin has made a plan. There will be a total of 26 infantry regiments in three waves, and more than 9 troops from more than eight divisions. Before dusk, a large-scale attack will be carried out on the position of the independent division. If it can break through, today will be a commemorative day for the Transcaucasus Military Region.

After the effects of the anesthetic wore off, Sun Zhenbang woke up leisurely. The first thing he did was to ask the chief of operations, Lieutenant Colonel Meng Zhaoxu, in a weak voice, "Chaoxu, how is the frontline battle going? Are the positions still in our hands?" [

Meng Zhaoxu briefly explained the situation of the battle, especially that the four brigades all went to destroy the pontoon bridge erected by the Soviet army. Sun Zhenbang smiled wearily. When he heard that the first wave of attacking Soviet troops was already on the river beach After gaining a foothold, the troops failed to drive the Soviet army across the river. He was very anxious. As a commander with rich experience in commanding operations, he knew what this meant?

Anxiously trying to get up, he touched the wound on his body, causing him to grunt in pain, and beads of sweat rolled down, which frightened the two nursing nurses. Meng Zhaoxu hurriedly stopped him, thought for a while, Said: "Commander, I tell you one thing, don't be angry. After you fell into a coma, I gave a detailed report to the division commander about the situation faced by the troops!"

Sun Zhenbang frowned, and looked at Meng Zhaoxu displeasedly, but he didn't blame him, but said wearily: "Chaoxu, it's okay to report, I can't command the troops in my current situation, what I'm worried about is that the Soviet army The attack will be continuous, passive, can you hold the position, just today, without heavy fire support, we are under too much pressure, and your experience is not enough to replace my command."

Meng Zhaoxu nodded. At this moment, a staff officer came in and said, "Report to the commander, I received a telegram from the division headquarters!"

Sun Zhenbang's face brightened. Meng Zhaoxu took the telegram and read: "Outer Mongolia Frontier Defense Army Selenge River Campaign Headquarters, Section Chief Meng Chaoxu of the Combat Section, received a call and learned about Commander Sun's injuries and rescue results? Report the situation immediately."

"The division commander is in the field hospital. After receiving the telegram, he immediately made the following deployment. He sent four bomber regiments from the Northern Flying Group to provide you with air fire support. It is estimated that they will arrive in the combat airspace in four to 10 minutes. Communicate with the air and ground immediately. , indicating the target for the bomber fleet, and in addition, the two field brigade units directly under the Corps will enter the Selenge River battlefield tonight."

"According to the division commander's order, during the period when Commander Sun was injured, the division commander will directly command the Selenge River to fight. I order your department to immediately open a radio station for direct contact with the division headquarters, so as to facilitate the command of the troops." Long Wang Jun.

A bitter smile appeared on Sun Zhenbang's face, and he seemed to be talking to himself: "I didn't expect that, I'd better quit the battle halfway, and report the news that the division commander personally commanded the battle to all the troops!"

(to be continued) (to be continued...)